Getaway redux-better than before!!! Our better than therapy june 13 cruise!

[Annmeat]

Last summer my husband, 3 kids and I sailed aboard the then brand -new Getaway. We sailed in late July on a very full sailing, staying in a Haven H4 suite. We so loved the ship and the cruise that we decided to sail her again.

I had said in my last review that I would absolutely sail Getaway in a non-Haven cabins as there was so much going on that the Haven enclave was not necessary to our enjoyment of the vacation.

 

side note- we have been very fortunate to have only sailed in suites once we had children..

 

I booked 2 connecting mini-suites last August. Then NCL came out with the All inclusive "deal" and I was tempted by that little demon on my left shoulder shouting "get a suite...it's 10% off!!!". Hmmm. But I was not willing to go back to the H4 configuration when the 2 mini-suites would offer more priivacy...

We were not impressed with the H4 on Getaway last year when comparing it to the same category on the Jewel class and on RCL. The MB was literally a wall-to wall king bed with closets at the foot, you had to sit on the bed in order to get your stuff out of the closet. While the bathroom was large, it had a shower curtain as a divider between the bed and the potty area, forcing one to share more than one might care to share. There was a flimsy door between the MB and the living room, and the kid's bedroom was poor on storage. Yes, it was a great suite, but it was NOT what we were used to for the price.

We decided on a FF Penthouse with connecting BD balcony for the kids.

The price that I paid was about the same as the H4 would have been, and by the time we sailed the combo we picked was selling for 2500 more than we had paid. Awesome Sauce!!

 

More about the rooms later.

 

We planned to fly to Miami on Thursday as my older 2 are interested in THE U as a college possibility. We had a tour scheduled for Friday morning, would spend the rest of Friday chilling and then hop a shuttle to the pier on Saturday.

 

We arrived at BWI, unpacked the car and noted that we were short a suitcase. One of us had left the case with our beach shoes, swim suits, my daughter's 34 pairs of sandals and Lord knows what else at home in the family room. Dilemma- spend an afternoon in Miami shopping in hopes that we all got outfitted properly or go home and get the danged bag. We live about 49 minutes from the airport but there was no way that one of us could go back and still make the flight. Southwest was very accommodating , changed my ticket to a flight leaving in 5 hours and charged no fee. I decided that I should go home as hubbie is a U of Miami alum and I didnt want him to miss touring the campus with the kids in the event that the later flight was cancelled.

 

They had an uneventful trip down, picked up a rental SUV at FLL, drove to Miami and checked in to the Residence Inn near MIA. We had a 2 br suite.

I arrived in FLL and took a super shuttle for 40 dollars and ended up being the only passenger. I did not land until 10 pm and arrived at the hotel at 11:15. Traffic was horrific, but my driver was the most interesting chap.

 

Despite glowing reports on TripAdvisor, this hotel was not, ummm, good.

The desk clerk shoved my room key at me and said nothing. He wrote the room # on paper and left it on the desk. I texted my family ( DH was asleep already) and the kids told me the room number. I wandered for 10 minutes and finally went back to the lobby. The clerk was IRKED that I was disturbing him when I asked him how to get to my room. OMG! I honestly wish to introduce a bill that makes eye-rolling in adults illegal. What a jackwagon!

" We are on the 3rd floor now. You have to go to the FIFTH floor to get to room 3519" I dont know why I would assume that I was on a non-ground level floor when I walked from the shuttle on to the sidewalk and in to the building, but the attitude was not needed. So I had my kids come get me ,had a half a beer and played "Presidents and Idiots" for a few minutes. This is a card game, NOT a reality show..and then decided to hunker down and rest up for our EXCITING DAY OF OUR FIRST COLLEGE TOUR !!! ( my older 2 are boy-girl twins and have chosen the exact same 5 top colleges . At least they agree on something!)

 

Pulled out the sofa bed, no sheets. Looked for linens. Nope. Called Jack Wagon. "They are in the closet." They were NOT anywhere in the room. Called Mr Wagon again and he sent up 2 fitted sheets. By then we didn,t care. I had to hunt down ACTUAL linens the next day.

 

To make a long story short, the service stunk. We had 6 hand towels and 2 bath towels for 2 bathrooms and 5 people. There was no extra TP in either bathroom, and only a teensy little bit left on the rolls that were in place. We didnt find the red ants until we were checking out on Saturday morning as they were busy biting hubbies feet. In the bedroom.

 

HOWEVER- they have an AWESOME shuttle service from the airport!

 

MONEY SAVING TIP FOR LARGER FAMILIES- we paid 89 dollars for a Ford Excursion from Thursday afternoon until Friday at 11pm. DH picked it up in FLL on Thursday, we used it all day Friday , dropped it at MIA and took the Marriot's shuttle back to the hotel, a very quick and easy process. Parking was free at the hotel and the car came in handy even after we drove to the University of Miami. My daughter had a bad reaction to some medicine that she had been prescribed prior to the trip, our doctor at home prescribed a new drug and the only pharmacy in the greater Miami area that had it in stock was a pretty long drive. I would not have wanted to make that journey in a cab.

 

I dont know why I am going on about this non-cruise drivel. SORRY!!!

 

Saturday morning we arrived at the pier at 10am, checked in at the Haven desk, went to the little waiting area ( OH MY GAWD!! By 10:20 am the general waiting area was PACKED!!!!) . We chatted with some kindly folk and were on the ship by 11.

 

We went up via that very special Haven elevator, so designated by a worn, hand-written cardboard sign and were NOT greeted with any alcoholic beverages as in every trip past! No more grown up drinks ! Not even a little sippy cup of pseudo-champagne :mad:. But- our AI included UBP and I intended to make up for many lost years of being a lightweight. We left the Haven, went to the 9th floor to drop our bags and our suite/balcony combo was already made up.

 

W O W!!!!!! The FFPH BLOWS AWAY the H4. The bedroom has WALKING SPACE, a charming room-length window seat, a door-a SOLID door!! on both the bathroom and between the living room and bedroom...I could not believe that this "low-end" (to hear some speak) suite was so HUGE!! Add on the kid's connecting room, which they LOVED, and we had the absolute perfect layout for 2 sixteen year olds, a 14 year old and two 50 year old goats.

 

I will tell you that with the exception of the 2BR suites on DCL, this was the nicest, best appointed and well-laid out suite that we have ever had.

 

The kids connecting was a category BD and this, too, impressed the heck out of me. There was so much storage that the kids did not even utilize 50% of it. The balcony size was the same as in the Haven proper- we had wicker on our balcony, the kids had plastic.

 

Both rooms were very clean and did not show any signs of wear and tear. The only exception was the leaking bathtub in our BR, which was odd because we didnt use the tub...but more about that later!

 

My daughter is a foodie and decided that we needed to try Taste or Savor for lunch. Good choice! We had not tried these restaurants last cruise . The food was very good, the service a tad slow yet charming.

 

Soon it was time for the muster, and as usual NOBODY CAN SHUT UP FOR 10 MINUTES!!!! to LISTEN!! I was getting annoyed and began going up to offenders, asked them to please listen to directions and then took a short video of them for, as I explained. "Public shaming purposes". This only shut up 2 women. Oh well. I tried! I am very easy going, but this muster drill was OUT of CONTROL! If I can figure out how to post the video ( yes, I know I was not supposed to be videoing) I will. We were in O'Sheehans and it was complete chaos. That parents can blab on and ignore instructions with their children right there watching both flabbergasts ma and pisses me off. Nice example to set!

 

After an eternity, we were released by a very frustrated crew. We wandered about, joined the sailaway festivities a bit- they were quieter than the muster drill!!!- and then unpacked, got ready for dinner and headed to the Haven . We only ate dinner there once or twice this trip. The filet was top-notch. My youngest had been dreaming about the tuna poke appetizer for 11 months and indulged in two of them. Service was a bit stiff the first evening in the Haven restaurant, but by breakfast the next morning the crew had loosened up and all was happy happy.

 

We wanted to enjoy the "Welcome Aboard "show and headed to the theater. It was on the way that I noticed some serious glitches on iConcierge. The most glaring at the time was a HUGE internet bill. We hadn't even signed up for the internet yet, and were each getting 250 minutes "free" anyway! I made a stop at the internet desk and the very kind and patient man there figured out the problem, made some calls and had the charge removed. He also will add little icons to your phone - one to connect to the internet, and one to disconnect so that you don't mistakenly use all your minutes by forgetting to sign out. That was the easiest of our iConcierge battles.

 

I caught most of the show and decided that Legally Blonde was not going to be on my "must see" list. Neither was Shannon McNally at the Grammy Experience... while we caught neither of these last year, we decided not to this year either. I was very enthralled by the cruise directer and his staff. WOWZA! What a friendly, funny, talented group. Last year I was certain that no one could top JC Sanchez (and he is the FIRST CD EVER whom I have remebered!) Jo-el and his gang of handsome, accented cohorts were tons of fun. Mind you, I used to be happy on a cruise sitting on my balcony and reading, then eating, a little casino, more reading. Getaway has changed my style of cruising. Perhaps it is the age of our children now, but I just want to do EVERYTHING!! I LOVE the game shows and all things corny now!

 

I have decided to break this down in to ctegories as I have to take a group of HS kids to Dallas on Sunday and would like to finish before that trip..

 

ENTERTAINMENT

 

We saw Burn the Floor in the theater and in the Tropicana room. MIND BLOWING! The show was one of the most professional productions that we have seen at sea. EVER. Mike is from Manhattan and was raised by a Broadway fanatic, and even he was in awe. What amazing talent has been gathered for this show. The singing, dancing, instrument accompaniment were stellar. This is a DO NOT MISS NO NO NO!!

 

The Levity Group-

Oh My Goodness. We had three comics- the emcee Mr Berry, Phil Palisoul and Mark something. Phil was gut-clasping, tear-inducing funny. We saw him twice in Headliners and once in the theater during the comedy revue.

 

The second comedian, Mark ...something- he was funny but relied a little too much on his Brooklyn accent and stereotypical New York mannerisms. We only saw him in the family-friendly theater show, and he talked a lot about diarrhea. Eh.

 

NOTE: iConcierge showed the wrong times for the wrong performer. Our reservations were for Phil at 7, iConcierge had it listed as Mark at 9..the app worked well for texting this time around, but our onboard activites were all messed up. Make sure to double check with guest services or the HUMAN Concierge.

 

 

Howl at the Moon:

 

All five of us have been waiting for this for 11 months. Last year the group was great, and had a particularly charismatic and hunky piano player //singer by the name of Brandon Kent. Well, Lordy be if that hunky young man wasn't on this cruise as well, now sporting a beard! He played with Laurie Crane and another man, all extremely entertaining. Do NOT miss this show. We went to every session, closing the place 3 times!

 

For those of you not familiar, Howl at the Moon is a dueling piano set up. Audience members request songs on little pieces of paper, adding a tip or bribe to get their song some attention. The audience participates, there is singing, some dancing, lots of joking...as the night goes on , the theme becomes more adult.

 

While one can leave a tip to have a song played, one can ALSO bring up cash and ask the players to STOP playing a song. Last year Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga got stopped a LOT!! I recall reading one CC review where a gentleman paid 44 bucks to have the Michigan State fight song stopped!

 

Well, not everyone seems to be aware of this little nuance to the game. On the last night of the cruise, Laurie had been given a few bucks to play, as she put it "Ugh- the worst song EVER" by Adele. I HATE this song, Mike HATES this song and we had heard it at least 26 times by the end of the cruise. When she started to sing it, Mike gathered up 20 bucks and paid to have the song stopped. This also allowed him to choose the next song, "Brown Eyed Girl". The audience was cheering, the piano players were cheering....and the woman who had requested the song came running over to Mike, poked him in the face and screamed "THAT was VERY RUDE"..and stormed out of the venue. Laurie DID mention that i she had 21 dollars that she could have the song started again....oh well. I felt bad that she was upset, but , hey-

 

Even without the drama, this is a great place to hang out. As the hours go by, CD staff members and other entertainers wander in and hang out here. Some even join in and add their amazing pipes to a song or two.

 

 

Ugh- it is later than I thought

I will add more tomorrrow and answer any questions

[Coastalbreezes]

Really enjoyed reading your honest review and look forward to more. I too was disappointed that we didn't receive our rum punch or champagne as we arrived in the Haven. New cruisers wouldn't notice but as a frequent NCL cruiser, it's those little things that I miss.

 

I agree completely with you about muster! It's NOT a social event and I always feel bad for the crew who really do try and get people to be quiet. Maybe the solution is to announce that muster will not end until there is complete silence?!

 

Tracy

[Annmeat]

Crew Variety Show

We have never one of these before, but had been having such a marvelous week full of good entertainers that we too the plunge.

 

WOWZA!!! This was a short show, maybe 30 minutes, but REALLY well done.

There were several dancers, but it was the singers who knocked it out of the park.

 

Most notable were a rendition of the very Adele song ( Someone Like You) that was annoying in "Howl at The Moon" that a crew member knocked out of the park, and a cover of "Green, Green Grass of Home".

 

If you have time, catch this show. Really fun.

 

ATRIUM GAME SHOWS

 

My kids went to ALL of them, my eldest son participated in several. The shows are put on by the CD staff . Last year I found them amusing, they were just as well done this year.

 

The most entertaining was "Dancing with the Getaway Stars". Audience members are chosen by having their names drawn out of a bucket, as participants are for all the games. The panel of judges are the comedians, a theater -type person, etc. the participants are coupled with a CD director's staff member and are given different types of dances to perform, just as on the television show. To quote Larry the Cable Guy- "I don't care who you are-that's some funny stuff right there!". And it is. The comments from the judges are delightful, as are interviews from the "Loser's Lounge" via video feed.

 

The winner on our cruise was Trixie, a 71 year old spitfire. Trixie later won a cruise at Bingo....

 

As I mentioned in a different thread, my daughter and I were picked for Who's the Boss". It is kind of like the Newlywed game but for parents and kids. I EVEN was safely escorted to a soundproof room,aka the library, so that I could not hear the questions and answers from Daphne. We ended up WINNING!!! YAY!!

 

I had not seen the library aboard Getaway until this game show. It is LOVELY!!! Too bad this was the last night of the cruise. It has tall bookshleves and comfy, plush chairs- very well done

 

 

DEAL or No Deal

 

We played this game once. It was much better run than last year. Last year I waited a loooong time in line for game cards, this time I walked tight up and purchased them. This game is also played like the TV show, ours made better by an enthusiastic gent seating near us who called out to the on-stage contestants. We ran in to this fellow in several other venues, he was one of those great guys, a big teddy bear who adds a special spark to your cruise experience. When one gal decided NOT to take the banker's offer, he stood up and shouted "Rhonda! What are you doing?? This is REAL! That's REAL money!!!" . HE was as much a part of our enjoyment of the show as the contestants were.

I also won 50 dollars at the show, which paid for half of our game cards- they are 19.95 each and there are 5 of us.

 

Bingo

 

We attended only the last session. Our All In package included a free set of bingo cards, we used our credit for the jackpot session. Also drawn during this session is the "Free cruise" prize . All week you will receive little red tickets at various places, all leading up to the BIG DRAWING.

 

Our session was interesting- the winning number was called, and NOBODY claimed it. After a decent amount of time, the CD had to close out the winning ticket and draw a new one. As the new one was being drawn, a couple seated about three rows ahead of us ran up and showed the FIRST winning number drawn. They had been present the whole time, I don't know if it had fallen on the floor or if they had a few too many DOD's to notice, but their ticket became invalid once the new ticket was drawn.

WHOA. The CD staff explained their policy, but I am sure that the couple is kicking themselves still.

 

The next winning ticket was held by Trixie the Dancing Queen, and the audience went nuts. She was quite popular after her winning routines on DWTGS.

 

This session of BINGO was well-run and went by quickly. Nothing memorable except for the ticket fiasco!

 

Lounge Pianos and Singers

 

Again, lots of talent and better than last year. There was a couple at Sugarcane each night, a piano player solo in the atrium, and , later in the night, Groove International in the atrium. All the performers had great voices and a good following as well.

 

CASINO

 

Really enjoyed the casino on Getaway. Our cruise had a great mix of people, the staff was not overly pushy , waitstaff for drinks were attentive.

Neither Mike or I are high rollers, but I played every day or night. One guy won 20K on a Wheel of Fortune dollar machine. I played the pennies and won every night. Not a ton, but enough to make me smile!!! And enough to receive my very own casino drink card. While I had the UBP, the casino card entitles one to bottled water and red bull as well . I don't do red bull, but the bottles of water were a nice treat.

 

I did not enter any slot tournie this year.

 

Late nights in the casino were very enjoyable. I am a night owl, and at 2am we had a fun group of people hanging out, laughing and poking those buttons.

 

The smoking/non smoking sides were not well "policed" and there were smokers smoking at non-smoking machines ( they are clearly labeled) . I did NOT encounter people simply standing around smoking as has been reported on other reviews. Doesn't mean that it didnt happen.

 

 

I will grade this cruise with a big A for the entertainment all around. I was never bored !!

[Annmeat]

I personally did not slide or ropes course this cruise. Mike and the kids did. Even on sea days , the wait for the ropes was only 25 minutes and the gang spent a lot of time up there. It was very windy on the day my family went up and the pictures from the plank look absolutely terrifying! They all really enjoyed it. It was supervised well and there were no incidents in line as can happen from time to time.

 

The slides had longer lines on sea days, ZERO lines on shore days. On Friday, after we finished our tour on Nassau, the kids and Mike had free access to the slides and played until they were tired of walking up the stairs so many times.

 

 

Adult pool area

Several mornings we were out walking between 7 and 8ish and there were perhaps six chairs "saved". As the day went on, there were more chairs with stuff, but it was not as crowded as last year, and I did not find last year overly crowded. There was a real party-central atmosphere during the day around the pool. It was not as loud and rowdy as on other cruises. Just walking through the area put me in a happier mood!

 

The kiddie pool had the early morning chair savers- yup, on this cruise I saw the mythical dictionary on a chair!

It was crowded and was quite raucous . There were many older kids using the splash pool and I saw a few teens take serious spills. The area was too cacophonous for me- but I didnt need to be there anyway! The Sponge Bob -themed statues, etc are all still in great condition . There was usually few people in the deeper pool. The older teens gravitated toward the slides.

HAVEN POOL

 

Unlike last year, when the Haven was very crowded with exhibitionists and Mr Loud, we found the pool area very mellow. My kids actually used the Haven pool and hot tubs this year! The chair-hogs were Havenites this time around, and we would see EVERY SINGLE HAVEN LOUNGER BY THE POOL claimed by the time we headed to breakfast each morning.But noone seemed to ever use these loungers, so the pool area stayed reasonably calm. There was a gaggle of 18 something year old gals who always seemed to be on the upper deck when I wanted to chill- I swear that they were Valley Girls from the 80's who were lost in a time warp..but I simply resorted to ear buds and tried to drown them out. There were some REALLY CUTE toddlers and 5-6 year olds to keep us amused! All in all it was very enjoyable for us in the Haven area.

 

Haven Lounge

 

We used the lounge every day on this trip. The drinks were the best here, and we had plenty of room to stretch our legs and play cards, chat or just mellow out. The kids became BFF's with the bartenders. The Haven is especially lovely at night, and this time around we had it to ourselves if we so desired. The bar closes around 10.

Edited June 24, 2015 by Annmeat

[raymondreddington]

How well did the AI work? We're lines for drinks long? Did you notice more intoxicated people than usual?

Which slots did you play?

We're there a lot o kids on the ship?

We had to cancel our June cruise [emoji22] but we're lucky to rebook for August

Do out have dailies to post?

How bad was the walk from the FF to the elevators?

Can you tell that I have had ONLY coffee today!!?

What excursions did you do?

[MichiganMan4]

Thanks for the review...

 

Did your family members staying in the connecting Balcony room have access to the Haven or just the ones staying in the FFPH?

[Annmeat]

Thanks for the review...

 

Did your family members staying in the connecting Balcony room have access to the Haven or just the ones staying in the FFPH?

 

 

The children all had Haven access. The guests must be in a connecting ( not adjoining) room and must be minors. At least that was the rule this trip! We had never done this before and made sure that we had a letter from NCl with us re: kids and Haven. There was a thread last year that got removed regarding this very issue as the discussion became heated.

 

The concierge did check the floor plan prior to issuing Haven keycards to the children to double check that the rooms were connecting.

[Annmeat]

How well did the AI work?

On arrival we had a thick pile of slips indicating what was included with the AI. WE didnt really need them . There were a few glitches- our pre-booked excursions were double charged -once to the excursion OBC and then again to us. It required 2 short trips to the excursion desk.

Also, we had this crazy OBC that never left our invoice and never seemed to be used. No one could explain it.

All the extras promised were delivered. I did the math and in the end we saved about 200 dollars total having the AI. I did not include the 40 pictures as I would not have purchased them if not included, would probably have purchased 6. I also did not count the UBP for me as the full price as there is no way, despite my best efforts, that I drank enough to justify the cost of the UBP. SAme with UDP as we only used specialties twice. HAd I been a bigger drinker and we dined exclusively in specialties, etc, the realized savings would have been about 500 dollars .

We're lines for drinks long? Did you notice more intoxicated people than usual?

WE had beverages served very quickly. AS to drunks- I did not witness many if any stumble-down types. Lots of very happy people, however. ButI cant say if they had the UBP or not

Which slots did you play?

Mostly the 4 -screen buffalos, the 70's machine and a round at the Deal or No Deal machine

[Bettytrouble]

We had a similar set up with the suite and connecting room. In fact it was my thread that was removed

When I posed the question here on CC I received many wrong answers from posters some of whom I have since found out are TAs.

Our concierge also checked the configuration to ensure that the rooms connected.

 

Question:

How was Tortola? We did St Maarten.

[Annmeat]

Re: walk from ff to elevator

The walk did not bother us at all. If we had mobility issues it would have been different . We actually enjoyed the walk. It is a big ship and everything is a hike!

 

We liked being on deck 9 as it was easy to use the stairs for everything.

It was only 6 flights to the pool deck or 3 flights down to the casino

We only used the elevators if we were really pooped or carrying a lot of stuff

[Bettytrouble]

Who is the concierge aboard?

Also, did you see the new Illusionarium? Was it simply a new cast or has the stage changed?

 

Do you remember any special food that struck

Out and grabbed your attention?

[Bettytrouble]

Did you have access to pay per view in the kid's room or just the suite room?

Thx

[Annmeat]

Question:

How was Tortola? We did St Maarten.

 

We took all of our excursions via NCL as Mike and I had the 200 dollar credit each. For Tortola we chose Virgin Gorda and the Baths.

 

The weather seemed very ominous as we loaded in to our ferry boat for the ride to Virgin Gorda. It was starting to drizzle and the water was quite rough. Despite the comfort of the ferry boat, "Speedy's", several children were crying and /or turning greenish. It is a very nice ferry. It has upholstered seats inside and we found the ride very comfortable. We all fell asleep!

 

40 minutes later we arrived in Virgin Gorda and Speedy's tram service picked us up for the quick ride to the top of the baths. The paths are split- left goes to Devil's Bay, the right to the Baths. There are no amenities at Devil's. the Bath's have rentals, lockers, a food stand...and LOTS of people! AND WEAR BEACH SHOES OR SNEAKERS!!!

 

We chose to go to Devil's Bay first. The hike down was not as dicey as I had read, and I am not a person for whom "graceful" is often used as a descriptor! We took about 20 minutes and arrived at one of the most beautiful beaches that I have had the pleasure to enjoy! There were rock formations, water of an indescribable color, critters on the rocks, caves and tunnels. The sand was amazing. Only about 25 of us chose the Devil's path and not all of us were from the ship.

 

After a bit we decided to make the trek to the Baths, which is done by crawling, climbing, squeezing and scraping up wooden "ladders", across planks, through tunnels and cave-like areas...it was just awesome. EXCEPT FOR THE TRAFFIC!! As we tried to make our way TO the Baths, the Bath people were coming toward Devil's Bay. It was seemingly hundreds of them some with guides. No one would let any of us enter the tunnels. I finally got loud, yelled to a particular woman to PLEASE stop and let some of the folks coming the other way have a turn. It was seriously ridiculous that the people coming towards us refused to yield at all- how the heck do these people drive???? Anyway, some guys behind me followed as I simply stated that we were next, that we had to take turns and that we all wanted to see what was on the other side. For some reason it worked, despite a few naughty names being tossed my way. It was a bit treacherous for the heavier people as some of the spaces are VERY VERY tight. DD and I both have bruises on our arms and legs from banging in to rocks. We did manage to get to the Baths, which were completely UNDERwhelming when compared to Devils' Bay. Many people chose not to take the journey from the Baths, so the beach was a bit crowded but still very pleasant. We did buy a drink and feed some chickens before swimming again.

 

In the future I would not even bother with the Baths side. Bring your own water and stay at Devil's Bay unless you need to buy a beach towel, use a restroom or rent a locker.

 

We stayed about 35 minutes, climbed up the Baths path and had a snack at the top where we started. The path to and from the Baths is not difficult at all. A very easy walk back.

 

This was a stellar excursion and I highly recommend it. It was very well organized, on time and delightful. Yes, I had to become a traffic witch, but that its what adds to the charm of a journey. AND.... I had several kind people come up to me and thank me for gettin' my pushy on . One kind man said "THANK YOU! WE never would have gotten through if you hadn't taken the lead". I am not tooting my horn, just advising to be assertive or be left behind...and to remind people that they aren't the only ones who will be on the path/tunnel/cave freeway! Share the tunnels, folks!!

 

 

I give this excursion 5 stars and my family seconds it. There are bathrooms and places to change at the top of the Baths if you don't want to wear a wet bathing suit back to the ship. We had a medium sized dry bag with us for a change of clothes, t shirts and a few emergency items. Worked very well. Towels we wrapped around our shoulders and they stayed dry. There are some areas between the two beaches where you must walk in 4-6 inches of water, and some of the rock formations drip.

 

If you do just ONE THING on this cruise, GO to Devil's Bay.

[Annmeat]

Who is the concierge aboard?

 

We had Adrien as our concierge and Aries as our butler. Adrien and his assistant- I cannot remember her name- were both delightful. We have very few concierge concerning needs, but they were very attentive to our small issues i.e. lost room key , checking dinner reservation times.

 

Unlike past NCL cruises, we did not see Adrien out and about . This is merely an observation, not a complaint.

Edited June 24, 2015 by Annmeat

[Annmeat]

Did you have access to pay per view in the kid's room or just the suite room?

Thx

 

 

We had "free" pay per view movies in the suite, never checked the kid's room. Their little fridge was kept locked . I didnt even realize this until we were leaving the ship!

 

If you ordered a movie in the suite, the bill simply came up as $0.00. I d not know how it was in any other cabin.

[Keith.W]

Great review, we are also in a Forward Penthouse, cabin 9706. September cant come quick enough

[MandyMommyof2]

Thanks for your review!!! We have the Virgin Gorda excursion booked through NCL for our cruise next week too! Reading this has me so excited!!! So you guys wore your swim suits and then changed into dry clothes right? I was thinking we would do the same thing too!! :)

[sid_9169]

I also chose to go down the Devils Bay path first on the way to the Baths. I also encountered the masses of people coming the other way who were less than cooperative with letting people pass in the opposite direction. I was also met with curses of ridicule when I pushed my way through. I agree that the Devils Bay side is much more beautiful and peaceful...