My wife and I have been on 5 Caribbean cruises total so far, 4 on NCL, one on RCCL. This was the second cruise on a large NCL ship, the last being on the Epic in 2012. I'm an experienced business traveler, logging nearly a million airline miles and around 500 hotel nights.

We live in Central Florida so we drove down to Miami on Friday evening and took advantage of a hotel near the airport offering a shuttle to the port and parking during the cruise. The process of getting to the port and embarking were simple and stress free as was the disembarkation and getting back to the hotel by selecting a return shuttle at the port. We typically drive to the port the day before to avoid the risk of something unexpected affecting travel plans.

As always, food on NCL is great and the Getaway was no exception. We took advantage of most of the food options on the ship including Cagney's, Ocean Blue, Teppenyaki for the upgraded options and we ate in every restaurant for at least one meal during the cruise. This cruise we purchased a 3 choice dining package and received the ultimate drink package as a bonus during our booking. Read more