Getaway - Feb 14th-21st with Kids: Review

[LakeWinniMom]

A little background. We are myself and DH both under 40 traveling with our DD (12) and DS (8). This was our 1st family cruise (DH and my 2nd). We had a Mid Ship Balcony on deck 10 which had an angled Balcony (10842). Due to last years horrible Boston winter we decided to take no chances and arrive 2 days early on Friday.

 

Our trip in was uneventful which was great. The airport was busy, but with it being MA Feb vacation that was to be expected.

 

We arrived around 230 and got a taxi quickly from the airport to our Miami Beach hotel. We stayed at the Four Point Sheraton right on the beach. The hotel was great and had a pool as well as private beach access.

 

We wanted to try the Latin food of Miami so we walked from our hotel to the Latin Café, which was only about a 15-20 min walk. The restaurant itself is very unassuming and filled with many locals. The menu was in Spanish (with some brief English descriptions) and the wait staff mainly spoke Spanish. We were happy with our meal and it was just what we were looking for: good local no frills food.

 

The next evening we tried another Latin restaurant on Lincoln Mall Rd. This area is full of shopping and restaurants and definitely worth the cab ride to get over there. The food at Havana was also great.

 

Now it was time to calm the butterflies and get some sleep because the next day we would board the NCL Getaway for 7 glorious days :)

[swaterbury]

Getting ready to board the Getaway ourselves, this Sunday.

 

Will you please let us know - if you know :-) - which nights the Burn the Floor dancers performed in the Tropicana Room? If you kept your dailies, it should be on there.

 

Glad to hear you found a great Latin place! It always sounds strange to me when people talk about "trying Latin food", because I'm from Florida. It's assumed that everyone has tried it... lol

 

Look forward to the rest of your review!

 

Sara

[Clarea]

Looking forward to the review.

[Keith1010]

Enjoying the review.

Keith

[Karma_]

looking forward to hearing more

[Timbek2]

Can't wait to hear more!

[LakeWinniMom]

Getting ready to board the Getaway ourselves, this Sunday.

 

Will you please let us know - if you know :-) - which nights the Burn the Floor dancers performed in the Tropicana Room? If you kept your dailies, it should be on there.

 

Glad to hear you found a great Latin place! It always sounds strange to me when people talk about "trying Latin food", because I'm from Florida. It's assumed that everyone has tried it... lol

 

Look forward to the rest of your review!

 

Sara

 

We saw the Burn the Floor dancers in the Tropicana room on Days 5 & 6 (Thu and Fri). They only performed for 20 minutes, so make sure you get there 15 min or so before they are scheduled to start. We also saw them at the Welcome Aboard Show, their regular Show as well as at the Farewell Show. On our last sea day we had the opportunity to "learn" (I use that term loosely) some Jive moves with two of the BtF dancers.

 

Have fun!

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report.

[LakeWinniMom]

Embarkation Day

 

We got up early, grabbed a quick bite to eat and headed to the Port via taxi. Again the taxi was easy to come by and we thought it was reasonably priced. We had thought about using Uber, but with 4 people and 5 suitcases I think that would have required a bigger vehicle than the basic Uber which would price you right around, if not higher, than a taxi.

 

Off to the port. Our official board time we scheduled for was 10-1030. We arrived a bit before 10. We were awarded with Boarding group 2. Now this sounds great except apparently the previous cruisers did not want to end their vacation and Disembark so we were not able to board until about 45 minutes later than usual. We sat in the waiting area watching people still Disembarking probably up until 11. I was starting to get those ever-familiar complaints from the kids..."why did we have to get here so early"? Enjoy yourselves kids,we are almost there...

 

Anyway we boarded and went off to explore. There was much to explore and we did this until we were hungry. We ate in Savor for our 1st meal. And although it was slow, it was a good meal to begin our cruise.

 

On a note: We did have the UBP which we got as a perk when we booked last Feb. If we did not get this for free we would never have been able to justify the cost of it. We each had a couple of drinks a day, and although it was nice to not have to worry about the cost of them we just never drank the $64 a day or so to make it worth our while if we had to pay for it outright.

 

We had dinner at the Tropicana Room and attended the Welcome Aboard Show. Both were good.

[helpmecruise16]

Can't wait to hear about your week!

[Cruise-mom]

Great start, looking forward to the rest of your review.

[KarimaJ]

Another mom here. Can you tell me if the shows are appropriate for an 11 year old? We are a bit more conservative then most. On RC we felt that a couple shows weren't.

[LakeWinniMom]

Another mom here. Can you tell me if the shows are appropriate for an 11 year old? We are a bit more conservative then most. On RC we felt that a couple shows weren't.

 

Burn the Floor definitely has some sensual dances, even at the 2nd night at the Tropicana Room. The 1st night in Tropicana they did fun Swing dancing, that was much more appropriate. My kids enjoyed all the BtF shows though, and they do a great job.

 

Legally Blond has some sexual remarks or innuendos. My husband flashed me a couple of looks that read " why are we here with our 12 yr old!?". I believe all remarks and gestures went over her head though. My 8 ye old son wanted to see the show again, but we told him that we could only see it once as other will also enjoy seeing it, lol.

 

My suggestion would be to book the shows, but definitely attend the Welcome Aboard Show which will give you preview of both shows. Then you can decide whether to keep the reservations for the full versions.

 

Enjoy!

[Kfamilycruise]

Do you have any of the kids club dailies that you could post?

[allaboardwhosgoingaboard]

Thank you so much for your review! We will be taking our DD 12 and DS 10 this coming Oct. and have a corner balcony on the 12th floor as well. Sooo happy to see a review that will be similar! :) I am just like KarimaJ in that I have more of a conservative parenting style, but really thankful Legally Blonde is gone and the Million Dollar Quartet will be playing during our sailing! I've read some pretty unhappy people sailing on the Escape that will not be viewing that come May I believe. Unfortunately their loss is our gain! lol (sorry) We do not intend to use the kids programs that much I believe (kids love their parents too much:D), so I am interested in hearing how much you may have utilized that, or if you kept the kids mainly with you and how that all went. And, how was that balcony??? :cool: That I am stoked about, especially with the complaints about how small the standard ones are.

 

Thanks again for your review!

[LakeWinniMom]

Do you have any of the kids club dailies that you could post?

 

Although we registered the kids for Splash Academy our son only went for 1 hr of our 1st Sea Day. Our daughter never attended. I do not have any those Dallies.

[LakeWinniMom]

Thank you so much for your review! We will be taking our DD 12 and DS 10 this coming Oct. and have a corner balcony on the 12th floor as well. Sooo happy to see a review that will be similar! :) I am just like KarimaJ in that I have more of a conservative parenting style, but really thankful Legally Blonde is gone and the Million Dollar Quartet will be playing during our sailing! I've read some pretty unhappy people sailing on the Escape that will not be viewing that come May I believe. Unfortunately their loss is our gain! lol (sorry) We do not intend to use the kids programs that much I believe (kids love their parents too much:D), so I am interested in hearing how much you may have utilized that, or if you kept the kids mainly with you and how that all went. And, how was that balcony??? :cool: That I am stoked about, especially with the complaints about how small the standard ones are.

 

Thanks again for your review!

 

 

 

Like yours our kids love us way too much also!! Our son spent 1 hr in SA on our 1st Sea Day because he was bored, but he could not wait to be picked up. I will write a bit more on that later on ;)

 

We really enjoyed our Angled Balcony! Was it huge? No, but it was definitely much larger than all balconies around us. All 4 of us could be out there at the same time comfortably (although there were only 2 chairs). You will love it!

[helpmecruise16]

Another mom here. Can you tell me if the shows are appropriate for an 11 year old? We are a bit more conservative then most. On RC we felt that a couple shows weren't.

 

 

We took out 11year old daughter, 9 year old son, and six year old son to burn the floor. The nine year old was embarrassed at some parts but they all enjoyed it and appreciated the amazing dancing.

[LakeWinniMom]

Day 2 Sea Day

 

We slept in (till about 730 lol). We got dress and headed up to the garden Cafe for breakfast. We ate all of our Breakfasts here. The selection was great and the kids were happy, bonus for everyone!

 

My son and DH hit the water slides. My daughter and I wanted to stay dry until the CC Meet & Greet. We headed to Cagney's for the M&G at 11, which was very nicely done. The only thing I would have suggested is that maybe it should be at a place where it wasn't so easy to sit down. I say this because there wasn't too much mingling going on with everyone sitting at tables. I know I could have made my way around the room more on my own, but I am typically a pretty shy kinda gal. My husband (affectionately know as "Bob" at the M&G) did wander and found some conversation companions :)

 

After the M&G it was time for some lunch. We tried the Flamingo Grill. It all was pretty tasty. It was quite busy which I wasn't expecting, but we were able to get our food and a table fairly easily.

 

After lunch we were going to try the ropes, pool & slides. Well that was the plan. The weather had started to turn making the top deck very windy. The ropes were closed as well as the slides. We could go in the pool, but it was pretty darn cold at that time. It remained windy and chilly all day. My son started to get bored so he gave in and said he would go to Splash Academy for 1 hr. He knew there were video games he could play. When I checked him in, it seemed as though all the children on the ship has the same idea - which is understandable when all of the really cool fun stuff isn't available. So he got check in and we went on our way and came back in an hour. Unfortunately he didn't enjoy his time in SA. He said that it was just too crazy for him. I wasn't surprised at this as he is a pretty calm, laid back little boys and not one for chaos. That was our last time at SA, from here on our the kids were stuck to us like glue.

 

We went to the game room and played some chess with the kids. Nice to find that little space of quiet on such a large ship. Next time we cruise I will note to myself to pack a deck of cards and another small game to play when other things aren't available. The game room didn't have any decks of cards that day. The next day when we went, we saw an older woman take 2-3 brand new decks of cards out of the game room with her- that explains why there weren't any for anyone else. I gave her a little glare, but she didn't care - she thought she hit pay dirt!

 

We decided to try out the Shanghai Noodle bar for dinner. The food was good and our son loved it. Our daughter, not so much - we took her to grab a bite at the buffet after we finished up.

 

We had reserved Burn the Floor so we headed up for the 730 show. The show was great. It was a bit suggestive at times, but we all enjoyed it. We enjoyed it enough to make sure we caught the shorter shows in the Tropicana Room later in the week.

 

Next up Jamaica!

[LakeWinniMom]

Day 3 Jamaica

 

This was probably my favorite day of the cruise!

 

For today we had made plans for an excursion on our own based on the recommendation of a friend. I was a little hesitant knowing that if we ran late it was our problem, but I got over it. We booked with Marvyn's Paradise Tours. Our itinerary for the day included the Blue Hole, tubing down the White River, lunch and shopping.

 

We started at the Blue Hole. This place was cool. We were guided through the waterfalls and the different areas we could take a leap from. We loved it! Our son was a bit hesitant so he was our videographer for this portion of our trip. Our guide at the Blue Hole took our camera (phone) and took some great action shots as well as went further into the falls to get some great pictures. It was bit freaky, I am not going to lie - but we all did the highest jump into the water (minus our son).

 

From here it was to the White River for tubing. This was much more relaxed than the Blue Hole, which was nice after that excitement. It was very pretty.

 

This is where I will mention the mosquitoes and Zika. Like most everyone we were a little freaked out about the whole thing before we boarded so we came prepared with lots of insect wipes. We didn't even use one of them. We never even saw a mosquito. I say all of this as now I am fighting a horrible cold and just plain yuckiness...but I do not think I can blame it on Zika. It is probably just the realization that I have to work instead of be on vacation.

 

Lunch was Jerk Chicken and Pork, followed by some shopping. Lunch was good and we bought way too many souvenirs.

 

We made it back to the ship to enjoy the water slides and ropes course before it got too crazy. My son LOVED walking the plank. He went out 3 times that night because it took him that many tries to get the camera to work :)

 

Dinner was in Taste. It was good, but all week in all the MDRs service was very slow. This probably had a lot to do with the new menus they were rolling out on this sailing.

 

One note on Day 2 that I forgot. My daughter had been looking forward to going to O'Sheehans all day because our Daily said they were going to be serving Chicken & Waffles. She has wanted them since she tried them in DC last year. So we got to O'Sheehans around 530 only to find out that it was a printing error. They used to have this special but since the menus changed for this sailing they were no longer available. I have read the same disappointment on other reviews with the Prime Rib that was advertised. The hostess even talked with her manager about it to make sure that we couldn't get them. After this the Dailies never showed any specials for O'Sheehans. If anyone did get the C&W you probably shouldn't tell me because my daughter has threatened to march back on that ship and demand that she get her share ;)

[KMB2014]

Can you share the name of the excursion company you used? How much did it cost? Thanks for the review!

[LakeWinniMom]

Can you share the name of the excursion company you used? How much did it cost? Thanks for the review!

 

We booked with Marvyn's Paradise Tours. Marvyn's cost was $120. I am not sure if this cost would change based on the number of people in your party, my guess is that it would not. You get your own driver and an iternery built for your interests. For this service a $10 deposit per person was taken upon booking via PayPal. The balance was paid in cash after the tour to the driver plus tip.

 

The rest of the tour is varaiable depending on your choices. There are many options to choose from. We asked Marvyn to design our day for us. I emailed with him a lot and he was always very responsive.

 

The Blue Hole was $15 and $10 for kids under 12. Again paid in cash plus tip to that guide. The BH rented out water shoes at $6 a pair for those that didi not bring them. You will need/want them.

 

River rafting was $25 plus tip each. Cash.

 

Lunch was $10 per person. Cash.

 

At the pier when everyone else was standing in line for their excursions we felt like VIPs because as soon as we found a security guard and said we were with Maryn we were wisked away to start our great day!

 

Enjoy! And let me know if you decide to try them!

[LakeWinniMom]

Day 4 Grand Cayman: Tender Port

 

We had booked our excursion through the ship for Grand Cayman. We did the Dolphin Swim and Sting Ray City excursion. Since this was a tender port I was glad to have booked through the ship. Our morning tender time was already set for us by booking the excursion.

 

We enjoyed the interaction with the Dolphins and Stingrays, but there was a lot of waiting involved. When we arrived at Dolphin Discovery we were sent to the back porch with really no guidance other than a colored bracelet on our wrists indicating which tour(s) we had signed up for. We waiting there for about 45 min before being told our color would be going to Sting Ray City before the Dolphins (a few minutes before that we were told we were doing the Dolphins 1st). Sting Ray City was nice, although crowded (to be expected especially with the number of ships in port this day). The Dolphin swim was fun and really a memorable experience. As noted in many postings before this one, the pictures are expensive for the Dolphins and you are unable to take any of your own camera.

 

The tender line to get back on the ship was LONG. There was a NCL person with a blow horn making it known to any person trying to cut the line that they could very well be thrown overboard by the rest of the passengers who waited patiently :) Did this stop some from cutting in? Unfortunately no. We had gotten very close to the customs gate (probably took 45min -1hr to get this far)and I hear right behind me "hey there is no cutting the line!" But what I heard next was what really threw me, the woman and possible companion who were cutting said "it's ok we're in the Haven". Not cool. The folks they were trying to cut in on happened to also be Haven guests, but they had been waiting in the line for as long as we had.

 

Dinner was good again once back on board. We ate at a MDR. And for the forth night in a row my kids enjoyed their Warm Chocolate Lava Cake!

 

When planning our vacation I had read about all the parties in H2O at night, and I was all prepared. I had the kids listening to 80's music and I bought glow sticks and bracelets to bring on board. In the end we didn't make it to a single one of them! I think the kids would have had fun, but they started too late! By 10:30pm my kids were dreaming about the fun they were going to have the next day. We did try going to something advertised as a Jukebox concert in H2O around 830-900pm, but that was a bust. We were the only ones there watching music videos on a large screen.

[LakeWinniMom]

Day 5 Cozumel

 

For today we had no "real" plan for our day. I had done some research on a few things we could do on our own. We ended up at Paradise Beach Resort which was about a 20 min taxi ride from the port. We enjoyed PBR and we could have probably gotten away with only doing the $3 admission to enjoy the pool and facilities area. But we went ahead and got the full activities package which included the inflatables in the water, kayaks & snorkel gear (I think it was $21 each). These were fun...but I tell you that it is tiring climbing onto those darn things from the water! The kids have no problem, but us adults...whew! We also ate lunch here which was good. My kids enjoyed the pool more than the beach/water toys.

 

Dinner was at the Tropicana Room and the Burn the Floor dancers were performing this night. We were seated not too far away and the show was good. It only lasts for about 20 mins, so make sure you get there early enough to get a good seat around the dance floor before they begin.

 

Overall another enjoyable day!

[LakeWinniMom]

Costa Maya Our last port day

 

Costa Maya is not the usual stop on the Western Itinerary. Rob Gronkowski (NE Patriots) had chartered another NCL ship and was porting in Grand Stirrup Cay this day causing the change to our port. Because this is not a normal stop there are not too many NCL Shore Excursion options. On our Roll Call page I had heard about Maya Chan Resort, so I inquired and booked it.

 

This was a wonderful place. It is a bit rustic, with beautiful scenery, great people and great food!

 

We had our own covered area complete with bed, hammock, and 5 Adirondack Chairs! It was pretty cool. We enjoyed just being able to really relax which was great. The kids made sand castles and played around.

 

When it came time for lunch this was the real treat. They had prepared the fixings for about 5 different kinds of tacos complete with fresh tortillas fresh off the grill. The man behind the grill asked my 12 yr old daughter if she had ever had a fresh tortilla before. With her saying no, he gave her two and told her that they would change her life! And they did! Now my daughter's favorite food is tacos, so keep that in mind. My daughter made her way to that grill a 2nd time for 2 more tacos. By this time she was on her 4th taco and the waitress came around to tell her that she once had a small woman in here who ate 8 tacos, that was the current record. Well the challenge was on. She ate 11 Maya Chan tacos that day! The grill master called her his hero and she was awarded with a "Winner" metal that she now has proudly displayed in her room!. I still don't quite know how she did it, I could only eat 3 and her dad only 4. A memorable experience indeed!!

 

Another evening in the Tropicana Room with the BtF dancers. A little wandering around this ship and we called it a night.