Live from the Escape

[Toledosfinest]

We are currently on the Escape sailing towards Greece. This ship has had issues, but we're going with the flow. We left Rome late yesterday and we're about 2-3 hrs out when we had a medical emergency with a passenger and had to return to Rome. The coast guard arrive and took  the patient to a Hospital. Now on day #2 and we had an apparent equipment emergency and we have to slow down. Next is the Captains announcement that due to the delays that we will not stop at Santorini. Lots of Passengers not happy, but not much we can do. Don't know if NCL plans on compensating us for the missed port. We totally understand, but it's still disappointing.  We will continue to look forward to the other ports, and hope everything goes as planned. We love NCL and will continue sailing with her. We still have plenty of food and Alcohol on the ship. 

[CaptainBazz]

2 hours ago, Toledosfinest said:

We still have plenty of food and Alcohol on the ship. 

As long as you have that then you can put up with a lot of things 😂

Hope the rest of your cruise goes well...we were on the Escape last December...a great ship.

[adam3313]

Bummed that you all are missing out on Santorini, but you've got the right attitude on it!

 

Hope the rest of your trip goes smoothly, and you all have a great time!

 

I'm sailing on this itinerary in June, so please keep us posted on how the rest of the trip goes.

[barbuda]

What a bummer for you to miss Santorini!  You have a great outlook (and of course refreshments!), so hopefully the remaining days go as planned.  We are doing this same cruise end of June - sure hope things get smoother as time goes on.

[guythee]

Hi, so sorry for the news!

 

At the moment, the ship still report Santorini as next port, but with the actual speed around 15 kt, it's will be very difficult (the normal average speed is around 18-19 Kt)

keep us posted, as we will be on the next departure (21 may)!

 

As we will take the next cruise, can you give us some informations on 2 points because NCL website is not clear.

 

1. Do you get tested on port yesterday before boarding, or they just request a negative test not more than 72hours?

 

2. What it's the rule for the mask today between 2 ports? they write on NCL website : Mask mandatory inside only during visiting Italian or Greek port

 

Thanks in advance for your answer and hop everything will be fine for the others ports

[lahrbrat]

Hi! We were not tested at the port. We just showed the negative test result that we received two days before departure in Rome along with our vaccine information. Be aware—several passengers without 3 shots had to get a booster at the port (30 minutes away actually!) because their second shot was out of the 270-day window. I’m not sure if that caused our delay out of Civitavecchia or not…

 

We haven’t hit a port yet but masks on board are optional. In Rome we wore masks in St. Peter’s only. The cabs and transfer vehicles did not require them. 

[guythee]

Thanks for the news and enjoy your extra sea day!

hope you will have a wonderful day in Athens tomorrow, the ship will arrive in advance.

[Toledosfinest]

16 hours ago, guythee said:

Hi, so sorry for the news!

 

At the moment, the ship still report Santorini as next port, but with the actual speed around 15 kt, it's will be very difficult (the normal average speed is around 18-19 Kt)

keep us posted, as we will be on the next departure (21 may)!

 

As we will take the next cruise, can you give us some informations on 2 points because NCL website is not clear.

 

1. Do you get tested on port yesterday before boarding, or they just request a negative test not more than 72hours?

 

2. What it's the rule for the mask today between 2 ports? they write on NCL website : Mask mandatory inside only during visiting Italian or Greek port

 

Thanks in advance for your answer and hop everything will be fine for the others ports

We were not tested when we arrived at the ship in Rome. As long as we had a negative test result prior, and proof of our vaccines, we were good. All employees are wearing masks onboard. I would guess 30% of guests are wearing masks, but 70% are not. It is not enforced. We haven't been to other ports yet, but when we arrive in Greece tomorrow morning, we will see.

[Professor Aronnax]

Why do I feel like our family is one of the few that are scared to death of being stranded in Rome when we cruise? We would love to cruise without masks, but we can't miss more work after this cruise is over or throw away lots of money on hotels/food etc. while quarantining. I guess many of the 70% not wearing masks could be other Europeans that don't have to be tested to get home, but Americans are risking a big delay home if they get COVID. We had friends get stranded in Belize and it cost them thousands of dollars and most of their remaining vacations days at work.

[Mikial]

What is the ship's capacity looking like these days?

[lahrbrat]

12 hours ago, Mikial said:

What is the ship's capacity looking like these days?

I’ve heard 1700-1800 but nothing official. The pool area had plenty of open chairs on the past two sea days and it definitely isn’t crowded anywhere. 

[Toledosfinest]

On 5/13/2022 at 8:05 PM, Mikial said:

What is the ship's capacity looking like these days?

65% maybe. 

[redwave]

On 5/13/2022 at 7:41 AM, Professor Aronnax said:

Why do I feel like our family is one of the few that are scared to death of being stranded in Rome when we cruise? We would love to cruise without masks, but we can't miss more work after this cruise is over or throw away lots of money on hotels/food etc. while quarantining. I guess many of the 70% not wearing masks could be other Europeans that don't have to be tested to get home, but Americans are risking a big delay home if they get COVID. We had friends get stranded in Belize and it cost them thousands of dollars and most of their remaining vacations days at work.

What do you mean stranded in Belize? If you go off harvest caye to mainland, they test for Covid and if positive they don’t let you back on the ship?

[Cruising Lynne]

4 hours ago, redwave said:

What do you mean stranded in Belize? If you go off harvest caye to mainland, they test for Covid and if positive they don’t let you back on the ship?

They may have been on a non-cruise trip to Belize.

[JandMHooston]

On 5/12/2022 at 5:06 AM, Toledosfinest said:

We are currently on the Escape sailing towards Greece. This ship has had issues, but we're going with the flow. We left Rome late yesterday and we're about 2-3 hrs out when we had a medical emergency with a passenger and had to return to Rome. The coast guard arrive and took  the patient to a Hospital. Now on day #2 and we had an apparent equipment emergency and we have to slow down. Next is the Captains announcement that due to the delays that we will not stop at Santorini. Lots of Passengers not happy, but not much we can do. Don't know if NCL plans on compensating us for the missed port. We totally understand, but it's still disappointing.  We will continue to look forward to the other ports, and hope everything goes as planned. We love NCL and will continue sailing with her. We still have plenty of food and Alcohol on the ship. 

Do you happen to know if the kids' clubs have re-opened? Thank you!

[txskier]

getting excited as we board the Escape on the 31st......departing for Rome on the 26th!

[gotscrapz]

Following! I will be on her with the same itinerary in September.

I hope the rest of the cruise goes as planned 🙂

 

I hope you do a review if you like 🙂

[Toledosfinest]

Returned from the Escape yesterday. Wonderful Cruise. Minor disappointments. I will review our cruise in the next couple days. Overall an 8 out of 10. 

[diddydoormouse]

Hi we are doing this cruise in September, quick question, was the duty free liquor and tobacco open on the ship or any of the ports?

Thanks

[Toledosfinest]

On our trip on Escape this past May, there were no Duty Free Alcohol or Cigarette sales on the ship. We have always seen these items for sale on every other ship, but not on our cruise on the Escape. You could buy liquor/ cigarettes in the Duty free store at the Rome (FCO) ,but you will need a direct flight to your hometown.

[diddydoormouse]

Thanks this was the same on NCL Jade (similar itinerary) shame. We found the only place we could purchase was in Malta.

[NoviceNikki]

Hiya, is it correct that the main pool is Adults only, and if so is it enforced please?  NCL can't confirm, but I've seen pics online saying Adults only.  I have 2 teenagers (14 & 15) who won't want to be in the kids pool with the little ones, so if they can't use the main pool we've got a problem!  We are looking at going in August, so I expect lots of kids onboard, and my two aren't interested in Entourage etc, so the pool is a major deal-breaker.  Thanks in advance