The cruise destinations were wonderful! I would have to say that the Getaway has some work to do to improve their activities and tendering process. We are very glad we went but not sure I would have paid the top dollar that we did. Due to NCL Getaway's fault, we missed our first port, but they only compensated us $25 each - we chose this cruise for the destinations, and think that the value of the destinations was worth much more than that.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Since the ship had just come out of dry dock, we were able to immediately go to our rooms. Very easy embarkation.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
3 out of 5
Dining rooms themselves were fine. The food was OK but large sections of the buffet had the same food for every lunch and dinner, which limited the total amount of new foods served.
Onboard Activities
3 out of 5
NCL seems to be having more and more activities that require you to pay (wine tasting, canvas art, liquor tasting, bingo, game shows, etc.). Most of the presentations were about choosing another cruise. Some of the game shows were fun and interesting. They did have a presentation by a college professor for each country that we visited which was excellent and very interesting.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
They had entertainment most nights and was very good. Only criticism would be that some of the music in the theater was too loud and overpowered the singers.
Children's Programs
No children
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
As always, the contract personnel were excellent and really tried to please you.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
Layout was good. Only criticism is that the Haven areas took up a disproportionately large amount of space and took away from access to the front of the ship to other guests.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
Cabin was very clean and well maintained. Only criticism is that every flush of the toilets in the surrounding rooms could be heard - all night long.
Ship tip
Try to get a tender (for those ports) within the first 3 because they do not have enough tenders for the size of ship and we had to wait 2 hours to get off the ship
Since we started at this port, we had explored it before we got on the ship. Very nice city. However, walking to the port is a very long walk and not easy to get to. The buses do not go to the port very often. Lots to see in the city
Absolutely beautiful fjord! Must be on deck coming and leaving Flam! We went on the Stalheim Canyon and Tvinde waterfalls excursion and it was well worth the money.
Nice place, rains 260 days per year, but was nice the day we visited. We did not take an excursion but took the Funacular (vernacular) to the top of the mountain and then walked the beautiful trails.
Best part of going to this town is the trip there - nice scenery at the top of the world! Town is nice, we went on the Akureyri Nature and History excursion which was interesting.
Nice town, stayed two days, first day went on the Golden Circle excursion which was fantastic! Some incredible sites on this tour. Second day we went on the hop on hop off bus which picks up right at the port. Not a whole lot to see, but allows you to get around easily.
Nice place to visit, however the ship had to tender 30 mins. from the dock which took 2 hours for us to get on land and 2 hours to get back - way too few ship tenders. We went to Edinburgh castle and city highlights excursion which was nice. We also walked on our own to the Royal botanical garden which was beautiful.
When choosing to Cruise its best to choose the ship your in love with and not the itinerary because it is possible for ports to be changed often and then you went only to see this certain destination that you never get to.
Thank you for the thoughtful review. Unfortunately, all of the cruise lines have increased their extra-fee activities, as they run very thin profit margins of less than 10% usually. For example, I went on a Disney cruise last year where alcohol tastings required a fee. Ridiculous, when you consider how much a Disney cruise costs. But things are what you make of them.
After 5 Carnival cruises, we thought we thought we would branch out and try other lines. We cruised 2 RCCL ships, then we cruised the Getaway twice, and really enjoyed the ship. But I have to concur with some of your points. There was very little activities going on, and there was a lot of “for a fee” pushes onboard. We went back to Carnival, and so glad we did. Activities and entertainment everywhere. Music being played everywhere. Food, outstanding, and the staff is the friendliest and best. I also noticed more drunks on NCL because everyone had the Ultimate Drink Package as their free perk, but Carnival continues to get the bad rap as a party cruise line. Carnival is a FUN cruise line, and I think I’ll stay with them.
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