PortFees45

10 minutes ago, chars said:

Are there still signs around the ship that state chairs can't be held for a period of time?  In the past, if there were items on chairs for a long period of time (hours) I would move the items to another place and take the chair.  I think it is completely rude for people to "claim" the chair for the day.  

They have language stating that on the big screens on the pooldeck (not constant, it rotates through). I did notice employees at peak times in the peak areas (around the pool) putting stickers with timestamps on loungers with unattended items. 

Also forgot to mention no balcony lights in standard balconies (they have them on Haven balconies).

I think this is a great change. It's so annoying being stuck to someone who leaves their damn light on all night, especially if you're a stargazer. 

God the QM2 is a beautiful ship...

There's no Haven, so that's a huge plus. 

30 minutes ago, kba1988 said:

Do you happen to have a copy of the dailies? It would be nice to know which entertainment venues are available on which nights   

Sorry I do not. 

Just now, Barb Nahoumi said:

We were on the Gem From Boston to Bermuda in May.  There was turn-down service every night.  I don't think that NCL will eliminate it completely, especially in cabins where the stewards must open pull-out couches, trundle beds, and pull down bunks.

Was the forward sundeck on Deck 14 open to the public, or was it blocked off for Haven/Suites only? I'm talking about the Sundeck all the way forward, above Spinnakers, where you can look down on the little crew pool at the bow. 

1 minute ago, Shidah said:

This is the second instance I’ve read about kids in Spice recently.  If that occurs, is there someone that passengers can notify or bring to someone’s attention to rectify the issue on board?  Won’t affect us since we are likely getting Vibe passes, but I have read over and over how many people enjoy Spice as a respite from kids.  The few times I have been to Spice to get a drink from the bar it was a zoo with just the adults, couldn’t imagine it with kids present.

I don't hang out in SpiceH20 much, but there were some kids in the adult pool at one point. Granted they were with their family, but I went right to the nearest NCL employee and let him know. He immediately notified the deck supervisor and the kids were ejected within 5 minutes.

Oh, forgot to mention (and can't edit for some reason?) that I was surprised to find the balconies on the Escape are noticeably larger than the Breakaway and Getaway. Really makes a difference. Not sure if they did this by shaving some room off the interior, but whatever they did the balcony felt just the right size. On the Breakaway/Getaway I feel like I'm on a ledge. 

30 minutes ago, gmbhardy said:

I agree with you. The OP’s “confirmed” comment was totally misleading.

I'm not the first person to mention a reduction/elimination in turndown service. I said "confirmed" because I seemed to be seeing what I'd already read about on these boards for myself. 

1 minute ago, NLH Arizona said:

Or maybe he just had a lazy Cabin Steward.

She wasn't lazy at all. Did a fine job. I keep my DND light on a good bit, so maybe that was it, but the hallways were noticeably absent of cabin stewards during the evening dinner hours.

1 hour ago, rtkenmore said:

 

Were you a single traveler who paid double occupancy?

Doesn't matter if I am or not. If you book an Inside Guarantee (IX) you get the lowest category Inside OR HIGHER. 

A Studio is a lower category than an Inside. 

7 minutes ago, mking8288 said:

K-9 teams on the pier here at Dockyard last November ... spotted them while docked in Nassau and Mexico ports on other sailings.  If and when caught in Bermuda, the fines are very, very steep ! 

Yeah and once the majority of pax disembark they bring the doggos onboard and sweep the ship.

OP likely smelled the flavored e-tobacco juice. THC oil is actually designed to be nearly scent-free for obvious reasons (not scent free to the dogs, though). 

Bermuda does aggressive sweeps with K9 units of the passenger hallways. If there was as much of what you think you smelled, they'd have been hauling people off the ship. You likely smelled normal tobacco vaping, which is actually much more fragrant than THC oil. 

Oh, forgot to mention the Thermal Suite. 

Relaxing as always, but WAY too much chlorine in the pool. I got some mist in my eyes from the big wavepool thing, and it felt like I'd been maced. Except for the area right by the steam room (which smelled like pleasant eucalyptus) the entire place just stank of chlorine. It burned your eyes even on the tile loungers. 

And with that much chlorine, I was surprised to find the pool kinda nasty. Not the pool itself, but the metal pipe that runs around it beneath the buttons you use to activate the jets. Covered in brown slime. Pretty gross.

1 minute ago, perditax said:

 

Got service 2x a day every day. Didn't ask. Maybe the solo studio stewards haven't gotten the memo yet. I also tipped my steward at the beginning of the cruise. Dunno. 

 

But yeah, if they're officially down to one room servicing a day ... well, I was already pretty much done with NCL, so there's no point me threatening to be done with NCL over it. 

I mean...I'm no NCL cheerleader, but I can't see how anyone needs their room cleaned more than once a day. 

Just now, PortFees45 said:

Did you have your "make up room" light on in the evening, or did your room not get serviced in the morning?

 

They'll do it if you ask, but it's not automatic like it was before. 

Sorry this was meant to be a response to your question re: turndown service on my review. 

Did you have your "make up room" light on in the evening, or did your room not get serviced in the morning?

They'll do it if you ask, but it's not automatic like it was before. 

Yes. After you're assigned a room, you'll be eligible to make an upgrade bid.

That is unless you book an Inside Guarantee and they stick you in a Studio - a nasty practice they'd better stop doing (they tried to pull it on me). Studios are the only category ineligible for upgrades. 

Overall a wonderful cruise. I truly believe the Escape is NCL's "last good ship" before they jumped the shark with the new ships and disgusting moves like closing off massive portions of the upper deck to the general passengers. Escape, while obviously with plenty of room for "premium" cruisers (much larger Haven than Breakaway and Getaway) still manages to strike the right balance of everything. I'll be very sad to see the Escape leave NYC in the Fall and be replaced by the Norwegian Blech. Here's a smattering of observations/reactions from the week at sea. 

- No more ice buckets in the rooms. Not a big deal, asked for one and it was quickly provided. Have to admit it was nice not hearing the constant sound of ice being scooped out of a cooler from the hallway. 

- Confirmed there is no more turndown service. I never wanted it to begin with, but it was a little strange to see the cabin hallways totally clear at 6pmish, when normally they'd be swarmed with cabin stewards. That said, if the cabin stewards workload is essentially being reduced by 50%, does that mean NCL is downsizing the # of stewards on a ship, or did the company decide to make the lives of these hardworking employees less miserable? 

- Shrimp cocktail surcharge removed, but massive price increase at Cagney's. Cagney's sucked, but I'll get to that in a minute. 

- I spent a lot of time on the port and forward sundecks that are now blocked off on the Getaway, Bliss, Joy and Encore. At peak sea days that area was always packed. At those times the Vibe was maybe moderately full, but not remotely close to full. Besides using those upper sundecks during the day, many passengers enjoyed strolling along them in the evening, watching the sunset, etc. During these hours the Vibe was shutdown entirely, so if this whole area were the Vibe it would be sitting empty and unused, instead of giving general passengers a lovely open area away from the pool deck. Shame on you, Norwegian, for "Titanic-izing" your new ships like this. Shame on you. 

- The buffet on the Escape was excellent. I've been on the Breakaway, Gem, Getaway and Escape, and the Escape blows the rest out of the water with the buffet food. Great variety, good value. You could tell the chefs preparing the buffet food really cared and weren't just feeding slop to the masses. The pizza in particular is GREAT. On other ships the pizza was a joke, and as a New Yorker I'm a snob, but the Escape just nails it. Perfect thin crust, great cheese distribution. I can't tell you how many times I said "Oh I'll just go to the buffet and grab an apple or something" and wound up getting a slice or two.

- On that note, I noticed a lot more crew/staff eating in the buffet than on other ships. I've read some posts in the past with some a-holes complaining about that (who are you, Princess Diana?), but I think it's great. It was always after peak hours, usually 9pm on. I wonder if this is a deliberate policy on the Escape. The crew for sure seemed happier and less stressed out than on the Getaway. Maybe a little gesture like this has something to do with it?

- MDR food and O'Sheehans was great. Zero complaints. Some longer waits at busy times, but that's par for the course. Everything was hot, well prepared, well seasoned. Out of the ships I've sailed on NCL, Escape has the best food hands down. Another reason I'm so sad to see it go. 

- Cagney's was just awful. I used a Platinum certificate so I didn't really care that much (went up to the buffet and got pizza later), but this was the only really noticeable stumble. As I mentioned shrimp cocktail surcharge was gone, and the shrimp were okay but had that distinct texture of being defrosted a little too quickly. The filet requested medium with sauce on the side came out rare and slathered in sauce. The sides were disgusting. Now clearly sides at Cagney's won't ruin a cruise, but with the prices they charge now they have to step up the quality. Fries were soggy vastly inferior to the ones in O'sheehan's. The "sauteed" broccoli was just steamed, unseasoned broccoli in an a half inch of water. Service was fine, but if I'd actually paid for the meal I'd be furious.

- Moderno was fine. Again used a Platinum certificate. Wouldn't be REMOTELY worth it at the new price point. The meats were...fine. Nothing special, just a solid B. I didn't notice any of the cutbacks on the salad bar people have noticed. Everything seemed the same, except one change. Again not going to ruin a cruise, but the "parmigiano reggiano" was clearly not the real dea. PR has a distinct nutty, salty flavor. This stuff was bland and obviously some kind of cheeper parmesean. 

- Howl At The Moon was a huge hit. Lucky to see Rhonda again for the first time since last year. That woman pours her heart out every performance. I can't for the life of me understand why NCL eliminated this on their new ships. Venue was PACKED every night to the back walls, with everyone in the room having an absolute blast for 4 hours straight. Howl is by far my favorite indoor activity on the NCL ships, and it's another reason I really have zero interest in the Bliss and hate to see the Escape go. 

- I didn't spend a lot of time in District Brewhouse (not really a beer guy), but even if I was not sure how I could have stood the singer/piano player. I hate to be cruel, but he just wasn't very good. A a very mediocre piano player, and just an okay singer, seemingly belting out "Sweet Caroline" "Come Sail Away" and "Miss American Pie" on constant repeat...and he was turned up SO LOUD. It was loud even outside the venue by the elevators.

- Escape does a great job with disembarkation. Self-assist lines up in the Manhattan Room. I got on the small line at around 7:05 and was off the ship by 7:20. Love that they have enough staff on hand to keep people from just barreling through lines, etc. Another contrast with the Getaway. 

- Alvin was the cruise director. Seems like he's the cruise director on every sailing I book, regardless of the ship. CD doesn't really impact my experience that much, but some people seem to want to know this.

Everything else seemed pretty standard. Any specific questions I'll be happy to answer them. 

On 6/30/2019 at 3:45 PM, zqvol said:

BYE!

Aren't you charming

11 minutes ago, HOSKI said:

Plus isn't during turn down when they leave the next day's Freestyle?

They can stick it in the slot outside your door. 

13 minutes ago, Wedgie23 said:

I was on Escape last month and had towel animals. I did not request them but did thank my steward for making them and left it in the hero card how much they were appreciated. I'm assuming turn down means nighty spruce up when the towel animals are made and the dailies left? Then yes. 

 

That's sorta the rub. They stated when they removed them from some ships anyone who still wants them can ask but now people need to feel guilty for asking for something that was once standard but is now special request. I'm sure the stewards are given less time to make up rooms on those sailings because they arent expected to be making them. 

 

I wouldn't have asked for them myself because I don't want to annoy them with a 'special request' that isn't a need but I would have been disappointed if they weren't there. Disappointed enough to ruin the cruise? Absolutely not, but the towel animals are so iconic to NCL they would have been missed.

 

I found them to be perfect little exciting ends to perfect days. Oh well, I suppose if they aren't there on the next cruise I'll send hubby down to the class and ask him to surprise me with one every night, I'm sure that will go over well 😃 

Don't feel guilty if you have little kids. But if you're adults with no kids and still asking for an exhausted person to make you towel animals? Then yes, either feel guilty or tip BIG. 

32 minutes ago, Iworktocruiseandtravel said:

We didn’t have turndown service several days for our 14 day cruise last year at our request.  There were several times we went to bed early (I gave my husband my chest cold while cruising), so we laid low several nights.   I’m still a kid at heart @PortFees45, so I probably will still request the towel animals.  I enjoy seeing how they incorporate stuff we leave laying around sometimes (sunglasses, hats). I had one cruise that we didn’t get any towel animals, and I realized how much I look forward to them (this was several years ago before they were officially cut out). 

Do you have any idea how tired/overworked your room steward is? Is it really worth asking them to take even more time out of their already insane work schedule to cater to your "kid at heart" requests? I hope you tip well. 

50 minutes ago, Peachypooh said:

I tried searching but couldn't find any info. Has anyone sailed back from

their cruise and ended up at MCT during fleet week? Next year in 2020 I am assuming

that the streets that were posted as being closed in 2019 will be the same

and how did it effect disembarking? Thanks.

You might dock one pier over, and there will be more foot traffic around the Intrepid and whichever large navy ship is docked at Pier 88. There won't be any street closures, and it's otherwise not a big deal. 

Bump?