How can I 'de-crowd-ify' my experience?

[kaymoz]

Even tho we are retired and prefer smaller ships, we're contemplating a cruise on on NCL Getaway due to the departure port, timing and itinerary. 

We've only sailed with NCL once (Pride of America, around Hawaii, fantastic itinerary) and the breakfast buffet was the worst in terms of crowd impact.  Turns out the passenger capacity of the Getaway is almost twice that of the Pride of America!  Yikes!!!
 

Are there ways to arrange our experience so we are somewhat buffered from the crowd situations?  For example, are there upgrades that provide access to areas that are limited so maybe a little more peaceful?  [I checked and found that on the sailing we want, the Haven and Spa Suites are already sold out.] 

Any other strategies that have worked for you?

Edited February 13, 2023 by kaymoz
clarity

[zqvol]

Here are two that help. Don’t eat at the buffet except when there is no other option. Don’t try to sit near the pool go to a higher deck. 

[Two Wheels Only]

You can buy a VIBE pass or a Spa pass (if they aren't sold out).

[ColeThornton]

Consider getting a large balcony cabin.

[complawyer]

see if the getaway has a cabin category of just "suites" not club balcony suites. some ncl ships have both, and (1) the suites-not haven are a little less money (2) you get most of the same perks (3) you get the butler, concierge and breakfast and lunch at either cagney's or moderno's, but no access to the haven pool, restaurant or bar.

 

if there is no suite category, unfortunately you'll just have to go with the flow. if the buffet seems overly crowded, try the mdr or o'sheehan's 

[BirdTravels]

22 minutes ago, kaymoz said:

Even tho we are retired and prefer smaller ships, we're contemplating a cruise on on NCL Getaway due to the departure port, timing and itinerary. 

We've only sailed with NCL once (Pride of America, around Hawaii, fantastic itinerary) and the breakfast buffet was the worst in terms of crowd impact.  Turns out the passenger capacity of the Getaway is almost twice that of the Pride of America!  Yikes!!!
 

Are there ways to arrange our experience so we are somewhat buffered from the crowd situations?  For example, are there upgrades that provide access to areas that are limited so maybe a little more peaceful?  [I checked and found that on the sailing we want, the Haven and Spa Suites are already sold out.] 

Any other strategies that have worked for you?

The Getaway does not have suites. 

 

While the capacity is twice POA, the ship is twice the size. 
 

Free options include hanging out on the Waterfront and maybe Spice H20. 
 

Paid options are the Thermal Suite (indoors) or Vibe Beach Club (outside). 
 

Buffets are always crowded on every ship on every cruise line. Alternatives are the Main Dining Room, but you will give up 1+ hour per meal. O’Shehan’s is also seated meals 24 hours a day. 

Edited February 13, 2023 by BirdTravels

[Georgia_Peaches]

How about the Haven?

[MNcruisingcouple]

As others have said, don't go to the buffet.  We eat breakfast at the Local or at Taste/Savor.  Also take advantage of the Waterfront, quiet outdoor space on deck 8.

[kylenyc]

The Getaway sailing out of New York City has been overbooked and understaffed for the past few months. Things could change for the better or for the worse depending on your cruise's port and itinerary and NCL (in)competence. Should this continue to be the case, I suggest the following:

• Stick to specialty restaurants especially on Day 1. The lines to the included dining options will be long.
• Consider adding additional prepaid specialty dinners or upgrade Free at Plus if you also drink a lot and use internet a lot. Since you're retired, I'm guessing you won't benefit from Free at Sea Plus. So I'd prepurchase more specialty dinners.
• Make specialty reservations online as soon as they are available. The reservation system may not have the number of guests in your party. It might be 2, 4, 6, or 8. Make a reservation for the best time available regardless of party size. The NCL dining reservation system including the NCL app are flawed. For example: It allows guests to overbook by party, restaurant, and time and doesn't let them cancel reservations using NCL.com or the the app. So don't feel bad about making a reservation for 8 when you are only a party of 2. You can always fix it with the Restaurant Reservations desk after you are on board. This way you at least have a reservation for the first night before you board and the flexibility to change reservations for the better.
• Go to the Restaurant Reservations desk as soon as you can after you board and adjust your reservations as needed.
• Cagney's is the most popular restaurant and will get fully booked. Make at least two reservations for a 7 day cruise. I'd recommend first and last day of the cruise. Teppanyaki and Le Bistro get booked quickly too.
• Consider the Vibe pass.
• Consider the Thermal Spa pass.
• The Waterfront during the day is usually not busy. Plenty of loungers to relax on.
• Get a balcony cabin or higher if you enjoy lounging. However, this doesn't guarantee you aren't stuck with noisy neighbors.
• Participate in the activities that are in the Bliss Lounge such as painting. Even if you don't paint, you can lounge there. It's a quiet activity in a quiet venue. Also check out the Library/Card Room. Moderno is also open sometimes for games.
• Quiet public areas in the afternoon - You can usually find one - Couches near Sunset Bar, Sugarcane Bar, entrance to Cagney's / Moderno.
• Stick to included dining venues for breakfast and lunch and avoid the buffet. Service might be slow. Tip: Tell the waiter you are trying to make it to an event and to bring your food as soon as it's ready.

Edited February 13, 2023 by kylenyc

[www3traveler]

If you can try to cruise in what is considered "Low Season":

   (1) 2nd week fo January until the 3rd weekend of February

   (2) Two weeks after Easter until the week before Memorial Day in late May

   (3) Two weeks after Labor Day (early September) until the week before Thanksgiving (late November).

[weltek]

I agree with avoid the buffet (plenty of other options), get a balcony, get a VIBE pass, cruise during low season, and make reservations ASAP.

I'll add:
-Take the stairs. NCLs newer class ship elevators are usually crowded. Pick a stateroom floor near where you'll be frequenting to make walking easy. Or split the different between two frequented areas.
-Time disembarking at ports carefully. It's a bit of an art form, as busy often depends on port times (e.g., 6-7 am port time isn't that busy right away, but 8-9 am arrival is) and what you have planned.

Edited February 13, 2023 by weltek

[laudergayle]

We like to make an index card showing the public decks —6.7.8–and 15-16-17. We list the restaurants, bars, guest services, entertainment venues snd note if they are aft, mid or fwd, along with port or starboard. This way we know the direction we’re heading and don’t have to hang with the crowds at the elevator. We take the stairs when possible—especially going down. When waiting for the elevator if you’re going up, stand in front of doors which are on lower floors. If going down stand if front if doors above you. Go to the front of the buffet where it is s little less crowded and grab s table before getting your food…then take turns getting your plate. Take two and use one as a cover to keep your food warm and covered. Go with the flow and have fun.

[cruiseny4life]

I'm afraid I don't have a lot of good news for you. I've cruised on Getaway three times in the last year. Each time I was fortunate enough to be in the Haven, though in a room outside the Haven complex. If I were you, I would watch those rooms like a hawk to see if one becomes available. If you really dislike crowds as much as you say, Getaway (and probably any modern, large ship) is going to be too much for you. 

 

In April, I remarked to my husband how thankful I was for staying in the Haven after our first venture on to the pool deck seeing the mass of humanity lounging around. It doesn't get better when you're going through the buffet. Even odd eating hours can be crowded - think 2 PM, 3:30 PM (just a small buffet, with tea treats available). For breakfast, early early might get you in the buffet uncrowded. Forget it for dinner all the way to closing.

 

Don't bother with Shanghai. You'll be sitting mere inches from others and you'll have to wait in line for 30 -45 minutes prior to opening lunch on sea days. You might have better luck for dinner.

 

If you go to shows, these will be busy too, although you might be able to sit in the first - third row without many neighbors in the main theater. The Illusionarium will be packed, with minimal space between you and others. 

 

My husband and I would not consider sailing NCL unless we could get a Haven room. We need that respite from the crowds. It's honestly the only way to travel NCL - though, to be fair, I've never traveled non-Haven, so maybe it's delightful too, but based on our experience on two ships at more than 100% capacity we don't think so. 

 

Having said all that, we're going on a cruise in March on NCL Joy. We expect a full ship and know the Haven will be our retreat from the craziness. 

[cheersforbeers]

Even tho we are retired and prefer smaller ships, we'recontemplating a cruise on on NCL Getaway due to the departure port, timing and itinerary. 

 

If the itinerary is one and you are taking excursions, try to get early ones, so as you’ll get back to ship earlier while others are still out, it will be less crowded you’ll have a greater experience. There’s a lot of times we don’t get off and have a great time without crowds. 
ENJOY

[luv2kroooz]

Eat breakfast before 730, lunch after 130, and dinner after 8.

[phillygwm]

One tip I haven't heard is looking at the deck plan.  Consider where you will be spending most of your time and get your cabin on or around that deck.  For example, I'm on the Joy next.  I know my favorite bars and restaurants are on Deck 8.  I'm usually on a higher deck but staying on 8 will enable me to minimize elevators which are usually among the more crowded areas on the ship.

 

Otherwise others had some good input:

• Avoid the buffet at breakfast.  My personal favorites are Taste and Savor for breakfast/lunch. 
• I upgrade to all premium restaurants.  I just think it's worthwhile.
• Travel in "off-peak" times, such as October for Alaska/Canada-NE.  It doesn't matter the ship, if it's at 100%+ capacity, it will seem crowded.
• If you like to lounge in the sun, buy a vibe pass or go Haven.

[MoCruiseFan]

7 hours ago, kaymoz said:

Even tho we are retired and prefer smaller ships, we're contemplating a cruise on on NCL Getaway due to the departure port, timing and itinerary. 

We've only sailed with NCL once (Pride of America, around Hawaii, fantastic itinerary) and the breakfast buffet was the worst in terms of crowd impact.  Turns out the passenger capacity of the Getaway is almost twice that of the Pride of America!  Yikes!!!
 

Are there ways to arrange our experience so we are somewhat buffered from the crowd situations?  For example, are there upgrades that provide access to areas that are limited so maybe a little more peaceful?  [I checked and found that on the sailing we want, the Haven and Spa Suites are already sold out.] 

Any other strategies that have worked for you?

 

Stay in your cabin the whole cruise!

[Panhandle Couple]

If I may...

Try an aft balcony.  Room is the same, balcony is much larger.  Minimal neighbors.

Propeller sounds also help you go to sleep.

 

[SeekingKillerWhales!]

If you get a balcony, and are okay with the more limited choices, spend a few dollars every day and get room service for breakfast while enjoying your balcony. (I'd love to do this, but we're poor inside cabiners - mostly because all three of us like having our own rooms. 😉) And have a great trip!

[complawyer]

mocruisefan. as usual, great in depth advice. your sarcasm is (as always) underwhelming. instead of suggesting they stay in their cabin, why didnt you just tell them to cancel the cruise.

 

bunches of folks on a ship is the hazard of sailing on large vessels. 

[KeithJenner]

I don’t particularly like crowds, but rarely have trouble finding quieter places even on the newer ships. I often read comments about crowds and queueing on ships that I have been on, and didn’t have those issues myself.

 

I don’t particularly try to avoid the crowds, I think that we just naturally end up where the crowds aren’t. For example, we rarely spend any time at the pool deck and will often be found in a quiet bar whilst everyone else is complaining about not being able to get a drink at the pool bar.

 

We usually get a balcony room, with a decent sized balcony so that we can relax there is we want to sit outside (and the Waterfront can be fairly quiet as mentioned earlier). Occasionally you do need to join the crowds (we quite like o’Sheehans for

lunch which will be busy), but if you eat outside of peak times then that will

be better.

 

There are a lot of people onboard, but there is also a lot of room. About 75% of people will be squeezed into about 25% of the space, leaving loads of room for the rest of us.

[PATRLR]

The Getaway buffet is quite large with multiple stations. It's never been an issue for us to find an uncrowded seating or service area.  In November on Encore, we found that sitting outside in the area between the GC and the pool was always uncrowded and comfortable, even at prime breakfast hours.

Strongly recommend Vibe (or spa if you prefer to be inside).

Waterfront will also be appealing to you.  

[Ozmodiar]

Was on the Getaway two weeks ago. Places that seemed quieter included:

The area between Cagney's and Modernos when the Prime Meridian bar was not open - so morning and mid-afternoon at least.

Bliss was quiet as it rarely had things scheduled during the day and the bar was not staffed, so few people were in there. I suspect many folks never even noticed it.

There is some seating just forward of the arcade area on Deck 16 that is a little bit of an enclave from the larger outdoor deck space.

There are a few nice chairs on deck 8 in the corridor between the Atrium and the Sunset Bar - people will be walking through but not much "activity" noise.

[tcrandal]

We are always able to find quiet places, you just do the opposite of what everyone else does. 

[curlstravel]

We have been on three cruises since Covid and have found plenty of places to enjoy our self without crowds. We are not Buffet people but if you enjoy the Buffet get there about 15 minutes before it opens.  A lot of times it opens a little bit earlier than it says and you could be one of the first ones in line and find a nice quiet table at the back of the Buffet without crowds.  We love going out on deck 8 if you can’t find a couch or chair they usually have tables and chairs out in front of some of the restaurants where you can sit and read and look out at the ocean etc.  if you go to dinner early you can get in the restaurant and seated at a table without standing in A long line also sometimes if you go later it’s not as crowded either. When we went to the local on the joy and bliss we asked for a seat in the back of the dining room.  Some of the least popular restaurants will also be less crowded like on the Bliss and Joy. we went to Q and it was not crowded at all. They also have a bar in Q if you want to go in and get a drink without the crowds at the bars. On our ship they had booths off to the back of the room  at the Local which were away from crowds. Go to the theater early and pick a seat off to the side where you can get out easy after the show in front of all of the crowds. We’ve been on three cruises and neither of us has gotten sick on either one of them. We plan our days around the crowds and have had a great time.

Edited February 16, 2023 by curlstravel