NCL Getaway is a 145,665 tons mega ship built in 2014, a much newer ship definitely. The capacity is 3,965 passengers and 1,646 crew total. This huge ship is like a city of itself. There are tons of restaurants and dining options and its action packed with water slides, mini golf, and rope courses, etc.
Like a tall building.
Pros:
1. Lots of places to spend your on board time
With tons of activities on board, passengers will have a hard time being bored. Just walking from one end of the ship to the other end is entertaining enough. Other than our stateroom, our favorite place to be on the ship, we enjoyed the Waterfront on deck 8. It was very relaxing with a great view of the ocean.
Waterfront
2. Variety of restaurants
Other than the complimentary main dining rooms like Savor and Taste, plus the buffet where one can get endless choices of food, there are other venues where you can enjoy a meal that maybe a little out of the ordinary. Shanghai Noodle Bar was one of the little eateries that serves Asian fares on board. Food was quite decent, coming from this Asian. I especially enjoyed their Singapore noodle which was very authentic. We tried the Shui Mai once but that did not impress us. Egg roll was good and the desserts were good even though they were not Asian type. We also liked the steak house 'Cagney's ' which we went three times on this trip. Moderno was fun and their salad bar was outstanding. We never got into Le Bistro, which was booked solid on this 16-day cruise. I can't see how people can get a table in there on a one-week cruise.
Other than the complimentary main dining rooms like Savor and Taste, plus the buffet where one can get endless choices of food, there are other venues where you can enjoy a meal that maybe a little out of the ordinary. Shanghai Noodle Bar was one of the little eateries that serves Asian fares on board. Food was quite decent, coming from this Asian. I especially enjoyed their Singapore noodle which was very authentic. We tried the Shui Mai once but that did not impress us. Egg roll was good and the desserts were good even though they were not Asian type. We also liked the steak house 'Cagney's ' which we went three times on this trip. Moderno was fun and their salad bar was outstanding. We never got into Le Bistro, which was booked solid on this 16-day cruise. I can't see how people can get a table in there on a one-week cruise.
Salad bar in Moderno
3. Comfortable cabins
Our aft balcony cabin was wonderful! The huge balcony made it into a private hide-away for us. Room was of good size with comfortable and sleek furniture. That was why we stayed in our room
most of the days!
our aft balcony
4. Studio cabins for singles
Getaway is one of those ships that has many single studios that sold out fast on any given cruise.
These studios are mainly in the middle of the ship, so there is no ocean view but they have their own lounges, etc. Great to meet and mingle with other single travelers and not having to pay for single supplement like on most other cruise ships.
Studio Lounge
Not sure if this is a good thing or bad for others, but the modern feel of this ship made it more of an active atmosphere as far as I am concern. The fresh, new decor gives this ship a hip looking place of fun and adventure.
deck 6
Cons:
1. Wait, wait, and wait some more
With close to 4,000 people on board, you are expected to wait for everything. Not fun, especially when you are on vacation. You wait for the table when you show up for meals at the dining room, you wait to be served, and you wait to get your answers. Patience is the key!
Be patient!
2. Long lines
If there is one thing that reminds me of this cruise, it has to be the long lines! OMG! Those long lines can be one, two, three, or even more hours worth. They can take you from the back of the ship, up to the front of the ship, then back to the aft of the ship again! You get in those long lines to get on and off the ship, to get through immigration check, to get into the theater, to get in the dining room. Hopefully, things have worked out after our transatlantic cruise. People missed getting in port, missed their tours, etc. not a pretty scene!
long lines
3. Poor management
It could have been that this was the ship's first sailing to northern Europe and things have not been well-thought of. With the problems on board, there seemed to be no one taking up the responsibilities of what was going on. "Please do not go to the service desk ...I will not be answering questions..." was part of what the captain's announcement when a port was cancelled. That was the first time I heard that kind of tone from any officer on a cruise ship. It was very unorganized when dealing with all the problems on board. Maybe it had gotten better, but it was definitely not well-received. Some passengers opted to leave the ship early at Southampton because 'I just don't trust this captain.' was what one lady told me.
4. Less personal
As in all situation with many people, there are few personal interaction between crew and passengers on this big ship. Officers and crew seemed to be a little less interested and sometimes not very courteous. I must say that the cruise director was excellent in trying to make everyone enjoying their cruise experience and the young assistants were all very involved and active. We were lucky to have Nelson who took care of our every needs in the main dining room whenever we requested for him. Our experience differed when we had other servers though. We are easy to pleased, so we tried our best to make our cruise experience a good one nevertheless.
5. Small and Ugly Theater
I have to say that this was the ugliest theater I have seen on any cruise ship. For the size of passengers, I don't understand why they built a theater so small. Making reservations seemed to be a must-do.
HAL Zuiderdam is a 82,305 tons mid-size ship built in 2002, the first in HAL vista class ships. The capacity is about 2,000 passengers, so it's half the size of NCL Getaway. Since this is an older ship that had been refurbished during the 2015 dry-dock, it maintains the classic feel of a cruise ship but lacks the extra amenities that the newer ships have.
Pros:
1. Classic
It was more like a classy cruise ship experience when stepping onto this ship. The decor was not flashy and loud the whole atmosphere was relaxing and calm. Just the type of feelings I like.
Waterford crystal seahorse at the Atrium
2. Less crowded
A mid-size ship that has much less passengers than the Getaway. Other than meal times, we barely bump into crowds. For me at least, that's a good thing!
Theater
3. Lots of quiet public space
There is always a quiet corner at the public space around the ship where you can sit and enjoy the view out the ocean. Other than the Crow's Nest, where most people would gathered, it's easy
to just sit and relax on board.
Empty lounges
4. Wonderful ports of call
This was a port intensive cruise with only one sea day. We got to all the ports of call on the itinerary and we just had a grand time visiting all of these wonderful ports. We did not miss any activities or amenities of a mega ship with such itinerary.
Flam, Norway
5. Personable courteous crew
All the staff and crew were courteous and polite. The captain made his appearance whenever
necessary. We saw him at the buffet, the gangway, and many other places around the ship. All the crew members that we have encountered were friendly and helpful.
Courteous crew
Cons:
1. Smaller cabins
Our cabin was very tight after the 3rd bed (couch) was opened, making it difficult to move around. Good thing we weren't in our cabin that much with such a busy itinerary. We really liked the floor to ceiling window in this obstructed ocean-view room though.
2. Short dining hours (buffet)
When coming back on board later in the afternoon, there are not many choices left at the buffet for
lunch as they close off most of their food stations. Fortunately, a bowl of freshly made salad and a
Canon-ball burger (yum!) from the grill would be good enough for me.
Lido
3. Less on board activities
There were some small group activities, including a red-wine painting class that I attended, but not much available like the big ships as far as mini-golf, rope courses, and games etc. I was told that even those activities are being cut in the near future. Computer classes sponsored by Microsoft are very popular and sometimes need to get in line early for a seat. With our port intensive itinerary it really did not bother us much. We did enjoy the music around the ship though, especially the classical music in the Explorers Lounge every evening.
Looking back at these two very different ships, I personally liked the HAL Zuiderdam better than the NCL Getaway. I found myself busy 'working' on the Getaway, planning on the dining venues, booking tables, or getting in line for whatever reasons. It got to the point of being stressful instead of relaxing. On one day, I had to go down and check with Le Bistro four times to see if they had anyone cancelling that evening. It seemed like we were in line, or waiting for everything!
On the Zuiderdam, I was totally relaxed. We just had to show up at the set time and everything was waiting for us. This made a big difference for me as I was the planner for our group of nine.
To sum it up, I think a mega ship like the Getaway is a good choice for longer cruise with many sea days, like this transatlantic cruise that we took. The sea days would provide ample opportunities to enjoy all the ships amenities. The Zuiderdam is a good ship for port-intensive cruises where you would be in port everyday and coming back for an evening of relaxation without much needs for on board activities or entertainment. But, I will take any cruise, anywhere, anytime if I have a chance.
No comments:
Post a Comment