Wonderful Cruise but nickel & dimed

Norwegian Getaway Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western

winakork

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 4-6 cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 8

Overall rating:

4.3 out of 5

7 Night Western Caribbean (Miami Roundtrip)

Sail date: August 12, 2018

Ship: Norwegian Getaway

Cabin type: Balcony

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 6 years ago

Review summary

Just returned from a 7 day Western Caribbean Cruise aboard the NCL Getaway. The boat and staff were amazing......After being a Carnival Cruise Line couple for several cruises, my oldest son convinced us to try out NCL. We thoroughly enjoyed our vacation, but there are some things to be aware of before you agree to set sail on NCL. First, and foremost, be prepared for upcharges anywhere, and everywhere. In addition, please monitor your onboard account, as we along with many others had to deal with Guest Services several times for charges that either should have been included, or were unsuspectedly added to our account, that were not ours. Again, the NCL Getaway is a beautiful boat with amazing staff that work very hard, but the company itself has to relook at the add-ons, that are just about everywhere. These included to list a few: 1. Soft serve ice cream was free, but if you wanted hard serve, or gelato, it was between $3-$6 upcharge 2. Fresh squeezed orange juice was $4.95/glass, but if you had the Unlimited Beverage package, you could get a mixed drink with fresh orange juice for free....???? 3. Some entertainment shows, had an upcharge. The Cirque Dreams and Steam was between $29 & &35 dollars per person, because it included dinner, but the same dinner options were offered in the "free" dining rooms and included in your cruise fare. 4. Getting reservations on a ship that holds 4,000+ people can be difficult, so plan ahead as we started making reservations 3 months out. Even doing so, made it hard to get decent dining times. In addition, even with the dining package, you are given a bill at the end of the meal, with a blank line for the tip, and in small print it was written that although you have pre-paid ALL gratuities, if you feel your service was exceptional, please feel free to leave an additional tip. Several people didn't realize this, and gave an additional 20% tip, until the realized later on. 5. Their private island, Harvest Caye Belize, was a marketing travesty. NOTHING is included, unlike on Carnival or RCL. It was a beautiful island, but when people realized the expenses, many returned back to the boat. A 10 oz. cup of draft beer was $7, a bottle of beer was $9, a hamburger was $13, and a mixed drink was $15, on top of the 12.8% Belizian tax.... Now not to be cheap, but you pay several thousand dollars to go on a cruise, one wouldn't think, a simple lunch would be as expensive as a fancy dinner in an upscale restaurant...?? In addition, the shops on the island had prices that were so marked up, these shops were almost empty the entire day. Small clamshells on the beach were an additional $99, and cabanas were a whopping $549....?? Most people would have to take out a loan just for using some of these amenities on NCL's own private island. 6. Getting back to the beverage package, you could drink all-day for free....This included regular coffee, tea, soda, beer, wine, and all mixed drinks and shots. However, if you wanted iced coffee, expresso, latte's or cappuccino, charge up another $4-$6 each. Now being in marketing, one would have to think, ALL alcoholic drinks up to a $15.95 limit are included, but a $4 iced coffee you pay extra for...?? 7. NCL is also the only cruise line that DOESN'T allow guests to bring water bottles onboard. However, they are more than happy to sell them to you for $45/ case. 8. If you want to stay connected on NCL be prepared for a modest $30-$40/ day depending on what you want to connect with. 9. Margaritaville Restaurant NOW has an additional $14.95/person upcharge PLUS the prices for food on the menu.....However, you can drink at their bar for free with the UBP......go figure..?? 10. Room service....I have never experienced an UPCHARGE for room service on any other cruise line....Leave it to NCL to charge an additional $7.95/order for room service delivered to your stateroom. 11. Lastly, if you are a smoker, there are only 3 public areas on the entire ship you are allowed to smoke, but only after embarkation and sailing is underway. One of the areas is next to the adult pool, and you are encased in a 10 foot by 20 foot glass enclosure with no air flow. The other 2 areas are bars on the 8th floor (Sunset Bar), and the top floor has 2 small tables and 4 seating areas away from the bar near Spice2O. When we traveled on Carnival, one entire side of the ship (Starboard) smoking was allowed on the outside decks, and ashtrays lined the rails. In addition, on NCL you could smoke in the casino ONLY if you were actively gambling, unlike Carnival, anywhere in the casino, machines, tables, & bars smoking was allowed at all times. I guess NCL wanted to squeeze a little more out of us by forcing us to gamble IF we wanted to smoke in there. The embarkation and disembarkation process was very smooth.......even more efficient the Carnival. That was a plus. All in all, we had a great time, booked ALL private port tours because, we weren't going to cave to the NCL Excursion mark-ups, not to mention, all of our tours were private, and done for more than half off, but had personalized service rather than being hearded into buses. We have clearly decided, any further cruises will be with Carnival. All of the cruise lines offer the same or similar itineraries, but due to the constant upcharges, and the biggest difference of what was or wasn't included on the private islands, the choice was easy. Starting to plan for Carnival Cruise 2019 as we speak.