Getaway 12/4 - 12/11 Speed Picture Review

[CoffeeGoddess]

Normally I like to get my reviews done over the course of the weekend after the cruise. This time, though, I was super sick right after and took some time getting all my pictures up on Flickr so I was debating even doing a review. But since it's NYE, I just finished loading the pictures, and the Veuve Clicquot is kicking in I'm going to try to finish this review by midnight PST (and before I finish the bottle so if the typos get worse each post you know why).

 

Let's do this!

 

MIAMI - 12/2 & 12/3

 

I decided to spend a couple of days in Miami before the cruise so flew out on Friday on American. It was a morning flight and I did my first Lyft ever. I liked that I could set the pick-up up ahead of time and it worked out well. I was flying first so expected a quick trip through security but it was quick for everyone this morning. Breakfast was on the plane and wasn't bad at all.

 

 

I had booked at the Hampton Inn Brickell again this time since it was a very good stay in May of last year. I had previously taken the Metrorail but tried out Lyft again this time. After a little confusion of what lane exactly I needed to be in at Arrivals my Lyft driver picked me up and got me to the hotel quickly. It was a little after four and I had completed the check in on the Hilton App so checking in at the front desk was super easy.

 

Double bed standard room:

 

It was a gorgeous evening so I had my free beer on the pool deck then went out to try some Happy Hours. The first stop was Havana 1957 just a couple of blocks from the hotel.

 

Pool Deck

 

A Cuban Cosmo and some mini Cuban Sandwiches from their HH menu:

 

 

 

Yes, I was hungry so I forgot to take the picture before tucking into them. I also had a mojito there as well before I decided to move on.

 

[CoffeeGoddess]

They had canned music playing while I was there but a live band started up just before I was leaving.

 

 

My next stop was the Mexican place right next door, La Mexicana. I tried a margarita and some of the $1 tacos off their happy hour menu. They weren't bad at all but I decided to head on out instead of getting another.

 

 

While on the way back I saw Batch Gastropub right next to the hotel was still doing happy hour so I stopped on in. While none of their barrel cocktails were on HH I really wanted to try their homemade hard root beer so I did. I also got an order of the pretzels to go with it. Both of them were good.

 

 

 

I finished the root beer and finished the night with a HH white sangria. Then on to bed right next door.

 

Edited January 1, 2017 by CoffeeGoddess

[CoffeeGoddess]

The next day I slept in a little and then went out to stroll around. I took the Metro rail which is the free people mover with a station right by the hotel. It was quick and I got off at the Bayside stop to check out Ross.

 

 

I had brought a waterproof bag for my cell phone that I had previously used but, wisely, decided to test it out in the hotel pool the night before to make sure it wasn't leaking. It was. I decided I'd try to find one in Miami but wasn't too sad when I didn't since I did have my new faux-pro camera that had a waterproof cover I planned to use. While Ross was a bust for the bag, I did pick up a cute shirt. I also realized that my throat was starting to get sore and that usually was a sign I was getting sick. So I stopped and picked up a fresh pressed juice at Purple Orchid right under the store.

 

 

That helped, as did the Zicam pills I had brought with me and I did not get anymore cold symptoms after that day. Well, until the last day when it hit big time.

 

From there I went and had a coffee at Eternity Coffee Roasters and then headed towards the park and the Bayside mall. Taking the water walkway I got a view of the Escape at the port.

 

 

I stopped for lunch and a beverage at one of the restaurants in a kiosk that had great cocktails with fresh squeezed juices. Well, I needed some vitamin C so I had a couple, one with grapefruit juice and then a Mai Tai.

 

 

There was a big art event going on so there was sculpture along the roadway as I was walking back to the metro mover stop.

 

 

Edited January 1, 2017 by CoffeeGoddess

[CoffeeGoddess]

By that time it was around 5 and I needed to be at the airport by 8 to pick up my friend Claudia who was flying in from Michigan. Yes, once again this year I was not sailing solo but with one of my oldest friends. I checked with her between her flights and she wasn't eating so would be looking to do dinner once she got in. I figured something small would be good so that I wasn't ravenous and stopped a couple blocks over at SuViche for a couple of their half size sushi rolls.

 

 

I then bummed around the Mary Brickell Village for a bit before getting on the Metrorail to the airport. Ok, the automated ticket machines for this thing are not user intuitive if you only want to buy a one way ticket. I tried several ways but it just wasn't working and finally a security guard saw my struggles and helped me out. The orange line came quickly and I was on my way. And then we weren't because some butt that was way old enough to know better decided to pull shenanigans. I won't get into it but finally security came and pulled him off the train; everyone applauded.

 

At the airport it was a hop onto their shuttle from the station/car rental area and then a short walk to the gates I knew she was coming in on. Then I found out the plane was running late. Finally, about half an hour late she was off the plane and we were at luggage claim.

 

It's an OpFor!

 

 

Once again I did Lyft and we were soon at the hotel. I gave her several options for dinner and she wanted Cuban so once again I found myself at Havana 1957. We got mojitos and some fried yucca to start and I found myself feeling a little sad that the Flamingo Grill was gone and I would have no more yucca.

 

 

We both got beef dishes, hers was grilled and mine was shredded in sauce and they were both fantastic. And another round of mojitos, and then I got a daiquiri and she got a white sangria.

 

 

 

This is probably a good place to talk about my photos. I just had my cell phone and my faux pro, no fancy schmancy camera. Now, my cell phone has some focus issues and I have some vision issues where things are blurry when I have something close (I blame time). So sometimes I think I had things in focus but once I actually see the picture it really isn't. Of course multiple drinks doesn't help that issues which is a really long way to say some of my photos are blurry but they're the best I have.

 

We finished up dinner and headed back to the hotel. We'd be getting up around 8 to have breakfast and then get to the port by 10:00. Normally this would have us on the ship about 11 once they started boarding. This was not to be a normal boarding.

[CoffeeGoddess]

Once again we did Lyft to the port and were there by 10am. They had not yet opened the doors for security so we had a little wait but when they did we quickly got through and I headed for the proper latitudes line. We had our cards in hand shortly and headed up to the waiting area where we got a group 4 card. We sat down and then waited for people to get off the ship and boarding to begin.

 

And waited.

 

And waited.

 

Holy crap what the Sam hill was going on? It was almost noon and we still were waiting. They hadn't even started boarding the Haven or others. Opfor looks at me and says, "why did we get here so early?" "Because normally we'd be on the ship right now".

 

Finally they started boarding and we were walking swiftly up the gang plank and finally onto the ship aft on deck 7. Now the first thing I wanted to do was to hit Le Bistro and see if I could change the 9pm reservation I had for the 2nd night to something earlier. Before Opfor was going to join me I was going solo, then my oldest friend was going to go with me. She's a vegetarian so I figured I'd get the wifi perk instead of the dining since the specialty restaurants only had one vegetarian entry each and it just didn't make sense. Then my friend couldn't do it because her new job had her doing something that week so we worked it out so that Opfor could join me. So I switched to the meal perk but by that time the reservations for Le Bistro had basically filled up.

 

Once we got on the ship we went down one deck and I got the reservation changed. Unfortunately they weren't able to do it the 2nd night because they had a couple of large groups so we got it for Wednesday night. That done we headed to Savor for lunch.

 

Normally I don't eat at the MDR since I perfer to grab what I want at the buffet but Opfor wanted to do the MDR so we did. I ordered the popcorn shrimp and the grouper sandwich and she got the pho and meatloaf. After we ordered I popped out to the bar and got our first drinks of the cruise. A Toma for me and a Kahlua and cream for her.

 

 

 

Looks like I forgot to grab a picture of the meatloaf. I did, however, grab this for all you people who may have seen that RCCL thread:

 

As we were finishing our lunch the announcement came that rooms were ready so we headed on up to ours. For this cruise I had chosen to try a balcony guarantee since at the time I booked you still got two perks and they were having a solo supplement sale. I, of course, picked the UBP and eagerly waited to see what room I would be assigned. I had to wait until 27 days before sailing until I saw that assignment. In the meantime I tried to bid on a suite but it didn't take long for the Haven to fill up completely. So our cabin for this trip was a family balcony 12136 and I got my first Latitude welcome gift.

 

 

Beds by the balcony made the room feel a bit larger.

 

Edited January 1, 2017 by CoffeeGoddess

[Gimmiethebeach]

So you don't feel all alone here on NYE, I'm following. [emoji4] Sailing the Getaway at the end of March so I am looking forward to the rest of your review!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[CoffeeGoddess]

A very tiny balcony which is par for the course on the Away ships.

 

 

With our carry on luggage dropped off, we headed out to explore and get another drink before the muster. Our first stop was the Chill Bar in Margaritaville where the Flamingo Grill used to be. We would wind up stopping here several times just before closing since the bartender was funny and the drinks were good.

 

We both started with a Hot hot hot which I had enjoyed before on the Escape.

 

 

 

 

But it wasn't too long before it was too hot, hot, hot for Opfor so I finished hers and she got the Havana and Bananas.

 

 

They started to pack it up for the muster drill so we started to mosey our way towards the theatre for the drill. On the waterfront, she had forgotten her phone so had me take a picture of the port building. Why? She just wanted one because it was her first cruise. Ok.

 

 

The muster was the standard wait on people, plug your ears for the alert, wait on them to do the life jacket instructions, then get out of dodge.

[CoffeeGoddess]

So you don't feel all alone here on NYE, I'm following. [emoji4] Sailing the Getaway at the end of March so I am looking forward to the rest of your review!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

 

Hooray! Someone is reading!

[CoffeeGoddess]

We headed up to our balcony for sail away to watch us leave the channel. Opfor was super excited since not only was it her first cruise but her first time out of the country since she was kid.

 

Man some people have nice yachts.

 

 

This Instagram video may work or not.

 

So long, Miami!

 

 

Then we did something I don't normally do, we went up to the sail away party. But if there is dancing, well, the Opfor must go.

 

 

We had reservations at 6 for La Cucina at 6:30 but since she had been dancing around we went up to the buffet for her to get a quick bite and I got a sangria.

 

[CoffeeGoddess]

I had never been to the Italian restaurant because I had never had a desire to go. But I had decided that we would do Le Bistro since I had enjoyed it so much in March with my mom and then I'd let Opfor pick the other two. She chose La Cucina and Moderno, both of which I would not have chosen had I been on my own. I wound up enjoying both of them much more than I thought I would.

 

Menus

 

 

I chose a pinot grigio and went for the calamari and tortellini as my first course. The calamari was not bad and the tortellini was good.

 

 

 

Opfor had the veal rolls and the risotto for hers. We were both expecting the rolls to be mostly eggplant with a little meat but it was totally reversed and they were so full of meat you could have had them as an entree. The risotto was fantastic! I had food envy after tasting that.

 

 

[Clarea]

Enjoying the photos, thanks!

[CoffeeGoddess]

Opfor had explained to me that she chose the restaurants she did because the menus I showed her both had lamb on them, so it was no surprise that she got the lamb for her dinner. I went with the shrimp scampi.

 

 

 

I was determined to try something from the dessert menu but Opfor just went for the Bunea Vista coffee while I got the chocolate torte.

 

 

 

 

No, I did not finish the torte; it was very, very rich.

 

At that point I was done in for the night and headed to the spa (I had bought us spa passes. I forgot to mention we went to the spa before dinner) then to bed while Opfor went out for a wander and to see what was happening.

 

That would be most nights for us since I loved the spa and wound up being very tired probably because I was fighting being sick and she wanted to see and do as much as possible.

 

The first sea day was our Roll Call Meet and Greet and that went well. We had milkshake tasters and many of the officers were there. Even though it had only been a little more than a year from my last time on the Getaway it was a completely new crew.

 

[

 

We then did the slot pull and while there were no big wins, we did get most of our cash back. The casino host also gave us a couple of bottles of sparkling wine to hand out as prizes as well.

[CoffeeGoddess]

Enjoying the photos, thanks!

 

 

Glad to hear it!

[CoffeeGoddess]

I honestly don't remember what we did that day outside the M&G and slot pull. I know we did some gambling and I probably hit the spa and thought about doing the ropes course but decided to wait until the last day (that was a bad decision). I do know we worked on that drink package because I do have pictures.

 

Ginger Mojito

 

NCL Mai Tai

 

 

Oh, and we ate at the Ocean Blue window on the Waterfront. We both had crab tostadas and a lobster roll. Man, those were some good lobster rolls. I'm really sad I did not make time to get another one of those.

 

 

I got a Mr. Worldwide and Opfor got a negroni at the casino bar.

 

 

 

We also tried out the outside Sunset Bar. I asked if they could do a Lavender Patch martini that they had previously there but he said that he could not since they no longer had the ingredients for it. So we tried other things but I was a little sad since I had really enjoyed that drink.

 

[Taishartrueblood]

Also reading and enjoying, TY!

[CoffeeGoddess]

We did dress up that night and took quite a few pictures with the photographers. There were a few I wanted to buy for my mom and that Opfor wanted of herself but we didn't actually purchase any because neither of us wanted 8x10s and that was what they sold of the portraits. And you couldn't get digital prints unless you bought the regular print and then paid extra for the USB. NCL, along with most other cruise lines, really needs to move into the 21st century and offer a standard digital package where you don't need to buy regular prints. I would have purchased all the photos if I could get them all digitally so that I could upload what I wanted.

 

We did wind up going to Wasabi and paying ala carte for it since it really is pretty cheap. I got a Wasabi cocktail and we both got a roll to try.

 

 

 

 

We did not get a towel animal the first night so this night was the first one and Opfor loved them. Come to think of it, I never got the mints on my pillow. Hey! Otherwise our room steward was great, he always greeted us when we saw him and asked about our day.

 

[CoffeeGoddess]

Also reading and enjoying, TY!

 

Yea!

[CoffeeGoddess]

Roatan 12/6

 

I had tried to set up a snorkel off a boat with a West End company but they did not have anyone else interested that day so about a week before I tried to set up a pick up with Bananarama. It got to where they asked for my credit card and I gave it to them but never saw any charges or had any response from email despite trying numerous times. So we we got into port I called them (I had purchased a wifi package but honestly I should have just bit the bullet and got the unlimited) and after some confusion they found the email and set us up for a pick up. So that's where we went today.

 

We decided to do breakfast at O' Sheehans and Opfor got an omelet and a bloody Mary while I got the express breakfast and a screwdriver. It's just not vacation if you aren't day drinking.

 

 

 

We had time to eat and then go back to our balcony to watch us pull into port. It was a beautiful day if a little humid and hot, but it was to be the hottest we had this trip.

 

 

 

We had some time to figure out how to get out of the port area and then looked at some of the shops outside while we waited for our driver. He showed up quickly and we walked up the road to get to the car. We then had one of the most wild rides ever.

 

 

There are huge potholes, I mean bigger than Michigan freeway potholes here, and the drivers did whatever they could to avoid them. This included going directly into the path of oncoming traffic and going up on the small sidewalks. Somehow we managed to get to the resort in one piece and we got our wrist bands with our drink coupons, I got a locker, and we headed out to the beach to get loungers.

 

[CoffeeGoddess]

 

The loungers were just like the blue ones on the ship and there honestly was not much shade on the beach where they were. But the view was great and the water was perfect. I got my snorkel equipment rental and headed off down the beach towards Infinity to see if I could get through the "kidney" area and past the reef. It was actually pretty easy and they had a couple of buoys near the entry so people could find it. I do not have any pictures from the reef since I was taking video and forgot to set it to take pictures but I don't have my video edited yet either. It was an experience, though, and I really wish I had been 100% so that I could have stayed out there a little longer than I did and see the drop off.

 



 



 

The bad part about this beach? The vendors were relentless. Most would accept a "no, thank you" but there were some who would just keep pressing. Really annoying. However when you were back on the resort grounds where the restaurants and seating were they did not get up there to bother you.

 

We had lunch here sharing a mango and goat cheese pizza and a pulled pork wrap with a few of the local beers. It was really good and not too much money.

 



 



 

The resort grounds were nicely maintained and they had some cute looking bungalows for rent.

 



 

We stayed a little longer swimming and walking around and then headed back so that Opfor could get some souvenirs. Another take-your-life-in-your-hands ride later and we were back in port.

Edited January 1, 2017 by CoffeeGoddess

[CoffeeGoddess]

I tried a Monkey La La while Opfor shopped and then we got back on the ship.

 

 

We had a nice treat tray from the hotel director when we returned (one reason to go to the M&G and sign in!)

 

 

Then we headed on up to the Chill Bar for our margaritas before they closed. I have to say the hours were pretty weird for both Margaritaville and the bar. 12 - 5 each day so it was just odd.

 

Who's to blame

 

Best bartender

 

Uptown

 

I don't remember where we ate dinner, I think it was the buffet since I don't have any pictures but it might have been Shanghai's. We ate there twice but I only have pictures of the last time. Anyways, tonight's towel animal was a dinosaur.

 

 

And with that, I'm going to throw in the towel for tonight. Things are slowing up both on my computer and in my head so I shall return tomorrow and finish it up in 2017. Good night and a good New Year to you all!

Edited January 1, 2017 by CoffeeGoddess

[easyboy]

Great review. Very nice photos too. Looking forward for more.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[ncklhaus]

Loving your review.

Happy New Year!

[orange150]

Glad to hear you had fun! Love reading the review :)

 

Sent from my XT1254 using Forums mobile app

[dortrust]

More

[TSM AND JP]

Enjoying your review. Love all the photos!