This was our fourth cruise - second with NCL and first just adults. Should have written this review sooner but as I sit here with winter fatigue I am wanting to plan my next cruise and just thinking about the excellent time we had on the Getaway. Service is superb throughout and we loved the ports and excursions we did at each stop.

The first port was St. Maarten and DH chose the America's Cup regatta immediately when we looked at excursions. The day our ship docked there was their "St. Maarten Day" like our Columbus Day so many of the shops were closed for the holiday. We were welcomed into the port by a Childrens Steel Drum Band. We booked the earlier race and were in the Stars and Stripes boat. Believe it or not, our Captain's name was Capt Morgan and he was very serious about his job and wanted us to win. I was a wench and DH did the hard job (some type of large crank that operated the sails/jib). It was a close race but the Canadians pulled ahead at the end for the victory. When we got off we were given complimentary rum punch and were able to buy shirts commemorating the regatta. If you bought a shirt at their shop, you could replace it for free at any time in the future. Then we took a taxi to Maho Beach just in time to see some of the planes coming and going, we loved watching the large jet come in and the one taking off and the impact to the beach. It is definitely worth seeing. The St. Maarten Rum shop was open on the port and we bought several bottles as souvenirs since the guavaberry coladas were so delicious!

The next day we stopped in St. Thomas and booked the Captain Nautica snorkel excursion. The boats really are fast so hang on! But you are the first one to the good snorkel coves that way. Our tour guide was fabulous, (reminded us of Gary Busey from Point Break) he knew all the tricks on what to do and we saw turtles, stingray, and lots of colorful fish and marine life in the two bays we went to. It was fabulous. When we got back there was lots of shopping accessible, we did a little shopping, found wifi to check on the kids with Nana, and then headed back to the boat. We did go to the top of the Mountain View to see all the surrounding islands from that vantage point also. Would love to go back, so much that we could have still done there. Read more