We have been on several NCL cruise ships and always had a great time,the Getaway was a big let down. This ship must have been designed by someone who never cruised. THE BAD The pool deck and pool are way too small for the number of passengers, no room for deck dancing or line dancing. The pool is small and over 6 feet deep so everyone hangs on to the edge. There is no secondary lounge that can hold more than 200 people, karaoke was jam packed no seats. They had events in the main lobby only about 150 seats so again had to move on Dance club has few seats and a terrible layout, no area around dance floor to sit at and leave drinks so they end up spilled on the floor. THE GOOD Pool bar was great Happy, Ellen and Evelyn took good care of us always a smile and the drinks were cold. Food on this ship was excellent, we loved the main dining room the wait was short and service was spot on. Read Less

We live 2 hours North of the Port of Miami and drive in, always parking in the Port garages. As the title states it has been 3 years since visiting the Port and on the same ship. Arriving at Port the first thing you notice is that the C & D parking garages are GONE! With the new NCL terminal (old terminal C location started ( a few pilling's have been driven and some footing poured as of 11/11/2018) building started. The loss of the additional parking and construction makes for a back up in traffic patterns but no noticeable difference in locating parking. Coming into the terminal we passed through security without issue proceeding to the "Health Questioner" station. Remember a pen although we did find an extra on the counter. Check in was a breeze, because we logged our final check in such as credit card info ahead of time. Proceeding upstairs we were assigned a number and asked to have a seat until the number was called. We told the young man that we were Platinum and he said we still had to wait for the number to be called. $0 minutes later we hear Platinum and above can go. We ask him again and he said we have to wait for the number. My wife goes to the line and asks those NCL employees who tell her she could go when all Platinum and above went … as we walked by the other NCL employee we handed him his card (Group 9) and we proceeded on board. The Getaway is a Beautiful Ship, someone mentioned that she is scheduled for dry dock soon. That would seem appropriate when one looks closely you see that she needs a little more TLC than the crew can give her, but all in all she' clean and in good repair from a lay persons view. Aboard we proceeded to sign our boys up for the drink package. We asked where and were pointed to Headliners where we stood in line to find out that was for the wine package and another employee came in from the hall and got things straightened out, yet another misunderstanding. Our rooms were ready early and so we proceeded to our room.... Dining : Buffet : Impressive yet not impressive. The best food of the week in the buffet was the cheesecake, don't get me wrong it wasn't terrible but not remarkable either. An example of the fail is that I enjoy Bacon, Jalapeno, and cheese omlet for breakfast. The last morning we went to the bbuffet where I promptly placed my order while cooking the cook asks the assistant to bring the bacon.... My omlet had 3 pieces of bacon (whole strips) in it. Cagneys : Very enjoyable evening with a wonderful dinner. Surf and turf for myself and for my Lovely wife : Prime Rib. Our complementary bottle of wine, White Zinfendel was excellent as was our meal. Exceptional service, excellent food. I have to disagree with previous reviews as my steak was great as were my shrimp. My wifes Prime Rib "Made her Day". Moderno's : This got a little more interesting stood in line for 20 min past our reservation. At the head of the line the lady took our reservation slip along wth the Comp Cert and asked us to have a seat. We sat while 2 parties were seated ahead of us at whcih point I stood back up and stood in front of the line and the hostess then seated us. From that point on the entire experience changed. The waiter was extremely helpfl in explaining the processes that keep the food flowing.... We had Filet Mignion as well as bacon wrapped mignion, lamb, pork, chicken and the most fabulous pineapple (HIGHLY RECOMMEND). Don't forget the salad bar, it is amazing Ports of Call : Roatan, Honduras : Te port doesn't seem to have grown much. Th e last time we did a Western has to be 10 years ago... I found the off ship shopping to be much like it was the last time with one exception... prices. Harvest Caye, Belize : Probably one of the best executed private facilities in exsistance today. Not a fan of the long dock walk from the ship but also see why it was done the way it was. Our sons did 2 excursions, paddle boards ($29.95) & Zipline ($89). If you book at least 48 hours in advance you can recieve your Latitudes discount. We got 2 thumbs up from both boys. I have to tell you I'm not laying down to be pushed off a couple hundred foot tower... but my boys even the timid one raved of the experience this IS 5 stars. Costa Maya, Mx : Same deal got off to go shopping around the Square/pool. Amazing growth of the shopping area which now includes a dolphin encounter for a price. Prices have gone up but here as in many places you can barter for your price. An example is my wife started working on a 1 carat mexican opal in silver fashioned into a turtle, begining asking prie $145.00 USD. Final offer from the salesman was $60 and he would add a solid silver ring to match the others on my wifes Pandora bracelet. So be sure to get what you want. Cozumel, Mx : Much as it was 10 years ago, didn't see much difference as we just got off to shop the silver shops. Here again prices have gone up but there are still many good deals to be had. OBSERVATIONS : A. It seemed a more somber cruise/crew, not alot of HAPPY WASHY WASHY. B. It also seems as though there are fewer staff doing more which maybe why the feeling of a more somber crew. Even the meet and greet consisted of mere introductions and little to no interaction with the officers as previously experienced. Here they are, Hi, bye.... Participation by members was dismal at best, concidering the numbers that had signed up. C. O'Sheehan's no longer offers Motzerella Cheese sticks or onion rings as well as the wing offerings are more limited. Here again particularly the first 2 nights service was slow. Use to be one of my favorite places on the ship to eat and snack is no longer in my top 10. Read Less

We booked a girls cruise and looked forward to a relaxing trip. The ports looked good on paper but when we stopped, it was usually a remote port built by NCL so you didn't get a good feel for the country. Even in Cozumel, we docked further away from the main port and had to walk a long way to get to the main shopping area. You prepay your tips for staff and as a result, the staff doesn't hustle or provide exceptional service. Main restaurant staff are slow, disinterested and don't always get orders correct. You feel like a bother asking for coffee and water. The exception was a great server we found in the Tropicana dining room. They offer music or dancers so book this room if you aren't doing specialty dining. Bar/ pool service is slow so if you have the unlimited drink package, order them in 2s to save time on long waits. There are a couple of exceptional bartenders but that is the exception. Room steward was efficient but our sheets were never changed. If you use any of the soap/lotion, don't expect any more put out. We had 2 bath towels for 2 people so you have to time your showers to ensure you have a dry towel to use later. They are very strict on the pool towels so don't misplace your towel (and hope your room steward doesn't pick it up) since they won't give you a replacement and threaten to charge you for it! Skip the spa. Everyone I talked to had the same experience where they waited 20-45 minutes past the scheduled time for a service. Staff couldn't remember where they "parked" a guest to wait. You aren't pampered while you wait with anything (nice music, cool cup of water or a fuzzy robe would be nice touches while you wait). Staff is trained to sell, sell, sell rather than provide a relaxing experience. Some would say to let guest services know when you are disappointed in something but they were so short staffed (lines waited up to an hour) and unfriendly so that wasn't worth it. Cirque show and Burn the Floor dancers were terrific! Overall I was very disappointed in NCL. The ship was pretty and it is nice that they refurbish them every 5 years but NCL doesn't deliver on service. Read Less

We went on this cruise in March then again November 2018. The quality has gone dramatically in that time. There was less help on the ship this past time and the crew was overworked. Restaurants were like assembly lines and orders were messed up often. For the first time in over 10 cruises i would go into a washroom and there would be no paper towels. The staff tried to be friendly but you can tell they were overwhelmed. Norwegian offers promotions like get 3 upgraded meals at the pay restaurants. The quality has decreased at these places ever new Norwegian cruise we go on. Cagney's used to be excellent, Two years ago i got a 32 ounce porterhouse that was fantastic. Friends got a huge tomahawk steak. Both those items are now gone, they do not even have a rib eye steak even though they advertise it on the picture entering the restaurant. I guess since most people are choosing this as a free upgrade restaurant there is no need to have the quality anymore. The sad part is that the pay restaurants are inferior to meals you would get at other main dining rooms on other cruises. We also went to Ocean Blue, again it was part of our "free" upgrade but we had to pay an extra charge of $15 to even get into this restaurant. Once inside they had another upcharge to choose some things on the menu. They require you to dress up even though they share the space with another restaurant where you can wear shorts and flip flops. There was also less entertainment on board this time. No piano player in bar, no guitar plays when entering buffet. They are really focused on cutting costs, I wish they would just charge a little more and restore the quality it used to have. Some people on the ship like the Million Dollar Quartet and dance show. I was not a fan but that is more a taste thing. It is meant for an older crowd. I had an inside cabin which was fine, great service but my steward all week. The fitness room is good although they ran out of wipes and I couldn't find a treadmill that was in MPH, just KM/Hr. Read Less

The staff are kind and knowledgeable! Very easily approached. Hands down the best experience was the teppenyaki grill. The staff was hilarious, well timed and very professional. We had a family member with special dietary requirements and the gentleman knew who she was right away and remembered her needs and worked seemlessly with her to make sure she got the full experience and a safe meal. June was amazing and so funny. He cooked so well and we would definitely come back for him alone. Marliza at taste, David and Tropicana was such an amazing maître d. She took such good care of us. All the dining staff knew who we were every night and were able to lead us to our party without us even having to ask. Hands down the best dining experiences we’ve ever had. Thank you getaway team, from the Zeller family. We will definitely be coming back!!! Read Less

We selected this cruise without realizing it was going to be a Halloween cruise. Big mistake. We’ve been on the NCL Getaway before and loved it - great layout, lovely “waterfront” options.... a very nice, well-designed ship. Well, for this cruise, many groups (of all ages) happily used the “Free 3rd & 4th guests” promo to pack their cabins with 4 people - it was like a spring break cruise and this ship was truly designed for a max of 2 people in every cabin... This meant that all ‘public’ areas had about 2x the number passengers that the ship was designed to hold. ...The one (small) pool was ridiculously overpacked on all the Sea Days. Every inch PACKED. Pool seating: JAMMED, in part because groups rudely sent a person to reserve clusters of lounge chairs before breakfast and only 1 or 2 people would occassionally stop by during the then depart, and each time we tried 16, there were no shaded spaces at Spice H2O. Some of the groups were nice at times, but most were just big herds of people who paid no attention to how they were affecting the people around them (yelling in hallways and playing loud music on balconies, standing in front of entertainers and yelling to friends, etc.). Same issue when people sat around having cocktails and letting kids/grandkids jump/run/dance/slide around while pianist was playing in the Atrium - he was great but it was like being at the circus rather than pre- or post-dinner cocktails on a nice cruise ship. ...Worst way to start a day: Every morning, the crush of people trying to grab food without waiting in lines at buffets was stunning.... granted, the ship made it very hard to even guess what was being offered within each section of the buffet (all the hot soups were in-between the ice cream and the pastries at lunch - very weird!). Because some items were offered in just one place, it really was necessary to walk all 4 sides of the entire buffet in order to know what was being offered, and yes, the lines were slow, but that was no excuse for people just walking up and pushing in front of you when they spotted an item they wanted... At first, I tried saying “Please - there is a line...” but heard “whatever” or “so?”, rather than “sorry” . So everyone got ruder. So we started avoiding this area.... ... Unfortunately, there was no food service around the pool except for hot dogs and chips with melted orange cheese but that was just for a few hours on one day. Never saw it again, so that meant traipsing into the irritating buffet again... Most ships offer pizza or burgers and dogs “outside” so people in swimsuits or someone wanting a quick snack have an option. This ship needs this. Warning: each bottle of generic water costs $6.60. Interesting Note: because all the specialty dining venues (Cagneys, Cucina, Bistro, etc.) and the two small dining rooms (Taste & Savor) only have so many tables/seats and the hostesses totally control access to every seat, those dining options were never overcrowded. We also noted that people who had totally ignored the dress code were offered pagers told it would be a VERY long time before they could be seated, especially if they were rowdy/loud. We get pagers at times but were seated at the next available table, 5 minutes or less. Those hosts & hostesses are very good at their jobs! So... we are thinking that NCL is treating the non-Haven areas of this nice ship as “economy”, “intro to cruising” travel (i.e., stuff two buddies or two grandkids in your room and split the cost), And, by putting as many “heads in beds” as possible, NCL can greatly increase ancillary income... so, passengers are no longer to experience NCL as valued GUESTS, but Customers. Examples: $6.60 for each platic bottle of generic water? Pay for food in room AND $7.95 to have Room Service delivered?? Are they kidding? NCL is no longer the kind of experience we want. We will watch Cruise Critic to see if NCL is also permittitng overcrowding of longer cruises (one management person in the Buffet area said that the next voyage, also only 7 days, was going to have a record number of pax, >5000, and clearly she found this distressing. The poor crew works so hard, this seems very unfair to them...). We know 3 & 4 day trips to the Bahamas or Cozumel are floating cattle cars, didn't expect this experience from NCL. Read Less

We choose this cruise back in February after being on the same ship for an all girl cruise. My husband is handicapped and in a wheelchair due to bone cancer. Even though we booked far back at the end of February we were told that all the handicap cabins had been booked. We were told there would be plenty of room in a mini suite for my husband to get around with his walker. Unfortunately his condition rapidly progressed but we had permission from hospice to still make the trip. The cabin was awfully laid out to try and maneuvere him around and to even get him into bed. The balcony was so small we couldn't even get him out of the door to enjoy being outside. I think the Buffett was the worst place to be regarding trying to get a wheelchair through. Plus the allocated seating for handicapped people were always full with family's with kids. There was always crowds pushing through. We had a bad trip in November on Norweigan Dawn with being overcrowded. I heard a few people saying that they are now allowing 4 people in smaller cabins. Is there no passenger count limit. We travelled with our son daughter in law and 2 grandchildren ages 9 and 7. They really enjoyed themselves for their first cruise. Ruby our cabin steward was amazing and so helpful. She really helped whenever she could with my husband. Jondrae from Park West was the star of the gallery. Always there with a smile on his face and fancy socks. Lol. Read Less

We were fortunate enough to jump on a fantastic offer after Black Friday/ cyber Monday that included unlimited drink package, kids free, 3 specialty dining, free WiFi, and shore excursion credits. With a group of 25 of us we jumped all over this offer. Let me begin with the positives. The on boarding of the ship was very smooth and fast. The Getaway is one of the newest ships in the Norwegian fleet. It had many restaurants to choose from. With a large party be sure to book reservations ahead of time. We had no issues getting in and the service was fantastic. The specialty restaurants we tried were Oceans seafood, Cagneys steak house, and Wasabi sushi. Just a heads up Wasabi is normally not included in the specialty dining. If your counting this in your specialty dining you have to let them know and it’s a $7pp uncharged. Coming from someone who eats sushi every week it’s worth passing on. The entertainment staff and cruise director Mandy were fantastic. Be sure to catch Deal or no Deal so fun. The obstacle course, walk the plank, and zip lining was awesome! The kids also enjoyed the rock climbing. Water slides were a huge hit. The bar tenders were fantastic never an attitude like some of the all inclusive resorts I’ve been to. They made drink after drink with a smile. The Glow party was very fun. Bring your glow sticks and go crazy. The front service counter was fantastic. If there was an isssue with the bill they took care of it. Now let me touch on the negatives. 1) kids clubs- ages of the clubs need to change. Most siblings aren’t 2 years apart and splitting them up when they don’t know any other kids is a bit nerve wrecking. I understand maybe a younger kid not moving up but a older kid should have an option to go down. The ages of the clubs were 6-9 10-12 13-17 They should be flexible based on sibling/ friend situations. Kids weren’t able to experience because of this. Honestly I barely saw any kids in there and probably why. 2) There’s only 2 pools Kids can’t even be at main pool. Adult only signs weren’t very visible If we want to swim w kids it has to be in kids pool. 3) wasabi- not sure why only 1 chef during peak dinner but it was very slow. (Chef apppologized on slow service) Staff should mention to guests wishing to use this as a specialty dining package option it’s $7 pp 4) - Nacho’s we’re horrible. Runny cheese, a speck of sour cream, 1 jalapeño. Worst I ever had. If you want low quality bar food you found it here 5) room service - food was very poor not sure if this is from O’Sheehans kitchen But microwaved pizza, grilled cheese sandwiches that were triple decker bread with a half of a cheese square barely toasted. Trust me try one you’ll hand it right back. It was horrible. The only thing worth raving about were the wings. 6) My wife and I celebrated our anniversary on the cruise. Our friends contacted Norwegian and paid for our suite to be decorated along with chocolate strawberries. The strawberries never arrived we weren’t aware of that until after we got home. They didn’t even include the card our friends had them write out. Zero clue who made this happen until our friends brought it up to us when we arrived home. There has to be a better system for this to go smoother. This seems to be a huge issue amongst all cruise lines since I had the same issues. To sum it up the cruise was a great time. The staff was attentive and friendly. Yes, there were some minor issues and complaints but for the most part a success. Would I Cruise Norwegian again? Yes, I would. So don’t hesitate go party like rock stars and have a nice vacation Read Less

First time cruiser with Norwegian and was very let down. Very crowded sundecks, lack of pools, hot tubs, very small stateroom with no closet space ( I lived out of my suitcase),the room had two bunk beds which meant it holds up to 4 people. Seriously, this room can't hold four people there is just enough room for one person. no elegant dining rooms, and no large atrium. I'm used to large multi-floor extravagant atriums with large staircases.There were some things that were different that I'd like to see on other cruise lines but overall just an average to below average experience. I loved the way they have water at the bars that are "self-service" and you don't have to ask a bartender for water. I liked the fact that I could go to any of the three dining rooms. I loved the upper rope course on the ship also. I doubt I will cruise again with Norwegian. Read Less

first time to st thomas and tortola. the island tour of st thomas was astounding. although i often wished the bus had seat belts considering the incline and declines of the roads on the island. tortola was very similar but not as appealing. nassau is a great tourist destination. sun, shops, cigars. a true cruise oasis. the one setback of the cruise conclusion is that i was interested in acquiring another cruisenext package. i was informed that i was unable to get although it was the last night due to the desk being closed. arrangements should be made to accommodate such requests by purchasing on line or some other way. a credit card is already on file so whats the issue. great time otherwise. i tried to sit through stomp the floor but the steel drums were to much for my ears. the onboard entertainment is always a plus. the variety of musical talent throughout the ship makes finding the right band for your mood easy. i suggest swapping the game room with the library to be further removed from the noisy atrium. also wish a book removal restriction be put in place. i saw someone return 9 recent issue books on the last day. how ridiculous. read one then put it back and get another. Read Less