If this is going to be the best cruise lines can do then I guess our family will have to find another way to vacation.. This was not pleasant, especially for those that have experience cruising and know what it was like before. The only way to get around the hassle of everything onboard the Getaway would be to upgrade to the “Haven” which is 3-4 times the price! No way I would pay that much for an NCL cruise, there are MUCH better lines for that $$! If you like good food, service, and a relaxing experience stay far away from the Getaway! This was the loudest ship ever, and it rides like a canoe. We have been on much smaller ships and much rougher waters and this ship rocks like crazy even in calm waters. Most nights I could not sleep on my side due to the incessant rocking. It may seem as though we are just to hard to please, but honestly we were blown away by this cruise and how pathetic NCL was. The buffet on this ship is very very large..that being said they limit the availability to get silverware and plates?? They claimed it was for sanitary reasons but they didn’t have an explanation of how that helps when everyone is self serving themselves with the same tongs and serving ware? And while the food was subpar you will unfortunately have to eat there on occasion because of the unavailability of main dining room and restaurants. The food never really changed in the buffet and though the buffet is quite large it’s just the same food repeated throughout. 2.9 rating is higher than it deserves…also no walking deck
Embarkation
1 out of 5
Stood in line for three hours, no seats, no bathrooms, no way to start a vacation! Absolute chaos and completely unprofessional.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
1 out of 5
Buffet quality is bad. Main dining food was ok but always a minimum of 30-60 minute wait. Restaurants were good but very limited on reservations unless you wanted to eat at nine pm. Freestyle dining is a joke..
Onboard Activities
1 out of 5
Not much to do onboard. Wanted to take the ship tour as we have done on other ships only to find NCL wanted $129 p/p for the “excursion”, shame on you NCL! We have taken ship tours with other carriers and they were always free of charge. Pools and hot tubs are inaccessible due to overwhelming amount of people trying to use them..
Entertainment
1 out of 5
Not much live music to enjoy, mainly DJ’s. Had the same two comedians for the entire ten days with the same show repeated. Million Dollar Quartet was fantastic, but once again they played the same show twice a day for I think three days.
Service and Staff
3 out of 5
I sincerely feel sorry for the staff of this ship due to the fact that this ship is so poorly thought out. They have to work twice as hard as other ships staff because nothing onboard is capable of handling the number of people. NCL built this ship with profits in mind and not the comfort of its sailors. Most all of the restaurants, bars, and sitting areas are undersized. The staff is doing their best but have been set up for failure before anyone even steps onboard.
Ship Quality
1 out of 5
Once again everything is undersized for the amount of people onboard and the staff is doing their best. That being said very difficult to keep things clean..
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
Best bathroom ever seen on cruise ship. Walk in shower with glass doors and a trough sink for two. Not much for storage especially for a ten night cruise. Balcony was super small. Bed was worn out with large indentations that sucked you into a hole. Your leaving and returning to NY, so pack warm clothes because there was very little heat in our room even when set on high.
Ship tip
The onboard app that NCL wants you to use does not work. We attempted to make reservations that were confirmed only to arrive at the designated time to be told that we did not have reservations..and that we must have cancelled them! Take a lot of chill pills, your going to need them!
Went from LaGuardia directly to the cruise terminal. When we arrived at the cruise terminal that’s when everything went south. Total chaos and roped off cattle lines forever..one would think that New York would know how to handle large crowds..?
We were on this ship last year and hated it. We had a super easy embarkation but disembarking was a nightmare. We thought lunch and dinner was good. We chose freestyle dining but I made reservations for dinner every night. We really had no problem getting in for our reservation but I do agree they really should separate the line for those who have reservations and those who don't.
This ship has a terrible layout and everything is stupid small for the amount of people this ship holds. The pool area is ridiculous. Holding entertainment in the atrium that has about 30 seats was ludicrous. We waited in line 20-30 minutes for a drink. We were happy with our previous NCL cruises but after this cruise I'm not sure we'd cruise with them again.
We were on the Getaway 2 years ago and the food was great and the buffet was not ever packed or restaurants where you had to wait a long time. We hit bad storms on the way down to Bahamas from NY and again on the way back and yes we were rocking but we slept OK. There is a walking path on top. Not sure how this can happen to one person in one cruise. Wow.
I gave up on Norwegian as of last year. I was on Royal Caribbean Adventure of the Seas in January and it was great. Will be on Symphony of the Seas in April and Celebrity Beyond in September. No future plans to go back to Norwegian which is sad since I'm Platinum level.
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