Way Too Crowded; Nickel and Dime You
Norwegian Getaway Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern
7 Night Eastern Caribbean (Miami Roundtrip)
Sail date: July 12, 2014
Ship: Norwegian Getaway
Cabin type: Balcony
Traveled as: Family (older children)
Reviewed: 10 years ago
Review summary
We just returned from a 7 day cruise on NCL's Getaway. We had a balcony cabin, which was nice and fairly roomy for a room on a ship. The food, overall, was good, but certainly not great. Even when paying for specialty dining, the food is not outstanding. In fact, some of specialty restaurant dishes are served in the "complimentary" restaurants. And why is this referred to as complimentary in all the daily activity sheets. Didn't we pay for the food as part of the thousands of dollars we spent for an "all inclusive" vacation? Consequently, what was hugely disappointing about the entire experience were the constant charges. We paid a great deal of money for an all inclusive trip, but little beside the general dining is included. You are constantly charged for fairly simple things like arcade games, snacks, and various other dining experiences. We had sushi one night, but the tempura shrimp was pre-fried so the roll was soggy. This is one example of the little things that negatively impacted the experience. The staff were overall friendly, but many just lacked character and there was little charm to the staff in general. The worst part of the experience was the adult pool. First, it is much too small for a ship serving thousands of people. There is no where to sit if you don't come at 7am to save a seat, which you are told not to do but everybody does anyway. Then there are places, like the haven and Vibe, that you can't enter without paying extra for, but we paid a great deal to go on this cruise to begin with. The pool experience was also hampered by a partially enclosed smoking area dead center on the deck parallel to the pool. So, if you sat on either side of that area, you were smelling smoke, especially if the wind picked up a bit. The overall design of the ship is poor. For example, there is a stairwell where everyone takes photos, but this is a main path of movement for the passengers to travel up and down (even the comediens were making fun of this stupid design and utilization of the stairs).
The onboard entertainment ranged from great to mediocre. The comediens were all hysterical and friendly. Burn the Floor was phenomenal. We didn't see the Broadway show, but were told it was good. If you like onboard shopping, and consider that entertainment, then you will love this ship. They have turned shopping into a show and constantly remind you of "deals" that are centered on "giveaways". The rope course and slides are awesome for adults and kids. I strongly recommend that you experience this.
Overall, while we enjoyed ourselves, this was not an economical trip, and being charged for every little thing, and constantly being reminded to buy, buy, buy for seven straight days is mentally and financially exhausting.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Onboard Activities
Entertainment
Children's Programs
Service and Staff
Ship Quality
Cabin / Stateroom
Ship tip
The Garden Cafe has some great options for all the meals. O'Sheehans has terrible service, and the food is average at best, but the atmosphere is lively and entertaining. Flamingo Grill is pretty good food, but if you are watching your weight, avoid it like the plague. The Shanghai Noodle is good.
Ports of call
3 Comments
JusMe 8 years ago
When booking a ship I look at the size of the ship and # of guest to get a ratio to see how crowded a ship will be. NCL Getaway 146,600 tonnage / 3969 guest = 36.94. Celebrity Equinox 122,000 tonnage / 2850 guest = 42.80. You can see the Equinox has a lot more space per guest. The new budget line Mega ships have more packed in and less space per guest then older ships and higher line ships.
Cruising is like anything else, you need to know what your getting into before you go or your expectations will not be met.
BAK1061 8 years ago
Sadly, this has become the norm in the cruising industry. There are ships with great staffs ( Holland America is one ) but overall, as the ships get larger, and carry more passengers, well, they have to generate income. Why would you expect an arcade to be free anyway ? Someone has to pay for those cheap prizes. The casinos are outside vendors too. It's up to you where you want to spend your money. More families means you need more ways to keep everyone entertained. That's why wi-fi has gotten better, but live acts have gone downhill. Wi-fi technology is cheaper to provide.
Cruising has lost its cache. Other passengers are rude. They treat staff as if they were their personal slave for the week. And they treat other passengers as if they didn't exist. No respect for anyone......but they expect to be respected to the Nth degree. I've seen a lot of pigs at the buffet. I mean P. I. G. S. Absolute horror shows. Years ago it was nice. You anticipated a great experience. Now, not so much. Might as well put a Cracker Barrel on a ship.
oh I forgot......as they get larger, they are also staffed with fewer people, so service suffers. Honestly, on our cruise this past March, the only person we really interacted with was our steward. Maybe a waiter or two. Years ago we would meet a bartender on the first night, and by the second night, our drinks were waiting for us at the bar before dinner. Now, if I order a bourbon /rocks, when I'm finished the (same) bartender says what can I get you ? If I say I'll take another, he looks at the glass, then at me with bewilderment.
lsdavis 8 years ago
I agree in that some activities on the ship should be inclusive. Last time we purchased an oceanview cabin; this time a balcony one. In spending this much money, one would expect more for it. However, the overall experience is very worth it.
We had a good experience with the dining. Our food was delicious at each and every restaurant, including O'Sheehans.
Our daughter was also 12,turning 13,at the time of our last cruise; she is now 15. However, she was allowed to participate in the teen activities. I don't recall them asking anyways. Being a girl, she may have looked older than a boy her age.