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Review- Getaway Baltic Cruise July 4, 2019


hawaiideb
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Just returned from a 9 day July 4th- July 13th Baltic cruise on the Getaway. The ship looks beautiful after her refurbishment, with new carpets shipwide and in the Theater where they replaced all the seats.  The ships hull artwork was bright and vivid, obviously touched up as well. The weather was cold, although many enjoyed the hot tubs. The children's area was not used much, only a few days on the return trip as it warmed up a bit.

 

The ship sailed at full capacity plus, with many large/extended family groups. This made for seating challenges with Dining, and some groups were rather demanding. Otherwise, the ship didn't seem full.  The entertainment was top notch, especially enjoyed the Howl at the Moon pianists, the English Band and hosts at Syd Norman's and the cast of Million Dollar Quartet. Burn the floor was also good!  New Cruise Director Fernando is getting into the swing of things, it was obvious he was still getting to know his staff, but they seemed to respect him.

 

Because of the full ship, the Spa was often quite busy, especially on sea days. It settled down after Day 3, and I had no problems finding a stone lounger, relaxation lounger and enjoyed the thermal spa. The spa staff was attentive, removing towels from loungers every hour and checking on folks reserving loungers without ever sitting in them.

 

One area I found where the crew need to reinforce rules is adult only hot tubs and Spice H2O. I observed on several occasions underage kids with an 18  year old+ young adult in those areas, and they were never questioned. It was obvious they were very young.  There were also several large families that I would just consider rude. I understand cultural norms are different, and there were 77 nationalities represented by guest on this ship. However, there were SO MANY folks who would just TALK LOUDLY over anything not being spoken in a language they speak. When your muster drill is being given in 5 languages, folks need to be patient. Several times on tours unfortunately guides had to ask people to stop talking, watching videos without headphones and speaking LOUDLY on cell phones. It went beyond cultural norms, it was just rude.

 

Shows were no problem, and getting reservations for dinner weren't either. Our one and only issue came with reservation to the Cirque Steams and Dreams Dinner show.  We were charged twice due to prebooking, and all was resolved eventually. Please show up super early, as we showed up 10-15 minutes before the time given and were barely given time to eat dinner. Almost all spots were taken, and we were way in the back. I would recommend at least 30-45 minutes prior. This wasn't communicated clearly. Be sure to ask and get clear directions. Also, I would recommend checking the menu in advance, as the broccoli had red pepper flakes and was VERY SPICY.  My husband and I also found not all steak was the same, I clearly had filet mignon and his cut was more like a sirloin. It was also here we noticed folks videotaping the ENTIRE show, even after being asked to put their phones away. Recording piracy is a crime in the US, but many just said "No English", and kept on doing as they wanted. I don't know the fix for NCL, except to collect phone/cameras at the door as some concerts do.  As for the show, it was a lot like others we have seen in the past, so this upcharge experience should be done by those who have reviewed it's content. I will note that NCL shipboard management heard our issues and resolved it to our satisfaction.

 

The Shipboard Credit desk will exchange local money, just not on debarkation day. Credit cards are best and easiest to use.

 

We had a great time, and loved the ports. This area of northern Europe is very expensive for everything, so plan accordingly. We want to go to the Norwegian Fiords, and maybe England/Ireland. I wish NCL would offer more ports in Portugal, as that would be also be a place I would love to visit. We enjoyed our time, but are very thankful to be home.

 

Edited by hawaiideb
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Thanks!  Any info regarding the changes to Vibe?  Is it really 2-3x bigger now?  How many people could buy passes?  How much were those passes?  Hear any grumblings about it?  I saw info on this weeks ago, then it went radio silent.

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It was cold out, so not a lot of information on Vibe. I didn't even go topside much, as we had a SPA balcony that was sheltered, and if we were outside it was there. Sorry.

Debbie

 

PS... we have our dailies... if I get a chance I will post them. One additional thought, we were invited to view the Ice bar, and I was underwhelmed. I don't think I would pay the $12 upcharge to be cold, especially when for this Florida girl it was cold outside. Just my 2 cents.....

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28 minutes ago, hawaiideb said:

It was cold out, so not a lot of information on Vibe. I didn't even go topside much, as we had a SPA balcony that was sheltered, and if we were outside it was there. Sorry.

Debbie

What were the temperatures like?  We are going end of August. 

 

Thanks!

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Temperatures were a LOT cooler than the 2 weeks prior. According to locals, they had been close to 80-85 Degrees F, but in most ports we had lows in the 50's and highs around 68-70* F. We had rain the first few days, and after that we just had some partially cloudy days mixed with sunny days.

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I was on this cruise, too. Did you feel the crew was just a bit “off”? We ate in specialties 8/9 evenings (dining perks plus my platinum rewards), and service was SLOW, we were delivered entirely wrong meals, incorrect meat temperature, etc. 

 

The safety drill was the worst I’ve ever experienced in 26 cruises. Doing it in 4 languages took tooooooo long. People were rude, but listening to something where only 25% was applicable made people, especially kids, restless. I suggested they do separate muster areas for each language when I got the survey - no idea how feasible that is. 

 

I thought the only bad weather was the rain on embarkation day, otherwise we didn’t have rain and it was comfortable enough. I bought a jacket on the ship which I was happy to have for the evening in St. Petersburg and kayaking in Helsinki. 

 

We booked this same ship for the Mediterranean next summer. 

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I did this cruise 2 years ago....fabulous itinerary....Saint Petersburg was incredible....Tallinn and Stockholm were amazing.....Rostock was a nice surprise and Helsinki was okay....thought the ship was very nice and this was before the refurb it sounds like.....

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On 7/17/2019 at 11:32 AM, hawaiideb said:

It was cold out, so not a lot of information on Vibe. I didn't even go topside much, as we had a SPA balcony that was sheltered, and if we were outside it was there. Sorry.

Debbie

 

PS... we have our dailies... if I get a chance I will post them. One additional thought, we were invited to view the Ice bar, and I was underwhelmed. I don't think I would pay the $12 upcharge to be cold, especially when for this Florida girl it was cold outside. Just my 2 cents.....

Thank you for the review and extra info.  I would love to see the Dailies if you get the chance to upload them and any dining photos you may have.  We are doing a similar itinerary, but on the Escape in 2021.

 

I know the ships are different, but did you notice the buffet and other indoor locations having more crowded seating since it is chilly to sit outside and eat?  Our will probably be downright cold since we aren't sailing until October.

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