Chloe McDermott

9-day cruise: Turkey and Greek Isles

OVERVIEW

The Norwegian Getaway provided our group of seven first time cruisers with a wonderful experience and all of us got something out of it. For myself, the ship’s best feature truly was the staff. Each member of staff here is friendly, quick and go above and beyond for their guests. The ship also had a high standard of cleanliness and prompts all around the ship for guests to adhere to said standards was reassuring to travellers (especially after the Covid -19 pandemic).

Ports included many of the Greek isles and two ports in Turkey. This is one for history and sun lovers.

ROOM

A room for my boyfriend and I was on deck 5 and a standard inside room. This means no balcony or window. This did not cause many issues. The room was decent size and came with your hotel standard facilities: TV, hairdryer and mini fridge. We were both disappointed by a lack of USB adapters as we were expecting them and needed to borrow an EU and buy a US adapter to charge our devices.

I liked the approach to turn down service. Fresh towels were only given if you put them on the floor. This is to help make the cruise ship experience more sustainable. Anytime the room was turned down (you could request this by flicking a switch in room) the room was taken care of quickly and would always look immaculate.

You had an option for room service for breakfast at an additional cost of under $5. You were provided with a door tag you could fill in for what you wanted. On this you could order a variety of cereals, pastries, yoghurts, fruits and a couple of hot options. I would recommend the French Toast.  You can also get a variety of times to receive breakfast from 6:30 onward in 30 mins increments. However, these would always arrive early sometimes by 30 minutes. Therefore, be warned you may be getting a lot earlier than you may expect.

FOOD

The Manhattan is a large complimentary restaurant. Our group visited here twice, and I did not have a bad meal on either night. The first night I have cheese ravioli in a lobster sauce which was lovely and light. I absolutely fell in love with this dish, and had it whenever I spotted it on the menu. As someone who doesn’t love seafood the sauce wasn’t overpowering at all which allowed me to enjoy the beautiful ravioli without being overwhelmed by fishy after taste. The New York strip steak several of us got at the table was beautifully cooked and served with a peppercorn sauce – one I would highly recommend. For dessert I had a wonderfully gooey chocolate lava cake. Overall, a very good restaurant that had a good selection on both the standard menu and specials.

Ocean Blue was a speciality seafood restaurant which did have non seafood options for people like me who don’t like seafood. While this was welcomed, I was also disappointed in the offering of steak I was given. The fillet mignon was dry and chewy on one end. However, I will say the starter of scallops served on pork belly slices was exquisite. The pork belly tasted wonderful. 

Moderno was the speciality Brazilian restaurant where they continue serving you meat throughout the dinning experience. This was my favourite restaurant. The pork belly, the lamb shank, the chicken drumsticks were all amazing. The meat was juicy and seasoned to perfection. This was the last restaurant on the ship, and it was definitely a good choice to end on. The salad bar at the start had good options too and not something to be skipped. You had standard charcutier options and soup as well as fresh salad. Even the bread and side dishes here were tasted amazing.

Le Cucina was the complementary Italian restaurant that you could put on your dinning package or bill at the end like an ordinary restaurant. The prices are very reasonable, and most dishes are going to cost you about the same on land. The lasagne was big and filled me with a sense of comfort and warmth. Perfect for what it was.

STAFF

As already mentioned, the staff on board were fantastic. Across restaurants, bars, cleaning etc.

Embarkation day showed how well organised, friendly, helpful and informative the staff were. Embarkation was a breeze to get through and didn’t take long at all. Getting through security and check in was very simple. The staff member my boyfriend and I had checking us in was very patient and helpful when sorting out an issue with which bank card was to be used to charge things to while on board. While I was waiting for my boyfriend went to talk to his father to get the card that was needed other guests tried to push ahead of me in the line. The staff was very good at managing the situation and made sure we were dealt with first. After this we got onto the ship and directed to our muster stations which again was very quick and easy.

The bar staff in the vibe beach club – where our group spent most of their time – were each friendly and attentive. They constantly asked if you wanted anything to drink, served fruit and nuts as well as drinks and they had an impressive ability to remember everyone’s names. They also applied this memory to certain orders too which was a very nice touch. Overall, the service across multiple bars we frequently visited while on board was quick, friendly and attentive. The cocktails were always of a high standard, and they had good knowledge when it came to recommending drinks too. Our group discovered a new favourite in the peach bellini. In the sugarcane mojito bar, I personally discovered a unique cocktail called the pineapple surplus which made use of surplus pineapple juice and pineapple to make a very refreshing cocktail. The staff deserve as much kudos as possible as it is seriously the best service I have received yet.

PORTS

ISTANBUL

This city has a lot to offer for history lovers and shoppers alike. We opted for a private tour in this port. Our tour guide was very informative and attentive. We got to see the blue mosque, the hippodrome, and Haia Sophia on the first day and all these locations were well worth the crowds. These places are popular for a reason and well worth bringing decent cameras for the beautiful architecture. Prepare to be blown away by the age and story of these buildings.

The second day we went to the ottoman palace, cistern, the Grand Bazaar and old spice market. This was the most interesting and exciting day for me as I was looking most forward to seeing the grand bazaar and old spice market. Both of which were beautiful and most importantly had lots and lots of shops. Here you can get jewellery, bags, perfume, souvenirs etc. The old spice market specialised in food products like traditional Turkish delight, spices, traditional perfume, tea, nuts, dried fruits, olive oil soap etc.  Note that the old spice market is where you want to buy food product as it will be cheaper than the Grand Bazaar.

Overall, a very packed two days in Istanbul and would be worth visiting again for a short city break in the future as there are many parts of the city we still need to explore. I regret not staying in the city longer after the tour to explore the city and eat local cuisine at our own pace before heading back to the ship as other group members done this and had a good experience.

MYKONOS

My boyfriend and I had a relaxing time enjoying the beach here as we were able to swim freely in the sea. I will note that this was near the port and was very busy and the beach was plagued by rubbish coming to the shore. However, the lifeguard was taking very good care of the beach and whilst there he got up to clear it. This is simply a reality of taking your chances with busy port with multiple cruise ships that come to all the time.

Overall, I would certainly come to the island again and explore a bit further on our own. We struggled to find public toilets here and were not able to go into any very busy restaurants or bars to use them so unfortunately, we did have to make the tender trip back early. It would be nice to see more public toilets here in the future. It is a beautiful place though and would visit again. Next time I shall be better prepared and know what to expect.

CRETE

Crete is the biggest Greek Isle, and we went to the port town of Heraklion and took a shore excursion to the Minoan palace archaeological site in Knossos. Our Tour guide here was very informative. The site itself was beautiful and the palace shows evidence of one of the earliest civilisations and inspired the myth of the minitour in the labyrinth. There were many things to learn about and many good photo opportunities here. If you were ever going to visit Crete it is certainly a must-see location.

SANTORINI

One problem Santorini has is unfortunately us. I believe as of next year there will be a limit of 6000 people allowed on the island at a time. When we were there, it was around 10,000 tourists. This will likely no longer be a problem in the future as it looks like local government has gotten a handle on the situation and setting limits. However, for us it was a lot, and it meant people were packed into crowed and narrow streets.

Even while on our winery and Oia tour we all noticed the effects the amount of people had on the quality of the tour experience. We were rushed through the initial winery with very little wine served and no information given on the wines or wine making process. Generally felt rushed through places very quickly. The tour guide also felt very unsure what to talk about while on the coach which was very odd. Perhaps there was a lack of confidence or experience but either way I do not recall any interesting information at all which is not a good sign.

It is unfortunate that we experienced the island this way and perhaps it will be worth exploring later date when it is limited to 6,000 people but I am not entirely sure if it is for me. The two saving graces was the fabulous views, the good food and drinks.

CONCLUSION

The NCL Getaway provided an excellent first-time cruising experience which I would certainly recommend to others if they were considering a cruise. As someone who had never thought about taking a chance on a cruise holiday before I would say it is definitely worth it and far exceeded my expectations. The best aspect of this experience was 100% the excellent standard of service on board. Overall, wonderful experience and if I have the chance to cruise on this ship or cruise line again it would certainly be something I would consider it.