July 2024. Steve and I are cruising on the Norwegian Getaway, a Breakaway class ship by Norwegian Cruise Line or NCL. Interestingly, our stay on board happened shortly after the Getaway paid a visit to the dry dock for some refurbishments. The route? Piraeus, which is the port of Athens in Greece; followed by Mykonos; two days in Istanbul in Turkey or Türkiye; then Kusadasi or Kuşadası for Ephesus; Rhodes; Santorini (Thira or Thera) and back to Piraeus. Oddly enough, the itinerary offered no sea days.  

I have been discussing many aspects of ‘7-Day Greek Isles Round-trip Athens: Santorini, Rhodes & Istanbul‘ on the Norwegian Getaway. You can click on the previous blog posts discussing the stateroom, the spa, the food, the drinks, the entertainment… below.

But I haven’t introduced the Norwegian Getaway properly and I haven’t really reviewed it. I this blog post I will focus on the ship and the cruise, not (so much) on the itinerary.

This is the Norwegian Getaway

The Norwegian was constructed by Meyer Werft in Papenburg in Germany, and delivered to Norwegian Cruise Line in January 2014. At the time of its launch, it ranked as the world’s ninth-largest cruise ship, accommodating 3,969 passengers and a crew of 1,640. So nowadays, the Getaway is not a huge ship anymore.

Its port of registry is Nassau in The Bahamas. Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) is an American cruise line founded in Norway in 1966, incorporated in Bermuda and headquartered in Miami in Florida in the United States. It is the fourth-largest cruise line in the world by passengers, controlling about 8.6% of the total worldwide share of the cruise market by passengers as of 2021 It is wholly owned by parent company Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings. 

American chef Geoffrey Zakarian curates dining experiences aboard, while entertainment options include the illusion-focused ‘Illusionarium‘ and a Grammy-themed venue. 

The ship primarily operates seven-night Eastern Caribbean cruises, departing from Miami. Christened in Miami with the Miami Dolphins Cheerleaders serving as godmothers, the Getaway embarked on its maiden voyage the following day.

A sister ship to the Norwegian Breakaway, the Getaway’s name was chosen through a public competition. The ship’s hull features a mural designed by David ‘LeBO’ Le Batard. Despite a shipyard fire in March 2013, construction remained unaffected, and the ship was delivered on schedule.

In a dramatic incident in June 2018, a crew member fell overboard 28 miles northwest of Cuba. A 22-hour rescue operation by the U.S. Coast Guard and the crew of another cruise ship, Carnival Glory, successfully brought the crew member to safety.

Facilities on board

Besides stalwarts such as many restaurants, bars and lounges, the Getaway has entertainment venues, a spa and a gym, pools, slides, … everything you need really.

What the Norwegian Getaway isn’t, is a floating theme park. The Getaway is not Royal Caribbean‘s Icon of the Seas or one of the other megaships. The Getaway is a ‘normal sized‘ cruise ship. 

It has many activities, but they’re not endless. You will have to provide a little bit of your own entertainment.

The Getaway is ideal for a weeklong cruise with many ports of call. And indeed, our cruise had many. We had no sea day(s).

Demographics

Who was on board? We saw a lot of diversity. Americans and Canadians, for sure. Europeans, obviously. And yes that includes you Brits. But there were also many people from Latin America. We heard a lot of Latin American Spanish and Portuguese from Brazil. 

The cruise was not so white. We saw people of all ages and sizes and people of all degrees of mobility.

There were many families. By which I mean in the broad sense. The grandparents with their adult children and their teenage grandchildren. So little ‘clans’ of eight to twelve or so people.

What we liked on the ship

• The food is really good and not bland. We didn’t get the feeling all food must please everyone. Some dishes were pretty daring and seasoned. Surely, it’s still an American company and it remains a resort so don’t expect anything overly adventurous, but the catering crew wasn’t afraid.
• The specialty restaurants offered a very fine dining experience.
• The privacy and calm of the Mandara Spa.
• Not too complicate to navigate the ship.
• There were dress codes for some venues, but nothing too formal. No need for suits or little black dresses. But we did notice people adhering to the dress codes. People dressed up in the evening, even the adolescents. Like a nice collared shirt and chinos. People changed from their pool outfits to something nicer. Into ‘cruise ship chic’.
• On that topic: there were no theme nights. At least not that we noticed! No white or pink night, no formal (black tie or suit) nights. 
• Lovely, helpful and efficient staff, which wasn’t intimidatingly present.
• The ‘wash your hands’ instructions were sung to famous tunes. My favourite was ‘Girls just wanna wash hands’.
• The Waterfront, an outside boardwalk on deck 8 featuring outside seating areas of bars and restaurants is  a nice addition to the experience. It’s nice to escape the air conditioning from time to time. 

What we liked less

• The NCL app. Not so much the app itself, but how to connect to it. Prior to the cruise it was accessible to book and plan your week. After arriving on board and registering as such, the app changes. You must go to airplane mode and connect to the ship’s WiFi to access the app. It’s annoying to have to switch from 4G to airplane mode and ship’s WiFi all the time. This also meant you couldn’t go on the app when ashore. Annoying when you want to confirm boarding time.
• The lack of a calm café or lounge area. On my previous cruises, there were always very calm seating areas to read, chat or have a cup of tea. I missed this. Every venue was lively and often featured live music.
• The lack of an indoor adults-only pool. Luckily there was the Mandara Spa.
• We prefer the way Royal Caribbean organises its buffet area: in themed ‘island’s rather than a long line.
• There could have been some kitsch and camp local entertainment coming on board. In Istanbul for instance. Bring in some whirling Dervishes. 
• We really missed a sea day, so we created one.

All in all

All in all we both really enjoyed the Norwegian Getaway. The ship isn’t surprising, it boasts nu superlatives and it doesn’t feature the newest gimmicks. But it’s perfect for a one-week cruise or perhaps a ten-day cruise. 

In 2020, our Majestic Princess cruise from Australia to New Caledonia, Fiji and Vanuatu lasted two weeks and I think that ship was better suited for longer cruises. 

2024 Athens – Mykonos – Istanbul – Kusadasi – Rhodes – Santorini – Athens Cruise on the Norwegian Getaway

1. Flying Airbus A320neo with Aegean Airlines from Brussels to Athens return.
2. REVIEW | Athenarum Portus Life & Style Hotel in Piraeus.
3. GREECE | A modest exploration of Piraeus.
4. NORWEGIAN CRUISE LINE | Before you sail, online check-in and Embarkation Day.
5. GREECE | Mykonos ft Archaeological Museum, the Windmills and massive crowds.
6. NORWEGIAN GETAWAY | Balcony Stateroom with included access to the Thermal Spa.
7. ISTANBUL | Beylerbeyi Palace – Blue Mosque – Grand Bazaar.
8. NORWEGIAN GETAWAY | Activities – sports – entertainment – common areas.
9. ISTANBUL | Galataport – Sirkeci Railway Station – Hagia Sophia – Topkapi Park.
10. Bars & Lounges on Norwegian Getaway.
11. Ephesus.
12. Restaurants and food on Norwegian Getaway.
13. RHODES | Lindos and its acropolis.
14. Rhodes.
15. NORWEGIAN GETAWAY | Skipping Santorini to make it a Sea Day.
16. NORWEGIAN GETAWAY | Disembarkation Day.
17. Turkey welcomed 62 million international tourists who together spent $61 billion in 2024.