HeyYouKidsGetOffMyLawn

(Not my website) Drink menus updated in May 2022

Using my mid-summer trips from last year:

The NCL Sun solo rate usually drops dramatically 5 days before sailing. 

I booked a balcony 4 day in June for 409 and an ocean view 3 day in July for 309 last summer (both prices before taxes/fees) by checking the rates every Monday and Tuesday morning.  The Sun is a open bar ship, so those prices include the drink package (with a rather limited menu) even if you get the sail-away rate. 

I'll be back on the Sun this weekend for another last-minute trip.  I'm not even fond of that ship, but it's cheap and convenient. 

Well, if I made you laugh with the original story, I guess you're allowed to see the rest of the story. 

Mr. Lawn

3 hours ago, DramaQueen22 said:

Mr. Lawn...you are HILARIOUS!  I enjoyed this review immensely.  I want to party with you dude!

That's very sweet, but you really don't want to party with me any time in the near future.  

There are hints in this antiquated trip report, but my wonderful wife was sick for a long time, and getting sicker every year.  She passed away about a year and a half ago. 

I did not handle the grief very well.  I've become the guy you'd imagine from my handle:  Bitter, angry and unpleasant to be near. 

I'm healing, but I barely resemble the person who wrote that trip report. 

Mr. Lawn

I posted a slightly longer review here: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2647827

In case anybody was actually curious.

What is the dollar amount for a “bargain”for a 7day Cruise?

I'm content to pay $100/day for a solo cabin. I've grabbed last-minute deals for less, but $100 is a reasonable dividing line.

Be sure to report back. Have a great couple of days!

This is a mid cruise update.

I'm having a great time. This is simply a wonderful value for a solo cruiser. My room is way bigger than I expected and my bed is comfortable.

The staff is energetic and constantly smiling.

I could not be more satisfied with this cruise and I'm pretty sure I'm coming back. Maybe I'll try the other ship next time.

Disclaimer: I own shares in Norwegian Cruise Line (NCLH). Enough shares to get some shareholder OBC for my longer cruises.

I would get back on this ship before booking a 3-day NCL Sun trip again. I'm not kidding.

Has anyone here actually sailed on these ships? I'll have to go see if I can find some reviews.

I just (30 minutes ago) booked a trip to test drive the cruise line. US$ 216 for an oceanview.

I leave tomorrow. I guess I should put gas in the minivan and pack a bag.

I'm not even excited. But I am very amused.

Excellent news.

I'm almost tempted to try them now. Maybe I'll do a modified B2B with a one-day gap between the cruises so I can try both ships.

Thanks. This might be fun.

My personal opinion is that the new management learned from some of the lessons from the Epic to come up with the Breakaway designs, which I believe is an improvement on the Epic.

This is probably the best description I've seen in the discussion so far, and one I've used myself.

The Epic ended up as a prototype for the Breakaway-class. They probably kept 70% of the changes from a 'normal' cruise ship and figured out how to make some of the others work.

The moment I walked onto Escape, a year after the Epic, I immediately thought "Hmmm. A lot of this seems very familiar." Within a day or two, it changed to "Hey, this doesn't bother me as much as it did on the Epic."

I had a bad cruise on the Epic, and if my friends didn't talk me into trying the Escape (which I LOVED), I may not have come back to NCL.

But my cruise was ruined by a very antagonistic crew experience. Just universally bad customer service at every encounter. If the bartenders could have spit in my face for ordering a rum and coke, they probably would have. Instead, they had a conversation for 10 minutes before making me a drink. It didn't really matter which bar I tried. They didn't want me there. They didn't like the stranger next to me, either.

The pinnacle of the trip was going to GSC and having tender ticket #3, so we went to the theatre when the intercom said tenders were ready. Then we sat in a crowded theatre for 82 minutes while a bitch screamed, "No Tender! You sit down! You shut up!" I am not kidding.

I walked off that ship very angry.

From reading the CC trip reports: My cruise week was a bad one. The cruise after ours was also bad for the same reasons. The cruise after that seemed completely fine.

If the Epic was sitting next to a more recent megaship and everything else was equal (price, itinerary, cabin), I wouldn't choose the Epic. But I also wouldn't avoid booking it.

I travelled with another middle-aged married straight man on the Epic. It didn't bother either of us.

There's a privacy curtain you can use to separate the bath/atrium area from the sleeping area.

It's still kind of a weird design, but not as bad as you'd think.

Le Bistro wont have much.

I was intrigued by the question, so I used the link above to look at the menus.

To be honest, the (V) selections for appetizer and entree at Le Bistro both looked excellent. I'm almost as surprised as you are.

The Moderno Salad bar really is quite nice. I remember getting gently roasted red bell peppers and they were great. The poster would have to skip the multiple meat selections, but GRILLED PINEAPPLE is a real highlight here. I'm just not sure if the salad bar alone is worth an SDP 'point'.

I don't see any (V) entrees at La Cucina, but I think I could make a meal out of those appetizers. Adding up as much as I think I could eat, I don't hit the $25 break-even point. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not. I even see 3/4 things on the Sides included free with an entree that I'd eat.

Cagney's is vegetarian-hostile, but we expected that, right?

I was on the exact same trip as the original poster. I agree with most of the review.

I'm probably spoiled by several recent trips on the Escape and Getaway. The Sun is different.

The ship really looks like it was recently in drydock for a quick update/refurbishment. I actually looked for worn-out stuff in the public areas and they were hard to find. They couldn't change the layout of the ship, which does feel kind of weird and awkward.

The food was a real downgrade from my other NCL trips. I ate in the MDR for lunch on sailaway day and dinner on day 2. It wasn't great, but it wasn't bad, either. I didn't get the magical salmon burger (luckily?). The buffet is super cramped and the selection is kind of limited. I always found something to eat, so I'm happy enough. I knew about the buffet being small from a tiny bit of pre-cruise research, but it was actually worse than I expected.

The open bar was great. No card swipes really changed the speed of getting a drink from even the busiest bar. The 'free' selection was a little limited, but I never had a bad drink. I did end up babysitting a drunk guy for a few hours, but he was hilarious, so that was fun. I don't remember drinking too much, but I woke up on Sunday feeling like crap. It was probably more of a cold than a hangover, because I stayed onboard for GSC and still felt bad 2 days later.

My Balcony room (8059) felt bigger than a similar room on the Escape. The bathroom was more cramped, but the balcony was about 50% deeper than I expected. It was probably halfway between an Escape 'normal' balcony and an Aft-Balcony (reference- Escape cabin 14906). I loved being 5 doors away from the elevators, so my Guarantee room was a surprise.

The elevator situation was great. The Escape and Getaway seem to have too few elevators for the number of passengers, while the Sun almost has too many. Press button, wait 20 seconds and BING! Nice.

Deck 6 -- Bliss Ultra Lounge looks like it would be a problem from the deck plans, but there's a well-defined walking path around it, even during the late night parties.

Deck 11 -- Pool Deck. I tend to eat at O'Sheehans twice during a 7-day cruise. For some reason, I never made it to the Sports Bar when I was hungry. But this really does feel like a baby O'Sheehans to me.

Deck 12 -- The smoking area at the back of the ship was nice. Really well ventilated and half of the seats were in the shade.

Deck 12 -- I went to Spinnaker Lounge on Day 2 for really dreadful karaoke. I wish I had gone back for daytime ocean-watching. It's a surprisingly comfortable space that reminds me of a Celebrity ship.

Other regrets: I had a $50 dining credit that I forgot to spend, because I ate very little on Sunday. I wish I had tried Los Lobos.

Excursion -- Day 2 in Nassau -- Seahorse Sail and Snorkel was a nice 3 to 4 hour boat ride with excellent snorkeling gear and a fun staff. I used my excursion credit for this, so it was almost free. Recommended.

I booked super-last-minute with a solo traveler discount and a Guarantee cabin, so this was an affordable cruise. Around $550 after taxes, fees, surcharges, insurance, upgrades, downgrades, nickels, dimes and gratuities.

I've also sailed the Carnival Liberty (twice) for a weekend trip to the Bahamas from Orlando. To be honest, if the Liberty was a similar price, I'd choose the Liberty over the Sun. There are a lot of things about Carnival that I strongly dislike, but the Liberty is just a better ship. Without the solo discount, the Liberty is twice the price for a similar cabin. That's a tough decision.

Conclusion: I'm going back to the big NCL boats and longer cruises.

Then again, is anyone just bringing their own packages of disposable ones?

I'm leaving today on the Sun and I've packed a few hundred biodegradable paper straws to give away to strangers.

I'm also bringing a package of reusable plastic straws for myself.

We shall be victorious. #strawgate2018.

I see Kevin is still at one drink.

That's why everybody hates you, Kevin.

We can't wait to go to the Brew House!!!

It's really a wonderful space and a great beer selection. The couches are great, there are windows to the sea, the ceiling is also heavily tinted glass, so you can look up and see clouds...

Panorama from Cruise Critic: https://www.cruisecritic.com/photos/ships/norwegian-escape-691/the-district-brew-house-208690/the-district-brew-house--v82967/

I was on the Getaway a few short weeks ago and I think it's the single thing I missed the most between the Escape and Getaway.

hi everyone..new to this....I am retired and like to cruise..but tired of paying double like on Carnival. How do I find the solo discounts on NCL...etc?... I am flexible and live in tampa. Thanks and happy cruising..

You pack a bag on Monday and start checking the NCL.com website. Sometime between Monday and Thursday, the price of a solo cabin will drop to the double occupancy price. You jump on that price with both feet when you see it and start laughing.

Then you fill the car with gas, toss your packed suitcase in the trunk and start driving.

This has worked for the Escape (twice), Getaway and the Sun within the last 6 months.

Living in Florida is great.

June 3, 7-Day Bermuda from New York, NCL Escape, $500 inside

 

I've been on the Escape twice as a solo. Love that ship, and that's a great price.

Here's my latest deal. NCL Sun from Port Canaveral, 3-day to the Bahamas, open bar for everyone.

I'm booked for the June 1st sailing, which is closed now (2 days to departure). The price for next week is $299 Sailaway Inside dbl occupancy, $449 solo. So, a 50% single supplement, which isn't horrible, but we want deals, right?

On Tuesday morning (yesterday), the single supplement disappeared and I was able to book a solo 'guarantee' balcony for $409 + $120 taxes/port/fees w/ 2 Free-At-Sea perks and $50 of OBC. The solo SailAway Inside was either 279 or 299, which still included the Sun/Sky open-bar deal.

I'm seeing a lot of cabins available for next week, so I would not be surprised if it happens again next Tuesday.

Good luck.

3). If you absolutely must have a lounger on Deck 16/17, next to the pool, wake up early. Instead, take the forward elevator to Deck 18, go outside and head up the stairs to Deck 19 and grab one of the usually empty loungers near the small bar and a hot tub.

https://www.cruisecritic.com/photos/ships/norwegian-escape-691/sun-decks-208742/sun-decks--v82901/

If that's crowded (unlikely), then one more convenient set of stairs will get you to the wasteland of empty loungers on Deck 20.

17th cruise - first one on Norwegian (Escape sailing 5/5/19 out of NYC) Here goes my list of questions:

 

1) where is the outdoor smoking section?

2) with the freestyle dining, do you have a choice of actual dining rooms?

 

7) strange question I know but is the Escape considered an 'elegant' ship? The Anthem of the Seas w/RCCL is really an "elegant" ship in my opinion .. marble/glass ... everything high end

8) do the waiters sing/dance during dinner?

 

10) what is the "vibe" pass? I am confused on this one

 

15) can you get drinks in Margharitaville using your UDP?

16) for the shows, do you make reservations ahead of time or just show up? if so, do the reservations reserve a specific seat or just admittance to the show?

1) Four smoking areas (as of April 2018).

Deck 17 at the rear of the ship, in Spice H2O area, near the bar there are 3 high-top tables with 4 chairs each and a row of 6 padded low chairs in 3 pairs facing each other. You cannot actually smoke at the bar, but you'll be about 10 feet away. If it's raining, none of these seats are covered in any way.

Deck 17 at the middle of the ship, the second floor of the Waves pool bar has (4 high-top tables with 4 chairs each) plus (4 high-top tables with 2 seats each) on the side of the bar so your smoke blows directly into the jogging track. There are also about a dozen smoking seats along the railing, looking down into the pool area below. If it's raining, only the 2 seat high-top tables have any protection (8 seats total).

[iNSIDE] Deck 8, 'The Humidor' near Tobacco Road is a small cigar area. This is your rainstorm option, and it's poorly ventilated, so you can just walk in and get as much second-hand smoke as you'd like.

[iNSIDE] Deck 7, the casino allows smoking in about 30% of the square footage and has air scrubbers that are partially effective.

2) You have a choice of three 'Main Dining Rooms'. The Manhattan Room is a nicer space and has a little bit stricter dress code (that may not be super-strictly enforced). Taste and Savor are almost twins and across the hall from each other. All three rooms have the same menu and food. You can choose one at random. The worst wait I've ever experienced was walking up to the Manhattan Room at 7:30 PM with a party of 10 people and no reservations. We waited almost 9 whole minutes on comfortable couches for a table. No reservations seating was close to instant every other time. No complaints at all from me.

7) It's certainly not an ugly ship. There are actually a few spaces on Escape that remind me of a Celebrity Solstice-Class ship.

8) Thankfully, I have never seen a waiter sing or dance on any NCL ship. Perhaps a quick 'Happy Birthday'.

10) Find a set of deck plans for the Escape. Go to Deck 19. Find the area marked 'Vibe Beach Club'. It's a sundeck with locked doors. About 100 people are allowed into the area per trip. If you're one of those people, you are pretty much guaranteed a sun lounger at any time, and they're nicer than the loungers available to commoners. You also get a hot tub that's usually empty and your own bar. It's about $100 to join this little private club and tickets sell out quickly.

15) Yes. You can sneak into Margaritaville and get a drink on the UBP. I wasn't impressed by the drinks, so I didn't go there a third time. The hours are also a little weird -- I believe they're open from 'lunch' to 4 PM.

16) You can do either, but with reservations you'll get first choice of seats. Standby is a line and you'll get the seats that are left over with 5-10 minutes until the show starts. No, reservations do not assign you a seat. I'm not a huge fan of this system because it seems to conflict with the Freestyle theme. Having said that, I've never missed a main theatre show from the standby line. I have been turned away (once) from a comedy show because it filled up and I was too far back in line.

And not forget the ropes course as well that a lot of the kids were always lined up for.

Some of those kids were around six feet tall and in their late forties, BTW. The ropes course and sudden drop waterslides were way better than I could have expected.

I was surprised by the zipline that curved over the edge of the boat --

I really loved the Escape. I'd even go so far as to say it's my favorite ship.

Wow. That's awesome. Did you book directly? or through a TA?

Both at some point.

I'm joining about a dozen friends on the ship and my potential roommates kept cancelling. So I tested the website to see just how much the prices had skyrocketed this close to sailing. To my utter amazement, the price had actually dropped a little from two weeks prior. So, I changed to the dreaded single passenger search and expected the prices to double. Nope. So, I finished the test booking and slapped a 24-hour hold on the reservation. I printed the reservation/hold pages to a PDF and emailed it to the travel agent handling the group booking. "This seems like a great price, can you get me something similar?"

She was able to get the same deal and link my reservation to the rest of the group. I allowed the direct reservation to expire and paid for the TA version. Same price for me, she gets a commission, everybody wins.

This will be my second NCL cruise. The first one was not a good experience. This one has to be better.

I just checked, and the deal still exists today. You do have to upgrade from the $399 "Sail-A-Way" guarantee cabin (code IX) to the $499 inside guarantee (IF) to get the UBP and OBC added on.

Kind of excited about the trip now.

NCL Escape, Western Caribbean route, November 18-25, 2017 (Thanksgiving week)

They didn't charge me a single supplement for an inside cabin, category IF (guarantee cabin), and tossed in a polite $150 in non-refundable OBC. That price also qualified for the 'free' UBP promotion with the usual ~$120 gratuities.

Under $800 total with taxes, fees, port charges, gratuities, etc.

I disliked my November Epic vacation pretty strongly. Never again, and probably never NCL again.

Having said that, here are the nice things about the ship:

O'Sheehans is a nice alternative to the buffet for a quick bite at random times. The bar 'half' has multiple TV screens for sports or whatever. The bar half also has a row of tall seats with a good view of the atrium below.

The free restaurant Taste was a short wait for a small group without reservations and I remember being satisfied with the food.

The tiered/stadium seating at Spice H2O was great for a view of the ocean from the back of the ship and perhaps a fruity drink in the afternoon.

"Burn the Floor" was surprisingly good. I do not dance. Still liked it.

You can barhop diagonally between floors 5, 6 and 7 at the rear of the ship via the stairs and escalator(s).

Howl at The Moon was uneven, but when it was good, it was very good.

If the connection hasn't been updated since last summer - then I have to say it was really bad. On cabin speed was really slow and wasn't much better on public areas. Additionally connection was lost really often - so had to login again and a again. Compared to VOOM on Royal Caribbean - Epic connection was a joke and also expensive.

Using the pay as you go plan at a dollar per minute to check email twice per day and download a few Kindle books to my tablet:

I used 243 megabytes during 41 minutes of activity.

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