Norwegian Getaway First Impressions
Disclaimer: Norwegian Cruise Line provided me with a discounted media rate to sail on the Getaway along with one complimentary dinner in a specialty restaurant and complimentary seating at the Illusionarium Magic Show. I paid my own way on the ship and the thoughts and words in this and future posts about the Getaway are my own.
The Getaway is Norwegian Cruise Line’s newest ship, having debuted in February, 2014. A sister to the Breakaway, the Getaway is just under 150,000 gross tons, making it among the largest cruise ships in the world.
I have sailed on Norwegian a few times before and was glad to be offered a media rate to sail on the Getaway. This is the first time I have sailed on a ship in its first year and as an avid cruiser that has been exciting for me.
Having been on a few of Norwegian’s smaller ships, I can say the Getaway is a huge step up. This is the first time the company has been able to fully deploy their Freestyle cruising concept.
The Ship
The first thing that I was impressed with on the Getaway is the decor. Instead of the typical tacky type decor that I have seen on many cruise ships, the Getaway feels more like one of the newer Hyatt properties. The decor is warm, edgy, contemporary and comfortable all at the same time.
Norwegian’s Freestyle Cruising concept is taken to a whole new level on the Getaway. While some people may not like not having a set time to dine, I prefer it and no one does this better than Norwegian. Additionally they have expanded their restaurant offerings on this ship resulting in an amazing selection.
Staff
I have always found Norwegian’s staff to be much better than Carnival’s but a step down from Royal Caribbean. While all of the officers on board the Getaway are fantastic, I don’t see the same level of friendliness that I have experienced on Royal Caribbean. Don’t get me wrong, the staff is very good, but just not quite up to Royal’s standards.
Entertainment
The entertainment offerings on this ship are nothing short of amazing. With a number of small entertainment venues, they are able to offer everything from amazing blues music to comedy shows with high quality talent. Norwegian is spending money on their entertainment and it is shows in the final product.
In a time where lines like Carnival have drastically cut the live entertainment on board in favor of DJs, it is nice to see Norwegian invest in entertainment. The Getaway was clearly designed to expand their Freestyle concept to entertainment and it works.
Review Coming
I will have a full and extensive review of the ship posted in the next few weeks. I do have a few minor complaints that I will save for the review, but three days in, I am thoroughly impressed. If this is the direction Norwegian is going, they may just pass both Carnival and Royal Caribbean in the coming years.
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Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
[…] couple of weeks ago my wife and I were in Miami for a cruise on the Norwegian Getaway. I researched options for public transport to the Port of Miami from the Hyatt Regency in […]
I’m looking forward to the rest of this review. I cruised on Getaway in the first few weeks she was sailing. I loved the design of the ship and the food was much better than I expected it to be. I also had quite a few things I disliked (among them the fact that the ship was several hundred over the stated passenger capacity with 1,500 children onboard due to the 3rd and 4th sail free promo).
See if you can get a tour of the Studio. That’s where I stayed (while my friends were in The Haven). If I cruised on NCL again, it would be in one of those two spaces.
I toured the studios and the Haven. The Studio rooms are very nice and I loved the lounge. My overall review of the ship will be mixed as there were definitely some small issues, but I did enjoy it overall. See you this weekend!