Great ship. Great cruise. They have to change their tipping policy.

Norwegian Getaway Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western

drawoh519939585

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 48

Overall rating:

4 out of 5

Verified Review

7 Night Western Caribbean (Miami Roundtrip)

Sail date: February 28, 2016

Ship: Norwegian Getaway

Cabin type: Inside

Cabin number: 5797

Traveled as: Family (older children)

Reviewed: 8 years ago

Review summary

The ship, the ports, the food, the service were great. The best ship I have ever been on. The only major issue that I had was with tipping. They take out $13.50 per person from your credit card for every day on the cruise. Which was supposed to cover the wait staff and room steward. But since we were comped 4 specialty restaurants and used them they also charged you 18% of the check so you were paying twice for the same service. I also tipped at the other restaurants.

On one of their daily programs it stated that if you wanted to make a change to the amount of tips on your credit card go to guest services. Which I did. I was told they cannot do anything about it and that I would have to fill out a form and send it to corporate to make the credit. They didn't say that on the daily programs they gave out. Anyway since I tipped everyone on my own and was going to tip the room steward I requested that all the tip money they withheld on my credit card be credited back to me. As I was pretty upset the manager at guest services emailed the request to corporate for me. My daughter in the other cabin had the same issues. Waiting on a refund of the tip money they took out of my credit card. But don't be afraid to book this ship. It was fantastic.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5

Entertainment

5 out of 5

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5

Felt it to be a little small. As we didn't spend that much time in the room it was ok for sleeping and showering.

Ship tip

Do the specialty restaurants. Any of them if you can. You will not regret it.

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Miami, Florida

5 out of 5

Ocho Rios, Jamaica

5 out of 5

George Town, Grand Cayman

5 out of 5

Cozumel, Mexico

3 out of 5

Shopping you have to be very careful especially with jewelery. These people will do anything and even lie to you to get you to buy. If you are going to buy any use a credit card because when you get home you may find out what they say a real diamonds and just crystals. And you can cancel the charge. Do not pay cash for this.

Thumbs Up 1

Great Stirrup Cay (Cruise Line Private Island), Bahamas

3 out of 5

When it was time for lunch we saw a couple of guys grilling hamburgers and franks. So this is what we ate. No one from the ship told us that there was a pavilion with all kinds of foods and fresh fruits and deserts. It was very disapointing that we didn't have the opportunity to eat there.

Thumbs Up 0

7 Comments

samzam 8 years ago

You pay port taxes when you drink b4 sailing away... really not expensive tho.

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Chgodavid 8 years ago

Just when booking pkgs. The only other tax was while still in Miami there was a tax on drinks of some sort.

Thumbs Up 1

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KellyJean0807 8 years ago

Did you have to pay the 18% additional on board, or when booking those packages?

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junkstove 8 years ago

I prepay the gratuities as well. I look at it as just part of the overall cruise cost. If service is above expected, I tip additionally in cash. Sometimes I tip the room steward up front so they take of everything and give a little extra effort during the week. I tip the pool waitstaff too, to keep them coming back. My first NCL in a couple of weeks. We'll see how it goes!

Thumbs Up 2

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Chgodavid 8 years ago

There are many resorts that also do this. Since the ship is a floating resort it's no surprise to me. I have learned to just figure this into my budget ahead of time. I actually prepay it before sailing.

Thumbs Up 3

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ardeluca 8 years ago

Hello cathyd696, I maybe able to help, some of the promos when booking is free drinks package and free specialty dinner package. Even though it was free you still have to pay the tips on those packages. These people are not included in the $13.50 a day tip charge. The drinks package trips is 18% or $86.94 each. The dinner package tips are 18%'or 13.32 each. Us$. I think it is fair.

Thumbs Up 1

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cathyd696 8 years ago

Please explain the 18% on comp restaurants ? If the restaurants were comp , what did you pay 18% for ? Did you get your gratuity money back ?

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Other reviews of this sailing

service is not as good with automatic quaties

Enjoyable Cruise

Had a great time!