Southern Caribbean Cruise on the Norwegian Getaway
Just to be upfront, this will be my hardest cruise to write about. I had so much fun on my previous New Year’s Cruise in 2019 that I wanted to do it again on this Southern Caribbean Cruise out of Miami on the Norwegian Getaway. I was really excited to get to the ABC Islands, Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao.
A few days before this cruise was set to leave, the Omicron variant of Covid started rearing its ugly head. The decision to cruise was a tough one, but the insurance I got wouldn’t allow for cancellations for that reason, and the cruise lines weren’t allowing it at the time of my departure either. I was fully vaccinated and planned to mask and avoid crowds and hoped for the best.
I’m sure you can already see where this is going. I enjoyed the first few days of the cruise. I had a large balcony at the front of the trip that would have been amazing to use, except that it was super windy at the front of the ship. Unless we were in port, it was almost impossible to enjoy.
The first two days were Sea Days, and since I like to sit outside and my balcony wasn’t ideal, I bought a pass for the Vibe Beach Club. With the padded loungers and easily accessible bar, it seemed like a good way to spend some time outdoors and in the sun. Unfortunately, it was also pretty windy up there, but I did get some quality time in.
After two days at Sea, we made our first stop in Willemstad, Curacao. I spent some time walking around the town and bought a Christmas ornament as well as some new shoes for New Year’s Eve before returning to the ship.
The next day was New Year’s Eve, and I had a bike tour scheduled around Bonaire. Honestly, it was not an easy ride. There were a number of hills, and I guess I was too out of shape because I struggled. It was really cool to see all the natural landscape and I especially loved seeing flamingos out in the wild!
I dressed up for New Year’s Eve, but dined alone at one of the Specialty Restaurants at an outdoor table. This was the last time I really felt good on the ship. Later that night, I was really tired. I thought maybe it was just from the bike ride and being in the sun all day, so I skipped the countdown and went to bed early.
The next day, we were in Aruba, and while I still felt tired, I ventured for a short walk around the port and a swim off the nearby pier in the beautiful blue water. That night, I ordered room service and went to bed early, but overnight, things got worse. I was feverish and really not feeling well. The next morning, I called the health center and they sent someone to my room for a Covid Test. A short while later, they called to tell me it was positive and to pack up my stuff because they were moving me to another room.
They came and got me in full protective gear with the sprayer following after me. I was moved to another balcony room in a section of the ship designated for quarantine. That room would be my prison for three days until they let us off the ship. I ordered all of my meals via room service and entertained myself with books and the internet.
The Facebook group for the cruise was especially helpful during this time. There were others in my position and a group chat was started to share our experiences and support each other. The situation wasn’t great, but I was on a ship with a balcony and free room service, so who can really complain?
Things did get a little dicey on the last night. They had to test all of the international passengers before they could get on flights and fly home. During that testing, I believe they found A LOT more cases. Room Service that night took more than 2 hours to deliver my food. And the next morning things got even worse.
They told me I would be disembarked shortly after the healthy passengers cleared the ship. So, I was ready to go by 9:30am and waited for them to come get me. By Noon, I had heard nothing and they brought by a meal in a Styrofoam container that was far from anything even served in the buffet. I tried calling downstairs, but no one could tell me anything.
Finally, around 2pm, they came to collect me and walk me off the ship. The list they were working off of to disembark the sick passengers was multiple pages long, so no wonder it took hours. Looking back, the situation really wasn’t that bad, although the communication was awful. I had food and a safe place to stay, and I didn’t feel that badly.
A couple of days after our cruise embarked, Norwegian started to let people cancel for future cruise credit. I wish they had made that decision a few days earlier, so I could have canceled without losing all of the money I spent. It really was a bad decision and situation. Due to the number of cases on our trip for both passengers and crew, they had to cancel the next three sailings on the Getaway. People had already arrived at the port in Miami for their cruise when they found out it was canceled. It was not an ideal situation for anyone.
