MidTexHorn

Interesting that you keep mentioning all of the sea movement. We were on the same cruise and all of us commented that it was some of the best sea conditions we've ever seen on a cruise (although I did notice some movement the first night). Your post has convinced me of something I've always thought but never tested - best to stay midships as I can be a bit prone to seasickness.

FYI, in my opinion based upon what I saw, here’s what I think NCL (or their vendor) does. I suspect they accept bids of a number of very high bidders 5-10 days out. This locks those high bids in and also sends a message to everyone of us who is following inventory and has lower bids - “your bid is too low, better up it ASAP if you hope to have a chance!!!”  

Know what? It works! A few days ago I saw the Haven inventory reduced in half. Guess what I did? You got it - I went and upped my bids several times over the next couple of days. I’ll bet others did too. I didn’t up mine enough, several folks did, and to them (and NCL) go the spoils. Makes total sense for NCL. They’re probably gonna win with me anyway because I’ll likely go blow a bunch of what I would’ve spent on the Haven upgrade in the casino. 😀

I’m on the 2/10 Getaway and also tried to upgrade from a mini suite to Haven. Minimum bids allowed were $400/person for the smaller Haven suites and I bid on several categories with my bids in the low to mid poor range at $450-510/person. The ship is showing as sold out now almost 48 hours out and I haven’t received an upgrade so I’m assuming I’ll shortly be told that I’m out of luck. I kinda figured with bids in the poor range I wouldn’t get an upgrade and I was probably right but worth a shot. For reference, the poster above who bid at $900/person likely bid in the upper fair to good range. If I had bid that much I would have only saved about $500 off of the price that it would have cost me to just outright buy the upgrade. Wasn’t worth it to me, but was an interesting experience. 

1 hour ago, nylady6712 said:

My bid was accepted for the 2/10 getaway from a minisuite to Haven courtyard penthouse!!!

Do you mind letting us know what you bid?

Was on the Escape a couple years ago with a large Irish music group. Only ran into any of the musicians a couple times, once playing an impromptu jam session outside and once in a bar. Was a bit disappointed to not see them more actually, although I wasn’t seeking them out either. Had no impact on our cruise, positive or negative. It’s a really big ship!

Hey to a fellow Texan, but have lived in Iowa 24 years. Thank you for your review. I have not sailed NCL before and am worried. We have a mini-suite as well. We have sailed Carnival, Celebrity, HAL, Princess and RCCL over a span of many years. Loved the X Solstice to Hawaii. There will be 15 of us sailing together and most on met that cruise.

 

With our group, we range from 50-70, we will have fun but the dining and pool scene worries me.

I wouldn't worry. It's a beautiful ship, with much to recommend it. I just wanted to give my honest thoughts about some of the referenced issues, but they sure didn't keep us from having a fabulous time. Even with those issues, I think you'd have to try really hard to not enjoy a cruise on the Escape.

Glad you had a nice trip. It sounds like you do all the same stuff we do, from the spin classes to the catamaran trip and even the sail away at La Cucina. We have also been married 30 years!

 

I also am always shocked by the positive reviews of OSheehans as I thought it was by far the worst food ever. But its open 24 hours ,which is nice.

 

We went to St. John this last trip and did a sailing trip with Kuralu in Tortola but we are going again and I like the sound of your catamaran trip... especially lunch! How much was it? I quickly looked but did not see price and do not have a day to book yet.

 

We are trying Celebrity in September, I hope it has enough to do for hubby.

I believe the trip on the Sweet Pea was around $180/person. Not inexpensive, but well worth it per everyone in our group and we loved not having the booze cruise atmosphere of some other catamarans. It was like sailing on your best friend's catamaran, if your best friend was an experienced sailing captain married to a great chef.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

A few final thoughts:

1) on the whole, our group preferred the Reflection to the Escape, but it's a close call. The noisy pool scene on the Escape was the biggest downside. We're not opposed to music and getting rowdy at times, but the crowds and constant noise was just a big turnoff. We heard other folks on board remark similarly. If there had been a quiet pool other than the Haven, it might've been a draw between the two ships. That said, we really enjoyed both and would be happy to sail either again.

2) worst food on board - pizza at buffet. Wow was that bad. Soggy, chewy and flavorless.

3) Two of our group loved O'Sheehans, the rest thought it was the worst food on board (other than the pizza). That said, the prime rib was pretty decent.

4) The Waterfront is a great concept and more cruise lines should work something similar into their new ships.

5) we loved the variety of bars on the ship.

6) Teppanyaki was a big hit with everyone. We have similar restaurants at home, but the chefs were much more skilled here, and the food was at least equal in quality. It's loud and rowdy with lots of singing and banging of utensils, so if that bothers you it may not be your ideal restaurant.

7) we picked the 9:00 disembark time and walked off the ship at 8:55. It took about an hour to get our bags and get through customs. Jiffy Jeff got us to FLL by 10:30.

8) since we had a late flight out of FLL, we dropped our bags at the baggage storage service near the baggage claim area ($7/bag for the day, cash only). Caught an Uber to Shooters Waterfront and had an unbelievable brunch on the water watching the yachts sailing the intracoastal waterway. $20 bottomless mimosas made for a very festive last day of our vacation.

9) we all enjoyed the Brat Pack show. At lot would probably be lost on folks who didn't grow up with 1980s John Hughes movies, bit that was our teen age years so we really had fun. All agreed the cast was very talented.

10) never made it to a magic show, never saw a comedy show, missed all the other shows, never hit the Skyline bar in the casino, never saw the dueling piano show. Never ran out of things to do though.

All in all, a great vacation. Cruising is really an ideal group vacation in my mind as there is truly something for just about everyone of all ages and interests to enjoy. We had a great time on the Escape and really appreciated all of the staff's hard work. Would be happy to sail NCL again.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

I haven't seen him at 5 O'clock Somewhere, so vacation sounds right.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Nice review.

Were you able to get a daily spa pass?

We decided not to as we didn't think we'd spend enough time there to make it worthwhile. It was offered to us on the first day when we visited the spa to set up our appointments.

Thanks all for the comments. We've been so busy and have still not tried so many things on this ship. It's a pretty amazing place. Here's a literally live pic from the Atrium

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

And a few more random thoughts while waiting for my massage appointment:

1) my wife wanted me to make sure to mention her favorite spin instructor so I will again. He is a good looking guy, must admit, and man is he full of energy. We just saw him giving a well attended lecture at La Cucina on increasing your metabolism and if anyone could give that talk it's him. Wears me out just looking at him. Not sure about his name, will try to get it later.

2) we've had multiple mixups at the spa on appointment times. First time, I blamed myself and/or alcohol, now I'm not so sure. I'd call an hour ahead for your appointments just to make sure they're happening when you think they're happening.

3) really enjoyed Food Republic last night. Nice change of pace with Asian Fusion small plates. Not at the level of our favorite Uchi in Austin, but nicely done for a massive cruise ship.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

View from the restaurant at The Baths

Sail away view from 5 O'clock Somewhere

Another Tortola sail away pic of the Virgin Islands. Don't miss this!

Wednesday night sunset from our port balcony as we head for Nassau

80s Dance Party

KISS made an appearance

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Now for some pics

Exercise class schedule

Snorkeling

Jeep, the resident dog on the Sweet Pea

Dinner view at La Cucina

Our ship, the NCL Escape, views from the Tortola/VG ferry

The Baths

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

I'll try to catch up a little bit here after a busy few days. I'll continue with my random thoughts mode:

1) Sweet Pea Catamaran http://www.daysailsweetpea.com was awesome. Rave reviews from our group. My wife is a bit of a worrier and doesn't really groove on small boats, but she loved the captain and we all felt very safe and well taken care of. The captain is a salty old guy who likes to tell jokes and old sailing stories. He loves to sail, not just turn on the engine and go, so we got to see him, his wife and their helper in action and they were really good at it. We snorkeled off of some immaculate beaches on St John and saw around 8-10 turtles, a stingray, conch, eels, held lots of starfish and for the ultimate - saw a 4 foot nurse shark! Never knew my wife could walk on water until she saw that shark. The shark was even more scared of her though. It was an absolutely immaculate day of snorkeling, our best ever. The captain snorkeled with you and helps point out everything. Boat had an open bar and they'd make whatever you wanted to drink. The captain's wife is a French trained chef and made a wonderful Thai grilled chicken salad with shrimp and peanut sauce plus dessert. There's a stand up paddle board to use and lots of noodles to help the weaker swimmers float. Can't rave about these folks enough. They had us back to the ship with plenty of time to spare.

2) my wife and I ate at La Cucina that evening and I timed our reservation to coincide with sail away and sunset. The lighting and view were magical and we sat outside on The Waterfront. The service was great, as it is everywhere on this ship. Food was good, but not really much better than the main dining room fare (bread was better). We spent about $75 which includes tax and tip (we have the UBP so didn't have to pay for drinks). For the atmosphere outside at sunset during sail away it was worth it, otherwise I'd just as soon eat in one of the main dining rooms.

3) This ship definitely moves around a lot more than the Reflection. It's a minor irritant, but it's there. My wife thinks it's just too damn tall.

4) The Haven sure does occupy a lot of the upper decks. That's what leads to the pool crowding. Not a big impact for us as we're not big pool/sunning people, but I can see why it would bug some.

5) Sail away from Tortola is not to be missed. You are surrounded by beautiful islands for about two hours, going quite close to some. Spectacular when viewed from the Waterfront with a glass of wine or margarita in hand and a lot of folks we're doing just that. Seriously, don't miss this. It was a highlight that we'll long remember.

6) The Baths in Virgin Gorda were really cool. Something everyone should see at least once. Not for the mobility impaired as there is lots of climbing of stairs, scrambling over rocks, and some moderately strenuous hiking to and from the beach. We enjoyed the hike and wandering through the rocks, spent an hour or so lounging on the beach and then had a nice lunch at the restaurant up top.

7) Speaking of the Baths, don't waste your money on the ship's excursion here. It's way too easy to do yourself. Here's the step by step - walk off ship at 7:00. Go to main drag at end of dock and turn left. Walk a quarter mile or so to the ferry dock and go to the Speedy's window. Tell the guy you're going to the Baths. Pay him $40/person and he'll give you a ferry pass to/from and a wristband for the taxi once you get there. The taxis are lined up and waiting for you once you get to VG. Ask the taxi driver what time to meet up for the ride back. For us, it was 12:00 for the 12:45 ferry. Pay the lady $3/person for entrance to the Baths and go hike around, lay on beach, drink, eat, whatever. Meet up with the taxi (it'll likely be a different driver as there are just a bunch of them that work for Speedys) and catch your ferry back. You'll have about an hour left for some shopping. Easy trip. Really no need to pay double for the ship excursion as they're all doing the same thing you are just on a different boat that looks quite a bit like your ferry.

8) bring a bunch of $1 bills and tip your waiters/bartenders. They don't expect it, but from the looks on their faces and their thank yous, you can really tell they appreciate it.

9) Casino is quite busy at night. No luck for me at the BJ table, as usual. Smoke is worse than the big swanky casinos in Vegas, maybe similar to some of the downtown casinos.

10) 80's night dance party at Spice H2O last night was fun. Lots of crew dressed up for it and they did a Thriller dance that was fun. Lots of silliness, and the cruise director is a bit over the top in trying to get everyone fired up, but it was fun. Gonna hit the GLOW party tonight.

11) for the person who asked about the bartender outside at The Cellar, I think his name is YEO or something similar. I'll try to look again. Very nice guy. He's our favorite so far. Not chatty, just nice and does his job well.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Forgot to mention, my wife had a blast at her exercise classes yesterday. The spin class kicked her butt, and she reports that the class leader is a very cute guy and ridiculously high energy. I may need to go tomorrow to keep an eye on her! ;)

Price is $20 per class and I think they'll do a discount if you sign up for a bunch of them. I'll try to remember to post a pic of the class schedule as that is something my wife was wondering about when we were planning our trip and I couldn't find much info online about it.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Let me see if I can figure out how to post a few pics

Sail away

Super Bowl by the pool

Salsa dance party

I believe this is a bunny

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Laughing at the comments about our loooong marriage. Yes, I pretty much don't remember a time when I wasn't married. We met in the 6th grad and got married a year after HS graduation. I have a very patient and understanding wife who puts up with me and my travel shenanigans.

Last night was fun. The Super Bowl was shown on the big screen in the Atrium and it was a madhouse. Seats were taken several hours before game time and it was loud and rowdy. We ended up going to the pool area where they showed the game on the two big screens overlooking the pool. It was a great scene. Pool bar was open and they set out a small buffet with nachos, hot dogs, chicken wings and popcorn. Watching the game with beers in hand and our feet in the water was a blast. The people who spent the entire game in the hot tubs while drinking beer and somehow miraculously never went to the bathroom for a pee kinda grossed me out though and put me off of using the hot tubs for the rest of the trip.

After the game, we hit up Sugar Cane for a round of mojitos (love the ginger mojito) and then they had salsa dancing in the Atrium. Great fun! Videos were playing on the big screen and the dance floor was packed. Lots of ship staff joined in and they were very good dancers. Even my buddy who never dances was dancing with his wife. Really fun scene.

So far still loving this cruise. Wife loved her spa appointments. The keratin hair treatment really helped her hair which was kinda fizzy due to the humidity. They did a good job selling her stuff, as she came back with several hundred bucks worth of gels, creams, who knows what else!!! Oh well, it's vacation.

Only real negative so far is that for the second evening in a row Spice H2O was closed in the late afternoon around sunset for a private event. That's usually my favorite time of day to hang out at a bar on the top of the ship, so I was bummed. The Waterfront area was a nice alternative though. We like the St Germain wine spritzers at The Cellars wine bar. Very refreshing.

Tomorrow is our first port day in St. Thomas. Our group of 9 friends has booked the Sweet Pea catamaran for a day sail which we're really looking forward to. I'll report back on our experience with them. My wife and I will also be doing our first specialty dinner at La Cucina on the Waterfront so I'll have a report on that.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

A few notes about myself. I'm 49 years old, traveling with my lovely wife of 30 years and a group of friends. This is my second cruise ever, first was on Celebrity Reflection two years ago. I'm a bit of a foodie, like to drink cocktails and beer. And now, on to my random thoughts after 24 hours on board:

1) Comparison to Celebrity - younger crowd, much more fun with more to do, but also less elegant and less classy. Loved the bar at the back top of Reflection for sail away. Spice H2O may end up being as good, but it was closed at sail away out of Miami so that was a bummer. Food comparable quality but more choices here. It's a nice looking modern ship, but I probably prefer the look of the Reflection more. LOTS more to do here on Escape though.

2) Not a pool person, but if I was I imagine I'd be irritated with this ship. Too small, too loud, too crowded. Obviously some folks are enjoying it, but I'm avoiding it like the plague. Sitting on my balcony right now on the 12th floor, and there's an obnoxious level of noise coming from the pool deck and somebody yelling on a mike. Again, just not my thing.

3) Our midship balcony mini suite is nice, love the larger bathroom. Haven't seen our steward yet but he's doing a nice job keeping the place straight so far. He had our pre-ordered water bottles in our room when we embarked which was nice.

4) Lots of great bars. So much alcohol, so little time. We are all enjoying our unlimited drinks packages, maybe a little too much, but no real harm done yet (except for some really ugly karaoke at 5 O'clock Somewhere last night.

5) Casino is huge and as smokey as everyone says. As a non smoker it is very noticeable, I don't mind it but it is a minor annoyance to some in our group and definitely permeates the areas around the casino. Really liked Celebrity's non smoking casino.

6) The ship definitely has a bit of an odd shimmy. Reflection felt more solid, but I think we also had smoother seas on that trip, so not a totally fair comparison. Ship looks and feels a bit top heavy. Weather is a bit windy and waves seem to be coming from all directions, so ship is bobbing around a bit more than we'd like. Nothing major, just a slight annoyance. I would not enjoy hitting 15-20' seas in this thing.

7) Everyone enjoyed early dinner last night at Taste. Dinner took about two hours. Good food and service. Go in with the understanding and perspective that they are serving thousands every night so it won't be the greatest thing you ever ate, and you may just be pleasantly surprised. Wings at O-Sheehans mediocre, but nothing has been bad so far. Food at least as good as Celebrity so far. Have not hit buffet yet.

8) Sail away at the wine bar on The Waterfront was very pleasant. Nice comfortable outdoor or indoor seating. Nice wine and cocktails and met a lovely couple from Georgia who randomly sat down near us. Will be spending a lot more time at the wine bar, very pleasant and peaceful.

Overall, very nice so far. Different feel than Celebrity, but very much enjoying it. I'll have a report on the spa and exercise facility from my wife after she returns from a full day of working out and spa treatments. I'm not going to post every day, but will try to answer questions occasionally and post some closing thoughts at the end of the trip. Now for a nice nap in my air conditioned room, while listening to the waves outside through my open balcony door. Life is good!

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

I read all of the posts on here. I understand hyper planning. I get it and do it myself which is why I read this board. I just found this one to be hyper hyper to the extreme which made me laugh a bit. If someone was offended by my post I apologize, although I don't see that what I said was offensive.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

No offense intended to the original poster, but I find this question/discussion rather funny. Folks are paying thousands of dollars on a cruise, hundreds on excursions, tips, etc and they're concerned about a couple of bucks in tax while drinking their unlimited alcoholic beverages in port on Day 1 of this very expensive vacation. It's fascinating to me.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

What food is served at the new poolside BBQ and how is it prepared? BBQ means many different things depending on where you're from, so I'm just curious as to how it differs from food that would otherwise be available at the buffet, are we talking smoked meats or grilled, etc? Thanks

Thanks!

It is early. I just got home from REFLECTION yesterday and they were

going to put me in the 7:20am group......No thanks. I didn't need to

be off so early. My original tags were "4 GREEN". I had Guest Relations

change it so I could disembark at 9:30 instead.

 

But if you want to be off early, even without self-disembarkation? Yes,

it is very possible.

What's the latest they'll let you disembark if you drag your own bags?