Serious concern about safety training of crew..

Norwegian Getaway Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western

Cruises: 7+ cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 42

Overall rating:

1 out of 5
Norwegian Getaway

7 Night Western Caribbean (Miami Roundtrip)

Sail date: January 15, 2017

Ship: Norwegian Getaway

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 13846

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 7 years ago

Review summary

     We have traveled with Norwegian Cruise Lines many times and have had a great time each time.  That's why we booked this trip.  This ship is just too big and crowded.  It has the normal amount of public space but with more people, far too many people with far too little public space.  My wife is in a wheelchair and trying to navigate through the corridors and most other spaces was also an issue.  It was too tight for a wheelchair EVERYWHERE!  We couldn’t even fit the wheelchair in the cabin door without folding it first.   We usually find a quiet outdoor space to enjoy but we were unable to find any quiet outdoor space to sit away from crowds and screaming, misbehaving children. 

     When it was time to disembark in Miami we tried to exit the ship on deck 7 near theater as instructed by the constant announcements. It was total chaos!!!   The crew had stopped the exit line as we were about to exit and placed a rope across it.  We spent  the next 1 1/2 hour standing packed like a sardine, unable to move. (all elevators open and packed) It was hot, nobody could move, claustrophobic, babies screaming because of the conditions.  Others, like us, also trapped with wheelchairs and luggage. We could not even turn to exit another way!  The crowd took a small child and passed him over the rope so he could catch his breath.  When the child's mother tried to exit to get to the child, she was stopped and told she could not exit!!!! We were screaming for help with an occasional crew member coming to the rope.  ABSOLUTELY NO CREW came to direct or help.  We were packed in so tightly that someone broke my glasses while I was wearing them.  I finally managed to get my cell phone from my pocket and had to call 911..... The crew only came when a medical emergency developed and people started screaming for help.  If this is how the crew handles a crisis, I am very concerned about what would happen in a real emergency.  I strongly recommend that they look at better crisis training for crew on this ship.  This is just UNACCEPTABLE!!!!  We will never take the Norwegian Getaway again!!!

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

Entertainment

5 out of 5

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Ship Quality

1 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5
Average size cabin that had a great cabin crew. Very clean.

Ship tip

We visited 3 specialty restaurants and found them to be average. The steak restaurant was not good. I had to send my steak back twice and it was still raw so I didn't even eat it.

Ports of call

Miami, Florida

5 out of 5

Coxen Hole, Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras

5 out of 5

Harvest Caye, Belize

1 out of 5

Costa Maya (Mahahual), Mexico

3 out of 5

Cozumel, Mexico

5 out of 5
Was this review helpful? 42

11 Comments

grandmarnnurse    7 years ago

sjwonsun---you do for the main productions such as Burn The Floor and Million Dollar Quartet, but not for any others they may schedule. You can reserve those online ahead of time. Your reservation is loaded to your room card, which they swipe when you enter the theater. They let others in 5 minutes before show to any available seats left from no-shows. The comedy acts that are in Headliners are impossible to get into! You can either reserve at box office once you board, or hope they have an extra show in theater, which won't require reservations. You cannot reserve for comedy acts in Headliners ahead online. The illusionist show in the Illusionarium does require reservations, and comes with a fee--I believe about $25pp, but includes a very nice dinner. You can book that ahead online.

sjwonsun    7 years ago

Do you need reservations for the theatre on the Getaway?

grandmarnnurse    7 years ago

The1MandaPanda---do not let his comments scare you away from NCL. The Getaway is a fabulous fun ship! If you enjoy Carnival, you would love NCL!

grandmarnnurse    7 years ago

welovetocruisey---Let me add that there were plenty of quiet places. Did you not ever check out the Waterfront? It was our favorite spot! We also had lounge chairs up by the waterfall in Spice H2O that was very peaceful. There were also deck chairs available in plenty of places away from all the action because everyone wanted to be where all the music and fun was! You could also grab a chair up in Margaritaville. I really think you must have had a different expectation of what this ship would be. It is a mega ship with MEGA FUN! Perhaps Holland America would be more to your liking.

grandmarnnurse    7 years ago

Paulette---it was our favorite cruise so far, also! I have to wonder whether some of these people cruised the same ship, because it was FABULOUS! Perhaps they boarded with different expectations. I don't know. We rebooked the Getaway for next January.

grandmarnnurse    7 years ago

I'm sorry you had such a bad experience. I cruised the Getaway in January and saw many people in wheelchairs that had no problem. I did see that too many people were trying to do the self assist to get off the ship, which was a chaotic scene, but nothing to the extent you experienced. I had a post cruise excursion, so we left in an orderly fashion with no issues, and obtained our luggage down below--we did not carry it off ourselves. We rebooked the Getaway for next January with other family members because we felt it was one of the best ships we've been on--and we have been on many. For that cruise, I may choose the late debarking time, and just go to the airport. Depends on what time my flight will be. I don't think I care to try the early self assist chaos! Lol!

picalo    7 years ago

the getaway and epic were both pretty bad for us. this is a mega ship. in ncl case you get a little extra size cruise ship but twice as many passengers.but ncl traditional size ships are fine. these mega ships have thier loyal fans, loyal cruisers, just not me

pauletta    7 years ago

we went on the getaway an loved it so far it's our favorite ship out of the,ones we've taken I didn't care for the escape but will go back on getaway again hopefully soon

Brennalu    7 years ago

We love the smaller ships. We sailed on the Escape and while the ship was fine even service was good. Just way to many people for the activities and not enough space for seating.

Ctowe48    7 years ago

I have to agree with this post.We sailed on the Getaway in October of 2016 and our experience was eerily similar.

The1MandaPanda    7 years ago

That sounds absolutely horrible! I've never cruised NCL before. We have always done Carnival

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