Everything.. ESCAPE (live 29 Oct 2015!)

[aubreyc1988]

I do not know for sure, but I THINK, and someone correct me if I am wrong, some of the deck 9 aft balconies on the Getaway are larger than the other aft balconies. But this is just a guess, and I remember when I was on the Getaway the first time, I was on Deck 8, and I think I remember people telling me Deck 9s were bigger, but I haven't really looked at the deck plans in depth of the Escape and if it's a similar deck plan

Edited November 28, 2015 by aubreyc1988

[kimberja14]

Does anyone have specific info on the size of the suite and the balcony for aft-facing balcony Category B1 on Decks 9 - 15?

 

 

 

I am seeing some info here that the aft-facing balconies may be larger on Deck 9 than some of the other decks above it.

 

 

 

Anyone stay in one of these aft-facing B1 balconies and can give me specific square footage for the suite and the actual balcony, please.

 

 

 

Thanks

 

 

We just got off the Escape...room 9324 aft balcony. I don't have square footage but balcony was huge! Our room steward brought us 2 loungers and there was still plenty of room for the 2 regular chairs and small table. We loved it:-)

[Yorkvillain]

Nevermind....deleted

 

Lol. Smart move.

[hpecorari]

Does anyone have specific info on the size of the suite and the balcony for aft-facing balcony Category B1 on Decks 9 - 15?

 

I am seeing some info here that the aft-facing balconies may be larger on Deck 9 than some of the other decks above it.

 

Anyone stay in one of these aft-facing B1 balconies and can give me specific square footage for the suite and the actual balcony, please.

 

Thanks

 

Okay, not exactly sure about the Escape but on the other 'away' ships; Breakaway and Getaway the B1 Aft Balcony range from a total sq. ft of 250-343. the total inside range from 172-176 sq. ft. and the total sq. ft of the balcony ranges from 55 to 168. Deck 9 is known to be the largest. That's the best I can give you.

 

Harriet

Edited November 28, 2015 by hpecorari

[coach jim]

Does anyone know if they are going through with the smoking/non-smoking dividers in the casino? If so any announcement on when they will be up?

 

Thanks,

 

Coach Jim

[sjbdtz]

So if you pay for a spa haven suite and you get on the ship and NCL says no access to the spa unless you spend an additional $200, but you don't HAVE to, and there's no refund for the premium you paid for a "spa suite", would you think that is a fair deal and that you got what you had paid for?

 

Yes or not?

 

 

That's not what's happening here.

 

 

.

[Dave85]

Well, we ended up switching our May cruise on the Escape to the Breakaway, not really because of this Margaritaville situation, but because I just could not justify spending all of the extra money to fly, stay in a hotel before the cruise, etc., to sail on the Escape over the Breakaway. I'm just not as excited about this ship as I was when I booked her. We liked the Breakaway a lot the first time we sailed on her and she has a number of venues we would have missed on the Escape -- including Bliss, Fat Cats, Uptown, and the Noodle Bar. All of the extra for fee dining on Escape does not do much for me. Frankly, if we didn't have a future cruise certificate to use I would have been very tempted to just return to RCI in May. I expect to have another wonderful cruise on the Breakaway, but I won't be buying anymore of those certificates...

 

Thanks to all of you who have provided excellent information on the Escape. We may consider her in the future after seeing how the product shakes out.

[Yorkvillain]

Well, we ended up switching our May cruise on the Escape to the Breakaway, not really because of this Margaritaville situation, but because I just could not justify spending all of the extra money to fly, stay in a hotel before the cruise, etc., to sail on the Escape over the Breakaway. I'm just not as excited about this ship as I was when I booked her. We liked the Breakaway a lot the first time we sailed on her and she has a number of venues we would have missed on the Escape -- including Bliss, Fat Cats, Uptown, and the Noodle Bar. All of the extra for fee dining on Escape does not do much for me. Frankly, if we didn't have a future cruise certificate to use I would have been very tempted to just return to RCI in May. I expect to have another wonderful cruise on the Breakaway, but I won't be buying anymore of those certificates...

 

Thanks to all of you who have provided excellent information on the Escape. We may consider her in the future after seeing how the product shakes out.

 

Sorry to hear this Dave although you probably made a wise move. All of your points make sense.

[Sand and Seas]

Sorry to hear this Dave although you probably made a wise move. All of your points make sense.

 

Your move from Escape to Breakaway does make sense when you look at it that way. We are too late to change our January cruise on the Escape, but are thinking differently about the next cruise we were booking after that. For us, we have to fly a long way no matter which ship we book on. Still, I think we will go back to Getaway out of Miami. We love the Flamingo Grill and are just not sure if we are as excited about the Escape anymore. I'm sure we will enjoy our January cruise, but we have loved all three of our Getaway cruises and will most likely return to her. We have really enjoyed having a casual place to eat lunch that is NOT the crowded buffet.

[eroller]

Well, we ended up switching our May cruise on the Escape to the Breakaway, not really because of this Margaritaville situation, but because I just could not justify spending all of the extra money to fly, stay in a hotel before the cruise, etc., to sail on the Escape over the Breakaway. I'm just not as excited about this ship as I was when I booked her. We liked the Breakaway a lot the first time we sailed on her and she has a number of venues we would have missed on the Escape -- including Bliss, Fat Cats, Uptown, and the Noodle Bar. All of the extra for fee dining on Escape does not do much for me. Frankly, if we didn't have a future cruise certificate to use I would have been very tempted to just return to RCI in May. I expect to have another wonderful cruise on the Breakaway, but I won't be buying anymore of those certificates...

 

Thanks to all of you who have provided excellent information on the Escape. We may consider her in the future after seeing how the product shakes out.

 

 

While I really liked and enjoyed ESCAPE, given the choice I would pick GETAWAY. I LOVED the GETAWAY. To me the color schemes and ambiance were just superior compared to ESCAPE. I missed Bliss on ESCAPE as well as the Noodle Bar, Wasabi sushi bar, and Ocean Blue on the Waterfront. Also the Sugarcane Bar on GETAWAY is far superior (it's a gift shop on ESCAPE). What is better on ESCAPE? Food Republic is awesome and the fitness center/spa and main pool are improved, but it's not enough for ESCAPE to win out IMO. I'll also take the Flamingo Grill over Margaritaville any day. Add in several hundred less passengers in essentially the same public space plus my favorite hull art, and GETAWAY is the clear winner. I would absolutely sail on ESCAPE again, but all things being equal were I made to choose it would be GETAWAY hands down.

Edited November 29, 2015 by eroller

[Dave85]

Your move from Escape to Breakaway does make sense when you look at it that way. We are too late to change our January cruise on the Escape, but are thinking differently about the next cruise we were booking after that. For us, we have to fly a long way no matter which ship we book on. Still, I think we will go back to Getaway out of Miami. We love the Flamingo Grill and are just not sure if we are as excited about the Escape anymore. I'm sure we will enjoy our January cruise, but we have loved all three of our Getaway cruises and will most likely return to her. We have really enjoyed having a casual place to eat lunch that is NOT the crowded buffet.

 

 

 

While I really liked and enjoyed ESCAPE, given the choice I would pick GETAWAY. I LOVED the GETAWAY. To me the color schemes and ambiance were just superior compared to ESCAPE. I missed Bliss on ESCAPE as well as the Noodle Bar, Wasabi sushi bar, and Ocean Blue on the Waterfront. Also the Sugarcane Bar on GETAWAY is far superior (it's a gift shop on ESCAPE). What is better on ESCAPE? Food Republic is awesome and the fitness center/spa and main pool are improved, but it's not enough for ESCAPE to win out IMO. I'll also take the Flamingo Grill over Margaritaville any day. Add in several hundred less passengers in essentially the same public space plus my favorite hull art, and GETAWAY is the clear winner. I would absolutely sail on ESCAPE again, but all things being equal were I made to choose it would be GETAWAY hands down.

 

 

Sounds like we're all thinking along the same lines. For us here in Brooklyn, we literally walk out of our house and down to the curb, hail a cab, and we're at the Breakaway ~25 minutes later. Hard to beat that!

[LadySpoilt]

Your move from Escape to Breakaway does make sense when you look at it that way. We are too late to change our January cruise on the Escape, but are thinking differently about the next cruise we were booking after that. For us, we have to fly a long way no matter which ship we book on. Still, I think we will go back to Getaway out of Miami. We love the Flamingo Grill and are just not sure if we are as excited about the Escape anymore. I'm sure we will enjoy our January cruise, but we have loved all three of our Getaway cruises and will most likely return to her. We have really enjoyed having a casual place to eat lunch that is NOT the crowded buffet.

 

We are booked on the Getaway this summer as well, however we are strongly considering cancelling it because all the "changes" in the past 6 months. We did enjoy the Flamingo Grill on the Getaway, however I suspect it may too become an ala cart venue by summer.

Edited November 29, 2015 by LadySpoilt

[LoveyHowell]

Now you are just pulling things out of the sky, for example I had a spa Haven suite and the spa was unavailable and they gave me a $100 onboard credit and I was happy with that. I heard some of the people mumbling and groaning about it but I said come on hey it's A extra hundred bucks

 

Chris it was a question so simple a kindergartener would understand it and you still didn't. You should tattoo rip me off on your head

[bmwman]

Well after reading this thread and others it is clear that NCL have got it wrong with the Escape.

 

As we do in the North of England we say it how it is. This really does look like a massive mistake especially with GA being so successful. I have read the reviews to date and even the Epic did better in its early days.

 

One suspects that Mr FDR squeezing will actually choke the punters.

 

A pure prediction (a bit of fun about Escape)

 

a. The GA will be more expensive than Escape

b. A la Carte will go from the menus fleetwide its simply does not make sense

c. Escape is redeployed to Europe to replace Epic or Spirit in the Summer 2017

d. NCL profits start to plateau without these changes

[Peripatos]

FYI -

 

Escape, 4,248 Passengers - 5 complimentary venues:

Manhattan Room, Taste, Savor - only Taste/Savor open for lunch & only when at sea

O'Sheehan's

Buffet

 

Getaway, 3,969 Passengers - 7 complimentary venues:

Tropicana Room, Taste, Savor - only Taste open for lunch & only when at sea

O'Sheehan's

Buffet

Flamingo Bar and Grill - Breakfast and dinner

Shanghai's - Open for dinner only

 

Breakaway, 3,963 Passengers - 8 complimentary venues:

Manhattan Room, Taste, Savor - Only Savor open for lunch & only when at sea

O'Sheehan's

Buffet

Uptown Bar and Grill

Shanghai's Noodle Bar

Sabrett's Hot Dog Stand

 

Epic, 4,100 Passengers - 7 complimentary venues:

Manhattan Room and Taste - Only Taste open for lunch & only when at sea

O'Sheehan's

Buffet

Great Outdoors

Spice H20

Shanghai's Noodle Bar

So basically, on the Escape, which has the most passengers, you can:

Have free breakfast at Taste/Savor, O'Sheehan's and the Buffet

Have free lunch at Taste/Savor but only when at Sea, O'Sheehan's or Buffet

Have free dinner at Manhattan Room/Taste/Savor, O'Sheehan's or Buffet

 

Just a quick show of the different ships, the amounts of passengers on the ships and the complimentary venues now available.

 

Harriet

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Not criticizing anyone here, but I feel strongly you should count the 2 or 3 MDR's as one since they are the same menu/food, just broken up in separate seating areas. They aren't 3 different free restaurants, really only 1 different choice.

[Peripatos]

Well, we ended up switching our May cruise on the Escape to the Breakaway, not really because of this Margaritaville situation, but because I just could not justify spending all of the extra money to fly, stay in a hotel before the cruise, etc., to sail on the Escape over the Breakaway. I'm just not as excited about this ship as I was when I booked her. We liked the Breakaway a lot the first time we sailed on her and she has a number of venues we would have missed on the Escape -- including Bliss, Fat Cats, Uptown, and the Noodle Bar. All of the extra for fee dining on Escape does not do much for me. Frankly, if we didn't have a future cruise certificate to use I would have been very tempted to just return to RCI in May. I expect to have another wonderful cruise on the Breakaway, but I won't be buying anymore of those certificates...QUOTE]

 

 

 

Thanks to all of you who have provided excellent information on the Escape. We may consider her in the future after seeing how the product shakes out.[/

===========================

We and our friends have sailed on both the Getaway and Escape and I think you made a great decision, even if airfare didn't play into it.

 

Another Dave

[sjbdtz]

Well after reading this thread and others it is clear that NCL have got it wrong with the Escape.

 

As we do in the North of England we say it how it is. This really does look like a massive mistake especially with GA being so successful. I have read the reviews to date and even the Epic did better in its early days.

 

One suspects that Mr FDR squeezing will actually choke the punters.

 

A pure prediction (a bit of fun about Escape)

 

a. The GA will be more expensive than Escape

b. A la Carte will go from the menus fleetwide its simply does not make sense

c. Escape is redeployed to Europe to replace Epic or Spirit in the Summer 2017

d. NCL profits start to plateau without these changes

 

 

That's weird. Escape is so far my favorite of the ships....though EPIC is a close 2nd.

 

A la carte makes a lot of sense if you are trying to control food costs (not revenues - but waste). If the allocation per day is $8.31 (I made this number up), and $3 of it is 'wasted' on sampling (ordering something because you want a small taste, rather than the item as a meal) then you only have $5.31 to spend on the rest of the day.

 

On the other hand if you drive waste down to near-zero, AND you increase a revenue channel, then you can invest that extra $3 + dollars in higher quality food.

 

It's my belief that this is EXACTLY what FDR is doing - the food on Escape was better than on the 'Aways, and the HD said they are investing in higher quality food. I believe the two factors are inextricably linked.

 

 

Stephen

 

 

.

[bmwman]

That's weird. Escape is so far my favorite of the ships....though EPIC is a close 2nd.

 

A la carte makes a lot of sense if you are trying to control food costs (not revenues - but waste). If the allocation per day is $8.31 (I made this number up), and $3 of it is 'wasted' on sampling (ordering something because you want a small taste, rather than the item as a meal) then you only have $5.31 to spend on the rest of the day.

 

On the other hand if you drive waste down to near-zero, AND you increase a revenue channel, then you can invest that extra $3 + dollars in higher quality food.

 

It's my belief that this is EXACTLY what FDR is doing - the food on Escape was better than on the 'Aways, and the HD said they are investing in higher quality food. I believe the two factors are inextricably linked.

 

 

Stephen

 

 

.

 

A very thoughtful reply but I would disagree about the food waste being linked to a la carte. A la carte is being used in the Speciality restaurants which ( and this is fact) have less food waste.

 

The revenue is not going up as people are being driven (unless they have UDP) to the MDR where food wastage is higher.

 

Your numbers do though demonstrate the point well that you are trying to make

 

I have to say would the HD say anything else :) other than they are investing in better food. We thought it was a little better but not such that I will pay that much more.

 

For us I would rather pay more upfront and be done with it.

 

FDR may be maximising revenue but it is short termism as NCL is getting a reputation for now being expensive and his stock market comments have not helped.

 

I have no insider information but I suggest that the MDR will be VERY busy in Europe from now on - oh well we brits love a good queue!!!!

[LrgPizza]

That's weird. Escape is so far my favorite of the ships....though EPIC is a close 2nd.

 

Me too. And I have both booked next year. Yay for me! haha

[FreestyleNovice]

Same here. Except the future booking. Would like to but there's still some tendency towards X at this moment who offer more different and especially European itineraries/ship deployments. Would choose Escape over X on an equal level for a warmer climate cruise.

Edited November 29, 2015 by FreestyleNovice

[jason3695]

LoveyHowell,

 

 

 

If you did not have another spa to go to, yes, you should get a refund. There are other choices. There are other dining alternatives on the ship. You are not making an apples to apple comparison.

 

 

 

Also, there is a big difference between $20 and $200.

 

 

 

Yes, they screwed up. As popular as the Margaritavilles are on land, they should have made it ala carte from the beginning. Demand in a fixed area was easy to foresee. Their fault is in trying to make in complimentary at the outset and poorly managing expectations.

 

 

I couldn't agree more with this. They screwed up from the jump.

[rg24601]

So how many free lunch venues on escape, not counting the haven? The MDR which is really only one venue with 3 seating areas, but the same menu, correct. The Buffet, and O'sheehans?

 

How many pay venues for lunch? This margaritaville, and the pub belly's place. Nothing else for lunch

 

Breakfast?

 

 

This does not seem to be many choices?

[Loonbeam]

I think Food republic, the Tapas place and at least one other are also open for lunch.

 

So how many free lunch venues on escape, not counting the haven? The MDR which is really only one venue with 3 seating areas, but the same menu, correct. The Buffet, and O'sheehans?

 

How many pay venues for lunch? This margaritaville, and the pub belly's place. Nothing else for lunch

 

Breakfast?

 

 

This does not seem to be many choices?

[sjbdtz]

I find it fascinating (and illuminating) that several people agree the fault was in EVER saying M'ville would be free.

 

That they should have started charging for it from Day 1.

 

 

I concur, and find that it's an interesting counter-narrative to the plaints about what has been taken-away.

 

 

 

Stephen

 

 

.

[eroller]

I find it fascinating (and illuminating) that several people agree the fault was in EVER saying M'ville would be free.

 

That they should have started charging for it from Day 1.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes they should have and I honestly feel NCL was planning to charge from Day One. I knew it the minute I saw food items on my receipt with zero dollar amounts. The venue was already set up to be a la carte and this was the second day into the crossing. Of course it's better PR to initially tout something as being complimentary.

 

They have been in this business long enough to know what is going to be popular and also what the daily capacity is of any given venue. Whenever you have a popular brand name associated with something, you pretty much know it's going to be very popular even if it's not that good, which is the case with Margaritaville. My only so-so meal on ESCAPE. Everything else including the MDR was very good.