Mouse's Shadow

Yes you do unless you are Diamond/Platinum/Suite/FTTF. That is the point of staggered check in - to thin out the crowd and keep everyone from arriving at the same time.

Can we wait at the port. I'd rather wait there than the airport?

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Do you have to wait until that time? We get in several hours before our arrival time. I would like to just go to the port when we arrive.

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Thank you for the info. that helps greatly.

Haven't done Carnival for a few years. In the process of booking, but it doesn't give me a drink pkg choice. Does it come up later and do you know how much a deluxe drink pkg cost per day?

I've been on Allure, Freedom, and Escape. I think Allure is your best option. Your kids will love the Dream Works characters. RCI has taken a page from Disney, and incorporated the characters into shows, breakfasts and meet and greets. On the Escape the kids pool is 5ft deep. I heard several parents complaining about the depth. And the sun deck is very cramped compared to Freedom and Allure. Our friends that traveled with us, had an 11 and 14 year olds, loved the slides on Escape. They also loved the pools and zip line on Allure. The beach at Labadee makes for a wonderful family beach day. Because it is a RCI private beach, all your food and drink are included for the day. Overall, I would recommend Allure, Freedom and Escape in that order.

They only made the announcement about the injury and subsequent cancellations. I just figured it was because the shows shared performers.The remaining performances of the "For the Record," "Million Dollar Quartet," and "After Midnight" were all cancelled. I thought it was strange that they didn't have an understudy that could fill-in.

I was on Escape in Jan. I have a son in a wheelchair. You basically have 3 Complementary choices. The Garden Cafe Buffet at the rear of the ship on Deck 16. O'Sheehan's is on deck 7, beside the forward elevators. The MDR is really 3 different rooms all serving the same menu. Taste and Savor are right beside each other by the aft elevators on deck 6. And the Manhattan Room room is on deck 7 by the aft elevators. There is a $7.95 delivery fee for all room service orders. In comparison, RCL's, Allure, has 7 different complementary venues plus free room service, all with different menus scattered throughout the ship, but Allure is a larger ship and tends to have a significantly higher cruise fare than the Escape.

I was on the Jan. 16 sailing.During the sailing they had an accident. I know that at least one of the performers was injured. On the third day of the cruise, they cancelled the rest of the shows for the week as well as all of the other stage shows. The only shows we had available for the rest of the week was a 9pm variety show. Which was on a first come basis.

On Escape, I had the open faced roast beef. It was good. I enjoyed it. The nachos weren't very good. One night they had ribs. They were good.

I like to walk in the morning and I had no trouble doing that on the Escape. The fitness center is very crowded in the mornings, but if you get there around 7am, you will find many open pieces of equipment. I love walking while looking out at the ocean. (Same thing I loved about sitting in the stone loungers) I was surprised that there was only a single restroom in the fitness area and no locker room. FYI: the restroom door only opens by pushing the accessible button. It took me a while to figure that out. If you only try the door handle you will think it's locked.

One morning I walked on the pool deck; again in the morning it is easy to navigate. But during the day it's too busy. But my favorite place to walk was on the Waterfront Boardwalk. There were just a few of us that found ourselves there almost every morning. I kept passing that gelato stand, promising myself that I would go back during the day and try one, but I never made it out there. There is also a bar out on the deck that is open late at night. There were very few people there, so it looked like a fairly quite place to spend the evening.

On the first day of the cruise I purchased a pass to the Thermal Spa. I have to say, it was wonderful. I spent at least 2 - 3 hours there every day soaking up the warmth. The locker room is conveniently located just outside the entrance to the Spa. There were wonderfully fluffy towels available in the locker room and also inside the spa. You could also pick up a robe in the locker room. I love the sauna. I would spend at least 1/2 hour there. On one day, the weather outside was stormy, and the ship was rocking a little more than usual. The sauna door wouldn't stay shut, But there was another sauna next to it that was a lower temperature, but it worked well for me. The steam room was wonderful. I had it to myself everyday when I used it. I also used the salt room. I don't know that I benefited from it, but it was enjoyable. I didn't use the snow room. I'm from Ohio, all I have to do is walk outside my door into a snow room. :) The therapy pool was great. It's temperature was much warmer than any of the whirlpools on the ship. There is an area that bubbles like a cauldron. You had to hang on to the side to keep from being swept out of it. I liked it. Plus there is an end where you can sit and relax in the jets. The heated stone loungers where the best part of the experience. When I was finished using the therapy area, I would go to the locker room and get my book and my IPod and relax for an hour or more.

On the second day, I went into the spa around 5pm. People were saving the stone loungers with towels, without using them. I was disappointed, because even after spending 45 min in the therapy areas, there were still the same empty chairs being saved by towels and personal items. However, every other visit I made to the spa, staff would regularly remove personal items off of unused chairs. I never had to wait again for a lounger.

There was also flavored and plain water available along with hot tea. And there was always a bowl of oranges on the counter. I thought it was well worth the money. If I went on a cruise by myself, I would never leave the stone lounger.:D

Thanks. I tried several of the Chef's Specials. One was a New York Strip, Another was a Roast Beef Tenderloin. Both were very good. I also liked the salmon that is on the favorites part of the menu and is offered every night.

There was also a butternut squash appetizer that was very good. I'm sorry, I didn't keep a record of what we tried. We also enjoyed the ribs at O'Sheehan's. Over-all, I think they do a very good job with their offerings.

This was our first cruise with NCL. I'm 53 and traveled with my DH- 54, DS- 30 and my son's nurse, along with 18 other friends. My DS is in a wheelchair, so accessibility will also be covered as well as a comparison to RCL's Allure, which was the last ship we were on.

We chose the Escape, because of the low pricing and free beverage packages offered in Jan. of 2015, while the ship was still being built. We've always chosen RCL, in the past, when we cruise as a family, because their ships are wonderfully accessible. Escape was advertised as having a lift into a pool and hot tub. After contacting NCL to discuss the accessibility of the Escape, we decided to give it a try.

As the months progressed, after we booked, I, like many others, was disappointed with many of the changes that NCL had announced, but was determined to enjoy the new ship and our vacation.

Arriving at the terminal we were greeted by very helpful porters and had no trouble getting into the terminal. The processing for Escape is much like other ships. Everyone ques up in a line waiting for the next available employee. Wheelchair users, wait to the side and are processed at the end of the very long counter. Then we were taken up an elevator to board the ship. The staff made it a very easy process. The only difference on Allure is that the processing is broken down by deck, so the ques where shorter.

We were told that the ship had docked facing a different direction than it normally docks. We exited the gangplank and entered the ship by the forward elevators, on deck 7. There was a little confusion, because the elevators were just inside the door and many people were backed up trying to get on them. We weren't really sure where we should go, so we made it through the crowd and just on the other side of the elevators was O'Sheehan's, so we decided to have lunch there. We called our friends that were in the process of boarding the ship and they met us there. Because we were some of the first ones on the ship, there was no wait, we had no trouble getting a table for 10 and the food was enjoyable.

It wasn't long after we finished eating, that our rooms were ready. We were on deck 14, cabin 14752, and our son was across the hall in accessible cabin 14465. We met our room steward, Jason, who was wonderful the entire week. He was friendly and helpful. My best friend and her DH were in the cabin next to us. Jason removed the divider on the balcony, which was nice, we could meet there in the mornings for coffee. The rooms were nice. Our balcony cabin was lovely, all of our things fit into the closet. The bathroom had a large counter for all our toiletries. The accessible interior cabin had a great bathroom with a roll-in-shower. But the room is much smaller than on Allure, and doesn't provide an adequate turn radius for my son's wheelchair beside the bed. We were able to make do, so not a significant problem.

We are not specialty restaurant people. We've always enjoyed the complimentary options on RCI, and Carnival and anticipated that it would be the same on NCL. We were disappointed when NCL began charging for room service and for Margauritaville, because it meant a 40% reduction in complimentary choices. We were quite relieved when NCL rescinded their ban on allowing food in the cabins.

I had called 3 months prior to sailing to book dinner reservations for our group in an mdr, but was told we could only reserve 5:30 or 9:30. Neither worked for our group. We prefer to eat between 7 and 7:30. This was a major difference between NCL and RCL. When our large group sailed Allure, all I had to do was call the group reservation number at RCL and they assisted in all our group reservations on the ship both for dinner and for excursions.

NCL did not make it easy for us to eat together. I could only make a reservation for half the group by calling the reservation line, once on the ship. Every night I had to go to the restaurant at the start of service to request tables for the rest of the group. The process worked; we were all seated at two large tables, but NCL made it pain.

A big disappointment was the mdr service. The wait staff was friendly, but seemed overwhelmed. We actually had better service when we ate as a large group. On 2 occasions, we only had 6 people at the table and both times we had to go outside, to the bar in the lobby, to get our own drinks. On most nights bar service was scant. I like trying new foods on a cruise, but if you ordered 2 appetizers, they would only bring one. You would only get the 2nd if you repeatedly asked for it. I missed traditional dinning. I enjoy having the same wait staff every night that goes out of their way to make your dinning experience fun and superb. I feel that with traditional dinning, the staff is working hard for monetary compensation at the end of the week. We just didn't get the same level of service. And the service was well below what you would expect in any restaurant.

We enjoyed the food and the selections. We had no trouble finding dishes that we liked. We only ate at Savor and Taste. Both were accessible and we had no trouble getting my son's wheelchair under the table. My DS can only eat ice cream, and all the servers were wonderful in making sure he had some at the start of dinner. However, had this been a land based restaurant, my DH would have had a difficult time leaving a 10% tip, just due to service.

to be cont...

Why does O'sheehans close at 2? I thought it was supposed to be open 24 hours?Does that mean that there is a 3 hour window when no complimentary service is available?

It's not the money. I just don't like booking a cruise, then feel as if there has been a bait and switch by the time we board. I will enjoy the vacation, but I refuse to reward NCL for their deception.

Are the margaritas covered by the UBP? I certainly won't be buying any food there. We leave on our first NCL cruise in 5 weeks, it may be our only NCL cruise.

How is the bar service? If you're sitting on the sun deck, is there wait staff that come by and take drink orders? And in the lounges do you have to get your own drinks or is there wait staff that comes to the tables?

Thank you, I will try that

I'm having the same problem for a Jan14 sailing. We are a party of18. We were told the same thing: 5:30 or 9:30. This is my first cruise with ncl and they seem to be making planning way to difficult.

If Margaritaville begins charging a cover charge, does that mean we only have 3 complimentary options left on the entire ship?

I have 22 of us booked on the Escape for January. The changes coming down the pike don't bode very well for what is to come. This would be our first NCL cruise, but now I'm too afraid that we're getting the bate and switch. I'm going to start looking for another cruise.

Thanks for your review. We're thinking of staying at the Hampton on our next cruise.

Thanks for your wonderful review. We will be sailing on NCL in Jan. for the first time. How was the bar service while sitting on the sun deck? Are there a good number of servers that come by and take your drink orders, or do you have to go to the bar and get them yourself?

Thanks for the links and video. Thanks for sharing your experience.

Thanks for the info.