The 900 kids vs The Understaffed Ship

Item: Norwegian Getaway
Rating: 3.9
Author: indigoscarlett8

Norwegian Getaway Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern

indigoscarlett8

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Reviews: 2

Helpful Votes: 56

Overall rating:

3.9 out of 5

Verified Review

12 Night Bermuda & Turks & Caicos (New York Roundtrip)

Sail date: December 21, 2023

Ship: Norwegian Getaway

Cabin type: Inside

Cabin number: 5129

Traveled as: Singles/Friends

Reviewed: 10 months ago

Review summary

It was by far one of the worst cruises. I've been one in life. and that includes getting food poisoning.. the staff on the ship were absolutely fantastic, despite being overwhelmed with the number of people on board, particularly the youth under the age of 18. These children had 0 respect, manners or decen. Count how many children that were well behaved on my 2 hands, out of the 900 under 18 on board. Two families ended up getting kicked at the first port. And it seemed so at a few other ports as well. The teens coordinated attacks against eachother and staff/security pushing their way into the adult club every night when it was 18+. Drunken teens being goven alcohol by strangers and parents alike..... Pure insanity. The ports were fine. Puerta Plata, stay in the terminal area, wayyyyy more to do.

Embarkation

4 out of 5

Fairly smooth

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5

Hours varied immensely, securing seats at Shanghai was intense, taste & savor were good (except the clams got me sick). Specialty dining was delicious.

Onboard Activities

2 out of 5

Very little to do, some events were canceled without notice. We ended up booking 3 or 4 paid events because it's all you could count on. Everything else was overrun by teens day and night.

Entertainment

5 out of 5

Cutters Band- A++++ Over the Moon Duo- C Latin Duo- ? Jakob Beiler- C for effort DJ Riicii- B for effort, one DJ for 4100 passengers

Children's Programs

I didn't have kids and the kids ran the ship

Service and Staff

4 out of 5

Did their best with being understaffed

Ship Quality

4 out of 5

Similar to breakaway, it was fairly clean. Restrooms smelled odd, like pet bedding.

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

Bigger than some, but you can hear the sloshing of water constantly along with loud people. Convenient to exit to ports.

Ship tip

Make sure there are few children on board

Thumbs up

Ports of call

New York, New York Did not visit port

I live here

Thumbs Up 0

Royal Naval Dockyard, West End, Bermuda

3 out of 5

Few options in the off season, yet beautiful and great local food

Thumbs Up 0

San Juan, Puerto Rico

5 out of 5

Excursions were few but it was busy for Christmas. Lines were sooooooo long for everything.

Thumbs Up 0

Philipsburg, St. Maarten

5 out of 5

Great tour guide and bus driver, but rude beach staff on our excursion, with awful

Thumbs Up 0

St. John's, Antigua

4 out of 5

Easy to catch deals and tours on shore

Thumbs Up 0

Basseterre, St. Kitts

4 out of 5

Easy to find local tours and the best rums and unique shops

Thumbs Up 0

Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas

4 out of 5

Super accessible and simple to get a taxi or really cheap interesting tour

Thumbs Up 1

Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic

3 out of 5

The excursion i took was not giving accurate info and were full of shopping and a bit of propoganda. Beach based excursion was 45 minutes at the shore. Stay in the Port, it looked fantastic!

Thumbs Up 0

Disembarkation

4 out of 5

Awful. Extreme wait times due to limited elevator, and escalator access.

7 Comments

TheBigSalad 10 months ago

Thanks for sharing. Any cruises booked over the Christmas/New Year’s holidays, in March and April during school breaks, and in the Summer will have significant numbers of children. If you like childless holiday cruises, book on childless lines like Virgin Voyages and Holland America, or ships with very few family-friendly amenities, like water parks, go-karts, etc. Best months with low amounts of children are September, October, November, January, February, May and first few couple weeks in June. Just be aware that millions of children are home-schooled and those parents don’t have to follow traditional school calendars. Otherwise, buy passes to the adult-only areas on the ship, if they have them. Bon Voyage!

Thumbs Up 1

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IzzyW 10 months ago

Thanks for sharing.

Thumbs Up 0

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1960cruiser 10 months ago

So let me get this straight......you book a holiday cruise over Christmas and you're complaining about too many kids on the ship. People need to stop blaming cruise lines for something that was booked by the cruiser.

Thumbs Up 3

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javawoody 10 months ago

Appreciate your comments

Thumbs Up 0

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cruising2004 10 months ago

Thanks for your review.

Thumbs Up 0

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Niavlys 10 months ago

Ok cruise I suppose... Tks for sharing with us

Thumbs Up 0

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Gwbigdog 10 months ago

Thanks for sharing your cruise with us

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