Your Brief Impressions of the Getaway

[cruising_Bif]

Just booked my first Norwegian cruise on the Getaway. I keep reading that the Escape is better, but it wasn't offering the itinerary I wanted. Anyway, did you like the Getaway? I'm a little nervous about the smaller balconies, but I figure there is so much going on that I won't want to stay in my cabin that much anyway. Thanks.

[sid_9169]

The Escape has a few additional restaurants/bars, but other than that is very similar to the Getaway...

[Siora7777]

The Getaway is fabulous. You're going to have such a great time!

[www3traveler]

Except for some minor differences, they are the same ship. I am doing a back to back to back on The Getaway. They will be cruises #8, 9, and 10 on Her.

 

I spend very very little time in my cabin which is almost a Studio. I love Her staff and all that she has to offer.

 

Relax and enjoy.

[Annmeat]

It's our favorite ship. We dont sail NCL exclusively, but Getaway is our go-to ship of late.

 

 

You will have a blast unless you choose NOT to have fun! Great food, diverse entertainment, friendly casino, awesome staff.

[Lupush]

Getaway was a fantastic ship. Not a thing about it I didn't like.

[shukapaw]

Ok, I'm sure I'm gonna get flak from the NCL faithful but you asked for our honest impressions. Here are mine:

 

The itinerary is outstanding.

The food was great.

The service was great.

 

The cabin size/layout was below average. Very poor space utilization.

Whoever designed this ship should be kicked squarely in the plums! The main fore/aft passages are extremely crowded. You are gonna be bumping elbows with a LOT of people. The pool (singular) is small and you will most likely not find any room in it or in any shaded area adjacent to it. A ship of this size definitely need more pools, especially if they are going to sail a Caribbean itinerary. The Guest Services area is immediately next to the atrium area and when there are bands playing there you literally have to yell to the Guest Services agent to be heard. Additionally, the Atrium and Guest Services communicate directly with one end of the casino so you will smell smoke there.

 

I am NOT saying that you should avoid the ship. I'd sail on her again, especially considering the itinerary. However, whoever came up with the layout of the ship needs to find a new line of work.

 

~Brian

[Kealy]

We had a great time on the Getaway. We especially enjoyed the waterfront for happy hour/sun set, waterslides and the specialty dining along with the UBP. We had a balcony, which was small, but comfortable enough for a cocktail and reading a book or gazing at the ocean.

Enjoy

[Mr and Mrs C]

Loved it so much we booked it again. So much to do! Loved the water slides and the entertainment is amazing.

[Cruisercl]

We loved the Getaway; our group of 20, was teenagers to adults in their 50's.

Lots of 'water play' options though we didn't think we had to just go to the pool so there was lots of places to lay out.

 

We loved the waterfront at sail away or at sunset...beautiful. Service was good. Have booked again on the Getaway. :)

 

Enjoy your cruise, you will have a great time, how can you not?! :D

[Mandy412]

Just booked my first Norwegian cruise on the Getaway. I keep reading that the Escape is better, but it wasn't offering the itinerary I wanted. Anyway, did you like the Getaway? I'm a little nervous about the smaller balconies, but I figure there is so much going on that I won't want to stay in my cabin that much anyway. Thanks.

 

I love both ships and I'm getting ready to go on her again. You will love it!

[erocrobro]

I sailed with my three sons, ages 9, 11, and 14 and we all loved it. There was so much to do they were never bored. I found the service to be fantastic as well as the comedy shows.

[tinkr2]

It is a great ship. The atrium set up for entertainment was odd. I do not hang by the pool but it did look extra crowded.

[MandyMommyof2]

We love the Getaway!! One of our best vacations to date :)

[Cruisermom2nick]

The Getaway is our favorite ship and we have been on it twice! :) I reviewed it in full here-http://thecheerfulcruiser.blogspot.com/2016/06/norwegian-getaway-review.html

[Bootman4U]

We love the Getaway!! One of our best vacations to date :)

 

We first sailed on the Getaway a couple of years ago in a Haven cabin and are about to do another sailing in September of this year.

 

As to NCL and its "balcony" cabins: we've sailed on other NCL vessels and long before there even was a "Haven" and in run-of-the-ship balcony accommodations and have always thought the balconies were "small" as compared to some other ships. Even the "regular" Haven balconies are small IMO compared to the "large balcony" cabins we've had.

 

As to the ship itself, we had a very positive experience in the past and expect to have another one but IMO it is the "expectation" people need to be realistic about and knowing the cruise lie you are using and how it operates, etc.

[KeithJenner]

Whilst the balconies are small, it is possible to get round this by booking an angled balcony, large balcony or mini suite with large balcony.

 

Some of these are very close in price to the equivalent rooms with standard size balconies.

 

If you like to spend time out there then they are worth looking at. We stayed in a mini with large balcony on the Getaway and loved it.

[Sissaaaaaa]

Just booked my first Norwegian cruise on the Getaway. I keep reading that the Escape is better, but it wasn't offering the itinerary I wanted. Anyway, did you like the Getaway? I'm a little nervous about the smaller balconies, but I figure there is so much going on that I won't want to stay in my cabin that much anyway. Thanks.

 

I personally would not sail the Getaway again, if given a choice. If the itinerary I wanted was only offered on Getaway, then I would sail. The pool deck space is minimal, although it is better than Breakaway. I thought the Escape was much better, layout wise. Getaway also seems very narrow in spots, and crowds do not flow as well as they do on Epic and Escape. It wasn't horrible, just wouldn't be a ship I would want to sail again.

[Smokin J]

The Getaway is a GREAT ship. Sailed her last year and will be back on in October. IMO the ship had Excellent food and Food Venues, Entertainment was good and Service was excellent. Yes the POOL(s, Yes there are two)) are small. However read up on the "VIBE" , it really made our cruise excellent. Yes its a few $$ more and you have to get on board early but if you get a pass then you have Covered lounges, 2 HOT hot tubs, private bathrooms and bar. really worth the little extra for us.

You will have a great cruise, Enjoy

 

Smokin' J

[Sixtyonebluesman]

I have sailed on Getaway 3 times and just returned from my first cruise on Escape a few weeks ago. Here are my observations:

 

1) They're VERY similar in layout/deck plans/ restaurants and other features. Escape has a couple more decks and therefore a few hundred greater passengers max.

 

2) Getaway is my fav cruise ship, I've been on 4 cruise lines and 20 cruises.

 

3. I prefer Getaway to Escape. It's less crowded and I prefer the H2O water feature on Getaway to Escapes "Grotto" (kind of dark). In adding 300 more passengers without increasing public space Escape will be more crowded (assuming booked to capacity)

 

4) The single feature that made Escape better than Getaway was "The District" brew pub. Amazing beer selection!!!

 

5) Getaway (currently) has Flamingos which I LOVE! Escape has Margaritaville, a burger joint which is a la cart pricing. Flamingo is scheduled to be replace by Margaritaville on Getaway in Sept '16 (ughhh!)

[Son of a son of a ...]

We thought the Escape was better than the Getaway. Therefore, I would prefer to go first with the older, lesser and then with the newer, better rather than the other way around.