Sail-away in Miami

Miami, Florida

April 30, 2017

This was the day that we board our cruise ship for this 16-day Transatlantic itinerary and we were all excited and anxious. Out of the 37 cruises that we had so far, this was our first transatlantic cruise across the pond. I was not sure if I like that many sea days at first, but after considering that this big ship will probably provide enough activities to keep us busy and that we have booked a great aft cabin on deck 10, I was ready for the long haul. Little did we expect the saga that it would turned out in the days ahead. Details will come later as we go along.

Original itinerary of NCL Getaway 16-Day Transatlantic Sailing Miami to Copenhagen:

April 30 - Boarding, Miami, Florida

May 1 - At Sea

May 2 - At Sea

May 3 - At Sea

May 4 - At Sea

May 5 - At Sea

May 6 - At Sea

May 7 - Ponta Delgada, Portugal

May 8 - At Sea

May 9 - At Sea

May 10 - At Sea

May 11 - Brest, France

May 12 - London (Southampton), England

May 13 - Zeebrugge, Belgium

May 14 - Rotterdam, Netherlands

May 15 - At Sea

May 16 - Copenhagen, Denmark

After a good night rest at the Marriott Villa, we all got up early and ready for the days affair. Even with the rental van, it will not fit all seven of us plus our luggage. Our plan was to check-out of the hotel, then take all of our check-in luggage and the two strong men down to the port first. The two of us would go back to the Marriott and pick up the rest of the group, drop the rental off at the airport, and the five of us would get on the complimentary shuttle back to the Port of Miami. 

Marriott was OK with some of us spending time at the property even though we have checked out, so those left behind were able to enjoy exploring this beautiful property while waiting for a later pick up. Everything went smoothly according to our plan. The drop off at the port terminal was quick and easy. Driving on the Dolphin Express was good on this Sunday morning and it only took us maybe 25 minutes from the hotel to port. We could see that there were three cruise ships docked there on that day, Carnival Splendor, Carnival Vista, and NCL Getaway. For sure, the Getaway was the biggest of them all!

After picking up the rest of the group at the hotel, we filled the gas tank, returned the van to the rental car center, then went up to take the shuttle to port. With three ships in port, I was surprised that the shuttle wasn't even crowded. It was a good thing that by now we did not have to chug along those heavy luggage with us. The driver did check our rental car receipt for the ride.

On the shuttle from MIA to POM.

When we got off the shuttle and found the two who were waiting for us, we saw that someone was being taken away in an ambulance right at the entrance of the terminal. All we knew was someone had broken her leg as she was trying to get inside the terminal. How disappointing that would be!

Checking in was surprisingly quick and orderly. We were able to check in as a group in the Platinum line. Soon enough, we were waiting at the big sitting area with boarding number 11 in my hand. 

Boarding the Getaway

The Getaway was built in 2014 and needless to say, it is a HUGE ship with 3963 guest capacities. It is a 145,655 tons mega ship which made it a steady sailing across the Atlantic Ocean. There are plus and minus sailing on mega ships like this and I will try to give my opinions as we go along.

Yay! It's our turn to board! It was right around noon by then.

The Getaway looked like a big building next door.

Finally stepping on deck.

We usually try to avoid the buffet on embarkation day. Even though the crew tried to gear everyone up to the Garden Cafe, we managed to find Taste, one of the main dining rooms that was opened for lunch, and enjoyed a quiet sit down meal. Not too many choices on the menu there, but it was OK. We have 16 days to make up on food!

Lunch at Taste

I believe that was popcorn shrimps, an appetizer.

fish burger

While we were finishing lunch, they announced that all the cabins were ready and that was where we headed next. First, we wanted to visit the mini-suite that TL and SC had. Originally, they booked a guarantee balcony and as the prices dropped, NCL upgraded them to the mini-suite without having to bid. Nice! On the other hand, we were offered to make a bid for upgrades, but we really wanted to keep our aft balcony and out of the three cabins that we had, only ours was eligible for bidding. We did not want to leave our group and be put in the Haven on our own so we decided to stay put.

Cabin 8714--Mini-suite

Double sinks in the mini-suite, nicer vanity.

 massaging shower

It is a bigger and better bathroom than the regular cabins.

A good-size balcony with three chairs, two loungers, and a table.

Waterfront on deck 8

Atrium, deck 8

Cabin 10914--Aft Balcony
Other than the mini-suite, we had two cabins on deck 10, both aft balcony cabins--10914 and 10314. They are exactly the same on either side of the ship. Aft cabins are limited and we were glad that we grabbed those when we booked early on.

Right after we got into our cabin, our steward Ashok knocked on the door and introduced himself. Ashok is from India and a very nice gentleman. He was always outside the hallway, working. Greeting us cheerfully whenever we went past him. All our requests were done with speed and courtesy. It was nice to have responsive and friendly room stewards such as Ashok. We noticed that there were many crew members from India on this ship.

Finally, our aft cabin 10914.

No massaging shower.

Good-size room

and a huge balcony. Just loved it!

Sleek and simple 

As we are Platinum members, we got our free bottle of sparkling wine and also one bottle of water each on the first day.

Main Dining Room--Tropicana. That was where we had our muster drill that afternoon.

We did not see SC and SO at the muster drill and later found out that they missed it as they were just too busy admiring the scenery on their aft balcony. They had to join the make-up drill the next day.

As I was unpacking after the muster drill, I noticed that the ship started to move away from dock. Fortunately, we just had to take a couple of steps outside and had the best sail-away from our own balcony. Miami is one of those spectacular sail-away ports like Venice, Hong Kong, and San Francisco. 

Miami Downtown

Port of Miami -- cruise terminals on Dodge Island.

Carnival Splendor also left port a little earlier and was passing us in good speed.

We spent 20 days on the Splendor in 2008 on her inaugural cruise from Genoa to Dover, then from Dover to the Baltic after staying three days in London. It was good to see her again right next to us.

Here she comes!

Bye, Splendor!

MacArthur Causeway (Florida State Road A1A)

Leaving Miami behind.

Miami Beach Marina

Luxurious condos near the beach.

South Beach

It was quite an amazing sail-away, especially with the sweeping view from our aft balcony.

A plate of chocolate covered strawberries arrived, one of the platinum perks.

We also found the silver color platinum cards waiting for us with coupons for the free bag of laundry and complimentary dinners at their specialty restaurants of choice. 

This was the first time we did not tour the ship on the first day on board. I figured we will have many sea days ahead with plenty of time doing that.

Dinner was at 7:00 at Tropicana where we usually had our dinners if we were not at the specialty restaurants. There was a long line waiting for tables and they had to give us a beeper and we waited for 20 minutes before getting seated. Service was slow and unorganized and I think the waitress was kind of new. With the help of George Zhou, the assistant manager, our group was able to understand the menu a little better than I could translate and explain.

From time to time, live entertainment was provided and those who wished may dance away while waiting for their dinners.

clam chowder

crab cakes

seafood salad

prime rib

fish

ChC's cheese plate

Chocolate Lava Cake

Fruit plate

All in all, we had a good dinner even though we sat at a very noisy area on the starboard side and dinner took more than two hours. Food was delicious and in huge portions. 

By the time we finished dinner, it was late enough for us to call it a day and we all went back to our cabins for the night. Tonight we had to set our clock an hour forward. This will happen in the next few nights as we sailed east. It was a long day, but we were all excited to start our incredible journey.