NerdWallet has now sailed on the Norwegian Getaway twice, on two very different itineraries — yet the ship has left us with two related but distinct takeaways.
Writer Tiffani Sherman sailed a seven-night round trip from New York to Bermuda in late 2025. Writer Sally French sailed the ship's Caribbean itinerary out of Miami in September 2026, after the Getaway shifted to primarily Caribbean and European sailings. Between the two of us, we think we've got a pretty complete picture of what this ship is — and isn't — good for.
On this page
Norwegian Getaway at a glance
Best for: Budget-conscious cruisers, first-timers who want a low-stress trip and European itineraries where the ship is more of a floating hotel than the main event.
Skip it if: You're booking a Caribbean sailing and have the budget to consider a newer ship instead. NCL's newer vessels, like the Viva or the Aqua, are worth the upcharge for a Caribbean trip specifically, where you'll spend more waking hours on board than at ports.
Standout features: The theater shows which feature Broadway-caliber singers, the Manhattan Room dining room and — if you catch it on a Caribbean sailing — the now-dramatically-improved Great Stirrup Cay.
Potential dealbreakers: Dated ship design (dim public spaces, a casino planted front-and-center and narrow hallways), a cramped gym and jogging track and — on the Caribbean run specifically — a party atmosphere that won't suit everyone.
Choosing an itinerary
The Getaway is one of the older ships in NCL's fleet, with less on-board activity and a more dated design than the newer vessels. That's a bigger deal on some itineraries than others.
On a European sailing, the destination is the star. In Europe, you're spending comparatively little time on the ship and a lot of time in port, so an older ship with fewer bells and whistles matters less. On a Caribbean sailing, you typically spend far more time on board relative to time on land, which puts a lot more pressure on the ship itself to entertain you. The Getaway isn't built for that anymore, at least not compared to what NCL is putting on the water today.
Consider the Getaway's Caribbean sailings only if you're genuinely working with a tight budget, as it is cheaper than newer NCL ships that also sail to the Caribbean. Just know that you do get what you pay for. If your itinerary and budget allow it, a newer ship like the Viva or the Aqua is worth the extra cost for a Caribbean trip. But for a European itinerary where you won't spend much time on the ship anyway, the Getaway is a perfectly reasonable, budget-friendly choice.
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On board the NCL Getaway
The Norwegian Getaway, a sister ship of the Breakaway in NCL's Breakaway Class, was built in 2014 and refurbished in 2024. It holds 3,903 passengers and 1,646 crew members. It's 1,068 feet long and 170 feet wide, spread across 14 passenger decks, putting it solidly in the mid-class ship range.
Even with the 2024 refurbishment, the Breakaway still feels dated compared to NCL's newest vessels. The casino sits front and center as you move through the ship, whereas newer ships tend to tuck the casino into a lower deck.
Public spaces generally lack the floor-to-ceiling windows that have become standard on newer ships. Most modern ships have big windows that brighten the space and let you actually take in the scenery you're sailing past. Meanwhile, the Getaway's interior feels dim and enclosed. People who fear they'll feel "trapped" on a cruise will more likely get that vibe here, where it truly is dark and claustrophobic.
The main atrium areas span decks 6, 7 and 8. The lowest level, deck 6, holds the Headliners Comedy Club, a couple of specialty restaurants, a bar and an art gallery leading to the shore excursion desk, the internet cafe and the Atrium Bar (next to a Starbucks).
Some of the ship's design choices show their age in everyday moments. The bathroom near the main dining hall has an awkwardly narrow entry, where — if a line forms — you're left passing via an awkward, airport-aisle-style shuffle.
The ship's Wi-Fi holds up reasonably well, though speeds tend to dip on sea days when everyone is online at once.
🤓Nerdy Tip
When you print your eDocs on NCL, don’t forget to print your luggage tags. It’s easy to forget since the prompt is just a small suitcase with a tiny hyperlink buried in the text.The cabin
Both writers booked balcony cabins, on different sailings, and both noted the same thing: cabins on the Getaway run smaller than what you'll find on NCL's newer ships. Moving between the desk, the beds and the closet in a two-person cabin means a fair amount of shuffling around each other.
The Getaway offers six cabin types: The Haven, club balcony suites, balcony, oceanview, inside and studio. The Haven includes large suites with dedicated amenities like a butler and private sundeck — the largest, the deluxe owner's suite, is 932 square feet with a 204-square-foot balcony, and access is restricted to Haven guests. Solo studios are the smallest cabins, at 97 to 99 square feet with no outside window or balcony, though studio travelers get access to a dedicated Studio Lounge to meet other solo passengers.
Balcony cabins range from 204 to 366 square feet, with balconies from 32 to 133 square feet.
In the cabin, dark wood tones and blue accents give a calming feel, and USB ports built into the sconces above each bed make phone charging easy — though if you need a plug for a CPAP machine or another device, you're limited to the four outlets above the desk (two American, two European).
🤓Nerdy Tip
Bring a European plug adapter or two when cruising — it effectively doubles your usable outlets in the room.The in-room TV is interactive, letting you check your onboard account balance and browse ship amenities and activities — just budget time for the mandatory safety video before you can do anything else, which is one of the longest we've encountered on a ship. The closet is half shelving, half hanging space, with a safe too small to fit a laptop.
The bathroom, near the entry door, has decent storage and enough room to move — but not for two people at once.
The balcony itself is shallow, just enough for two chairs and a small table, though still a nice spot to relax and read.
Dining
Food is a strong point across both sailings, with a wide range of venues.
Complimentary eateries
The main dining rooms are Savor, Taste (both deck 6) and The Manhattan Room (deck 7). There, menus rotate nightly with some standard items always available. Of the three, the Manhattan Room is easily the best — it even has live music. In fact, it's a perfectly good place to skip the specialty-dining upcharge entirely if you'd rather have waiter service than a self-serve buffet.
O'Sheehan's Bar & Grill, an Irish pub on deck 7, is open 24 hours and great for a late-night snack — the Reuben sandwich is a standout. American Diner on deck 16 serves 1950s-style American comfort food.
The buffet, called the Garden Cafe (deck 15), holds up well with a wide variety of options, including steamed vegetables and a robust salad bar if you're feeling healthy, kid-friendly staples like fries and mac and cheese, a specialty meal every night, plus a solid rotation of Asian and Indian dishes (exact offerings will vary by sailing and season).
Breakfast highlights include frosted cinnamon rolls and corned beef hash. If you want to load up on vegetables from a salad bar rather than order off a menu, the Garden Cafe is a good call over sit-down dining.
Room service is available all day, though a surcharge may apply depending on cabin type.
Specialty dining
On Tiffani's sailing, most dinners were spent at specialty restaurants (though for shorter sailings, there are more than enough complimentary restaurants that you shouldn't feel obligated to pay extra for specialty dining).
Several of the specialty spots have outdoor seating along the Waterfront, the walkway circling roughly two-thirds of deck 8, which makes for a lovely option in good weather.
Standouts include Le Bistro (French, with a widely loved escargot), La Cucina (Italian, with excellent lasagna and tiramisu), Cagney's (a steakhouse with oversized wine glasses and reliably good lamb chops and steak), Moderno Churrascaria (a Brazilian steakhouse with a big salad bar and tableside meat service via color-coded signal cards) and Ocean Blue (seafood, with a separate raw bar that carries its own cover charge).
Dolce Gelato and The Bake Shop are counter service speciality establishments near the Waterfront entrance on deck 8.
They're good for anyone who wants something sweet beyond the cakes, cookies, ice cream and soft-serve in the Garden Cafe — though there are more than enough complimentary sweets that frugal travelers would be fine skipping both of these spots.
Bars and lounges
Cruise ships tend to have plenty of bars and lounges, and the Getaway is no exception.
The Atrium Bar is usually the most crowded since it is in the center of everything and sits near a large screen, stage, the guest relations desk and other service amenities.
Meanwhile, Mixx — sandwiched between two of the main dining rooms on deck 6 — tends to be far quieter.
Spice H2O on deck 16 is the most "party vibe: of all the bars given its location near hot tubs and a large movie screen.
The Sugarcane Mojito Bar stands out for its curated menu, and is enjoyable given both its indoor and outdoor seating overlooking the water.
Haven guests have their own bar, as do members of the Vibe Beach Club.
All of the above bars sell drinks a la carte, but drinks are included with the purchase of the Free at Sea Unlimited Open Bar package.
But there's one bar not to be missed — that's the Skyy Vodka Ice Bar on deck 8. Unlike the other bars, this one charges a cover to enter (typically about $20) but is all-you-can-drink for the time you're in there. Here's the thing though: You're unlikely to spend much time inside. It's 17 degrees inside, and the seating and glasses are made of ice.
It's perhaps surprising that this isn’t advertised more as an entertainment option since it is a novelty and has an additional charge — but it's well worth it just for the unique experience. When we visited, guests were far more social with each other than they might be in a standard bar, took tons of photos of each other and laughed all the way out.
Entertainment and activities
The theater shows were a highlight on both trips.
"Bring Back the '90s" delivers real production value with clever choreography that skips the cringey tropes you might expect, throwback needle-drops (including a genuinely funny reimagining of "My Heart Will Go On," for anyone who remembers renting "Titanic" from Blockbuster) and vocalists talented enough that it wouldn't be surprising to see some of them on Broadway someday.
The "Rumours" tribute show is similarly well-regarded, and a cabaret-style show on the final night stood out largely for the singers' talent — a reminder that cruise ship vocal talent can be hit or miss, and this cast was decisively a hit.
The dueling piano bar (at Headliners) was a strong first-night draw. It was funny, high-energy and worth catching — though on a multi-night sailing, be aware the material repeats. Coming back a second time meant hearing the same jokes, which took some of the shine off.
Beyond the theater and the piano bar, on-ship entertainment options run thinner than you might expect for sea days, particularly compared to newer ships. Deck dance parties, movie screenings and guest karaoke fill out the schedule, but none of it matches the polish of the theater productions. If those aren't your scene, don't expect a deep bench of alternatives.
Clubs for teens, kids, and little ones were also available. Other entertainment offerings include an arcade, though this has an additional fee.
The spa and gym
The wellness area sits at the front of the ship on deck 15, comprising both the gym and spa.
The Pulse Fitness Center has separate weight and cardio zones, with cardio machines facing the water — a nice touch on paper, though in practice the gym runs small and felt under-ventilated.
The jogging track is similarly undersized — small enough that logging a real run takes many laps. Even more annoying though is that it's awkwardly positioned next to the American Diner, where diners unaware they're near a running track kept wandering onto it (it's just an honest design flaw rather than a comment on anyone's pace!).
Everything at the Mandara Spa & Salon is an additional cost. For Tiffani, a hot stone massage during a sea day was a genuine highlight. The beauty salon is nearby, along with a medi spa with acupuncture and IV treatments.
🤓Nerdy Tip
Make sure to note the times of any spa appointments you book, as they won't appear in your personal schedule on the app. The spa computers are not connected to the system that displays the schedule, much to the chagrin of the spa's staff. There’s also a thermal suite in the spa that features heated benches, a salt room, saunas, steam rooms, thalassotherapy pools and more. Even if you book a treatment, access to the thermal suite is not complimentary.
To get in, you need to buy either a day pass or a voyage-long pass, with the price varying by the length of the cruise. Day passes typically run about $100, but prices vary based on exact sailing and date (often sea days are pricier than port days, and note that sea day passes are more likely to sell out).
Outdoor venues
The Aqua Park on deck 15 is the star of the ship, with five brightly colored waterslides starting two decks up on deck 17. A large pool and several hot tubs sit nearby, with loungers spread across two decks — though snagging one can be a challenge, since towel-based chair-hogging is alive and well here. A separate kids' water area rounds out the family-friendly options.
The private Vibe Beach Club sits next to The Haven's private deck 17 area and can be worth the upcharge if you want pool and hot tub access without the crowds.
The sports complex on deck 17 includes a 40-plus-challenge ropes course and multi-use courts. It's fun to watch, even if you don't participate.
Overall impression: It depends entirely on where you're sailing
Between the two of us, we came away with a consistent verdict wrapped around one key variable: itinerary.
Book the Caribbean sailings if you like party vibes on a budget. Book the European sailings if you don't anticipate spending much time on the ship.
Just realize that NCL's newer ships are better, and it may be worth considering paying more for a more modern NCL if you truly do care about ship quality over the destination itself.
The theater entertainment and Great Stirrup Cay were real highlights, but the ship's age showed in the small, poorly ventilated gym, the cramped cabins, and the dim and dated public spaces.
Of course, if budget is the deciding factor on which ship you choose, the Getaway remains a genuinely solid value.
The takeaway: if you're eyeing the Getaway for a European itinerary, book with confidence — as the ship's dated design matters far less when the scenery outside the ship is doing most of the work. If you're eyeing it for the Caribbean and can stretch your budget toward a newer ship like the Viva or Aqua, we'd suggest doing exactly that.
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