snownow

Heading out for our third trip on the Escape.. I am in the same boat as you with the wife and 2 girls (10 and 14). If you plan on spending your time sitting around the pool... you will have a bad time. Main pool is adult only most of the time. The kid pool has almost no seating.The kids pool was never over crowded, there is just limited seating. However, like i said our third time on this boat that is only due to our kids wanting to go back.

Girls 11 and 12 will love it.

Water slides; drop slides like a 15 minute wait (max), the other slide is hit or miss. I think the most i waited was 10 minutes.

Ropes course. I think we had a few 10 minute waits, and one 20 minute. Worth it. Take a chest mounted gopro.

Kids club: mine did not want to leave. It gave the wife and I quite a bit of us time :ship::champagne-toast:. Plus the girls made a bunch of friends to stand in the slide line with :). Push them to go the first day and make friends.

Crowds overall, there are spots that are always "too busy". The atrium for the smaller show are always busy and we did have a hard time finding seats at times. Elevators are always crowded, but we make the kids take the stairs to work off the junk food. As mentioned main pool area is a horrible design and too busy.

The ship also has a bunch of areas to avoid the crowds, Deck 8 is awesome, and has some nice bars. We never felt overwhelmed at the main shows, easy in and out. The restaurants are pretty spread out and with reservations it was a breeze.

As far as the timing i would imagine that the boat would be less full this month, but it will have less kids for them to make friends with. We did June last year and had a great time.

My family ( wife and 2 girls 12 & 11) are trying to find a cruise for next summer and the Escape looks like fun. We have been on 3 previous cruises (none with NCL) with the largest ship being Royal Caribbean Freedom of the seas. I keep reading reviews about how crowded the Escape is but I also read that about the Freedom and we never felt like it was over crowded. Yes we couldn't find chairs by the pool and lines at the elevator could be long but we tend not to make big deals about things like that. So I am wondering just how crowded the Escape is on seas days in respect to the following;

 

1. How long are the lines for the water slides, rope course and how crowded is the kids pool area.? I know there will be a lot of kids but so crowded the kids can't really even move around in the pool?

2. For dinning we will be eating in the complementary venues. Are there long waits for a table (we are early eaters and would dine by 6:30 at the latest) or long lines for any counter service places?

3. In general walking around I understand at certain times you may hit some bottle necks but is it so crowded that you are constantly fighting a crowd to get from one place to another or so crowded that you can't sit and enjoy a show or performance without some personal space?

4. Would there be much of a difference with the crowd if you departed the last weekend in May compared to the 2nd weekend in June?

 

Thanks for any input you can give.

It seemed very tight. Single sink, toilet crowded in-between a small shower and the door for the shower opens into the same space that the bathroom door opened to. It seemed to be an odd set up, and very cramped.

The mini suite room had a double sink, and a shower that you could actually fit in. Based on the small cost to upgrade totally worth it in my opinion.

Why is the shower odd in balcony rooms?

1. Our last cruise they told us no on the opening the partitions. However, call customer service tell them you have children in each room and would like them opened to make it easier to check on the kids. They opened ours up. Our room steward would not do it on his own.

2. We book 1 parent, 1 child in each room and get two. After they opened the partition up we asked for an extra set of key cards to be made. 0 issues. We just needed to use our original key cards for UBP ect..

3. As the other poster pointed out a larger bathroom is all we really noticed. Shower in the balcony room... is odd. Storage set up was a little different as well.

We are currently booked in an OV on floor 5. Now another family is joining us on vacation and we are going to look into booking 3 balcony cabins side by side. I don't know much about the Escape and the different balcony categories but I do know we do want to stay on budget and stick with the regular balcony category unless it is a very small upgrade$.

 

Questions:

 

1. Are there any balcony locations we should avoid? I'm not a big fan of the balconies that are located right by the lifeboats. I'd love to be able to sit on my balcony (we will have them open the 3 partitions) and enjoy a lounger.

 

2. Between the 2 families we have 4 teenager children - so we were wanting to book 3 cabins and then rearrange the sleeping arrangements so that the 4 teens shared the middle cabin ...with their parents in each of the other cabins. I know that when we book it will be a pain b/c it will come into play with our free perks and we will need to "assign" a parent to be on the booking for that room until we board. Have others done this and will it be ok?

 

3. The mini suites are not very much more money - I don't really see much of a difference in the layout and size. Am I missing something - what makes them "mini suites"?

 

Torn between a January 6-13 sailing or a February 3-10 sailing (out of Miami)... is there anything weather or holiday related I'm missing that would help us decide? Hoping for whatever is "less busy" on a boat of 4400. Would one sailing tend to have less people onboard?

 

Thanks,

Leslie

As far as the tournaments any idea on buy in on those? Long term the rake sound not so good, but a quick tournament would be fun.

Agree here. We have been on Disney, they kids could take it or leave it. Carnival, they did not want to be there much. On the Escape my 10 year old did not want to leave, my 13 year old... Lets just say we made her come in to eat with us. We did have a 12 year old boy with us last trip, he did not like it at first but seemed to warm to it towards the end of the week. Over all :):) from my kids.

Youth programs are wonderful. Register your kids right after you embark (avoid the crowds) and let them make friends and bond on the first day

My wife (or Daughter) popped the breaker to part of our room using her's. Took them about an hour to figure out how to get it back on... Just a word of caution. (on the Escape though)

Great post, emailed our NCL rep Friday, added $140 to each room with out issue. We are due to sail in 65 days, fully paid. However looks like they are changing promos again.. tax free now for some cruises.

Don't ride the elevators after Mexican night at the buffet.

OK thats pretty funny. :eek:

Drink? If so bring ones along. It is nice to tip your bartenders.... and Service gets sooo much better :)

We normally bring a couple of hundred for the port stops, all depends on if your taking excursions from the ship or going it on your own.

What to bring

Sunscreen, bug spray, Magnetic hooks (for the bathroom, walls are metal, and gives you a place to hang a travel bag or wet stuff), small Bluetooth travel speaker if you hang out in your room much,

You can book more on board. They do have cancellations and other items open up. I hear vibe is very nice, but you have to get on board very early, H2O is ok. There is always deck chairs available on the upper decks. They also do hold back reservations for restaurants and entertainment. Just book them when you get on the ship.

Tips....

If you like music

Howl at the Moon is awesome,

Live music in the district is also very good, and a nice vibe as well.

If you do get tickets to Vibe, it should be a good place for solo travelers to socialize. Shot o clock time ect.

Go see the Chocolate cowboy at the 5 o'clock bar, fun times.

If your looking to lounge Deck 8 couches are very nice.

I just booked my first NCL cruise for Saturday on Escape! I don't have much time and I have a lot of questions!!!!!

 

I booked the excursion perk. I noticed excursions on the website that are different from the ones that are offered on the 'available to book today' page of my reservation. Are some excursions opened up and/or offered on the ship that are not on the website? I have noticed this to be true on RCCL so I was wondering if it was the same on NCL.

 

I am going solo and in a balcony. I have always read that all solos are welcome to join the mixers and to have dinner with the group after the mixer. Is that the case on Escape?

 

Where would I book Vibe on Escape? It is $99 for the week, correct? Do you think it is worthwhile or would Spice H20 suffice? Is it hard to find loungers on the open deck?

 

Will I be able to book entertainment on the ship? Do they hold back some reservation slots? What shows do I need to book?

 

Any other hints and suggestions are appreciated. Thanks!

All's good. Just as long as its your underwear and not your wife's thong. :eek:

Now that is funny.:'):'):')

As far as shows, you can do that as soon as you get on. There are digital boards on every level, pop your key card in and reserve away. You may need a couple of them... i don't remember how many people you can book for at a time, it may be limited by room.

As far as Manhattan reservations you can do it now, for groups up to 12. Log in to your account, go to explore and plan, click the restaurant and you can make reservations. If the times you want are not listed, you can wait until you are on board and make them. I think they hold 30-40% back for on board ones.

Top deck was always quite, Deck 8 was also. It also has more shade and the Chocolate Cowboy ! (5'oclock somewhere bar)

Ours was just over an hour. I would say go for it, the cook will keep her entertained.

While i tend to agree... the only thing that comes to mind reading this is a 60 year old man in his bathrobe yelling at kids to get off his lawn and spraying them with a garden hose.

While it is annoying, don't you think your over stating the problem? "constant thumping"?

I may get flamed for this, especially since I can't imagine that the parents who allow this don't have a clue at how intrusive and annoying it is. But, just in case parents really have no idea, I am putting this out there. I am clueless as to why any parent thinks it is ever okay to let their children run up and down the hallways on a cruise ship. I know they are kids, and we should let them be kids...But, isn't it more important we teach them to be humans first? It is just not appropriate or considerate at any time of day to be running down a hallway outside of other people's cabins. Do you not realize how loud and annoying the constant thumping of feet running past someone's cabin door must be. And, it doesn't matter what time of day either. If someone is trying to relax in their cabin in the middle of the day or early evening, that is their right, and there is absolutely no reason for anyone to be running around in the hallways ever.

We have sailed Disney, Carnival and now NCL.

NCL was great, Service has been very good, food has been over all very good, drink package has been nice. For the time being they are our cruise line of choice. While we have not been on the ship you are looking at, if they are the same across the fleet you cant go wrong.

Royal... We have not sailed with them yet... Probably this Thanksgiving !

Disney was great, service was amazing... Price not so much (plus my bar bill was huge... )

Carnival we had a good cruise or so, food was not good, and our last trip with them was horrid. Quite possibly the worst vacation we have had. We will never travel with them again. Customer service is the last priority they have.

#1 Teppanyaki. great food, great service, a really good time

#2 Cagney's Tomahawk steak and filet were great!

#3 Moderno... food was good, Pineapple was amazing!

#1 Teppanyaki. great food, great service, a really good time

#2 Cagney's Tomahawk steak and filet were great!

#3 Moderno... food was good, Pineapple was amazing!

#4 food republic, its nice for a good afternoon snack.

Bayamo we did twice. the first time it was great the second not so much... we are going to pass this time

Le bistro was just ok.

Buy magnetic hooks. Amazon or your local home improvement store. The walls are metal. The wife and Kids (all girls) pack all of their essentials in a travel bag (they have holes to hang them) and hang them up in the bathroom. A huge space saver. Its also nice to have extra hooks to hang damp items.

Thank you, i will take a look. How was the resort, we have 2 non divers in our group as well.

My Daughter (13) and I are about to start our open water cert next week. Her birthday wish was to dive on our upcoming summer cruise. Roatan is our first stop and looks like an amazing place to dive. So does anyone have any suggestions about dive companies or locations for our first western Caribbean dive? or has anyone used Sundivers or Coconut Tree divers in half moon bay? Thanks in advance for any tips.

#1 Teppanyaki. Fun, very good food. If you have kids go.

#2 Cagney's , good food, great service.

#3 Moderno, Meat is good, grilled pineapple is amazing.

As far as free dining, we like The Manhattan room, the live music has been very good.

We passed on La Cucina the menu and reviews it seemed a waste

Bayamo, the first trip it was awesome, the second trip it was horrible. We are going to pass this time around

We chose the unlimited drink package and the dining option for our perks. I know our dining is limited to 3 specialty restaurants. Opinions on "Not to be missed" restaurants or "I wish I had chose something different"?

We were told 30-40% hold back. our last cruise we had friends join us. They were able to change and add the other party for all 4 nights of our specialty dining with out an issue. We changed them right when we got on board.

We have 2 of 3 speciality dinning booked. Online there is no more option for us but we wait onbard to be able to book the last one.

 

I've called Ncl and they said that some hours and dates are only available on boarding day. The online portion has access to some % and the rest is release onboard.

 

But maybe someone knows more about this

You can make reservations ( and i would recommend you do) for dining every night. Specialty dining or normal dining rooms. There is no "main dining room". You can always change them when you get on board. It really will save you time from having to wait for a table. Specialty dining 100% make plans ahead. I do like this freestyle dining better than the traditional main dining room, same time every day that other ships offer. It is nice to have some flexibility on board.

As far as shows, some you can book ahead, some just book on your 1st day.

We try to book as much as possible 90 days out, then make changes as we need to when we get on board.

We have cruised other cruise lines but are sailing with friends who want to try NCL. None of us has ever sailed with NCL before,

I'm confused about dinning. We always did traditional on the other lines. Do we need reservations for the main dinning room? We will probably book this week with the free specialty dining promotion. Do we need reservations for these venues? Do we book ahead of time or on the ship. How do we link all 3 couples so we can dine together?

Do we also need reservations for nightly entertainment? I am worried because it sounds very different from the other ships we have been on.

 

Any information you can tell me about how NCL "works" will be so appreciated.

You weren't texting. You were iMessaging. There is a difference because one uses wifi and one doesn't. You could do this by accident, not by design, so people can't count on it always working unless they have paid for and are connected to wifi. Sometimes there are "leaks", as you experienced.

Our daughter had the same "leak" on the Escape. Us samsung users were out of luck, but the Teen was able to text her friends back on the main land. ;p