Getaway review with pictures May 22-29

[tropical83]

Hi everyone :)

 

I recently sailed on the Getaway and decided I would put together a review. I've read so many great reviews on this site so I figured I would try to pay it forward.

 

We sailed on the Norwegian Getaway from May 22-29. Our ports of call were Roatan, Belize, Costa Maya and Cozumel.

 

I cruised with my husband and another couple. All aged late twenties to early thirties.

 

This was our 3rd cruise, 1st with Norwegian. This was our friends 1st ever cruise. My husband and I previously sailed Carnival twice, on the Splendor and the Breeze. I enjoyed both Carnival cruises and was actually looking to book another cruise with them. While I was trying to decide which cruise to book, I found out about NCL's free at sea promotion. The Ultimate Beverage Package as a free promo was very appealing to us. When I priced everything out, sailing the Norwegian Getaway with the promo was quite a bit cheaper than any of the Carnival sailings I was interested in especially since we would have to purchase the Cheers program if we sailed with Carnival.

 

We each had guarantee balcony rooms and got them assigned 18 days before our cruise. My husband and I ended up on Deck 14 mid ship. Our friends ended up with a large balcony on deck 9 forward.

 

I have pictures and will be posting them along with a day to day review of some of our adventures throughout the trip. However I figured I would start this off with a quick general overview on the ship, service and food.

 

Also if you have any questions, feel free to ask.

Edited June 3, 2016 by tropical83

[tropical83]

Staff/Service:

We had great service the whole time and encountered many very friendly crew members. They all work very hard and I was very pleased with the staff on the Getaway. Our stewards name was Maria, she was friendly the few times we saw her and she called us by our names. Our favorite crew member was a bartender at Spice H20. His name is Joao. He was super nice and friendly and provided great service to us and many other people. We were sure to tip him well! The bar service was pretty good everywhere. Although we mainly got drinks at either Spice H20 or at Headliners during Howl at the Moon. Lily was the main bartender at Howl at the Moon. She was fast and made the drinks pretty strong lol.

[tropical83]

Food:

First of all, we did not eat at any of the specialty restaurants. We did not have a dining package and we felt there was enough dining options included that we did not need to pay extra for any specialty restaurants.

 

The buffet – The Garden Café was large and always had so many things to chose from, there is no way you wouldn't find something you like. We would usually get lunch at the buffet. I ate dinner at the buffet twice, mainly because I just felt full from all the food and drinks that I needed a bit of a break from eating too much lol. The days I ate dinner at the buffet I tried to eat healthy by making myself a nice salad with a few other things. I never ate breakfast there, it was always very busy at that time.

 

Flamingo Grill – we ate breakfast there just about every day. There was a small buffet set up and there never really was a line up. They had breakfast sandwiches, bacon, hash browns, scrambled eggs, cereal, fruit, yogurt, danishes, maybe a few other things I'm forgetting. . It was good enough for us and we really enjoyed it.

Edited June 3, 2016 by tropical83

[tropical83]

Tropicana Room, Taste & Savor – We ate dinner at the Tropical room 3 times, Taste and Savor once each. They were all very nice but we liked the Tropicana Room the best. I felt the service and timing was just about equal at each restaurant. I never felt like we waited too long for our food. I wouldn't say service was super fast, but I was happy with it. Overall I would say the food was good. Honestly, I liked the main dining room menus on Carnival better than NCL. My husband agreed with me. Carnivals menus just suited our taste better I guess. I'm not a fan of seafood or much meat and there was a lot of that on NCL. I like pasta dishes and soup and Carnival had more and better options in that area. I did see some older NCL menus online before and those seemed to be better than the newer ones in my opinion. I will say though that the Warm Chocolate Lava Cake was soooo good! I think I liked it better than Carnivals version.

 

O Sheehans – We ate lunch there once. It was ok. We grabbed a late night snack there twice on the trip. With it being the only late night option besides room service, I felt the menu could have been a bit better. I saw the old menu on these boards a while ago, and there was mozzarella sticks and spinach dip, which I feel is perfect for a quick late night snack while on a cruise. But they didn't have those options anymore. I'm pretty sure the menu was the same late night as it was during the day.

[tropical83]

Pizza - I wish NCL had a 24 hour pizza option. The only way to get pizza late night was through room service. I sure did miss the 24 hour pizza on Carnival ! It was so easy to just grab a slice of pizza quickly before going back to your room at night. It was pretty good too. The room service pizza was alright. It was definitely better than the pizza in the buffet. I love pizza and am not usually too picky when it comes to it, but the buffet pizza just wasn't good in my opinion.

 

Room Service – We only ordered the pizza from room service. I will mention though that when we ordered the pizza it was late night and it took about 45 minutes to arrive to our room. Again that made me miss the pizza joint on Carnival!

Edited June 3, 2016 by tropical83

[tropical83]

UBP/Drinks - We were very happy to have the UBP as a promo. The package itself is expensive and so is each individual drink. I am not one to experiment to much when it comes to alcohol, so I didn't really try a lot of different things. If I did I would get sick pretty easily and who wants that on vacation. All the drinks I did have were very good though. Mostly stuck with some Daiquiris during the day and vodka water with a splash of orange juice at night. I did see some concern on these boards about people abusing the UBP but I didn't see any of that going on. When you have the UBP you do not have to sign for each drink. Also, you can order drinks for someone else as long as you show them both cards.

[tropical83]

The Getaway is a beautiful ship! Its huge! The art on the exterior of the ship is nice and I love 678 Ocean Place and the beautiful chandelier. The ship is nicely decorated everywhere. I felt that the layout of the ship was pretty easy to navigate.

 

I read many reviews before my trip and I do see what people mean about the pool area being small and there not being enough room for loungers. I only hung out in the pool area twice during the whole cruise. Just too crowded for me. Spice H20 was my favorite spot on the ship day and night! It was a large area and I liked the waterfall feature. There was also two hot tubs. There always seemed to be loungers available throughout the day. I never had a problem finding a nice spot to lay out in the sun.

 

I noticed the smokey smell in the casino a bit the first 2 nights. Then I didn't really notice it anymore. Maybe I just got use to it? I don't smoke and hate the smell of smoke and I am usually pretty bothered by it. However I didn't really spend too much time in the casino either. Smoking was allowed at the Spice H20 bar area. Sometimes it did bother me especially if the wind was blowing the smoke in my direction.

[tropical83]

Before I go on with a day by day report and pictures, I have to ask this.

 

Does anyone else get swollen legs/feet/ankles while on a cruise?

When I got home from my previous 2 cruises, I noticed my ankles and feet were swollen. Not too bad, but still swollen. It went away after a few days. During this cruise, by the 3rd day my ankles and feet were swollen. Later on that night, they were really bad and the swelling went all the way up to my knees. There was points where I felt like my upper legs were a bit swollen too. It was an awful feeling. It never went away throughout the cruise. Some days it would be a bit better, then get worse then a bit better again on and off. I tried not to let it get in the way of my fun, but it was uncomfortable, and I was disappointed it happened during the cruise this time! We got home on Sunday and I am just back to normal now and its Friday. Now that I'm back to normal, I'm realizing just how swollen I was. I feel like I lost 20 lbs on my legs alone since I've been home lol.

 

I now worry that this will happen to me every time I cruise. Any tips on what I can do next time to prevent this or at least help it not get so bad? Does anyone know what causes this? I thought it could of been too much salt in the food or something. Or does it actually have to do with being at sea?

[www3traveler]

Swollen legs, ankles and feet usually mean that you did not drink enough water. I have that problem if I do not drink enough water because my body retains too much fluids. Drinking soda pop causes your body to retain fluids too.

[tropical83]

Swollen legs, ankles and feet usually mean that you did not drink enough water. I have that problem if I do not drink enough water because my body retains too much fluids. Drinking soda pop causes your body to retain fluids too.

 

Thats the thing, I did drink a lot of water. I always do. I didn't drink any juices or pop on the trip, just water with all my meals and throughout the day. Yes I drank alcohol but not a crazy amount. This never happens to me back at home so I just find it strange it only happens on or after cruises. It has never happened to me on land vacations either. So weird!

[www3traveler]

Wonder if it could be a change in your diet. Did you eat something that contained a lot of sodium (salt) without you realizing it? If it was more hot and humid that what is normal for you? That could have done it too.

[tropical83]

Wonder if it could be a change in your diet. Did you eat something that contained a lot of sodium (salt) without you realizing it? If it was more hot and humid that what is normal for you? That could have done it too.

 

I'm thinking that the soups in the main dining room had a ton of sodium in them. And yes I did eat quite a bit more than I am use to. I am a pretty light and healthy eater back home so I'm sure that had something to do with it. Everyone else in my group ate and drank more than I did and none of them were swollen one bit lol. Oh well!

[fshagan]

Soups have a lot of sodium and there are other foods you wouldn't think are salty that have more than you're used to, like bread. So you may be eating a lot more of those kinds of foods. You are probably also drinking a lot more than you do at home, so that can be a factor.

 

I'm loving your review! Thanks for sharing your thoughts especially the quick comparisons to your past cruises and where your impressions from reviews either met or didn't meet your actual experience. It's always interesting to read how different people like different things!

[zackarykeef]

So glad you ended up having a great time on your cruise! And I TOTALLY agree with you about the 24-hour pizza thing! I am a convert to NCL from Carnival (although thinking about Vista next year :D), and the one thing that would push NCL over the edge for me would be a quick 24-hour pizza place! O'Sheehan's and room service are fine, but let's be honest...the last thing you want to do when ~buzzed~ late night is wait for food! :p

[SheehanDJ]

Before I go on with a day by day report and pictures, I have to ask this.

 

Does anyone else get swollen legs/feet/ankles while on a cruise?

When I got home from my previous 2 cruises, I noticed my ankles and feet were swollen. Not too bad, but still swollen. It went away after a few days. During this cruise, by the 3rd day my ankles and feet were swollen. Later on that night, they were really bad and the swelling went all the way up to my knees. There was points where I felt like my upper legs were a bit swollen too. It was an awful feeling. It never went away throughout the cruise. Some days it would be a bit better, then get worse then a bit better again on and off. I tried not to let it get in the way of my fun, but it was uncomfortable, and I was disappointed it happened during the cruise this time! We got home on Sunday and I am just back to normal now and its Friday. Now that I'm back to normal, I'm realizing just how swollen I was. I feel like I lost 20 lbs on my legs alone since I've been home lol.

 

I now worry that this will happen to me every time I cruise. Any tips on what I can do next time to prevent this or at least help it not get so bad? Does anyone know what causes this? I thought it could of been too much salt in the food or something. Or does it actually have to do with being at sea?

 

Sodium in the food, and you are eating more than you generally would at home. You are also probably drinking more water than at home too because of the heat, sun, and sodium. Sodium makes you retain water.

 

Potassium is the key, it blunts the effects of sodium on your body. Eat sweet potatoes as often as you can find them, beans, dark leafy greens, potatoes, squash, yogurt, fish, avocados, mushrooms, and bananas.

[MizDemeanor]

Sodium in the food and even in the ice and the water that we take in pretty often on board. I get cankles almost every cruise. Between the salt and the heat its tough to avoid the adverse effects...

[BirdTravels]

Thank you very much for sharing your Getaway experiences with us! Time to book another cruise.

[tropical83]

Soups have a lot of sodium and there are other foods you wouldn't think are salty that have more than you're used to, like bread. So you may be eating a lot more of those kinds of foods. You are probably also drinking a lot more than you do at home, so that can be a factor.

 

I'm loving your review! Thanks for sharing your thoughts especially the quick comparisons to your past cruises and where your impressions from reviews either met or didn't meet your actual experience. It's always interesting to read how different people like different things!

 

Thanks for reading!

 

So glad you ended up having a great time on your cruise! And I TOTALLY agree with you about the 24-hour pizza thing! I am a convert to NCL from Carnival (although thinking about Vista next year :D), and the one thing that would push NCL over the edge for me would be a quick 24-hour pizza place! O'Sheehan's and room service are fine, but let's be honest...the last thing you want to do when ~buzzed~ late night is wait for food! :p

 

thanks! I really liked NCL but I really enjoyed carnival too. I'm not sure which way I would go for my next cruise. But yes the Vista is tempting!

 

And ya, waiting for food late night was a bit annoying. While we were waiting I said that I should of just went to bed, its not like I really needed the late night food anyways lol

[tropical83]

Sodium in the food and even in the ice and the water that we take in pretty often on board. I get cankles almost every cruise. Between the salt and the heat its tough to avoid the adverse effects...

 

So you get it too. You mentioned sodium in the ice and water. Does it have to do with how they filter their water or something? I read that on an old thread when I did a search about this quickly the other day.

 

Thank you very much for sharing your Getaway experiences with us! Time to book another cruise.

 

Thanks for reading!

[tropical83]

Sodium in the food, and you are eating more than you generally would at home. You are also probably drinking more water than at home too because of the heat, sun, and sodium. Sodium makes you retain water.

 

Potassium is the key, it blunts the effects of sodium on your body. Eat sweet potatoes as often as you can find them, beans, dark leafy greens, potatoes, squash, yogurt, fish, avocados, mushrooms, and bananas.

 

Thanks for the tip on the potassium! I also read about trying herbal water pills. i may look further into that for next time!

[tropical83]

Pre Cruise:

 

We flew out of Detroit to Miami on Friday May 20. We live in Ontario, right across the river from Detroit, so it is the most convinienet airport for us. We arrived into Miami at almost midnight. We got a cab to our hotel in South Beach. We stayed at the Avalon right on Ocean Drive for a pretty decent price split between the 4 of us. When we arrived we went out for a stroll on Ocean Drive. Boy was it busy! We were trying to find somewhere to go where we could get a few decent priced drinks. Before my last cruise, I was in Miami for the first time. Not realizing how expensive drinks would be, my husband and I sat down at a random patio and shared a large Daiqiuri. Thinking maybe it'd be $20 or so. We get the bill and with tip included the bill was $70!!! Lol ridiculous. So this time I made sure to check before we went anywhere lol. I also did some research before the trip on places to go that wouldn't break the bank. Anyways we found a place called CJ's Crab Shack near our hotel where they had $10 Daiquiris. Not too bad considering its Ocean Drive. After we finished our drinks we went back to the hotel to sleep.

[tropical83]

So we had all day Saturday May 21 in Miami. We woke up and went downstairs for the free breakfast offered by the Avalon hotel. They had some good basic options like cereal, bagels, toast, croissants, fruit, hard boiled eggs, danishes etc. Good enough for me! After breakfast we headed down to the beach to just relax and get some sun. The hotel also offers free beach chairs and towels as well which I thought was nice. We stayed at the beach for a few hours. The weather was hot and sunny with a nice ocean breeze :)

 

 

 

[tropical83]

 

 

Our Hotel

 

 

[tropical83]

After the beach we headed to Wet Willie's on Ocean Drive for some Daiquiri's. I found this place by researching online and its pretty popular. It was a quick walk from our hotel. The drinks are $11 or $13 for a large. Again, not too bad for Ocean Drive. There were so many different flavours to choose from and you could mix whatever you want together. We found a nice spot on the upstairs patio with a nice view of the beach.

 

The view from the upstairs patio

 

 

 

 

Orange Creamsicle drinks..soo good!

 

 

The drinks are STRONG! But it was weird because they tasted delicious and I didn't taste an overwhelming amount of alcohol in them. However after the 2nd drink the girls were pretty tipsy lol. The boys said the alcohol got to their head a bit. I did read reviews online beforehand that the drinks were strong and people had enough after 2 drinks. Now I see where they were coming from! So after 2 drinks we left and went to get some food.

[tropical83]

When I researched online before the trip I found a good priced pizza place called Pizza Rustica, so we went there. It was very close to our hotel as well. The pizza slices are 9" x 6" and only $5.75. They also cut them in little squares so its easier to eat. It was very good and plenty for 1 person! The place is small and there isn't much room to eat inside, but they do have some tables and chairs outside. They also had other choices for food as well like salads, chicken, garlic bread, sandwiches etc.

 

After we ate we headed back to the hotel to shower and get ready. We then made our way by taxi to Marlin's Park for Beer Fest at the Clevelander club at the Marlin's game. It was fun and a cool experience to visit another MLB ball park.

 

 

 

The view from the Clevelander club

 

 

 

My husband and I

 

Edited June 4, 2016 by tropical83