barb65

I always buy the spa pass because the pool with all the different features is very therapeutic for my joint pain. I'm not a pool person, so it's much less crowded and more relaxing. The heated tile loungers are the icing on the cake.

During our Panama Canal cruise on the Pearl, I took advantage of my spa pass and sat on a lounger in the spa during the canal transit and had a bird's eye view of everything. There was only one other person in the spa with me. I was surprised that more people didn't think to do this.

Also look on the Bermuda forum for suggestions.

I never cruise, especially on the Escape, without the Thermal spa pass. I'm not a sun/pool person so the spa pass is a perfect fit for me. So quiet and relaxing. You will love the heated tile loungers. How does your sister feel about this or were you going to surprise her with it?

8 hours ago, tomservo said:

 

If you mean the one from BeyondShips, I think the one on there is older, even though it says 2019. It still has crispy calamari, which I heard was replaced by sauteed calamari and a few other changes. I was looking for the newer menu which apparently came out pretty recently.

Thank you. Yes, that was the menu I was looking at since it said 2019.

3 hours ago, tomservo said:

You didn't happen to grab a pic of the Bayamo menu, did you?

If you go online, in your search type in NCL Escape Bayamo menu and it will show you the 2019 menu for Bayamo and all the other specialty restaurants on the Escape.

21 minutes ago, barb65 said:

We are booked at Bayamo for our upcoming cruise and already paid the $12 per person upcharge in advance. I noticed on their menu that they have Surf and Turf for a main course at the price of $39. Will this be covered in our upcharge? We dined at Bayamo two years ago on the Escape and really enjoyed the experience and felt the upcharge was still worth the price for fine dining. Hope we aren't disappointed this time like you were.

Whoops! The Bayamo menu lists their Surf and Turf at $29.99 and the Fisherman's Platter at $39.99. I gave a wrong price for the Surf and Turf.

We are booked at Bayamo for our upcoming cruise and already paid the $12 per person upcharge in advance. I noticed on their menu that they have Surf and Turf for a main course at the price of $39. Will this be covered in our upcharge? We dined at Bayamo two years ago on the Escape and really enjoyed the experience and felt the upcharge was still worth the price for fine dining. Hope we aren't disappointed this time like you were.

We are considering dining in LeBistro on the Escape for our upcoming cruise. Would appreciate any good/bad comments and/or menu suggestions. Thank you in advance for all comments.

Mango Meltdown and Bushwacker

I bought stainless steel straws (the wider ones) on Amazon and they work great!

New to RCCL, so we booked 18 months in advance on Symphony to get the junior suite we wanted. I understand they sell out fast and didn't want to take a chance of losing out. Looking forward to our first time with Royal!

23 hours ago, Bigbluegal said:

What exactly makes it so wonderful.  How do those loungers differ from just relaxing in the observation deck?  How would the hot tub or pool area be different than what is available in the Haven courtyard?  Still trying to decide on this purchase.  Do folks wear swim wear in this area?

If you're not sure about the Thermal Spa, wait until you board and go to the desk at the Thermal Spa and request a tour. I've seen several people request a tour to help them decide if they want it or not. If you wait until you board to book it, the cost is $20 more pp compared to if you book prior to your cruise.

Will be sailing the Escape our third time in May. The Thermal Spa on the Escape is the highlight of my cruise. Well worth the extra $. Total relaxation. You won't regret booking it.

Just curious, you said you purchased your UDP during a Black Friday special. How soon before your cruise did they offer this special, so I know when to start looking for it for our upcoming Symphony cruise?

On ‎12‎/‎15‎/‎2018 at 10:48 AM, zitsky said:

Is there an agenda for M&G, or is there just informal socializing?  This is my first and I volunteered to be organizer.  

A slot pull, cabin crawl and pub crawl are all great ideas. I've only taken part in them, but never organized them. Maybe someone who has organized any of these events for a Meet and Greet can give you some ideas how to organize these.

We will be on the Escape in May and booked two nights at LaCucina for specialty dining. Never ate there before, but liked the variety on their menu. Need recommendations, what was your favorite appetizer/meal/dessert at LaCucina?

Would it be easier for you to fly from the UK into New York City? NCL Escape has a 7-day to Florida/Nassau and NCL Gem has a 10-day southern Caribbean, both out of NYC, during March. Never been on the Gem, but was on the Escape (a mega ship) twice and love it. Beautiful ship and great entertainment.

Also, if you can wait until April/May, the Escape has a 7-day cruise out of NYC to Bermuda. You sail to Bermuda and dock there three days then return to NYC. It's nice being in Bermuda three days because you don't have to rush back to the ship each day to go to another port. We did this last June and enjoyed it so much that we're doing it again this year.

NCL Bliss (new ship) offers two eastbound/westbound Panama cruises in November 2019, not unless you're committed to October and RCI. The ports also look interesting. We like NCL and their freestyle cruising.

12 hours ago, ready2cruzagain said:

I have organized several Pub Crawl/Poker Runs.  I always hold it at 1:30 on a sea day.  Plenty of time after lunch and plenty of time before dinner. You can either do both the pub crawl and the poker run or just do the pub crawl is what I always say.  Buy in for the poker run is $5 pp.  We go to 5 bars and if you are in the poker run you draw a card at each bar.  Person with the best poker hand wins the pot at the last bar.  I plan the bars ahead of time and try not to use the elevators as much as possible because that can cause problems.

 

The Epic was a great ship for a pub crawl because most of the bars were located on 5, 6 and 7.  Two years ago on the Epic we had 49 people show up for the pub crawl/poker run.  The winner with the highest hand won $245.  It was a blast.  Great way to get to know each other.

 

You can pick up cards for the poker run at the Dollar Tree.  Cheap way to get them.

What a great idea mixing the pub crawl with a poker run!

On ‎1‎/‎26‎/‎2019 at 8:10 AM, Beer Belly said:

As soon as you board, hit the Box Office to make reservations. 

If there's a line at the Box Office, you can also use the touch screens located throughout the ship. That's what we did on the Escape last year.

We always book with a reputable travel agent. Leave it all up to her to make any last minute changes or other details.

We are thinking of doing Escape the Big Top on our next cruise on the Escape in May. Your thoughts from anyone who has ever done this. Thank you!

We always use SAS Transportation from FLL to Miami. They not only drop us off at our hotel in Miami, but also pick us up after our cruise in Miami and take us back to the FLL airport. Very dependable and very reasonably priced.

Call NCL and ask an agent/supervisor for advice. That way you don't have to second guess if what you doing is right/wrong.