Now, the one time I booked a cruise on short notice was only because I had already combed through all the options, done all the research, and had everything lined out. All I was waiting for was the go ahead from Jacob that his schedule would allow him to go. This was very different! Jacob's schedule provided a very definitive time frame to start my search, but still there was lots to consider and only a short time to do it in. How many days to cruise, where to go, where to leave from, and which ship to take. I called my travel agent bright and early Monday morning and we got to work. By Wednesday, we were booked in a beautiful suite on the brand new Norwegian Getaway departing from Miami to the Virgin Islands in T-minus 15 days! I spent the next day arranging flights, a pre-cruise hotel, transfers, and a cat sitter. The rest of the week I researched ports, shore excursions, dining options, and entertainment schedules for the ship. The following Monday, we wrapped up the last day of school and then Brenna and I spent the next three days packing and shopping for last minute supplies. It was a very exciting two weeks with the anticipation and preparation. And just like that, it was here!
Jacob worked Friday morning until mid-day. When he got home we packed up and headed for Detroit to catch a late afternoon flight to Miami. The flight was uneventful and we got into Miami late that night. We caught a taxi straight to our hotel and got settled in for the night.
The next morning as the sun came up, we caught our first glimpse of the Norwegian Getaway from our balcony. After a quick breakfast at the hotel restaurant, we went back to the room to pack up and head to the port.
Good Morning Miami! First view of the Getaway!
Beautiful morning! Downtown Miami skyline.
We boarded the Norwegian Getaway. The Getaway is currently Norwegian's largest and newest member of its fleet. It was also the largest ship we've ever sailed, with more than 4,000 passengers. I did have some concerns with how to manage crowds, so we booked a Haven Suite. We were introduced to the Haven last year on our Norwegian Gem cruise and enjoyed the "ship within a ship" concept so much that we wanted to do it again in hopes of buffering the crowds. We were granted priority check-in and were led to a private lounge with comfy couches, snacks, and juices. We had a short wait (long enough for Brenna to inhale 3 cookies) and then we were escorted onto the ship via a private gangway.
We took a quick picture against a green screen for our Welcome Aboard photo. Brenna and I were wearing matching dresses that had stripes of green. When the background was applied, we blended in! As our group was headed to the Haven, an older gentleman tapped me on the arm and said "Did you know that a midget is following you and it's wearing your dress!"
Our concierge led us to a reserved elevator that took us up to the Haven. There we were greeted with punch and appetizers. After a quick lunch we toured the Haven facilities. It had its own pool, two hot tubes, two lounging pools, a sauna, and lots of deck space with cushioned loungers and cabanas. The Getaway Haven also had its own lounge and restaurant available only to suite guests.
Next, we headed to our room to check it out. We were in a Forward Facing Penthouse Suite. The room had a living area with dinning table, one bedroom, and a very nice master bath with soaking tuba, large walk-in shower, water closet, and double sinks. The balcony was just a standard balcony, but wasn't really an issue considering I could grab my own private cabana in the Haven.
In no time our luggage was there and I started to unpack. One of the suite perks is unlimited On-Demand movies, so Brenna settled into Annie and started singing and dancing in the living room while I got everything put away. Shortly after I finished up, it was time for sail away. We always enjoy a nice quiet sail away from our own balcony. We've always been fortunate, and had nice weather for sail away. This year we left just in the nick of time.
The skies ahead were blue and friendly!
But behind us, a storming was brewing over Miami! Lucky for us we got away before we ever saw a raindrop.
That night we enjoyed a relaxed dinner in the Haven Restaurant. Brenna was itching to go to kids club, so she headed over there as soon as dinner was over to enjoy their Welcome Aboard Party. Jacob and I ventured back to the Haven where we found the sun deck completely empty. We grabbed a cabana and watched the sun set. Amazing! The perfect end to our first day. More than 4,000 people on the ship and we had a private deck all to ourselves. The Haven was already paying off!
The next morning we woke up to perfect clear blue skies. We had breakfast in the Haven and then hit the pool. Brenna and Jacob played in the Haven pool while I lounged in the sun and read a book.
After she grew tired of diving for rings, we decided to head down to the pool deck and check out the water park. The water park on board was very impressive. It had a large public pool available to everyone with several hot tubs. Then, there was a kids pool adjacent to a large splash park. Also, there were five different water slides. The fastest was The Whip, a set of free fall waterslides. You stand up inside the tube and then a trap door opens sending you into a free fall of 4Gs, before you're whipped back up and over the edge of the ship. There were two different 5-level twister racing slides, and finally an open air Family slide that was long and swift. Since it was a sea day, the slides were pretty packed. We decided to save those for another day and enjoy the splash pad and kids pool. Brenna had a great time with an endless supply of friends.
After spending all morning in the water we headed back to the room to change into some dry clothes and then grabbed lunch at the buffet. Later that afternoon we did the Family Circus. Brenna loved the circus last year. The first question she asked when we told her were going on another Norwegian cruise was if there would be another circus. She went right to the devil sticks and picked up where she left off last summer.
We had alittle bit of time between the circus and our next activity, family pizza making. We toured the atrium and looked through the onboard shops. At family pizza making, they provide you with the dough and you get to do everything else. Brenna was very careful with just the right amount of sauce and cheese and added on pepperoni and ham. It turned out to be the best pizza we had the entire cruise.
Because of the number of people on board, most all entertainment and dinning required reservations. We've never been on a ship this size and this was our first experience having to make reservations for most of the activities. I was worried that we may have trouble getting into some of the shows that I wanted to see. This turned out not to be an issue. We talked to the concierge, and he handled everything. He worked his magic all week and got us into everything we wanted, when we wanted it. His catch phrase was "Consider it done!"
That night, we enjoyed Illusionarium, which turned out to be one of the highlights of the cruise. Illusionarium is a dinner show hosted by a collections of magicians. It's held in a special theater designed specifically for the show. The circular stage sits in the middle of the room, with long tables set in rows from the center. One of the suite perks was front row seating. We were seated right below the stage. One of the magician's props for the show was actually placed on our table right in front of Brenna. Five different magicians performed. It was interesting to see the act so up close. There were some tricks that I could figure out. But for others, I was in complete astonishment as to how it was accomplished, especially seeing it so close and live and still not being able to figure it out. One of things that made the night so special was that Brenna got called on stage to assist one of the magicians. He had a small pedestal table that looked like it was made of wood. He took out a small scarf and placed it over the table like a table cloth. The corners barely hung 6 inches over the edge. He asked Brenna to grab one corner of the scarf in each hand. The magician stood on the other side of the table across from Brenna and did the same. Together they made the table levitate off the floor and float above Brenna's head. She had her arm fully extended over her head, still holding onto the corners of the scarf. The magician ducked his head underneath the table and smiled at Brenna. She came back to our table and said "I don't know how I did that!" I don't know either! After the show she got to meet all the magicians. Jacob bought their DVD "Secrets Unleashed" and they all signed it for Brenna. Unfortunately, there was no photography allowed during the performance, but here's a picture of us from dinner before the show.
The next day was another slow sea day. We headed out to the sports deck to take in some of the many activities offered there. We played a round of putt putt golf and then Brenna decided to try out the 35-foot rock wall. She scaled it pretty quickly and got to ring the bell. She decided she wanted to climb some more, so next we moved on to 25-foot Spider Mountain. After a couple of trips up the mountain, she finally wore herself out.
Our first port was St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands. We decided to visit Coral World. Jacob and I had been there before, but we thought Brenna would enjoy all the wildlife and aquariums. We toured the aquariums and the 3-level underwater observatory. We watched the shark feeding. We visited with the sea turtles and tortoises, petted the stingrays, and handled the sea urchin, sea snail, star fish, and hermit crabs. After a quick change into our swimsuits we headed over to adjacent Coki Beach for some swimming and snorkeling.
St. Thomas, dead ahead! The view from our bedroom's port hole!
The view of St. Thomas from our balcony.
The aquariums and coral nursery.
The tortoise were happy to see us. They hurried over in hope of something to eat.
Lots of iguana's everywhere. They're weren't as friendly as the tortoise.
The view from the observation tower.
Coki Beach
Snorkling at Coki Beach
We headed back to the ship for a short rest, then went up to the sports complex for some more fun. Jacob and Brenna took in a game of ping pong and then we decided to try the rope course. The rope course takes you 20 feet up with a harness and you maneuver through more than 40 different obstacles, including The Plank which extends 8 feet over the side of the ship. I wanted to try the plank while we were docked in port (since there was no way I would try it traveling at 20 knots in the middle of ocean) but some 12-year old boy was literally hanging off the edge of the plank by his toes, while his father screamed at him from below to get off. Brenna had already decided that her bravery did not extend to The Plank, so we moved on. The final obstacle is to zipline across the width of the ship. Brenna never hesitated. She leaped off the platform like a pro and zipped across the line with no fear. This was our first experience with a rope course and we really enjoyed it.
The excitement of the day still wasn't over. Brenna loves the kid's club Splash Academy and visited every night after dinner. She made lots of friends and always had a great time. She was especially excited to get to go to Pirate night. While Brenna was in Splash Academy, Jacob and I decided to try the Ice Bar. They provide you with fur lined parkas and gloves and you enjoy a drink in a glass made of ice, from a bar made of ice. The walls and table were made of ice, and there was an ice throne flanked by a ice sculpture alligator in celebration of the Getaway's homeport of Miami. The area was small and very much like stepping into a fancy deep freezer. It was a novelty and worth it just to see, although our stay was short. From the waste up, the parka kept me nice and warm, but from the knees down, my bare legs and open toed high heel shoes from dinner began to go numb. The temperature was -12 F. The hostess told us the average person only stays about 15 minutes. We didn't make it that long, although having just survived our first Canadian winter, I'll probably lasted longer than I would have a year ago!
To cap off the night, we picked Brenna up from Splash Academy and went out onto the promenade to grad a spot for the fireworks show. At the advice of the Haven Hostess, we avoided the crowded upper decks and enjoyed the show from the railing of the Waterfront. The fireworks lasted about 10 minutes and were set to music. It was a great show to watch the fireworks over the water. By that time though, it had been a long day and a late night!
Brenna the pirate
Our next port was Tortola, British Virgin Islands. We had breakfast delivered to the room, so we wouldn't have to rush out the door after the long night. We took our time getting ready and then headed down to the gangway. This was our first time visiting Tortola and the general advice was to the visit The Bath at Virgin Gorda. Virgin Gorda is a separate island from Tortola, so we boarded a large catamaran ferry for a 30 minute ride to the island. Unfortunately, we had high winds and rough waters, and 20 minutes into what became a 45 minute ferry ride people began to get sea sick, including Brenna. She was a trooper and managed to keep her breakfast down, but I can't say the same for everyone. Kids and adults alike were hugging trash cans, barf bags, and hunched over the railings. Jacob said the whole ferry smelled like a mixture of vomit and sunscreen! Lucky for us, once Brenna got her feet on land and a bottle of water she bounced back quickly and we were on our way to The Baths.
Once we arrived at the entrance to the nature reserve, it was a 15 minute hike down to the baths. The paths were clear for the most part and easily manageable. At the bottom, the path opens up onto a beautiful beach framed by granite boulders with diameters of up to 40 feet wide. They are the result of the molten rock seeping up into the existing volcanic rock layers. Because the molten rock did not reach all the way to the surface, it cooled slowly and formed hard crystalline granite layer. They were exposed when the softer volcanic rock above eroded away. Weathering has rounded the corners of the boulders to what they are today. The only other place this phenomenon can be seen is in Jerusalem.
After spending some time at the baths, we hiked, crawled, climbed, and swam our way through the caves using ropes and ladders to get us to Devil's Bay. Again, it was another amazing sight. We spent some time exploring all the rock coves, swimming, and snorkeling. Later we packed up and hiked back up the trail (this time through a cactus forrest) to the entrance to meet our group for the dreaded ferry ride back to Tortola. Lucky for us, we were traveling with the wind on the way back and everyone was much more comfortable. We had no issues at all on the way back. This was the most adventurous and physically challenging excursion that we've ever taken. Brenna loved the adventure of it and came back saying that when she grows up she wants to be an explorer!
The Getaway docked in Tortola.
That night for dinner we had reservations at Teppanyaki, the Japanese hibachi grill. It was a fantastic experience. The food was wonderful, our chef was very entertaining, and Brenna said it was our best dinner ever! The chef told her he wanted to play Japanese basketball. He used his spatula to catapult fried egg into Brenna's open mouth from across the grill! Brenna thought the whole thing was fantastic!
All around the food was wonderful for this cruise. Our package included all the specialty restaurants, and so along with Teppanyaki, we also dinned at the Italian restaurant, La Cucina. We enjoyed dinner in our room one night from the steakhouse, Cagney's, and we tried the new seafood restaurant Ocean Blue. Add to that the Haven Restaurant for suite guests, and before we knew it, the week had gone by and we hadn't even visited the main dinning room. This is the first cruise ever that we didn't have at least one meal in the main dinning room.
Lucky for us, our next day was a sea day, which gave us some time to rest and relax from our previous two jammed packed days. Brenna spent a large part of day in Splash Academy. Shortly after breakfast, they met to rehearse for the big Circus at Sea later that afternoon. We picked her up for lunch and then it was right back to Splash Academy for the show. She chose the devil sticks again this year. For her free style special act, she teamed up with one of her new friends and they did a combo trick where they passed the baton to each other. It was another great circus this year for Brenna!
Once we arrived at the entrance to the nature reserve, it was a 15 minute hike down to the baths. The paths were clear for the most part and easily manageable. At the bottom, the path opens up onto a beautiful beach framed by granite boulders with diameters of up to 40 feet wide. They are the result of the molten rock seeping up into the existing volcanic rock layers. Because the molten rock did not reach all the way to the surface, it cooled slowly and formed hard crystalline granite layer. They were exposed when the softer volcanic rock above eroded away. Weathering has rounded the corners of the boulders to what they are today. The only other place this phenomenon can be seen is in Jerusalem.
After spending some time at the baths, we hiked, crawled, climbed, and swam our way through the caves using ropes and ladders to get us to Devil's Bay. Again, it was another amazing sight. We spent some time exploring all the rock coves, swimming, and snorkeling. Later we packed up and hiked back up the trail (this time through a cactus forrest) to the entrance to meet our group for the dreaded ferry ride back to Tortola. Lucky for us, we were traveling with the wind on the way back and everyone was much more comfortable. We had no issues at all on the way back. This was the most adventurous and physically challenging excursion that we've ever taken. Brenna loved the adventure of it and came back saying that when she grows up she wants to be an explorer!
The hike down.
The Baths
Entrance to the caves.
Brenna the Explorer!
Devil's Bay
The hike back up through the cactus forrest.
The Getaway docked in Tortola.
All around the food was wonderful for this cruise. Our package included all the specialty restaurants, and so along with Teppanyaki, we also dinned at the Italian restaurant, La Cucina. We enjoyed dinner in our room one night from the steakhouse, Cagney's, and we tried the new seafood restaurant Ocean Blue. Add to that the Haven Restaurant for suite guests, and before we knew it, the week had gone by and we hadn't even visited the main dinning room. This is the first cruise ever that we didn't have at least one meal in the main dinning room.
Lucky for us, our next day was a sea day, which gave us some time to rest and relax from our previous two jammed packed days. Brenna spent a large part of day in Splash Academy. Shortly after breakfast, they met to rehearse for the big Circus at Sea later that afternoon. We picked her up for lunch and then it was right back to Splash Academy for the show. She chose the devil sticks again this year. For her free style special act, she teamed up with one of her new friends and they did a combo trick where they passed the baton to each other. It was another great circus this year for Brenna!
Norwegian is known for its entertainment. This cruise had some of the most diverse and interesting line up of entertainment that we have ever seen on a cruise. There was so much that we weren't able to get around to it all. I already mentioned Illusionarium, which was fantastic. They have also added a few new venues to the ship that are built specially for its entertainment purpose. One venue is called Headliners and hosts several different comedians throughout the week. Jacob and I went two different nights and each of the comedians were great. They both had specials on Comedy Central. It was very fun, and this was my first experience with live stand-up comedy and audience interaction. Another new venue is The Grammy Experience, where past Grammy winners get the chance to showcase their talents, and also Howl at the Moon, which was dueling pianos. We were never able to make it to either of those, but I heard from other guests that they were great shows. One night Jacob and I saw Burn the Floor, which was a Latin Dance special. It was fun to see this "Dancing with Stars" type show live. They could really move it!
That night, rather than going back to Splash Academy after dinner, Brenna decided to join Jacob and me for the show. Norwegian has contracted several broadway musicals for their newer ships, like Rock of Ages, Cats, and Legally Blond. Legal Blond, The Musical was fantastic! Some of the content went over Brenna's head (thank goodness!), but she loved all the music and dancing. After the show, she did decide to visit Splash Academy for just an hour that night. When I picked her up, her counselor told me that Brenna showed them how to do the "Bend and Snap"!
Usually our final day of a cruise is a sea day. This year was different. On our last day we docked in Nassau, Bahamas, but didn't get there until noon, so we had the morning to fit in some more ship activities. After breakfast, we went back to the water park to enjoy the slides. Neither Brenna nor I were brave enough to try The Whip, but we did get lots of turns on the family slide, which was just the right speed for us. After Brenna had her fill of the slides, we headed back over to the sports complex for the Getaway Bounce. Brenna got harnessed in and bounced as high as she could go. After several failed attempts to turn a back flip, one of the crew members hopped up on the trampoline with her to give her just enough extra bust to make it over.
Usually our final day of a cruise is a sea day. This year was different. On our last day we docked in Nassau, Bahamas, but didn't get there until noon, so we had the morning to fit in some more ship activities. After breakfast, we went back to the water park to enjoy the slides. Neither Brenna nor I were brave enough to try The Whip, but we did get lots of turns on the family slide, which was just the right speed for us. After Brenna had her fill of the slides, we headed back over to the sports complex for the Getaway Bounce. Brenna got harnessed in and bounced as high as she could go. After several failed attempts to turn a back flip, one of the crew members hopped up on the trampoline with her to give her just enough extra bust to make it over.
After a quick change of clothes, we were ready for our day in The Bahamas. We had originally planned to visit Blue Lagoon Island for a beach day. It's a private island that's a 30 minute ferry ride from the main island. However, given our previous experience with the ferry ride in Tortola, we gave the concierge a call and he had our excursion switched to a beach day at Atlantis. This worked out well for us. We knew our way around, since we had just been there last year and it's just a short drive from the port. That way we knew once we were done with the beach, we could hop on a bus and be back onboard the ship within 15 minutes. We had a nice day. Atlantis was as beautiful as ever. It was a long day of just lounging on the beach, playing in waves, and building sand castles.
The Getaway dock in Nassua
My first time to see the new Disney Dream in person with Mickey hanging off the stern.
After our fun in the sun, we headed straight up to the Haven for fruit smoothies to cool off while Brenna kicked back in the pool lounger. We relaxed until that afternoon and then had a nice quiet dinner at the Haven Restaurant. Brenna went to Splash Academy that night for their Goodbye PJ Party. Jacob and I caught one last comedy show at Headliners and then spent the rest of the night in the room watching movies while I packed up.
And just like that, it was over almost as quickly as it started! It was a great vacation. The ship was amazing and filled with more things to do than you could possibly get to in one week. The food was wonderful and we loved the broad selection of restaurants. I think Brenna would permanently relocate to a cruise ship for the kids club. Finally, the Virgin Islands and Bahamas were beautiful and we really enjoyed the sights and adventures. In all our cruises, we have never repeated a ship. But, I wouldn't hesitate to book another vacation on the Getaway.
I'm always thankful to travel and experience the world, and this unexpected getaway was such a blessing!
I'm always thankful to travel and experience the world, and this unexpected getaway was such a blessing!
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