Full Daily Detailed Review of the Getaway 11/29 - 12/06

[emilyreid09]

Day 6 - Cozumel, Mexico

 

Today was our last port day and it was a later arrival than the rest. We woke up at 9 and had the complimentary room service of pastries and coffee. It was nice to have that in our room so we could eat a little and get ready for the day. The other menu items had a charge so we stuck with the free pastries. We docked in Cozumel around 10:45am and it was a little rainy out. We decided to get omelettes at the Garden Cafe while we waited for the sky to clear up. We got off the ship around 11:30am and the weather was opening up.

 

We had booked an excursion for parasailing at Mr. Sanchos Beach Club so we grabbed a taxi to get there. It was about 15 minutes and $9 per person. We had a really friendly cab driver who talked about baseball and how much he liked the Toronto Blue Jays.

 

Once we arrived at Mr. Sanchos and went to sign in for the excursion they told us some bad news. Because of the rain earlier in the morning the parasailing had been cancelled. I was meant to pay the remaining $100 upon check in but since it was cancelled I got to keep it.

 

We decided to stay and use the free beach at Mr. Sanchos for a while. The beach was quite nice and they had a bar, pool, water toys, and more. There was also the all inclusive side with more attractions but we didn't feel the need to pay when we had a perfectly good beach on the free side.

 

We tanned and took photos and went in the water a few times over the course of a few hours. It was super hot and quite sunny so it was nice to just lounge on the beach.

 

Around 2:15 we decided to head back to the pier shopping area. Again we got a cab that was $9 per person and took about 15 minutes to get back. Once we were at the shopping area by the cruise terminal we walked around and looked at all the shops. They had a lot of neat stuff and so many football items. There were ponchos, hats, shot glasses, shirts, and more with every NFL team. My dad is a huge Dallas Cowboys fan so I checked out a lot of things but didn't see anything I liked.

 

One of the last places we walked by was a spray painting kiosk where they designed mini wooden surfboards with all kinds of designs. Some were Disney characters faces, some beach scenery, and of course some NFL ones. I decided to get one for my dad for Christmas and got a custom made one with the team name and logo and a football with my family's last name on it. We got to watch them make it and it was fascinating to see. They spray painted with some stencils and some freehand and I got to see it turn into an amazing piece of art in just a matter of minutes. It probably took about 15 minutes in total and I saw the entire process from start to finish. If you ever stop in Cozumel you have to check this place out!

 

Once I had that done we had pretty much checked out all shops so we decided to head back towards the boat. Once we got on we had a quick snack at O'Sheehans before going back to our room to shower and get ready for the evening. We grabbed a few drinks to take back and had some nice relaxing time to ourselves. We also bought a future cruise credit so I am very excited to start planning next trip!

 

Around 7:30 we were ready for dinner and went to the Tropicana Room. BF had roasted turkey and he really liked it. I had the vegetarian lasagna roll and it was alright but once again I was a little disappointed in the vegetarian options. There are quite a few seafood ones but I don't eat any meat so that's a harder issue to work around with the menus that are offered. It was chocolate night so we had two chocolate desserts. The hazelnut milk chocolate bar was extremely rich and we only managed a bite or two each. The Nutella creme de pot was incredible and I loved it.

 

After dinner we went to get a drink at the Atrium bar and watched the Dancing with the Getaway Stars show. I had a Dirty Banana and it was delicious! The show was really good and both BF and I enjoyed it a a lot. I have read about it on CC before but seeing it for myself really proved how right everyone was. It was entertaining and funny and we had a good time just sitting and watching it.

 

We had a comedy show booked for 11pm but the boat was pretty rocky and we weren't feeling quite up to it so we skipped it and hoped to rebook one for tomorrow.

Edited December 16, 2015 by emilyreid09

[backtodavis]

Thanks for taking the time to write this amazing review! I am really enjoying it. I am leaving for the same itinerary in a few weeks. I notice you didn't book any cruise excursions, and seemed to make out just fine on your own. I am thinking about doing that but am a little nervous being my first cruise. I think I might book something for Ochos Rios, but that's all. May I ask how much the surf board was? This sounds like something my son in law would love and trying to budget some things I am really interested in. Thanks again and looking forward to the rest!

 

P.S Thanks also for posting the dallies!

[emilyreid09]

Day 7 - Final Sea Day

 

Today was our final sea day on the ship and I was so sad that this trip was ending. It's been incredible so far and I didn't want it to be over.

 

We slept in pretty late and went to breakfast at O'Sheehan's. I was hoping for real scrambled eggs but they were the buffet ones so I didn't eat much. I definitely need to give up on scrambled and always get the fresh omelettes.

 

After our late breakfast we went up to the highest sun deck at the front of the ship and spent a few hours up there. It was pretty windy at points but the sun was shining and we got about two hours of perfect tanning time.

 

When the poolside Olympics were starting we decided to go down to the Waves pool bar and grab a drink to watch. It was a pretty entertaining show again and the synchronized swimming was funny. There's one guy who has participated in everything on the ship, a New York City fireman, and he was fun to watch in the Mr. Sexy Legs competition, Dancing with the Getaway Stars, and the poolside Olympics.

 

Just after that show ended we went in to Garden Cafe for a little snack. Then we headed to Sugarcane for a raspberry guava mojito. We took those to our room to sit on the balcony but it was raining by then. We had good timing to leave the pool deck before the rain and it seemed like it would be passing shortly so we relaxed in our room while the rain cleared up.

 

The rain took longer to clear up than we thought so we decided to stay inside and get something from Carlo's Bakery. We tried a cannoli and some sort of chocolate dipped pecan cookie. They looked incredible but they only tasted so-so. I had higher expectations for such a famous bakery but it was still good to try it and say that I did. We sat down on the waterfront deck off the Sunset Bar and had a drink out there while we watched the rain come down.

 

We headed back to our room to get dressed for dinner and went to Savor. I had a delicious potato gnocchi dish with bechamel sauce and mushrooms that were really good. That was the vegetarian option for the night and I was really pleased with it. I give that one a 10/10. BF had the meat lasagna and it was huge. It was so tall stacked with meat inside and he gave it a 7/10. For dessert we tried the bananas foster which was alright, and the warm chocolate volcano which was our favourite dessert of the week. It's delicious and everyone should have it at least once in the cruise, probably more like once a night!

 

We finished dinner at 6:50 and there was a comedy show starting at 7pm so we went right there and got some seats. The comedian was Eric Shwartz and he had some funny bits and good parody rap songs. It wasn't as funny as we had hoped and the one we missed yesterday was Clinton Jackson so I would have liked to see him instead.

 

After the show we went to our room to put our luggage out for debarkation in the morning. We headed back down to O'Sheehan's and got a drink to watch the Perfect Couple game show. I had also read about this one being good but I imagined it totally different. I thought it would have questions but it was all funny little tasks. Many of them were quite sexual (which made them hilarious to watch) but I was surprised the show was listed as PG-13. There was a balloon popping Kama Sutra one that was really funny and the lemon in the pants (over the bridge) was also great. The whole show was very entertaining and we enjoyed watching it a lot. Everyone including us and the contestants was laughing out loud the entire time and it was a good way to finish the trip with a funny show.

 

Once that one ended we were just in time to grab one more drink and go to the final Getaway Farewell Variety Show in the theatre. We got on the kiss cam while the show was starting and I have never been on one of those so I liked that! This show had a little snippet of the Latin music group, Legally Blonde cast, Burn The Floor, and some speeches from the cruise director Armen. It finished off with the Norwegian family song and a thank you to all the cast and crew members on board. Armen had all the housekeeping and kitchen staff and the captain, head officers, chefs, and more all come down the theatre aisle and gather on the stage for the finale. It was really great to see all the smiling crew members and I really appreciate all they did to make this trip a wonderful one. It was a really fun finale show for the week and both BF and I enjoyed it. It made me a little sad but also excited to book another cruise!

 

We left the show on a high note and I think it was a great way to wrap up the trip. I am definitely not ready to go back home and back to reality but at least I have great memories to keep forever.

[emilyreid09]

Thanks for taking the time to write this amazing review! I am really enjoying it. I am leaving for the same itinerary in a few weeks. I notice you didn't book any cruise excursions, and seemed to make out just fine on your own. I am thinking about doing that but am a little nervous being my first cruise. I think I might book something for Ochos Rios, but that's all. May I ask how much the surf board was? This sounds like something my son in law would love and trying to budget some things I am really interested in. Thanks again and looking forward to the rest!

 

P.S Thanks also for posting the dallies!

 

 

Glad you are enjoying the review! The surfboard was amazing - I will post photos of it soon too but it is fantastic for a gift! It was supposed to be $45 but my BF talked the guy down to $35 so try that!

 

We only booked the Wave Runner excursion on GSC and it was amazing. The rest of the trip we planned ourselves and it went really well! I'd be happy to answer any questions you have, I kept all my planning notes of where we went and how much everything cost/how long it took. :)

[emilyreid09]

Day 8 - Going Home

I hated waking up and knowing that our trip was over. I had a great week on the Getaway and was sad to leave the fun, sun, food, crew, and the ship behind. We had one last breakfast at Savor and went back to our room to shower and pack up our carry on bags. Our luggage was tagged with brown tags last night to indicate that we were getting off at 9:45 and had a transfer to the airport. Our colour was called early and we walked off the ship with our carry on bags in just a few minutes. We went through the luggage hall and spotted our bags quickly and waited in the security line for only about ten minutes. Once we were out we saw the kiosk for airport transfers, showed our letter from NCL, and hopped on the bus. It took about 15 minutes to get to MIA and we were dropped off at the Air Canada terminal. We checked in for our flights and had about 5 hours to wait so we walked around a little, had lunch, and waited to board our plane. I was really getting sad that the trip was over but knowing we have that future cruise credit is definitely cheering me up! I can't wait to plan another cruise and will definitely be booking with NCL soon!

 

 

Overall recap:

This was a fantastic trip and a great way to have our first vacation together. It was my second cruise and his first, and I think we both had a wonderful week of fun in the sun.

 

BF says that overall he felt it was extremely organized and in his exact words "Wow, Norwegian has their sh*t together". :) BF says that from start to finish everything ran smoothly - dinners, drinks, tendons, activities, shows, everything was really well done and nothing left him disappointed. For a first time cruise and first time with NCL he was pleased with the whole thing and is excited to book our next one!

 

I had been on the Epic two years ago (to the exact day!) and I had a little bit of expectations from that and from reading CC before going. I would say that nothing left me disappointed except the vegetarian offerings at dinner, but everything else was just what I remembered from last time or imagined from reading CC. The crew was great, the entertainment was great, and the ports were sunny and full of beautiful beaches.

 

Our room was 9736 and had the angled balcony. I knew it would be a little bigger but we were both impressed to find a lounger out there. It was definitely a perk and I probably wouldn't have spent any time out on a regular balcony but this one had extra room so we used it.

 

Food:

I would give the food an overall 6.5/10 because I loved the made to order omelettes, some desserts and dinners were incredible, and most things were pretty good. The only loss on points is the vegetarian options which were quite limited. There are a lot of food options at every restaurant but only one or two veggie ones per day. They do have a lot of seafood ones but I don't eat any meat so sometimes I did have a tricky time finding something to eat.

 

A few things I really loved were the warm chocolate volcano dessert, hash browns at breakfast, the Carmel sauce an the ice cream station, and pretzel rolls. The gnocchi on the last night was great and made to order omelettes were great.

 

BF gives the food overall a 8/10 and loved the roasted chicken, the made to order omelettes, and dinner at the Illusionarium on the first night. He said they missed the mark on the steak at the main dining room and he was disappointed that they even had the powdered eggs at breakfast.

 

UBP:

We both had the UBP from a booking promo and we were thrilled that we didn't have to pay for it. I don't think I would pay the price to have the h limited drinking but to get it in a promo was perfect. We both enjoyed trying new drinks and definitely had more than we would have if we were paying for each one. At $10 per drink it's pretty pricy to pay for them individually or to get the $69/day package so either way we were much better off with the promo.

 

We never waited longer than 5 minutes at a bar and those were only at the super crowded ones or during a show in the atrium. Even then the wait times were no problem. We had to sign for some drinks and other they didn't even show a receipt so that seems to depend on the bartender or something. We did pay tax on drinks in Miami on Day 1 but I think for 6 drinks we paid something silly like $4.70 total. And that was off my $50 on board credit so it was no big deal. I did buy a souvenir glass and that was obviously not included but for everything else we ever ordered the drink package covered it. I think we got charged a tax at Great Stirrup Cay actually for the few drinks we had there but again it was about $4 for 6 drinks so it wasn't an issue at all.

 

We also ordered multiple drinks at a time, ordered for each other with only one card, and never had any problems with that. It seemed pretty simple and I was impressed with how smoothly it went judging by how many other people had the package too.

 

Ports:

We both loved the private island at Great Stirrup Cay. That felt like a vacation one hundred percent with the perfect water, beach chairs, bars, and activities. We went on a wave runner tour here and that was really incredible. The drinks at the Bacardi bar were really yummy too!

 

Jamaica and Grand Caymen were beautiful and we liked the beaches there. Jamaica felt a little unsafe to us but it was beautiful to see beached and greenery and mountains all in one view. Grand Caymen was nicer to walk around the town and we liked that one a little better.

 

Cozumel was really nice too and we enjoyed both the beach and town part here. We liked the shopping area here the most and it had a ton of options and neat little souvenir stores.

 

Crew:

Every single crew member we encountered on the Getaway was smiling, friendly, and really seemed to be enjoying being there. Our room steward was Frank and he was great. He kept our room perfect and always greeted us with a huge smile and said hello. The staff everywhere was awesome and I was very impressed with how happy they all were. They really do make that difference to make your day or meal that much better with a friendly greeting and big smile.

 

Our cruise director was Armen and he was amazing! He seemed to be in one hundred places at once because he showed up at every poolside show, atrium show, and even had a small spot in Legally Blonde. On the daily schedules he had morning events as early as 7am and was still going at the evening parties late into the night. He was super friendly and entertaining and really a great cruise director to make every activity a fun one.

 

The more I read my own review and look at my photos the more anxious I am to get back on another one. It was a whirlwind of 7 days of fun in the sun and I want to go back as soon as I can! :)

 

P.S. photos coming next!

[emilyreid09]

Here are some of the 2000 photos I took on this trip! :)

 

 

Rom 9736

 

 

View from the upper sundeck

 

Great Stirrup Cay

[emilyreid09]

The Getaway as seen from GSC

 

Slides

 

Classic chandelier photo

 

Yum.. Daydreamer's Daquiri and Mango Meltdown

Edited December 18, 2015 by emilyreid09

[Ontario cruise duo]

Enjoyed reading your review. As stated previously we were also on the ship the very same week. Maybe you need to post a picture of yourselves, to see if I remember seeing you or your significant other, as there were only approximately 4,200 passengers on board. Many people we talked to could not believe how many Canadians were sailing that week. You may have saw my DH if you were out and about on the pool/sun decks. He has a pretty big Toronto Maple Leaf tattoo on his right hand shoulder blade. That tattoo definitely sticks out on a cruise ship!:rolleyes:

[Cruise-mom]

I loved your TR & photos, thanks again!