There are a lot of very negative reviews of Getaway?

[bssc]

We were on the Getaway in June right after the refurb. (and the Epic in 2016).  We liked the Getaway a lot better.  There was some crowding, but we were on the Arctic Ocean/North Sea cruise and it was a bit chilly out.  All the outside decks were pretty empty since they were 40 F out, and Margaritaville was closed.  Still a great cruise.  Great staff too.

[tweetylori]

I am so glad to read this thread, as I also have read too many negative reviews about this ship.  We're not booked until 2021, but I still am grateful for reassurance...thanks to all who are replying!

[Sand and Seas]

Its' been a while since we were on the Getaway, but will be sailing on her in a few months out of New Orleans.

Interesting to see they had breakfast buffet available in Moderno?   Was this every day?

 

[joejoe 59]

Love everybody's great positive attitudes, you will find whingers everywhere,  we choose to ignore them & make up our own mind's. 

We fly from oz next year to cruise the Med on Getaway, can't wait.

 

Edited August 26, 2019 by joejoe 59

[GA Dave]

6 hours ago, joejoe 59 said:

We fly from oz next year to cruise the Med on Getaway, can't wait.

 

Which cruise?  We are on the Sept. 10-20, 2020 cruise.

[sun_lovin!1]

On ‎8‎/‎25‎/‎2019 at 6:15 AM, KeithJenner said:

Whenever I read through reviews on Cruise Critic, I can only conclude that NCL lay on two or three special cruises each year where the staff all smile, people can get a drink without waiting ages, the food is edible and there are rarely (if ever) queues, and by total chance those are the two or three cruises that I happen to book.

 

They must have 5 or 6 of those good ones a year!  Because I must be booked on the other 1 or 2!  (Delicious food, always able to find a seat, great room stewards, wonderful waiters, fabulous bartenders...)

[graphicguy]

On 8/25/2019 at 12:10 PM, ppcox said:

Sailed the Getaway 3 times. Twice in the Caribbean and once on the Baltic route. beautiful ship you will have a great cruise. We just do a few sensible things to avoid the crowded places.

• Eat in the restaurant for lunch on Embark day avoid the buffet at all costs,.
• Take swimsuits in carry on and enjoy the hot tubs and pool ,slides on first afternoon. ( obviously not on a Baltic cruise)
• avoid the elevators on Embark day we take it to the top work our way down as we explore. 
• Book restaurants for every night at MyNCL online before you go at I think the 90 day mark ( as soon as you are able to )  I think 30% of the possible reservations are available at this time but we always do this its so less stressful to work it out before hand. If we need to change one we do it once onboard.
• If its an early start for an excursion then again avoid the buffet  I order room service breakfast or we go to the local for breakfast. ( much better quality /temp than the buffet)

We have had a few times when its felt crowded none more so than getting off at St Petersburg. But did that spoil anything no it didn’t. I remember the fabulous Faberge eggs , palaces and the Hermitage  not the wait to get off the ship. 

I have come to the conclusion some people think you have to write a review of just negatives without perspective or any positives.

So you can make some choices to avoid some of the crowds but part of the reason you will be on such an exciting , fully loaded cruise ship is she has a capacity of 3,900 + Enjoy

Good advice if sailing any cruise ship on any cruise line.

[graphicguy]

Sailed the Getaway this time last year (actually met @GA Daveand his lovely wife on that cruise).

 

Just a wonderful ship.

 

I never could understand how anyone could be so negative while on vacation, on a cruise ship, with activities, food, drinks, beautiful ports galore.

 

Short of the one cruise (I think it was Carnival) that had feces running down the hallways, or running aground (Concordia), or being caught in a typhoon off the coast of Norway (Viking) and being evacuated by helicopter, by definition a cruise embodies a good time.

 

Heck, I was on the "listing" cruise (Escape) earlier this year.  I still had a wonderful time!

[danak13]

I am booked on the Breakaway at the end of November and have been reading exactly what you are reading about the Getaway.  Admittedly, it makes me a little nervous since this is my SO's first time on a megaship and our big vacation for the year so I don't want anything to ruin it.  But then I also try to remember that thousands of people are on these ships weekly so the complaints are really a small majority.  And a lot of little inconveniences are what you make of them.  My SO and I are pretty low key so as long as we can find a drink and some ocean views, we will be happy.  I'm also surprising him with an aft balcony in case the crowds get to be too much 🙂

[justhappy]

This applies to cruises too-

if you’re a negative person and not happy now, being on a cruise will not magically make you a positive happy person.

 

[graphicguy]

31 minutes ago, danak13 said:

I am booked on the Breakaway at the end of November and have been reading exactly what you are reading about the Getaway.  Admittedly, it makes me a little nervous since this is my SO's first time on a megaship and our big vacation for the year so I don't want anything to ruin it.  But then I also try to remember that thousands of people are on these ships weekly so the complaints are really a small majority.  And a lot of little inconveniences are what you make of them.  My SO and I are pretty low key so as long as we can find a drink and some ocean views, we will be happy.  I'm also surprising him with an aft balcony in case the crowds get to be too much 🙂

Leaving on the Breakaway this coming Sunday.  Not having to do laundry, cook, cut the grass, get up and go to work, having someone clean my bedroom and bathroom EVERY SINGLE DAY, watching great entertainment all over the place, being able to look out over crystal blue water with my favorite beverage, eating a variety of delicious food any time  day or night.....well, can't see how that would turn into a bad time.

 

Yet, some will find fault in everything.

[danak13]

1 hour ago, graphicguy said:

Leaving on the Breakaway this coming Sunday.  Not having to do laundry, cook, cut the grass, get up and go to work, having someone clean my bedroom and bathroom EVERY SINGLE DAY, watching great entertainment all over the place, being able to look out over crystal blue water with my favorite beverage, eating a variety of delicious food any time  day or night.....well, can't see how that would turn into a bad time.

 

Yet, some will find fault in everything.

Have an awesome cruise.  If you think of us when it's all over, I would love a report of what you thought! 

[Son of a son of a ...]

It is all relative.  Not all babies are beautiful and not all ship are great.

[graphicguy]

58 minutes ago, danak13 said:

Have an awesome cruise.  If you think of us when it's all over, I would love a report of what you thought! 

I will.  I try to report live.  WiFi has been pretty good on NCL that last year or so.  If that trend continues, I'll have some live reports and some live pics to go along with it.

 

This will be the first time I try a Vlog, too.  So, we'll see how that works out.

 

Thanks!

[happytravellers2]

Thanks to all for your reassuring and positive comments - compared to the seasoned cruisers we haven’t been on many cruises but have been on Holland America, MSC, Celebrity and NCL and have enjoyed every one. 

The common issue is that the Freestyle Cruising concept seems a bit questionable if you need to book things in advance and spontaneity means a long wait. For our NCL cruise last year I did pre-book our dining every night - and it did work out ok. On our Celebrity cruise we chose anytime dining and found that when I tried to make a reservation on board we couldn’t get anything in prime time. We even skipped one dinner in favor of the buffet after a particularly festive time at the sail away bar - but then found that if we just pitched up for dinner we got seated within a minute or two. But from the feedback it doesn’t seem that NCL will work that way. Maybe we should prebook for the speciality restaurants and take a chance on the days we will eat in the main dining rooms - or just prebook every evening again and accept it. 

[KeithJenner]

12 minutes ago, happytravellers2 said:

Thanks to all for your reassuring and positive comments - compared to the seasoned cruisers we haven’t been on many cruises but have been on Holland America, MSC, Celebrity and NCL and have enjoyed every one. 

The common issue is that the Freestyle Cruising concept seems a bit questionable if you need to book things in advance and spontaneity means a long wait. For our NCL cruise last year I did pre-book our dining every night - and it did work out ok. On our Celebrity cruise we chose anytime dining and found that when I tried to make a reservation on board we couldn’t get anything in prime time. We even skipped one dinner in favor of the buffet after a particularly festive time at the sail away bar - but then found that if we just pitched up for dinner we got seated within a minute or two. But from the feedback it doesn’t seem that NCL will work that way. Maybe we should prebook for the speciality restaurants and take a chance on the days we will eat in the main dining rooms - or just prebook every evening again and accept it. 

Freestyle doesn't necessarily mean spontaneity. It can be argued whether or not it should mean that or not (personally, I don't think that is what freestyle is actually about), but the fact is that in practice it isn't necessarily the case.

 

In practice, the main thing that freestyle means is that you are free to choose when and where you eat, what entertainment you attend, and what you wear. Try not to get hung up about whether you should be able to make that decision at the last minute.

 

Having said that, I very rarely book anything other than speciality meals, and I only really book them because I personally prefer to know that I am definitely going to get into the restaurants when I want and I'm happy to make that decision in advance. Plenty of people don't book them. As long as you understand that somewhere may be full (and however much people complain, this is the real world and it's impossible to guarantee everyone can eat where and when they want with no booking) then you can be very flexible and not necessarily have to queue for long.

 

In all my NCL cruises I have very rarely queued for more than about 5 minutes for anything at all. The thing I have queued for more than anything is to get off the ship when we arrive in port during the day.

Edited August 26, 2019 by KeithJenner

[graphicguy]

Personally, I've sort of mapped out where I want to eat the week I cruise.  It doesn't matter to me what day/night I want to eat at those places.  So, I go to the ones that can seat me relatively quickly.  That may or may not be on the first night I checked, but eventually I get seated at every place I wanted to dine.

 

However, I know that the Garden Cafe at Embarkation and sea days is going to be packed.  So, I choose one of the MDRs or O'Sheehans (The Local) for those nights.  Or, I'll grab a snack at O'Sheehans and wait for the crowds to die down at the Specialty Restaurants.  If you're really counting on a restaurant you want to dine in and find it's packed, ask for the Maitre'D (or the asst) and see if there's something that can be done to accommodate you.  That's worked for me quite a bit.  Overall, they want to please you.  Ask for the Maitre'D by name, too (find out who they are at Customer Service).

 

But, if you insist on having dinner the same time, with the same people and the same waitstaff, FreeStyle might not be for you.

 

[rhapsodybluezz]

On 8/25/2019 at 10:45 PM, Sand and Seas said:

Its' been a while since we were on the Getaway, but will be sailing on her in a few months out of New Orleans.

Interesting to see they had breakfast buffet available in Moderno?   Was this every day?

 

Yes, it was every day til 0930 (except the last day). The first few days of the cruise there weren't many people there but towards the end it got a little more crowded. However, we were able to easily get a seat and not have to fight the crowds in the buffet line. I highly recommend it for breakfast.

[Linda the Book Lover]

My DD and I are looking forward to sailing on the Getaway. I have never sailed a cruise ship that I did not like. 😀

[tsahall01]

4 hours ago, rhapsodybluezz said:

Yes, it was every day til 0930 (except the last day). The first few days of the cruise there weren't many people there but towards the end it got a little more crowded. However, we were able to easily get a seat and not have to fight the crowds in the buffet line. I highly recommend it for breakfast.

Is this for everybody, or just Haven guests?  It was my understanding from my last cruise that Moderno breakfasts were only for Haven and Suite guests

[GA Dave]

3 minutes ago, tsahall01 said:

Is this for everybody, or just Haven guests?  It was my understanding from my last cruise that Moderno breakfasts were only for Haven and Suite guests

Normally on the non-Haven ships (i.e., Gem class, etc.), they hold suite guest breakfast and lunch in Moderno and/or Cagney's.  On the BA ships, the Moderno breakfast buffet is normally for everyone.

Just an FYI:  There is also usually coffee and Danish available at the outdoor portion of the Sunset Bar on the Waterfront each morning (see below for location).

[Albinroo]

We did Getaway Baltic cruise early July this year and I was nervous too after reading all the negative reviews...but it was fine! Only crowded area was the buffet, and we didn't enjoy the kids club but we had a fantastic 9 days!

[zqvol]

On 8/25/2019 at 5:45 AM, happytravellers2 said:

We have a cruise booked on Getaway for March next year and have recently been looking at the reviews posted on CC - and the majority are very negative, mostly regarding overcrowding and difficulty in accessing the facilities. 

We cruised last year on NCL (Epic western Mediterranean) and had a very enjoyable time - to the extent that we took advantage of the future cruise discount. 

I would welcome some feedback from the forum as to recent experiences and if the negative reviews are warranted. 

 

Just like anything else, people who complain voice their opinions louder than those who think all is well. I would not worry about any negative reviews. I have been on Getaway either 3 or 4 times, and it is not any more crowded than any other huge ship.

[Diane67B]

The Getaway was my first NCL cruise and only my second cruise in total. My sister and I absolutely LOVED the cruise! We ate at the buffet at least 4 times and never found the crowds out of control. The Waterfront is such an amazing place to grab a drink and relax and the entertainment was phenomenal. In fact, we were so happy with our cruise experience that we purchased cruise next certificates and booked our next cruise right on board. Enjoy! Happy cruising.

[happytravellers2]

On 8/26/2019 at 11:00 PM, KeithJenner said:

Freestyle doesn't necessarily mean spontaneity. It can be argued whether or not it should mean that or not (personally, I don't think that is what freestyle is actually about), but the fact is that in practice it isn't necessarily the case.

 

In practice, the main thing that freestyle means is that you are free to choose when and where you eat, what entertainment you attend, and what you wear. Try not to get hung up about whether you should be able to make that decision at the last minute.

 

Having said that, I very rarely book anything other than speciality meals, and I only really book them because I personally prefer to know that I am definitely going to get into the restaurants when I want and I'm happy to make that decision in advance. Plenty of people don't book them. As long as you understand that somewhere may be full (and however much people complain, this is the real world and it's impossible to guarantee everyone can eat where and when they want with no booking) then you can be very flexible and not necessarily have to queue for long.

 

In all my NCL cruises I have very rarely queued for more than about 5 minutes for anything at all. The thing I have queued for more than anything is to get off the ship when we arrive in port during the day.

Again thanks for the reassurance. Keith probably summed up Freestyle well - and we do like the approach. 

I will plan our eating venues again and prebook - must just work around the departure times and sunsets as we do enjoy a cocktail with a nice view.