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excited to hear the rest of it! We are cruising the Escape this Saturday, and anxiously awaiting as we weren't sure if she'd go off or not!

Just in case some may not know - NCL posted on their "Weather Alert" on their main page:

Due to the devastating impact in the Caribbean from Hurricane Irma, all of Norwegian Escape’s upcoming Eastern Caribbean sailings until November will be altered to a Western Caribbean itinerary. All guests scheduled to sail on any affected cruises will be notified of the change.

I was right next to 12308 on Escape and took a few pictures of that balcony. Photobucket is acting up but I've posted them here in the past. You might have seen them.

If Harvey is your steward, you'll be in good hands. :cool:

If you have a chance and can point me in the right direction I would appreciate it. I looked at MANY posts and pics, but don't recall seeing the room I have. Thanks!

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that could be misleading for people who are interested in ba/ga vs. Escape.

 

The depths for escape are for the most part not as deep as the same deck on ba/ga. Deck 9 or 12 on ba/ga is deeper than any aft-facing deck on escape. The depth order isn't exactly the same, either.

 

Your balcony on escape (12308) won't be as deep as 12306 on ba/ga (first balcony next to the h6).

My reference to them being the same was in relation to the ordering of the rooms looking at the aft of the ship from left to right, I did not mean to infer that the sizes were equivalent between the different class ships. The order is still the same, including the deck 10 difference

I believe that the size order from deepest to least deep for the Breakaway+ Class ships are : 9,12,15,11,14,10,13 - with the only difference being 10&14 swapping and 15 being inserted in there.

in some cases, it is more than a few inches. It is visibly noticeable. Because the balcony doors aren't always centered, measuring the space on the sides of the balcony doors gives a better indication of the width since the doors are all the same size.

I'll still go with the 2 sets of rooms furthest left and furthest right, adjacent to the haven rooms are close enough in width to each other to be negligible to each other in trying to pick which one to book. Between those 4 rooms the deck it is on is MUCH more important than which of those 4 to choose from (bed location not withstanding)

The "other middle" room next to the larger HC room (to the left) is very noticeably smaller than the others. I just think that if you can get one of the 4 balconies (2 far left side/2 far right side) on deck 9 or any of those 4 on deck 12 you will be very satisfied with the size of the balcony compared to the regular ones. This goes for ba/ga and/or Escape, and yes, my balcony on the Escape is smaller than the equivalent on the ba/ga, but I will have 2 loungers, 2 chairs and a couple tables on mine and I will be VERY happy!

OK, as someone who spent WAAAAY too much time researching this (booked 12308 on Escape) here is what I can quickly share:

The Breakaway Class (and Breakaway+ for most part) ships are all the same for the Aft Balconies. If you look at the aft of the ship there are 8 cabins from left to right.

Haven | Balc | Balc | Balc |HC Balc|Balc | Balc | Haven : Decks 11, 12, 13 & 14

Haven | Balc | -Mini Suite- | -Mini Suite- | Balc | Haven : Deck 10 only

Haven | Balc | Balc | Balc |HC Balc|Balc | Balc | Haven : Deck 9

....1.....|....2...|.....3...|....4....|....5.....|...6...|...7....|.....8....

So now we will talk width (left to right) The HC Balcony rooms, 5th over from left have the widest balconies and are Handicap Access rooms. The room to it's left (the other "middle" balcony or #4 from left) has the LEAST widest balcony of all the balconies. Leaving the remaining 4 balcony rooms on all decks (only 2 on deck 10), rooms 2, 3, 6 & 7 left to right, as having the SAME width as each other (give or take a couple inches)

Now we get to Depth (which imo is the more important attribute) as stated above in the Google Doc that was linked, the depth from deepest (sliding room door to balcony rail) goes 9, 12, 11, 10, 14, 13. From what I have seen there is only a small difference between 9 & 12, and then 11 & 10 being close to same, 14 having an overhang and 13 having a very small balcony. 4 pics below, first is Breakaway 13304, next is Getaway 9318 - both of these are the 2nd balcony from left, right next to Haven, you can see the HUGE difference in size, then it's Breakaway 12906, far right Balcony next to Haven on far right. The last is a pic of the Aft of the ship showing all of the rooms.

So while the 4th balcony over may be the least widest - that room on the 9th deck will be MUCH better than the widest balcony on 13 because the depth allows 2 loungers and 2 chairs, where you are hard pressed to fit a lounger on the 13th deck aft.

Breakaway 13304:

Getaway 9318:

Breakaway 12906:

Breakaway Class Aft:

If you open the last pic in a new tab and zoom in on it, you will see that each deck has a differing setback for their rooms from the railing. So while the rails are angled upward from bottom to top, leading one to believe that lower is better, the rooms on deck 12 are set back much further than deck 13, giving a lot more balcony room.

Thanks for the confirmation Pizza! bummer..

I had no problem at all booking the Comedy Shows that I wanted to see when I got on the ship (March '17). Just make sure you do it right away when you first get to the terminal. Also, during the week, even the shows that were "sold out" opened up and were available to book.

If you are going to expect this kind of cultural accommodation, going to Cuba right now is probably not an appropriate choice for you. I, for one, am looking forward to visiting *before* the island is Americanized. I think it's a rather narrow world view to visit other countries and be upset that they aren't speaking OUR language.

I was thinking this same thing. I wouldn't book it through the cruise line, but I would definitely go to the show!

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Following

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Is there a link to your review? I would love to read it.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2481498

To the OP - my wife and I cruised on the Breakaway 2 years ago and then re-booked this past March and brought our "kids". The ship is big, a lot of passengers, but we had a great time. We would definitely book on the same ship, but not the itinerary. As a matter of fact we are booked on the Escape for September, and that is a Breakaway Plus ship.

You don't have to "take an excursion" to get off the ship in Harvest Caye any more than you have to take an excursion to get off the ship in Great Stirrup Cay. You just get off the ship...and in Harvest Caye you don't have to tender in as you do in GSC or Belize City. There's a dock for the ship.

You have to take an excursion to get off Harvest cay and get to the mainland of Belize. That is what people are saying. Yes, you can walk off the ship and onto the ISLAND of Harvest Cay, but you can not go from HC into Belize without an excursion. The OP has family in Belize and right now the only way to get off HC is through an NCL excursion.

Im looking in Canadian and its 1,137.00 per person for second week of April for a guarantee balcony.

Holiday week. Easter is that week, a lot of kids will have some/all days off. Good luck getting a cheap cruise that week. $500 inside rooms the week before and after - they are $750 for that week (50% increase).

There are PLENTY of loungers all over the island...you can move them, if the ones you want aren't where you want them. No need to pay for a lounger.

Yes, I should have added that to my post. I got the clamshell so I had some shade when I wanted it. But if you are looking to just ensure you get a lounger, you will not need the clamshell. Especially on the Sky, there will be more than enough chairs for you.

Just got back a few weeks ago. As others have said:

As soon as you get on go to the excursion desk and order up 1 clamshell (has 2 loungers)

You get a priority tender ticket

Go early to get your choice of location of clamshell - ask for vented clamshell

And - yes the lagoon is off limits during the construction

OK, I think I can be of some help here...

@OP, I was on the Breakaway the week after you and I won a free cruise from the Bingo Raffle on the last day. For me it is ANY 7 Day Caribbean Cruise. It has to be 7 days and the cruise description has to be "Caribbean" - east, west, south, doesn't matter. It is also for an inside room. I would have to just pay the taxes that are added to every cruise above the room cost. On the certificate is a number to call to redeem - it is the ONLY way to book this cruise.

You get NO extras with your room. No UDP, dinners etc...

You CAN upgrade to a different cabin and pay the difference.

You CAN use it on a different cruise (3 day, 10 day, different ports of call) BUT then it becomes a $1000 credit.

I booked a 7 day Caribbean Cruise on the Escape in September. It came out to $320.00 total for taxes & fees. I then upgraded to an Aft Balcony for an additional $360/pp upcharge. So for ~$1040 I received a $2700 cruise. You won't hear me complain at all - thank you NCL!!!

If your taxes are $700 it's because that is what the fees are for everyone on your cruise based on port fees. But that seems very steep.

Ha! You say this in jest but I will admit that I was going to try to smuggle my International Delight French Vanilla on our cruise this past January but than I found out I could buy a couple of boxes of little creamers on Amazon instead so I was saved from a life of crime!

We actually packed 2 Sugar-Free Coffee Mate creamers on our carry on. Got stopped at screening, I showed them it was sealed and informed him that it was "Sugar-Free" and not available on the ship - wife is pre-diabetic. He said to have a nice cruise and we walked on with them...

Sorry to piggyback of this thread.. But I see a coffee pot in the room. What kind of coffee does this take? Do i need pods or can I just bring a small bag of ground coffee? Any special filters needed?

It does not dock there, you need to tender to shore. Yes, just hop off and enjoy the beach. Food buffet is free, they have bars there which are free if you have UDP. Chairs are free. You can pay extra for other options (snorkling, floats, wave runner etc..) but for a regular hang out at beach and eat - all free.

Isn't it discounted if you purchase beforehand? I thought that's what the "a savings of 58%!" meant in the package price:

 

If so, pre-purchasing bottled water is like buying the UBP, and can be expected to save you money over buying on board.

No, not discounted on board. Price is the same if you pre-purchase or purchase it there. Also, since they have lowered the price of water, it isn't that bad. The 24 pack comes out to ~$2 a bottle for the 1 liter bottle.

@Op - When you look online at the beverage packages, you may only see 3 options (UDP and wine), click on the arrow under those 3 to go to the next 3 and that will be water. Sometimes it shows all 6 for me, sometimes only the first 3 options.

You can request veterinarian, etc.

My daughter is a vegetarian and she received the standard fair (V) option from the Classic Menu served every day in the Main Dining Rooms. Believe it was the basil pesto pasta with vegetables.

Fixed Menu - no choice at all. The appetizer was prosciutto, tomatoes, mozzarella and greens. Surf and Turf were Beef tenderloins with 3 large shrimp, potatoes and broccoli. Dessert was a set of 3 different desserts. Food was good, the beef was great, and it was served during the show so I tried to only look at the plate quickly to find where to stab the food :)

We were on the Breakaway 2 years ago and saw this show then as well. I believe the food was the same then. They changed some of the acts, but some were the same (maybe 1/2 changed???) The "bug guys", the ones that spin and flip off each other, were the same 2 from 2 years ago.

Show was nice, food was just OK. If I were to say anything it would be, go for the show, not for the food as you can get pretty much what they served there for free/less elsewhere on the ship.

Do they allow the ropes course at night?

Thanks!

Yes, they have the ropes course open on some nights. We went on them on the Nassau Day (Thursday) at night. It was a little windy so the starboard half was closed. They also did not have them open at all on Fri/Sat, so don't hold off if you want to go on them.

Thanks for the timeline. When you say grab a porter what exactly do you mean? We always carry off our own luggage. Would we still be able to get a porter?

We did a carry off as well. We went to breakfast at 7:45am when they just called for walk offs. At 8:30 we grabbed our bags, took the elevator to deck 7 (aft) and got into the exit line that snaked through the casino at 8:35. We exited the ship at ~8:50 and made it to the customs area at 8:55. Went down the escalator to main floor and stood in a short line for about 5 minutes and a porter with a luggage cart walked by asking if anyone wanted assistance - we grabbed him quickly and he walked us past the LONG snake line waiting for the customs agents to check their paperwork and right up to the front and to an agent that checked our documents and we were out on the street less than 5 minutes later.

Best tip you will ever spend, had to save us at least 45-60 minutes of waiting.

Just back from the Breakaway and a stop at GSC. The construction is ongoing at that end of the island and it is completely closed. Talking to a couple of the employees and they said that it is tentatively scheduled to be completed by around October, but they have been having problems with getting material on the island because of the weather and it may be delayed.

Can I ask what cabin you had? We are booked for October, I kept hearing about angled balconies so found one & booked it. A little nervous, it's on deck 14 but we're not light sleepers so hopefully will be okay. But really curious if the balconies are that much bigger? There are 3 of us, really enjoy breakfast on the balcony but can always only fit 2 people so hoping this time we can fit the 3 of us. Do you think there is room enough or another chair? Are all angled balconies the same? I appreciate the replies ;)

Our angled balcony on the Breakaway 2015

We left our phones etc. on the Chargers while out. You can put up the do not disturb sign. Or just tuck the cord out of the way. We even left ours out in plain sight with no issue. They made an announcement when first on the ship. Maybe during the muster drill I can't remember. But basically it's the Samsung Galaxy 7 they do not want to have plugged up. If you have the Samsung galaxy 7 they want to keep it at the customer service desk until end of cruise due to those phones catching fire.

 

 

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Galaxy phones have NO problems. It's the NOTE 7 that is an issue

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