Meachjg1963

Our new itinerary has us arriving in Bermuda on Tuesday (a day earlier than expected) early afternoon and leaving on Weds at 5pm, 2 days early. Beyond that we don’t know if we will slowly cruise back to NYC or race back to spend a couple of days in the harbor. All depends on Tammy’s track I imagine and those pesky fuel costs.

Day 1 We took the 635A train arriving at NYC’s Penn Station at 11A. Then hopped in a taxi over to the Manhattan cruise terminal. From the time of getting out of the taxi to when we were sitting in blue chairs, all checked in, waiting to board was less than 20 mins. It all moved very quickly and all staff was friendly. Then we waited, about an hour, maybe a few minutes more. Once our group was called, another 10 mins till onboard and we were immediately told/directed/funneled to our muster station to check in. Great idea, but there has to be a way to improve on the execution. The sea of people all making their way on narrow deck six, crowding the bar and kiosks for reservations trying to get to their muster station was chaotic to say the least. But we made it and knowing to avoid ANY buffet on embarkation day, we ate in Taste for lunch. We made the right choice. Two cocktails and satisfied stomachs (we ate light) and an amazingly delightful waitperson, our cabin was ready so off we went. Our cabin attendant arrived with our luggage 2 mins after we got to our cabin. He was friendly and welcoming which we very much appreciated. Then we unpacked. The size of the cabin is as expected, bathroom is great, balcony smaller than used to. And of course the obligatory nap. Dinner was in Moderno which was good. Loved the salad bar and some of the unique items you don’t always see. The meats were not as good as you would get in a local Brazilian steakhouse nor did they have the variety but we enjoyed them just the same. The grilled pineapple at the end and the coconut flan were quite tasty. All in all, a nice first meal to cap off the day. Next up up, Day 2 and Hurricane Tammy.

Hello, this is our first attempt at a semi-live post and have only decided to do it after our announced itinerary change due to hurricane Tammy. Now with over 5 days at sea we hope to pay it forward. BACKGROUND My husband and I are both in our 60s and we are celebrating our 2nd wedding anniversary today. We are from Boston. We are seasoned travelers and experienced cruisers who have attained 4* Mariner status on Holland America. This is our first NCL cruise. How we got here…at the start of the pandemic and the industry wide shutdown, we knew we wanted to help the industry and through a post here on CC (don’t hold me to this fact) we learned of the cruise first/cruise next (?) certificate that if you bought $150, it doubled to $300 when redeemed. We thought we would use the certificate on the Pearl from Boston to Bermuda but time and dates and ultimately price, we’ve ended up on the Escape. Including our RT Amtrak tickets we are saving $500/pp by going now and from NYC. Thank you to all previous NCL posters as we learned TONS of information, tips and tricks that we’ve used to plan our trip. We are in a Club Balcony Suite, upgraded to FAS+ and have a Vibe pass. We found the online experience for everything to be relatively easy. We knew what days we could book our specialty dining snd show reservations because of posts here. We got what we wanted, when we wanted. Online check-in was a breeze and now it is time to cruise. Up next: Day 1…

I have never cruised Carnival and I’ve been following the events of today and I am impressed with their response.

I agree with you. I was following along with some of the Grand World Voyage blogs/posts and early on one of the posters commented on how they’ve seen the changes, and general degradation of the HAL product/experience. They then immediately answered the question “why do we stay with HAL?” in the next paragraph. The answer was “cause we have too much invested with them.” They are Presidents Club level who spend boatloads of cash on HAL yearly. Until this level of customer walks with their cash to another cruise line, things will continue as is and probably degrade even further.

Thank you for posting. We will be first time NCL cruisers this fall on Escape. I appreciate your thoughts and observations.