CruzinMel

I'm not getting that vibe from the folks who drank it, but ok. But I'm not convinced it'd be worth the upcharge by itself.

I'm following along - we will be on Escape in a couple of weeks and in a club balcony for the first time - thank you for those bathroom pics! I hate that about the servicing of the room...I could survive with once a day, but wet towels are a big no. Hopefully they will work it out!

So I'm really glad to see this topic- I had no idea Norwegian had changed P+ since my last cruise (last NYE on a family cruise on Escape, where we had P+ for our adult children, all I drank was Veuve for 2 days and we code named one of the kids "Whisky".) This year it's just myself and DH going, and I've been debating whether to get P+ or not - he only drinks Crown Royal or the occasional beer, so it wasn't cost effective unless I branched out. Which I was willing to do, but not for a no-name rose that I might find at Costco. I get the need to make a profit, but if NCL keeps cheapening the premium offerings, they stop being premium and become obvious.

We leave Dec 30th - NYE cruise! I am SO READY. . . Vibe would have been the icing on the cake, but we have a large balcony and will make do. 🙂

Yeah, that helps to know - our sailing has been sold out for months, but there is also a very large group of solos on this one, and I'm betting the 35 of them got Vibe passes. Sigh. No Vibe for me!!

Ok, now I can stop thinking I'm crazy - a week after I made my final payment, my cruise shows a credit balance. I emailed my PCC but didn't hear back, so I figured I'd buy some spa time and go about my business. I think I might wait a bit.

Thank God. This was starting to sound like the Cruise From The Bad Place.

Hear, hear!!!

Okay, you win the day. I did not know there was such a thing, but how clever!!!

Oh my. Don't start this one up again! Haha...I do know I heard the maitre d in the Haven Restaurant tell someone they would not be allowed to have a specialty restaurant meal in the restaurant, but suggested it be sent to the stateroom. Well, it WAS the lady who was completing her 34th Escape Haven cruise, so maybe she is more than Special?? But I promise - it was a GIANT bowl of either unsauced ramen or yakisoba.

So it wasn't a hack per se, but one our last trip I watched another passenger eat noodles from Food Republic in the Haven Restaurant - I think if you ask nicely enough and pre-order, you could probably get anything from anywhere.

You know what might be tasty? They have shrimp toast for breakfast - I wonder how the shrimp patty would be on a burger? But I LOVE the crab cake idea!!! It never occurred to me to specify the # of shrimp for shrimp cocktail. . . I will share this with DH, because he would totally do it.

You didn't miss anything if you are a Dallas fan. The hubs is currently in a deep depression. OTOH, the kicker hit one from 40 yards out, so something worked.

On Escape, sports were on Channel 27, and also on the big screens at Spice H20 and O'Sheehans - that was the NYE bowl games, which would be comparable to today's. Dallas' kicker continues to be cursed. Hopefully somebody will get him a bucket of chicken and give Jobu some rum at halftime.

On the drinks- you are NOT WRONG. I used to time it so that I was at a bar at 3:15 getting a beverage before they shut down at 330 for a 4 pm departure.

My pleasure- let me know if you need more pics... 😀 I have many more sunrises and sunsets. Reading trip reports was all that got me through the wait, so I'm glad to help!

Aw, thank you!!! You are very kind - I ramble, so you should see what I cut!! 😀 It never occurred to me to ask David or Charry for help, although I'm certain they would have. They have access to everything, after all. I was rambling the ship on my own, in the quiet of the morning, and reverted to habit.

Saying Goodbye. . . Just like that - we were off the tender from GSC and upstairs cleaning up. The amount of sand I brought back from the island. . . ugh. After we cleaned up, we packed up. DH and I stayed relatively tidy, but the kids had exploded into their respective spots and it took a minute. (Drumboy spent some time talking to our steward; Freddie told him that we were actually one of his tidier rooms, so I felt better about that.) We decided to roll off our own luggage rather than check it, so after everybody was 90% packed up, we went to dinner. I had reservations at Cagneys originally, but decided to go to the Haven restaurant instead. Probably not the best choice - it was a madhouse, and the staff was clearly stretched to their limits. We still had a marvelous meal, which was finished early enough that we had plenty of time to roam one last evening, and then. . . it was time for bed. (Well, time for bed for the old folks. Drumboy didn't come in until after 4 - evening hijinks occurred.) We were relatively leisurely about getting up and getting to breakfast; the nets on the pools and hot tubs were just another reminder that it was time to go. Cape Canaveral was glowing in the morning sun, and the morning walkoffs were already off at 8:00 am. We took a few minutes to make sure we visited everyone who had been so good to us, to express our appreciation. See them? They're down there. Me? I was refusing to leave my balcony, but DH made me. We heard muffled announcements that it was time for walkoffs, so we eased down to the Haven lobby, which was rather packed. This pic also is the only one I have of our marvelous Concierge, David Trumbull, standing behind his desk. About 5 minutes after I took this pic, the starting gun went off and David started escorting people to the crew elevator. We zipped down the elevator, walked through this hallway, said a sad goodbye to Magical Charry, scanned our cards for one last time, and walked down the gangplank. DH and his hat, scanning for the door. The saddest thing I saw that morning - in a couple of hours, this place would be full of excited, happy people. The time stamp on my phone? 8:29 AM. We rolled our suitcases to the truck, loaded up, and started the drive. Drumboy, sleeping the boneless sleep of the truly exhausted vacationer. The worst Second Breakfast ever. And that brings the trip diary to an end! Thank you for coming along for the ride. It was not what I planned, but it was a marvelous vacation nonetheless. Next up: Alaska in September on the Jewel!!! I have 8 months for planning and plotting, and it will be easier because it will be just DH and myself. Until then, I hope all of your cruises are wonderful.

A note on Puerto Plata - take those pics fast, because they are all crowded the later it gets in the day. We were there earlier this month and they were beautiful places. That said, folks do their best to accommodate you. Example - Dona Blanca's alley - but we still got cool pics.

Wrapping Up - What Did I Forget? Alcohol, and other Beverages - Premium Plus vs Free at Sea? Free at Sea would have been sufficient for us normally, even with NCL moving Crown Royal to $16/drink rather than $15 - I joked with DH that as long as he had fewer than 129 beverages during the week, we'd still save money. But. . . the kids wanted Premium Plus, DH was a fan, and I thought, why not? So Premium Plus was the first thing that Magical, Marvelous Charry got for us at embarkation. It was worth it. We discovered that Drumboy has expensive taste in whisky. I never saw that young man without a sipping glass of something that smelled like heaven and tasted like fire. (He worked at a craft brewery during his undergrad and was a bartender working his way through grad school, so I should have realized.) We ordered whatever we wanted, and I never once worried about how much it cost - one day, I drank nothing but Veuve (except in the bars where it wasn't served). We took our bottles of wine when we left the restaurants. I had Starbucks every day after I found out that Atrium Cafe = Starbucks, and we drank liters and liters of Flow water. I got rotten at one point and just ordered "the best thing you can give me that my Premium Plus will cover." (A very nice Riesling, as it turns out.) It was worth it not to have to worry. Mid-cruise, my habit is to chase the sunrise, have first breakfast, and then go to Guest Services and get a copy of the bill*. (Nobody is ever at Guest Services at 8 am. No lines. Highly recommend.) So on Day 4, there I was. . . looking at an itemized statement for over $3,700. Although we had the Premium Plus package, a glitch occurred which caused it not to link to our cards, and we'd been getting charged for everything outside of Free at Sea. (There was one charge for $269 - I'm thinking that was a bottle of something.) After a short wait, I was handed a new statement - $1,355, of which $974 was for Premium Plus and I knew what the rest was (shopping mostly). So, do the math - in 3 days on the ship (taking a day off for port activities), 4 carefree adults drank over $2,000 of alcohol. Had we not had Premium Plus, we'd have been more careful, but somewhere down the line, we'd have messed up. So, that's something to think about. I don't want to worry about anything on vacation - do you? (*Along those lines, if you do nothing else, always check your bill, mid-cruise and on the last day. Mid-cruise corrections are sometimes needed, and on the last day, if you have any refundable OBC, that's the day to get it. I got pulled out of the disembarkation line to do something with the bill on our first cruise, and that is an unnerving experience.) Selection and Availability: If you had told me that this lone bottle of Crown Royal would be one of TWO on the ENTIRE ship, I'd have laughed my crown off. Yes, Crown is not a well brand, but it's not THAT special. . . except it is, apparently. So be aware that not every brand of alcohol is available, and brands that are available are not at every bar, whether by design or by circumstance, and you won't know until you get on board. For example, Crown only existing at the Atrium Bar and Spice H20 was circumstance. (It was not at Tobacco Road, which might have made more sense. And yes, we asked at every non-specific bar we visited.) By design, some drinks are only at specific venues. The specialty mojitos at Sugarcane are only available there, although any bartender can make you a basic mojito. At Syd's Pour House, I fell in love with an Ambrose (a wine concoction). You can't get one anywhere else, even if you run into the Pour House bartender on Great Stirrup Cay and try to woo her into making you one. A Haven bartender could make you something similar or better, but otherwise, you're outta luck. Shopping* The selection of alcohol and liquor in the gift shop has narrowed, whether based on supply issues or something else. Unlike in past cruises, there was no Crown Royal for onboard purchase, and we searched in vain at all the duty free shops in port for Crown Royal or Peach Schnapps (Mom likes Peach Schnapps.) Lots of rum in ports, but hey, you're in Rum Central in the Caribbean. General shopping on board seemed more limited, as well. We searched for something for Mom in the gift shops because nothing on the islands appealed and her request for an emerald bracelet for $400 was laughable (best one we found was on board for $4k. It's still there.) We got her a tote bag with cute dogs on it. I've been on Escape before where there were t shirt sales, hats, flip flops, photo albums. . . not this time. There were doodads and clothes in the gift shop, and the usual in the jewelry store, makeup and perfume store, some lower priced jewelry and sunglasses, overpriced NCL branded clothing, models of the ship, lanyards and photo frames, watches and chains for jewelry. . . but it just is not what it used to be. I found a selection of toiletries and first aid items, but nothing like my personal stash of pain relievers, sunscreen, and allergy meds. *Disclaimer: I hate shopping. I am not the best person to review shopping. Activities: The Atrium is still The Place to Be, whether it's for games (Deal or No Deal), trivia, cake making, fruit carving, or general mayhem courtesy of the Cruise Director. For the first time ever, we played Bingo - the early bingo games are inexpensive but they get more expensive as the jackpots go up, and end up in a Grand Finale with a raffle for a cruise for 2. We attended because Drumboy and DH won raffle tickets playing Deal or No Deal, which must be standard practice because the Theater was full. Our number did not hit. Oh, look - someone standing! Boooooo! Not being sun chasers or enjoying being crammed on the pool deck, we avoided that area but it was always hopping and the chair hogs were active as early as 6:30 in the morning. Indiana and I tried to spend time on the Haven Sun Deck, but it was SUNNY - the shady areas there are few and always occupied (although the bar service is very nice.) It's too windy for umbrellas when the ship is moving, unfortunately. I never visited the pool in the Haven or the hot tubs, but Indy visited the hot tubs nightly with great enjoyment, and spent an afternoon at the Haven pool peacefully reading and drinking. Little kids' squeals of glee echo resoundingly there, but it's a joyful noise. Occasionally, they leave toys in the pool, and it's cute. Spice H20 is another hub. During the day, it is sunny and full, and the smoke from the smoking side will occasionally waft around but it's ok. The grotto is a great place to cool off; the hot tubs are almost always full, and the umbrella space is highly prized. For the most part, it is kid-free, although we saw a couple from time to time; early one evening a family came with a toddler, which they set free to run in circles like a demented bee. Another night, a very attractive woman tried to read my future at the bar, and another time a young Canadian man flattered this old lady by offering to buy me a drink. Since I had Premium Plus, I bought his instead and introduced him to my kids. The nighttime dance parties are big fun according to the kids, and they have the pictures to back it up. Drumboy pronounced the comedians lackluster, and he never mentioned Howl at the Moon, which means either he didn't go, or it wasn't fun. Despite liking beer, he didn't say anything about the District, but I heard the music and it sounded fun. DH enjoyed craps in the casino, where he won for once, and Indiana tried her hand at roulette and slots, where she also won. Yours truly spent $130 on that STUPID machine where you feed coins in a slot, hoping to pile up enough to fall down. . . dumb. Addictive. Don't do it. While we saw photography sessions happening about the ship, and the studio was available for scheduled photos, one thing I did not see was the photographers who would roam the restaurants snapping pics as you dined. I missed that. I also didn't see the photographers set up to take pics with props as you exited the ship on port days. We only bought one picture. I scored passes to the Thermal Suite, but that was the day DH met his Bottle so it ended up just being me and Indiana (Drumboy went solo in the evening.) The Thermal Suite on Escape is in the back of the spa area, which you will find at the end of the hallway going down the fitness center. (The fitness center is likewise large, with treadmills, ellipticals, free weights, etc.) The barber, stylists and mani/pedis are around the lobby area, and there is a large desk at which you check in and surrender your key card. It is not possible to sneak into the Suite, in case anybody is thinking of it - that entrance is secure. The suite is at the end of a long hallway, in which you will pass the entrances to the men's and women's locker rooms (get a robe out of the locker room if you'd like - they're nice to soak up water or cover up with for a nap.) Once in the suite itself, you have so many choices - sauna (two types - wet and dry), rainshower, salt room, snow room (brrr!), thalassotherapy pool (my FAVORITE), a hot tub, and something else I forgot. (The thalassotherapy pool, btw, has a chair for assisted entry. This confuses folks because you think that is the entry to the pool, but it isn't - entry is next to the hot tub.) The location is at the very front of the ship, with windows on all sides and to my mind, has the absolute best view. There are ample padded recliners with views at every window, perfect for naps, reading and resting; there are also 2 round daybed-type things, too. But the heated tile loungers. . . oh, those are heaven, and they are right up against the windows looking at the forward view. Take towels to those - one to lie on, and one to roll up under your head. The tile loungers appear immune to chair hogs, probably because they are in high demand; if you're not in the lounger, someone else is. Indiana and I spent a good 5 hours in the thermal suite, including our own stint in the tile loungers - they get hot after a while, for me. There was never an issue with availability, as long as one was patient. The day we were there, flavored water, hot tea and oranges were available for refreshment. Other stuff? Bocce and Putt Putt, plus the slides, the rope walk, the sports court (my people visited none of these areas); lots of trivia in many places; cigars in the cigar bar; wine and whiskey tastings (we wanted to go, but I kept missing the Cellar Master to sign up - probably could have asked Charry for help, but she'd helped me with so many other things!). Bamboozled was available, too. On Escape, there is so much to do that one literally cannot do it all. From my morning ramble on Tortola day: The rules and the pitch: But contrary to some reports, Putt Putt is still a thing: And is free: Morning and the slides and sun worshippers - this was coming into St Thomas. Usually by about 10 am, every one of those chairs is occupied and walking through it is a madhouse of thumping music and dodging passengers. My favorite spot, actually, was all the way under the Haven restaurant (underneath where I was standing when I took this pic, actually) - it is a shaded area where you access the forward lobby, and several times I thought about getting a towel, a book, and a lounger and camping out there (the towel was to cover up with if I got chilly from the wind.) And I think - I think! - that is it. I'm sure I'm missing something. This cruise was a perfect blend of busy and idle; we did as much as we wanted to do, together and separately. I must tell you - Drumboy methodically roamed the entire ship, from the highest deck (19) as far down as he could get (5), forward to aft; he even made a list. I'm surprised he didn't get into the crew areas, but I don't think he did. He found conference rooms, and the library, which Indy would have liked, except that the last night of the cruise when a bunch of kids hotboxed it. Not cool. He found secret entrances into and out of the Haven (key cards work, but they're not really visible.) She's a big, beautiful girl, the Escape!

DH worked in the service industry for a couple of decades, and gets tip happy: being budget-mindful, I have to pull him back sometimes. My general rule is that I tip for service. On some cruises, I never spoke to the concierge except a greeting as I passed the desk - so I didn't tip them at all. On my last cruise, our concierge helped me get spa passes when they were sold out, and the assistant concierge helped me with a ton of things, so we tipped them each $100. I didn't make any special requests of our butler beyond gluten free snacks, but he went out of his way to make sure they were labeled and plentiful, and DH got happy, so we tipped him another hundred. (He might have been surprised at this, because he insisted on personally taking my luggage down when we disembarked. But he was always lovely.) We tipped our steward another hundred because he kept us tidy and there were 2 extra beds to set up each night. My son tipped the bartenders and some other folks that he encountered inside and outside the Haven - I don't know how much went to whom, but he had 300 bucks to do it with. I saved my largest tip for the maitre d in the restaurant because he went above and beyond for me - I felt awkward about it, but I hoped he would have a chance to get himself a lovely meal on me. I tell myself that I planned for the expense and I did; when we added everything up and realized we handed out that much money in tips, I admit I got a little queasy and DH got bummed for a second because that was what he won in the casino. But then...these folks work HARD to make sure that we had time to relax and feel pampered. Sure, they get paid, but when someone goes the extra mile to care for you, the tip is how you say thanks. I may never see any of them again, but I feel better knowing they feel my appreciation. And if I hadn't been able to afford it, I think they'd understand because we are all just folks. You do what you can, when you can, as much as you can. I went on one cruise holding my breath that my credit card wouldn't ping when they ran it, and those tips weren't very big - everything comes around in the end. (Plus, I ran around like a wild woman taking pics of name badges so I'd get my Hero cards spelled right - you need first and last names.)

Aw, man....that's miserable, but I feel you. I have a ton of friends who missed it during the early period, were vaxxed and masked and careful, and still got it in the last six months or so. If I had the free at sea specialty dining and didn't want the meat, I would still go to Moderno. I'm trying to remember everything on the buffet- there was salad, of course, but fresh veggies, cheeses, breads galore - you wouldn't leave hungry. But yeah - I wouldn't pay for it. There's no buffet worth 58 bucks, unless The Rock is bringing me my plate that he made with his own hands. And maybe not then.

Ken!!! I thoroughly enjoyed your last cruise - looking forward to reading about this one!!!

Oh, no - that sounds awful!!! I'm so sorry - getting sick was the thing I worried about the most. I made all my people get the bivalent Covid vaccine before we left and my workplace requires me to get the flu vaccine yearly, but I figured there wasn't much more I could do. You can only manage germs and viruses to a point. DH came home with some sinus thing which he refused to get treated for, but Indy, Drumboy and I made it through unscathed and we didn't communicate anything to Mom or her caregiver (I mini-quarantined DH once he got snoddy.) Someone Who Shall Not Be Named and his girlfriend came home with the flu, though. Did you get quarantined on board? Ugh. The menus in the dining areas that we visited were clearly marked with vegetarian items. If being around meat at a meal is ok for you, you could totally do Moderno if you wanted. The buffet has tons of vegetarian items, and the sides and pineapple 🍍 would be satisfying and tasty. It's important to enjoy your food and trust its preparation.

Thank you, thank you - I will hurry up and finish up the onboard activities bit before you depart! You will have a great time!!! 🍌