Ramblin and Gamblin

I "think" it may be a phone/tablet stand. If you turn it around, you set the bottom of the tablet in that curved area and it rests against the dark strip.

Thanks! Very helpful. DW uses a mobility scooter so tender ports are basically extra sea days for us. This will help us know what to expect.

Thanks for taking the time to share this semi-live report. I have been looking at this cruise and your posts have been very helpful. On NCL's website, several of the ports on this cruise are flagged as "dock or tender". Based on your comments and pictures, it looks like you docked at every port. Is that correct or did you have to use tenders anywhere? Thanks again.

Be sure to fill out a Guest Special Needs Request form in advance of your cruise. A sharps container is one of the many needs covered by the form.

When texting with an iPhone, look at the color of the text bubble after you hit send. If the bubble is blue, your text was delivered via iMessage, which slips through without using your minutes. If it is green, then it probably won't slip through.

Just to clarify a few comments: You won't be able to communicate in airplane mode. That disables all data flow to and from the device. Instead, you connect to the ship wifi, but don't activate your internet minutes. When you are connected to the ship wifi, you can use the NCL app, but you are blocked from the internet unless you activate your plan. However, as some have commented, there has historically been a hole in the technology that allows iPhone iMessages (blue boxes). So if both you and the other party use iPhones, you can communicate without using your minutes. If you are an Android user, or the other person is an Android user, then you will have to burn minutes.

The Coq Au Vin in Le Bistro is a underappreciated gem. I think it gets overlooked simply because it is a chicken dish on a menu with steak and seafood options. However, it is fabulous. DW orders it every time, meaning I also get to enjoy it because it is too big for her to finish. Also, +1 to the other Le Bistro dishes others have mentioned. LB is our favorite specialty dining restaurant.

When we were in the Escape Le Bistro in April, the waiter informed us "you can order two items from the left side of the menu plus one entree and one dessert." The left side of the menu was the appetizers, soups and salads. Several others have also reported being able to skip the appetizer and get soup and salad. I don't think I have seen anyone report trying to skip first or second course for an extra dessert. I have no idea if that is possible. And the only way to get an extra entree is pay for it.

Thankfully, even for Syd Normans, we only needed to line up about an hour early, so I didn't have to test my endurance too much.

DW and I were recently on the Escape the first week of April. The ship had over 5000 passengers due to spring break. Like another poster, we didn't intend to go during spring break; we just didn't pay enough attention to calendars. The negatives: the pool area was packed on sea days, and the buffet was frequently crowded. In addition, you had to line up early at Headliners and Syd Normans if you wanted to get a seat. Thankfully, we didn't care about the pool or the buffet, and once we learned we needed to line up early, we adapted. Turns out I can hold a drink and stand in line at the same time. Outside of those areas, the crowds were not as noticeable. DW uses a mobility scooter, and even with the space it takes in an elevator, we never had to wait more than a few minutes for one with enough room for us to board. We never waited for a table for two in an MDR and service was great. As long as you got to the main theatre 15-20 minutes before show start, you could always get a seat. The ship has enough bars that we could always find a place to hang out, maybe not our first choice bar, but easily manageable. Like you, I was worried as we approached our date based on what I was reading from others. It turned out fine. Happy travels.

At a small airport I typically tip $3-5 depending on factors such as TSA line length, whether we stop at restroom, etc. I have no idea what the "standard" is.

Group size also makes a difference. My DW and I are just off a very full Escape and we never waited for a table for top in the MDRs. I did see bigger groups (5+) that had brief waits.

As others have said, NCL does not rent scooters. You will have to rent via their third party partner Scootaround. The contact info is on the accessible cruising page others have linked to. You will need to reserve your scooters in advance; you cannot rent after you board. In addition, I suggest reserving the scooter far in advance. You don't want to risk their running out of inventory for a given week. I highly recommend reserving an accessible room when using a scooter. As BirdTravels notes, you cannot leave the scooter in the hallway. An accessible room is much easier to drive your scooter into thanks to the wider, automatic opening doors. CruiseCritic forums have an Accessible Cruising section as well. You can get a lot of advice from the people that post there.

That was not my experience. At 120 days, specialty dining reservations opened. However, MDR reservations were not an option online until about 30 days out. This is a ballpark number; I don't remember exactly when but it was close to online check-in opening. I am on the April 1 Escape.

Is the Vibe handicapped accessible? On the Escape, the Vibe is located on deck 19, but when looking at the ship maps on the NCL website, it appears the elevators stop at deck 17.