Haven-ly Getaway May 6-13

[alliecat44]

Greetings!

 

Just off the Getaway 7-day Western Caribbean and experiencing the typical post-cruise depression, so to speak....what better way to combat it than by reliving some of our cruise on here? Hope this helps future cruisers as many reviews helped me when planning ours. (Thanks, CC!)

 

About us: Late 30's couple, one cruise prior (four night on the Sky two years ago). On that cruise, we tried to pack in as many activities, game shows, entertainment etc as possible. We came back absolutely exhausted but loved our experience and couldn't wait to book another one! Since life happens, it was over two years before we were able to experience cruising again...and this time our tastes were a little different, I think.

 

We chose the Getaway Western Caribbean because quite honestly it was one of three Norwegian cruises the one week we had available, and the only 7-day. We knew that no matter what we would have a wonderful time--so itinerary didn't matter so much as length of time on the ship.

 

Originally I booked a balcony (angled balcony, 13270), but then I played the upgrade game...five days before sailing we were awarded an upgrade to the Haven! Courtyard Penthouse, 15100. We were sooooo excited and now looking forward to a super luxurious, relaxing vacation....

 

Since we live in Fort Lauderdale, I packed on Saturday night, we got up Sunday morning and got an Uber to the port. Easy-peasy (don't hate me!). We went straight in to the Haven waiting area after going through the metal detectors where they checked us in immediately. The boy helped himself to some smoked lox crostini, then some prosciutto/arugula/mozzarella crostini (did I mention we are kind of foodies?) and we both enjoyed the coffee. When it was time, they asked who was ready to go to the next stage of waiting--we were led in a small group upstairs to big comfy couches blocked off for Haven guests. After about 30 minutes--and meeting another CC member who was so nice and enjoying a special trip with his family in the Haven--we were led directly onto the ship and straight up to the Haven.

 

Some of us verbalized how kind of embarrassed we felt walking by everyone waiting in line to check in, etc....for what it's worth, the lines that we saw (early on--around 10:30-11) did not look that bad, thankfully. But I did feel guilty!

 

More to come shortly...

[alliecat44]

Okay, sooo......we were taken up to the Haven lounge, immediately offered a refreshing non-alcoholic punch drink, and awaited the briefing. Hanno, our concierge, was incredibly gracious and gave us information on how the Haven works. We then grabbed a drink and headed outside to check out the Haven.

 

What a gorgeous day of sunshine! Going to try to paste a picture...not sure if it will work. I don't have a site to host images on...

 

[alliecat44]

Yay, it worked! Here are a few other pictures of the outdoor Haven area...

 

 

 

 

Haven smoking section all the way forward....great views, never more than a few ashtrays (?? very weird--theme throughout the ship).

 

[alliecat44]

Now for the room....

 

As stated, we had the courtyard penthouse which was plenty of space for two people. Our cabin was all the way forward--the last one in the hallway--so was very quiet and private. We could see the bridge on the deck below us and to the right (we were on port side).

 

Much has been written about these rooms, so I'll just attach a few photos....BUT.......I must comment on something I don't remember seeing discussed in previous Haven threads....

 

THAT BED.

 

Oh my goodness, THAT BED. It is seriously one of the most comfortable, soft-yet-supportive beds I have ever laid upon. It reminded us of the Ritz-Carlton bed but more comfortable, if possible. THAT BED was a major reason we spent so much time in the room (and took so many naps!!).

 

Also, I have to reiterate the convenience of having a full shower and tub for ladies shaving their legs. *ahem* Just saying.

 

 

 

 

[alliecat44]

So, going to move a little faster now....

 

Yes, Margaritaville was open for free lunch to the Haven guests upon embarkation. We chose to eat in the Haven restaurants since we have a Margaritaville near our house and find everything there to be pretty overpriced and underwhelming...not sure if it's that way on the ship, but we wanted some good food. :)

 

From our first lunch in the Haven restaurant to breakfast on our last morning, we found the service to be impeccable and the food fantastic. We were super impressed. I know plenty of people have complained that the menu never changes--but honestly, there is so much variety on the menu that you can have something different every day of a week-long cruise if you want. Not so if you are a picky eater, which I suppose is the "problem" experienced by others. We loved it and wished we had had fewer specialty dining reservations so we could enjoy more dinners in the Haven restaurant.

 

We met our butler, Renson, who was ever so nice and helpful....we saw Renson multiple times every day on the ship and he was just wonderful. Attentive, personable, always wanting to help. He delivered shrimp cocktail to our room every night at our request and the boy asked for and received two orders of chocolate covered strawberries. ;) He also delivered dessert to our room a couple of nights when we were too full to enjoy it at dinner but wanted it for later...so so nice!!!!!

 

On the second day (sea day), I had kind of overbooked us. :) We went to the Wine Lovers musical over lunch--very cute, thin storyline but educational and the performers were great. Enjoyed tasting the wine and the lunch was better than expected (duck salad, sirloin with mushroom sauce and cajun shrimp--so they said--more like two large fried shrimp, mochaccino cheesecake--a little dry but intense flavor).

 

I didn't realize that the Cirque Dreams was in the same venue as Wine Lovers...so we ended up spending several hours and two meals in the Illusionarium that day. Ah well. Cirque Dreams was fantastic--the music and performances were transformative and the costumes were just absolutely gorgeous. The meal was prosciutto/mozzarella/tomato with balsamic reduction followed by filet (medium to medium rare) with fried fingerling potatoes and three large grilled shrimp, and then a trio of gorgeous mini-desserts.

 

After the show, we frealized that the following day, we had reservations for Cagney's...but since we had had steak for the last three meals, we asked Hanno to change our reservation to Ocean Blue instead. I had heard the mixed reviews on here, but we were desperate to have seafood instead of steak (never thought we would say THAT!!!!). :) He was great and accommodated us without a problem.

 

On to day 2, Roatan....

[alliecat44]

So, for Roatan I had used Victor Bodden Tours (talked about extensively on here) to book their new Beach Bus Break. I searched CC for information about this tour and couldn't find anything, so here's a bit more about it.

 

As promised, the staff at Bodden was wonderful--professional, friendly, informative about the island. We took a bus about 15-20 minutes through mountainous Roatan to get to a new beach resort (opened November 2017, I believe) called Sol y Mar. On Trip Advisor, it is called "Sol and Mar"--so be careful when you're searching for reviews. :)

 

It was lovely--several bars, lots of chairs/loungers/palapas. Wi-fi for the day was $3. Drinks were fairly priced for an island resort ($6 Coronas). They had tons of inflatable rafts, kayaks, snorkeling equipment etc available for rent. The servers came by all the time to see if you needed food or drink--lovely people. It rained briefly and there were a few sand fly bites (in spite of Skin-So-Soft) but not bad. The beach was gorgeous--see the photos below. Getting into the water and for the first ten feet out the sand was rough/a bit painful on your feet, but then it was smooth as silk. There were pockets of slightly deeper water (3-4 feet) but for the most part, the water was about knee-deep almost all the way out to the reef.....I'm terrible at distances but maybe 100 yards away?

 

 

These people had the right idea!!!!

 

It got a bit more crowded than this but not much.

 

 

Coxen Hole damage (yes, we were able to dock):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[trician24]

Thanks for your review! Just wondering what time did you arrive at the port? Like you, we will be sailing on the Getaway in a Haven suite, and was curious about what time we should arrive at the port.

[alliecat44]

Thanks for your review! Just wondering what time did you arrive at the port? Like you, we will be sailing on the Getaway in a Haven suite, and was curious about what time we should arrive at the port.

 

 

 

Being local, we got there as early as possible—our car pulled up at 10:05am. :)

 

Just checked this thread on my phone and looks like none of the pictures came out. Boo.

 

Maybe this one will?

 

 

 

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[trician24]

Being local, we got there as early as possible—our car pulled up at 10:05am. :)

 

Just checked this thread on my phone and looks like none of the pictures came out. Boo.

 

Maybe this one will?

 

 

 

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Thanks for the info! That pic worked! [emoji1]

 

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[kg21rules]

Great review so far. Excited for more! I sail Getaway in 2 weeks, hoping for an upgrade too!

[drvmywifecrzy]

Wonder why the pics are not showing

[alliecat44]

Thanks for the info! That pic worked! [emoji1]

 

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Will try more:

 

 

 

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[alliecat44]

Roatan, attempt #2:

 

 

 

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[alliecat44]

Great review so far. Excited for more! I sail Getaway in 2 weeks, hoping for an upgrade too!

 

Good luck!!!! :) I hope you get it, too!

 

So, if someone could let me know if the second attempt worked, then I'll post text on my computer followed by pics from my phone.

 

I had the order of dinners wrong before...on Roatan day (Tuesday), we went to Moderno for dinner. That (and the steak lunch and steak dinner on Monday) prompted us to change our reservation for Wednesday from Cagney's to Ocean Blue.

 

Moderno was fantastic! Yes, the meats were salty (a theme everywhere we ate) but they were perfectly prepared. The service was OUTSTANDING. Salad bar items were plentiful and delicious. Garlic mashed potatoes and the sauteed mushrooms (sides) were fantastic. We tried our hardest not to overeat...I would say it rivaled Texas de Brazil at home. So, so good. The caiparinhas were excellent, too. ;) Can't say enough about the service here and, well, everywhere we went on the ship!

 

The following day was Harvest Caye....since we had access to the Haven, we decided to stay onboard and enjoy the sunshine, free drinks and excellent food.

 

The one exception to this, sadly, was Ocean Blue. While the service was again EXCELLENT, the food was very disappointing. The worst meal--and the most expensive!!--on the whole ship. I had the crab cake appetizer, which was good--the sauce complemented the crab cakes well. However, my scallops were overcooked (at a seafood specialty restaurant...) and the flavoring was all over the place....grapefruit, pork belly, a sauce I can't remember....nothing meshed well and the overall taste of the scallops was sour and bitter with a rubbery texture. Exactly the opposite of what you want in a scallop (smooth, buttery, delicate). The pork belly was tough and chewy, potatoes au gratin were dry with barely any cheese (and no creaminess at all--kind of the opposite of the point of potatoes au gratin). The boy's lobster was tiny--about five bites and it was done. Alaskan king crab appetizer was cooked properly but difficult to remove from the shell and eliminate the cartilage since it was split lengthwise. The boy said it tasted great, but it was definitely the most trouble I've ever seen him have with a crab leg (and he is a professional crab eater--! Can't tell you how many times he's cooked us King Crab at home--lucky me! :) )

 

However--the dessert I had (flourless chocolate cake) was AMAZING--dense, rich, and with a molten center....yummmm. I was just really disappointed having paid an additional $36 on top of the specialty dining package for that meal. Ah, well....

 

I forgot to mention that Monday night (after Cirque) we went to the 11pm 18+ comedy show with Dylan. He was great--most of his routine was riffing off of members of the audience, so if you don't want to be picked on, stay out of the first few rows. ;) We meant to see more comedy shows through the week but didn't make it, unfortunately (did I mention THAT BED?? LOL).

 

So, where were we?

 

The next day was Costa Maya. We got off the ship this time (yay us! LOL) and did a little shopping. I was excited to finally try a fish pedicure! It was great--a bit ticklish but my feet definitely felt softer afterwards. The experience was definitely worth the $20!

 

We sampled and wound up purchasing some excellent chocolate at the Krakow chocolate factory. (Dark chocolate with sea salt is AMAZING....better than Ghiardelli, I think!). If you walk your way through the shops and wind your way around the corner past the pool (gorgeous, very crowded) and the Dolphin Encounter areas, there is free Wi-fi near where the taxi/shuttle station.

 

Performers abounded at the port--some really talented local folks. We didn't book an excursion here, so after we ate some declious tacos al pastor we headed back to the ship for more relaxing in the sun and in THAT BED. (Did I mention we took lots of naps?)

Edited May 14, 2018 by alliecat44
minor typos

[alliecat44]

 

Yummy tacos—al pastor and chorizo/potato.

 

 

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[amscene1]

Great review so far. Excited for more! I sail Getaway in 2 weeks, hoping for an upgrade too!

 

 

 

I’ll be on that sailing, you have a good chance to get into haven. Lots of cabins left! Bid high fair-good

 

 

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[trician24]

Good luck!!!! :) I hope you get it, too!

 

So, if someone could let me know if the second attempt worked, then I'll post text on my computer followed by pics from my phone.

 

I had the order of dinners wrong before...on Roatan day (Tuesday), we went to Moderno for dinner. That (and the steak lunch and steak dinner on Monday) prompted us to change our reservation for Wednesday from Cagney's to Ocean Blue.

 

Moderno was fantastic! Yes, the meats were salty (a theme everywhere we ate) but they were perfectly prepared. The service was OUTSTANDING. Salad bar items were plentiful and delicious. Garlic mashed potatoes and the sauteed mushrooms (sides) were fantastic. We tried our hardest not to overeat...I would say it rivaled Texas de Brazil at home. So, so good. The caiparinhas were excellent, too. ;) Can't say enough about the service here and, well, everywhere we went on the ship!

 

The following day was Harvest Caye....since we had access to the Haven, we decided to stay onboard and enjoy the sunshine, free drinks and excellent food.

 

The one exception to this, sadly, was Ocean Blue. While the service was again EXCELLENT, the food was very disappointing. The worst meal--and the most expensive!!--on the whole ship. I had the crab cake appetizer, which was good--the sauce complemented the crab cakes well. However, my scallops were overcooked (at a seafood specialty restaurant...) and the flavoring was all over the place....grapefruit, pork belly, a sauce I can't remember....nothing meshed well and the overall taste of the scallops was sour and bitter with a rubbery texture. Exactly the opposite of what you want in a scallop (smooth, buttery, delicate). The pork belly was tough and chewy, potatoes au gratin were dry with barely any cheese (and no creaminess at all--kind of the opposite of the point of potatoes au gratin). The boy's lobster was tiny--about five bites and it was done. Alaskan king crab appetizer was cooked properly but difficult to remove from the shell and eliminate the cartilage since it was split lengthwise. The boy said it tasted great, but it was definitely the most trouble I've ever seen him have with a crab leg (and he is a professional crab eater--! Can't tell you how many times he's cooked us King Crab at home--lucky me! :) )

 

However--the dessert I had (flourless chocolate cake) was AMAZING--dense, rich, and with a molten center....yummmm. I was just really disappointed having paid an additional $36 on top of the specialty dining package for that meal. Ah, well....

 

I forgot to mention that Monday night (after Cirque) we went to the 11pm 18+ comedy show with Dylan. He was great--most of his routine was riffing off of members of the audience, so if you don't want to be picked on, stay out of the first few rows. ;) We meant to see more comedy shows through the week but didn't make it, unfortunately (did I mention THAT BED?? LOL).

 

So, where were we?

 

The next day was Costa Maya. We got off the ship this time (yay us! LOL) and did a little shopping. I was excited to finally try a fish pedicure! It was great--a bit ticklish but my feet definitely felt softer afterwards. The experience was definitely worth the $20!

 

We sampled and wound up purchasing some excellent chocolate at the Krakow chocolate factory. (Dark chocolate with sea salt is AMAZING....better than Ghiardelli, I think!). If you walk your way through the shops and wind your way around the corner past the pool (gorgeous, very crowded) and the Dolphin Encounter areas, there is free Wi-fi near where the taxi/shuttle station.

 

Performers abounded at the port--some really talented local folks. We didn't book an excursion here, so after we ate some declious tacos al pastor we headed back to the ship for more relaxing in the sun and in THAT BED. (Did I mention we took lots of naps?)

Thanks for the pics. They are all working now. Looks like you had a great vacation!

 

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[alliecat44]

The next day was Cozumel. The boy had taken a submarine excursion with his family in Aruba about thirty years ago (!!!) and STILL remembered how fabuluous it was--so when he saw the option on the NCL excursion page, he told me we HAD to do it!

 

Boy, am I glad we did! Will post a few pics and short videos below (hope they come through!). It turned out to be the same company he remembered from thirty years ago--they had only been open for about six months when he was a child. Now, they have locations all over the world--St. Maarten, Oahu, Guam, etc. So cool. We met at the excursion area at port. The company pre-arranged taxi transportation for the entire group to their main office. There, we boarded a boat and traveled about twenty minutes to hook up with the submarine. This was a REAL submarine--you have to enter through a hatch and go down a ladder about six feet tall to get to the seating area. Each molded plastic seat had its own porthole so you didn't miss anything. We were in a national park and went to the "shallow" reef about 45 feet below the surface before descending further to the "deep" reef at 110 feet below the surface. We saw lots of gorgeous coral formation, fish, a stingray...and the steep dropoff of the shelf beneath the surface. We also cruised around a sunken minesweeper (shipwreck) that had been purposely sunk by the Mexican Navy to create an artificial reef for the snorkelers. It was so very cool....All of this was narrated by a marine biologist. The company was called Atlantis Submarines and everyone associated with it was super professional and friendly. Fantastic experience.

 

We took the 20-minute boat ride back to the offices and then the pre-arranged taxi back to the port, where we enjoyed drinks and awesome tacos. A couple we met later that night showed us their photos of the chocolate-making excursion and it sounded/looked like a fantastic time! They also did a tequila tasting which they reported was wonderful.

[alliecat44]

 

Can’t figure out how to attach videos. Sorry!

 

 

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[alliecat44]

Let's see, what else....trying to fill in some blanks.

 

Dinner at Le Bistro Wednesday night was fantastic. The shrimp entree was incredible--I could bathe in that sauce!! LOL My filet was cooked perfectly rare and was as delicious as the filet in the Haven. Service was, again, excellent and attentive.

 

Teppenyaki on Friday night was one of the highlight meals of the entire week. Salvador, the chef, was so friendly and personable--you can tell he actually enjoys his work. Additionally, the food was delicious--beats many hibachi places on land!! We met a couple of other lovely and funny couples and overall had a fantastic time.

 

"Million Dollar Quartet" (late show, Friday night) was--as everyone else has said--absolutely outstanding. Please please see this show. Broadway-level performances, fantastic music, so much fun. Definitely a huge highlight of the cruise!

 

We lost about a hundred bucks in the Casino (blackjack, slots, Roulette) before finally quitting for good. Disappointing but not surprising.

 

We did "Escape the Big Top" on Saturday afternoon. This was fun--we have done several escape rooms together and really enjoyed the puzzles. The design of the experience was as good as it could possibly be--frustrations/difficulty lay in the simple fact that it is an escape-room type experience modified for a multipurpose space. That is, not the fault of NCL or the game designer. We were aligned with either other people and had multiple puzzles to solve by using props at the table and walking around the room looking at "exhibits," so to speak. The crowds from each team made it hard to really study the exhibits and with so many people who didn't know each other working on multiple things at the same time...it was difficult to focus long enough to completely solve each portion. Ah well! That said, it was really really fun and very clever. :) I would definitely do a similar experience on a cruise ship again!

 

The boy did the waterslides on the first sea day when there were no lines. We meant to get back to them but never got around to it (THAT BED again...). Same thing for the ropes course--kept meaning to do it but just never did. It looked beautiful though! Ditto for the mini golf. :)

 

Thoughts on the Haven experience:

As many others have said, we found the Haven experience worth every penny and will find it difficult to cruise any other way into the future. You save so much time and emotional energy (if you're the type to get frustrated standing in line) with the priority boarding and leaving from port. While the main areas of the ship often seemed very crowded as we were walking through with long lines for the pool bar, tons of noise etc--the Haven area was so incredibly relaxing, quiet and with all of your needs taken care of. No frustration with booking stuff onboard--the concierge takes care of it. Need to know the best beach in Cozumel? The concierge will tell you. Service was always five-star. I can honestly say that we had an entirely DIFFERENT VACATION than the one we had originally booked (in a balcony room)--and I guarantee it was SO MUCH BETTER.

 

That said, if it's between buying your groceries and spending money for the Haven--then I of course would advise not to do the Haven! ;)

 

There was a fight we heard about on Monday night...we arrived at Sunset Bar just after it was broken up. One woman got pretty seriously assaulted and passengers apparently had to subdue this guy before the security forces arrived...but happy to say that he was immediately taken to the brig with plans for him to be kicked off the ship the next day in Roatan (good luck getting home, buddy!). It was nice to know they take safety seriously.

 

On Friday night, the boy had a few too many to drink....refused to go to bed at 2am. Instead, he took his champagne for a wander around the ship. I asked him the following morning what he did....turns out he went up to the jogging track determined to do a full mile. So, there he was at 3am, walking eight laps on the jogging track with the glass of champagne in his hand....he said they were cleaning the deck and had to stop every time he came around to that area of the track. !!!! If there is a security camera "blooper reel," I am sure he is on it!! :') Oh my.

 

Overall, we had an absolutely lovely cruise and met many friendly people. I was impressed with NCL every step of the way and can't wait to do it again. Will leave with some final pictures below....

 

Thanks for letting me relive my cruise with you. :)

[alliecat44]

 

One of the snacks from the butler—yummy chocolates. :)

 

 

 

 

 

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[kg21rules]

I’ll be on that sailing, you have a good chance to get into haven. Lots of cabins left! Bid high fair-good

 

 

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Thanks for the tip, but not sure I can afford much more than my "poor" current bid. :( Either way, we'll have a great time!

[amscene1]

Thanks for the tip, but not sure I can afford much more than my "poor" current bid. :( Either way, we'll have a great time!

 

 

 

You may get lucky. Lots and lots of cabins in the haven! Good luck!! And let us know!

 

 

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[ThePhoenix]

Thanks for the review. My last cruise was almost two years ago and I’m Jonesing for another. I don’t think I could cruise without being in the Haven, for all the reasons you provided. My favorite things about Haven? Number 1 - that guilty feeling watching everyone standing in line while we sauntered onto (and off of) the ship with no waiting; number 2 - that BED!

[alliecat44]

Thanks for the review. My last cruise was almost two years ago and I’m Jonesing for another. I don’t think I could cruise without being in the Haven, for all the reasons you provided. My favorite things about Haven? Number 1 - that guilty feeling watching everyone standing in line while we sauntered onto (and off of) the ship with no waiting; number 2 - that BED!

 

Hahaha. :) I think we must be long-lost twins!!! ;)

 

We bought four CruiseNext certificates....and already they're burning a hole in my inbox. ;)