Norwegian Getaway Review

"Freestyle" isn't free--and it's not for me

Review for the Western Caribbean Cruise on Norwegian Getaway
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ACSWILM
10+ Cruises • Age 60s

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Sail Date: Jan 2019
Cabin: Family Inside Stateroom

Suddenly empty-nesters, with three offspring in college and grad school, my husband & I decided to take a very last-minute cruise on the Norwegian Getaway out of Miami recently. The cruise itinerary itself was a standard Caribbean line-up of Roatan, Honduras, Belize, Costa Maya, and Cozumel, all of which we had visited previously, but I was most excited about experiencing this allegedly 5 star ship. My expectations were apparently too high.

Cabin: Granted, if you book only 3 days out from sailing, your "guaranteed rate" (ie, assigned by the cruise line) cabin won't be the best available, but we were assigned #13445, which is nowhere near the bottom, so I was enthused. Upon entering the cabin, we realized it was the smallest we had ever been in, and the quarters were tight, with very little storage space: no drawers at all, two tiny nightstands wedged into the far corners of the cabin with little access (even getting into bed was a bit difficult, as we had to lean away from the wall to avoid bumping our heads on the upper beds that were folded up onto the wall), the vanity/desk area had only an ottoman seat (no back) and the space underneath was taken up by the unnecessary (to us) minibar fridge. The closet had no light, but did have a safe and two and a half skinny shelves and lots of hangers. The best thing was the bathroom, with good storage (shelves next to mirror and lots of space under the sink) and a relatively large shower with actual glass door!). We found the system for alerting our cabin steward to our need for cabin refresh or do no disturb very good: one presses a button in the cabin and either a green or red light appears above the door in the hallway--no more stolen or misplaced do-not-disturb signs.

Activities: there were waterslides for both kids and adults, a separate pool for children, and an adult-only pool, but to have only one pool for a ship with nearly 4,000 passenders is inadequate. The # of hot-tubs could also be increased, as 4 around the main pool and 2 in the adults-only SpiceH2O area were not enough: there was always great demand, again not unexpected given the # of passengers and the Caribbean itinerary. Of the 5 waterslides for the brave, 2 were loops that launched you from a platform with a trapdoor!! More fun than I expected at my ripe old age:)

Cabin Review

Family Inside Stateroom

Cabin I1

Cabin: Granted, if you book only 3 days out from sailing, your "guaranteed rate" (ie, assigned by the cruise line) cabin won't be the best available, but we were assigned #13445, which is nowhere near the bottom, so I was enthused. Upon entering the cabin, we realized it was the smallest we had ever been in, and the quarters were tight, with very little storage space: no drawers at all, two tiny nightstands wedged into the far corners of the cabin with little access (even getting into bed was a bit difficult, as we had to lean away from the wall to avoid bumping our heads on the upper beds that were folded up onto the wall), the vanity/desk area had only an ottoman seat (no back) and the space underneath the "desk" was taken up by the unnecessary (to us) minibar fridge. The closet had no light, but did have a safe and two and a half skinny shelves and lots of hangers. The best thing was the bathroom, with good storage (shelves next to mirror and lots of space under the sink) and a relatively large shower with actual glass door!). We found the system for alerting our cabin steward to our need for cabin refresh or do no disturb very good: one presses a button in the cabin and either a green or red light appears above the door in the hallway--no more stolen or misplaced do-not-disturb signs.

Port Reviews

Roatan

Had to survive the gauntlet of all the solicitors right outside the cruise arrival area, which may be why some folks don't venture any further than that. If you can just maintain forward motion and ignore or politely decline any offers, you can make it to the port exit, BUT . . .I don't know if it's worth it to venture out by yourselves, as we did not. It felt like it would be better to have someone local accompany us, so back to the gauntlet: after haggling with several, my husband chose the one who seemed the nicest and we were glad to have chosen him for our driver. We went to an outlook called Mirador and then to a private beach for the day.

Harvest Caye

Semiprivate island with large pool and beach chairs and lots of space to walk, but also with bathrooms, changing rooms, shade, and restaurants/bars. Easy on and off ship via long covered walkway and could easily have spent all day on land and still gotten back to ship for meals.

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