Getaway Haven- Nov. 27 Western Carib

[JCMALLARD1]

Wanted to write a quick review of our trip on the Getaway.

 

Embarkation- Smooth and fast. Arrived around 12:45 to port. Parked at Premier Cruise Parking- good location but horrible time trying to get van to port so finally took Uber. Went to Haven checkin then straight to the Haven on the boat then to our room- Haven Forward Facing Penthouse Suite 10106

 

Room- Awesome. Quiet. Separate bedroom with true king bed, tv and porthole window facing the front of ship. Balcony with two chairs. Plenty of storage. Separate living room with eating area and large tv. Huge bathroom with separate shower, tub double sinks and toilet room. Coffee maker. It is at front of ship so is a trek to the room from elevators if mobility is an issue. One pet peev is the lack of TV channels. Would have been nice to have ESPN to watch some of the college playoff games on Saturday.

 

Ports- Really liked the ports

 

Roatan went to Bananarama as self booked tour. $35 pp for welcome drink, chairs and snorkel gear plus transport to the beach. You also get Wifi access. Well worth the money although quite crowded and with a lot of vendors who will hound you. Snorkeled the reef to the drop off and was very cool.

 

Harvest Caye very nice but husband called it very Disney like. Not a lot of shady areas and on our day there it was hot as Hades. Get off the boat early if you need shade. Nice pool area, snorkeling was very poor as this is a mangrove island with limited visibility off the man made beach area. Dock is very long and all food drinks are extra. They do have a shuttle that can take you to the gate if needed. Overall great job NCL.

 

Costa Maya- really has grown up. Lot of shops and vendors at the port. We went to Maya Chan Resort and recommend to anyone. All inclusive drinks and food and very nice folks. Wifi included plus use of snorkel gear, kayaks and SUP.

 

Cozumel- walked around and shopped. Shop around as you can find the same items for cheaper at certain vendors if you just look.

 

Ship- Choppy layout and also question use of atrium for a lot of the entertainment instead of the theater. Very bright pink to purple carpet. Ate one meal in o'Sheehan's and the wings were good. Ate a couple times at the Buffet and the food was good. Many different bars and restaurants. Waterslides, ropes course and climbing wall are cool to have. Gym was very well equipped.

 

Service

As mentioned by others it appears a lot of staff is training for the new ship to be based in China. Cruise Director was truly bad. Assistant CD as well. Our room steward Richard was so sweet and really good. Everyone was friendly of the staff we interacted with.

 

Haven- Compared to the Escape this was subpar. Service in the Haven restaurant was very very slow and spotty. Many times the meal was very very slow to have courses come out or get bread/water. Did not use the Concierge Virginia but she was very nice. Our Butler Benny was awesome. So much better then our Butler on the Escape. Layout of Haven on the ship is not as good as on the Escape- restaurant is smaller, no hot tub on top deck.

 

Entertainment- Only went to Comedy shows and they were OK. Best one was the show in the Theater where Lucas Bohn did his multi-media comedy. That was very funny. Casino is too high priced- $20 min on roulette led me not to play as that is too rich for my blood.

 

Disembarkation- Did walk off through Haven and it was very fast. Left around 8 am. Again took Uber back to parking as Premier Cruise Parking's shuttle was nowhere to be found.

 

Overall this was a nice cruise and the Haven is definitely worth the splurge, but the service was just lacking on the Getaway. Seemed crew was disorganized a lot of the time. Nice newer boat but prefer the Escape or RCL's Oasis or Allure.

[WestCoastCruiser123]

Wanted to write a quick review of our trip on the Getaway.

 

 

 

 

Harvest Caye very nice but husband called it very Disney like. Not a lot of shady areas and on our day there it was hot as Hades. Get off the boat early if you need shade. Nice pool area, snorkeling was very poor as this is a mangrove island with limited visibility off the man made beach area. Dock is very long and all food drinks are extra. They do have a shuttle that can take you to the gate if needed. Overall great job NCL.

 

 

 

Service

As mentioned by others it appears a lot of staff is training for the new ship to be based in China. Cruise Director was truly bad. Assistant CD as well. Our room steward Richard was so sweet and really good. Everyone was friendly of the staff we interacted with.

 

 

Disembarkation- Did walk off through Haven and it was very fast. Left around 8 am. Again took Uber back to parking as Premier Cruise Parking's shuttle was nowhere to be found.

 

I was also on this cruise. I agree that the cruise director was not good. But I found the other staff to be great and this did not affect my cruise. In fact, it became a joke among us to see if she would actually show up for an event or if she would even do anything when she was actually there. Yes there was a language issue, but I found more fault in that she barely was around. She danced on the stage at the glow party for about 5 mins and disappeared while ACD lead the party.

 

Beach at harvest caye was nice. Lots of umbrellas available and we didn't get off first thing

 

Disembarkation was my worst ever. Took 2 hours to walk off with our luggage. That's 2 hours of snaking through the ship and customs with your big bag

 

I had a great cruise!!!

Edited December 5, 2016 by WestCoastCruiser123

[realcindylouwho]

Do you remember if Evelyn is the bartender in the Haven? Did Virginia say how long she will be on the ship?

 

Sent from my SM-G900V using Forums mobile app

[Clarea]

Thanks for the report.

[Bootman4U]

Sailed on the Getaway in September and had the biggest cabin ON THE BOAT. I thought the service in the Haven restaurant was excellent as was the bar service. I thought Roatan was forgettable and Belize City should be wiped off the planet.

[projectblacklace]

Wanted to write a quick review of our trip on the Getaway.

 

Service

As mentioned by others it appears a lot of staff is training for the new ship to be based in China. Cruise Director was truly bad. Assistant CD as well. Our room steward Richard was so sweet and really good. Everyone was friendly of the staff we interacted with.

 

 

We were on this cruise too except in an aft balcony. Pretty sure instead of saying muster station she was say musterbation which everyone's dirty minds went to... well you can imagine. We also got a kick out of her morning announcements reminding you to take your scurshion teekays with you.

 

I agree service was meh. In the MDR it was reallllly meh.

 

Glad your debarkation went well- it was pretty terrible for us- long lines and not enough customs agents.

 

I agree with your husbands thoughts on HC. Also- we spotted several jellies in the water there so we got out. Although I wasn't able to totally avoid them due to the fact I got stung on a snorkel in Cozumel!

 

Ship was definitely choppy in layout and there was never enough seating to watch the atrium shows.