Hey Fam! Hopping on to share my latest adventure, cruising with Perfectly Paralegal’s Paralegal Cruise 2022. This cruise took place from January 28 through February 2, 2022 on the Norwegian Getaway. We cruised to Jamaica and Great Stirrup Cay, Norwegian’s private island in the Bahamas. 

I joined Perfectly Paralegal several years ago but this was my first time attending the cruise/conference. It was a full paralegal conference, complete with meet and greets and classes that took place on sea days. And we earned CLE (Continuing Legal Education) credits for the classes. A professional conference on a cruise with CLE credits? What’s not to love!

A huge shout out to Linda McGrath Cruz for coordinating this cruise and staying on top of all the changes. This cruise was initially scheduled for 2021 but due to COVID it was moved to 2022. Linda kept us in the know on everything that was happening and put on an amazing event. THANK YOU!!

COVID Stuff

The Omicron variant was still pretty rampant during the few weeks leading up to the cruise so there were concerns it would be canceled. To put things into perspective, a January 5th cruise on the same ship was canceled on the day it was scheduled to depart due to COVID related circumstances. Thankfully, our cruise went on as planned but with some restrictions in place.

I wasn’t sure what to expect of cruising during the pandemic, so I watched a lot of YouTube videos about it. The two channels that were most helpful to me were La Lido Loca and The Ship Life. Both channels provided almost daily cruise news segments that really provided much needed explanations for what we saw in the news. So I felt prepared to deal with some of the restrictions. 

One of those restrictions is that you had to be vaccinated and have a negative COVID test in order to board. Initially we had to present a negative COVID test, taken no earlier than three days before boarding. This was changed to NCL testing passengers before boarding. By the time the requirements changed, I had already paid for an antigen test so I kept the appointment just so there were no surprises when I arrived at port. My test was negative so I wasn’t as nervous on embarkation day. 

Testing on embarkation day was pretty painless. NCL transformed one of the storage areas at the port into a testing center. I was directed to a table where my vaccination card and ID were checked. Once my ID was confirmed, I was given a sheet with a barcode on it and directed to another table where someone instructed me on how to swab my nose. I submitted my sample and went to a waiting area to wait for my test results. I was supposed to get an email with my results but discovered that there was no cell service in the waiting area. So when my 20 minute waiting period was up, I went up to the results table, had my bar code scanned and was told that my test results were negative and I could proceed onto the ship. 

One of the biggest COVID related changes NCL made was that the ship sailed at 65% capacity. I have no way to confirm it but I think capacity may have been even lower than that. Either way, it was amazing! There were no lines anywhere on the ship and practically no wait times for any activities.  There was plenty of room to maneuver at the buffet and in the restaurants. Debarkation during port days and on the last day of the cruise were a breeze. I wish sailing under capacity could become the norm for all cruises. 

One of my favorite views from the deck!

This was my first time cruising with NCL and I loved it! NCL is known for their freestyle cruising; no dress code, no set dining times, etc. And I loved the relaxed vibe that created. Here are my faves about this cruise:

The Crew

The crew on this ship was genuinely excited to see us and repeatedly told us so throughout the cruise. They were super attentive, friendly and approachable. I didn’t have a single negative interaction with the crew during this entire cruise. 

The Food

I absolutely loved the food on this cruise. I mean I ate and ate and ate. One of the things I tried to do was not eat at the buffet, the Garden Cafe, for every meal. The food there was great but I wanted to spread the love (and not my waistline!). I ate at several other restaurants including Shanghai (amazing Chinese food!), O’Sheehan’s, Taste and in the Tropicana, the main dining room. 

The carrot cake at OSheehans

The only negative I had about the food was that we were allowed to serve ourselves at the buffet. As I mentioned, I tried not to eat every meal there, and when I did, I tried to sanitize my hands when I got back to my seat.

While I loved the food at all of the restaurants, my favorite had to be the specialty dining experience at Ocean Blue. If you have to do specialty dining anywhere and you love seafood, you have to go to Ocean Blue. Everything from the service to the food presentation was top notch. And the food – chef’s kiss! The only thing I would not recommend there is the crab cake. It was tasty but I’m from Maryland and what I had was definitely not what we would call a crab cake, LOL!

Dinner at Ocean Blue
The crab cake that wasn’t.

The Ports:

This cruise stopped in Jamaica and NCL’s private island, Great Stirrup Cay. Our first port was Jamaica. My excursion to the Green Grotto was canceled so I signed up for a bus trip to Konoko Falls and Park. During this excursion, we visited the small museum on the property and learned about the history of the island, had a guided tour of the park, met some of the animals and took in the view near the falls. We had a driving tour where we saw statues of Christopher Columbus and Marcus Garvey. The tour also included a stop at The Almond Tree for coffee and fresh baked banana bread with a spectacular view. 

 

Konoko Falls and Park
Trying to smile while this parrot is digging it’s claws into me!

I did not get off the ship when we stopped at Great Stirrup Cay. It was so windy that the tender boats couldn’t pull in next to the ship and they had to delay the tender transfers for about an hour. Rather than risk a rocky transfer and sand blowing in my eyes on the island, I opted to stay on the ship. I hung out on the pool deck and the Waterfront most of the day.

The crew getting ready for the party on Great Stirrup Cay.

The Entertainment

Despite COVID, most of the ship’s entertainment went on as planned. Things like trivia and the deck parties still took place. I watched Black Widow on deck the first night and enjoyed the dinner and Burn the Floor show in the main dining room. I even attempted to win a free cruise playing bingo. Didn’t win but it was still fun. 

Favorite Experiences

My absolute favorite experience during this cruise was dining and chilling on the Waterfront. The Waterfront is an outdoor promenade unique to NCL ships, where several of the bars and restaurants have outdoor seating on the promenade. When I had dinner at Ocean Blue, I was seated in their outdoor space. Outside of the subtle rocking of the ship, it was just like having dinner at a waterfront restaurant on land. I also spent a lot of time there during the day lounging, reading and watching the waves. It’s a great alternative to the often crowded pool deck. 

I absolutely loved having dinner on the Waterfront!

One of the more unique experiences I had on the ship was going to the Sky Vodka Ice Bar. Everything in this bar, including the chairs, the bar itself and even the glasses, is made of ice. It was a cool 17 degrees there but I was able to hang for about 40 minutes.  The trick is to come prepared by wearing tennis shoes and long pants.

Don’t mind our expressions. It was 17 degrees in there!

That’s my experience cruising on the Norwegian Getaway during COVID. Would you consider cruising with Norwegian Cruise Lines? How about cruising during COVID? Let me know in the comments.

Read here for my review of the solo cabins on the Norwegian Getaway.