Norwegian Getaway Cruise Reviews - Reviews

We all liked the nice new ship the only thing we didn't like was the ship felt overcrowded, if you didn't get a spot on deck early you didn't get one.

All of the shows we saw were great, Magic show, Burn the floor and the comedians were awesome.

If you didn't get the unlimited drink package watch what they are charging you, me and the brother in law did a ship pub crawl and they charged different prices for the same drink from one bar to another on the ship.

The "Getaway" is the newest Ship in the Norwegian Fleet and it is Large (4,000 passengers) and Very Nice. The Ship is Clean, all around. The Staff is friendly, the Main Show entertainment is Top Notch ("Burn the Floor" and "Legally Blonde the Musical"). Lot's of activities and a couple of pretty intense water slides (try the Green Tube). Some of the music around the pool was, okay.....

And we Really Liked the Food. 

We did not go to any of the Specialty Restaurants and while they did look inviting, frankly, the food at the main dinning rooms was so good and varied, we did not see the need to try them. The Buffet (which we had for some Breakfasts and Lunch) was excellent as well.

We did have the "Ultimate Beverage Package" (a freebie) and it was quite good, any single drink, nearly anywhere on the ship, up to $11.00 each was "free" (with an automatically 18% gratuity included)...and you could have some very nice liquors, I happen to like "Bombay Sapphire" Gin and that was included. My wife Loved the "Spellbound" Chardonnay (so did I, it's Very Good). 

The ship was late getting into two ports and we had to rearrange our excursions to accommodate that, but it was okay.

I would definitely recommend this cruise and we did have a Really Nice Time.

I liked this cruise because of the cleanliness of the ship, room were well kept, staff friendly and informative. Entertainment was well presented, activities well organized, food was good. The only complaint was for the first couple of days our written info. was in French it was quickly rectified when we advised staff of thi.

It is nice to get away from everything and not think about it. We like NCL for the free style dinning and the cabins are nice,They keep everything so clean.

Great ship very modern and energy efficient. They stress free style experience but don't tell you reservations are required for many events and if you book early you miss them. Although you have 3 free restaurants too chose from daily (all same menu) the food was OK. We went to an upgraded (fee) restaurant and the food quality was much better but prices range from $15 to $30 pp and this can get expensive. Service was very good, ship kept very clean. Staff interacts with guest and are seen all over the ship. They have singles only section as well as private area for suites. Rooms were spacious and I liked the glass door in the shower. Turn down service is ok, other cruise lines do more, some night treat. Shopping on board was disappointing. I have multiple cruises with RC, Disney and Carnival and would probable go back to one of those, free style is not for me but would recommend the experience with Norwegian.

This ship was very new and very clean.  We had a great time.  The cons were that the desserts were not good at all, 13-18 youth program was disappointing in an that the staff dropped the f bomb a few times and when playing name that tune they played hardcore rap which included racial slurs (the n word) and a lot of swearing.  We are from the States and swearing and racial comments are not acceptable in our home.  Knowing that there are many different walks of life that maybe on a cruise (I believe the staff member had an Austrailian or  New Zealand accent) we understand things are different in other places. For this reason, my 15 year old daughter and her 14 year old friend did not return.  Getting a drink took a lot of time.  It seemed that the bartenders did not have to work for their 15% since they already were receiving it automatically.  Your best bet, buy a bottle from the bar for around $80 and bring on your soda and make your own.  You will get it faster because the drink package is not worth it if you have to wait 15 mins each time you get a drink and you can only order one at a time(with the drink package).  Pools were too small and not enough seating around them. bad design for the outdoor space.  should have a larger pool in middle. Service at the Tropicana restaurant was very poor.  We didn't even know the kids had a menu to choose from and again getting a drink was like pulling teeth.  The food served was very good though.  There seemed to be a constant banging in our rooms just above our heads and we stayed on 5.  Funny enough other friends stayed down the hall on 5 and said the same thing as well as others in our party that stayed on 9.  it became white noise after a while.

Pros: The illusionairiam show was great and the food at the show was really good. Kids loved the water slides and ice cream. Cafe buffet was good with a lot of choices.  Cleaning staff was very good and nice. Legally Blonde was a cute show but I wish they would change the opening song to Oh My Gosh instead of Oh My God.  We are not a go to church every week family but after hearing Oh My God over a 150x one could grindge.  Beds were comfy, boat was very clean.  Back of the ship outside on deck 8 was my husbands happy place. Kids (12 and 15) loved the freedom to roam on the ship.

My advise to Norwegian: Get a better serving staff, ones that can understand English  (when having a cruise that leaves from the states), get a pastry chef, though your desserts looked pretty they were bad tasting.  Your cruise director was very funny, lively and entertaining.  I loved hearing his voice every morning with the announcements.

This was our first cruise, and we just loved it!!!!  Already put a down payment on another cruise!  Ultimate vacation!

Staff made our trip so fun, and our ship was awesome!

The Norwegian Getaway is a beautiful ship inside and out.  The crew has a passion to serve and the atmosphere is perfect.  You can find quiet spots to sun, read a book, take a nap, or you can party all day and night long.  It's your choice to do whatever, whenever you want.  Freestyling is the new way to cruise.  I give this cruise 5 stars and will book again with Norwegian.

We were really excited about taking this cruise. New ship, piles of snow in New England to escape, a couple of nice ports to experience, what was there not to be excited about? 

Once onboard, the first thing that hit us was how crowded the ship was. This was our first time on a ship with 4000+ passengers and it was a bit overwhelming at first. The Garden Cafe was mobbed and finding a seat was tricky. Completely understandable on boarding day. 

Since this was a new ship, we decided to take the tour of the public areas with the cruise staff to get the lay of the land. We met in one of the bars on deck 6 to begin the tour. Decks 6, 7, and 8 are open in the middle of the ship. There is a large chandelier in the center that spans the 3 floors with spiral staircases. Deck 6 houses Le Bistro and Headliners comedy club. Le Bistro has some tables outside the restaurant in the center of the ship to mimic a sidewalk cafe. On Deck 8, there is shopping, the photography area, and more of the upcharge restaurants. The layout was really done well for the most part with one major exception, the casino.

The casino is located on deck 7 in the middle of the ship. The smell of stale cigarette smoke permeates the entire middle of the ship. The carpeted floors, the walls, and everything in the area reek. I couldn't imagine sitting in the sidewalk cafe outside Le Bistro with that smell. It only got worse as the cruise went on the casino was open. Now the stale smoke was replaced with people actively smoking, right in the middle of the main passageway of the ship. Simply walking through this part of the ship would make your clothes and hair smell like a cigarette. NCL needs to fix this.

The outside areas were really nice. Deck 8 has The Waterfront, an outside area to walk around complete with bars, dining, and even a gelato window. This is a great place to just sit and have a drink or something to eat that's a bit more relaxing than the pool deck. This was a fantastic addition and something that was really done right.

Being a large ship, reservations were required at the shows and all the specialty restaurants. This goes against the Freestyle Cruising we've come to expect on NCL. Our reservations for Legally Blonde were on Thursday night and we couldn't get into La Cucina for dinner at all since it was completely booked. We've sailed NCl several times in the past and nevr ran into a problem getting into a show or specialty restaurant. This was a live and learn moment for us.

All in all, the cruise was just OK. Given the crowdedness and the stench in the center of the ship, we will not take this cruise again. It really was the worst experience we've had with NCL. However, a bad day on a cruise is still better than a good day at work.

The boat was beautiful, the crew was wonderful, the food was good but not great, rooms where comfortable, the itinerary was ok. So what was the problem? Way too many kids that I considered the cruise "Disney Lite!" Parents brought their children into "adult only" entertainment, very seldom watched them believing others would babysit, and let them overtake even the hot tubs. The adult pool was the size of a two car garage and unless you grab a spot poolside by 7AM you were out of luck. The kiddie pool was just around the corner from both the adult pool and the buffet...a real zoo at times. Smokers were just plain rude and the crew never bothered to enforce the non-smoking areas including the decks, cocktail areas and the casino. Your clothes smelled like smoke no matter where you went. Not a very good cruising experience to say the least!

The Cruise was great, the ship was new and exciting, and the crew was friendly and helpful.  However the air travel was really bad.  The next time I'll drive down to the port. 

Good cruise. Relaxing and I got warm in the 82 degree sunshine.

We had a wonderful time on our NCL Getaway Eastern Caribbean Cruise last week. The ship was amazing with so many things for my 7 & 9 year old sons to do...ropes course, rock wall, bungee trampoline, spider slide, mini golf, sports court, etc). The LOVED Splash Academy where you can check your kids in and they have themed activities each day. It gave my husband plenty of alone time to explore the ship and catch some shows they would not have enjoyed. We saw Legally Blonde and Illusinarium and both were amazing! We had a mini suite with balcony and it was plenty roomy for the 4 of us in there...the bathroom was quite spacious with double vanity and spa like shower! Service was great throughout the ship. We got the Ultimate Dining Package free when we booked our cruise so we ate at the specialty restaurants each night.  The food was good but the standout was Le Bistro...start to finish the BEST meal of the trip!  We ate at Savor for lunch one day and the food was delicious! The menus for the "free" restaurants looked great so we might opt for the Ultimate Beverage Package over the dining package next time and splurge one night at Le Bistro because the Garden Cafe Buffet and the free dining rooms had great food! Teppanyaki was good but they put WAY too much garlic in the fried rice and it overpowered the rest of the meal...I could taste garlic for hours after :(.  Cagney's was good but service a little slow, Maderno was good but waited longer than I would like for some of the meats I wanted to come around. The Italian restaurant was good but only a step above Olive Garden as my husband said. The Ports of Call were beautiful! We loved St. Maarten and St. Thomas but it was a cold & breezy 61 degrees in Nassau so we did not get to enjoy beaches there because it was too cold!  We did not sign up for any ship sponsored excursions and did our own tours so I cannot speak to shore excursions and their value. If we got another good deal when we were looking to take another cruise, we would definitely consider NCL Getaway again or perhaps the sister ship the Breakaway for a different itinerary. 

We had a great time. Loved our Cabin which was on the Spa Levet (Deck 14). Loved the amenities at the Spa especially the Therapy Pool. A little disappointed in our massages. My masseuse had clearly never given a Hot Stone massage and was expecting to give a different treatment when I arrived so I felt like she was winging it. We paid for the ultimate dining package and ate at a different speciality restaurant almost every night. Loved Moderno, Cagney's and Teppanyaki. Disappointed in Il Bistro (water crackers with the cheese course?) and La Cucina. Garden Cafe Buffet was delicious as was Flamingo Grill. Entertainment: Legally Blond Fun, Headliners Comedy Fun, Grammy Experience Fun. SKIP Illusionarium. All the staff were great, helpful and polite. We would definitely cruise again.

I have been on one other cruise prior to this, and that was with Royal Caribbean. My first thought when walking onto the ship was that it was beautiful, clean, and well taken care of.  We explored the ship at first to familiarize ourselves with where things were, and were greeted by employees throughout this time.  When we got to the pool deck, we were greeted by a game (Rudi) who asked if we'd like a drink, to which we said definitely.  He was super nice and personable, and remembered us for the rest of the cruise (by name)!!! All in all a great time.  Below are a few 'concise' pros and cons of this, as compared to my experience with RC.

Pros:  Big, new ship; Plenty of dining options (without extra cost); Dinner restaurants were excellent; Many chairs on pool deck; Plenty of various entertainment onboard at all times (ranging from people playing piano, to game shows that involved audience members, to karaoke,  to the casino, to music or games at the pool deck, and more!); Fair drink prices; Friendly people (with the exception of our cabin steward; GO RUDI!!); Great stops (St. Maarten, St. Thomas, Nassau); They have a special area for young kids and another special area for teens - they had a lot of activities for children so even though a lot of families were on the ship, the kids were never really in the adult areas (which was REALLY nice).  

Cons:  Buffet food didn't seem to be as good as what I experienced with RC; Our cabin steward was NEVER around and NEVER introduced herself to us (this was part of the fun and enjoyment on my RC cruise!!!!); A lot of the extra shows (Legally Blonde, Illusionarium, Comedians, and others) cost extra money, and a decent amount at that (I don't recall paying extra on RC)

All-in-all a great cruise and ship, with (mostly) great people.  If you can't tell, I'm still a little bitter about our cabin steward.  All other people were great.  Definitely recommend, whether you're traveling with or without kids!

My husband and I celebrated our honeymoon on the Norwegian Getaway and it exceeded all of our expectations!  We had originally planned on going to an all-inclusive resort somewhere in the Caribbean, but the cost of flights and resort combined were astronomical.  We were also concerned about being "stuck" in one location for a week and potentially getting bored.  We decided to take a quick look at some Caribbean cruises to see if we could get better rates.  Our honeymoon in total (including airfare) was over half less than any resort we were looking at.  Our total bill (including airfare, excursions, gratuities, and other purchases) came to a total of $2,500.

What we loved about the Norwegian Getaway was the ability for us to relax and do nothing (peacefully) when we wanted to and to engage in activities (some we've never thought of trying before) other times.  We liked being able to do things on our own schedule and that there were plenty of activities to keep us from ever getting bored.  There was a great mix of people (families, singles, couples young and old) travelling with us.  Norwegian did excellent at catering events and activities aimed at these different groups.

We really enjoyed the food options that were included.  The Irish pub O'Sheehans was amazing.  Great pub food, better than many pubs we've been to back home!  The main buffet was excellent.  It always provided such a wide array of options (oriental, indian, seafood, salads, etc.) that we never got bored.  It also provided a great amount of mainstays to keep even the pickiest of eaters happy (burgers, chicken fingers, mac'n'cheese, etc.).  We often had a difficult time deciding whether to go to a main dining room or just stick with the buffet.  And oh my goodness, I nearly lost my husband to the desert crepe station at the dinner buffet.  If you haven't had a chocolate crepe before, you haven't fully lived!  Not to be outdone, Flamingo Bar and Grill had some of the best cuban food we've ever eaten (and some we've never even tried).  The only downside was that we didn't discover this gem until the day before the cruise ended!  The main dining room was also excellent.  Everything we had (meat lasagna, braised short ribs, jerk chicken) was delicious and served hot.  The only thing we weren't impressed with in general were the dessert options at the different dining locations.  However, not eating a ton of dessert was probably best for us anyway!

We upgraded to a balcony room and absolutely loved it.  There was plenty of space for the two of us in our cabin and lots of hidden areas for extra storage. The bed was fantastic.  This was the ONLY time we can say we weren't ecstatic to be back in our own bed once we got home.  We got some of the best sleep on this cruise than we have on any other vacation!  Our cabin steward was amazing: always cleaned our cabin quickly, never in the way, always there to greet us in the morning and evening, and always ready to help us with any request.

We did not purchase any extra package, but we did get the Unlimited Beverage Package as part of our cruise deal (and for upgrading our room).  We thoroughly enjoyed taking advantage of the UBP to try a bunch of different drinks at all the different bars.  All the bartenders were wonderful, but the bartenders at the Sugercane Mojito Bar were outstanding.  All bartenders would listen to the customers and were willing to make anything you asked for, even if it wasn't on the menu.

Over all we had a fantastic experience.  This was the first cruise for my husband, and my 6th cruise overall.  Norwegian is currently my favorite cruise line just because of the free style cruising.  I did not miss the formal night or the mandatory dinner seating.  This vacation was exactly what we wanted: freedom to do what we wanted to when, and a variety of things to choose from.  We can't wait to get back on the Norwegian Getaway soon!

We had a fun time. The seas were a little rocky the last part of the cruise. We had a large balcony stateroom and were glad to have that. We were pleased with the quality of food. We only ate from the complimentary restaurants. We felt like anything that was for sell was pricey. The casino is located mid ship on deck 7. The center of the casino is open to the three story atrium. We noticed the cigarette smoke smell on all three levels. We went to the Wine Lovers Musical. This was well worth the extra cost. There was only one adult pool and it seemed small in comparison to other ships we have been on. Spice H2O was an adult only area. That was nice since there were more children on this cruise than we had ever experienced in past cruises.

The ship had everything you could dream of.....lots to do.  Varied activities for all interests.  Although the ship is huge (over 4000 guests plus crew) you never feel crowded....... except maybe when you are dancing the night away up on h2o deck with your fellow rowdy party-goers!

Impressive!!!! all brand new!

Excellent formal restaurants, we only used the ones included and they were great! We like to have breakfast and dinner overthere.

We also love the Flamingo and wings at the American bar.

Excellent service! I love the Burn de Floor Show, amazing!!!!!

Overall, the ship is great. A great time for my wife's birthday celebration.

Pros:

1. Very friendly staff.

2. Ultimate dining package is worth.

3. Wine machines in buffet deck

Cons:

1. Teppanyaki: the background music is Chinese, not japanese.

2. The shower water in stateroom is not powerful

3. For people do not like the comedy or talk shows, there are one or two nights with no entertainment after dinner.

4. Ship is pretty rocky compared with other ships from RCL and CCL.