Getaway review (3/6/16-3/13/16)

[jcathers1]

My wife and I just returned from our trip on the GA last week, and we had an excellent time. To provide some context, this was our first cruise with NCL, and fifth cruise total (previously, 1 Carnival and 3 Disney).

 

The Haven: We took an upsell to a Haven spa suite in the week before we left. My wife loved the spa, and spent time there almost every day. It was a big highlight for her. I was glad to have the pass as well, because I think she used her's more because she knew I at least had the option to go with her (even though I didn't always).

 

The Haven area is amazing. At no time did we ever feel crowded, and there was always plenty of room in the lounge, in the pool/tubs, or in the loungers. The staff is amazing, and knew everyone's names by the second day. The service was exceptional, and it would be very difficult for us to sail with NCL again outside of the Haven.

 

The service: As mentioned, service inside of the Haven was exceptional. No complaints whatsoever, and it was on pace with Disney (which we hold in high esteem). Outside of the Haven, it was more hit and miss. The service was never "bad", nor did we encounter anyone who was rude. As others have mentioned, though, they just feel slightly understaffed, which leads to rushed/hurried servers and bartenders (which inevitably leads to mistakes). One has to believe that if the crew to cruiser ratio was the same outside of the Haven as it is inside, the service would be just as amazing throughout the ship. Obviously, cost savings and personnel numbers are the driver here.

 

The Tropicana Room: This was the only MDR we ate in, and found the food to be excellent, very nearly on par with the specialty dining rooms and the Haven restaurant. Again, service was a little bit harried and impersonal, assumably for the reasons listed above.

 

Cagney's: Delicious. Sea bass is a must, and the truffle and Parmesan fries were amazing.

 

Le Bistro: A must. Delicious food and excellent service. We ate inside for fear of the smoke from the casino. That being said, the casino is closed in certain ports (Cozumel, for example), so one could eat outside for an early dinner on that day without fear of the smoke smell. Why cruise ships continue to allow smoking inside is beyond me.

 

Moderno: The salad bar alone is worth the trip. Sushi, smoked salmon, crab and lobster salad, charcuterie and cheeses, etc. The list goes on and on. If we had to choose either the meat of the salad bar, we would have chosen the salad bar (although the meat was very good).

 

Crowd density: There were only three places on the ship that felt overly-crowded to us. O'Sheehan's, the atrium area adjacent to Guest Services, and the main pool deck (at certain times). The first two seemed crowded perpetually. The placement of the guest services desks directly next to a stage where singing and skits are performed seems strange. It was almost impossible to have a conversation with any of the guest services crew, and when combined with any accents/language issues, I could certainly see a situation in which upset guests become even more upset due to the communication challenges.

 

GSC: We missed this port due to wind. Disappointing, but understandable.

 

Jamaica: We walked around the port area for a while, and then plopped down in chairs at the public beach in front of Margaritaville. We bought some Red Stripe from local vendors (at half the Margaritaville prices) and just laid around for a few hours. Very easy to get both on and off the ship, especially with the Haven priority boarding.

 

Grand Cayman: We took at taxi ($5pp each way) to 7-mile beach and laid in the sun for a few hours. We did some shopping on the way back and had lunch. We enjoy dining in ports, but lunch was very expensive, and if we had it to do over again, we would have tendered back and had a late lunch on the ship.

 

Cozumel: We rented a scooter and circumnavigated the island, stopping at every beach bar along the way. We followed this up with some shopping along Punta Longosta. Cozumel is an awesome place.

 

UBP: This worked out well for us, as we drank more than enough to get our money's worth. I was surprised at how little overtly drunken behavior we witnessed (although we spent almost no time on the main pool deck).

 

Tragedy: The night of the first sea day, a young man (24, I believe) jumped from the 16th deck onto the 8th deck in front of the Waterfront Sunset bar. He was killed. The areas on both decks were secured and taped off for the rest of the cruise (to facilitate an FBI investigation upon returning to port, we were told). The crew was leery to discuss this, but we were told he had had a fight with his GF, and also suffered a death in the family recently. Very sad. His body was kept in the ship's morgue until our return to Miami.

 

All said, we had a fabulous time, and would sail NCL again. I know this review was fairly brief, but if anyone has any specific questions, I will try to respond. Thanks.

 

Jonathan

[Keith1010]

I enjoyed your review and glad that you had a nice time.

 

So very sad about the 24 your old who jumped to his death. So young. So sad.

 

Keith

[helen haywood]

I know a thread about this incident was removed from Cruise Critic. I can find no report anywhere in the media confirming this either. I'm not doubting what the OP was told but it is odd that I can't find any other report of this incident.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[jcathers1]

I know a thread about this incident was removed from Cruise Critic. I can find no report anywhere in the media confirming this either. I'm not doubting what the OP was told but it is odd that I can't find any other report of this incident.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

I posted about it to CC from Grand Cayman, but it looks like it was deleted (although I'm not sure why).

 

My wife and I googled the incident last night and only found one (dubiously sourced) article. I find it weird that it wasn't reported to US media, as well.

 

Security was posted at both sites (on the 8th and 16 deck) continuously for the duration of the event, and I have a tough time believing that crew members would perpetuate a rumor where someone had died.

[ejnsb]

We were also on the ship and heard both code Oscar (man overboard althugh all resports were that he landed next to the Sunset Bar waterfront area) and Code Alpha which is a medical emergency. The ship stopped and flood lights went on. I can't confirm that someone died but the word seemed to be that it was a young man. That area was indeed closed for the duration.

[Cruise-mom]

Glad you had a good cruise, thanks for reporting back. Very tragic for something like that to happen :(

[soflacrzr]

Thanks for the review. We are sailing on her this Sunday. Just an FYI - As far as news of the tragedy, news media policy is not to exploit or make news of suicides-for the most part. Unfortunately, there are many copy cat events that occur. Back to the cruise, thanks again for the post, I already made a change to one of our restaurants! [emoji106]

[GrabMyWrist]

Thanks for your review. As for the tragedy, it is posted online, though not at a widely known site.

 

http://www.cruiseminus.com/norwegian-getaway/

[jcathers1]

Thanks for your review. As for the tragedy, it is posted online, though not at a widely known site.

 

http://www.cruiseminus.com/norwegian-getaway/

 

 

Thanks. That site is neat.

 

It actually made me think of a story I was told by a crew member while on board, and I'm not sure if it was discussed on CC at the time.

 

We enjoyed all the slides, including the drop slides. My wife and I were the only ones using the slides one day (yes, seriously), and we kept going again and again, so we got familiar with the crew member operating them.

 

He said that a few months back a smaller woman got "stuck" at the top of the first hill on the drop slide, and instead of pushing herself over, she just sat there. The attendant waited a few moments, and assumed he missed her coming out. He then sent the next person down, who forcefully contacted her.

 

He told us the woman's back was seriously injured and that the man broke his ankle. Both are now suing NCL, the attendants were fired, and they have changed the procedure (by adding an additional attendant who stands under the slides to visually ensure they are clear).

 

Just something we found interesting....

[jmsnyc]

Just beware, this thread will probably be removed too. For some reason CC does not want anything posted about it. So print it as a keepsake before this thread is gone too.

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report.

[Clarea]

Thanks for the review.

[Fyruf]

11 days back on Getaway Haven

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[CocoCandy]

I know a thread about this incident was removed from Cruise Critic. I can find no report anywhere in the media confirming this either. I'm not doubting what the OP was told but it is odd that I can't find any other report of this incident.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

 

I was on this sailing as well and an incident did indeed happen. Many passengers, including my family, were woken up by the man overboard and subsequent medical emergency announcements over the intercom system onboard when it happened in the middle of the night.

 

Passengers were aware of what happened the next day and talked about how sad it was for the rest of the cruise.

 

Also, as OP mentioned, the area where he landed by Sunset Bar were blocked off for the rest of the cruise.

 

Not sure why the cruise line has pretty much blocked the story from media, perhaps pending investigation.

 

News of what happened has been reported on this website as well :http://www.cruisehive.com/passenger-dies-hitting-deck-8-norwegian-getaway/10470

Edited March 17, 2016 by CocoCandy