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Thanks again for the review! Really enjoying!

I'm sure you probably already stated this, but what floor was your room on?

Thanks!

Totally awesome review!

You have a beautiful family!

Thanks so much for posting!

Looking forward to Escape this September!

Be aware that the sailaway rates (guarantee rates) do not include any of the "perks" NCL currently offers.

Also, sailaway rates that I've seen are literally only ten or twenty dollars less per person than the regular rates (with no perks). I'm sure it varies from sailing to sailing though...

OK, this might be a stupid question, but I do not see it addressed here. Does anyone know if the "cover charge" applies only if you order food? We would sometimes go in there to get their specialty margaritas. Frequently, we just got a drink and left. Other times, we sit and enjoy our drink, but almost never ordered any food. We usually have the UBP so there was no charge. So, if we go in and order cocktails, does that subject us to the cover charge?

Excellent question!

Hoping someone (who actually had only a drink in Margaritaville via UBP) will provide us with an answer.

Have to say I wasn't a fan of Guy's Burger Joint on Carnival either (thought I would be, but WAY too greasy) and also wasn't a fan of Guy's BBQ Joint at a Bally's Casino (realize it's fast food, but it was cold and meat was dry, and not what i'd call cheap).

We live in Southeast Florida. DH and I (twice) tried a restaurant here featured on his TV show (not owned by Guy, once for breakfast, once at lunch)--even purchased a "Linzer" cookie from them to take home (not authentic Linzer--don't think there was a single ground nut in the thing) some years ago and were unimpressed.

What do you expect when you have a generation of kids who watched people like the "Jack.ass" crew become rich & famous for making fools of themselves and doing ridiculously stupid "stunts." Then comes countless YouTubers who do stupid crap and, in the eyes of today's youth, are just as famous as a typical celebrity in Hollywood. The first thing I thought of when I saw this video was that it looks very similar to the guy who goes around jumping off of rooftops into hotel pools. Who knows, maybe that's where this kid got the idea. Social media has rewired the human brain to make everyone feel like everything they do & say is important and has caused people to crave views, "likes," and comments like they're hooked on crack. They put way too much value in virtual recognition & praise from usernames on a screen.

 

No, the full blame does not go to the parents. While I do often tell people, "It always starts at home," I also recognize when people are capable of taking responsibility for their own actions. This kid is old enough to understand what he's doing is wrong, against the rules, and dangerous. Both he and his parents need to be held accountable.

Rewired? Well...

Not everyone, thankfully...

It does start at home.

Should kids even be watching the "Jack Ass" crew?

The specialty in quotes was to just signify that is it a specialty solely because there is a cover. And possibly just slightly better than some free options. I have never eaten there but I am not offended by a $14.95 charge as if I were to go there and let's say order nachos and a burger than it pays for itself. I understand other people's points about well if 2 people go and want to share etc than it's not worth it. And that's why I was saying what is good about freestyle. You have choices and can choose to go or not if you don't think it is worth it. In the end NCL will settle on a method that both makes them money and is agreeable to most passengers.

 

 

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I can't speak for anyone else, but my main problem with the $14.95 cover charge is that Margaritaville is a lunchtime venue with generous portion sizes. My sister and I ate at the one on Getaway last September (for free when they first opened; staff was still in training). She had the Cobb Salad and I had the Club Sandwich--both were pretty big.

I could never order their nachos (have you seen the size of Margaritaville's nachos?) AND a burger--way too much food.

At the specialty dinner restaurants, the portion sizes of each course (salad, soup, appetizer, entree etc.) are much smaller, so it's easier to consume several courses of food. And the offerings tend to be higher quality fare, rather than "bar food".

You actually need to order a starter, sandwich and dessert to get to break even.

 

At a land based Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville, (I used the one in the Margaritaville hotel in Hollywood, FL) Volcano Nachos are $15.99 + 6% sales tax = $16.95. They're big enough for two people to split, which was the OP's point. On the ship it would be $14.99 X 2 + 18% service charge = $35.38. Even if you tipped $5 on land (>30%) you'd still be ahead.

 

The great thing about Freestyle is it's appeal to the math impaired. ;)

 

Seriously, though - A cover charge of $14.99 pulls it out of the running unless you really want a lot of bar food.

Exactly! Couldn't agree more.

I live in your neck of the woods and have been to the Hollywood Margaritaville a few times too.

Wow I don't like the idea of a $14.99 cover charge for Margaritaville at all. I sure hope NCL doesn't try it out on our Escape cruise in September. I will be very disappointed and would not eat there.

Excited for this review!

 

Thank you for packing us along for this trip!

 

 

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I second this!

Going on Escape for the first time this fall!

Have a wonderful cruise!!

Chacchoben

 

So the port of Costa Maya is a bit of a maze. DH gave me a bit of a hard time this morning because I wanted to get done with breakfast quickly so we could be ready to walk to our excursion and he thought I was just being paranoid. Low and behold by the time we get ourselves out the door, we’re only about 25 minutes until we’re supposed to start our tour. So we turbo speed it down the pier and instead of looking at the map instructions of how to get through port to the exit, DH follows the signs. Do NOT follow the signs. We pretty much walked in a big circle past all the shops before we found out way to the exit. The good news is that there were TONS of people from the ship walking to the same place we were going.

 

The walk to Native Choice office is about 4 blocks and it’s along a rugged sidewalk. If you have someone with mobility issues, you might prefer to take a cab but it wasn’t a bad walk. There were lots of people at the check in desk but a gentleman saw my confirmation in my hand, read off what I owed him, I handed him my cash and then he escorted us to our bus. Easy peasy. Nathan had his gps on his backpack because he likes to mark places and he calculated the walk from the boat at 1.12 miles and it took about 25 minutes, our slow speed due to the large group of people walking down the sidewalk and what we like to call “cruise mosey”. This is defined as “we’re not in any rush, we’re on vacation.” To the mosey-er’s credit, the bus did not leave without us...this time- dun dun dun. #might-be-foreshadowing

 

The bus started its 50 minute ride through the Mexican countryside and I could not help but feel a mid-morning nap coming along. Before we knew it, we had arrived at the ruins. The site itself has a neat recent history. A family had been farming on the site of the ruins from 1940 until 1972 when an archaeologist noticed some hills on what otherwise was mostly flat land. Upon further inspection, he found the Chacchoben Ruins which had been naturally covered by the jungle for 2000 years. In 1994, the Mexican government started excavating and restoring the site and it was opened to the public in 2002.

 

So that you’re fairly warned, the bathrooms on site are not what we’re used. Paper, including toilet paper, needs to be thrown in the wastebasket and our toilet did not flush nor did the sink have running water when we came in- there was just a bucket of water on the shelf. So you may want to use the facilities before you arrive. After a short potty trip and some bug spray, we met our fellow bus riders by the ticket counter. There were letters on the wristbands and group B and D (our group) were instructed to follow Pepe for their tour and group A and C went with the gentleman from our bus Hugo.

 

Loving the review! Thanks for posting!

DH and I toured Chacchoben in 2011 on a ship tour via Celebrity Solstice and really enjoyed it.

I remember using the restroom at the site (part of the shopping area when you first arrive) before the actual tour of the ruins commenced. Can't remember if I had to throw my toilet paper in the wastebasket or not (but I might not recall that, as I've had to do that often in Caribbean locales), but...

Yikes!

I think I remember sinks with running water! Certain I'd remember a bucket of water on a shelf, as OCD about hand-washing as I am. Thanks for reporting. Maybe things at Chacchoben have changed or perhaps they were experiencing temporary water/plumbing issues. I always carry sanitizing wipes as a last resort, but I prefer good old-fashioned hand-washing.

Love Cruise Critic--this is the type of info I like to get before going to a place the first time (or 2nd or 3rd etc.)! Things can change in the interim of course (positively or negatively), but it's nice to have some idea what to expect!

Once at the bottom of the first set of zip lines we were directed back into the shack below the lighthouse. Once there the staff removed the harness we were first set up in, and were then helped into the Superman Zipline harness set. It essentially looks like you're wearing an oversized apron with all the hardware on your back. Once suited up we headed back to the freight elevator and to the other side of the lighthouse. Stacy went first. They hook you up to the zip with stunning speed and efficiency. While the speed was honestly kind of alarming, there's nothing to make me think they weren't being safe. Just well trained and able to get the job done quickly. Once Stacy was hooked up while still upright, they then had her lean forward until she was suspended in air. Once the final checks were made, they let go of the line, and off she went!

 

Waving to my constituents below.

 

 

What would have been an 8-10 minute walk from the lighthouse (if taking the land route of course. No matter what my boys think, I can't walk on water) was done in about 30 seconds. INCREDIBLE!! I hit the brakes at the end and screeched to a halt. Once lowered through the hole in the platform I was detached, hopped on a golf cart, and we caught a lift back to the lighthouse to collect our belongings from the locker.

 

A video of the highlights of our Flighthouse Zipline experience is here:

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Thanks for the awesome zipline video! Truly impressive--glad you enjoyed it!!

I will live vicariously through you, as I don't do heights. Looking at the video, I was saying to myself, "No [insert expletives here] way!

Loving your review and pictures in general; so nice of you to repost so everyone could see the photos!

Love the "10 Forward" reference! One of my all-time favorite shows!!

Congrats on your 10th Anniversary--you have a beautiful family!

Looking forward to my fall Escape cruise!

I am so impressed by your writing in your non-native language! Completely idiomatic! :)

 

 

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Agree completely!

You're from Brazil, live in Belgium, and write (and obviously speak) English like a native speaker! Truly impressive!

I know Belgium has several official languages. Just out of curiosity, which language do you speak during your work/everyday life at home in Belgium?

Thank you for taking time to post your review.

Shadowmeboy, thanks so much for taking the time to post this wonderful review!

Going on the Escape for the first time this fall and can't wait!

Thanks for your attention to detail in posting the menus and food pictures and all the other photos!

.

 

Deck 6

 

 

Starting from the front (bow) we have the Getaway Theater. It’s a movie style theater with a good view of the stage from almost every seat. Unlike the Carnival theaters that have a lot of view obstructions. However I don’t know if it was just me but the seat cushion was uncomfortable, I did see other people moving around a lot in their seat during shows. Sorry for the dark photos, there was not much lighting in the theater.

 

 

It wasn't just you...

The seat cushions were incredibly uncomfortable! There seemed to be some metal "bar" or something in the seat that hit uncomfortably on the tailbone--ouch!

I even complained to the CD one night, as he happened to be near the bar as we exited. I'd barely finished my sentence and he new exactly what I was talking about!

Even the restaurant seats were bad for me--I actually borrowed a chair pillow (with permission from the hostess) from Moderno to use as lumbar support on their various chairs the last night of the cruise.

Bringing my own lumbar pillow on Escape this year, since now I know!!

Still, loved Getaway!!!!

I understand that you are loyal to CCL, but I happen to know that NCL sails out of NYC in the winter and spring. I have a friend currently on the NCL Gem that left last Tuesday out of NYC for a 10 day cruise into the Caribbean. Check it out. I cruised several Carnival ships, also, and loved them, but I'm not afraid to try other lines, if the price, ship, and itinerary are right. We sailed the NCL Getaway in January and fell in love with NCL. Try it. You might like it! 😊

Took first NCL cruise on the Sky (old ship) in 2011. There were quite a few things that I liked about that cruise, but the MDR food was not one of them. DH and I spent extra $$ to eat in the specialty restaurants.

Well, fast forward to 2016...

After about 20 Carnival cruises, I became fed up with their poorer quality food, lack of dining options (need extra options/choices because I'm now allergic to shellfish), watered-down entertainment etc.

I was on the verge of giving up cruising. I told my annual fall-cruise travel companions (my sister and our best friend) no more cruising for me unless I found a good deal on a different line.

Well, I found NCL Getaway! Many more dining options, quality MDR food, complimentary drinks pkg for guests one and two (works for us, as best friend [booked as passenger 3] barely drinks a wine or two at dinner). Love having a drinks pkg! DH and I got used to that sailing Celebrity.

Sometimes it's worth trying something new... I'm sure glad we did! Booked on NCL Escape this fall!

Excellent review!! Thanks for posting!

Always loved your reviews!

Can't wait to read your Getaway review...

We sailed Getaway last year (after many many Carnival cruises) and loved it and NCL in general. Booked Escape for later this year.

Awesome thread!!

Thanks so much for posting!

Great review!! Thank you!

Been on probably 16 or 17 Carnival cruises, but started to branch out to other lines a few years ago--and jumped ship; still love the Carnival board...

Best comprehensive info from posters and reviews!!!

Experienced many problems on other cruise line sites over the years... Funny thing is, I've never had problems on the NCL site until the last few weeks or so. Hope they get it straightened out soon--coming up on 90-days-out, and want to book our dining reservations and such!

We booked 3 adults in one room on the Getaway last year with the drinks promo. We simply booked our friend who might drink 3 glasses of wine the entire cruise as "passenger 3". No problem! Had a great cruise!

How kind of you - yes, I guess I'm the "wine" glass half full kind of mom! I did have trip insurance purchased through NCL - how crazy is that? That seemed to play no part in the "we can't call the coast guard, you are not sick enough yet need emergency surgery" medical declaration, But, oddly at the med center, they really don't care if you have trip insurance, provider insurance, honestly, all charges just go to your bill and it it your problem from there. I'm literally thousands in the hole from the medical center that I'm still trying to get reimbursed from my own health insurance. The emergency surgery in St Thomas also required cash payment in full. So, the trip insurance seems to be only a "hope" at reimbursement although who thinks of that when purchasing? - they expect you to settle fully with your primary health insurance before even filing with the trip insurer, We found you need plenty of room on the credit card to get medical care are sea...

Enjoying your review! So sorry about your medical emergency. Glad you pulled through okay in the end.

Wow the emergency surgery in St Thomas required cash payment in full?

Yikes!

I always get trip insurance (not through the cruise line), but if one has to pay in full upfront for an expensive procedure and can't, I wonder what happens. Do they just refuse to treat you?

This is scary.

In 2014, 12 days before our cruise I came down with appendicitis and needed an emergency appendectomy at our local hospital in Fort Lauderdale. It cost $34,000! Insurance paid everything except about $500.

$34,000 cash would be a bit rough for me (and many folks) to come up with had it happened on the cruise!

Thank you for your feedback! I don't think I actually expressly addressed it. When you get on the ship you will be directed to the restaurant manager who will speak with you about your needs. I imagine that with an allergy like shellfish, it's actually probably a little easier to avoid than gluten which can be in things you wouldn't at all expect, so I don't know whether they would consider it to be necessary to pre-order. I'm sure the waitstaff are well aware of which items contain allergens and would be able to direct you at the table away from dishes with crustacean in them. Even in my sister's case the pre-ordering was really more at our request than de rigueur; some servers would automatically bring the menu for the next day at the end of the meal, others wouldn't.

 

What I can guarantee you is that the staff are very well trained on how to handle dietary restrictions. We ate at Moderno one night (coming up!) and the staff were WONDERFUL. With a venue like Moderno, there are multiple serving staff coming around. ALL of them were made aware of my sister's gluten intolerance, and in addition, the initial wait staff laid out what she could and couldn't eat for her own information at the very beginning. After the meal, my mother commended our waiter for how well they dealt with it, and he said they receive very extensive training regardless of their history in the service industry so that they can properly deal with allergies and other dietary restrictions. We were so happy to see they took it so seriously.

 

Side note: Toward the end of the meal, my sister had had too much to eat and had just generally not been feeling well due to a bad reaction to sunscreen. She went back to our room and when the waiter came out he asked where she was. When we told him she wasn't feeling well his face went utterly white. We felt so bad! We quickly explained that it had nothing to do with the food at all - other than overindulging!

 

I would just try asking to pre-order next NCL cruise. It can't hurt and it might be possible that there would be options to make substitutions that they may or may not be able to do on the spot. Sorry about the shellfish allergy - I don't much care for lobster myself but I do love crab and shrimp! I can semi-relate as I developed lactose intollerancy as an adult. The obvious difference is that I can take meds and enjoy the foods I grew up loving, so I really got lucky that way.

Thanks for the detailed info.

I don't miss lobster (except the bisque) as much as I miss the shrimp and crab (love scampi and sushi rolls with crab or shrimp). Sorry about your lactose intolerance; yes, at least you can take a pill and still enjoy!

I carry my liquid Benadryl and Epi Pens and do my best to avoid crustaceans! :mad: Every year, I go back to my allergist for re-testing (to see if I miraculously became un-allergic to shellfish) but so far no such luck. Oh well, I know there's worse things. I can still eat clams, mussels etc. as they are a separate species (thank God!!).

In a similar note, we dined at Moderno too (on Getaway last Sept)--it proved too heavy a meal for my sister who felt quite ill shortly afterwards. She thought she might actually get sick; thankfully she didn't and a little while later returned to her normal self... But I issue a note of caution to those not used to eating a lot of meat and rich fatty foods (such as the cheeses and salami).

Again, loving the review!!!

Enjoying your review! Thanks so much for posting.

I'm only up to post 26 so far, so it's possible you already addressed my question, but here goes:

I (unfortunately) became allergic to crustacean shellfish 3 years ago (at the age of 43 after eating it all my life). You mentioned that your sister with dietary restrictions was pre-ordering her meals. So were they providing her the menu for the following day's breakfast (or lunch or dinner) for her to place her order?

I sailed NCL Getaway last September and pre-ordering for the next day wasn't the procedure. I did this on Princess (liked it)--wondering if it's new on NCL.

If it isn't there, just ask the room steward. You'll get one.

True. I just wanted to pre-reserve, in case they should run out. Who knows how many of these toppers they keep on hand.