Incredibly long review of our amazing October 2015 Getaway cruise

[jmkrsail]

I am a very infrequent poster, but have been reading CC for years. I know this is long, but if it is helpful to someone in the planning stages, then I will consider it worth while. I appreciated very much all the information I found on here prior to our cruise.

 

We sailed on the October 10th-17th, 2015 sailing on the Getaway. A little back ground, DH and I are both 41, we sailed with our 9 year old boy/girl twins. We live in SE Minnesota. We have previously sailed Royal Caribbean’s Brilliance of the Seas back in 2004 for a 12 night Mediterranean for our honeymoon and in 2011 we sailed on the Disney Wonder with the kids during Disney’s brief stint to the Mexican Riviera. Both cruises were wonderful. We travel a decent amount, not as much as some others, but more than almost all of our friends and family.

 

This was our first time on NCL. I researched extensively, starting back in January. We got this cruise for what I felt was an incredibly good fare. Add in the UBP and KSF and we were sold. We were in stateroom 10840 - midship mini-suite. Overall our experience on this family vacation was that it was AMAZING. This was one of our best vacations ever, probably my favorite as a family, but the kids say it’s a “tie” with the Disneyland vacation we just had in April.

 

As a mom, I feel you can’t beat a cruise. As long as all your luggage makes it to your final destination, you are set. 45 minutes or so of unpacking and organizing in the stateroom and your family is set for the week. Anything you may need throughout your day is only an elevator ride and a few steps away. No hauling around snacks and water bottles and a change of clothes and activities for when they are standing in line and on and on. Yes, you need to deal with some of that on excursion days - but those sea days are heavenly to me. If you are dressed, have on footwear, and have a key card in your pocket you are all set. (I should add I am married to a wonderful man, he is incredibly helpful with all aspects of parenting. But in our family, like many others, it is “mom” who packs the snacks, organizes the stateroom, deals with the kids clothes, etc. Truth be told, he is usually the one who does the actual “hauling” of all the stuff during outings on a non-cruise vacation.)

 

DH ended up having a business conference in Orlando that week, so he was already in Florida (Orlando) and had a rental car. The kids and I flew in on Friday and he met us at the West Palm Beach airport. We had a nice day in Fort Lauderdale getting a late lunch at Le Tub (fun place, great burgers, no crowds when we were there), dipping our toes in the ocean at a beach, and enjoying the warm temps. We stayed at a Hampton Inn near the Miami airport for one night.

 

DH had a rental car from National so we used their free shuttle from the airport to the port on Saturday morning. It couldn't have gone smoother. We left the hotel about 9:15 AM, got to the airport quickly, returned the car with no lines and went up to level 4 where there was ground transportation. A National bus had just pulled up and let some cruisers off and we hopped on. We were the only ones on the bus going to port. Left the airport about 9:50 and we were at the port, I believe, by 10:10 AM. I never expected us to be there so early, but no one batted an eye about it. We tipped the driver, got our bags, and walked through the crowds of people along the curbs just leaving the ship and found a porter who took our bags for embarkation. Yeah!!!!

 

All the employees we encountered at the port were incredibly happy and friendly. There were absolutely no lines at all, though there were about a dozen other people checking in. We filled out the paperwork, got our pictures taken, got our stateroom cards and were lead into the waiting area for terminal C. We were also given boarding group number TWO!!!

 

At this point it was only about 10:30 AM so we had our pick of seats in the waiting area. We had a seat and watched the room fill up. Kids were on their Kindles, DH and I were sending some texts, emails, etc and looking over the info they gave us at the port. We did not get a Daily for day one at that time as I expected. We just got basic info - a ship map on one side of the paper and Welcome Aboard info about what restaurants were open when you board, how to get the iConcierge app, how to make reservations for activities, etc.

 

About 11:30 AM we saw some small groups of people making their way past us and towards the doors. I didn’t even pay much attention. Then 5 minutes later they said “Boarding Group 2 may now board” and BAM, we gathered our things quickly, zipped our backpacks and walked towards the exit of the waiting area. By 11:40 we were onboard, among the first people on the ship. Not at all what I expected when I woke up that day, but I was thrilled with how quickly and easily everything went. I just looked at my pictures and at 11:50 AM there is a picture of my daughter in the Garden Cafe sitting down with a plate of food, huge smile on her face.

 

The number one thing we tell our kids before we go on vacation, and we reiterated this in the hotel that morning, is that you have to pack a good attitude. This was our first time on Norwegian. I don’t know anyone, personally, who has sailed with them. Around here we don’t know a lot of people who cruise, but those who we do know have cruised with Royal Caribbean or Disney. Though I did a lot of research and felt we were going to have a great time, there was the feeling that we were taking a gamble with trying something new. But, I can’t even tell you how thrilled we were with Norwegian, and with the Getaway - with the ship itself, with the staff, with the service, with the food, with our cabin, with the Splash Academy (WOW!), with the ports, with the weather. It truly was just about perfect. We went in with a good attitude, with the research done, with reservations made, with port excursions planned, and with two nine year olds who love adventure and being with friends. For our family, for the age of our kiddos - this cruise was truly amazing.

 

Were there a couple of glitches? Yep. But how can you go through 7 days of LIFE and not have a glitch come up?!?

 

So, the following is my opinion, based on our experience, of the Getaway. Others will have different opinions. Such is life. But, back here in Minnesota I am telling everyone I know about our awesome vacation and here are some of the reasons why…

 

Stateroom: We were in a category MB, mid-ship mini-suite with balcony. Room 10840. The room was more spacious than I expected. There was plenty of storage in the stateroom, and I always overpack. There were at least 15 hangers in the closet, which was very nice. The bathroom was awesome. Tons of storage in there and the shower was big with great water pressure. The room was so quiet. I never once heard a single noise from either of our neighbors, and I saw families going in on both sides, so we did indeed have neighbors. Not a voice, not a door shutting, not a blower dryer or toilet flush - nothing. I also couldn’t hear noise from the hallway.

 

Our bed was nearest to the balcony, with the bunks nearer to the door. Our bed was amazingly comfortable, we both loved it and slept so well. I liked the little night stands near our beds for our books, my phone, and random things. Yes, the balcony is small, but it's size was a total non-issue. It was the first time we've had a balcony and it was awesome. We loved it. We could all stand out there just fine and often two of us were out there reading and the space was perfect.

 

Authoreen, from Jamaica, was our stateroom attendant and I adored her. She called me darling and I thought it was the sweetest. We saw her often, many times a day. I left a note the first day to remove the items from the fridge and she did. We didn't need the ice bucket or coffee maker, so I just placed them in the drawer under the couch where the bunk bed pillows were stored and it was out of our way all week. She did a great job cleaning our room and readying it for us day and night. I left her an extra gratuity the last day and was sure to mention her on a comment card at Guest Services and in my post-cruise survey - she deserved it.

 

One tip, something I do when we are on vacation that I find invaluable, is to bring a collapsable laundry hamper. I literally bought ours at a garage sale probably 7 years ago for $1. It folds completely flat and we use it whenever we are somewhere for more than 3 or 4 days - like at a cabin or on a cruise. All of our dirty laundry goes in there and it holds about 5 days worth. It’s so convenient and on this cruise we just had it between the closet and the couch, totally out of the way. It could have gone in the closet, but we had a lot of shoes taking up space on the closet floor on this trip. On that 5th day or so, I just put all the dirty clothes in a suitcase. So easy.

 

Strange occurrence stateroom related…On Thursday, an at sea day, we had a bird appear on our balcony. It was small, larger than a robin, but small. It didn't move at all. I have no idea where it came from, it was alive, but it didn’t move or flinch at all. I told Authoreen and it got taken care off, but it was so bizarre. Where did it come from in the middle of the afternoon when out at sea? It must have been injured. Poor thing. But they were fairly quick to take care of it.

 

 

The ship: Overall, I really liked the decor of the Getaway. The ship was very, very clean. I didn’t see any signs at all of wear and tear. It has been well taken care of. I do think the casino layout is weird, with it being in so many areas, but it wasn’t an issue at all. As far as any smoke smell, it was minimal, if any. Randomly I would notice I’d catch a whiff if walking near by, but there certainly wasn’t any strong odors of smoke on this sailing. Then I started paying attention when I walked by and I didn’t see a single smoker in the casino. Not even one. The only smokers I saw were in the smoking area near the adult pool and outdoors at the Waterfront at the bars that allow smoking. We only we when to that bar once, I don’t even remember what it was, and then just avoided it and went to all other areas of the Waterfront at night. Those who choose to smoke had their space, they seemed to enjoy it, and it didn’t bother me a bit.

 

We really liked the touch screens and used them quite a bit. They are everywhere, you don’t have to search them out. We found them to be very user-friendly and helpful.

 

Elevators were good. At times we had to wait, but not terribly long. Stairs were great also and we used them frequently.

 

I did feel the movement more on this ship than I have on my two previous cruises. It didn't bother me or make me seasick, but anywhere towards the aft of this ship and I could really feel us hauling along. I even felt the vibrations in our stateroom and we were mid-ship, 10th floor. Again, didn't bother us, just something I noticed more. Of course this ship is also the biggest of any I have sailed, so it does make sense that I felt the movement more.

 

I did find the chandelier at 6,7,8 to be gaudy and the stairs too. That area seemed strange to me. Le Bistro across from Headliners especially so. It seemed odd, but it was all a non-issue. Did it affect my vacation? - not one bit.

 

I suppose I did miss having mid-ship elevators and a large atrium like I’ve seen on the other ships I’ve been on. I would say the first day or so I was searching for mid-ship elevators, but they don’t exist. I learned quickly and had no problem getting around the ship.

 

We really enjoyed the Waterfront. From all the reading I did I was looking forward to this area a lot, and it didn’t disappoint. I was very surprised by how many seats there were available, at all times of the day or night. I never couldn’t get a seat if I want to sit out there. Overall I was impressed by how much seating was available throughout the ship. There were many areas with seating and I really liked that. Yes, the ones in the atrium filled up quickly during shows, but there were always many open chairs in other areas of the ship.

 

We found the staff to be very, very friendly and welcoming. I joked that it was like going to the grocery store early in the morning - every single person you walked by greeted you. Almost to the point of annoying. Yes, we did pass staff that didn’t say Hi every time, but overall the staff made us feel very welcome. Kindness counts.

 

I can’t say the ship felt terribly crowded. Yes, there were a lot of people and it was busy and crowded, but never problematically. There were 5,000 plus people on one moving vessel - it’s not going to be desolate. It’s such a huge ship I think people were always well dispersed. The only day and area it was truly very crowded and hard to walk through or get a table was at O’Sheehan’s on Sunday during the NFL games. But we added to the crowds and enjoyed that the games were on so we were happy to be there.

 

The size of the pools is indeed ridiculous. But we aren’t ones to go on a cruise for a pool. Our kids enjoyed the waterslides very much and that was all they needed for a quick cool down. DH went on the blue drop slide and said it was fun. We all went on the other water slides. I can honestly say I didn’t once even walk in by the adult pool. It was always very crowded and not where I was looking to be. Everyone seemed to be having a good time though. I enjoyed Spice H2O when I wanted to get a little sun and relax. I went out there a couple of days with a book or magazine for an hour or so. Got a fruity drink, read, cooled off in the waterfall feature, read some more. Done.

 

The ropes course with the zip line and the rock climbing wall were absolute highlights for our family. I did the ropes twice, my kids and DH did it four times. I couldn’t even tell you how many times my kids or DH did the rock wall, they did it over and over again almost every day. The ropes was so unique, so thrilling and fun, not terribly scary. Even at 18 stories and while at sea. The staff that works in both of these areas were also stand-outs. They were so efficient. Yes, lines formed for going on the ropes, especially when they opened, but they got people geared up in no time flat and then when you were done they were incredibly efficient and moved on to the next person. I didn’t feel like it was rushed and I didn’t feel it was unsafe due to their speed, they just were darn good at their job and did it quickly. The plank was closed the first couple of days we were on the course due to the wind. My husband and kids did walk it later in the week, I didn’t get back on to try it, though I wanted to.

 

iConcierge app: Add me to the list of people who said it is unreliable and doesn’t work. Ok, it worked about 10% of the times we tried it for texting and calling. As others have said, it says you aren’t connected to the ship’s wifi, even when you are. I did use it frequently though for seeing what was going on. I also did use it immediately upon boarding, while the kids were eating, to snag a comedy reservation that I didn’t get online. To me, I probably got my $7.95 out of it for the reservation and the what’s going on feature. DH was less than happy he paid for it and it didn’t work.

 

What I expected out of it but it didn’t have were daily menus for the 3 main dining rooms. We had to walk to the restaurants in the afternoon to see the dinner menus for that night. I was disappointed in that. I also thought it would show me what reservations I had for dinners and shows. This would be something that surprised me the most - at no point in the entire cruise do you know what you have reserved or is there a quick place to see those reservations. I did indeed have them, because I did reservations ahead of time and they were printed on the cruise documents I printed at home. However, I booked the comedy show via the app when we got onboard and also a Grammy Experience time (which you don’t need reservations for, but you can make them.). I ended up going to the Box Office, and they have limited hours, and they printed out a schedule and highlighted what I had reservations for. Again, the employee there was very friendly and helpful, but I expected that info to be on the app and it wasn’t there. Seems like a feature that would be handy.

 

One more NCL change that doesn’t fall under this category, but is worth noting, is that they no longer are printing the Week at a Glance. I asked at Guest Services the first night and was told they are no longer printing them. The print out from the Box Office has all the shows (comedy, Illusionarium, Burn the Floor, Legally Blonde, Grammy, Howl, etc) for the week on it, but it doesn’t list any of the deck parties (Glow Night, etc) or any of the more popular atrium shows/game shows. Luckily I researched in advance and made our reservation with all that info from others who have shared it, but I really feel that is a valuable piece of information to have on the first day of a week long cruise.

 

 

This is getting obnoxiously long so I am going to post and then continue on with dining, shows, excursions, and other thoughts.

Edited October 24, 2015 by jmkrsail

[Honeytea31]

I'm really enjoying your review:). Me and my family will be on the Getaway in Dec.... Did your husband rent the car from Miami airport and was there a fee for the shuttle service to the port?:

[jmkrsail]

I'm really enjoying your review:). Me and my family will be on the Getaway in Dec.... Did your husband rent the car from Miami airport and was there a fee for the shuttle service to the port?:

 

My husband rented the car up in Orlando and we returned it in Miami, at the airport. All it took was flashing the receipt they printed us when we returned the car to the shuttle bus (a full-sized city bus, in reality) driver and we were on and it was totally free. Couldn't have been easier.

[jmkrsail]

Shows/Entertainment: Wow - did we see some great shows on this trip. We went to the 5:30 PM show in the Illusionarium the first night. This was a must for my DH and it didn’t disappoint. We got in line about 5:05 PM and we were seated in the second row, on the end, far right. Great seats!! After a summer of Watching America’s Got Talent as a family, my kids especially loved the magic acts and the mentalist. Especially the mentalist, because Mom and Dad were onstage for his act!! We were chosen to be a part of his act and it was amazing. We were up there for quite a while. Of course, this was the night I wore the dress I feared was a bit too short, but wore it anyway because it was the first night and “who was I going to see?” and “I’ll just be seated at a table for a couple of hours anyway”. Not. We had a blast and were honored to be chosen, it was a highlight of our trip for sure. The entire show was a highlight and I am very, very happy we chose to attend. (More on my meal in the dining review section.)

 

Burn the Floor was also fantastic, we all loved it. I even caught my 9 year old son with a big smile on his face. No doubt he liked the female dancers and all their shaking. He’s a sweet kid, this was quite new to him and he liked it. We all agreed it was great and worth going to.

 

We attended a 7 PM comedy show Monday night with the kids and it was very good. Again, after watching AGT this summer they thought it was so cool to see a comedian in person. The jokes were totally family appropriate, but not sure our kids thought it was especially funny because a lot was over their heads. Great show though, we all enjoyed it a lot. We intended to get to one of the 11 PM shows, but we didn’t make it to our reservation. DH and I did attend the comedy show in the theater at 9:30 PM on Tuesday night and were able to see both comedians and the opening act and we enjoyed that a lot.

 

The last night we made it to Howl at the Moon Dueling Pianos and they were fantastic. We loved this show, it was another highlight of our trip and next time we won’t wait until the last night to get to a show. There were 3 different guys rotating on the two pianos, they also played drums and guitar. One of the drummers from Burn the Floor came on stage for a few songs as well.

 

We fully intended to get to the Grammy Experience, but it just did not happen. We also didn’t go to Legally Blonde, by choice. I’m not a huge fan of musicals and from not reading the greatest of reviews I didn’t see the need.

 

We attended a handful of the game shows and presentations in the atrium throughout the week. Some with the kids (Family Feud), some on our own. They were all lots of fun to watch and we enjoyed them all. We never were able to get a seat downstairs in the white chairs of the atrium, but we did watch most of the shows from the horseshoe bar area in O’Sheehan’s and that worked out well.

 

We did not play Bingo or Deal or No Deal.

 

On Thursday we showed up at the very end of the 2 PM International Crew Talent Show as we were coming early to get seats for the Splash Academy Circus Show. We only saw the last two acts, but they were very good. And it was a full house, the theater was packed. Can’t comment on the entire show, but a full house in the theater must mean it was a decent show.

 

I did attend the Glow Party on Thursday night at 10:30 PM in Spice H2O with my two children. We enjoyed it a lot, we stayed for about 20 min. They thought it was neat to see everything glowing and to see such a huge crowd, to hear the DJ, to see JC Sanchez on stage, to get free glow wands. I’m not sure how long it lasted, but for us it was fun to check out and it was very kid friendly when we were there.

 

 

Shopping/Photos: Overall I was disappointed with the shops on board. I had no interest whatsoever in the watches or jewelry. I really wanted a Christmas ornament and was disappointed that they didn’t have one I liked. I also would have bought something Norwegian or Getaway themed and I just didn’t like any of it. They all had phrases about being “beachin” and I didn’t like them. I also only saw two people the entire cruise wearing anything from the shops that were themed so I don’t think they sell a whole lot. I love to shop, they missed out on some of my money due to lack of product and variety.

 

The photos - definitely nowhere near the quality or quantity of photos that you get on a Disney cruise. There just aren’t a lot of great photo worthy places to get photos taken on the ship. The photographers were set up in areas every night, but I wasn’t crazy about the backgrounds. We got a few family photos taken on the stairs, but I didn't like any of them so I didn’t buy one, but I wanted to. We did buy our embarkation photo, which has become tradition, so I am glad I liked ours. A major complaint I did have about the photos is that the majority of them are only in 8x10. There were a few cute ones of our kids and our family I liked and would have absolutely purchased if they were 5x7. But I didn’t like them enough at all to buy them in 8x10 for $25/each. I was so torn about buying the ones of my kids on the plank. They both were looking right at the camera and you could totally see we were at sea and they were neat pictures, but at $25/each I just couldn’t do it. $50 for two huge (8x10) pictures I wouldn’t display in my house. Make them smaller and charge $15 and I’d do it and put them in their rooms, but couldn’t pull the trigger for $50 total. I asked about getting the USB with photos on them or about smaller sizes, but the USB is if you buy a “few prints” he said and then it’s only of those same pictures, and smaller sizes of ones already printed in 8x10 weren’t an option either. At port if they take your picture outside those are a smaller print, with borders, and for $14.95. I wish we would have done those in St Thomas or Tortola, but I didn’t know they were smaller at the time. So, I planned to buy more photos, but in the end just got the embarkation one and one other. Better for my wallet, but it was a disappointment.

 

 

I’m gong to pause here yet again. Hoping to finish this up this weekend. Lots to say about our ports and dining.

 

Thanks for following along!

[Demonyte]

iConcierge app: Add me to the list of people who said it is unreliable and doesn’t work. Ok, it worked about 10% of the times we tried it for texting and calling. [...] To me, I probably got my $7.95 out of it for the reservation and the what’s going on feature. DH was less than happy he paid for it and it didn’t work.

 

 

Thanks for the detailed review. :)

 

Just so that there are no further misunderstandings, one doesn't need to pay the activation fee to use the reservation and daily schedule features in iConcierge. The fee is only required for activation of the call/texting features, otherwise the app is free to use.

Edited October 24, 2015 by Demonyte

[Honeytea31]

My husband rented the car up in Orlando and we returned it in Miami, at the airport. All it took was flashing the receipt they printed us when we returned the car to the shuttle bus (a full-sized city bus, in reality) driver and we were on and it was totally free. Couldn't have been easier.

 

I forgot to ask what transportation did you guys used to get back to the airport to go home?

[cardbucfan]

"As a mom, I feel you can’t beat a cruise. As long as all your luggage makes it to your final destination, you are set. 45 minutes or so of unpacking and organizing in the stateroom and your family is set for the week. Anything you may need throughout your day is only an elevator ride and a few steps away. No hauling around snacks and water bottles and a change of clothes and activities for when they are standing in line and on and on. Yes, you need to deal with some of that on excursion days - but those sea days are heavenly to me. If you are dressed, have on footwear, and have a key card in your pocket you are all set. (I should add I am married to a wonderful man, he is incredibly helpful with all aspects of parenting. But in our family, like many others, it is “mom” who packs the snacks, organizes the stateroom, deals with the kids clothes, etc. Truth be told, he is usually the one who does the actual “hauling” of all the stuff during outings on a non-cruise vacation.)"

 

Agree, agree, agree and why I always loved cruising with our kids when they were growing up!

[Cruise-mom]

Fantastic review, I'm trying to soak in all the great info here. I'm hoping there will be some improvement in the i-concierge app by the time we sail next June so I keep in contact with dd's.

 

Looking forward to hearing more about your trip :)

[Ladypeartree]

Enjoying your review, can't wait to hear about restaurants.

[NLH Arizona]

To the OP, thank you for your review. I had a chance to read what you have written so far today at lunch and I have to say this was probably the most well balanced review I've ever read. I can't wait to read more!!!

 

I also have to applaud you on your vacation attitude. I think the same way, not everything is perfect and things go wrong, but if you keep a good attitude and not dwell on a few bad things, your vacation will be great.

[helpmecruise16]

What a great review! We are cruising in January with three kids so I am really looking forward to reading the rest!

[SUNNYGIRL45]

Hi! I'm loving your review! My family is from MN too, mostly up north. We lived in Hastings for a few years when I was a kid.

 

I'm working on a plan to cruise Getaway with my son and his famiky, so I am thankful for your review! We love Disney , but this ship looks promising for the difference in price. 😊

[samiam0403]

Fantastic review so far, OP! I'm looking forward to the rest of your thoughts on the Getaway.

[pe4all]

Thank you for your review. Looking forward to more! Going on GA for NYE, and can't wait!

[allaboardwhosgoingaboard]

Thank you from one great mom to another!! :D Been looking for a review like this for a while. My DH and 12 & 10 year old's will be going this time NEXT year and cannot wait!! We previously sailed on the Pearl(8 &10) and in choosing between cruising or Disney World(6 & 8), my kids LOVED cruising far better! Can't afford DCL, but NCL really does a great job thinking of the kids. I know they are dropping Nickelodeon this Jan., but that really isn't what we would be going for anyway. Thanks SO much for details on what your little ones did with you. You sound a lot like us in that the kids are mainly with us, though they will spend a little bit of time at the Splash Academy I am sure.

 

I do have a ? ... did you take the kiddos to Howl at the Moon, and if not, did you feel it was family friendly? I may have more ?'s, but that is it for now as I know you are detailed and I will wait and see what else you write! You are doing an awesome job and it is much appreciated!! :)

[jmkrsail]

Yikes! Didn't think it would take so long to write my review. But I'll keep it going. Here is a bit more..

 

Splash Academy: Wow. Amazing. Fantastic. This was absolutely a family vacation for us, but an unexpected bonus for all 4 of us was how awesome the staff and the programs at Splash Academy were. Our kids LOVED it. We did a Disney cruise when the kids were 4.5 years old. They didn’t love it. The activities weren’t near as organized. Granted now our kids are school-aged and have different interests and I won’t compare the two programs because that isn’t a fair comparison, but I can say that SA was a huge hit.

 

I am a teacher and work in an elementary school. The counselors at SA were so impressive. I liked that they were older, not college-aged. I guess it just gave me the impression that they really wanted to be here, that this was a career to them, not just an experience. Check-in and check-out procedures never wavered, it was done with security, but done very quickly and efficiently. Checking in required each child’s stateroom card and the card of the adult checking them in. Checking out required each child’s card again, the card of the adult picking them up and a password.

 

I had hoped our two 9 year olds (boy/girl twins) would enjoy the clubs. We had dinner reservations two nights and I was hoping to have some other free time with my husband. What I didn’t expect was how often our kids asked to go, they asked what they were doing that day and that night in the clubs, they wanted to know how long they could stay and they certainly did not ever want to be picked up early. It was a win-win for everyone. They made new friends, they learned new games, they were so active in there - it was everything they love. My husband and I had hours each night to enjoy ourselves and even a couple of hours here and there during the days. We don’t live near family so we pay a small fortune to have a babysitter and date nights at home. We make a point to have date nights, but it’s usually a couple of errands and dinner. This was so much better!

 

When we picked our kids up there were so excited and happy. When we’d get near the entrance of the Splash Academy all we could hear was squeals of excitement coming from there. I am not even sure what our kids did every day, but there were so many organized activities to keep them busy. Yes, one afternoon they went for a bit and it was movie time. There is also some time for video gaming. But overall, for the times our kids were there, it was organized and thematic FUN! Themes included spy night, super heroes vs villains, island survivor, pirate night, Hollywood night, wacky night, pajama night, cowboys in outer space, and of course, the circus activities. (Note: our third grade 9 year olds weren’t into pirates, super heroes, etc back when they were pre-schoolers - don’t let the theme deter them away. I didn’t get the impression at all that it was “babyish” in their level for the 6-9 year olds.)

We never kept them past 10:30 PM. Their days were long enough, we did want to get them to bed by 11PM, already 2.5 hours past their usual time. Sign-up sheets for the late evening hours never had many names on it so I don’t think it was used too often, but a nice option to have.

 

 

The circus, AKA, Splashtacular Extravaganza. This is a show put on Thursday, the last sea day, at 3 PM in the theater. It is a chance for all of the children who’ve attended the Splash Academy that week to be a part of a performance for their parents. We loved it. Our kids really enjoyed being a part of it and picking an activity they wanted to do, and we, of course, loved seeing our kids on stage with their peers, having fun. Our daughter was a clown and our son was a plate spinner. The show lasted about an hour. Every kid gets a chance to walk on stage at the start of the show, do be a part of one act, and to be on stage for the finale. We were impressed with the enthusiasm of the staff, how encouraging they were to the performers of all ages, and how patient they were while managing hundreds of kids.

 

*Small world moment to comment on: One week after our cruise my daughter and I were walking out of a store in the mall where we live in SE Minnesota. My daughter was behind me and did this funny shuffle and was looking at a boy near the entrance of the store. I thought to myself, “Oh my gosh, she is checking out that boy over there!” Then she says, “Mom, that boy was on our cruise.” She recognized him from the Splash Academy. I did a quick look at the dad and noticed he was a little bit sun-kissed and tan so I went up to him and asked if they were just on the Norwegian Getaway. Yes - they had been! We visited briefly, there were from a town about an hour away from us. Isn’t that a crazy “small world” story?

 

 

Dining: I’ll be honest from the start, you tell me there is free food and I am happy. (My husband would argue that the food is “no additional charge” because the cruise was not free. So true.) I love nothing more than going out to eat. My dad is a chef, my parents owned a restaurant when I was a teen, and I’ve waitressed at very well-known, local (not chain) restaurants in Wisconsin. I won’t say I’m a “foodie”, but I do have high expectations when I go out to eat.

 

I’d say the food on this cruise exceeded our expectations. Please keep in mind I am writing this review more as a mom than as a forty-one year old adult cruiser. For the most part, if the kids were happy and fed, life was good. But I wanted to eat good food, too, while we were at it.

 

The Garden Cafe is impressive. Yes, it’s still a buffet. I know the pros and cons of buffet food, but the variety served here was much more than I ever expected. And the food was hot. And most of it was very fresh. The grill food was cooked right behind the buffet. So much of the food was prepared just behind where it was served. I loved the french fries. How basic, right? But they were crispy and hot and I ate them just about every day. I also liked the Asian food and ate that almost every day. And a salad. And whatever else caught my eye. I think my kids had ice cream two times a day.

 

We ate at the Garden Cafe every day for breakfast and lunch. Our kids were happy and fed instantly and that made all of us happy. Mom loves going out to eat, but Mom does not love going out to eat with hungry kids.

 

The croissants at breakfast were really, really good. I can’t testify to desserts as I am not a sweet tooth. I don’t think I had a dessert even once. Other than a couple of cookies or a scoop of butter pecan. But the crepes at dinner - yum! Those were a hit and so good. Of course I just kept is simple, plain crepe with powdered sugar on top. They also had banana, strawberry, blueberry, and nutella to choose from. And whipped cream.

 

Service in the Garden Cafe was also very good. Rarely did an empty plate sit on our table more than a minute or two. There were constantly workers clearing tables.

 

We ate primarily at busy times - 8 AM, 12 PM, and 6 PM - give or take. It was busy, but I never felt it was terribly crowded. I never waited more than two or three people deep for an omelet or crepe. We never once had to walk around looking for a table.

 

We ate at the Garden Cafe for two dinners and the food was very good then too. And lots of variety. We took the kids there a couple of other nights as well when we had reservations at specialty restaurants.

 

In addition to the Garden Cafe we also ate dinner at Savor, the Tropicana Room, Cagney’s, Le Bistro, and Illusionarium. I’ll continue my review of those venues soon.

 

Thanks for reading!

[jmkrsail]

I do have a ? ... did you take the kiddos to Howl at the Moon, and if not, did you feel it was family friendly? I may have more ?'s, but that is it for now as I know you are detailed and I will wait and see what else you write! You are doing an awesome job and it is much appreciated!! :)

 

We didn't take the kids to Howl at the Moon. We did go, but without the kids. The Daily says from 9-11 it is for all ages, after 11 pm ages 18 and up. Unfortunately we didn't make it in there until the last night, so I don't have much experience to base on.

 

Thanks for the compliments. I am determined to finish, it's just taking a while.

[MBCruiser29]

Thank you for such a thorough review. We will be sailing in one month with our three kids ages 3,7,8. Reading your review has been very helpful!

[Kmkub]

This is an excellent review. I hope you'll write more, because we go aboard inn 30 days! It's our first NCL cruise, so we're very excited.

 

Thank you for sharing. Did you visit the Thermal Spa? We're really looking forward to that.