Norwegian Getaway Cruise Reviews - Reviews

We had times of relaxation & fun, which is what we needed. We were just a little bit disappointed in the lack of entertainment because we were bored so much of the time.

This is my second cruise with Norwegian. Very nice ship. Will recommend it and will sail with Norwegian again.

the cruise was okay could of been better my group is into music and the entertainment didn't meet our standards ship too crowded people not too friendly just different.

Ports of call, with the exception of Belize and Costa Maya, are under developed. Unless you are doing an excursion, there’s nothing to see or do.

Overall the cruise was OK. I had just sailed with Carnival a couple of months before and found the staff at Carnival much more attentive and friendly. Cruise director at Carnival was super fun (Emma), while I didnt see much of the NCL CD (Vincent). Ship at NCL was modern and well decorated but difficult to navigate. The shear number of passengers (4,800) on NCL also made getting around a bit tough. Getting reservations to shows and meals was hit or miss. You need to plan and schedule way ahead of time. Food on NCL was better than Carnival and entertainment was very professional. I wish there was an adults only pool on NCL like on Carnival. There were tons of kids on this cruise and it was difficult to relax. Purchased the upgrade to The Vibe ($200/person/week). Was well worth getting away but there was no pool. There was a private bar and two hot tubs (only one worked at a time).

The prices go up and the quality goes down with each passing year. Don’t care for “Freestyle” dining because you wait in line even for the main dining room. Specialty restaurants cost too much. I’d do the drink or dining package except for the exorbitant gratuities that are non-negotiable and based on maximum usage of the package.

I don't think I've ever had a perfect cruise, but I've come close, so while this one had a couple of glitches, overall it was a great time and if I had the opportunity again, I would sail on the Getaway. On the plus side, she's a beautiful ship. I had been upgraded from a studio to an inside room, and while I knew I'd be directly under the theater, I didn't care. In fact, I made it a game. If I was up late, I'd listen to the show for the second or third time and think "Well, I didn't even have to go to the theater for this." While other people might complain, I knew this was a chance to took in having the larger room - it was still worth it. My cabin steward was a delight and I can't thank him enough for the service I received in him keeping my cabin clean and welcoming. There was also Jackie, the GM's secretary who worked with me on various things as I arranged the Cruise Critic Meet and Greet. There were others whose names I don't know who made the cruise such a pleasure, and while I realize the Getaway is not the Escape or the Bliss, I can see why she is such a favorite with many people. The Waterfront is wonderful and I'm happy that NCL has that feature on its' Breakaway-Plus. I'm not a huge "pool" person, but having that spot to escape too, even on the rainy cool evening returning to New Orleans as enjoyable. Now the things which lowered the overall experience from excellent to very good...I was disappointed by the channel selection on the TV. Sometimes you're just relaxing in your cabin at the end of the day and want to catch something. On my 15-day Bliss cruise in 2018, we not only had news channels but more than a half-dozen movie channels as well as nostalgia channels, etc and the usual ship's channels. So imagine my disappointment to find 1 movie channel for adults, a kiddie channel and one with a variety of entertainment, mainly TV shows such as The Goldbergs or Brooklyn 9-9, along with the news channels and ship's channels. I'm not sure why this was so, but I wish we'd had more variety. I had intended to dine at the noodle bar more than once because I love noodle bars and even make dishes at home. Once ended up being enough. The dumplings and spring rolls were quite good, but my noodles with BBQ pork, while not awful, was average with little flavor to it, especially on recalling what I've had at restaurants in the United State and abroad. I also disliked the table set up where the counters where we ate had a dip in them with no warning. When you put down your glass, if you didn't realize the dip was there, you were likely to have a spill. I noticed this happened not only to others but myself, which two rude guests across from a friend and I found hilarious. I didn't find it funny at all, but why the tables are designed as such is puzzling. The issue with the server at Cagney's was addressed while on-board. The food was very good, but the server made a comment I overheard about our choice of wine, and then afterward kept pressing me to take the steak although I had already said I would pay the upcharge for the lamb or veal. As I said, this was addressed and the restaurant manager sat down with me the next day to apologize, which I appreciated. It wasn't a major issue, but I don't want anyone else to feel as pressured or to overhear an employee being critical of their choice of drink. I mainly went to the Atrium Bar, and on a couple of occasions, Prime Meridian and Sugarcane. The Atrium Bar was in desperate need of more bartenders. On one occasion, after returning to the ship on a port day, there was one bartender and not only was every seat occupied, but there were people standing behind the seats trying to get attention. This was in addition to the servers who were obtaining orders from people in the Atrium. He was overwhelmed, and finally, another bartender as well as who I'm guessing was a bar manager arrived to help and even then they needed more help. At no time should there be less than 2 bartenders working the bar because it's difficult to know when a "peak" time might occur. I never want to see anyone that overworked. Syd Norman's was WAY too small a venue for a show as popular as The Eagles tribute. We tried several times to get in, but each time the place was already full and standing room only. If we tried to line up to get in, there was already a long line. Eventually, we gave up. I know the theater stays busy, but it would nice if, on one or two nights, they performed there in order for those unable to get inside Syd Norman's might have an opportunity. Although I am Platinum and earned the 30 minutes of the free Internet as a reward, I also had the social media package (which worked very well). Unfortunately, I could never switch over to the 30-minute plan as there were no instructions on how to do so. I went into the iCafe home page a few times, but I never saw any sort of menu or pull-down indicating how I could switch between the two plans. I didn't have a chance to go to the Internet Cafe for instructions so I lost my 30 free minutes. I'll try again on the Encore, but it would be nice if it was more self-explanatory. Finally, the Costa Maya experience as a port will rank as one of my least favorite ports of 11 cruises. Perhaps if I'd been able to go OUTSIDE the immediate area I would have been more impressed, but as it was such a short time there, a friend and I decided to stay in the vicinity within the port itself. With 3 other ships there at the same time, it became a claustrophobic nightmare, and I came close to having a panic attack for the first time in years. The only thing pleasant about the entire experience was returning to the ship and having the cruise directors staff perform a great show as we returned. I know it's difficult to gauge what will happen with that many ships in port - and I have no idea of what their departure times were - but I know there were likely several thousand pressed into that tiny area and I hated it. If I'm ever back in Costa Maya, I'll stay on board, especially if I see 3 decent-sized ships with possibly 3000-4000 passengers on each in port too.

The lack of service aboard the ship was appalling. You would for 10 plus minutes after ordering for a soda or drink from the bar. When you needed a refill you had to ask multiple times and wait. On one night we had dinner reservations at 5:30 since we booked a show at 7:30. From the time we ordered out food it took 30 minutes for the appetizers to come out then another 45 minutes for the main course to arrive we had to eat in less than 15 minutes so we could make it to the show on time. Skipped desert this time and few other times since we wanted to catch onboard activities. You would get multiple answers to the same questions. We wanted to transfer onboard credit evenly to all 3 in our room and went to guest services and was told that we would have to see onboard credit as they could not do it which was closed at 8pm at night. The desk was only open for 2 hours in the morning and 2 hours at night. I went to the credit desk when it was open and was told that the person who had the credit would have to come up and guest services could help. The next day we went to guest services and that the guy at the desk took care of it for us. A lot of times at guest services and the bars they had long waits and not enough staff on board to handle it. There seemed to be a lack of training. At dinner one night the other two in our party were trying to decide which wine to get and asked for suggestions for a white wine the server picked up the wine list and showed it to us but did not point out the wines or make a suggestion. The buffet was disgusting food was not hot, had no taste, and was not appetizing. Other guest were walking around eating off their plates with were hands while still getting food from the buffet. No signage was posted for this and the crew was not saying anything to the guests. The entertainment in the theatre was the only thing that was good aboard the vessel. Activities were very limited. The Glow party was basically a dance club that was over crowded. Disembarkation was terrible we had a guest that needed a wheelchair to disembark. We arrived at the meeting place at 8:30AM and finally was able to get off at about 10AM. The lady from the crew that was coordinating it was rude and condescending. After an hour and half I had to go to guest services as I was down there the lady called the manager coordinating it then received a call back while I was at the desk stating a wheelchair was ready to assist us off. By the time we were able to get off they were making announcements that all remaining guest should disembark the vessel. If you want to to treated like cattle and seen as a dollar sign then this is the cruise for you. This was the worst cruise I have been on and will never cruise with Norwegian again.

Our first time doing a short one week cruise. I'd recommend this cruise to people who want to enjoy sunshine, warm weather, boat amenities, and have a restful enjoyable vacation and fun time with friends/family. Snow Birds would love this cruise. My preference as a retiree is a longer two week cruise. It's hard to take advantage of everything on board in only one week.

Unorganized, horrible entertainment, food was horrible, music was trash, geared for oldddddd people

The servive and style I had received on previous NCL cruises just wasn't there. I will give them one more try as I have worked my way up the long ladder to the second level of Silver, but if it proves as disappointing as this cruise I will go back to Royal Caribbean or Holland.

Great Cruise overall. The NCL Getaway is a beautiful ship. Staff needs more training on how to use life boats as tenders to ports of call.

Loved the entertaintment, food, and service on the NCL Getaway. Looking forward to taking the NCL Joy in October 2020 through the Panama Canal.

I feel as though I've found my people! This was my first cruise but it will not be my last! I had been thinking that maybe travel was a thing of the past for me as I cannot get around as well as I once could, but now realize this is the way to go. The level of comfort was amazing and the attention to my personal needs was astounding. I loved the balcony and feel that it was an important luxury. I'm back home and to work but feel refreshed and happy. I had a true vacation!

Music was too loud. Only complaint. Food excellent., sleeping was wonderful, place was quiet for a nice long nap and I enjoyed it and my husband was very happy.

We booked NCL because of all the freebies. Overall it was a good cruise, but the issues with tendering on two of the ports was enough to make you not want to cruise with NCL. a couple of hours lost on the ports of call because of the tendering. The private island was frustrating also. Bad enough you had to pay for drinks and food on the private island but the drink prices were high. $6.75 for a draft beer $10-$12 for a mixed drink. I would think hard before taking another NCL cruise

One of the most disappointing cruises I’ve been on & for 19 days no less. I missed having the same waiter & table. The auditorium was smaller then I’ve seen on any other ship creating long lines and missed shows. I think it was as small as some of the movie cinemas back home.

All in all it was a great cruise... History was made when tropical storm Pablo became hurricane Pablo, (the most eastern hurricane to form in the north Atlantic) The Getaway was right in the middle of it with winds over 100 knots.. The bridge turned the ship head into the storm and slowed to 14 knots, most folks slept thru it.. I however was intrigued and experienced it from our balcony cabin.. The Getaway took this storm in stride... However these large ships are the worst for tendering (great stirrup caye) and any interaction with Miami has always been disappointing with these large ships.. NCL is building a new terminal in Miami, will it be better, or will it be a huge waste of money??? 2020 will tell us..(Copenhagen does a great job handling these large ships, can Miami learn???)

We will never go on the Getaway again. We have cruised a lot (Platinum members) and normally I do not comment about the cruise, but this was the worst designed ship that we have sailed on.

We cruise for the itineraries so the beginning of the cruise was great. If we cruised for the ship board experience we would be very angry. Processing 4000 people around the trip was done in an amateurish way. NCL need to do better.