We selected the NCL Getaway because of the exciting on board activities and the new Free Style dining option. The price point is more economical than Disney. While the ship is absolutely beautiful, the passenger: crew ratio seemed greater than other cruise lines. The ship was very crowded in all the activities. Trying to get to the garden cafe during lunch was extremely crowded; the pools were not large enough. The room stewards had too many rooms to make up. We had to wait until after 930 most nights to get our bunch down for our kids. Our room wasn't made up until after 2 pm most days. I can make our beds, but the bunks are in the way of a functioning cabin and the ship does not allow you to put your own bunk away.

There was a nice kiddie pool and slide area and an adequate adult pool area, but no pool for families or teens. Our teenage children felt left our in the cruise. The teen zone was only open after leaving port; therefore teens didn't have anywhere to gather and meet up. The ropes course, rock climbing wall, bungee bounce and spiderman slide were only open once we left port or during specific hours at sea. These features are while we chose NCL, but we availability was limited and lines were long. Service at the complementary dining rooms as terribly slow and food was marginal in quality. The pay for restaurants were lovely with great service and food. However, we didn't expect we would have to pay additional fees to get the service and quality of dining to which we are accustomed when we cruise Carnival, Royal Caribbean or Disney cruise lines.

The exercise facilities was only available for adults and teens 16 and older, but our 14 and 15 year olds needed to maining their running schedules. They were not permitted to use the treadmills even with adult supervision. The open running track on the pool deck was actually a walkway for passengers to pass and using it was nearly impossible unless our kids wanted to run before 8 am. After that, the 4 foot path was was crowded with people passing from food area to pool deck or slides. not well planned. Read more