April 2016 - 7 Night Western Caribbean (Miami Roundtrip) Cruise on Norwegian Getaway
Great First Cruise
strangdeeds
Third Mate
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Joined 04/2016
1
Cruise1
Review5
Helpful VotesWent on my first cruise in April 2016 and my family and I are now HOOKED!!
Past cruises
Norwegian Getaway
Sail date: April 17, 2016
This was our first cruise (wife, 9 year old son and 4 year old daughter) and we enjoyed it very much!
With having family that has cruised we were expecting a long and tedious check-in - not the case at all. We arrived early and we're told to "go on in, no worries being early!". The wait wasn't long and before we knew it we were on the ship!
Having 2 children on the cruise I can definitely review the activities for kids! They have mini-golf, a rock climbing wall, a ropes course, an arcade, a giant chess board on deck 8, shuffleboard, ping pong and oh yeah, a kids club and water slides and kids swimming pool and mini spray park.
Both kids enjoyed everything - they both were excited to go back to the kids club and our interactions with the staff made us very comfortable that our kids were happy and safe!
The food - the buffet was by far the busiest area on the ship, which is only natural. The food was good for a buffet in my opinion. Many options for breakfast (including an omelette station) and every dinner had something different (tacos one night, crepe station, etc.). The best food for me was the pub fare at O'Sheehans. One of the best burgers I've had. One tip, service is a lot faster if you sit on the right side of O'Sheehans. We sat on the left side by the bar and it was slow.
The specialty dining we went to (Cagney's Steakhouse and La Cucina Italian) were very reasonably priced and had good food. The Cagney's service was fantastic but the La Cucina left a lot to be desired - but I think our waiter was asked to take on too many tables (he had all of them on the outside deck).
We attended the Burn the Floor dance show which my wife and son enjoyed (I left with our 4 year old, it was a little boring for her). My wife and son also went to the Illusionarium magic show and said the food and show was great. We also enjoyed watching Jurassic World in the theatre on our second day of sea (our stop in Great Stirrup Cay was cancelled due to wind) and they had Bingo and Deal or No Deal events throughout the week too (extra cost).
The service we had (outside of La Cucina) was absolutely fabulous! From the lady who took care of our room to the dining staff to the staff that got you back on board after excursions, it was all top notch!
We were very impressed with Norwegian and the Getaway and couldn't ask for more for our first cruise!
Cruise tips
Grab a cab and head to an all-inclusive for the day. We went to Playa Mia and for $120USD for our whole family we had 2 pools, the beach and free drinks and buffet for the day!
Go to the Turtle Farm!!
Norwegian Getaway
If you don't need to sit at a more formal dining area - go to O'Sheehan's Pub! The food (pub fare remember) is really good!
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This was our first cruise (wife, 9 year old son and 4 year old daughter) and we enjoyed it very much!
With having family that has cruised we were expecting a long and tedious check-in - not the case at all. We arrived early and we're told to "go on in, no worries being early!". The wait wasn't long and before we knew it we were on the ship!
Having 2 children on the cruise I can definitely review the activities for kids! They have mini-golf, a rock climbing wall, a ropes course, an arcade, a giant chess board on deck 8, shuffleboard, ping pong and oh yeah, a kids club and water slides and kids swimming pool and mini spray park.
Both kids enjoyed everything - they both were excited to go back to the kids club and our interactions with the staff made us very comfortable that our kids were happy and safe!
The food - the buffet was by far the busiest area on the ship, which is only natural. The food was good for a buffet in my opinion. Many options for breakfast (including an omelette station) and every dinner had something different (tacos one night, crepe station, etc.). The best food for me was the pub fare at O'Sheehans. One of the best burgers I've had. One tip, service is a lot faster if you sit on the right side of O'Sheehans. We sat on the left side by the bar and it was slow.
The specialty dining we went to (Cagney's Steakhouse and La Cucina Italian) were very reasonably priced and had good food. The Cagney's service was fantastic but the La Cucina left a lot to be desired - but I think our waiter was asked to take on too many tables (he had all of them on the outside deck).
We attended the Burn the Floor dance show which my wife and son enjoyed (I left with our 4 year old, it was a little boring for her). My wife and son also went to the Illusionarium magic show and said the food and show was great. We also enjoyed watching Jurassic World in the theatre on our second day of sea (our stop in Great Stirrup Cay was cancelled due to wind) and they had Bingo and Deal or No Deal events throughout the week too (extra cost).
The service we had (outside of La Cucina) was absolutely fabulous! From the lady who took care of our room to the dining staff to the staff that got you back on board after excursions, it was all top notch!
We were very impressed with Norwegian and the Getaway and couldn't ask for more for our first cruise!