Norwegian Getaway Cruise Reviews - Reviews

This was my husband and I first trip with NCL.  One of the major plus of this ship was the cleanliness (which can be partly attributed to the fact it's a fairly new ship). However I did notice shoes under the bed which did not belong to us as well as a head wrap.  So the room was not throughly clean, although I had no real complaints with housekeeping...as generally work very hard. The food was good and there are many options including a 24hr diner.  However we waited excessively to receive meals from Tasty (even when being one of the 1st customers).  One of my complaints is the lack of entertainment on the ship.  We exited at every port, but while on the ship some of the entertainment was pretty dry.  Entertainment consisted of art shows, games shows, BINGO, ice/fruit sculpting, sexy leg contest.  I thought BINGO packages wee fairly expensive in comparison to other cruise lines and especially in regards to payouts, but it was all fun and games.  Much of the entertainment I felt like required extra expense from customers.  We paid to see the illusionary show, thermal spa room, and various games shows.  The director Salais and assistant director Mandy were awesome and really played their parts.  Service was pretty good.  I enjoyed small gestures such as cold wash cloths and water when coming back into port.  Now the ports of calls were amazing.  We truly enjoyed Belize.  I would recommend not buying an excursion package from NCL but to rather simply pay for transportation from one of the locals.  We found things such as snorkeling, parasailing, etc were less expensive once you reached your destination.  We went to a smaller island off of Belize which was phenomenal.  The island is very small and literally in the middle of the ocean and offers snorkeling.  We also visited a park in Honduras (not the Gumbalima) great butterfly exhibit, moneys walking around (able to pick up) and parrots.  Costa Maya was beautiful although they were not offering swimming with the dolphins (coming soon).  Overall the itinerary for ports are fabulous.

For the most part it was a very good cruise. Did not enjoy the pool. 2/3 of pool the water was 1 foot deep and 1/3 of pool was 6 foot 8 inches. No one could stand up in pool. You either hung onto the edge or you had to tread water. Also all 3 complimentary restaurants had the same food and some items on menu was an upcharge.

I would recommend this cruise. This was my first trip so I don't have anything to compare it too. I just know my family really enjoyed it and we appreciated the care. The one thing I would say is that while the value was excellent we didn't quite understand some of the charges. More clarity would be nice. 

The NCL Getaway is a massive ship.  With a casino, two dance clubs, a movie theater, twelve restaurants, and probably twice the number of bars, it was great.  we either danced, shopped, set by the pool, or found a nice couch and drank mojito's while looking out at great sunsets and the occasional sunrise.  The stewards seemed to always be near keeping our rooms clean or offering extra services.  The wait staff and crew we're super.  Every type of food you wanted was available.  We had four ports we called on and each was special in their own way.

Only downside is that NCL was not very helpful in getting us to excursions we set up on our own and the spa staff ruined the relaxing massage by trying to push the spa products.

Last item for Cruisers is to be sure to read all the fine print and don't forget21 days prior is the cut off to submit your on board credit vouchers.  I feel if your entitled to it, should automatically submit it.

There was so much to do on the ship.  It was very clean and the staff was very nice. Make sure and get the All Inclusive Drink Package if you like to imbibe.  Definitely worth the money. We had a great time!  We will definitely book again.

It took 5 calls to houskeeping to stop the toilet from flooding the bathroom.  The flushing handle still took a "punch" to activate it.  No passenger laundermat was available; ship's service for this was excessively high.  Ship was very crowded and had excessive rude teens and preteens.

It was my first time on a cruise and just loved Norwegian had no issues and only have good things to say and would recommend it everyone to try Norwegian.

Ship was lovely; service was nice but not exemplary although very friendly.  Shows were good; excursions and ports were Excellent.  FAVORITE part was the refreshing wet cloth they handed you returning to the ship.  Small thing; felt huge.  If you like to PARTY; you can always find one.

 The "included" food was ok.  Not particularly memorable, but Better in the big dining rooms.  the "SPECIALTY" restaurants, where you pay EXTRA, the food was Excellent.  Therefore, they *can* MAKE Excellent food; but *choose* to give you just OK food with the price of your cruise; Excellent Food costs EXTRA.  It felt tacky; makes us think that Norwegian won't be in our cruising future, in spite of all the other "good/excellent" stuff. No "Lobster" night or "escargot" night like you can expect on other cruise lines, because you can ALWAYS get lobster IF you're willing to pay an extra $25 (for a TAIL!), or go to the French specialty restaurant for the snails (again, $). We LIKE getting to know a waiter over the cruise so we can reward good service; and we're willing to make reservations and eat at a certain time to get that-- but they don't Allow reservations unless you're a larger party; so it was potluck every night.  Nice people, all of them--  but hard to develop any real appreciation for an individual. Didn't even MEET our steward until the 4th day; but then our tips were included so no special attention was 'needed'. :-|

The service and food were really good.O'Sheehans,Teppanyaki,Cagney's all were fantastic!Illusionarium was also very good.The main dining room,Tropicana room was very good as well.The staff and service were great throughout the ship.The buffet was ok,set up a little weird but pretty much the usual cruise buffet.The drinks were very strong and the bar service was good considering the crowd.The comedy show was not funny.Million Dollar Quartet was good.They have movies throughout the cruise in the atrium as well as other types of entertainment.

What can I say, I am an old time cruiser and it was my first time sailing Norwegian Cruise and I was delighted first to the ship cleanliness and the various types of of things to do and see,the food,the shows,the bars every thing was excellent my only complaint is THAT THEY NEED MORE HOT TUBS. There was too many people awaiting to get the chance to relax in the tubs and I was one of them. Experience was good, shows were Broadway quality, foods (buffet Give aB+)overall experience is B.

This was my third time on the Norwegian Getaway, this time it was 30 of us this was not the best of my vacations on the Getaway.  A lot of the persons on the ship are new and not as accommodating nor pleasant as the old crew.  The best on the cruise was the bartender Matthew.  They did not clean my room for 4 of the days on the ship.  They claimed I had the sign on to not clean the room which was not true.  So on the second to last day they came to me and said that they would make sure the room was clean.  It was 30 of us traveling and in my cousins room the toilet over flowed 5 of the 7 nights. Others in the party were given a bunk bed for three and they were older ladies.  I was very disappointed my 50th birthday was not the best as I expected but we made the best of it.

Really good overall experience.  Excellent itinerary.  Liked the free style concept and more casual atmosphere.  Did not appreciate that there were "supplemental" charges for some menu items in the "complimentary" dining rooms. The pool is ridiculously small for a ship of that size...there were 4700 passengers on board...doesn't help passengers enjoy days at sea...some of my neighbors have bigger pools.  Would sail NCL again, but probably not this ship.

We booked our Western Caribbean cruise on the Getaway based upon a very pleasant European cruise we had taken a few years back on the Norwegian Epic.  This was to be our third Norwegian cruise and we were looking forward to the same service we had experienced in the past.  Unfortunately we were very disappointed.

The ship is large, but always felt crowded due to the fact that all indoor features are located mid ship on decks 6, 7, and 8.   The pool area, likewise, is very small and always congested. 

The ship is well appointed and the dining is very good, especially the specialty dining restaurants.  A wonderful dinner at Cagney's, despite the drunken, loud, party of four that was seated next to us still wearing tank tops and flip flops.

Our mid ship balcony room was sufficient but the balcony was tremendously small and, unfortunately, located 6 decks above the only outdoor smoking bar on the ship.  The party started at 9:00 am and lasted well into the night with continuous noise.

Ship maintenance was also continuous.  Drilling, sanding, buffing, and refinishing of the pool deck would start during the early evening and continue all night.  Please do yourself a favor and do not book a cabin on deck 14.

Our Honduran excursion experience was dreadful as we were put in the water for a snorkeling tour during a thunderstorm, were cut on the coral reef (not a first aid kit or band aid on the complex), had to alert staff members to pick up a syringe off of the beach, and expected to pay for our own cab back to the pier.

We also gave "Guest Services" 3 opportunities to provide service and to answer simple questions.  On all three occasions we were directed elsewhere for answers. Disembarkation was a nightmare as it took nearly 2 hours to get off of the ship (the only bathroom available is a porta potty located across 4 lanes of traffic after you collect your baggage and go through customs.

I understand the economics of cruising.  A large ship must accommodate the needs of assorted groups of people.  I also understand the a free beverage program will be attractive to a certain group of people.  Unfortunately, it seemed that this Norwegian cruise settled on pleasing the lowest common denominator.

On the positive side, the dining and beverage staff was wonderful!

The entertainment was amazing. Staff very friendly and helpful . Awesome restaurants. Bad side is the pools are very small.  Very large Ship a lot of walking.  Concentration is on water slides more so than pools

The ship is well maintained.  I am not a fan of the larger ships but this one is laid out well and easy to get around. Despite having 4000+ passengers, it didn't seem overcrowded.  The only drawback was needing to make reservations for any of the shows.  Some shows were complementary and some had an additional fee.

The food in the Garden Café was excellent and they had a nice selection.  We ended up eating there for most meals as the service the dining rooms was horrible.  We tried each of the complementary dining rooms for dinner and the service was slow and in one dining room, we waited over 1/2 hr and the main meal came out before the appetizer.  That ended coming out after the main meal.  We had to ask 3 times for a drink.  It finally came.  We tried one of the specialty restaurants and the food and service was great.  I have been on 29 cruises and would probably not go on this ship again but that is just personal preference.  The ship was spotless and the islands were great. Overall it was a good cruise. 

IF YOU BEEN O THSi BOat before try a diffrent one entertainment same comedians the same even their routine the staff was great foood could be much better same thing every day unless you pay for other options

Favorite part of the cruise was dining options & menu. I also loved the Cruise Director & his staff. The weather was great & the ports we visited were great also.

I thought the food was excellent and the portions were exceptional.  As far as things that I think need improvement, number 1 we had a lot of problems with the television sets on the ship and on the main menu when we were notified we had a message most times you couldn't get to the message.  Also every time I tried to access my list of charges on my account, when I could get my name to show up all I could see was the total.  I never did get into the itemized listing of charges.  Number 2, there were a lot of problems with the toilets flushing.  Sometimes after you left the stall the toilet would flush and other times it never did flush.  Third on the Geteway when the ship is in port there are limited locations where a person can stand and have a good view of the whole dock, (Deck 7).  On our cruise Deck 7 on the starboard side of the ship was completely closed off for maintenance at at least 2 stops and the ship docked on the starboard side so no one could stand on Deck 7 and observe people leaving and returning to the ship.  A suggestion for the future would be to dock on the opposite side of the ship when maintenance like this is happening.  Fourth:  Was disappointed that we would go to the complimentary dinning rooms (Taste & Savor) and if you wanted steak and lobster you had to pay for it.  First time I've ever seen where you had to pay for stead & lobster in a complimentary dinning facility.  One last suggestion would be a small area where a person could get coffee/tea/hot chocolate and some pastry's early in the morning.  Have experienced this on other cruise ships and was great just to stop there very early in the morning and get a cup of coffee.  

We really enjoyed our time on the cruise, but I want to leave a review that gives others an idea of what to expect.  Rotan is really dirty, trash on the beaches and in the water, unlike anything we've ever seen, nasty.  We will not be getting off the boat in Rotan again.  The entertainment was awesome on the cruise ship.  For every meal besides the buffet, we had to wait 1.5-2 hours to get our meal.  We had friends traveling with us so it wasn't terrible waiting, but if we did not have friends with us, it'd be a long time to converse with my wife every night.  Not sure why we had to wait so long, but we missed some shows because dinner would take so long.  The specialty restaurants were very good.  We ate at La Cucina, Cagney's, La Bistro, and Moderno.

Norwegian has an upcharge for everything, so be prepared for that.  There is no soda at the buffet, you can only get soda with the soda package or from the bar.  

The layout of the ship was poor.  There was only one pool for adults, which was always crowded.  The sun deck and the front of the ship was secluded and there were showers to rinse off scattered on the top decks.  The Vibe Beach Club was $100 per person and there were only 150 people who could get that service.  There was no pool in the Vibe beach club, just hot tubs.  The slides were good.  The rope coarse was fun.  The rock wall was basic.  The ship was very clean throughout.  The buffet NEVER changed, the same food every day.  Taste and Savor served the same thing the buffet did, so there is not much variety from day to day on this ship.  O'Shehans served cold food every time we ate there.

It does sound like I am complaining a lot, but we had a good time.  We were just shocked at some of the things this ship didn't offer compared to other ships we have been on.  The best cruise line that we've been on and happy with was Royal Caribbean.  We probably will not go on Norwegian again unless we get another extremely good deal.  For this cruise we got prepaid gratuities, $150 shipboard credit, 250 internet minutes, and dining package for 4 different locations (cost extra $70 for gratuities).  We had a balcony room and loved it, although the balcony area was smaller than other ships we had been on.  Our balcony was bigger than most because we got the angled room, so we probably got 50% more balcony than everyone else (and it was still extremely small).  The AC kept up in the room, which had been a problem on past cruises.  The shower was larger than any cruise we had been on previously.  The water pressure in the shower was extremely good compared to other cruises we've been on.  

The weight room is very basic and somewhat lacking for those who are serious about working out.  The cardio room faced the ocean and had plenty of room compared to the weight room.  The spa was ok, not near as nice as Royal Caribbean or Carnival.  My wife did enjoy the package she purchased for $116 - full body massage after watching some presentation on the second or third day.

There seemed to be a lot of LGTB community on our ship.  There was no promotion that this was an LGTB cruise or anything, but they did seem to have an hour activity every day for this group.  This might be a Norwegian thing, I am not sure.  

The servers were all good.  Friendly staff.  The cruise director was fantastic.  

All in all, great cruise.  We made the best of the situation.  If we would not have had the package with all the upgrades, I would have been really disappointed. 

The lady who helped us book the cruise BRIDGET HYLTON (800) 820-2816  x33800 was AMAZING.  She answered all our questions and was phenomenal.  If we ever get a cruise from spirit again, I will definitely call Bridget.

I love this experience!! Highlights: Dining in a good variety of restaurants, nice variety of activities & shipboard events, friendly staff, 4 awesome ports! Can use improvement:  Main bars were very difficult to get a drink (it helps if you visibly tip in cash on top of the 18% built into your cruise). The only adult pool was closed for about 24 hours due to someone vomiting in it (should have been flushed out and running a lot sooner); I would have given the cruise 5 stars if it wasn't for those 2 problems. The staff - almost all of the staff seemed to love their jobs which made for a positive feeling all the way around. Shore excursions -  Roatan, Honduras we went Scuba diving, and that was amazing. In Belize, we took the NCL tour of The Belize Zoo with the Holler Monkey experience, and that was ok, we wished there was a little more substance to the tour, for what we paid for. In Costa Maya (Mahahaul), we went to the Dzibanche Mayan Ruins which you can climb on many "pyramids" and ruins, and that was really informative and fun (it was worth taking a 2 hour drive each way to climb on and explore the ruins). In Cozumel, we went on the Dolphin adventure, which also included swimming with the manatee, a sea lion show, a lunch, unlimited beverages and transportation. We also snorkeled there for an extra charge for the equipment rentals. This day long adventure was my favorite! Downside: The shore excursions were maybe an hour or in some cases, 2 hours too short, so we always felt rushed. All in all, I would definitely recommend this cruise, we are already planning our next cruise!!