Norwegian Getaway Cruise Reviews - Reviews

We selected this trip because it went to places we had not been.  St. Thomas was beautiful and fun.  Tortola is not built up yet, so you should take a tour.  Nassau is busy and very touristy.  Norwegian Getaway has so many activities that we could not see them all.  Water slides, climbing wall and ropes course; not to mention the shows, food and activities for the kids.  Thanks for the great trip.

Loved the ship, balcony stateroom, and entertainment. From the perspective of a frequent cruiser the food left much to be desired. Menus did not vary much from night to night and did not accommodate those with dietary restrictions like my wife (vegetarian and gluten intolerant). All-in-all this was a top-notch cruise and my complaints were minimal and were only desires for improvement.

I will start by saying that we were celebrating our honeymoon. We were married just the day before. 

Our room was nice.Upon receiving our luggage we realized everything inside was wet and the luggage itself was torn. Surprisingly, we didn't have ANY liquids inside of our luggage. Needless to say the NCL took our laundry washed it and returned it the next day and also had a seamstress repair our luggage. However, several items were stained (large dark circles on all of our white clothing). After 3 days passed and several attempts to dry clean the clothing items the decision was made that the clothes were ruined. We were told that Guest Services would give us $50. FIFTY DOLLARS???? I thought the gentleman was kidding. He was not. I was mortified! NCL gave my husband and I a $100 on board credit. It was insulting to say the least. I have cruised with NCL in the past and have never been so upset.    

Absolutely loved the Haven.....every aspect, the restaurant, our own lounge, pools, saunas, lounge chair selections, the Spa and having the Concierge at our disposal.  The rest of the ship was much below average for a new ship.  The pools are ultra small for all the people.  The biggest disappointment was the Getaway Theater...one level, very boring decor, and very very dusty and dirty.  Too small for the size of ship.  The stage also seemed much smaller than the other ships.  The casino was Awful and having slot machines in the hallways inhibited flow of traffic.   the shops were too high end and too many watch sales.  I wanted a simple Norwegian Getaway T shirt and couldn't find more than one style and it was in men's sizes.   Also too many bars without having tables and bands/dj for dancing.    The staff was very cordial and never had to wait for drinks at bars.  

This is the second time that we have been on the Getaway and each time the experience was amazing.  The only real thing that I would like to see change about this boat is the lack of shade.  There are no umbrellas on the main deck and in the adult area there are only 3, forcing people to compete for them.

Entertainment was really good, with the Howl at the moon being a must see!!!

Lots of free dining options and entertainment venues.  Wasn't sure how cruising on such a large ship would be but we were very pleased with the Getaway.  Only really crowded area was around the main pool.  The Legally Blonde production was first class, much more elaborate than normal production shows.  Disappointed with the Grammy Experience but loved the Howl at the Moon show.  The Atrium area had too much activity much of the time and it was hard to hear staff at various stations. When the captain was speaking there was so much noise from air hockey that you couldn't hear him.

We are self employed and prefer vacations where we can relax and rejuvenate.  We were able to do that on our first cruise with MSC last year and loved it - we wanted to cruise again this year.  However, at the time we made our reservations MSC was not available.  We chose Norwegian and both my wife and I think it was an inferior experience.

The biggest problem was noise - every where was noisy.  We could hear the music from the shows in our room, sometimes past 10:00PM at night.  We sprung for a large-balcony stateroom, but there was no respite there either - most of the time our neighbors seemed to be hosting drinking parties on their balconies.  

The other thing that we didnt like is the constant upsell - it seemed like everything was designed to try and get you to spend more.  They have this down to an art form. 

Our room attendant experience was also much different from MSC.  On the MSC ship, our steward was a ninja - he amazed us with his ability to clean or turn down our room and never be seen, even for short times away from our stateroom.  On the Getaway our steward was friendly but many times we would go to breakfast and come back to an unmade room.  One day the room was never made up. 

The pool area was very small.  On the MSC ship there were two main pool areas plus one on the rear deck. On the Getaway there was 1 main and a smaller one. The main pool smaller than either of the two on MSC.  They devoted that space to having 5 water slides - these were good but more pool space would be welcome. We never actually got in the pool or hot tubs because they were always packed and the pool was not very deep.

Unlike the MSC trip, we found lots of lines on the Getaway trip.  This is the experience we thought cruising would be like.  On MSC they did a better job of keeping the lines shorter.

The buffet had decent food and was clean.  It was sometimes challenging to find a table but we always did - the staff worked hard to quickly clean vacant tables.

We really liked the Freestyle Ultimate Dining package - we were able to dine at many of the specialty restaurants whenever we wanted.  The food was good and the service was too.  On the MSC ship we had an assigned dining room and time, where we had to sometimes sit with people we do not know.

If you want a more Las Vegas experience, the Getaway is your ticket.  If you want a more relaxing place to rejevenate, the MSC Divina is our recommendation.

Awesome trip.  The boat was great, food was excellent, accommodations were big anough for 4 of us. Slides were fun, pools were crowded but I expected that. Disney boat and celebrity had the same overcrowded pools. Kids enjoyed the kids club. 

Had a blast!  Always something to do.  Staff was great, friendly, and always accommodating.  There was tons of food, however, it was very good to me.  Maybe I'm too picky.  The food looked and smelled great but lacked in flavor for me.  I was ok with that b/c I wouldn't eat a ton of it.  My husband and I did stumble across a taco and nacho bar around 10:30pm.  The late night drunk people food was awesome!!!!

We had the best time.  Food was great, service was great and the ship was great.  There was lots to do on the ship when it was not docked and will certainly consider Norwegian again for any future trips!.. 

We had a wonderful time on the Getaway! The ship is huge and there is lots to do. We booked an aft balcony on deck 9, wow the balcony was massive. The room was adequate but the carpet was so worn and dirty, we were surprised to see this on a ship thats only 1 1/2 years old.

The food was very good! Better than we had on our last 2 carnival cruises last year. We ate at Teppenyaki as well, it was fun but the food was ok. 

I don't ever write reviews so sorry I am leaving out a lot of details.

We loved the entertainment. Burn the floor and the illusionarium are not to be missed. We did not see Legally Blonde. We also saw Howl at the moon (good fun) and comedy. Comedy was good but there were a lot of repeated jokes so we didn't go to all of them.

Glow party was one of my favorite things, so much fun, even at 43 :) There were much older people than I jumping and dancing to the hip hop etc songs. 

As others have said, the pool deck is horribly designed, but it was worse seeing it in person. We did do the waterslides and ropes course, super fun. 

The spa was wonderful as well, we had got the spa pass ahead of time.

We are very open minded people and did not go looking for bad things. A few things we noted that we were disappointed in (did not ruin our cruise) Not one time, in any venue, did we get drink service unless we went up to the bar. On every cruise I have been on, which is 8, servers would come around, in most venues, and ask if you needed a drink. The bars were all very small (except O'Sheehans) so we had to wait many times for drinks.  OH and only one bar tender we met actually looked happy and smiled, this is was very ODD. We noted they would be really nice to a few people and not others. We were always nice to them but it was not returned, never had this happen on a ship before either.

Like I said, we don't look for bad things but as the cruise went on, even my husband couldn't believe it and he doesn't comment about much. 

Perhaps its because of all the UBP that people had, they cut back on service? Is it different on the small ncl ships? 

Also, almost everyone we talked to, new (this was our 1st ncl) and experienced ncl cruisers couldn't stop talking and complaining about having to make reservations for everything. I knew this ahead of time so I wasn't to bothered but in all honesty, there are just to many people on this ship with not enough venue space.  It was hard to get around a lot of times unless we were in port and people were off of the ship.

Anyways, we had a great time despite those few things!! We loved all the choices for eating and entertainment. Will we sail on the Getaway again?, probably not. We have decided to go back to a slightly smaller ship. 

Thank You for reading!!

This cruise got 3 stars only because of the itinerary. The ship itself is very nice and has lots of options for eating, drinking, entertainment, etc. However, the stateroom balcony was tiny and there were just way too many people on board. Everything was crowded. The dining room staff was always overwhelmed and not very attentive. On the first 2 nights, our meals were served before our drinks (one cocktail and one soda). After that, we would get drinks from the bar and take them into the dining room with us. On the third night at the Tropicana, we sat for 20 minutes with empty plates in front of us before someone came to clear the table. Our water glasses were not refilled until dessert was served. That meal lasted 2 hours because the staff took forever with everything. Needless to say, we did not go back there. We got a great deal for this cruise, but I would rather spend a little more and have better service on a smaller ship. Though we did not take our kids on this cruise, we did hear wonderful and very positive comments from several families about the various programs for kids.

I have taken 5 cruises in different cruise lines, but this is my best experience for a 7 days cruise, Love free style. do whatever you want at your pace, excellent services, food variety, a lot of entertainment and fun in this beautiful brand new ship Gateaway. 

Overall it was a nice boat with good service. There is nothing over the top here unless you are looking for a rock climbing wall, water slides and a ropes course. There are a lot of activities and almost too many. I found the entertainment to be mixed. Lots of music around the boat but main shows were all an extra charge except Burn the Floor and Comedy Club. The ship is almost too big losing a sense of community. It never feels overly crowded though. Rooms are small and I found it was not worth spending more for mini suite. Additional charge is truly for a bigger bathroom. That's it!  Overall we enjoyed our time. 

got on the getaway ready to cruise, feeling great! 3 days in got so sick, went to the ship doctor gave me Imodium and told me to stay in cabin for 24 hours. What!! Had payed for a show (illusionrium) tried to get a refund was told no twice. So j payed for it so I went, 2 officers holding a picture of me up , took me out like I was a criminal. I was humiliated. Remaining 3 days of cruise had to eat saltines and no alcohol. Some cruise. I'll have to think twice before cruising with NCL!!

The whole cruise was a blast from the start to the end!

Thanks for having a "solos" activities cruise where other singles can meet, dialogue, and have so many events for us. As long as I am single, for sure would like to keep participating with Norwegian Cruise Lines!

I was impressed by the generosity Norwegian had, providing champagne and wine bottles for some of our dinners to help us celebrate in a gracious way with most of the solos. We understood, you like us to have fun in your Cruise Lines!

Also like to say that, our host Jose Jaramilla helped us coordinate our time together, outings, dances. He made each one of us feel at ease and to enjoy each day.

He was awesome and knowing he's young, he'll have a fine future being a host of some kind.

Congrats for having a good crew!

Thanks for serving us in the most appropriate way!

Otto

We took the Norwegian Getaway from Oct 3-10 (2015).  There were 16 of us total ranging in age from 2 to 82.  All of us had balcony rooms and the views were absolutely amazing!  The ship was well kept, clean, and had a variety of things for everyone to do.  I was slightly bummed there was only one main pool but it was a good meeting/focal point.  I LOVED the freestyle dining and the ability to make reservations if you wanted to eat at a set time.  I would definitely take another Norwegian Cruise in the future.

So So nice, its amazing, will tell all my friends and family about this fancy ship trip, you will not be bored, you will want to come back, staff so nice and so clean, love love love !!!

The three days at sea were boring. If you don't drink or gamble there is were little that is entertaining to do but eat. The prices for extras are expensive, like the use of the internet and drinks. The evening shows were very good and the staff  were    exceptional.

I worked with Tracy Tingly at Cheap Cruises and she was WONDERFUL.  She made our family trip a much talked about memory.  She helped to work out some of the "challenges" of working directly with NCL Group Travel (After this experience I will continue to use a travel agent instead of booking directly with NCL. He seemed more interested in his sales quota numbers than working on making sure we our vacation would be a lifetime memory and/or having us become a loyal NCL cruiser. I've done 20 cruises and have booked directly with the cruise line and have to say this unfortunate experience with NCL Group Travel was a first). 

The Getaway is a beautiful ship.  Elegance without being gaudy.  Most of the crew was friendly but not all. I would say the crew on deck was much more accommodating than the ones inside. (Maybe they need more sun).

Much to my surprise the mid-ship balcony rooms were "roomy" if that's such a description in today's cruising world.  There were some nice "touches" in the room which made it feel bigger.  Once we got used to the smaller door opening into the hallway we decided that the extra room inside our cabin and bathroom was worth it. 

The Getaway added some small/subtle touches in the rooms which allowed for additional storage.  There were 3 adults in our room and it didn't feel overly crowded.  

The food selection in the Garden Cafe could have used more variety, especially for breakfast, but once you did the initial "walk thru" before selecting, you knew where to go the next morning.

The service in the TASTE dining room was superb. So much so, we made reservations for two nights.  Dinner in the Savor was slow and disorganized, but not sure if it was due to new staff or something else.

This was my first time trying the "anytime dining" and I have to admit that I LOVED IT.  Surprisingly, this made for a much more relaxing cruise and to my surprise everyone still wanted to set a time to meet for dinner. This was the best of both worlds. 

Looking forward to the next adventure at sea.