Disappointing itinerary

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 16

Review summary

My wife and I have sailed with NCL for over 25 years and we are platinum latitude members. We are sad to say that this was the worst itinerary in all of our NCL cruises. There were 4 scheduled ports but the duration/stay scheduled in each port was too short to allow us/guests to enjoy the port. There is no need for a Virginia port and definitely no need for a mandatory evacuation at the Virginia terminal on the day before the last day of our cruise. Although we did not stop at Virginia on our cruise due to weather, we had heard the negative feedback regarding the mandatory terminal evacuation at Virginia from the Getaway returning guests from the prior week. Also it was very disappointing that the ship was not to be able to go to the Great Stirrup Cay, NCL's private island. Regarding the Getaway Captain, he was absent at best, no communication with guests all cruise long unless he was delivering bad news for example to report that the ship is skipping a port due to weather which was the Great Stirrup Cay & Virginia in our case. The Getaway sailed from New York on Sunday March 6 2022 at 2:45pm instead of the scheduled 4:00 without any captain or cruise staff announcement or any sounding of the horn to indicate sailing. For our family with 2 side by side balcony cabins, the sailing is one of our enjoyable time on the balconies as we chat & take pictures. We almost missed the sailing from NY and in every port due to lack of announcement and the non adherence to the daily scheduled times for departures. The ship leadership & staff lack communication to guests. Regarding the Cruise Director Simon, although we appreciate youth, he was childish and his behavior on the cabin TV daily with his assistant was just too juvenile. It was as if we were watching 2 teenagers playing together after their High School classes. As we look back at our past cruises with NCL, the Cruise Directors on the past cruises were mature, behaved appropriately, were polished, communicated with guests, appeared at the end of every show to thank the performers & greet the guests & they certainly behaved like adults. Considering that the NCL average guest age is probably around 50+ or even older, the Cruise Director and his team should reflect the mature guests & cater to them rather than behave like adolescents. On a positive note, the service was excellent from specialty dining staff to complimentary dining staff as well as the room steward and guest services. The food was adequate although at the Tropicana dinner one night the menu said "red snapper", we were served a very dry fish that was not red snapper but rather from a large fish. Although we exchanged it for another entree, the menu should reflect the type of fish being served. We experienced another issue with another fish menu offer on another Tropicana entree where the fish was listed as trout but was not. The fish choices on the ship were not reflective of the NCL quality dining at the Tropicana. In summary, although the Breakaway & the Getaway are sister ships, our experience at the Breakaway to Bermuda last Nov 2021 was much more enjoyable/pleasant. The ship is more elegantly designed, the itinerary of 3 port days in Bermuda allowed us to enjoy the port without the need to rush. The Breakaway Captain was communicating with us/guests daily providing the weather/latitude etc., sharing news or any change in weather or itinerary on a daily basis which was great. Also the Breakaway Cruise Director Alvin and his team were present in every event and in every show, they were greeting staff at the theatre & appearing at the end of every show. We would not sail on the NCL Getaway again and definitely not with the current Getaway Bahamas 7 day itinerary. We do hope that NCL would improve the issues addressed here in this review since we are loyal NCL platinum latitude members and are hoping to continue to sail with them for many years to come.

Embarkation

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

Onboard Activities

Entertainment

Children's Programs

Service and Staff

Ship Quality

Cabin / Stateroom

Ports of call

Port Canaveral, Florida

Nassau, Bahamas

Disembarkation

Other reviews of this sailing