Norwegian Getaway Cruise Reviews - Reviews

Booked this cruise for my son's birthday and I have to say that I was disappointed in the lack of Nickelodeon activities and/or character interaction.  But we still enjoyed ourselves but not sure that we will ever to a themed cruise again.

Pros-The Getaway ship had some neat attractions such as the water slides and ropes course which we enjoyed. Our child (boy age 8) liked the children's childcare "splash academy" more than other cruise to date. I was impressed how they did a lot of gym mats down and they were able to get out that wild kid physical energy and play gaga ball and other fun games. The staff here was wonderful!!! They decorated daily for different themes and made if really fun! Our cabin bathroom and shower felt larger than most.

Cons- We didn't like the hassle of standing in line for dinner reservations, show reservations, we prefer to either show up or have a set time and wait staff. We never ordered room service because of the up charge. All past cruises this was included. Food was quite good - great in fact however the portions were massive consistently. Example if you order bacon with breakfast they will put 8-10 slices on your plate. We felt food was wasted. Excessively large portions should be curbed. Our balcony was the most petite we have ever had. It was uncomfortable as was the stiff chairs on balcony. Our lights/tv would work unless you had the key card in wall socket. That was annoying. Public restrooms not as clean as Celebrity. Some trash blowing around on upper decks on day at sea golf area. Felt this ship so large they lacked some cleaning crews in certain areas. Felt a bit bored with lack of activities for families or adults on days at sea.  The Italian upgrade restaurant (the only 1 we went to was nothing special)

Our cruise travel agent did a wonderful job assisting in planning and was very helpful answering questions and providing tips.

The food was fabulous!  Legally Blonde made me laugh!! And Burn the floor was spectacular.  The kids program was great but the hour from 7-10:15pm. Also i have to say that there was a black tall thin man in a white uniform who sang a good morning song and greeted us everyday. Very delightful as other crew members san along. 

Ship great for kids. Tons of activities... rock climb, ropes course, basketball court, water slides, camps... tons of family activities!  Food was great in specialty restaurants as well as buffet. Main dining room had good food, but sometimes slow service. Excursions were great but a bit pricy. You can book the same excursions privately for half the price. Overall, great ship and great experience!

This was our 1st cruise on NCL. We have been on Royal or Celebrity in the past, so we were looking very forward to try a new cruise line. The Getaway is a beautiful ship with some great amenities. The ship is large holding 4000 plus passengers. The good points: there are many specialty dining venues..food is good and so is atmosphere. There are many bars that have musical entertainment all the time. The anytime dining is pretty good. We have not tried the no assigned table,waiter or time before. We were surprised how easy is was and nice to eat when you want to.The main dining room food was very good as well and service was exceptional !

Some not so good points: Being a large ship the stateroom hallways are very tight ( probably a foot narrower than other ships). Staterooms ( we had a balcony) are smaller as well, but the bathroom was larger and had a great shower. 

The worst point was the pool.  There is only one pool and the capacity is 28 people !!! getting a chair even close to the pool is impossible. The kids pool & water slide was good but crammed into a small area with very little seating as well.

Nightly entertainment was fair, they had stage shows and a comedy club (fair also) ..A magic show ( fee was $29 included dinner ) ...Casino was nice, but lacked ventilation ...very smokey. 

Overall...cruise was very good...very attentive crew & staff

Employee went above and beyond but thats where the positive with NCL stops.  List of several complaints:

1.  Food cafeteria style (it's a cruise not a school!)

2.  Food was poor quality but not upscale.  I'd expect that for a suite level cruise!

3.  Elevators only located in aft and forward and half were not in working order. Royal has elevators in  mid ship. 

4.  Outdoor bathroom uncleanly to say the least.

5.  Guest Services overcharged my debit card by $600 and 3 days after the cruise still no answer from NCL!

6. Spa lotions are cheap quality and overpriced services

7.  Activities are ALL PAID.  They should be included.  

8.  Activities had to be reserved.  I'm on a cruise.  I don't want to think about time!

9.  The main show was the one free activity and the actors were not very talented.

10. Excursions were cancelled without warning with no alternatives provided. 

11.  Pool and jacuzzis not accessible after 10pm anywhere due to "teen" parties and other paid events.

I've been on Celebrity, Royal, and Carnival.  I would take Carnival over this joke of a cruise line ANYDAY!!!

I love Norwegian's free style cruising.It was a new ship,staff were very friendly and the food was great.Entertainment was great and service was prompt.

GREAT CRUISE   THEY HAVE A GREAT STAFF AND CREW TO MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A GREAT TIME...I FOUND THE EVERYONE UPBEAT AND TO BE VERY HELPFUL....THE SHIP WAS VERY VERY CLEAN  

This ship was HUGE! It was also very crowded. There were over 4,000 passengers plus 1,600 crew members. If you suffer any crowd anxiety, this is not the cruise for you. Prepare to have some sort of wait no matter what you wish to do on the ship.

The kids program was FANTASTIC! Run professionally, very clean, plus plenty of activities to keep the kids happy. They even did a kid's program on the last day.

The food wasn't great, but it wasn't terrible either. The 3 main restaurants (Tropicana, Taste & Savor) all serve the same food. Exactly the same food. Pick your favorite setting and enjoy the nice environment. Garden Cafe Buffet had an excellent variety, but tended to stay very busy and overcrowded, especially on Sea Day.

The pool was tiny, considering the size of the ship and the number of people on board. Every time we walked by it was full of people, and the hot tubs were too. (There were only 4 in the main pool area.) We never even jumped in. We also didn't get to do any of the water slides, the ropes course, or the climbing wall. (None of us like big crowds, or long lines.) Plus, the ropes course and climbing walls were only available for a few hours each day. Those needed to be open all day in my opinion.

The ship was very clean and the room attendant we had was like a ninja, he was very nice and everytime we stepped out of our room, we came back to a clean room and fresh towels.

The ship was beautiful, the staff was good, the shows were great. The food was BELOW standard from what I have typically received on 5 other cruise lines. Various restaurant menu selections were very limited. The buffet was not worth the elevator ride. The Cagney Steak House $75.00 (for 2) was good. The Seafood restaurant was only fair, 2 shrimp dinners $77.00. Very little directions or instructions through out the ship about various activities, events or debarkations, too many inconsistancys to mention. I had the drink package and I had to sign for EVERY drink, how stupid is that. Lastly, I left my cell phone charging in the stateroom when we left the ship, I checked with lost and found and I was just told it was never found, That says something about staff honesty. Will not sail NCL again...

The Norwegian Getaway is a large, new ship that was in great shape.  It was kept very clean by the staff and maintenance people.  Our stateroom was very nice, we chose to take an an oceanview room, without a balcony, as I wasn't able to get a guaranteed room mid ship or aft and I have a little problem forward.   Our location on deck 5 aft was great for walking up the stairs to the restaurants on Deck 6 and 7.  Even though the ship held 4000 people, but it was only booked with 3300 guests or so, there weren't any lines or crowding when leaving the ship for excursions and going to dinner or the buffet for breakfast and lunch.  Everyone was pleasant and accommodating.  The food was good, not as good as some other cruise lines that I have been on.  I did not try any of the specialty restaurants so I can't comment on them.  Entertainment was ok, I have been on ships with better.  Overall, the ship was well run and we had a good cruise.  This was a freestyle cruise so you can wear casual clothes to dinner, but I wish the dress code was a little better.  Some people wore T-shirts to dinner that were kind of messy looking.  A simple collared shirt would have been better. 

A very enjoyable cruise.  The staff service was excellent.  The food at Le Bistro and Cagney's was very good.  The Illusionarium dinner and magic show was awesome.  Did not care for Moderno or La Cucina restaurants.  Their in board iConcierge app doesn't work well.  Waste of $.   Above all, I think that the staff made it the most enjoyable.  

Love, St. Lucia and St. Kitts!!!!  Did not like Barbados.  Found the people rude.  All the other ports, the friendliness of the people was wonderful and informative.  Again the two best were St. Lucia and St. Kitts.  

opportunities:  coffee was not that good.  They don't use fresh eggs, unless you specifically request them. And when in port, no coffee service provided in several areas, only when at sea?   The food at the specialty restaurants was not that good, except for the two mentioned above.   I will not do th dining package again. Not enough smoking areas, you had crowds of people in Just the three that were available.  The Cigar Lounge is terrible, tiny and not enough ventilation.  I will say that Carnival's cigar lounge was far better.  It even had a 3piece Jazz band playing.  

Ship was new 2014. Very clean and spacious. Food and service was top notch.

Very organized with activities on board and off.

Staff was very friendly. Never had to wait more than 5 min to be seated at the dining areas.

We enjoyed this cruise -- the dining options were great -- we ate at Cagney's (great), the Japanese Place (great) -- the Italian Place (good but not Great) and the Illusionarium (great plus a great show). The entertainment was also great. We also had good dining experiences at the other dining venues. The Free style dining is much better than the other ships we've been on.

Our 12 night cruise had the best crew and friendliest passengers ever!  Crew was very personable. St. Lucia had a massive rain storm after we started our tours.  Had landslide that blocked highway back to ship so those that only had a land tour ended up with a land and sea tour.  NCL refunded 50% of NCL's tour excursions in St. Lucia.  Met us at boat side with dry towels and hot chocolate.  Enjoyed "Burn the Floor" show but did not enjoy "Legally Blonde".  Illusionairion dinner show at extra cost is a must.

The ship was large but it never felt crowded. Had a balcony room and it was plenty big. The food was good but not spectacular i think that is what the specialty restaurants are for. The free style dining worked out well and service was great. The only negative I experienced was there was always a good wait at the bars to get drinks. I would definitely recommend this ship to anyone.   

We love Norwegian and wasn't disappointed about the Getaway.  The mini suite were awesome and the bathrooms were incredibly large.  Food was delicious and the server overall were great.  There were a few servers that shouldn't be in the dining room since their personalities didn't reflect Norwegian service level.  But, our cabin guy (Michael) cabin 11832 was excellent!  He made up for any poor service we may have experienced.   Thank you Norwegian for doing what you do best..creating great memories!!!  The Sumpters

Awesome vacation!!..Did not want off the ship. It was my honeymoon and my husband's first cruise. I've cruised many times before but never with Norwegian. It will definitely be one of my top 2 choices for the next vacation. Couldn't be more pleased with the friendly/professional staff, delicious food, activities and all the amenities, the ship was beautiful and very clean, the price was right. I found no negatives on this cruise. Looking forward to my next cruising experience with Norwegian, hopefully soon. Thanks!!

This cruise was awesome. They are definilty leaders in service by doing the little things . They made you feel welcome from coming back from the excursions. They cared about sanitation . The room was small, but there are plenty of places to help keep your items organized. There's a lot to do for everyone . The only time it seemed crowed was during the buffet.  The boat seems more like you are going out on the town, not crusing.  I wasn,t that fond of the food, I think Royal Caribbean has better selections.  Getting drinks at the bars was easy and not long waits.  Pool small, however there are plenty of places to sun bathe. I definitely will go on a Norwegian cruise again. It is now my favorite.