Norwegian Getaway Review

4.5 / 5.0
3,283 reviews

Very Frustrating Cruise

Review for the Caribbean Cruise on Norwegian Getaway
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rgmills
6-10 Cruises • Age 60s

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Sail Date: Nov 2019
Cabin: Studio Stateroom

There were several reasons I chose chose NCL, from reviews they were a great cruise line, for the ADA available for a family member, us both females traveling Solo with separate Studio rooms, the advertisements of discounts for Solo travelers, Studio rooms with private entry & exclusive use of the Studio Lounge within this area, the destinations etc..We went, 1 from Oklahoma, me from Texas to New Orleans to get on the Getaway, chosen for the destinations available along with our schedules. Something happened at the dock (never explained by Captain), there was people disembarking at the times NCL set for us to Embark & it was a hot mess with traffic of us trying to go & the traffic of those trying to leave. There were no porters available, being still tied up with those trying to leave. ADA, my family member can walk but is dependent upon a scooter for distance. We had talked with our cruise consultant given the scooter measurements & told it would fit through the cabin doors, this was not the case. Got her, scooter, luggage off-loaded asked for directions for the long term (9 days) parking, no signage anywhere, found it, parked & no signage of how to return to the ship. Finally found a gentleman who pointed me in the right direction. Check in went as expected. Got on-board found my relative then learned our rooms were not ready & seemed not many others were also. It was so crowded 1 restaurant & the deck 15 buffet was open. People were confused, crying, angry it was a horrible way to start. Ship was 2 hours late leaving port which to me was no big deal. With our Studio rooms we each got 4 specialty dinning which I scheduled through our NCL consultant & paid for an additional specialty dining evening. He stated to me since I had scheduled everything through him & paid upfront he could offer this one extra dinning for $18.00 each 1/2 price, reserved & paid in full for both. We didn't get our last specialty dinning, them stating since we only paid 1/2 price they took that for one of our other meals & for an additional $17.00 each we could dine there. How embarrassing to show up with reservations & be refused. I did exactly as the consultant said I was to do. I went to customer service, explained with my confirmation sheets in hand (take everyone with you), she looked it over & I was told I, yes I must have misunderstood. So I asked her what did I pay the additional $18.00 x 2 $36.00 with confirmation in hand showing her & she looked at me & said she had no idea. I could eat at the restaurant if I wanted to pay an additional amount. I declined. So still have no idea what the additional %36.00 was for. There were 3 complimentary restaurants with limited times they were open for breakfast 6am to 9am then closed until dinner at 5pm closing at 9pm, all the others were at a charge of $39.99 per person. The buffet was open & one other restaurant was said to be open 24/7 but actually wasn't. We waited up to an hour because lunch wasn't ready yet (11:00 am) yet says 24/7. It's open but you can't always get something to eat. Entertainment was mostly set for evening throughout the ship, standing in line, unless you had reservations which we made as soon as the NCL allowed. If no reservation & some evening with up a reservation we'd stand up to an hour in the hallway before they UNLOCK the doors allowing entry. Dining the food was good, steaks cooked as asked, variety of foods & choices. The only problem was getting ICE in tea or water anywhere other than the buffet & you get it yourself & it's the only place on the whole ship to get ice dispensed. I had to ask for an additional glass of just ice with each meal. Tepid temperature water & supposed ice tea was horrible. ADA issues. My family member also spoke with the consultant regarding her scooter, gave dimension etc., was told everything was fine it would fit through the cabin doors. It did not. This created another issues that same first day. I went to customer service & on this they were a big help on how she can leave in hallway during the day & at night they would come get it & charge it & she could call for it. It was extremely tight, the hallways are narrow & with the 2 cleaning carts in all the hallways all day everyday it was a nightmare me having to push the cart up her pull into the entrance of other rooms, me push it back & her going on down the hall to the next one. Miserable. Our hallway serviced about 10 solo rooms but cleaning was there all day everyday. The Studio Lounge had the same hard stale danish the day we got back as the day we got on it. Terrible. There was tepid water, semi-cool orange juice, a broken Espresso machine. No attendant except 5pm to 7pm right at the dining hours. Not as advertised. There wasn't any discount on this cruise for Solo travelers or I didn't get one. I found it to be priced the same as 2 people cruising. Another let down. This cruise we were to tender only one port Georgetown, Grand Cayman's, but ended up having to tender to 2 ports Honduras also. My relative knew about Georgetown but the Honduras was quite a surprise due to damage on a pier rumor said. Again no explanation from the captain. There wasn't any activities planned for those who can not tender. All day on the ship with 1 restaurant & a buffet, all shopping closed, gambling closed nothing on board ship for them to do. TV is just a NCL loop all the channels but 5 - 1 sports, soccer mainly, 3 news only, 1 with sitcoms with about a days worth on a loop shown over & over the same with the movie channel over & over again. Dinning rooms are not prepared for scooters not even the buffet. There isn't anywhere on ship those with disabilities have a place for their scooters, wheelchairs, walkers etc.. My relatives scooter ended up with a plate full of food, please don't ask me how. Cleaned it for an hour but she still stained a pair of nice white dress pants when something oozed from the back where it meets the seat. The captain has such a thick accent & the PA system was so poor his announcements were not understood not only by me but lots were asking what did he say, this was very frustrating & never a follow-up from someone who speaks English a little better. I can add more & more but I guess most can tell it was a costly but not the best experience. I won't cruise NCL again.

Cabin Review

Studio Stateroom

Cabin was fine. Compact but big enough for one person. Closet & storage was plentiful, my luggage fit under the bed perfectly. Solo rooms for 1 person I'd recommend.

Port Reviews

Falmouth

Beautiful place for tourist, beautiful items to purchase very friendly people. Lovely weather.

Grand Cayman (Georgetown)

One of the ports I had to tendered into. It was okay but nothing to make one feel like your in the Grand Cayman's. Most sights were to far to walk. My family member could not go with me because of the tender process so I was by myself - didn't feel safe enough alone to go too far.

Roatan

Glad I didn't the time in port was cut short after most tendered over. This was a surprise port that we had to tender to get ashore. Again I went by myself so I didn't go outside the tourist area which was very small. But loved the country & surroundings .. beautiful & would go again.

Harvest Caye

Resort type of port. Beautiful with the best swimming pool ever with a swim up bar. We did some swimming & taking in the sights. The beach was beautiful with cabana's set out. The sand was nice & I did some wadding in the ocean.

Costa Maya

Beautiful. It has a lot to experience in entertainment, shopping, dining, you name it 7 seems they were set up for it. I enjoyed my time in port & the people were very friendly & helpful with Rena being on a scooter. Again gorgeous ..

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