Family with Tween, Western Caribbean Cruise

Item: Norwegian Getaway
Rating: 4
Author: Ba6si

Norwegian Getaway Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western

Ba6si

Contributor Level: Purser

6 Days Till Next Cruise

Cruises: 2-3 cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 46

Overall rating:

4 out of 5

7 Night Western Caribbean (Miami Roundtrip)

Sail date: August 05, 2018

Ship: Norwegian Getaway

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 8180

Traveled as: Family (young children)

Reviewed: 6 years ago

Review summary

Would we do this ship/itinerary again? Yes! :) Honestly, don't bother spending extra money on the specialty restaurants, do get the drinks package, sign your kids up for activities, and spend time out on the waterfront of deck 8 relaxing.

Embarkation

2 out of 5

Embarkation was a confusing mess. We arrived at 11:30 and didn't get on the ship for another hour. Please add better signage or more happy & helpful employees to give directions. Upon checkin the ambiant noise was so loud that our employee was impossible to hear & it was obvious that he needed help.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5

We learned to eat in the 2 smaller dining rooms, Savor & Taste, specialty restaurants are ok, but not worth spending extra $$ on & to avoid the buffet, as most foods' looked appetizing, but ended up being a let-down because they lacked flavor.

Cagney's Steakhouse

3 out of 5

We visited this venue and other than the staff and décor, we were sadly disappointed by our main entrees I got the Surf & Turf, husband got the Porterhouse. We felt like we have better quality steaks available at home, that we cook in our own kitchen.

O'Sheehan's Neighborhood Bar and Grille

2 out of 5

Horrible food. It seems that everyone loves this venue, but of the two meals we attempted on this cruise and the 1 meal on the Breakaway I have nothing positive to say: burger, Caesar salad, BBQ wings, hot dog, nacho's. How can you mess these basics up?

Waves Pool Bar

2 out of 5

Honestly, the staff here just didn't care. Until we offered a cash tip, then they perked right up. Therefore, we started visiting Dragone at the bar around the corner near the Garden Café, he's great!

Savor Restaurant

5 out of 5

This was our favorite meal venue on the whole ship! Loved the people, food and atmosphere.

Taste Restaurant

4 out of 5

Our second favorite meal venue on the ship!

Shanghai's Noodle Bar

4 out of 5

Tasty Asian options. Wonderful employees. What's not to like?

Ocean Blue by Geoffrey Zakarian

4 out of 5

I had the Dover Sole, which was amazing, hubby had the snapper. Desserts were spectacular as well. We'd try again.

La Cucina on the Waterfront

4 out of 5

Our dinner at La Cucina was a nice experience, but still not quite up to par. Would we visit again? Possibly.

Garden Café

2 out of 5

Lots of variety, but sadly nothing that satisfies or has flavor. TBH, we began to visit just for the soft-serve ice cream.

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5

Spa Thermal Suite

4 out of 5

$68 charge on port days. Wonderful place to relax away from everyone else. The only negative is that it was hard to tell if a spot was taken or not as staff didn't seem to visit or clear out towels from the "claimed" spots.

Mini Golf

4 out of 5

Cute little mini golf course with a pirate theme.

Aqua Park

5 out of 5

The five slides are wonderful!

Children's Programs

4 out of 5

Kid's club activities are good. Unlike other cruise lines, NCL seems to be strict about which age/activities group your child will be in. You're unable to choose which group you'd prefer your child to be in. Ex. our child is 9, but going into 5th grade & felt babied in the 6-9 year old group, as she's used to being around 10 yr olds.

Service and Staff

4 out of 5

Honestly most of the onboard staff went above & beyond. We made sure that anyone we felt gave exceptional service, we acknowledged by tipping them in-person when we felt it was called for. Some of the Miami employees could improve their overall outlook on life.

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5

Cabin & balcony were smaller than expected, especially for two adults and a child, but the amenities and layout were fantastic. We chose a guaranteed balcony stateroom, and the only negatives to our location were that we were the 1st cabin on the bow end/port side, so everyone passed our room. And being on Deck 8 meant that we overlooked other public areas: The Waterfront ended directly to the left of our balcony & the observation/shuffleboard area was right below on deck 7. Still, not a bad location considering.

Ports of call

Miami, Florida

5 out of 5

Costa Maya (Mahahual), Mexico

2 out of 5

Such a tourist trap! We tried to find an excursion that we'd like through NCL, but ended up visiting one of the local area all-inclusive beaches, instead.

Thumbs Up 1

Harvest Caye, Belize

3 out of 5

NCL's "private" island, where you must pay for everything yourself, as it's not included with your ships room/board, like on Harvest Caye. No excursion.

Thumbs Up 1

Coxen Hole, Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras

5 out of 5

Wonderful, welcoming people, and a beautiful island. We plan on visiting again and yes we did an excursion.

Thumbs Up 5

Cozumel, Mexico

3 out of 5

Yes, this is another tourist trap, however you'll have more interaction with "locals" than at other stops on this itinerary. We took the NCL dune buggy excursion. I would not recommend their excursion, as the cars needed serious love & the route was just a long loop, on the road, going waayy too fast around the island. Research, as we noticed other "dune buggy's" going around the island that might have been a better option.

Thumbs Up 5

Disembarkation

4 out of 5

1 Comment

IkeDeb 6 years ago

Nice

Thumbs Up 1

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Fantastic ship

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