patsfantb12goat

We waited to 3 weeks out to book NCL Escape and we got an ocean view and balcony for 4 for less than 3000. No perks but we didn't care. Not sure I will ever book a cruise on a mega ship more than 30 days out ever again.

Nice review! Thanks!

Thanks!

Nice review!

My husband and I just got off the Pride of America yesterday (Saturday) and arrived home today. It was a long journey and my brain has no idea what time it is. So I am wide awake, uploading pictures of the ship, menus, food, daily activities, and our adventures on the islands. I plan to do a full review and hopefully provide some useful information. Please ask questions along the way and I will do my best to answer. Mahalo to all of you for taking the time to read my review!

Can't wait for your review and pics! We are thinking of doing this cruise!

Hi

 

 

We are looking to book a cruise September, I can't decide between ncl escape or carnival magic. We will have 11 yr dd with us.

 

I like the look of the ports on Carnival magic, but the escape works out slightly cheaper with the free at sea deal at the minute (finishes on 10th April).

 

We have cruised once before on Ncl spirit and loved every minute.

 

We would like a balcony on either ship.

 

Has anyone been on both to give us a good comparison?

 

Thanks

Have never been on CCL but just got off the Escape and we loved it! Great rooms, great food, great service and so much to do around the ship! The only drawback was the entertainment but I think we caught the ship between rotating shows so the entertainment was just ok. If you go over to CCL forum I know there are some extensive reviews of the Magic because I myself was looking at the Magic as a possibility for our next cruise.

We just got off the Escape and we loved it! We would like cruise again in August and after looking at price MSC looks to be a really good deal right now.

We were parked next to the Divina in Nassau and the shipped look nice.

What can you tell me about this cruise line? Is it comparable to NCL? Is there enough to do on the ship on sea days with teenagers? The food as good as NCL? What are the main differences? How are the shows?

Any info on why you like MSC would be greatly appreciated!

What time did you leave the Baths? Thinking of doing The Baths ourselves.

Thank you for the review. Enjoyed following it :)

We did the baths on our own. The ship gets in at 7Am and Speedy's has a ferry at 7:45. The next ferry is 9:45 and tho that is one we took, we should of done the 7:45 one. We didn't know. They say the ferry is 30 mins, but its more like 50 mins. And there is only 1 person working the ticket window. We had to wait 20 or so mins to get tickets once we got in line. Thank goodness the ferry was running behind or else we would of missed the ferry. We had enough time to get on the ferry, get a cab, pay the admission fee, walk down to the beach, drop our stuff, get in line for the baths, cut out half way thru and swim back to the beach, get out stuff, walk up to the taxi and get in line. We arrived at Virgin Gorda at 10:50 from a "9:45" ferry. Last ferry to be able to get back on the boat leaves at 12:45. The cabs start coming at 12:15 to get people back to the ferry dock. You will not be the only ones in line......so bring your patience. But I would suggest the 7:45 ferry if you really want to enjoy all the baths have to offer. Its beautiful and worth the trip. Wish we would of had more time.

Hello all!

 

I just thought I'd get feedback from my cruising experts. I've cruised on RCCL in the past but have an upcoming NCL cruise later this year. I thought I'd ask those of you that have cruised on both lines before, how do they compare? I've only seen NCL ships at port and thought the insider feedback would be helpful.

 

Thanks for your time and your insight! :cool:

We just tried NCL for the first time on the Escape and we loved it! The one thing that has us sold is the "any time" concept. That alone is worth the price of admission! Being able to eat wherever, whenever and do whatever was awesome! I cruised RCL once and DCL many times and for the price you pay NCL is a winner in our book. Are there some things that each line does better than others? Sure, but to us it was so minor that RCL and DCL does not justify the difference in price.

I feel so bad for you! This really stinks. But I would kindly, but persistently continue to talk to RCCL about moving your money to a different cruise. The squeakily wheel gets the grease, but it will probably take some time and many phone calls and documentation to get it done. I bet someone will take pity on you and help you out. I would write a letter, email, call, tweet etc. Best of luck!

Thanks so much for your review! We are experienced NCL cruisers but have never been on the Escape...going in December.

A question: Can you reserve shows online ahead of time as we did a few years back on the Epic? Not sure how Platinum dining fits in with reservations.

Perhaps someone else can remind me as it's been a couple of years...If you reserve ahead of time, do you have to pay upfront and get it taken off your bill?

One more question: Does NCL dock at the main dock in St. Thomas?

So glad you enjoyed your cruise, OP.

We docked at Havensight I believe. If your looking at a map it is the one on the bottom toward the left side of a map. (sorry, I am one of those people who don't know north and south but will know what take a left at the big tree with a large lump at the base of it means)

As far as the shows and platinum dining I can't answer those for you.

Did you smell smoke when you're out by your balcony since the designated smoking area is same side as your cabin. Hoping to book this cabin. Thanks

 

Sorry this is a duplicate question

Never smelled smoke on our balcony when we used it. Because of the wind and the design of deck 8, not sure you would smell smoke if someone was smoking below you. I think most people would go to the casino to smoke and not bother to step outside to smoke. I never saw a smoker on deck 8 whenever I went there.

never smelled smoke on our balcony at all

C3Po - Sorry don't know how to do the copy to a reply thing.....

Anyway - the waver runners were in good shape. Life Jackets are mandatory while riding. You can take them off while snorkeling. The jet skis have a small compartment right in front of you and a storage area at the front of the jet ski that they will put your mask, snorkel and fins. They also give you goggles. I didn't know why till about 1 minute into the ride. There was a ton of spray and I only had my sunglasses on and let me tell you, that saltwater burns your eyes. I had to stop half way and put them on. Otherwise you are trying to go 30 MPH on 3 foot waves with your eyes closed.....not a good option!! WEAR THE GOGGLES! Also, if you have any sinus congestion, not to worry! The salt water will clean your nasal cavity out pronto! So between wiping your eyes and wiping your nose - well, you get the picture!

When you get off the boats, there will be many people there saying they can take you anywhere. Problem is, if you are the only people going there you may have to wait till they find others to fill up the "taxi" (really more like a bus) We finally had to tell our driver we had an appt and needed to leave now. She was kind enough to find us a real taxi and off we went. I think it was $9 PP one way. Takes about 15-20 mins with no traffic to get over to Coki. The website I gave you is actually a company that does excursions all across the Caribbean on all the islands.

There are lockers for $5 on Coki beach. Just ask anyone. When you climb out of the taxi's workers are there to greet you. It may seem like they are trying to bother you, but actually they are very helpful and once you get what you need, they don't bother you unless you want something. So we just locked our money/phones in the locker and went over to the jet skis. You could bring a waterproof pouch because of the compartment on the front of the jet ski, but the locker was safe and easy too and could use it all day which was nice to be able to go to the beach and not have to worry about your stuff left on your chair.

No problem getting a cab back. Everyone will say, tell me when you need a cab and I will get you one. But in all honesty from about 2 on the cabs are plenty because everyone is starting to leave. You will have no problem.

We rented 2 jet skis for the 4 of us. My girls could of both drove, but in the interest of $$$ we doubled up. I think their max on a trip is 5 jet skis and the driver so no more than 6 jet skis go out in a "pack".

I have ATT and its worked perfect at Coki. My cell plan is such that I did not need to call ATT and regular rates applied. (at least I hope they did!) I had a conf. call I had to hop on and had no problems.

According to our tour guide, ST Thomas is one of the only remaining islands in that area you can rent jet skis. While we could see St John, we could not go near it because of regulations.

Hope this helps!

no issues at all with the smell of smoke

You will have the best time!! Just got off the Escape and we too were new to NCL. Loved it!!

We went on the Escape on 3/19 for a weeklong cruise to the EC. Me, hubby, 2 teen girls still in high school. (2 college boys left behind much to their dismay. Their breaks didn't line up. Welcome to reality boys! :))

Our prior cruises were 1 with RCCL on their new (at the time) freedom class ships (dating myself) and 5 on DCL only on the Magic. (Because their new ships had not come out yet. Again, dating myself) we really liked RCL and loved, loved, loved DCL. We even thought about going on DCL this time around, but, at over $12,000 for an inside for the same week, we laughed and said - Do we look stupid? But all kidding aside we had to look elsewhere and I immediately came over here to see what you fine folks had to say about all things cruising.

We booked late in the process - about 3 weeks out. We were torn on what we really wanted to do because honestly afraid that no other cruise line in the whole wide world could live up to DCL and we would be soooo disappointed and it would ruin our whole vacation and we may never be the same again. (Cue over the top drama) But we got over ourselves and pulled the trigger. It came down to Carnival and NCL. Based on reviews, I was not jazzed about either one but my nice TA had been on both ships and really pointed us to NCL and told me all my fears were going to be for nothing. Plus when the price of $3000 for a balcony (for me and hubby) AND ocean view for the teens (they were lucky because it was cheaper than an inside for some reason. And believe me I was not above putting them in steerage if need be so we could get a balcony.) This was also about $1600 cheaper than booking thru NCL so it’s a GO. We did not get any packages with this rate but that was fine. We did buy the UDP for 3 nights thru NCL, which was a total of $320, so we were still ahead of NCL prices. Not drinkers so the UBP did not matter to us. The info and tips that I got from these boards was extremely helpful. Ya all rock!

Getting on the ship was busy but not unbearable. We arrived at 11:30 and were on the ship by 12:45. Our room was ready so not much to do but go eat, drop our stuff and check out the ship.

The Escape is clean, new and BEAUTIFUL! I don't know what were expecting, but it was better than I could of imagined. The teens room was on the 5 and our room was on 9. We were room 9854 and we really lucked out because we booked GTY and we could have been put anywhere. We were above the waterfront, but not above the bar or any loud music. Our neighbors were quiet so we were able to really enjoy our balcony. This room has the bed by the door to the balcony and we slept with the door open each night! Heaven! For 2 of us, the room was great. Bigger than I had thought it would be. The bathroom was plenty big. I had read about the cardholder for the electricity to work but didn’t understand what that meant until I was in the room flipping switches and wondering why no lights were coming on. Duh!!! Figured that out and thankful that every time I needed to leave the room I didn’t need to spend 10 minutes wondering where I left my key! And the most important tip my pals here at CC gave me? If you are leaving your room and you want to know which way to go – JUST LOOK AT THE FISH ON THE CARPET. They swim toward the front of the ship. BRILLIANT piece of advice and probally saved many fights between my hubby and I because you know men and their sense of direction! Nor would they think to ask the room steward which way are the Aft elevators. All round everyone was very happy with our home away from home for the next week.

IConcierge - Another tip from you fine folks. Word of advice to anyone new to this app that you can use while you are on the ship. GET THIS!! Best $7.95pp we spent. To be able to call each other and text while on the ship was the best! I also read a tip from a fellow CC member that the MINUTE you get on the ship start making all the reservations for shows, dinner etc. Which is what I did and I am so glad I did because 30 mins later you couldn't get reservations to any specialty restaurants. The only times I could grab for 4 of us were late and on port days. But I took them anyway for Cagney's, Teppanyaki, La Cacunia. People who had the UDP were not happy about this. In hindsight the late times actually were perfect for us. It gave us time to eat a late lunch once back on the ship, rest, get ready for the 7:00 shows, hang out and then eat at 9:15 or 9:30. So I count ourselves lucky!

Food - was excellent all the way around. Most days we ate breakfast and lunch in the Garden Buffett. Lots of variety. Yes, there were a lot of people, but I found if you walked abound to different areas of the Buffet you could find short lines and we never had a problem getting a table. Ice cream from here was a twice-daily endeavor. We ate at O'Sheehans for snacks, prime rib dinner, breakfast and lunch a few times. Very good food! Fun to sit around the Atrium, eat and watch what was going on the 6th floor game shows etc. All the specialty places were excellent as well. I have read complaints about service but we found no such problems.

Shows - they were all okay. This is probably where DCL will get our vote. But we went and enjoyed them. Our teens really loved Vocal Overdrive. I felt the best entertainment was the comedy shows. We went to the 7pm family shows and they were really great - teens loved them. Hubby and I went to the 11pm shows and laughed our *ss off. Flip is funny!!!

Ports - Okay, again, lots of good advice and help from all you fine folks. We did our own excursions. At St. Thomas we booked jet ski/snorkeling safari from the Stthomascruiseexcursions.com. They are located at Coki beach. This was by far our favorite thing we did! We scheduled for 10 am. Got off the ship at 9:15 took a cab to Coki Beach. We immediately got 2 lounge chars and an umbrella to stake our claim on the beach. My husband wanted to wait till we got back form the jet skis but I am like - "The CC people say we should get them now because the beach fills up fast” He looked at me like I had 3 heads. Needless to say when we returned, I WAS RIGHT (or I should say you guys were right) I did not point out that I was right because I always let him think he is King of the Castle (but in reality its the Queen who is really in charge!) They took us 6 miles out to a different Island, gave us fish food, and let us snorkel for about 30 mins. This was wonderful! We would have no less than a couple hundred beautiful, colorful fish at any given time swimming around us. When were returned to Coki we just spend the next several hours on the beach. There were a lot of people but not unbearable. The beach is beautiful!! The people working the beach are nice and helpful. They are hardworking folks for sure! No problem getting cab back to the ship. At Tortola we took Speedy's ferry over to Virgin Gorda for the Baths. Let me just say the Speedy needs to change his name. It was anything but Speedy! Some advice if you do this on your own - you get into Tortola at 7AM. There is a ferry at 7:45 AM. If you want enough time to really enjoy the baths, TAKE THIS FERRY! Not knowing this, we took the next ferry at 9:45, which gets you to Virgin Gorda at 10:15 right? Enough time to enjoy and get back - WRONG!!! First off the ferry ride is supposed to be 30 mins. This day it was more like 50 mins. Getting to the ferry is a quick/easy 10-minute walk to the terminal. WORD OF ADVICE - do not walk there and think 15 mins to get tickets and get on the ferry is enough time. We were NOT the only people who thought this and there is only 1 person working the ticket booth at Speedy's. It took about 20 mins to get tickets. Thankfully the ferry was running late that day and we and others were able to get tickets in time. BUT because the ferry was late they were boarding people as fast as they could and a few hundred people were pushing their way onto a single person entrance. Remember boats will only hold so many people so when they reached their maxed number of people, they shut the ship off and basically took off. BEWARE - Families got split up and some members got left behind. And the boat had already pulled away before people realized what was happening. This happened to 3 different families. Kinda Crazy!! The good news is we got over to the baths. The bad news is the arrival at the island at 10:15 was really 10:50. Quick cab ride, pay your entrance fee to the baths, walk down the beach, dump your stuff, get in line for the baths, go thru the baths, ditch halfway thru the baths and swim to the beach because you realize you are running out of time and you need to be on the 12:45 ferry back or you will miss the ship, which means you need to be in line at 12:15 for a ride back to the ferry. You get in line with 300 plus other people and you wonder how in the world they are going to get this many people back to the ferry and with 1 boat how all these people will get on the ferry seeing as they cut off at a certain number. NOT TO WORRY! (Wish I wasn't so stressed and enjoyed the baths more) They tell you the ferry won't leave till everyone is back at the dock. That was correct. What they didn't tell you was that even though they can take 200 on the ferry and there are 300 people in line, they had a Speedy's ferry AND another large ferry there to take people back to Tortola. Whew! The baths were worth every stressful minute! Beautiful and something to put on your bucket list. But bring your patience with you because there are lots of people doing this and the line to get thru the baths moves, but at a slow pace. The line to get cabs back to the ferry moves, but at a slow pace. Nassau- went to some local beach on Paradise Island. Wasn’t great. Didn’t stay long. Wish we would of bought a day pass at the Colonial Hilton. $60 pp. but gets $40pp credit toward food and drink. Lesson learned to listen to you guys on this stuff!

The ship areas – The main pool deck is obviously packed on sea days. We did not hang out here but on several walks thru the area, getting a drink did not seem to be a problem. We did go to Spice H20. We got there 12:30 most days and were able to find chairs or loungers. Service at the bar was never an issue. Were there a lot of people? Yes! But not to the point you can’t enjoy yourself and find a place to sit. The Atrium is awesome. We spend a lot of time there. We also played bingo a few days and that was fun but not lucrative! The Ropes Course- This was a blast and the things my teens enjoyed the most! When your looking up, you think no big deal, looks fun right? OMG, when you walk up those stairs and have to walk across the first beam next to the side of ship – That is some scary stuff!!! But, I am a big girl, an adult, and the silly little “what If’s” that go thru my mind are stupid. For instance, What if my harness is the first one to ever fail and I fall like a stone to the ocean below? The ropes course can play mind games with you that’s for sure. I even walked the plank one day and let me tell you that was some scary *hit right there. That wind is blowing and that arm is swaying and you are trying to grab that silly little pull cord so you can take a picture to show all your friends. In the meantime praying to God that you don’t become the first person whose harness fails on the plank. But once I put my big girls pants on, I was fine and I and my girls did the ropes course almost everyday. The best was the day we pulled into Nassau, we were on the ropes course and they had finally opened the 2nd story of the ropes course. We were able to stand on top of the ship and watch the captain dock in Nassau. That was so cool!! Our timing was perfect! We never waited more than 15-20 in line to get on the ropes course. My girls also loved the water slides. There is also Bocce ball and mini golf, but we didn’t do those. There is also an arcade and mini bowling in O’Sheehans at a cost. Many kids were enjoying these. In fact, some brothers enjoyed one game to the tune of almost $500 on their parents account the first night!!! That was a funny story! (Not to the parents of these boys, but to everyone else it was funny)

Getting off the Ship – Again easy to do. We chose the walk off. Got in line at 7:25 and the line was snaked around the Manhattan room. But the line moved and we waited in customs less than 5 mins and we were off and back to reality!

All in all we LOVED the NCL Escape. I was nervous based on a lot of reviews I have read here and elsewhere. But we found nothing to complain about and had the best time!! NCL has earned new customers with our family! We will try again for August on the BA or Escape. Maybe the Dawn since it will have been newly out of dry-dock. One goal for NCL is to sail in the Haven at some point. The king and I disagree on if its worth the cost because he feels you would miss out on so much of the ship and it would be a waste of hard earned money. But, as I said earlier, the queen rules the castle and we will sail in the Haven at some point!!!

Can’t thank everyone enough for his or her reviews and insights. Ya all helped make our cruise that much better!!

We loaded a duffle bad with Coke and Water and slapped a luggage tag on it. There was a little frig in our room that enough room for a few bottles to at a time to be placed in beside the stuff you had to pay for. Worked out perfect!

We were on that same cruise. We were on floor 9 but toward the front of the ship and I was surprised how quiet it was being above the waterfront. But good to note for future cruises if floor 9, didn't even think about what its like above the bar. We ate at Cagneys, outside, and our food was excellent that night! We never went to the pool but that is a crowded area. Our kids were old enough that we went to H20 spice and even tho lots of people there, we found chairs at noon and service was great. I bought the unlimited internet and I had no issues with mine. It was slow at times and great at times, but with having to work and do a remote meeting I had no issues. I do think the shows were not that great. I think the escape is in a transition and we got caught in that.

We just got off the Escape and we were DCL people with 7 cruises under our belts. We paid 3100 for a balcony for ourselves AND an ocean view for the 2 teen daughters. We LOVED NCL and the Escape. We will not go back to DCL for price alone. NCL Escape was beautiful, our rooms were just as great as DCL, the food was excellent, the service was great! So many areas of the ship to enjoy on sea days with lots to do. The "freestyle" concept is awesome! The entertainment was not as good as DCL but I think GA and BA have better entrainment than the Escape. I was nervous going NCL based on reviews, but our experience did not match any of the negative reviews at all. NCL has earned new customers with our family. Our kids loved it and can't wait to go back!

We had never cruised with NCL. Little nervous reading reviews but I gotta say, What in the world is their to complain about? Lol! Our balcony room is better than I thought, the food has been good. The employees have been nice and service has been good. You would never know there are 6000 people on this ship! I expected it to be worse than it really is, which is not bad at all. So far so good! If your thinking of going, do it! You will have a great time! I have seen 1 wedding, and a family trip that has 84 people in their group.

I assume you have unlimited WIFI? Can you use more than one device on this plan, say a cell phone and a computer? Can you make your phone a hotspot and tether your computer?

Thanks!

Called NCL and they were very helpful and this is no problem they said. Great customer service!!

We are leaving this Saturday and my husband has a work emergency which means he can't get on the ship Saturday. Our option is for him to fly into Saint Thomas. Will NCL let him board the ship in Saint Thomas so he can join us?

pats4ever

we did the panama canal cruise and that was awesome too but that was back when Disney with 4 kids was affordable! :)

Love the Pats! ;)

Thanks everyone!