Getaway 10/24 sailing....just back

[devinelaw]

It's been awhile since I've posted a review, but learned a lot on this board before our sailing on NCLs Getaway, so want to return the favor. Took a lot of written notes, that turned to mental notes, that now are being brought back to mind, so I'll just kind of go from beginning to end of the journey and give you my impressions and if I can answer any questions I will. I also brought back all the material left in the cabin and will scan as soon as I can and post those along with pictures.

 

About me and my wife, we are 49 and 47 respectively, this was our 11th cruise since our 1st in 1999 and first on NCL....Carnival-5, Disney-2, Royal Caribbean-1, Holland America-1, Princess-1, and now NCL! We tend to cruise the newer ships when we book. And they are getting LARGER!

 

To try and remember as much as I can I'm just going to start at the beginning of the journey south and the return.

 

Day one we spent in Indianapolis with our 3mo. old grandson and to watch him for the day. That evening we checked into the Indianapolis Airport hotel and did park and fly, used points for the hotel, $30 to park for 10 days, shuttle service to airport and back to hotel to get car and head home. We flew a discount airline with a sunrise on the plane, nonstop flight to Ft. Lauderdale. Good pricing around $480 RT for two, with 3 checked bags. No sit in third seat either way so gave DW and I extra room 😀. Only wish we had know when agent would open the check in counter. We beat them to the airport by a couple of hours. Oh well, had breakfast and sat and waited. Landed in Ft. Lauderdale early afternoon and used a free rental day with a car rental agency in green and only had to pay the $7 airport fee. Drove to Walmart and picked up some last minute items, cokes and few snacks and then headed to our Miami hotel that we reserved on an online site, think Star Trek, where I got an awesome deal of over 50% off and got a hotel right by the Bayfront Park in Miami! Our room overlooked the harbor and bay and we could see the cruise ships at the Port of Miami. So we dropped the luggage, and didn't want to worry with the car the next day, as we had flown in a day early, so returned it to the Miami airport (yes, I know shortest car rental ever) and took the MetroRail to the MetroMover to Bayside Park. Costs....less than $5. And it was fun we enjoyed watching the view and the people. This vacation had no designated agenda we were just making plans as we went!

 

Shopped at Bayside, ate dinner, walked back to hotel, went to bed. Woke up at 5 am to see a Carnival ship pulling into port, went back to sleep and up two hours later getting ready. We checked out at 9am, took a short 10 min. can ride to the port ($15 including tip). Cabbie didn't load the luggage but left that for me, until port. Porter took our bags and we headed to cruise terminal B, we were two of maybe 10 people waiting for security to open. That happened about 30 min later and once you go through you quickly are directed to fill out forms about medical/sickness issues. BRING A PEN, ONLY 3 THERE. Anyway we hurried, and were first to check in and get to holding area!!!!!!! Yay, accomplished what we had sit out to do. Why, you ask.....we wanted a Vibe Beach Club Cabana, more about that later. So the NCL rep told us where the line would form to board and we staked out seats at that area. Then we WAITED..... Finally time was getting close and a younger family in Boarding Card Zone 1 decided they were going to be first and stood by the roped area, then a second couple came and did the same, so we jumped up, so first in but third in line. DW was having a cow, but I took it in stride, was not going to get crazy like everyone else was doing, obviously the lined stared growing quickly. In her defense, she really wanted the Cabana.

 

Side note here NCL was letting a lot of people on early through the rope, some priority, disabled, some I don't know, couldn't figure why they were getting on. This embarkation was the worst I've experienced. Other lines rope you through in an orderly fashion and you reach the ever present photographer who snaps the obligatory photo then you board into the atrium. Here when the time came they opened the rope and people literally started RUNNING! I mean really, I'm an attorney and thinking the liability! Anyway my DW is telling me go get that cabana so off I go get on the boat on 7th floor, stairs down to 6th to Guest Setvices and I'm like 8th in line. DW catches up and we wait our turn. Get to counter and Cabana's are gone 😥

 

Needless to say that ruined DW's mood, but we easily were able to get Vibe Beach Club passes, after almost deciding not to, but glad we did. I'll explain, obviously after getting up so early and being first not to get the prize disappointed her, but later that day and through the week we're glad we didn't. The Cabana's are nice but they do appear to restrict airflow. The chairs in Vibe outside the Cabanas are nicer. It was never ever crowded, except maybe a couple hours late on a sea day, and by crowded I just mean most but not all seats taken. The bar was fantastic as were the bar staff who came to know you. The Vibe Beach Club MADE this trip for us. We love to just lay in the chairs in the sun or shade and relax. We could sleep a little later not worrying about chair grabbing and searching. There was usually a great breeze which was nice and most times we jumped in the hot tub it was just the two of us. We also went up in the evening to the hot tub around 930 pm and had the whole place to ourselves!! DW was very HAPPY!

 

So back to day one, first thing after gaining the Vibe passes we went to the Garden Cafe and had lunch, we ate there for breakfast each day, lunch most days and for snacks late. Food typical buffet, some good some not so good but what you would expect. Sometimes crowded sometimes not, really depends on when you are there. One thing to remember, the front part fills up first and if you head back aft much more open at least the first few days until the secret gets out. Loved the soft serve ice cream, the scooped ice cream and the omelette station.

 

After eating, we went up to Vibe and checked it out. That's when my sweetheart realized maybe we didn't miss anything by not getting that $329 Cabana. Our passes were $99 pp. Went down to check the cabin and YAY, it was ready, we changed into our swimsuits we packed and brought in our backpack, with suntan lotion, forgot the flip flops though, in the luggage oops, and headed to the Vibe at 12:30 pm! Spent the rest of the afternoon there until the 3:30 safety drill.

 

Went to drill then hit the cabin 9320 Aft Balcony, AWESOME CABIN, balcony measures by my foot, 10x17 of my feet which are right at 12" give or take. Two lounge chairs, two sitting chairs and a table. That night we toured the ship, took pictures and had dinner in Savor. I'll now transition to food, we ate dinner in Savor, Tropicana, Moderno and O'Sheehans. Food was mixed, some good dishes, some ok, some not so good. In general we usually ordered the chef special for the evening and it was really good. Steaks were very tender. Soup and salad honestly not impressed. Desserts the same, chocolate warm volcano was good, most seemed dry, not moist. Moderno very good. Worth the money. O'Sheehans loved the endless ribs. Chicken pot pie and fish and chips, eh. Chicken wings, good but messy. Prime Rib was very good. We noticed the menu most items kept repeating and didn't change much. Thinking that's how they try and get you into speciality dining options. We prepaid Mederno, but dice decided that that would be it and we'd stick to the free choices and we didn't go hungry, found enough we liked to more than get us by.

 

Saw two comedy shows, they were good, some good jokes, some flat ones. Did some browsing in the shops. Surprised that NCL doesn't have more moderate priced stuff, souvenirs, tshirts like other lines. Didn't hit casino or any other shows, as I said we were more about relaxing.

 

St. Thomas did the St. Thomas sights and Magen's Bay, 2 hours beach time, picture taking stops like Drakes Seat, Blackbeards Castle, then we took the walk down to downtown, walked over to see the St. Thomas Synagogue and back a few blocks to a waterfront diner for some cool shade, cold water and slice of key lime pie. Bought a few tshirts and a charm for my DW and headed back to Havensight, went through a few more shops then back onboard and to the Vibe! Our 5th time in St. Thomas.

 

Tortola, did the Cane Garden Bay Beach Break, 3 hours at beach, picture stops again and back on boat and to the Vibe! Really enjoyed both beaches. First time in BVI.

 

Nassau, got off ship and did some shopping close to port. Back on and yep, to the Vibe!

Second time in Nassua.

 

The Getaway was a lot of fun and we did really like the Vibe. Without the Vibe I think we wouldn't have had such a positive thought of NCL, the shipped was packed. You couldn't tell inside or in the evenings, but during the day after island stops or sea days it was shoulder to shoulder in the outside decks by the pool and water slides. Other large ships we've been on have not seemed as crowded even though they are large and full. This one isn't that way, thinking it has to do with design of those areas and the lack of a second pool. Anyway, we had our retreat and it was blissful.

 

So much so, we decided that knowing it takes a little effort of being early and first in line, we would do the ship again and do the Vibe. So we bought the advance cruise credits and pre booked the Getaway for Western Caribbean next Fall and booked the Escape the year after. Just got to get those Vibe passes! Already got the aft balcony cabins on both.

 

So there you have it from a cruiser, but first time NCL cruiser. Hope it was helpful and will try to upload the written material and some pics in the next few days! 😎🌴🌴🐬🐢🐚🐠

[Sand and Seas]

How was Cane Garden Bay? Did it take long to get there and what kind of transportation? We had visited that beach about 15 years ago and loved it but took a crazy taxi ride to get there:eek:

 

Thanks for your review!

[ejnsb]

Excited to hear your review as we will be in 9920 in March and it looks to be the same layout and balcony size was 9320. Hoping you will post some photos of the balcony.

[devinelaw]

Cane Garden Bay was awesome. We rented two beach chairs, $10 cash. Water was a little colder than we thought it would be but once in it it felt nice. Couple of little shopping areas and bars right on beach. We went early and it was less crowded, more people getting there towards end of our excursion. We did the 730am to 1130am. 30 minute drive each way and 3 hours at the beach. Being one of first groups we were in an air conditioned bus. Drive stopped at key areas and Windows slid open for awesome pictures. He was an amusing driver, kept us entertained. Drive was interesting on those roads but felt safe the entire way. We booked the beach break excursion on NCL.

[devinelaw]

Pics St. Thomas

[devinelaw]

More pics....

[devinelaw]

More pics again....

[devinelaw]

Cabin pics and view....

[escentialssoycandles]

It's been awhile since I've posted a review, but learned a lot on this board before our sailing on NCLs Getaway, so want to return the favor. Took a lot of written notes, that turned to mental notes, that now are being brought back to mind, so I'll just kind of go from beginning to end of the journey and give you my impressions and if I can answer any questions I will. I also brought back all the material left in the cabin and will scan as soon as I can and post those along with pictures.

 

About me and my wife, we are 49 and 47 respectively, this was our 11th cruise since our 1st in 1999 and first on NCL....Carnival-5, Disney-2, Royal Caribbean-1, Holland America-1, Princess-1, and now NCL! We tend to cruise the newer ships when we book. And they are getting LARGER!

 

To try and remember as much as I can I'm just going to start at the beginning of the journey south and the return.

 

Day one we spent in Indianapolis with our 3mo. old grandson and to watch him for the day. That evening we checked into the Indianapolis Airport hotel and did park and fly, used points for the hotel, $30 to park for 10 days, shuttle service to airport and back to hotel to get car and head home. We flew a discount airline with a sunrise on the plane, nonstop flight to Ft. Lauderdale. Good pricing around $480 RT for two, with 3 checked bags. No sit in third seat either way so gave DW and I extra room 😀. Only wish we had know when agent would open the check in counter. We beat them to the airport by a couple of hours. Oh well, had breakfast and sat and waited. Landed in Ft. Lauderdale early afternoon and used a free rental day with a car rental agency in green and only had to pay the $7 airport fee. Drove to Walmart and picked up some last minute items, cokes and few snacks and then headed to our Miami hotel that we reserved on an online site, think Star Trek, where I got an awesome deal of over 50% off and got a hotel right by the Bayfront Park in Miami! Our room overlooked the harbor and bay and we could see the cruise ships at the Port of Miami. So we dropped the luggage, and didn't want to worry with the car the next day, as we had flown in a day early, so returned it to the Miami airport (yes, I know shortest car rental ever) and took the MetroRail to the MetroMover to Bayside Park. Costs....less than $5. And it was fun we enjoyed watching the view and the people. This vacation had no designated agenda we were just making plans as we went!

 

Shopped at Bayside, ate dinner, walked back to hotel, went to bed. Woke up at 5 am to see a Carnival ship pulling into port, went back to sleep and up two hours later getting ready. We checked out at 9am, took a short 10 min. can ride to the port ($15 including tip). Cabbie didn't load the luggage but left that for me, until port. Porter took our bags and we headed to cruise terminal B, we were two of maybe 10 people waiting for security to open. That happened about 30 min later and once you go through you quickly are directed to fill out forms about medical/sickness issues. BRING A PEN, ONLY 3 THERE. Anyway we hurried, and were first to check in and get to holding area!!!!!!! Yay, accomplished what we had sit out to do. Why, you ask.....we wanted a Vibe Beach Club Cabana, more about that later. So the NCL rep told us where the line would form to board and we staked out seats at that area. Then we WAITED..... Finally time was getting close and a younger family in Boarding Card Zone 1 decided they were going to be first and stood by the roped area, then a second couple came and did the same, so we jumped up, so first in but third in line. DW was having a cow, but I took it in stride, was not going to get crazy like everyone else was doing, obviously the lined stared growing quickly. In her defense, she really wanted the Cabana.

 

Side note here NCL was letting a lot of people on early through the rope, some priority, disabled, some I don't know, couldn't figure why they were getting on. This embarkation was the worst I've experienced. Other lines rope you through in an orderly fashion and you reach the ever present photographer who snaps the obligatory photo then you board into the atrium. Here when the time came they opened the rope and people literally started RUNNING! I mean really, I'm an attorney and thinking the liability! Anyway my DW is telling me go get that cabana so off I go get on the boat on 7th floor, stairs down to 6th to Guest Setvices and I'm like 8th in line. DW catches up and we wait our turn. Get to counter and Cabana's are gone 😥

 

Needless to say that ruined DW's mood, but we easily were able to get Vibe Beach Club passes, after almost deciding not to, but glad we did. I'll explain, obviously after getting up so early and being first not to get the prize disappointed her, but later that day and through the week we're glad we didn't. The Cabana's are nice but they do appear to restrict airflow. The chairs in Vibe outside the Cabanas are nicer. It was never ever crowded, except maybe a couple hours late on a sea day, and by crowded I just mean most but not all seats taken. The bar was fantastic as were the bar staff who came to know you. The Vibe Beach Club MADE this trip for us. We love to just lay in the chairs in the sun or shade and relax. We could sleep a little later not worrying about chair grabbing and searching. There was usually a great breeze which was nice and most times we jumped in the hot tub it was just the two of us. We also went up in the evening to the hot tub around 930 pm and had the whole place to ourselves!! DW was very HAPPY!

 

So back to day one, first thing after gaining the Vibe passes we went to the Garden Cafe and had lunch, we ate there for breakfast each day, lunch most days and for snacks late. Food typical buffet, some good some not so good but what you would expect. Sometimes crowded sometimes not, really depends on when you are there. One thing to remember, the front part fills up first and if you head back aft much more open at least the first few days until the secret gets out. Loved the soft serve ice cream, the scooped ice cream and the omelette station.

 

After eating, we went up to Vibe and checked it out. That's when my sweetheart realized maybe we didn't miss anything by not getting that $329 Cabana. Our passes were $99 pp. Went down to check the cabin and YAY, it was ready, we changed into our swimsuits we packed and brought in our backpack, with suntan lotion, forgot the flip flops though, in the luggage oops, and headed to the Vibe at 12:30 pm! Spent the rest of the afternoon there until the 3:30 safety drill.

 

Went to drill then hit the cabin 9320 Aft Balcony, AWESOME CABIN, balcony measures by my foot, 10x17 of my feet which are right at 12" give or take. Two lounge chairs, two sitting chairs and a table. That night we toured the ship, took pictures and had dinner in Savor. I'll now transition to food, we ate dinner in Savor, Tropicana, Moderno and O'Sheehans. Food was mixed, some good dishes, some ok, some not so good. In general we usually ordered the chef special for the evening and it was really good. Steaks were very tender. Soup and salad honestly not impressed. Desserts the same, chocolate warm volcano was good, most seemed dry, not moist. Moderno very good. Worth the money. O'Sheehans loved the endless ribs. Chicken pot pie and fish and chips, eh. Chicken wings, good but messy. Prime Rib was very good. We noticed the menu most items kept repeating and didn't change much. Thinking that's how they try and get you into speciality dining options. We prepaid Mederno, but dice decided that that would be it and we'd stick to the free choices and we didn't go hungry, found enough we liked to more than get us by.

 

Saw two comedy shows, they were good, some good jokes, some flat ones. Did some browsing in the shops. Surprised that NCL doesn't have more moderate priced stuff, souvenirs, tshirts like other lines. Didn't hit casino or any other shows, as I said we were more about relaxing.

 

St. Thomas did the St. Thomas sights and Magen's Bay, 2 hours beach time, picture taking stops like Drakes Seat, Blackbeards Castle, then we took the walk down to downtown, walked over to see the St. Thomas Synagogue and back a few blocks to a waterfront diner for some cool shade, cold water and slice of key lime pie. Bought a few tshirts and a charm for my DW and headed back to Havensight, went through a few more shops then back onboard and to the Vibe! Our 5th time in St. Thomas.

 

Tortola, did the Cane Garden Bay Beach Break, 3 hours at beach, picture stops again and back on boat and to the Vibe! Really enjoyed both beaches. First time in BVI.

 

Nassau, got off ship and did some shopping close to port. Back on and yep, to the Vibe!

Second time in Nassua.

 

The Getaway was a lot of fun and we did really like the Vibe. Without the Vibe I think we wouldn't have had such a positive thought of NCL, the shipped was packed. You couldn't tell inside or in the evenings, but during the day after island stops or sea days it was shoulder to shoulder in the outside decks by the pool and water slides. Other large ships we've been on have not seemed as crowded even though they are large and full. This one isn't that way, thinking it has to do with design of those areas and the lack of a second pool. Anyway, we had our retreat and it was blissful.

 

So much so, we decided that knowing it takes a little effort of being early and first in line, we would do the ship again and do the Vibe. So we bought the advance cruise credits and pre booked the Getaway for Western Caribbean next Fall and booked the Escape the year after. Just got to get those Vibe passes! Already got the aft balcony cabins on both.

 

So there you have it from a cruiser, but first time NCL cruiser. Hope it was helpful and will try to upload the written material and some pics in the next few days! 😎🌴🌴🐬🐢🐚🐠

 

 

Just out of curiosity, if you had a huge Aft balcony why did you feel the need to purchase Vibe passes? There is no pool and just two hot tubs. Was it the having a bar handy appeal?

[devinelaw]

Oh yeah the view

[ejnsb]

Thanks for the great photos

[devinelaw]

Vibe Beach Club

[devinelaw]

[devinelaw]

Just out of curiosity, if you had a huge Aft balcony why did you feel the need to purchase Vibe passes? There is no pool and just two hot tubs. Was it the having a bar handy appeal?

 

 

Good question.....We enjoy the balcony, it's great for relaxing, the views but not always sitting in the sun, so we wanted the Vibe Beach passes to have a place to relax and get a sun tan. The shower area was handy for cold water rinsing, and we thoroughly enjoyed the hot tubs, especially late at night when we were the only two up there. Actually during the day, most times in the hot tubs it was just us. And the cool breeze felt good getting out of the hot tubs. The chairs and sun beds are cushioned and awesome, plenty of fluffy beach towels, they bring around cold wet wash rags, fruit and spritz you with cold water. The bar was great, left my card and opened a tab, we had the UBP package and loved the frozen drinks[emoji484] And, last but not least we always knew we had a chair in a beautiful and picturesque place. So for the $198 it was well worth having the experience of both a cabin with a great balcony and view and a private beach club paradise to sunbathe, play and relax. [emoji41]. Also the main pool was PACKED standing room only. No way you could be in the pool and hot tubs there without basically being glued to someone else. Literally, I know a lot of people were having fun, but a lot looked packed, hot and miserable too.

Edited November 3, 2015 by devinelaw

[devinelaw]

Dailies and all other printed material will be added later tonight, or first thing in the morning......

[escentialssoycandles]

Patiently waiting the dailies and menus! 18 days for me!

[devinelaw]

Welcome aboard daily

[devinelaw]

Day 1 daily

[devinelaw]

Day 2

[AZ ParrotHead]

Pics St. Thomas

 

Great review!

 

One note: Pic 1 is Tortola:)

[devinelaw]

Day 3

[devinelaw]

Day 4

[devinelaw]

Day 5

[devinelaw]

Day 6

[devinelaw]

Day 7