NCL Getaway: 6 kids, 7 nights, 10 people to Western Caribbean fun

[momof2n2]

How absolutely lovely that your day begins with hot chocolate and Bible. With six children, you probably need the extra strength both provide .
Great report so far....providing relevant details without TMI and I look forward to reading more.

Thank you. Glad it's readable.

I am very much a morning person. I love my crazy family, but I do benefit from a quiet start.
The ship never did serve my hot chocolate hot enough. But the views were amazing.

 

[Flossbolna]

Thanks for sharing your NCL experience! I am seriously thinking about one of their European cruises and so far it sounds like you had a really good experience with them.

 

[momof2n2]

Thanks for sharing your NCL experience! I am seriously thinking about one of their European cruises and so far it sounds like you had a really good experience with them.

We absolutely did.
Of course, this larger, Caribbean-based ship is the only one I can comment on directly. We hope to do an Eastern Caribbean on their Escape in 2018.

 

[Flossbolna]

We absolutely did.
Of course, this larger, Caribbean-based ship is the only one I can comment on directly. We hope to do an Eastern Caribbean on their Escape in 2018.

Actually, in summer 2017 the Getaway does Baltic Sea cruises, so she is one of the ships I am interested in. However, the cruises to Norway on the Norwegian Jade from Hamburg, Germany are the ones that I would be most interested in since I am from Germany. And embarking on a cruise from Hamburg would be really cool! It is such a fantastic port!

 

[momof2n2]

Actually, in summer 2017 the Getaway does Baltic Sea cruises, so she is one of the ships I am interested in. However, the cruises to Norway on the Norwegian Jade from Hamburg, Germany are the ones that I would be most interested in since I am from Germany. And embarking on a cruise from Hamburg would be really cool! It is such a fantastic port!

WOW. That is very cool.
It might be "better" to take the Jade for European cruise as there is less on the ship. It'd be hard to choose between ship activities and ports with how many things the Getaway has on it.

Do you read trip reports on cruise critic? It is a "tougher crowd" that this board, but mitsugirly does fantastic trip reports and included a lot of info. on ship amenities.

 

[Flossbolna]

WOW. That is very cool.
It might be "better" to take the Jade for European cruise as there is less on the ship. It'd be hard to choose between ship activities and ports with how many things the Getaway has on it.

Do you read trip reports on cruise critic? It is a "tougher crowd" that this board, but mitsugirly does fantastic trip reports and included a lot of info. on ship amenities.

I took note of your recommendation for mitsugirly's trip reports. I used cruise critic to research the ports on our Norwegian Fjords cruise on the Magic last year, so I am aware of the "tougher" crowd there. Never really ventured into the other cruise line's boards there yet, but if the current idea becomes more like a plan, I will do more research. Thanks for the tip!

 

[Ofinn]

Love your report. You have a beautiful family. I'm so glad you had a great time.

 

[momof2n2]

Love your report. You have a beautiful family. I'm so glad you had a great time.

OFINN!! Good to "see" you!

We had such a good time and hope to book 2018 on Escape as soon as those dates are released next year.
I do know your boys like club time and I will get ahead of myself and share that my boys did not go to their club even once. The first night I escorted them back up there (we'd signed in earlier in the afternoon, but it was a hectic day and I didn't know if they'd find it again) after dinner so they could meet other kids and do some activities. As we got to the door my older one said to my sister and I, "You know, I'd kind of prefer just hanging out with you guys or messing around at golf." They never went back. There was just so much to do during the day and in the evenings they liked to golf after dinner and visit with their bartender friend.

 

[momof2n2]

Belize City, Belize
May 18


I realized DCL doesn't go to Honduras or Belize City. It's a shame! Honduras is AMAZING. And we had a good day in Belize, as well.

Port 2: Belize City, Belize

Belize City was a replacement port announced about six months prior to the trip. The original port was to be their new private island, however construction delays pushed back the opening at least a year at this point.
I woke early, and thought I’d try something different and went to O’Sheehans. I didn’t like this as much because it had almost zero view of the ocean, and it had TVs that although the volume was low, it was still distracting. And when another couple came in they sat them right next to me, despite the fact the restaurant was all but empty.
I don’t have many photos of the morning. This was the point in the trip where you should have a routine; but, in fact, you do not.

We could barely make out the mainland when we anchored.





We ate a lot of yogurt parfaits and peaches and blueberries in the mornings.


Pound cake french toast with dark chocolate syrup. Yes it’s real. I never did have it.

I will also say that while we very much enjoyed our trip and would absolutely cruise with NCL again, they aren’t stellar with getting off at ports. We’d booked this day’s excursions through the ship and they did have our tickets waiting for us in our staterooms when we boarded. They also told us where to meet them shore-side. But they did not tell us anything about tendering. Early in the AM they had signs in the elevators that directed people to Tropicana on deck 7 for tendering. When we arrived at Tropicana, it was closed. That kind of thing.

When we asked others what they understood us to do, no one knew what to do.
Finally, we found a crew member who got us to the right place. Along with many hundreds of other people.
It took a while to get on a tender. And then we were on there like sardines. I didn’t take many photos there, either.

We were told to check in at 10:45AM I think, and we were there in plenty of time. Our tourguide, Lourdes, directed us to shop or look around the port and be back on time. It was tremendously hot and exceedingly humid. It was like a city-sized sauna packed with people. I loved it. I just do love it. The other nine members of my party weren’t as enamored. I suggested to John that the purchase of soft drinks for the kids might generate the kind of goodwill that NATO only dreams of, and we went in a pharmacy and let them each pick a bottle. We did decide not to purchase Flexeril, Percocet, and Allopurinol… I would have taken a photo of that, but signs strictly forbade it. (And I Belized their threats.)
We finally boarded an “air conditioned motor coach” which was nicer than any other vehicle we saw in this beautiful, but underprivileged country. We had a 35 minute drive inland. Lourdes provided an informative and impressive history of the city and country, and a vivid description of life in Belize City these days. The time flew by. She was great at what she does.
They rely 90% on tourism. That’s a very volatile thing to rely on.
Some photos John got from the bus.



This IS a park, but it is NOT a beach. The coastline is nothing but rocks. It’s sad that a country that needs tourists was not blessed with beaches.

This is a major river. I did not catch the name. I did catch the fact that it is loaded with crocodiles and other unsavory water animals. We didn’t stop for a dip.

 

[momof2n2]

We got to our destination: Bacab Jungle Park. It is basically a lovely pool, some pathways, some food, and a few opportunities to rent kayaks or horses.
The bus let us off at what can only be described as the end of a dirt path.



We walked 300 yard through some lush foliage until we came to the pool area and were promptly met by this guy.

I didn’t take any photos for the longest time then. We were HOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We just wanted in the pool. We reapplied sunscreen and made haste to the water.

After we cooled off we got our plates of food. This was the most authentic food we ate on the vacation. I felt as though our other destinations American-ized their food.

After we were cooled off and fed, I went off to take more photos.

This is where people could kayak. I did not see anyone do it. There are crocs in there, we were told.

That is a waterslide on the left. It is short, but FAST. We all tried it.

We have another fish in the family.

These guys would come right up under the tables.

Once again I was one of the last families out of the pool.
At first I felt cheesy back home as I booked an in-land “jungle park” excursion for our family. I’m really glad we did it. They clearly prided themselves on service, and it was the closest thing to a relaxing day we had.
We got back on board our bus, and Lourdes talked with us some, but also encouraged siestas. Some Butlers took her up on it.
Once we got back to the pier and the shopping district (I am kicking myself for no photos there) we moved toward the tenders. These tenders were not NCL’s own lifeboats, as our tenders had been on Princess in 2014. The tenders we used for Belize were Belizean. On both the way to and from Belize they not only shared safety details and information about Belize, but they were also very friendly and very upfront that they depend on our tips.
I stopped on the pier a moment to try to get a shot of our ship in the distance. I was not able to get it (line moving too quickly) BUT I was “able” to get separated from my family and ended up getting routed to the top deck of the tender, while my family had boarded on the lower deck.

It afforded me lots of opportunities for taking photos.

 

[momof2n2]

I should probably turn in my camera for lack of meaningful photos this day. But we had a good time. I swam so much my hands were pruney.

We cleaned up for dinner quickly as we had dinner reservations at Cagney’s, NCL’s premium steakhouse. We’d heard a lot of good things about it. We weren’t disappointed.

Many of us enjoyed the shrimp cocktail.

Even the really tired travelers.

My steak was perfect, if not ginormous.

Nigel opted for lobster and prime rib.


Stewart had preordered a Porterhouse based on Dad’s recommendation. And he was not disappointed. He also had asked if he could have a grilled tomato. Grilled tomatoes are something Stewart first tried on DCL in 2014 and we have since learned to make ourselves. They are some of his favorites.

This is someone’s seafood dish. I think Kelly’s or Marie’s. My kids ate enough Calamari this week to sink the Nautilus.


This was the joke of the meal. This is my side of onion rings. They were cold and gross; all four of them.

My mushrooms were decidedly much better. I shared with Tab.

Desserts were pretty good.

Oh – and if kids order “cookies” of the kids’ dessert menu they get a plate for FOUR big cookies. FOUR??? We helped her every night.

My apple crisp dish was a delicious, if not rare, departure from chocolate.

Hanny ordered the brownie from the adult menu, as opposed to the kid one. She decided after that night to stay with the kids’ desserts. She declared this one as being too rich. Her words. Yes, she’s been hanging out in fancy restaurants too much.

The big kids went to clubs or to play mini golf. I took the little girls to the room. They were excited to see tonight’s towel animal, and even more tickled to see Figaro incorporated.

Anna saw us head in and came to say goodnight. My girls really liked to visit with her and she was super chatty and just loved the girls.

It was another good day.

 

[cruisehopeful]

Hanny ordered the brownie from the adult menu, as opposed to the kid one. She decided after that night to stay with the kids’ desserts. She declared this one as being too rich. Her words. Yes, she’s been hanging out in fancy restaurants too much.

Haha! I love this. What a remarkable way to describe the dessert.

 

[cheermom2four]

Loving this TR. We were thinking of trying NCL or RCL next year since we are treating the kids (our older two also and a spouse of one) to a cruise and DCL is out of our budget for 7 (possibly 8 by then). Three of them havent been on cruises ever so they will have a more open mind than the 4 of us that have been on DCL before

 

[momof2n2]

Haha! I love this. What a remarkable way to describe the dessert.

She got very good at dining out.
Thanks for reading!

Loving this TR. We were thinking of trying NCL or RCL next year since we are treating the kids (our older two also and a spouse of one) to a cruise and DCL is out of our budget for 7 (possibly 8 by then). Three of them havent been on cruises ever so they will have a more open mind than the 4 of us that have been on DCL before

Thank you for reading. We really enjoyed ourselves. We are looking forward to booking Escape for 2018. If you do go RCL, be sure to report! I'd consider that line, as well.

 

[momof2n2]

Port day 3–Costa Maya, Mexico

Check this out: I was NOT up early. Nope. Not today. I think the pace of the last, um, six months caught up with me and I had to cry “Uncle.” We were not on any tight schedule, and the extra sleep didn’t hurt us any.
We were at the pier long before we were ready to disembark. The waves and the wind seemed rough to us, although we are not experts.
We headed to the buffet this morning, because we’d knew it would be faster. It really is a good buffet. So many choices and it was always well staffed and well stocked. I still prefer the MDR, but this was not a bad second choice.

As I was researching our ports of call, I had the most trouble with Costa Maya. There is no shortage of possible activities in Costa Maya, but none of them seemed to rise to the top for us. There are a lot of opportunities to go see Mayan ruins, or to snorkel; but those are not things we were at all interested in. I wanted a beach, and we needed something inexpensive as other days had more costly excursions.

Nan decided she needed a day off, and this was the day to do it. The rest of us were off the ship around 9:15 A.M. Disembarking here was very easy.

There are dozens of beach clubs in the area and comparing them is like shopping for mattresses. But Mitsugirly from Cruise Critic had been to half-a-dozen places in the area and I ended up picking Blue Kay Beach Club. Their website wasn’t the greatest, but I followed them on facebook for a few months before we went and was able to ask them questions about their facility as they popped into my head.
Costa Maya has a nice port area with lots of shopping. They also have a system of trams that you can ride from the ship to the port area, and another set you can ride from the port area down the Malecon (main street) of beach clubs.

We opted for the open air tram. They charged us $3 per person, but the two little girls were free.

It was a nice, but VERY windy ride.

Replica along the road.

We rode the tram to the first stop and then walked back toward the ship about one-third of a mile. It was sunny and hot, but very windy. It was what I call sunburn weather – too comfortable.





We picked Blue Kay in part because they have no entry fee. They just ask that you buy something to eat while you are there. Or so I read.
When we got there they asked for $5 per person 12 and over and it included one drink. We were fine with that. I figure it actually cost us less than what I’d anticipated. We paid for Marie, too, even though she wasn’t of the age; we just know these folks work hard for not much money. They gave us each a blue band.
The sand was great here. The water was a little chillier than Honduras, but still really comfortable. The view was sort of dull, but in a peaceful way. While they had water things to rent, we didn’t pursue renting anything. We just sort of hung out.

We could see the ship from the beach.

It was super uncrowded; our club was the first in a miles-long stretch of clubs.
There were a few snorkelers out there and some small grassy patches near shore and some larger ones just a bit out from us. A snorkeler John got talking to said when they were there a few years ago they saw someone get stung by something. We weren’t interested in exploring much anyway (I know – what kind of ocean people are we?).

All that UV protective clothing… and she sunburnt her legs.

We almost forgot to order our drinks.

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[momof2n2]

Our late breakfast made us not that hungry for lunch so we weren’t in a hurry to get back to the ship. When we were ready to head back the bartender called a cab for us. The taxi only charged $2 per person over 12 for a ride back to the ship.
We poked around the shops just a bit, but didn’t buy anything.

We hadn’t had a chance to do the ropes course yet, so we had ourselves up there half-an-hour before it opened to be first in line. This didn’t work as well as we thought, because they sent half of us back to our staterooms to change clothes. Um. Ok.

John stayed on the ground the first time through to take photos.
They have a mini-course for the little ones.

We all took turns on the plank.
The “plank” is the reason I booked this cruise line, by the way. When I first pulled up NCL.com on the internet the first image I saw was a man on the plank. I figured this was the ship for my family.

After I zipped I got off so John could get on.

 

[momof2n2]

Dinner was at La Cucina, NCL’s specialty Italian restaurant. This was Cher’s home-base. I must say, for as much as I love Italian food in general, I’d probably not pay extra to eat there. The portions were small, and they weren’t all that exciting. It was also awkward the way they made a table for 10. It ended up creating two seats with large table legs in the way of pulling the chair in. We were not comfortable while we ate.

I hadn’t had much chicken during the week, so I tried to order that. I say tried, because the waiter told me it was very dry and talked me out of it. My sister did end up getting it and thought it was fine.


John got tiramisu again for dessert which I tasted. (I also had some in the buffet one afternoon.) It was good, but I still give the Tropicana tirumisu a higher rating.

I got ricotta cheese cake which was nice, but not exceptional. Although, I must admit, I might just have been getting fooded out.

I don’t have a photo of Stewart’s dessert. Cher had asked the chef to make him a special dessert. It was some kind of rich vanilla custard/crème brulee thing with fruit, but not exactly crème brulee… how is that for clear? I had a taste of that too. It was amazing!
The boys played some mini-golf and hung out with Craig, while the older girls went to their club for a little while. Who is Craig? Oh, just the bartender they befriended. He manned the bar closest to the mini-golf, right near the buffet. It wasn’t heavily trafficked in the evening hours, and my boys talked with this young man from St. Lucia a lot. He liked to give Nigel wisdom, such as: “You need to drink more water; that Mountain Dew isn’t good for you.”
They all came back to their cabin somewhat early as they wanted to watch a movie on the movie channel.
Speaking of the movie channel, the TV choices in the staterooms is awful. We never watch much TV, but we often use it in hotel rooms, etc., as a treat for the little girls while the big ones are getting ready, etc. Lots of NCL specific stations, some news channels, a movie channel, and a pay-movie channel. The pay-movie channel does have movies for $0.00, so that worked out at one point. I’m including this info for folks who do use a TV on vacation.

 

[cheermom2four]

That rope course looks fun!!!! My teen would totally go for that!

 

[momof2n2]

That rope course looks fun!!!! My teen would totally go for that!

It was so fun.

 

[momof2n2]

Port day 4 ~ Cozumel

My desire to take my family to Playa Mia Waterpark is the reason I picked a Western Caribbean itinerary. We’d been talking about their giant inflatable for over a year. While the ship had an excursion to Playa Mia, I booked it via Viator, an off-shoot of TripAdvisor. They have a solid reputation, and a back-to-the-ship-on-time guarantee. They were cheaper by about $15/pp. Kelly made her own plans to visit Mayan ruins. As she was traveling solo she went ahead and booked through NCL.

I had to set an alarm to get up. And it was hard. Very hard. The busy-ness was getting to me AND we lost an hour sleep last night adjusting the clock… (or did we?) I got up around 6:45 A.M. and got the kids up around 7:15. They didn’t rouse easily. Getting only about 6 hours sleep between our two Magic Kingdom days didn’t phase them; but today was a work-out for some of them.
We somehow mobilized and headed to the buffet because we knew it would be quicker. The permission to go ashore was likely to come around 8:10-8:30 and we wanted to be ready. Moods cheered as we left our stateroom and breakfast was as yummy as ever.
Nan and Kelly ended up meeting us at the buffet. Kelly was to meet her excursion group in the atrium at 7:45 A.M.

We drew closer to the pier as we were eating. It was the most overcast day we’d had, but still projected to be hot and dry.
As we finished our speedy breakfast I asked Nigel what time it was. (Nigel was “Master Timekeeper” as John’s watch had stopped working back in Disney.) Nigel told us it was 8:05 A.M. I declared this was perfect. Then I paused. Kelly’s ears perked up and she said, “It’s 7:05, right?”
I offered that, no, we had to advance our clocks last night. She has a moment of panic. I have a moment of shock. We all look for a black-clad employee and find one. She confirms it is 7:05 A.M. We were to move our clocks forward later THAT night.

I got them up an hour early.

I’m considered turning in my vacation planning credentials then and there.

It was a low moment.

No one scolded me. They knew how badly I felt.

We went back to our room and just did nothing until it was time to get off the ship. We were in the first hundred or so folks off the ship. We walked down the pier and stopped for photos. I was pretty nervous, I admit, on that pier. It felt dicey. I don’t know. Maybe I was vacationed out?

None of us took photos of the port area. We were all sort of off, I think. We followed the directions on my paper from Viator and found a representative from the club. He stated we were a little early (don’t go there, dude); but concluded that as we filled a van he’d get us one. (One nice thing about being a large group is we never had to wait for more people to fill a taxi to go somewhere.) He explained our package to us painstakingly: admission, transport, food, non-alcoholic drinks, non-motorized watercraft. He also mentioned all the things we were missing out on (alcohol, umbrellas, and motorized watersports) with Great Emphasis and assured us we could add those features to our package when we got there.

He lead us over and yon to a main street and called a taxi/van for us. We drove about 15 minutes and arrived at Playa Mia. The man from the port had told us to look for Julio when we got there and he would direct us into the park. Julio actually met our van and he again reiterated what was and was not included. He also told us that cabs leave every hour on the hour to go back to the port and we could decide when we wanted to return to the ship. He then said, “You have a lot of young princesses. When you want to go back, anytime, just come find me.” That was nice to know.

He lead us through a clean little shopping plaza to the cashiers. He gave the women in the booth our paperwork and they proceeded to remind us what was and was not included. They offered to sell us whatever else we wanted to add to our package. Um, we’re good.

The place was all but empty. I wonder now if they were even really open!

Pool area.


Looking back through shopping plaza we’d walked through.

Buffet/dining area.

Beach side pool with swim up bar.

Some dining tables available on beach.

The inflatable course.

It was so windy the chairs would blow closed as quickly as they’d reopen them.

We found chairs (there were thousands) and John and the older four went out to the inflatable. The sand was course. Very course. There would be no lounging in the sand here. That was hard for me to swallow. Frankly, I’d never go back. Beach was as yucky as the ugly one I went to in Jamaica with Emily 2014.

The water was gross and grassy. It was rough water; that isn’t their fault.
After John and the kids came back in, they told me how “scary” it was to fall off the course. There was really grassy water just beyond the inflatable and the water was murky.
We hung out in that area for more than an hour. It took that much time, incidentally, for cruise ship excursions to start arriving. The Viator angle DID get us an extra hour there. Yay us… :/
When John and Tab came back in, they went with Nan, Johanna and Katriel to the beach side pool. Soon Marie and Stewart came back in, then finally Nigel. We all relocated away from the beach. I think we are all a little let down.
We decided to eat. This meant figuring out what Stewart could and could not eat. Honestly, he didn’t miss anything. The buffet was immense… but it was so American-ized! I was really hoping for spicy food, but it was very bland.

It looked so good, but was so bland.
We headed to the waterpark side after lunch. We spent a few hours over there.

Here is a photo of the kids and I in the whirlpool just moments before they told us kids were not allowed in the whirlpool.

Which, I gotta tell you, was not posted and makes ZERO SENSE in the world when you consider its location right smack dab in the MIDDLE of the main pool.



We had fun. We were on vacation on an island in the Caribbean. But we wouldn’t go back. It was far from awful. But it was far from amazing, as well.

It was 2 P.M. on the nose, I believe, when we decided to find Julio. He had a cab/van right there for us to pile into and we were back to the ship in no time.