periatza34

23 hours ago, schmoopie17 said:

Are they still doing the lame "Washy-Washy" songs in the buffet? The first morning it was (sort of) cute, but after hearing it every morning for 16 days on a TA it got to be annoying.

I only heard the washy washy 1 time on my cruise.  Most of the time someone was just standing there greeting you as you walked in.  I probably ate at the buffet a handful of times.  Went there a lot for ice cream though!

14 hours ago, Jeffffffs said:

They haven't done towel animals for a while now, but if you ask your room steward nicely they've always done them for our kids.

I had asked and even left a 5 dollar bill on the bed for one and the steward said he never learned how.

9 hours ago, TeresaJ said:

We have sailed the Escape and really enjoyed our cruise. But really, having to book all your dining and shows before the cruise negates the whole freestyle thing. They should have availability especially if the places aren't busy! Also, cruising during spring break definitely is more crowded. Glad you still enjoyed your vacation!

I'll know for the future to book my dining way in advance.  I didn't this trip as I wasn't sure how things would be going with the whole family.  You live and learn.  Our honeymoon cruise was memorial week which surprisingly wasnt all that busy.  I assumed that two weeks after easter everyone would have their spring break vacation in already.  I think I'll have to wait a few more weeks.

I sailed the Escape from April 23rd to April 30th with my wife and 3 kids, ages 16,14, and 5.  This is my first cruise since 2016 which was with my wife for our honeymoon on the Getaway.  We had a family oceanview room on deck 5 by the splash academy(that my daughter didn't use) that sleeps 5.  Room worked for us and somehow we were able to rotate well enough for bathroom use.  Ill briefly go over some of the good, some of the bad, and some of the change.

Good:

Service in most areas and crew members were amazing!  So friendly!

The ports were awesome.  Puerto Plata, Taino Bay specifically, has an awesome port with a pool and lazy river with hammocks, clamshells and chairs all at no cost. We went to magens bay in st thomas which the views were breathtaking on the way there to the water being so clear.  The two older kids got to experience snorkeling for the first time here and they absolutely fell in love with it.  We got off the ship for a little while in Tortola but the times were 6am-12:30pm so we didnt do much.  Great stirrup Cay was my wife's favorite as the water is clear and there is plenty of seating on the beach.  Very hot and not much shade to find so be warned.  Kids once again went snorkeling here.

Entertainment was great.  I enjoyed Will, the cruise director, along with the other staff who ran the shows.  

Bad:  

Plan out your whole vacation ahead of time!  The last cruise I took, I don't remember having an issue getting a reservation somewhere, but this trip, everything was reserved before day 1 it seemed.  I couldn't reserve anything!  At least the main dining rooms(savor/taste) would allow walk ups.  I went to Moderno one night to use our specialty up and they turned us away. I asked them what I could do as everything was full for the rest of the trip.  They basically told me I was out of luck.  My wife and I walked to La Cucina after which had no line and didn't look busy at all.  Asked if there was a way we could get seated and he said that he was so booked up that we would have to take outdoor waterside seating.  The hostess did mention to me that people will book multiple things and not show up which I think shouldn't be allowed.  At this point we would take anything and did.  All 4 shows of choir of man were sold out as long as all the other entertainment you could book.

The ship was full, and most every passenger it seemed was entitled.  Very rude people.  I don't remember that being the case my last cruise.  People have no regards to others and it just puts you in a bad mood. The elevators would be full all the time!  You are on deck 16 going to deck 5, waiting for 5 minutes it seems for an elevator to come and as soon as it would, someone would run in front of you to hop on and take your spot.  

The bars were packed!  I had to wait up to 10/15 minutes sometimes to get a drink.  I am also one who tips every single time I get a drink.  Not saying that I should get preferential treatment for this, but I know some of you will come back at me and say I need to tip to get good service.

Changes:

Some entertainment that used to be in the theater was changed to the atrium.  I don't mind entertainment being there but it was just too small for the amount of people that would show up.  If you didn't show up at least 45 minutes before the show, good luck finding somewhere to sit, let alone even see what's going on.  Also, good luck getting a drink at the atrium bar.  You were better off finding a server walking around and ordering a drink from them.

Room being serviced changed to once a day.  This isn't really a big deal for me but I never had any clue on when my room would get serviced.  We had a pullman bed that just stayed down the whole cruise for people wondering.  Last cruise we would get towel animals on our bed and now we don't.  My 5 year old daughter was pretty dissapointed she didn't get to see one.

All in all, we had an amazing vacation with plenty of memories and firsts for the kids.  If I were to go again, I'd somehow either try to find a ship that isn't as booked, or at least plan out my whole vacation to the hour before going.  I hate doing that.  I hope this little review helps some of you in cruising in the near future and I'll try to answer any questions that I can.  I don't have pictures of dailys.

3 minutes ago, Pitzel said:

Have you called NCL to see if having different last names will be an issue in your situation?

I haven't yet.  Still a little over two weeks away to get our documents.  If it comes down to it, it won't be hard for us to get a new certificate.  I'll call closer to sail date if need be.

45 minutes ago, Pitzel said:

Do you have any other documents that would show a link between your wife and the 15 year old? Maybe a marriage license, divorce decree, or court order showing that they once had the same last name (if that is, indeed, the case)?

For more info about traveling with a child that does not have the same last name, see: https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=2931

As for the check in times, I don't think you should have a problem. We had a similar situation where our party had different check in times and we were all able to check in together at the earlier time.

Thanks for the help!  She never had the same last name as her son.  So in order to prove we would need his birth certificate and our marriage license to show her old last name.  Almost seems pointless to have the passport card.  The only reason we got them was so we didnt have to travel with all these documents.  Not the end of the world to spend $23 on another birth certificate, just a waste when we have one and just waiting for it back.

So we decided to get our 15 and 5 year old passport cards instead of passports and the 16 year old a full passport.  We got the 16 year old's passport in the mail two weeks ago.  We still dont have the passport cards and we sail out in 16 days. I think we will have the cards by the time we sail, but I'm not sure the birth certificates will be mailed back in time.  the 15 year old has a different last name than my wife and I.  Without that birth certificate, will they take my wife's word that he is her son with the passport card?  Do I have to go and buy new birth certificates now?  What really is the point of the passport card if I still need to travel with their birth certificates?  

Also, when doing online check in, I checked 4 of us in early in the morning and was able to get 9:30-10 check in time.  I wasnt able to check in the 5th till later in the day and was only able to get 10-10:30 check in time for him.  They can't assume a minor is going to check in 30 minutes later than the rest of the family?  I have only cruised two other times and with no minors before so I can't really remember how the process goes.  Am I just being too worried?  Last thing I want to do is fly all the way down there and get denied boarding.

I prepaid my $560 bill in "gratuities."  My wife and I and 3 kids at $16 each for 7 days.  Also paid the taxes on the beverage package that is "free."  I will still feel obligated to tip when getting drinks or feel the wrath of the bartenders staring me down.  I know, not their fault.  With the prices going up to $20 a day plus, I may have to stop cruising and start all inclusives again.  My daily gratuities will considerably go down.

6 hours ago, zzdoug said:

To get them interested, you could send them links to YouTube videos of the teen center, water parks, etc which are easy to find.

 

And/or just tell them that you and your spouse will occasionally be getting busy in your 200 square foot room. No teen will ever want to be present for that. This is not my idea btw; I have seen it before in this forum, maybe in the section for another cruise line. 

HAHA!  I think for a family cruise my wife and I can contain eachother for a week for the sake of our kids!  I will check out some youtube videos.  Thanks!

Kids club is not a big deal to me.  If she wants to go, which I highly doubt cause she is shy that way, I won't stop her.  Otherwise I'm completely fine doing everything with her.  I just want to know what things on the ship I can do with her.  What shows, if she will even enjoy them.  I also have family coming on this cruise so if my wife and I do want a date night to ourselves, I'm sure we can get it.

I sailed on the Getaway back in 2016 for my honeymoon on my 2nd cruise ever.  Just booked my 3rd cruise on the Escape in April but with a family of 5!  Two teenage boys, a 5 year old girl, and my wife and I all in a family oceanview(woosah).  So family cruising is very new to me.

In reading the forums the last few weeks, I have noticed a lot of changes since 2016.  One being that I only get 1 specialty dining perk for a 7 day cruise instead of 3.  I was thinking about upgrading to the two extra for my wife and I but was wondering if I can bring my daughter to dinner and have her just order off of a complimentary kids menu, or would we have to buy her a dinner also?

My other question is about the entertainment.  First off it looks like Malevo was on this ship but no longer is.  Anyone know if they will be replaced(nothing shows up yet)?  Secondly, what shows are kid friendly?  Would it be fine to take a 5 year old to any of these shows(the choir of man/the supper club/dueling pianos/ect)?  I know they have the splash academy but I highly doubt she will let me leave her there while I go to a show.  I really don't want to leave the babysitting to the boys either.  Just trying to figure out all the things we can do at night as a family.

Entourage sounds like a cool thing for the teen boys to go to but they roll their eyes at me when I tell them about it.  Any way you think I could convince them that it will probably be something they want to do?

I feel like I had more questions but can't seem to think of them at the moment.  If you have any suggestions or tips for me to do on the escape with the family, I'd love to hear them!

I'm pretty sure you were on the cruise when they were tranisitioning shows. Million dollar quartet starts on the cruise sailing out today. It took the place of Legally blonde. In transitioning, the show that you saw was just temporary. Other than the entertainment, you had mentioned that it was one of the best cruises but didn't really say why besides the haven. Tell us some of the good instead of all the bad :)

I'll be on the getaway for the may 29th sailing and will be in belize on june 1st. Looking up the port schedule for that day, it looks like two carnival ships will be in port also. I have only cruised once before and none of those stops required tendering. How long does it take to tender? Will it take longer cause there are two other ships? I have reserved a spot with cavetubing dot bz but being a new cruiser I get worried about time. I can't see myself spending 140 pp to do cavetubing through the ship when it will cost less than that for both of us to go privately. I have read some reviews about cutting it close to last tender. Any insights are greatly appreciated!

Well, even though I still can't see anything under vacation summary on my ncl, I did check my edocs this morning and they no longer say gty-deck 0. I have a room finally! Glitch is still there but at least I know I have a room. It tells me my stateroom number but doesn't tell me the type. I had to look that up on my own. Time to print off edocs!

Sorry, that's what I get for speed reading....I miss something every now and again. Hope your cabin gets posted soon and you have a great cruise.

All the little things that we worry about pre cruise! But a vacation goes by so fast that I would rather worry about everything before than during.

What shows when you click on "eDocs"?

I did post this in my original post but it says "gty deck 0"

So for the longest time I have been checking myncl to see if my gty mini has been assigned yet. Under vacation summary it would always just tell me gty mini. Now the past week when I log in there isn't a stateroom showing at all. Even when I scroll to the bottom to see the type of stateroom it's gone. My edocs just say gty deck 0. I'm 20 days out now. Anyone else having the same issue of not seeing your stateroom? Something to worry about or a glitch? I didn't think much of it but it has been a week since it happened.

I am 30 days out as of today and ncl sent me an email for my edocs. No assignment on there yet. I guess I will just have to be patient a little longer.

Have you checked your travel docs to see if you have a room assignment yet? If you do, then your room has already been taken out of available inventory. We did Gty Balcony on one and we had our room assignment months ahead.

When I try to download my eDocs I get "unexpected error. Please contact NCL - 10000." I had thought that under vacation summary you should be able to see your assigned room once it's assigned. Not sure why I can't download the eDocs.

It's hard to tell anything about what's available or not. NCL has a department that works full time at finding the best way to fill rooms and make the most money. You could end up anywhere regardless of what is showing available for booking. The whole process is about revenue. Best to hope for the best and be prepared for the worst.

I am prepared. I originally booked an oceanview and when prices dropped I was able to get upgraded to the gaurantee mini-suite for no extra charge. So anything that I get will probably be better than what I would have had. Just anxious to know.

Congratulations on getting married! I'm getting married in November and then doing a honeymoon cruise 2 days later.

 

I'm sure you'll get to goal, or at least super close to goal!

 

good luck!

Congrats on your engagement! Thanks for the encouragement also. My biggest challenge will be my diet. I like to eat! I have never done well with restricting calories and I feel I'm always hungry. I'll stick with it though. Need to look good for those wedding photos :)

There are actually 13 spa mini suites left. I didn't include them cause I wasn't sure if that was part of the guarantee. In the minutes of actually making this post, the last aft mini suite has sold also.

The may 29th sailing of Getaway now says guaranteed mini-suite is sold out when doing a mock booking. I booked a gy mini-suite awhile back but have yet to be assigned a cabin. In picking all the other categories for mini-suite, I have only found 16 cabins left. 8 in one family mini-suite, 7 in another type of family mini-suite and 1 aft mini-suite. How does this work? are there cabins still available because of the guarantee even if these all sell out? Is there a chance I will be pushed into a spa mini-suite? I'm very curious and anxious to find out.

Hello CC world!

Tomorrow marks the last day of the muscle building program I have been following. The program has had me eating about 5k calories a day with about 350 to 400 grams of protein! I am ready to shred!

On May 21st I will be getting married to the most kind, caring, and beautiful woman that I know. Only a week and a day after that we will be sailing away on our honeymoon! Which brings me to this forum. No more muscle building and time to shred those pounds off and be looking good for the cruise!

At the moment I weigh 211 pounds and would like to get down to 195 before the cruise. Now that is a hefty goal with only being 31 days away! I have always been a regular at the gym but have never watched my diet. I plan on doing a new 6 week program that involves no breaks between sets. After each set I will have to do a minute of cardio based activity. That being jumping jacks, skiing, step ups, or running up and down the track. Hopefully in doing this I will maintain most of my muscle along with shredding the fat!

Now I'm a big believer of taking and posting progress pictures because it keeps you accountable. I have looked at a few threads on here and haven't seen any pictures so not sure if that is something frowned upon. If not, I will post some so you can follow along with me! So every week I will post updates on my progress and hopefully hit my goal! Thanks for reading and keep me accountable! Let me know your fitness goals and I will do my best to keep you motivated! Let's make this a great 31 days!

Well, if you "won't" (as opposed to "can't") use any snore relief stuff, invest in a good quality pair of earplugs for your wife. I'd also suggest a trip to your doctor to see if, as someone else suggested, there is some underlying cause for the snoring. It can be s symptom of something more serious.

 

Or you could reward your wife for her suffering by staying home and letting her have a snore-free holiday! :)

I have tried using the snore relief stuff. None of it works or it's very uncomfortable. I probably should go and do a sleep study but that really wasn't the question at hand. The fan has become more of a sleep aid for her. She went on a girls weekend and had to take the fan with her. So thank you all for the suggestions. I will probably invest in a white noise machine as ear plugs are probably not her cup of tea. And as for my "attitude" from one poster, at least I am taking the time and effort to find a way to help her so that we both can be comfortable.