If YOU could choose....what would you pick !?!

[trician24]

 

Trying to plan our next cruise with NCL.  We are leaning towards early January 2021 and have these 3 options below.  They all have their pluses and minuses in one way or another.  So I am curious to see how others would decide if they had to make the choice.

 

1.  Escape - Out of Port Canaveral  -   Western Caribbean ( Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Ocho Rios and GSC )  Saturday - Saturday

2.  Encore - Out of Miami  - Western Caribbean ( Roatan, Harvest Caye, Costa Maya and Cozumel )  Saturday - Saturday

3. Joy - Out of Miami - Eastern ( Puerto Playa, St. Thomas, Tortola and GSC )  Sunday - Sunday

 

Thanks in advance!

 

 

[GA Dave]

1.

[ColeThornton]

1 minute ago, trician24 said:

 

Trying to plan our next cruise with NCL.  We are leaning towards early January 2021 and have these 3 options below.  They all have their pluses and minuses in one way or another.  So I am curious to see how others would decide if they had to make the choice.

 

1.  Escape - Out of Port Canaveral  -   Western Caribbean ( Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Ocho Rios and GSC )  Saturday - Saturday

2.  Encore - Out of Miami  - Western Caribbean ( Roatan, Harvest Caye, Costa Maya and Cozumel )  Saturday - Saturday

3. Joy - Out of Miami - Eastern ( Puerto Playa, St. Thomas, Tortola and GSC )  Sunday - Sunday

 

Thanks in advance!

 

 

 

I would rule out #1 because it has some tender ports that are often missed and I have not desire to visit Jamaica again.

 

I would take #2 since it's going to be the newest ship in the fleet with a decent itinerary.  Although, having said that I would wait and see the reviews after she comes in to service.

 

#3 I wouldn't mind but it would be down my list because it's Sun-Sun.  But that's just for my convenience factors.  Again, there is the tendering factor there.

[JimR24]

We will be doing the Western (1st on the list) out of Canaveral next December.  We did the 2nd one on the Epic and loved it.  Roatan and Costa Maya were our favorites.  Harvest Caye was ok.  If we did that port again, we would venture out away from the port.  

 

I would like to do the 3rd one because the first two ports are ones we haven't hit yet.   

[Tapi]

I had a similar dilemma as you but for February 2021. We ended booking the Encore sailing on the same itinerary that you listed, but the itinerary that I really wanted was the Puerto Plata/St. Thomas/Tortola/GSC one but aboard the Bliss. 
 

The deciding factor was price. For some reason, the Heaven is literally twice as much on the Bliss than on the Encore for that specific week. 
 

How do prices compare for your week? If prices for all 3 are the same, I’d go with Joy first, then Encore, and Escape last. 
 

Escape is last simply because Ocho Rios is one of my least favorite ports of call, and I love Grand Cayman but it can quickly turn into a day at sea if there’s even a bit of choppy seas and passengers can’t be tendered ashore. 

Edited October 28, 2019 by Tapi

[Rsavtechcruise]

Well that raise the questions back define ppl sailing like ages and kids 

 

Are you 1st tile cruiser

 

been to any of the ports before

 

and any other plus or minus we should know about

[trician24]

2 minutes ago, Rsavtechcruise said:

Well that raise the questions back define ppl sailing like ages and kids 

 

Are you 1st tile cruiser

 

been to any of the ports before

 

and any other plus or minus we should know about

 

We have sailed before and been to most of the ports listed.  #3 Puerto Playa would be new.  No kids would be coming with us - all adults.  Price is cheapest on the Escape and most expensive is the Encore being the newest.  We don't mind paying at Harvest Caye vs the all included GSC.  We like GSC a little better but the tendering is an issue and often gets missed with wind etc.  We are indifferent to the thermal spa not being on the Joy. 

[DublinFC]

28 minutes ago, trician24 said:

 

Trying to plan our next cruise with NCL.  We are leaning towards early January 2021 and have these 3 options below.  They all have their pluses and minuses in one way or another.  So I am curious to see how others would decide if they had to make the choice.

 

1.  Escape - Out of Port Canaveral  -   Western Caribbean ( Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Ocho Rios and GSC )  Saturday - Saturday

2.  Encore - Out of Miami  - Western Caribbean ( Roatan, Harvest Caye, Costa Maya and Cozumel )  Saturday - Saturday

3. Joy - Out of Miami - Eastern ( Puerto Playa, St. Thomas, Tortola and GSC )  Sunday - Sunday

 

Thanks in advance!

 

 

Personally I would avoid the Joy going to a Caribbean destination.  The pool deck is lacking from the pictures I have seen.  I would probably go with Escape since I sailed her already and loved every minute on her.  I think I would be really tempted to try the brand new Encore though.  Might end up being a toss up.  I prefer more to pick a sailing for the ship not the destination.  I am going to find something fun to do in port no matter where I go.

[brookie848]

One thing to take into consideration -- look at the times you are in port. The Joy sailing has times in port of 11-7 in St. Thomas (and it is going to get dark early in January) and the dreaded 7-2 in Tortola. Plus, you are at GSC from 10-7, so if there is another ship there with you that gets there earlier, that could be a problem.

 

I would choose #2 because I really enjoyed that itinerary. I am not a fan of GSC, so I will avoid cruises going there if I can. 

 

Is there any reason you're not considering sailing out of NOLA?

[Tapi]

22 minutes ago, brookie848 said:

The Joy sailing has times in port of 11-7 in St. Thomas (and it is going to get dark early in January)

It won’t be too bad in the Caribbean even in January. Looking at sunset for that time of year in St. Thomas, it’s around 6:00pm with end of civil twilight at around 7:00pm, so there should be daylight for the entire duration of that port of call. 
 

And yes, 7-2 in Tortola is indeed short, but I’ll take a short stop in Tortola over any stop, (short or long) in Cozumel. 

[DublinFC]

5 minutes ago, Tapi said:

It won’t be too bad in the Caribbean even in January. Looking at sunset for that time of year in St. Thomas, it’s around 6:00pm with end of civil twilight at around 7:00pm, so there should be daylight for the entire duration of that port of call. 
 

And yes, 7-2 in Tortola is indeed short, but I’ll take a short stop in Tortola over any stop, (short or long) in Cozumel. 

I have been to Cozumel once, and I wasn't impressed.  I am going back in April 2021, but I think we are going to go to Nachi for the day so hopefully we have a better experience.  I would like to go to Tortola at least once, it would be somewhere new for me.

[trician24]

25 minutes ago, brookie848 said:

One thing to take into consideration -- look at the times you are in port. The Joy sailing has times in port of 11-7 in St. Thomas (and it is going to get dark early in January) and the dreaded 7-2 in Tortola. Plus, you are at GSC from 10-7, so if there is another ship there with you that gets there earlier, that could be a problem.

 

I would choose #2 because I really enjoyed that itinerary. I am not a fan of GSC, so I will avoid cruises going there if I can. 

 

Is there any reason you're not considering sailing out of NOLA?

 

 

Good points about the time in port and the getting dark factor.  I wasn't aware they did more than 1 ship at GSC - that would be something to look into. 

We are only considering Port Canaveral or Miami since we will be driving to the port

[deweytrader]

I would pick #3.

[GA Dave]

5 minutes ago, trician24 said:

 

 

Good points about the time in port and the getting dark factor.  I wasn't aware they did more than 1 ship at GSC - that would be something to look into. 

We are only considering Port Canaveral or Miami since we will be driving to the port

As of now, the schedule only shows a single BA+ ships in port at GSC in Jan. 2021 on any one day.

Edited October 28, 2019 by GA Dave

[Tapi]

6 minutes ago, DublinFC said:

I have been to Cozumel once, and I wasn't impressed.

Don’t get me wrong. I do like Cozumel. But I hate that it’s on every.... friggin.... western.... Caribbean.... itinerary. 🤬 And over the years it’s gotten so crowded and overly commercialized. 

[trician24]

3 minutes ago, GA Dave said:

As of now, the schedule only shows a single BA+ ships in port at GSC in Jan. 2021 on any one day.

 

 

The Joy itinerary would be at GSC on January 9th  - it isn't on there but no other ship is as well.  This is a Sunday - Sunday cruise and most other ships are back at their "home" port on Saturday. 

[tandc2019]

Either 1 (because there are ports I haven't been to before) or 3 (because I had a blast in Tortola).

Tough choice for sure... have fun.

[Cruiser_1977]

3. Joy - Out of Miami - Eastern ( Puerto Playa, St. Thomas, Tortola and GSC )  Sunday - Sunday

[bakersdozen12]

If I had to choose between those, I would choose #3, because out of those 4 ports, I have only been to St Thomas.  But, I'm not you.