Norwegian Getaway Cruise Reviews - Reviews

Lovely cruise overall. Food was good, balcony clean (although balcony is very small). Lots and lots of activities. Love the Waterfront area. Would do this again.

We won’t be taking that cruise to Cozumel and Costa maya. We will drive to south Florida to try another ship. We will also stay in The Haven next time instead of having a ride steward and terrible bed!

I would recommend Norwegian Getaway to anyone. It was a great first cruise.

Definitely the way to travel, the food was fantastic, entertainment was good, the staff was friendly. Amazing experience! Would definitely go again!

We really enjoyed our time on Norwegian Getaway. January was a good time to get away from Chicago and bask in mid-80's sunshine.

It was relaxing and fun! The Haven was wonderful. The staff.. especially Craig and Dio at the bar were wonderful. Ramone... our butler was fabulous.

This ship was updated, good design, very well done. Looked more like a resort. Drinks were pricey. I don't drink but to get drink package we both had to purchase a package. Same with soft drink package, which is sad to have to purchase a soft drink package at the price of a small glass of fountain soft drinks. The buffet was always full. The included dining was excellent. I would have been hard pressed to have spent money for meals considering the quality in the included dining.

Great cruise. Great value. Entertainment was great in Headliners and Pour House. Burn the Floor was a great show.

I have found that no cruise is 100% perfect - my advice to fellow travelers is always don’t waste your time focusing on the very few negative things that happen and take pleasure in the abundance of positive experiences that occur during your cruise.  You’re on vacation - have fun and enjoy yourself!  My goal in writing detailed reviews of our cruise ship experiences is to provide future travelers with some information on what to expect and some tips to help you make informed decisions and ultimately better plans.  I am also hoping that someone at NCL will read these reviews and make some improvements.  I have seen changes in the past and hope they will continue in the future.  My family likes cruising on NCL, but we feel that many of the experiences offered by their ships could be much better with some adjustments and improvements.  This was our third cruise out of New Orleans on an NCL ship, each time was a memorable experience and overall very enjoyable.  In order to have the best experience, we recommend that you spend a couple of days in New Orleans before your cruise and plan ahead for your stay on the Getaway.  To set the background for my review, I want to note that this was our 8th cruise on Norwegian Cruise Lines, and our 20th cruise overall.  My wife and I have cruised over the Christmas/New Years' holiday fifteen times.  This was our first time on the Getaway, but we have sailed on the sister ship, the Breakaway, three previous times.  We also have a good deal of experience cruising with multiple cruise lines such as Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, and Carnival.  Over the past year, I had read a fair number of negative reviews about the Getaway on Cruise Critic, so I was interested in finding out why this ship seems to bring forth so much negativity from other reviewers.  We enjoyed almost all of the cruise and I would not hesitate to recommend sailing out of New Orleans.  We had a good experience on the Getaway, but there were definitely some areas on the Getaway that need improvements such as service, entertainment, and Internet access.  Our experience was not exceptional, but it was very good.  My best recommendation is that you plan the major details of your cruise ahead of time.  If you know what to expect ahead of time, preplan, and adjust your expectations, you will have a much better time.  One thing that I think causes a great deal of frustration and negativity among NCL cruisers comes from the way the company markets its cruises.  Their freestyle cruise ads suggest that you can do whatever you want whenever you want and have the time of your life.  This is not really true.  If you want to experience the most an NCL cruise has to offer, you have to prebook everything (your specialty dining, your shows, excursions, etc.)  Forget the freestyling - you will have a much better experience if you book your specialty dining and shows ahead of time in your Cruise Planner.   As an example, you cannot just show up for the Comedy Club and Howl at the Moon Dueling Pianos and expect to get a seat.  We found that we had to get to the venues about 30 minutes ahead of time to get a decent seat.   Booking ahead of time will help you to get the dining times and restaurants that you want along with the shows you want.  If you wait until you get on the ship, the optimal dining times and shows will already be full.  If you are given the opportunity to book something like a comic or other show, book it as soon as possible.   The same strategy applies for excursions.  If you choose the $50 a port reimbursement as one of your Free At Sea options, go online and learn about your excursion choices, then decide ahead of time and book them as soon as you get on the ship.  A little bit of planning and booking will greatly enhance your onboard experience.

NCL has just become our favorite cruise line. Food was great and the service was even better. We look forward to our next NCL adventure.

I would highly recommend you shop this cruise aggressively. It's great if you can get if for a value price, but don't expect much in the way of food quality or service on board. The stops are great and the ship offers a lot of entertainment options.

I think we are done with Norwegian do to the food and hardly no karaoke.

A man with some dementia was walking on the awning for the restaurants below our stateroom (see the photos to explain). He was scared and did not know how he got there. It was at sea, rocky and DARK (10:00 PM). We called the ships 911 and the agent argued with me on the phone and did not know the layout of the ship. The agent then hung up on me. The man disappeared and we thought he went overboard for sure. Called 911 again and no one showed up at our cabin. I went to the hall and started screaming help and knocking on doors. Neighbors called 911 also. The man then came walking back and my husband settled him down and got him to come to our railing, then he grabbed his arm. The man was larger than my husband and strong. I was very nervous that my husband could be pulled overboard. Then security came around the back of the ship on the awning slowly and up against the wall. They then finished helping my husband and I getting the man over the rail and then needed help themselves to get over. They went through our room and to medical. The securities response was horrible, and put everyone at risk! No report was taken and I hear that is normal so these situations are not recorded. Talked with the captain at the Latitudes party and they said they would call for us to give a statement, but of course did not happen. The man was saved two days before Christmas!!! So good news there!

This cruise is made for adults and people who like to drink.

Nice, relaxing cruise, good ports, friendly staff. Didn't like smoking area, felt like a sardine and too noisy with that many ppl crammed in there. Smokers pay full fare, too!

I had a good time, not a great time. The best part of cruising, for me, is the different ports of call. The actual experience on the ship was lacking something for me. I think it’s the feeling that you are being nickeled and dimed for everything. Sure it’s somewhat all-inclusive. But the included food is so bad it’s like they’re punishing you for not shelling out more money. I don’t have infinite money, so we had to be very conscious of what we spent. It’s challenging finding the balance between having a good time and spending way too much money, which is easy to do with the drink prices. I don’t know if I’ll cruise again for awhile. All inclusive resorts are actually all inclusive and way more relaxing. We’ll probably go in that direction for our next vacation.

I would not recommend this exact cruise because I was not crazy about the ports, but I was crazy about Norwegian and the cruise itself and I would definitely recommend Norwegian to other people. I will be looking at Norwegian firstly when I look for my next cruise.

This was a good trip, but Grand Cayman almost ruined the whole thing for us.

The worst check in ever for me. I believe it had to be the clerk's fault for not knowing how to do the job.

I have been on ten other cruises on RC and believe that Norwegian is much better. Love the relaxed dinning and the different bars they have. Food we good but not great and not loving the extra pay on many other dinning places. The rope climbing seem like a waste of space and may be something else would be better ? The staff was the best of any past cruise we have been on. Pool could be bigger and set up better, but it is on a ship and limited to what can be done ? Had the so called drink package but it ended up costing more then it should. RC didn't nickel and dime you like this one did.