NCL Norwegian Getaway - Feel free to ask

[cabincop]

I also drink A LOT of water each day and had no issues whatsoever
 

I was on the last cruise before drydock. The cans of water were fine. Taste great. I had can package in my room plus more from latitude 

[AlmiranteChurruca]

4 hours ago, SeekingKillerWhales! said:

As a coffee drinker did you try the coffee machine in the Studio Lounge? Does it make a decent coffee/latte, etc.?

 

Also, any noise issues in your cabin? Were you in an adjoining cabin?

 

Thanks!

 

I did once and never returned, so I guess that sums it all up. However, it could be just me since I always saw empty mugs lying around in the lounge. Either I had a bad day or my coffee standards are higher. 😁

 

No big issues with noise and yes, I was in an adjoining cabin. From time to time you could hear a toilet flushing somewhere or an occasional loud conversation, but certainly nothing too bad. By its own nature (no running kids, no families) the solo area tends to be a very peaceful one. Even the lounge was particularly quiet this time. They were holding the solo meet ups at the Bliss Lounge and therefore the bar (5PM to 7PM) was usually quiet and Mark (the bartender) bored. Do as I did and show up there to get the guy to pour you a drink and strike some friendly conversation for a few minutes.

[AlmiranteChurruca]

3 hours ago, stellarose33 said:

sail and sustain bar where they make drinks from leftover fruit? I saw a YouTube video from last year with it. 

 

If there was one I did not see it. 😅

[TheBeardedCruiser]

OP...I know that you mentioned not going to the MDR, but wasn't sure if you just meant for dinner. Did you go to any of the MDR restaurants for breakfast or lunch?

I ask because I'm curious about the lines and queues to get into the restaurants. The last time that I sailed on the Getaway (a few months ago) the lines were abysmal for all three meals! NCL didn't let us make reservations for the MDR for dinner, so the wait was at least thirty minutes, and sometimes 45+ minutes! 😔 My opinion, NCL was trying to force us into the specialty restaurants to make money!

Thanks!

[AlmiranteChurruca]

1 hour ago, TheBeardedCruiser said:

OP...I know that you mentioned not going to the MDR, but wasn't sure if you just meant for dinner. Did you go to any of the MDR restaurants for breakfast or lunch?

I ask because I'm curious about the lines and queues to get into the restaurants. The last time that I sailed on the Getaway (a few months ago) the lines were abysmal for all three meals! NCL didn't let us make reservations for the MDR for dinner, so the wait was at least thirty minutes, and sometimes 45+ minutes! 😔 My opinion, NCL was trying to force us into the specialty restaurants to make money!

Thanks!

 

Actually I went three times for lunch (never for breakfast or dinner) and always walked straight in without any lines (embarkation day, sea day and the day with late arrival in port). I guess breakfast and dinner may be a different story. Bear in mind that I was travelling solo and was not tied to other people's schedules, so I usually avoided what I thought would be the peak times by going later during the venue's opening times.

[stellarose33]

do you need to make reservations for MDR?

[AlmiranteChurruca]

1 minute ago, stellarose33 said:

do you need to make reservations for MDR?

 

No. You may want to make them if travelling as a big group, but not need at all. There may be peak times when you will have to wait in line or will be handed a buzzer to let you know when your table is ready. Again, it is your attitude what makes a difference. Go have a walk around the vessel or grab a drink in the meantime.

[stellarose33]

3 minutes ago, AlmiranteChurruca said:

 

No. You may want to make them if travelling as a big group, but not need at all. There may be peak times when you will have to wait in line or will be handed a buzzer to let you know when your table is ready. Again, it is your attitude what makes a difference. Go have a walk around the vessel or grab a drink in the meantime.

going with another couple but 3 days in Bermuda.  I am also ok with themed buffet.

[TheBeardedCruiser]

3 hours ago, stellarose33 said:

going with another couple but 3 days in Bermuda.  I am also ok with themed buffet.

 

3 hours ago, stellarose33 said:

do you need to make reservations for MDR?

I'm my experience, you don't "need" to make MDR dinner reservations, but it can help you get in much faster, if you don't mind planning your dinner times ahead for the week. This is especially true for the earlier dining times. On the first day, you can make reservations for when you think that you'll want to eat.

Worst case scenario, you can cancel the reservation in the app/at the kiosks/at the reservation desk, or you can be a no-show and they will give your table away after a set amount of time. The first is more polite, IMHO.

A few days into the cruise, it might be impossible to make MDR dinner reservations, even for a table of four. You'll have to wait in line to get a buzzer and then you'll be told to stay close because the buzzers don't work very far from the MDR. Every cruise is different, but that had been my experience with NCL.

P.S. Yes, I'm bitter. The MDR experience was the last straw for me, and I've resolved to not sail on NCL again for a while. And yes, it was that bad. A couple nights, it was an hour of waiting near the restaurant. The other nights, 30-45 minutes 😔

[The Traveling Man]

1 hour ago, TheBeardedCruiser said:

The MDR experience was the last straw for me, and I've resolved to not sail on NCL again for a while. And yes, it was that bad. A couple nights, it was an hour of waiting near the restaurant. The other nights, 30-45 minutes

Sorry to hear that was your experience.  We have sailed with NCL on 36 cruises, so that adds up to about 150 dinners in one of the MDRs.  My best estimate is that more than half those times there really was no delay at all.  Oh sure, it takes a few seconds for the hostess to scan your card, check for an available table, and give your info to someone who will escort you to your seat, so maybe a minute or two from the time you walk in the door until you're on your way to your table.  Maybe a fourth of the time the wait time was minimal, three to five minutes, while the rest of the time we were given a pager and invited to go to a bar for a drink before dinner.  In the good old days before the beverage package became ubiquitous, when they handed out a pager it came with a coupon for each person in the party to have a free glass of wine or champagne while they waited for their table to be ready.  The longest wait we ever experienced out of some 150 dinners in an MDR might have been about 20 minutes.  Our average wait time has been far less than five minutes.  I can't remember ever making a reservation for an MDR.  YMMV.

[AlmiranteChurruca]

51 minutes ago, The Traveling Man said:

Sorry to hear that was your experience.  We have sailed with NCL on 36 cruises, so that adds up to about 150 dinners in one of the MDRs.  My best estimate is that more than half those times there really was no delay at all.  Oh sure, it takes a few seconds for the hostess to scan your card, check for an available table, and give your info to someone who will escort you to your seat, so maybe a minute or two from the time you walk in the door until you're on your way to your table.  Maybe a fourth of the time the wait time was minimal, three to five minutes, while the rest of the time we were given a pager and invited to go to a bar for a drink before dinner.  In the good old days before the beverage package became ubiquitous, when they handed out a pager it came with a coupon for each person in the party to have a free glass of wine or champagne while they waited for their table to be ready.  The longest wait we ever experienced out of some 150 dinners in an MDR might have been about 20 minutes.  Our average wait time has been far less than five minutes.  I can't remember ever making a reservation for an MDR.  YMMV.

 

My experience matches yours after several cruises with NCL. Wondering if Traveling Man's experience was during a particular "high high peak season" cruise such as a Spring Break or a Xmas/New Year one with the vessel at full capacity.

[DorothyB]

Asking for someone else . . . Does the Getaway still have a pool table?  If so, where? and cost?  Are the bowling lanes gone?  Thanks!

[AlmiranteChurruca]

1 minute ago, DorothyB said:

Asking for someone else . . . Does the Getaway still have a pool table?  If so, where? and cost?  Are the bowling lanes gone?  Thanks!

 

Did not see either of those, but I admit I did not go to the arcade area in case they should be there...

[TheBeardedCruiser]

25 minutes ago, AlmiranteChurruca said:

 

My experience matches yours after several cruises with NCL. Wondering if Traveling Man's experience was during a particular "high high peak season" cruise such as a Spring Break or a Xmas/New Year one with the vessel at full capacity.

It was a Spring Break cruise, so I knew that it would be very busy. Guess who else knew that it would be busy...NCL! My complaint isn't that the ship was packed, that is explainable, it is how NCL handled the reservation system for the MDR for a full ship.

 

NCL should allow more people to reserve an available table in the MDR. They should leave a much smaller percentage of tables available for walk-ups. I tried making reservations for the MDR on day three, for days 4-6, and couldn't. That's ridiculous!

 

I watched as I waited; I'd guess that approximately 2/3 of the passengers had to wait with a pager. Why make 2/3 of your passengers annoyed with a long wait??? The only logical reason that I can think of is that they want us to spend money in the Specialty restaurants.

 

Another complaint, the queue for a table at Shanghai's Noodle Bar. Again, let us make reservations. Even if you limit every passenger to one reservation for this restaurant, per sailing, it would be a better system. On my cruise, the line was over an hour long, just to get a pager for another two hour wait 😔 

[The Traveling Man]

1 hour ago, AlmiranteChurruca said:

 

My experience matches yours after several cruises with NCL. Wondering if Traveling Man's experience was during a particular "high high peak season" cruise such as a Spring Break or a Xmas/New Year one with the vessel at full capacity.

I'm a bit confused by your post.  Is it possible that you meant to wonder if @TheBeardedCruiser had a negative experience during "high peak season."  As I said, my wife and I have cruised with NCL three dozen times.  Some were fully booked cruises during peak times.  Some were half-full ships during the low season.  Overall, though, we really never have experienced the long delays to be seated for dinner in an MDR as @TheBeardedCruiser reported.  So, did your experience resemble their long wait times or our generally short wait times?

[AlmiranteChurruca]

7 hours ago, The Traveling Man said:

I'm a bit confused by your post.  Is it possible that you meant to wonder if @TheBeardedCruiser had a negative experience during "high peak season."  As I said, my wife and I have cruised with NCL three dozen times.  Some were fully booked cruises during peak times.  Some were half-full ships during the low season.  Overall, though, we really never have experienced the long delays to be seated for dinner in an MDR as @TheBeardedCruiser reported.  So, did your experience resemble their long wait times or our generally short wait times?

 

My mistake, sorry about the confusion! I was wondering about TheBeardedCruiser's cruise period for that bad experience to happen. My experience matched yours indeed, meaning short or no waiting times for MDRs.

[TPS123]

11 hours ago, DorothyB said:

Asking for someone else . . . Does the Getaway still have a pool table?  If so, where? and cost?  Are the bowling lanes gone?  Thanks!

I’m just off the Getaway on 16 June and can confirm both the pool table and two bowling lanes are in OSheehans. Not sure of the cost as I didn’t use them.

[AlmiranteChurruca]

19 minutes ago, TPS123 said:

I’m just off the Getaway on 16 June and can confirm both the pool table and two bowling lanes are in OSheehans. Not sure of the cost as I didn’t use them.

 

This clearly shows how little attention I pay to my surroundings. Was at the place a few times and never ever noticed them. 😆

[The Traveling Man]

8 hours ago, AlmiranteChurruca said:

 

My mistake, sorry about the confusion! I was wondering about TheBeardedCruiser's cruise period for that bad experience to happen. My experience matched yours indeed, meaning short or no waiting times for MDRs.

Thank you.  Hats off to the Admiral.