Norwegian Getaway Live Blog - Day 3 - Sea Day

Good evening from the Norwegian Getaway! Current location: somewhere in the middle of the Caribbean Sea.

I sit writing this next installment of the live blog at the Sunset Bar, it is relatively late at night, around midnight. There are a few passengers still wandering about the ship, but its pretty quiet, and this spot makes for a comfy spot to document our first full day at sea, and our third day aboard Norwegian Getaway.

The morning began later than our previous two mornings. We had stayed up fairly late the night before at Headliners enjoying the Howling At The Moon dueling piano show, and finishing up work afterwards, and it was necessary to catch up on some sleep that we had missed out on the other two busy days aboard the Getaway.

After our slow morning, we headed down for a late breakfast at the Garden Cafe, we enjoyed various pasta dishes and salads, along with coffee. My impression of the food overall, thus far on the Norwegian Getaway, is that there is always plenty of options. Every food venue we have visited has a fairly extensive menu, and we have always found something that sounds appetizing.

After breakfast we walked up to the upper-most deck of the ship that normal passengers have access to, Deck 18. Deck 18 consists of a relatively small area called the Sun Deck, and while there were several signature Norwegian-blue lounge chairs, they were all stacked and did not appear to have been set out for guest use in this area at the time. This top deck offers great expansive views of the main pool area, and all of the action below.

We noticed many guests enjoying the sun and pool, while sipping on cocktails, or lounging nearby.

At 1:30pm this afternoon we decided to attend an event that was being described as a ‘Ladies Pamper Party’, being put on by the Mandara Spa. The event consisted of a guided walk-through of how to better take care of ones’ skin. The staff of the spa handed out small amounts of facial products, and went through how best to apply them.

As I expected, this event ended up focusing on getting guests interested in services and products from the spa. While the overall experience was enjoyable, and the crew members warm and welcoming, I am not always a fan of being solicited too. The experience is not necessarily one I would repeat, however, I don’t regret going, as my curiosity was satisfied.

If guests would enjoy learning more about what is on offer at the Mandara Spa, then I think this would be a good event to attend, as the crew members did distribute discounts to certain services at this event.

After the spa seminar, we decided to return to our rooms to retrieve our laptops to bring them up to one of the cafe areas to do some work.

On our way to our room we noticed and appreciated many of the fun magnets and decorations that passengers had chosen to adorn their stateroom doors with. One stateroom door in particular caught our eye, with magnet scrabble letters. We thought this was a fun and unique idea, that beckoned to be interacted with!

We found a great spot to simultaneously work, and people watch, on Deck 6, close to the Starbucks onboard. This location is near the Atrium, where the cruise director and other crew members host events.

While working in this area, we enjoyed watching as different family-style games were played, and even a dance lesson was held on how to dance along to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” (which would come in handy later in the night at the 80’s themed deck party in Spice H2O). Every couple of minutes I had to take a moment, look out the window at the sea flowing by, and marvel at the fact that this is my job!

With working on a cruise ship, comes the necessity of wifi.

While researching for this trip I had been under the impression that wifi aboard cruise ships is not always reliable, often times spotty, and painfully slow. Thankfully however, my experience onboard Norwegian Getaway has been the opposite.

With the Premium Unlimited Wifi package, I am able to use unlimited amount of wifi for work, and switch between my phone and laptop. With my chosen wifi plan, I can use one device at a time, however, NCL makes the process of switching between my phone and my laptop relatively easy and seamless.

So far, I would say that the wifi aboard Norwegian Getaway is reliable, fast, and has been able to meet my needs for work onboard.

After taking some time to get some work in, we decided it was time for a break, and headed to the Sugarcane Mojito Bar. This bar and lounge location offers both indoor and outdoor seating.

We chose to take in the ocean breeze on the deck in the outdoor seating area. There were several comfortable and trendy seating areas, that offered a great place to relax. For drink, we chose to try out the mojito tasting flight. The mojito flight included six different mojito drink flavors (jalapeño, raspberry, passion fruit, pineapple, coconut, and classic), and cost $24, including tip.

This was a fun experience, the tasty drinks combined with the beautiful views made for a fun and relaxing afternoon. While lounging near the mojito bar, we interacted with several sets of fellow passengers, who all noticed our appealing trays of mojitos.

At least five different people asked us where we had ordered the flight from, and what it was called. We were surprised that this wasn’t a more popular order that guests had heard of before, as the size of the tasting mojitos was rather generous, and the price for the amount reasonable.

By this time in our day at sea, it was nearing dinner time. Tonight we dined at the Shanghai’s Noodle Bar. This complimentary dining spot is located near the Casino on Deck 7. We both thought this venue was fun and offered an excellent option for either dinner or lunch. Guests sit at high tables, and select from a menu of appetizers, entrees, and desserts.

For our entrees we ordered the Shanghai Noodles and the Glass Noodles, while both were tasty, we agreed that the Shanghai Noodles offered more flavor, making that dish the one we would recommend. We both tried the chocolate ginger cake for dessert, which we both enjoyed and agreed was very rich in flavor. We thought the decor and atmosphere of this location was fun, with one area of seating giving guests a view into the kitchen to watch as their food is prepared. I would be interested in trying out this location for lunch as well.

After dinner it was time for our first show at sea experience with Norwegian Cruise Line.

On our embarkation day we had reserved an 8:00pm viewing time to watch Burn The Floor on this day. Norwegian Cruise Line describes this show as “a non-stop display of movement and style based on the world-renowned Broadway show. Described as ‘audience dazzling’ by the New York Times, Burn The Floor is a can’t-miss 45-minute dance extravaganza filled with breathtaking choreography, heart pounding music and unforgettable moves.” I would have to agree with NCL’s description of this show. The music and choreography were incredibly lively and entertaining.

I thought it was really impressive that this show incorporates such elaborate dance scenes with both live singers and musicians playing all of the music for the show. I believe a wide range of guests would enjoy this show. Tonight’s audience seemed thoroughly impressed, as the performers received a standing ovation at the end of the show. A couple sitting next to us, who appeared to be in their 60s, mentioned to another passenger, that it was their third time seeing the show, that is how much they enjoyed it.

Following Burn The Floor we decided to peek in on The Newlyweds Game, being played in the Atrium. This seems to be a very popular game onboard to view, as there were so many people gathered around watching, that it was difficult to find a free spot to see. The Newlyweds Game is a cruise classic (I know that our very own Allie Hubers played this game aboard her honeymoon cruise with her husband, and won!).

Next we stopped by the Howl At The Moon dueling piano show again. This show has quickly become one of our favorites. We enjoy the creativity and talent of the musicians, and the engagement from the crowd is fun to be apart of. It is fun to see what songs people will request, and how the musicians will go about performing them.

We stayed at Howl At The Moon for about half an hour, before leaving to check out the 80’s Classics Dance Party at Spice H2O. Spice H2O is an adults-only deck area, that features a jumbo screen, plenty of deck space for dancing, hot tubs, and bar space. This venue frequently hosts themed dance parties. Tonight’s theme of 80’s music seemed to be fairly popular, as there was a good amount of people in attendance, showing off their moves on the dance floor. We even saw some of the performers from Burn The Floor show up after their work shift, and it was fun to witness these crew members enjoying the rest of their night off onboard.

After visiting Spice H2O we were feeling rather hungry, as it had been nearly five hours since we had eaten dinner. We checked our copy of the Freestyle Daily, the Norwegian Getaway’s published daily itinerary, to see if there were any food locations still open. We discovered that the Garden Cafe hosts late night snacks every night until 11:30pm. I was pleasantly surprised by just how many types of food were on offer at this time.

I was definitely expecting something very small, but instead was greeted by several types of sandwiches, pasta, pizza, pastries, cookies, and veggies. I chose to go with some pasta to satisfy the late night hunger.

We thoroughly enjoyed our first full sea day with Norwegian Getaway! Before going on this cruise, I had wondered if there would be enough activities to fill a full day at sea. Would I be bored looking for things to do? I am happy to report that I think it would be nearly impossible to be bored on a sea day with NCL. There are copious amounts of activities, entertainment options, lounges to explore, pool deck chairs to relax upon, and gorgeous ocean views to take in.

I am looking forward to trying out even more of the fun experiences onboard during our next sea day later in the week. Those water slides are calling my name!

After our late night meal it was time to get back to work, which includes writing up the next installment of the Norwegian Getaway Live Blog! As I finish writing up this blog post, we are preparing for our next port day tomorrow, where we will be docking at St. Thomas, Virgin Islands.

Tomorrow we will also be embarking on our first shore excursion experience with Norwegian Cruise Lines. I am looking forward to documenting everything from the disembarkation process to the port, the tour with NCL, to the port of St. Thomas itself!

Thank you to all who have taken the time to read these live blogs, I hope that they have been as entertaining for you, as they have been joyful for me to write! Until tomorrow, smooth sailing!