Pleasant Cruise
Norwegian Getaway Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western
Contributor Level:
Purser
Cruises: 2-3 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 51
5 Night Western Caribbean (New Orleans Roundtrip)
Sail date: December 08, 2019
Ship: Norwegian Getaway
Cabin type: Suite
Cabin number: 10106
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 4 years ago
Review summary
I found this too be a good cruise, nice ship. If the timing and the price were right I will sail NCL again, although I will look at RCCL also for cruise options.Embarkation
We were Haven guests so we were escorted onto the ship pretty fast. Only hiccup was they printed out wrong key cards when we first got there, which seems odd because it was a line for haven guests only and they can't even give us a haven card.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
The buffet compared too other ships I have been on was a little underwhelming. I thought the variety was lacking. Deserts were a few cakes, and the soups were oddball flavors. We really enjoyed the soft serve ice cream machine in the buffet. The omelette station was good though, and we never had too much trouble finding a seat. Never ate in the main dining room. Had the best meal in Cagney's. Appetizer, Steak, sides and desert was all real good. The service was slow though and the staff seemed overwhelmed, a couple next too us waited over an hour too get their meal. Moderno the service was good, the meats were great, salad bar was good, I found the sides too be not something I cared for although I surprised myself by liking fried yucca. All in all I enjoyed the unique experience there. Le Bistro was another really good meal, food was piping hot, service was really good, just a little on the slow side. This was my wife's favorite meal of the cruise. Teppanyaki the meats and rice was good. My filet mignon was seasoned very good and delicious. The cook was entertaining. I was not a fan of the items served before the main course, edamame beans, miso soup and the salad. Didn't care for the Green Tea cake for desert. The server's besides giving us water never asked if we wanted anything too drink. We ate in the Haven restaurant and the food was real good there and the service was excellent, so it was on par with any of the specialty restaurants. Ate once in Margaritaville and too be honest for an upcharge restaurant it seems like a waste of space.
Onboard Activities
My complaint here is the activities in the Atrium. Not enough seats, so crowded just not a good place for some of their events. Being Haven guest we did enjoy a quiet hot tub one night, but found we did not take advantage of the haven area much as our suite was at the front of the ship. Had we had a room right in the Haven area I'm sure we would have taken advantage of that area more. Had a shave in the spa and it was nice, but way overpriced.
Entertainment
Burn the Floor dancing show was real good, I wish they would have danced too more songs I knew but it was still a really good show. The million dollar quartet was probably the best show I have ever seen on a cruise , really, really good. Finding seats was not a problem for either show in the theatre. The magician was funny and entertaining. We went too the dueling pianos show several times, it was a really good rowdy time. I was disappointed I never found time too catch the 80's tribute band in Syd Norman's, they also seemed really good what little I saw of them, one song too be exact. Karaoke was entertaining there and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed that. The reason I gave the entertainment 4 stars was we could never get in too see the comedians it was full most times we checked and we had other things going on so we never had time too stand in line for a show. The 70's disco in spice H2O was fun, nice night too dance under the stars. All in all I found the night life on Getaway too be pretty fun.
Service and Staff
I found most of the waiters too be nice, just a little slow as they at times seemed overwhelmed. In the bars you had too flag waiters down for a drink they never came and asked you if you needed anything, which was OK I didn't really bother me that bad. Our room steward was nice, and kept our cabin clean. We had a butler and concierge service with our room. We never took advantage of either. Not really sure what we could have used a butler for? We booked a lot of stuff online before the cruise so we didn't take advantage of the concierge service either.
Ship Quality
I thought the ship was clean. I like the fact the smoking area's were pretty limited. I know some have complained about all the smoke from the casino but I found that not too be a problem. I prefer the layout of RCCL's ship's to Norwegians,
Cabin / Stateroom
The cabin was real nice. Turned it out was perhaps too much cabin for us. We never used the seperate tub, or the dining table like I thought we would before the cruise started. I really like the bathroom with a seperate door for the toilet. The shower was awesome. The balcony was small, which didn't bother me, but if you wanted too stretch out and laydown on your balcony you would have been disappointed. As I stated previously we didn't use the butler and concierge service, wish we could have had an option too do with out those and knock a little of the cabin fare. The bed was comfortable, enjoyed the two TV's. There was a big chair that blocked out path too the balcony some, but there was really no other place too move it so it would be out of the way.
Ship tip
If you want too dine in a speciality restaraunt particularly Ocean Blue and Cagney's you had better book pre cruise on line it seems too me, although you may have been able too get in at a real late dining time.
Thumbs up
0
Ports of call
I was concerned getting into the port would be a circus, but we took an Uber there and we got too the port in a timely and organized manner. We did city bus tour of new Orleans when we got off the ship. It was OK, mostly showed us homes around the city. The tour guide and bus driver were real nice.
Nice port, good beaches, felt reasonably safe. We did dune buggy excursion through the jungle, and went too a beach club and snorkeling was available. It was OK, not great. Wish we would have driven around the island more. The tour guides were nice and worked hard too keep us organized.
Port is a long ways away from town. There is some shopping right at the dock otherwise you have too catch a bus into town. We did a bus tour too Chichen Itza. Long bus ride but the bus was comfortable. Enjoyed riding through some of the villages. Our guides were good and friendly. Chichen Itza was impressive, although all the vendor's was a little off putting. You are mobbed by pushy hat vendors when you get off the bus.
Disembarkation
Being we took a tour with NCL at disembarkation we got off the ship pretty fast, compared too to disembarkation on other ships.
Traveler Photos
