Escape mini-review incl Vibe (7/1/17 sailing)

[mimosas123]

We just got off the Escape this morning and it was our favorite cruise we've done yet! I know there is a ton of information about the Escape here so I'll try to skip anything super redundant, but wanted to share a few thoughts. Anything negative mentioned here was not a huge dealbreaker or anything - this was an amazing cruise and vacation.

 

We're early 30s with two small children that we left back home with the grandparents. :) We've done most of the big cruise lines before, but we're pretty committed to NCL after this.

 

We did self-assist walk off and debarkation was the easiet we've ever had. No lines at all. It was less than twenty minutes from our cabin to the hotel in downtown Miami (where we did a parking package) with car keys in hand.

 

We stayed in an aft-balcony (9920) and the room was noticeably smaller than RCCL cabins, but there was plenty of storage and it was NBD. Balcony was huge! There's a video on YouTube someone else shared if you search the cabin number.

[mimosas123]

Vibe - I was pretty skeptical about this whole thing, but this essentially made our whole vacation. I can't say enough how worth it for us it was. The Rommels and Michael were AMAZING and it was nice seeing the same faces everyday. And we did go there everyday. Walking from Vibe out to the pool deck was like going from a spa (or a spa with a bar? lol) to spring break in Daytona. It was crazy out there! Spice H2O was very nice though and there were usually chairs available there too.

One note on the exclusivity of Vibe - I ended up injuring my leg the day before the cruise and there was no way I was going to hobble to headliners and be one of the first. So I gave up the idea and we got on the ship around 12 or 12:30. We went to Headliners and I asked about a waitlist for Vibe and they said they would add me to the list (about four names/cabin numbers ahead of me from what I could see). I wrote it off and we spent a nice afternoon in Spice H2O. When we got back to the room around 5:30, we had a voicemail that we had been added to the list and to go sign up at Guest Services! I'm not sure how this happened since they sold out in about ten seconds flat from what I heard.

Also on day 2, someone from the Haven who also had Vibe let one of his friends in and the Rommels told him he had to have a Vibe pass to be there. So the guy said he would just go buy it and he came back with two wristbands.

 

Maybe that's a Haven thing or maybe it was just a slow week for Vibe? Idk.

 

Another note because I had reservations about wearing a wristband all week - they don't care if you're wearing it and also they snap and unsnap so you don't have to sleep with it on. lol

[mimosas123]

Food - Almost everything we had was excellent. We ended up never eating in the main dining rooms. Food Republic lived up to it's reputation here and was phenomenal. Best food by far. Moderno, Teppanyaki, and Bayamo were all great. La Cucina was just okay. My husband had the butter tortellini and said it was excellent but everything else was pretty unremarkable. Cagney's was my least favorite by far. My steak is was completely underwhelming and the potatoes au gratin were like weird overcooked French fries covered in cheese. lol it was not great. O'Sheehan's was surprisingly good and we ended up getting lunch there several times!

 

Bars - Proud to say we visited every bar at least once. 😂💪

[mimosas123]

Random thoughts

-Rebel Yell Escape to Jost Van Dyke was awesome. The beach was one of the prettiest I've ever seen. No pushy vendors selling you chairs or anything. Very laidback and relaxed.

 

-I had several Haven upgrade bids in that I ended up cancelling three weeks ago because I was having second thoughts about the kid situation. I'm very glad for us that I did because we spoke to a bunch of people who said it was kids everywhere in the Haven. Which is completely understandable since it's peak summer vacation time, but we mainly wanted to get away from kids (ours and other people's lol) this vacation so I'm glad we didn't spend a large amount of money on a Haven upgrade. We would definitely consider it for an offseason cruise though because everything else I heard was wonderful.

 

-Outside of the casino (which is kind of gross because the smoke permeates all of the surrounding public areas) NCL does a great job of containing/limiting the smoking. I didn't really notice smoking outside of the casino at all. It was really nice.

[TNcruising02]

Thanks for your review. I wouldn't have thought to ask to be put on a waiting list for Vibe passes, but I will now. I'm glad to hear that almost all of your food was excellent.

 

What shows did you like the best?

[Clarea]

Interesting report, thanks.:)

[easyboy]

Thank you for your review!

 

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[beerman2]

Glad you enjoyed your NCL experience. You mentioned many keys to OUR best cruise to date.

Vibe

Jost Van Dyke

The bars, just wished we would have spent more time on the waterfront area.

[Keith1010]

Thank you for your review/report.

Keith

[BirdTravels]

Thanks for the review. Glad you enjoyed your Escape experience!

[RPCVcruiser]

Vibe - I was pretty skeptical about this whole thing, but this essentially made our whole vacation. I can't say enough how worth it for us it was. The Rommels and Michael were AMAZING and it was nice seeing the same faces everyday. And we did go there everyday. Walking from Vibe out to the pool deck was like going from a spa (or a spa with a bar? lol) to spring break in Daytona. It was crazy out there! Spice H2O was very nice though and there were usually chairs available there too.

One note on the exclusivity of Vibe - I ended up injuring my leg the day before the cruise and there was no way I was going to hobble to headliners and be one of the first. So I gave up the idea and we got on the ship around 12 or 12:30. We went to Headliners and I asked about a waitlist for Vibe and they said they would add me to the list (about four names/cabin numbers ahead of me from what I could see). I wrote it off and we spent a nice afternoon in Spice H2O. When we got back to the room around 5:30, we had a voicemail that we had been added to the list and to go sign up at Guest Services! I'm not sure how this happened since they sold out in about ten seconds flat from what I heard.

Also on day 2, someone from the Haven who also had Vibe let one of his friends in and the Rommels told him he had to have a Vibe pass to be there. So the guy said he would just go buy it and he came back with two wristbands.

 

Maybe that's a Haven thing or maybe it was just a slow week for Vibe? Idk.

 

Another note because I had reservations about wearing a wristband all week - they don't care if you're wearing it and also they snap and unsnap so you don't have to sleep with it on. lol

 

 

 

Glad to see you were able to get into Vibe. Funny story, when we walked around by headliners on 7/1 at 2 there was the "vibe sold out" sign. We then wandered by the concierge in the Haven who had 8 or so wrist bands. So the wait list is a good thing as the Haven has them.

 

 

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[mimosas123]

What shows did you like the best?

 

We actually didn't make it to many shows at all. There was a comedy magician that was extreeeemely meh.

 

We saw a comedian the last night (Clinton Jackson I think?) and he was pretty funny, but I felt bad because it was a really small crowd with a bunch of teens in the front row on their cell phones.

 

Howl at the Moon was GREAT. We went several times and it was really, really good. The cruise director Tyler played drums most nights. lol

 

We watched a lot of the Atrium shows (Newlywed game, Battle of the Sexes, etc) from the upstairs bar at O'Sheehan's and the cruise director does a great, great job with those. (Shout out to the "Christina's mom" joke teacher lady from the Battle of the Sexes game who is the most amazing person to ever exist. lol)

[tropical83]

Thanks for your review. I'm sailing the Escape in 19 days and also doing the Jost Van Dyke excursion. Glad to hear it was awesome!

[5mooregirls]

What hotel did you do a parking package? Would you recommend?

 

 

We did self-assist walk off and debarkation was the easiet we've ever had. No lines at all. It was less than twenty minutes from our cabin to the hotel in downtown Miami (where we did a parking package) with car keys in hand.

[lbkladybug]

Going on the Escape in 455 days!!! Lol!! Thanks for the review!

 

 

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[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[mimosas123]

What hotel did you do a parking package? Would you recommend?

 

We used the Hilton Miami Downtown. It was a great hotel! It was PACKED the morning we left when we took the shuttle, but the concierge did a great job coordinating everything. I would definitely recommend!

 

http://www.hiltonmiamidowntown.com/miami-hotel-cruise-parking-package.shtml

[5mooregirls]

We used the Hilton Miami Downtown. It was a great hotel! It was PACKED the morning we left when we took the shuttle, but the concierge did a great job coordinating everything. I would definitely recommend!

 

http://www.hiltonmiamidowntown.com/miami-hotel-cruise-parking-package.shtml

 

 

Great Thank you!

[Cruzinbabe06]

Thank you for your review.

 

Did you do the morning or afternoon tour to Jost?

[cyndepet]

Thanks for your review! We'll be sailing Escape soon and are really looking forward to it. I wonder if Haven keeps a number of Vibe passes in reserve to placate Haven guests who complain about kids running amok?

[Two Wheels Only]

Thanks for your review! We'll be sailing Escape soon and are really looking forward to it. I wonder if Haven keeps a number of Vibe passes in reserve to placate Haven guests who complain about kids running amok?

The concierge usually has a few VIBE passes for the Haven guests who arrive later. The Haven guests who arrive later would otherwise be SOL just like everyone else who arrives after VIBE passes are sold out. It isn't guaranteed that the concierge will have extras. If some more Haven guests ask for passes, once the concierge is empty, that's all that there is. How long the concierge keeps them before returning them (for those on a wait list) is unknown.

[mimosas123]

Did you do the morning or afternoon tour to Jost?

We did the morning tour and were glad we did. Getting up that early was a bit of a haul, but the beach just got more and more crowded as the morning went on. It would be a great excursion either way though!

[mimosas123]

The concierge usually has a few VIBE passes for the Haven guests who arrive later. The Haven guests who arrive later would otherwise be SOL just like everyone else who arrives after VIBE passes are sold out. It isn't guaranteed that the concierge will have extras. If some more Haven guests ask for passes, once the concierge is empty, that's all that there is. How long the concierge keeps them before returning them (for those on a wait list) is unknown.

I'd agree with this somewhat, but we got passes on Day 1 @ 4:30 and someone in Haven got them Day 2 later in the afternoon. So maybe they hang on to some for Haven and give some to the waitlist? No idea!

[Two Wheels Only]

So maybe they hang on to some for Haven and give some to the waitlist? No idea!

It is a mystery.

 

On one hand, keeping them in the Haven helps those in the Haven (the concierge's main focus) but at the same time, letting them go back into the "pool" for those on the wait list helps others and makes more money for NCL.

 

 

Keep them in the Haven past day 2? They will probably go unused....much to the chagrin of those who wanted but didn't get.

 

 

Release them back 5 minutes before someone in the Haven decides that they want one after seeing out of control kids in the Haven)?....disappointed Haven guest=a big no-no for the concierge.

[tmilak]

I sail only in the Haven but I don't think it is fair that they should withhold Vibe passes for Haven guests. The Haven has everything Vibe has except it allows children. If you don't want children go to Spice H20. If children are unruly say something. If you are a Haven guest and truly want Vibe passes get there early just like everyone else but don't put them on hold because you think you deserve it as a Haven guest. Some folks just feel over deserving.