Getaway Review June 5-12, 2016 - First Time Norwegian Cruiser in Studio

[nutocruzing]

Hello Everyone!

 

My name is Sara. I’m a 20-something (very) soon to be lawyer.

 

I know my username would suggest I am “new” to cruising, however this was actually the fourth cruise I’ve booked! I first started coming to Cruise Critic about a year and a half ago when a friend suggested a cruise for spring break. I didn’t end up going on the cruise the friend selected, but I did go on a great cruise on the Carnival Valor out of San Juan. I was hooked on cruising! I did a review on that cruise, but didn’t get all the way to the end of my anticipated report because life got in the way!

 

Although this was my fourth cruise booked, the third cruise is a scheduled extended family Christmas cruise on the Carnival Inspiration coming up in December. I completed my second cruise a few months ago in February with my sister on the Carnival Paradise out of Tampa … you may be starting to see a trend here! I really enjoy travelling with Carnival, as I find the value for price paid to be excellent.

 

Shortly after that first cruise, I was writing my licencing exams after completing law school. Now, just over a year later, I’ve completed my articling term and I wanted to celebrate with… you guessed it, another cruise!

 

Don’t get me wrong, I love reading everyone’s spectacular Haven reviews as much as the next person. That being said, I found there weren’t a ton of reviews about the studio cabins. I also find it difficult to find reviews where the writer was really cruising on a budget. I hope that this review will be useful for the next solo 20-something cruiser who wants to know where they can get away with saving some money. So, buckle up, and I hope you enjoy this ride with me as I re-live my Caribbean Getaway Celebration Cruise.

 

PLANNING AND PREPARATION

When the thought of a summer cruise first occurred to me, I headed to familiar territory and looked to see what Carnival had to offer. As with most (all?) cruise lines, the older ships are usually the cheaper ones. As I’m a recent graduate I am always fairly budget conscious so all of my cruises to date have been on decade + old ships. I really wanted to try a newer ship. But between the summer prices, and the fact that I knew literally no one that I was going to be able to talk into a cruise on this short of notice (ergo I was going to have to pay the dreaded “single supplement”), a new ship just didn’t look like it was in the books. Until, that is, I remembered hearing about the studio cabins on NCL ships!

 

I quickly googled which NCL ships had the studios and then looked up the corresponding itineraries. I originally looked at the Breakaway as I live very close to New York and it would be much cheaper to drive than to fly south. However, the Getaway on its new Western Caribbean itinerary quickly caught my eye. On my recent Paradise cruise we docked in Grand Cayman and Cozumel, so I would only be repeating one port of call. While I have never been to Bermuda, the idea of hitting up four different ports appealed to me and I quickly booked using the Canada at Par promotion.

 

Observations about customer service: I have to say that prior to embarkation, I was underwhelmed by the customer service I received from NCL. My PCC was confused on numerous occasions during my original booking (she kept assuming I wanted to book for two people, told me I couldn’t book a studio for two, then tried to sell me an additional cabin, then told me the studios were sold out when I knew they were not). I would have booked online, however I needed to call in to qualify for the Canada at Par promotion. Afterwards, I made calls a few times to try to sort out information I couldn’t find online. For example, I had seen much talk on the boards about “Bar Service” which sounded like a potentially good option for me since NCL has an auto corkage fee for any wine brought aboard. When I called, absolutely no one I spoke to (and I was transferred several times) knew anything about “Bar Service”. I just found this to be frustrating and unnecessary, so thus far I have to give the edge to Carnival for customer service.

 

Side note: there has been quite a bit of talk on here about whether the at-Par promotion was worth it since you lost the free at sea promotion. For me, it was. While unlimited alcohol would have been a nice bonus, between the gratuities and the exchange rate, it would have cost me an extra $500. If I had already planned on getting the UBP then it would have been worth it, but for me, keeping it down to a couple drinks a day was enough to keep my budget in line.

 

Next up, booking flights. I ended up finding a direct flight to Miami morning of June 5th, arriving before 11:30. I know, I know. Everyone has their thoughts on arriving day-of. But, this was going to be in June, not the middle of winter. I also knew from checking that there was at least one other flight on this airline that morning that would arrive before the departure time. Finally, I have travel insurance through my credit card which covers missed connections causing cancellations (among many other benefits). With that in mind, it wasn’t worth paying more for a flight the day before plus paying for a hotel.

 

I also needed to consider transport to and from the airports into my budget. I had done my research and observed that taking a cab to port would run me back close to $40 US after tip each way. Accordingly, I looked into shuttle transport. Assuming a private company would be cheaper, I investigated several, but none of them had shuttles leaving around the time of my arrival and so wanted me to pay private rates. Forget that! I gave in and looked into the cost of Norwegian’s transport. Even with the exchange rate, it was only $42 CAD total for guaranteed transportation to and from the ship. Check! Everything was falling into place, and on budget!

 

After booking all my transport I was faced with the daunting task of scheduling activities. On such a large ship, sometimes reservations are just necessary, and I get that. But, NCL also attempts to appeal to singles, and I wasn’t sure how to balance my desire to make sure I got to see everything on my wish-list with my desire to have the flexibility to be spontaneous with any new friends I might (hopefully!) meet.

 

For me, having just got off a 20 year old ship with a single water slide and some comedians (albeit pretty good ones) for entertainment, I was completely overwhelmed by the options for entertainment and activities on the Getaway. Rock-Climbing Wall, Rope Course, 5 water slides, comedians, magicians, theatre, music, game shows, 3-D movies… and 4 days in port?! There was clearly no way I was going to get to do everything!

 

I decided to schedule the Illusionarium as I love magic. I also booked evenings for Burn the Floor (former competitive dancer, and I couldn’t resist) and Million Dollar Quartet (I’d never heard of this musical, but I was in Memphis at the Sun Studios just a couple years ago so I was intrigued).

As for excursions, I had already paid a pretty penny for this cruise, even without the “single supplement”. I know that’s the nature of cruising in the summer months. But, regardless, especially given the fact that I was really cruising partially for the ship, I was hoping to be able to save some money on excursions.

 

Frankly, almost all of NCL’s excursions were way out of my budget range, and few interested me. I had just been to see Mayan ruins in February so I wasn’t in a huge rush to spend hundreds on that kind of an excursion. I was perfectly happy to spend a day (or every port day) on the beach. In the past I have almost always been able to find a worthwhile beach within walking distance of the port. It did not so much appear to be the case with this particular set of ports. Now came the (not so) fun part of planning solo travelling… facing the possibility of paying cab fare solo. After much time searching, here’s what I came up with:

 

Roatan – Victor Boddon Fun n Sun tour - $30 pp including island tour, shopping and scenery stops, the monkey and parrot package, and access to Bananarama for 2 hours. If I had taken public transit I might have been able to get to West Bay and entry to a resort for a conservative $15. But this way I figured I would see more of the island, and maybe be able to make some friends on the first stop of the cruise.

Belize – I initially had no plans at this port. However, I was able to get my hands on an excellent exchange rate for some more American cash and decided to go ahead and book a cave tubing tour. The deal with butts up! ended up being an even better price than expected at only $35 US so I was still coming in under budget on excursions.

Costa Maya – Blue Kay - $5 entry, and apx. $3 for trolley transport to and from. Cheap food and drink once there.

Cozumel – No plans. Just wanted to find a cheap bar.

 

I liked that the way things worked out I had two planned excursions early in the week and some more flexibility later in case I met some other solos I might want to tag along somewhere with.

 

I looked into Dining packages but they didn’t feel cost efficient to me. I figured if I met people who wanted to go to specialty dining I could tag along to one of the a la carte options and have control over my budget directly.

 

Before I knew it, June 5th was here and it was time to cruise! Next up, day one! In the meantime, my cheesy "Trailer" to keep you interested:

[cincicruisers]

Very interested in your solo cruise review. My son will be in a studio room next year. Did you visit the studio lounge? Did you find other solo folks to hang with?

[taylortime05]

Can't wait to read the rest of your review.

[nutocruzing]

Very interested in your solo cruise review. My son will be in a studio room next year. Did you visit the studio lounge? Did you find other solo folks to hang with?

 

I will be continuing with the review though it will likely be slow for the next few days as I am technically in the middle of moving! I did go to the studio lounge, though mostly for late night snacks. They have pastries there in the morning as well as orange juice and water. And in the afternoon/evening they have cookies and lemon bread. They also have a coffee maker so you can have free lattes (whereas they cost 2 or 3 dollars everywhere else on the ship). They play sports on the tvs in there and there is a bar open from 5-7 every night. I saw plenty of people in there because it seemed on this cruise that there were a lot of studio cabin occupants who were travelling together.

 

As for meeting other solos, I did make use of the solo host and I would recommend doing so. He made dinner reservations for us, show reservations... in many ways he was like a concierge but one who actually hung out with you. Honestly, it wasn't really my demographic on this cruise. I was for sure the youngest by close to 10 years and although people were very friendly with me, I didn't meet anyone that I ended up hanging out with long term. The solo host, Jose, was wonderful and worked hard to make sure we enjoyed our time. He made me get up and dance with him in the Tropicana room some nights and he was a spectacular dancer so that was a lot of fun. On the whole, I actually really enjoyed traveling solo. I thought multiple times about how nice it was that there was no drama, no fighting, no compromising. It was always what I wanted to do whenever I wanted to do it.

 

Jose did mention that our week was abnormal in terms of how few people came to the solo events. We usually had 4 or 5 come out for events whereas he said closer to 10 or 15 was more normal. That may have changed the experience some, but on the whole, I would HIGHLY recommend the studio cabins to anyone!

[nutocruzing]

TRAVEL

I flew Air Canada Rouge out of Toronto day of. I know, I know. And I now have a cautionary tale. I arrived at the airport around 6:30, almost two full hours ahead of my departure time, despite not having any luggage to check.

 

Problem 1: I didn't have a functioning printer and I needed to get a physical boarding pass because they didn't offer me an electronic one when I checked in online. The staff were completely unhelpful, in fairness it was an absolute zoo in there for some reason at 6:30 a.m. on a Sunday. I ended up standing in line for quite a while just to get a boarding pass printed.

 

Problem 2: security. In Toronto, for some reason, we go through customs before arriving in the US. For years the system has been customs first, then through security. Frankly, this makes a lot of sense to me as presumably individuals who are potential security risks would also be flagged at customs. However, Pearson Airport recently changed this so that you go through security first. It's an absolute disaster. The lines were sever times the width of the entire airport and ... they weren't moving. Because the computers at customs were down... I stood in those lines for over an hour and a half... I made my flight by 1 minute! A good reason to arrive three or four hours early if you're flying out day of! You have been warned! That said, there were dozens of others behind me stuck in customs and we waited for them so it wasn't the end of the world.

 

The flight was completely uneventful and we arrived just a few minutes late in Miami. Once I go through to baggage, I looked around for my NCL transfer. You have two options if you take their shuttle... walk allllll the way to the end of the terminal (there will be signs for carnival and royal too). Or, you can wait and someone will eventually walk by with a sign. I didn't know someone would walk by so I wandered until I found the check in booth. I would HIGHLY recommend the transfer, especially for those travelling alone. I waited mere minutes before we were on the air conditioned bus. The transfer was short and we were dropped off right in front of the correct terminal. I was there around 12:45 which was perfect as I had selected 12:30-1:00 as my check-in time.

 

EMBARKATION

Security was an absolute breeze. There was a substantial line to check-in but it moved very quickly. The staff person I dealt with was a delight and the process was very efficient. However... the actual boarding took quite a while. Retrospectively, it was because there were 4600 people trying to board the ship and two terminals coming together to one on-ramp. But by that time in the afternoon it was completely disorganized. No more numbers to be called. Just a very long, very slow moving line.

 

ON THE SHIP!

Nevertheless, I can't have waited more than half an hour or so before I was boarding the beautiful Getaway. I was completely blown away at first sight as this was the newest ship I have ever been on and everything was still shiny and in top condition. Given the hour I was confident that rooms would be ready, so I headed for the studios. Because the lines at the elevators were huge, this meant going up three flights of stairs with all my carry-on luggage which was less than ideal. But better than dragging it around with me while I got lunch!

 

First look at the Studio area!

 

I was really happy with the cabin. They are so smartly designed and organized and there was more than enough room for a single occupant. Here's a video tour of the cabin. It's pretty lengthy but I think it covers lots of details people might wonder about:

 

 

 

Next, I headed up to Savor for lunch. I had fish and chips and decided to indulge in some peanut butter cup cheesecake!

 

I then went back to my room and unpacked completely. As you will be able to tell from the video above, the storage space was more than sufficient. I would recommend bringing some of those foldable IKEA organization baskets if you happen to have some as they would have been helpful for socks and underwear organization.

 

After that I made sure I signed up for the singles meet and greet. By this time, it was time for the muster drill. My station was in the Getaway Theatre. This was relatively painless, and they have a channel on the television all about safety regardless which was kind of useful. After the drill it was pretty much time for sail away. I went up to Spice H20 and ordered a pina colada. TBH, I didn't enjoy NCL's drinks very much and they were absurdly overpriced, so I saved most of my alcohol consumption for on land.

 

 

After sail away I went to the singles meet and greet and after getting the low down from our host, Jose, we headed to O'Sheehan's for dinner. I got the steak fajita and although it was fine, I immediately regretted it because everyone else got Prime Rib and it looked amazing!

 

After dinner, a few of us headed to Howl at the Moon. This was an amazingly good time. Great comedy, great audience interaction, great music. Highly, highly recommend. By about 11:00 I had had enough. I'd been up since 5:30 and it was time for bed for me. I know, a bit lame not to go party, but that was one of the benefits of traveling solo, no one to party poop on!

Edited June 15, 2016 by nutocruzing

[EleventyBangBang]

On the daily, I see a "solo traveler sign up" at noon that I didn't see on the Escape. What is that, exactly? I felt very well taken care of as a solo on the Escape - does this mean they do even more for solos on the Getaway?

[nutocruzing]

On the daily, I see a "solo traveler sign up" at noon that I didn't see on the Escape. What is that, exactly? I felt very well taken care of as a solo on the Escape - does this mean they do even more for solos on the Getaway?

 

I'm not sure to be honest. This was my first time sailing NCL so I don't know what it's like on other ships. Only two people signed up initially but plenty of others came off on and on to events throughout the week. The solo host wanted our information so he knew where to send updated schedules and things like that, or in case we wanted to change reservations for things, he needed our cabin number etc. Bottom line is, nearly no one actually signed up and those who showed for the singles meet and greet were always included as much as they chose to be.

[Sauer-kraut]

Customer Service probably didn't know what you were talking about when you asked about the Bar Service, as it is called a Bar Setup in the cabin. Just a FYI for your next cruise on NCL ;):D

[Huntingdon1701]

Thanks for the video!

 

When you ate in Savor did they have tables for two? Epic looked like it only had tables for 4 in its equivalent.

[nutocruzing]

Thanks for the video!

 

When you ate in Savor did they have tables for two? Epic looked like it only had tables for 4 in its equivalent.

 

They definitely have plenty of tables for two, in fact most of the ones near the windows are tables for two.

[Agentwho]

I was on the GA at the end of May and our solo host name was Rod (I think that was it.... I'm sure it started with R ) You said yours was Jose... was he a shorter guy with glasses? He came around our meets as well. All fun people. Anyway enjoying your review. It's motivating me to finish writing mine lol.

[AdoraBelle]

I was on your sailing and in the studios too, and those IKEA cubes are perfect. I usually bring three or four in different sizes. (One for bedside junk, one for toiletries, one for electronics chargers, etc.) I tend to keep underwear etc stacked in normal packing cubes on a closet shelf.

[ilovetotravel1977]

A question about the at-par promotion.

 

Was only the actual cruise cost charged at-par? Was it truly at-par or something close to it?

 

Were the port fees and gratuities also at-par?

[Evangaline]

A question about the at-par promotion.

 

Was only the actual cruise cost charged at-par? Was it truly at-par or something close to it?

 

Were the port fees and gratuities also at-par?

 

I just booked Canada at Par. The base cruise fare was indeed, at par, but the port charges were in US dollars. I gave up my beverage package to get this On Par deal, as this was considered to be my perk. Sad actually, but it is was it is.

[ilovetotravel1977]

But with the save of the exchange rate, plus the save of the additional $99 for the UBP promo, you may save money (if you are not a big-time drinker).

 

Are you able to book the guarantee rooms at the at-par rate?

[Evangaline]

But with the save of the exchange rate, plus the save of the additional $99 for the UBP promo, you may save money (if you are not a big-time drinker).

 

Are you able to book the guarantee rooms at the at-par rate?

 

I figured I would save money as I would have effectively been paying $450. for the drink package and I really doubt I would be drinking that much. We have four ports of call when I am off the ship for the day.

 

As for the guarantee rooms, I don't know. I didn't try to book those.

[Kealy]

Following along and looking forward to hearing more about your solo adventures on the Getaway.

[easyboy]

TRAVEL

I flew Air Canada Rouge out of Toronto day of. I know, I know. And I now have a cautionary tale. I arrived at the airport around 6:30, almost two full hours ahead of my departure time, despite not having any luggage to check. ............

Thanks for sharing

[Cruisin'Christine]

I am going on the Getaway in October and am very much enjoying your review. I can't wait for the rest. You didn't happen to take pictures of the main dining room menus, did you? If so, I would love it if you could post them. I want to book a couple of specialty dining nights, but don't want to miss out on my favourites in the dining room. Thanks.