A few positives and a few negatives
Norwegian Getaway Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western
Contributor Level:
Purser
Cruises: 2-3 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 53
5 Night Western Caribbean (New Orleans Roundtrip)
Sail date: December 08, 2019
Ship: Norwegian Getaway
Cabin type: Inside
Cabin number: 9461
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 5 years ago
Review summary
Earlier this year we cruised on a different cruise line on the same budget at this cruise. Not all cruise lines are equal!. On Norweigan we had a serious downgrade in the qualilty/quanity of main dining room food. We so looked forward to a great meal in an oppulent quiet dining room and so disappointed. The entertertainment was quite good and as we expected. Overall the staff we met not quite as freindly but acceptable considering how busy thay can be. Given the right dollar amount including airfair from the Dakota's will consider the Norweigan line again. And in the same breath I will say I am willing to pay more dollars to get what I want, especialy the dining and probaly on a different line. There is a couple of contradicting sentences.Embarkation
The shuttle dropped us and our luggage off and into the building we went. The check=in was smooth and efficient. Soon we were relaxing and waiting to board. My wife dealing with a mild handicap we had priority boarding. So at about 11:20 AM we were ordering coffee at O'Sheehan"s!
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
MAIN DINING ROOM: This is one of the disappointment of the cruise. We could not get any meat well done to my wife's standards. Sending a hamburger at noon lunch back three times is a level of frustration. In the evening I never saw prime rib offered as a entrée. And to top it off a number of entrees should have had and always do have a baked potato. We never saw a baked potato. French Fries instead- got to be kidding! The service was good as was the coffee. And the deserts were also more than acceptable. I considered the appetizers only so-so. Where were the shrimp cocktails?
BUFFET: Overall the buffet was decent. In the morning the omelet station did great. Later in the day the pasta station made my wife happy. (this is good from my viewpoint). a lot of the food was only warm and we had hoped for warm plus to hot-oh well. The included drinks like lemonade and orange juice were OK. The orange juice even had pulp and this made me happy. The coffee was horrid and maybe worse. One sip was enough.
O'SHEEHAN's: Now this turned out to be our favorite place. The food was good to great, the coffee was very drinkable, and most important, they had the most friendly staff of the ship. My wife and I would meet there for coffee or food, go different directions and meet a little later for more coffee and go again. We averaged being there 4 times a day. When we told them we were celebrating our 42-1/2 wedding anniversary they brought us a large anniversary cake and then sang to us. Best memory.
I would have given 2-1/2 stars down from 3 if able. 'Nuff said.
Onboard Activities
The activities on the upper deck were of no interest to us other than have a high point to take photos. My wife enjoyed the trivia games and I enjoyed the Art Auction and a number of other activities. The card room/library was a nice yet small place to enjoy quiet. All ships need a quiet place.
Entertainment
WE caught both main shows, BURN THE FLOOR and THE MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET. Both shows were professional level including the lighting and the sound. Equal to or better than some Las Vegas shows we have seen. Will see again without reservation.
The dueling pianos. Entertainment value is high. Simply fun. The live music in the Tropicana Dining room was a drawback. Too loud and hard to have a conversation. Yet it was nice to see a few people dancing. The rest of the music entertainment was not for us - kind of a younger crowd style.
Service and Staff
The most friendly staff were the housekeeping staff and the people working in O'Sheehan's. I ate alone one evening at Shanghai noodle and they were nice. Not really outgoing.
Ship Quality
Our cabin and all the common areas including the restrooms were kept very clean and neat. Now the layout I disagree with. Other than the top deck, everything else is on decks 6, 7 & 8. with banks of elevators on either end. This led to congestion in the elevator lobby's. I understand this on embarkation and disembark days. Maybe on the new ships and those under construction, a better design can be achieved.
Cabin / Stateroom
With only 135 square feet to deal with, only so much can be done. Our cabin stewerd kept it clean and it did have an efficient use of space. The fold down upper bed was kind of a pain to work around, but again understandable.
Ship tip
Read the various reviews and ask many, many questions. the more info you have the better prepared you shall be.
Thumbs up
0
Ports of call
We went into Cozumel on a dimond, ruby, watch hunt. We struck out but other couples had sucess. To our disappointment the shops did not have loose rubys nor round rubys set into jewlrey. Diamonds a different story. Call this a diamond excursion. If given the chand I will go to cozumel again.
My wife only went to the shops imeadiatly off the pier where the ship was docked. Quite surprized only three shops had names above the entry door. No name, i do not enter. I went into Progresso solo. A half hour there taking pictures and was uneasy in the suroundings so was the first person back to the ship from Progresso. If I am on a ship that docks at progresso, probably won't get off the ship. My opinion is upgrade the town or stop going.
Disembarkation
We left the ship about 8:30 AM after have breakfast and walked off the ship with out luggage. Thru customs and onto the shuttle to the airport. Again smooth. More waling than my wife wanted, but...
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