Norwegian Getaway Review

NCL Getaway Aft-Facing Penthouse Haven Suite

Review for the Bahamas Cruise on Norwegian Getaway

My husband, two children (ages 14 and 12), and I sailed on The Getaway on Nov 29 to St Thomas, St Maarten, and Nassau. We have been on a dozen cruises, but this was our first time with NCL. The experience was very different than any other cruise that I have been on, and while it took some time to adjust to those differences and we were not really sure what we thought, we decided in the end that it was absolutely one of our top two cruises (the other being a longer Panama Canal cruise on Princess). There are a few things that made this trip different compared to other cruises, including: (1) There was a lot more diversity among the passengers on this ship in regards to age and race, (2) there was a lot more energy on the ship and things were really hopping all of the time, even late night, and (3) rather than having one main dining area with a few specialty restaurants, there are 28 restaurants so there is a lot to choose from and there isn't a stuffy formal night (even though there are nights when you may dress in formal wear if you prefer).

Since we were celebrating my 50th birthday, we decided to splurge on a Haven aft-facing penthouse suite. Our suite was on the 14th deck. Before going on the trip, I searched the internet for reviews to see if The Haven was worth the extra cost, to see how our suite compared to other Haven suites, to see if it made a difference to be in the back of the boat vs being located in The Haven area, and to get tips about the trip, but I didn't really find much to answer my questions. I did see that the aft-facing suites were below the H2O club, with notes that you could hear music from the club when you are outside on your balcony but seemed to really only be an issue if you are on decks 13 or 14. I can tell you that the music late night is very loud and you can hear it on the balcony as well as when you are inside the ship. I could hear it while I was walking down the hall to my room. Personally, I didn't mind the music because I was one of the people up there danciing most of the time, and it wasn't over-bearing in my cabin. If it would bother you to be able to hear dance music while you are out on your balcony, I would suggest that this might not be the right ship for you. The suite was gorgeous, and most of The Haven staff said the aft-facing suites are their favorite cabins, and I would agree. It would have been nice if The Haven was located in the back of the ship so that we could have had the aft-facing suite AND The Haven area right there. The walk to The Haven is not a big deal, but I imagine that the guests staying in The Haven area felt that they got more of The Haven experience than we did, Our suite stood out from the others around us in that our stateroom sign was slightly different and our cabin was gorgeous, but the hallways and common area in The Haven is super classy.

This was the first time I have cruised where we did not use all of the available storage space in the cabin. There were plenty of drawers, shelves, and closet space. It is not easy to find a floorplan for the aft-facing suites because the floorplans vary by deck. Some have the bathroom overlooking the balcony, but ours had the bedroom next to the balcony instead of the bathroom, and I liked the way that our cabin was arranged better, except it would have been nice to have the vanity in the bathroom so that I could put on my makeup with the lights on while my husband could lay in a dark bedroom. There was an outlet next to the bed on one side, and it would have been nice if there had been an outlet on each side. Still, there was an outlet on my vanity that I could use to plug my things into. I loved having the windows in the bedroom and to be able to open the curtains all the way so that I could have a great big view of the balcony and the water while laying in bed. There were times, I'd wake up to the surprise of another ship near by, a great sunrise, or interesting weather. If the bathroom had been near the balcony, I may have missed some of that. There was a sliding door to go from the bedroom to the balcony, just as there was a sliding door to go from the lving area to the balcony. The balconies on decks 13 and 14 or smaller than the balconies on the decks below, but still very large and enjoyable. There were two lounge chairs with a small table and a nice sized dining table with four chairs. I thought we would eat out there a lot, but it was too windy to do so. You could see the fireworks, which happens on Wednesday night following the 80's party on deck, and if you have a cabin on the port side, you would be able to see the fireworks from your balcony, but we were on the other side so we watched the fireworks from up on top.

Cabin Review

The Haven Aft-Facing Penthouse with Balcony

Cabin H6
8 Helpful Votes
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