Review: 10-31-15 Getaway 12 nights to Southern Caribbean

[Love2travel4]

I was lucky enough to sail on the Getaway for the special 12 night sailing to the Southern Caribbean (Aruba, Curacao, Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Kitts, St. Thomas). To sum it up...we had an amazing time. Here are my thoughts on our wonderful adventure. FYI....I do not have any dailies and I do not know how to upload photos: sorry.

 

This was my 13th cruise (9 NCL, 3 Carnival and 1 Princess). First Platinum cruise with NCL. I was traveling with my best friend. We have been on 5 cruises together.

 

Flew into Miami on Friday 10-30-15. Stayed at the Hampton Inn at Brickell. I see why this is Trip Advisor's #1 rated hotel! Got an upgrade to a mini suite, snacks (both for being Hilton Honors members...sign up, it's free!), 2 drink tickets and amazing continental breakfast. Best fruit selection I have ever seen. The metro mover is 2 blocks away. We took it to Bayside. Enjoyed some Cuban food along the water, took a speed boat ride to explore the bay, see the mansions etc. Enjoyed the hotel's roof top pool and hot tub. Beds were super comfy. Taxi from airport to hotel: $30. Taxi from hotel Miami port: $22.

 

We arrived at the port at 10:15am. Zipped through security and check in. We were in zone 4. Stepped on the ship at 11:30am. Headed straight to guest services to purchase Vibe Pass. More on that later.

 

SHIP: Overall, I thought the ship was in great condition. This was my first time on a "mega ship" so I wasn't sure what to expect. It is big! We were in cabin 10605..All the way Aft. It was a long walk..lol! Smoke...yep, I could smell it when I walked through the casino or anywhere in the atrium area and 678. I could not smell it inside Le Bistro, or in Headliners club. We never took an elevator, always did the stairs! Crew was very friendly. Yes, we did feel the rocking of the boat.

 

CABIN: Yep, it was small, very small. But, we managed to fit all of our belongings in all the books and cranny hiding spots. The bathroom was very roomy, and loved it haven't the icky shower curtain. Our room steward wasn't great, but wasn't awful. Had to ask for towels, ice. When we arrived the beds were put together, we had to separate them ourselves. Later in the week he did greet us more. I will say, these were the saddest looking towel animals ever...seriously..they belonged in the land of misfit animals. I did enjoy my Platinum Perks: wine, Godiva and chocolate covered strawberries.

 

SHOWS/ENTERTAINMENT: It was a pain to have to reserve tickets. Even though I had resend on-line, some shows were rescheduled. After standing in the box office line for 1 hr the first day, it was all taken care of. Legally Blonde: I have seen this before on Broadway. Their production was not up to par. I'm sorry, but the singers were not very good. Although we stayed, MANY people walked out. Burn The Floor: not for me. I was board with 90 minutes of the same dances. I will say, that I enjoyed their performance in the Tropicana much more. I loved seeing their different dance styles (swing, jazz etc). The Cat's Pajamas were wonderful and so talented. I did not enjoy the ventriloquist, I thought his jokes were borderline rude and racist. The theater was a nice set up, no bad seats. The comedians were funny. I actually liked the comic that warmed up the show before the comic came on. Having shows in the atrium was not a good idea. There is not enough room for everyone. The only one we went to was the Newlywed, Not so Newlywed show...showed up 45mins early.

 

I absolutely LOVED Howl at the Moon dueling pianos. We tried to watch them each night they played. Very talented and lots of fun with the crowd. The Illusionarium was fantastic. Totally worth the extra $5 for floor seats. Arrive very early. We arrived at 4:45pm and waited in line, but were seated in the 2nd row. Great seats and dinner was pretty good.

 

MISCELLANEOUS: The water slides were so much fun, even the drop down slides. Never a wait! The rips course was fun. I was scared but did it. Even walked the plank and zip line. Yes, the adult pool is ridiculously crowded. I never stepped a foot near it. But...50 feet away is the min pool...next to kiddie area. It was NEVER crowded! I sometimes had it to myself. Pool is salt water. Gym was crowded, decided to walk outside most days. I did attend a Zumba class one morning! Not too many shops on board, the same old ones. We enjoyed the Waterfront. Loved being outside, reading in the afternoon or evening and watching the water. I was disappointed that they only showed one movie outside. We love this and did manage to catch the one show.

 

VIBE: Totally worth $149 for the 12 days. Yes, could we have found chairs around the decks, yes. Not by the pool. Deck 16 or 17 had plenty. We liked knowing that we always had a padded lounger or bed to use. On windy days they do not low the umbrellas to be up. But...the breeze keeps you cool. The hot tubs were never crowded. I liked the fruit skewers, cold towels and water spritzers. One day they made us mini non alcoholic shots (like ice coffee). I will say, the 2 staff on duty only cater to the drinkers (we are non drinkers). Asking for towels when they ran out seemed to upset them. At times, people at the bar got very loud and borderline obnoxious, but most days were quiet enough to read or nap.

 

RESTAURANTS: We did not have the UDP or UBP.

 

For breakfast we ate once in O'Sheehan's. It was nothing special. The rest of the trip we ate at the buffet for breakfast. The eggs (scrambled) were awful the whole trip (I never ate them after day 1...too watery). There was everything you could want. I love their waffles and muesli. Yummy bran muffins too! Never any trouble finding a table and no lines!

 

Lunch: I found lunch to be the hardest meal to find the best food, again we didn't starve! We went to O'Sheehan's on embarkation. The pot pie was yummy. Their servings are huge! On sea days I would grab something quick from the buffet, usually pizza or a panini. My friend LOVED Flamingo Grill! She ate there every meal for their pulled pork, rice and peas. We both love their pastries. Both guava and cheese and the coconut. We stopped for our afternoon snack or post port snack daily. The ice cream at the buffet, both hard and soft serve, was good. They changed up the hard serve flavors daily. Had yogurt and sherbet too.

 

Dinner: We went to all 3 MDR. Although I liked the "formal" feel of Tropicana, it was just too loud with the dancers and singers. Of course, we were seated next to the floor. Our favorite was Taste. We would show up for dinner anywhere from, 5:30-7:00, never had a wait. All food was served hot and lots of choices. My favorite meal was the chicken parm. Enjoyed the chocolate extravaganza desserts. Buffet was always good for a quick dinner. I liked the crepe station at night, again, never a wait. We tried the complimentary noodle bar. This was just not my style of food, but rice was tasty. The only pay restaurant we tried was Le Bistro and that was because it was free with Platinum status. We both agreed, our worst meal. Not gross but not good. Maybe French is not our style? My friend did enjoy her mushroom soup and I liked the fondue. Both her chocked and my filet were very dry.

 

We were lucky weather wise. In 12 days we had one afternoon of rain on the ship (like 2 hours) and it down poured all day in St. Lucia. Here is a quick round up of our ports:

 

Aruba: took a taxi to Eagle beach ($13 for ride..we shared with 2 others). $10 for a chair. Beach was quiet and peaceful. I rented a jet ski for $60 for 30min.

 

Curacao: NCL tour "Yaught experience around bay and lagoon". So not worth $114. It was not a Yaught, but a house boat. Crew was not friendly or helpful. No microphones to broadcast the info on the tour. We sat up front and heard nothing. The scenery was beautiful. The snorkeling was VERY rough, and we are both experienced snorkelers.

 

Barbados: Private tour with Calabaza. Swam with sea turtles. Best excursion!

 

St. Lucia: although it poured all day, we had fun on a private tour with Spencer Ambrose Island tour.

 

St. Kitts: Private tour with Grey's Island Tour

 

St. Thomas: NCL tour: Beach escape to St. John. Snorkeled at Trunk Bay. A beautiful beach.

 

Hope this may have answered some questions, gave you some info. I will try to answer some questions as I check back over the next few days.

[cardbucfan]

Thanks for your review! That itinerary sounds great. We were on Getaway in August and I find your review to be very fair and balanced. Glad you had a great time!

[flarad]

Great info, thanks for posting.

[caseythegr]

Barbados: Private tour with Calabaza. Swam with sea turtles. Best excursion!

 

Great review thank you. We sail her next November. We have done the Catamaran Sailing with Calabaza and you're correct it is the best excursion we have ever done on any cruise. We are actually planning a trip to Barbados specifically to sail with them again.

Laurie

[Vric]

About the the vibe. Was it $149 by people ? Was it for a cabana?

 

I think it's usually $80 but don't know if it's higher priced for 12 days cruise?

 

Thanks

[Scotchick]

We were on the 12 day Southern Caribbean as well and just loved it. I am sure there are still some nooks and crannies (pubs and restaurants) that we never made it to. This ship has completely spoiled me from going on much smaller ships. I loved the variety and choices that come with a big ship.

 

Our inside cabin was small - much smaller than any other cabin we have been in. The main complaint that I have regarding the cabin is the complete lack of any drawer space. At the most we had 1/2 shelves to put our clothes on. At times, the pool deck area could get really noisy, but there are many other outside places to sit where we had much quieter music and peaceful days. Food was very good in the 3 main dining rooms. We also tried La Bistro where we both had the lamb chops. Believe me, my husband and I are experts when it comes to lamb and this was one of the best lamb meals we have ever had. We also ate at Cagney's and could not finish the rib eye steaks. They were absolutely enormous and my husband and I could easily have shared one - just too much food all round. We were completely over awed by the size and magnificence of this ship. It's quite beautiful to see. The entertainment was also way above any we have had on any other ship. It looks like Norwegian has managed to capture the bulk of the cruise ship business with these large ships, especially when they have special promotions like the dining package or the beveridge package. I really believe this ship has spoiled us from going on a smaller ship on any future cruises.

 

So other than a couple of complaints mainly about the size of the inside cabins, which we easily lived with, we were very satisfied by our latest cruise. You are all in for a treat when you sail on this great ship.

[Love2travel4]

Great review thank you. We sail her next November. We have done the Catamaran Sailing with Calabaza and you're correct it is the best excursion we have ever done on any cruise. We are actually planning a trip to Barbados specifically to sail with them again.

Laurie

 

I will be back in Barbados in March and may try to book it again! So much fun.

[Love2travel4]

About the the vibe. Was it $149 by people ? Was it for a cabana?

 

I think it's usually $80 but don't know if it's higher priced for 12 days cruise?

 

Thanks

 

This was $149 per person. No, we did not get a cabana. I think you're right for a 7 day cruise price. We used it every sea day for 2-5 hours. Having a private hot tub was awesome.

[Vric]

This was $149 per person. No, we did not get a cabana. I think you're right for a 7 day cruise price. We used it every sea day for 2-5 hours. Having a private hot tub was awesome.

 

 

Thanks. We are doing 12 days out of NY in 2 weeks. Not quite sure I want to spend $300 (for 2) for 7-8 days worth of vibe.. At $80 it was a nice value to us, but not sure about $150.

[Scotchick]

Thanks. We are doing 12 days out of NY in 2 weeks. Not quite sure I want to spend $300 (for 2) for 7-8 days worth of vibe.. At $80 it was a nice value to us, but not sure about $150.

 

I wouldn't pay $300 for Vibe. Plenty of chairs and beds around the ship, especially if you have quite a few ports to visit - hardly worth it. You are going to love this ship!!! :):):)

[Love2travel4]

I wouldn't pay $300 for Vibe. Plenty of chairs and beds around the ship, especially if you have quite a few ports to visit - hardly worth it. You are going to love this ship!!! :):):)

 

Agree...there was plenty of chairs to be found. But not always in a quiet place. I also liked having the option of sun or umbrella for shade. We figured it was a one time deal and gave it a shot, I wasn't sold at the beginning. My final thought, i would do it again if given the chance! I ended up loving it. Also, if you're a drinker (we are not), quick bar service.

[Cruise-mom]

Thank you for your review, I would love to do 12 days on Getaway but will happily settle for 7 next June :)