March 30, 2014
As luck would turn out, I’ve just returned from a week-long Caribbean cruise vacation aboard the newest cruise ship to sail, the Norwegian Getaway. She’s an amazing ship, best-in-class, and one of the 10 largest ships to sail the oceans. Her only slightly older sister ship, the Breakway, started sailing less than a year ago from NYC and both are beautiful additions to NCL’s portfolio of mega-class ships.
While the itinerary of our seven day Eastern Caribbean cruise wasn’t spectacular (I’ve already traveled to two of the three ports we visited), it’s the journey, right?
Getaway is an amazing ship with all the modern conveniences. As this was my 10th cruise with NCL, I’ve become accustomed to their layouts, designs, processes, and structure. I had sailed the inaugural transatlantic crossing of the Norwegian Epic in 2010, and have fell in love with the Pearl sailing her four times overall. She has beautiful staterooms (I stayed in the solo-traveler designed Studio cabins), fantastic complimentary and cover-charge dining facilities, great crew & team members, and of course that “new ship” smell .
Our three ports included St. Maarten, St. Thomas, and Nassau with three full days at sea (no doubt designed for guests to spend more time … and money … on board). The ports are all traditionally Caribbean. St. Maarten was the only new port for me, but amazed with beautiful beaches and great mountainsides. The other two ports are almost “old hat” and featured the greatest number of guests each with four to six total ships in port at the same time … LOTS of people.
I’ve written before about my adventures at sea, and all I can say overall, even after 70+ nights on the oceans, is that it can be one of the most relaxing, amazing, beautiful and serene vacations you can have. After four traveling vacations, where the destination was explored and tackled, my cruise vacations serve as break away from the norm; a getaway if you will 😉
Thank you to NCL for another memorable vacation, one that adds not only a quiet respite to a very much needed career, but also for a chance to explore new and favorite destinations around the world. I look forward to sailing the Escape, soon to make Miami home in 2015 and the Spirit also recently scheduled to sail from Port Canaveral seasonally.
Cruise, NCL, Norwegian Cruise Line, Norwegian Getaway, Vacation,