My husband and I just returned from a 7 night Eastern Caribbean cruise
on board Norwegian Getaway. We stopped
in St. Thomas, Tortola and Nassau. This
cruise was a relaxing getaway for us, and we only briefly got off the ship in
St. Thomas so I could buy a new pair of sunglasses and visit Senor Frogs. We wanted to just enjoy the ship and go at
our own pace.
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| Category H5, Courtyard Penthouse |
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| Haven Pool Area |
I had toured The Haven in the past, but not stayed there. For this trip, we booked a Category H5, The
Haven Courtyard Penthouse with Balcony.
The room was spacious, about 270 square feet, and very well
appointed. The bed was super comfy,
upgraded amenities for the bath, I could go on and on, but I won’t! Being in The Haven, you have exclusive key
card access to The Haven area, which has a private lounge, private pool and sun
deck, private dining room for breakfast, lunch and dinner, butler and concierge
service. Talk about being spoiled.
On the day of embarkation, we got to the cruise terminal in Miami at
about 11:45 am. There is a separate
check in location for guests sailing in The Haven. This was nice, as there was one person ahead
of us. We were finished in no time. We then waited in another area (which was
rather small) for an escort on to the ship to meet our concierge team. This was a nice change from waiting in long
lines for check in. Our rooms were also
ready when we boarded, so it was nice to drop our stuff off so we could walk
around the ship.
There was a lot to do on board, but we chose not to partake in a lot of
activities. We did some trivia, watched
some movies (pay per view movies in The Haven are free), and played in the
arcade. We also walked the ropes course
and walked the plank, which was a fun and unique experience. For the ropes course, you are harnessed in,
and walk along ropes and beams. There is
an actual plank that hangs over the side of the ship that you can walk out on
if you wish. The one thing I wish we
were told is that if we pulled the rope, a photo would be taken. Nobody informed us of this, so we missed the
money shot of us being out on the plank. We spent an evening watching comedy, another listening to the dueling pianos at Howl at the Moon. We also did a cake decorating class, as there is a Carlo’s Bakery on
board. This was a fun (expensive)
experience, as I enjoy baking and decorating.
Norwegian has so many dining options:
main dining rooms, casual dining, buffet area, and specialty dining
(which has a per person fee). We had the
entire week planned out, eating in different venues each night. Day one was Teppanyaki, which is the Japanese
Steakhouse/Hibachi restaurant. We have eaten
in this restaurant on other ships, and it is our favorite. Dinner was delicious as usual. Day two, we ate in Moderno, which is the
Brazilian restaurant. Here you get
continuously served different kinds of meat, and keep eating until you tell
them to stop. Good way to sample
different meats and tastes. Day three we
ate at La Cucina’s Italian Restaurant, yummy!
Day four, Cagney’s Steakhouse.
Day five, we ate at the Illusionarium.
This is a magic/illusion dinner show, which was fantastic. Need to inject here about being a Haven guest
… we were escorted to the theater by the Haven Concierge at 8:00pm for an 8:45
show start. We went down in the crew
elevator, which let us out right outside the Illusionarium entrance. We bypassed the regular line (in fact, didn’t
even see the regular line). The doors
opened for us, we were greeted by the cast and had front row seats. Pretty cool perk! Day six we were back at Teppanyaki and day
seven we ate dinner in The Haven restaurant, which exceeded my
expectations. Yes, you do pay extra to
dine in these venues, but we feel it is worth it. Our breakfast was spent each morning at The
Haven restaurant. I cannot tell you how
fantastic it was to sit in a restaurant without waiting, without battling
crowds. Lunches were scattered between
The Haven restaurant, O’Sheehan’s which is a 24 hour bar and grill, and the
buffet area.
On night two, while we were dining in Moderno, we heard the Captain
come over the speakers “Code Oscar, Port Side” and we watched numerous staff
members rush out of the restaurant. At
this point, we felt the ship turning. We
knew exactly what this meant, a cloud of concern and sadness filled the area. My husband went out on deck, he could see the
staff members, the spectators. He also
saw search lights scanning the water. It
was pitch black out, except for the occasional flash of lighting alerting us
that a storm was nearby. The Captain
came back over the speakers stating that there was a man over board situation
and that the ship was being turned and to be careful as items could shift. Keep in mind that the Norwegian Getaway is
1,062 feet long, 18 decks high and weighs 146,600 gross tons. She is a big ship that was traveling probably
somewhere between 18-22 knots at the time.
About 20 minutes or so after the initial “Code Oscar” call was made, the
Captain came back on and announced that the rescue was successful. Cheers and applause could be heard from every
area of the ship. I am mentioning this
for a reason … a huge kudos to the Captain of Norwegian Getaway and the
staff. I cannot even imagine how
difficult it is to turn a ship around in that amount of time and actually find
a passenger that jumped overboard. Very
impressive, and that passenger is luckier than one can imagine. Back on course we were … never missing a beat
and arriving to our port on time as scheduled.
So, is The Haven worth it? Well
I certainly say so! It is quite a bit
higher of a price tag (and yes, I pay for my cruises just like you do), but
there is so much that comes with it. It
was so nice to have a quiet place to go to.
Sometimes I just don’t want to deal with the crowds and this was a
perfect escape. We are wondering if we
will ever be able to sail Norwegian any other way! We have already booked The Haven for July of
2016 on the Breakaway to Bermuda, which we will take all the kids on that
cruise.
Would you like more info on Norwegian or The Haven? Just let me know and I would be happy to
answer all of your questions! You can
reach me by phone at 888-882-5793, by email or visit my website.
Happy Sailing!
Kathy Freer
CruiseOne Freer & Associates
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