News Taffy

Travel is a big part of my family's life. Ever since Corbin was born, Mark, Corbin and I have logged some serious miles traveling across the world. However, in all of those trips to some really amazing places, none of them have ever been on board a massive commercial cruise ship. While cruises are one of the best ways to see a lot of places in the Caribbean, we have never spent any time on one. So when I was invited to get a first hand look at the brand new Norwegian Getaway while it is docked in New York City, I was very curious to see what the fuss is all about when it comes to cruise ships.

Within minutes of being on board, Corbin said, "Mom, I wanna spend two weeks on the ship this summer with some friends! Can we do that?" We hadn't even sat down for lunch or taken a tour and this kid knew he wanted to hang out on the Norwegian Getaway. The feeling for him was obviously a welcoming one! He became even more smitten with the idea of a floating vacation after finding out from Julie, the cruise director, that he could play on water slides, ropes courses, a rock climbing wall and various sports courts. We didn't get to do any of that on Sunday because of the arctic temperatures in New York City.

Over lunch in the Illusionarium Room, we got a first hand look at snip-its from four of the fantastic family friendly shows. The dance group Burn the Floor kicked it off with an over the top energetic dance number followed my an illusionist who really wowed the kids with a levitating table. The cast of Legally Blonde The Musical performed and the cast of some of Nickelodeon's most popular shows like Spongebob, Dora and Diego wrapped up our lunchtime entertainment. Speaking of lunch, it was delicious!

While I was touring the ship, Corbin was whisked away to Splash Academy. Unfortunately, I don't have any personal photos to show you what he got to experience. Why? Because it is a parent free zone! That's right! No parents allowed except in the area to drop off and pick up your little munchkins! What I can tell you is that Splash Academy takes two floors on board and divides the kids into age groups. The Getaway also offers care of parents with infants, too. Corbin tells me he played Wii, GaGa and made some new friends - GIRLfriends that is! He's quite the Casanova! Oh and in his own words, he said, "I had a blast!"

I was blown away by the size of the ship. It is massive and has just about everything you could ever want to have on a floating city. There were more restaurants than I could have ever imagined. One highlight is Food Network star Geoffrey Zakarian's Ocean Blue. Another fun place to hang out, if only for a maximum of 30 minutes is the Svedka Ice Bar. It's about 17 degrees inside the ice bar which means you gotta wear a coat of some sort and sip on your vodka really fast or risk freezing while you float! There is even a multistory social hub that has everything from a disco bar, casino and a comedy club.

The maximum capacity on the ship is 4700 passengers. Our tour guide mentioned that the ship is usually never fully booked though. Hopping on board the Norwegian Getaway in New York City makes for an easy start to a vacation. All you have to do is take a cab to the pier along the West Side highway and set sail.

Denise Albert and Melissa Gerstein from The Moms were out hosts for the fun event. Ladies, thanks for making my first experience on a Norwegian cruise ship a memorable one.

Here's to happy travels on the high seas!

(A note from DJ - This post will be part of a drawing for a free trip aboard the Norwegian Getaway.)