I chose this cruise firstly because of the very good reputation of the NCL Corporation and the positive feedback that I have received about their cruseliners. Having had decided to go to sea on a last minute impulse, I purchased my cruise less than two weeks before the sail date. The choices I was offered by NCL were both to my liking and within my designated budget and the final cost for the cruise came in slightly below my expectations, so I decided to augment my cruise package with a five meal specialty dining plan which I thoroughly enjoyed.

The daily activities onboard and the excursions in the ports of call were so tightly scheduled that literally all of my time was filled from the moment I awoke on the ship to the time I retired to my cabin, usually past midnight. My activities on the ship included attending fantastic stage performances and musical acts, dining sumptuously at gourmet restaurants, and basically moving from one side of the ship to the other constantly to attend my next activity. I found the NCL Getaway Daily Activities planner very helpful for keeping track of the many events and entertainment scheduled for the day and useful for making every waking moment of the day occupied with either onboard activity or shore excursions. Seadays gave me a respite from the hurried pace of port days to explore the ship, participate in fun activities onboard like the ropes course, water slides, mini golf, or the top deck basketball court to shoot a basketball or kick a soccer ball around. I opted for a spot on the top sundeck on my last day at sea to simply enjoy the view and to admire the colors of the blue Caribbean and the scent of its salty air and to view an occasional sighting of playful bottlenosed dolphins swimming and leaping gracefully in the air as they surfed the ships wake mid ship.

Being new to cruising at sea on an oceangoing cruiseliner such as the NCL Getaway, I will from hereon consider her my first love at sea on an ocean liner. Her crew of officers, staff, entertainers, and crew made me feel like part of the NCL family and I will forever treasure the memories of all of the people I met, the foreign ports visited with its friendly and welcoming residents, and most of all the genuine love that I felt from the gracious ship and all of its passengers who all seemed to feel priviliged to be partaking in this ocean cruise with Norwegian Cruise Line aboard the majestic Getaway. Read more