Zimomiller

Just cruised in 19039. Never heard a thing.

I completed the online check in process for our upcoming Seascape cruise. Everything was in order and I was unable to down load the e ticket documents and received an error message every time saying I had not yet completed on line check in.

 I called MSC, waited on hold for half an hour and then got a helpful agent who asked for my booking number. She looked it up, everything was complete. She then emailed the documents to me. Easy Peasy.

Yes, MSC's website is a train wreck.

I spoke with Captain Scala on our Seaside cruise in January and he mentioned that he would be leaving soon to go to the shipyard as he will be bringing out the Seaview

Last year there were a lot of unhappy fans from Alabama and Clemson on the Escape. NCL was well aware of the interest in watching the National championship game but made no effort to show it.

The problem with the Cigar lounge on the Escape as well as on the Getaway is that although the lounge is clearly marked for cigar smoking there is a constant parade of cigarette smokers fouling the atmosphere which overwhelms the air filtration system making the space uninhabitable at times.

That was a funny statement when you said the cigarette smokers created a cigarette smog in the cigar area. Whenever I am in a casino I have never seen any cigarette smokers clear a row of slots as fast as one cigar smoker.

 

Rob G.

Yah, there is quite a long list of people that hate smokers and then add too that list that cigar smokers cannot stand cigarette smokers and vice verca

This was cruise # 32 for us and without a doubt we had the worst weather we have ever encountered on a cruise. We have sailed in January and February several times before but never encountered such consistently low temps, high winds, heavy rain and heaving seas. Mother Nature is so unpredictable.

We have been in higher winds and waves on previous cruises but that was for just an evening. Our weather luck on this trip was just bad. Started raining at the delayed sail away and just degraded from there. All day Sunday and one half of Monday were howling hellish rain and turbulent seas. 50-60 knot winds and 15-18 ft. seas were common.

Weather broke for St Thomas and Tortola but the rough seas led to the cancellation of almost all water based excursions in Tortola so we never got over to Jost Van Dyke.

Felt sorry for the first time cruisers who are now likely turned off. So many on-board crew members were suffering from the motion effects. Luckily, my wife and I are not affected by the waves. Call me nuts but I like to feel the ship move.

We still had a decent cruise. Any day at sea is better than any day at work.

We flew in 2 days early for this cruise to Ft Lauderdale airport terminal 2. We chose 2 days prior to our cruise this year to celebrate an anniversary. We were so glad we did as we passed through Terminal 2 baggage claim 2 almost exactly 24 hours before the shooting incident. We of course felt horror and remorse for those affected but we could not help but to feel lucky that we avoided what could have led to our involvement in that disaster.

Haven embark was a breeze. Arrived at 1030 am and were seated waiting to be brought on board to the Haven in about 10 minutes.

Debark was quite easy as well as Rashida and her staff led the Haven passengers down a crew elevator behind the scenes right to the front of the line.

The ship was in great shape. Yes there was always some maintenance in process but it did not detract from the cruise.

Maybe it was just us, but Tyler the cruise director was just too annoying to listen to.

Tried Food Republic. Expected so much better based upon CC reviews. It was a meh experience for us. Combine that with ala cart pricing and there is no reason to return for us. Food reviews are very subjective, your experience may vary.

Decent well organized CC Meet n Greet turn out by cruisers as well as NCL senior officers and staff. It is always disappointing so many other cruisers fail to come after they signed up.

We dined only in the Haven restaurant, Cagney's and Le Bistro. They are the best and most consistent venues for us. Our experiences in these venues were quite good.

Friends that cruised with us tried La Cucina against my warnings that the reviews on CC were not good. They walked out as they found the food to be inedible.

Loved the Haven. It is always a quiet luxurious refuge.

The Haven bartenders are masters of their craft and are true mixologists on the Escape.

The retractable magrodome over the outdoor Haven courtyard area was a godsend for most of the trip as it kept the horrid weather away from the calm and serenity of the Haven. Unfortunately the people that are in charge of opening and closing it apparently have no idea what they are doing or the equipment failed. I thought I was going to get a video opportunity when they tried to open it but I watched them struggle in vain with the controls in Nassau for several minutes as they tried to open it and made no progress. (It was only open 1/2 way one day the whole trip and I believe that was in St Thomas.)

Only a cigar smoker will understand this comment. The Cigar humidor room was a disaster. Every cigarette smoker on the ship apparently does not know the difference between a cigar and a cigarette and as a result clogged the room with people and an impenetrable cigarette smog making it unusable for cigars let alone uninhabitable by humans. NCL staff could have not have cared any less.

Smoke from the casino continues to be clearly evident in 678 Place and down the halls. I thought it was a bit better than on the Getaway because all the smokers on Escape were cramming the cigar bar.

We attended no shows except the comedian on Thursday night at Headliners. Frank Townsend was very funny and creative. His bit on scooter riders on board was hilarious.

Next up for us we are trying something different. The MSC Seaside. Feedback has been quite good on the Yacht Club vs Haven experience.

Combine that with NCL's non-stop tendency to take things away while raising prices and we are looking for alternatives. The Haven is nice but NCL has lost their mind with their current pricing and would be better served in the long run if they would focus on polishing the Haven product. Instead they seem hell bent on taking out costs by removing popular food items and going cheap on amenities.

All of this is happening while NCL is jacking up Haven pricing to unaffordable levels leading them to stoop to murky auction/bidding wars to unload unsold Haven inventory. Something has to change to get NCL’s attention and competition may be the answer.

If you have any questions I would be happy to try to answer them.

Loving your review.

We stayed in that same family Suite on our Dawn cruise to Bermuda a few years ago.

Loved the position of it and the views from the balcony.

The only issue we had was controlling the A/C.

After 3 days, they finally figured it out.

NCL is clearly attempting to expand their nickel and dime menu to the new island.

I have no desire to visit there based up this strategy.

Fans of GSC better pray that this blows up in NCL's face as they are just waiting for a reason to apply this new model to GSC and get another cha-ching.

One place you can look is http://www.cruisett.com

Apparently the experiment in upgrading the food and Haven experience is over and NCL is back to it's old ways. Give with one hand and take away with the other.....or upcharge for it.

It appears that FDR's plans were all fluff and bs

I had done a lot of work to get myself in better shape prior to my Dawn cruise in just over two weeks. I have dropped 70 lbs and I feel great. With UBP and UDP, I plan to go completely off of the rails. So I have two questions.

 

#1 What is the most weight you have gained during a cruise

 

#2 Are there any fun activities you can think of to help ward off the buldge while on an older ship like the dawn?

 

 

Thanks

 

#1 What is the most weight you have gained during a cruise

My wife gained about 80 lbs as a result of one of our early cruises. She lost it all 9 months later after the twins were born.

#2 Are there any fun activities you can think of to help ward off the buldge while on an older ship like the dawn?

The best one is the reason she ended up gaining 80 lbs.....

Honestly it has nothing to due with enjoying a bubble. I just prefer to not pay extra around all corners of a vacation.. and I enjoy customer service at a very high level when promised so. It has nothing to do with wanting to skip past people in a line or a show.

 

Thank you to others who were more helpful.

On our cruise in the Haven on Getaway in January we found that we really had nothing to pay for. We received 300 of OBC and free gratuities as well as the UBP and UDP.

I bought the wife some roses for our anniversary dinner and the rest of our OBC was spent goin shoppin to use it up.

We exited the ship with a charge to our credit card of ~$30 for the whole week.

We are in the escape?? And what is CC I'm not sure how to search?

lol

You are on CC

I would not worry about this one.

In our Haven experiences we have see tables moved to make seating for as many as 12.

We have not been on the Escape but after seeing pics of the restaurant, this should not be any issue

We sailed the Getaway in January and confirm that this is indeed the case on Grand Cayman.

We checked in with the concierge the day before to confirm what to do.

Glad we did as the lines to get a tender back are insanely long.

All we had to do is look for the Haven staff member with the Haven sign and he escorted us to the head of the line and off we went to the tenders easy peasy.

My wife commented that she could feel a thousand knife wounds being stared into our backs from the rest of the line as they saw the way we were escorted ahead.

If I recall correctly they are setting up the bar around 8:00am on both sea and port days. Evelyn and Randy are amazing.

That info is correct. And I echo the comments on Evelyn and Randy!

le bistro. I would say a no brainer! I have had better microwaved italian food then what i got at la cucina.

this!

9075 on the Sky is an aft penthouse suite.

We stayed in that exact suite several years ago and it was magnificent.

The balcony is long but not real wide.

Here is a link to a Youtube video tour of the same suite on deck 10.

You are going to love this suite and will be forever spoiled and unable to sail in anything less than a suite on NCL.

I made our choice based upon proximity to what we would likely use more often.

The Haven courtyard and the lounge and bar are on 17 along with the concierge desk.

The wife enjoys being able to step out of the suite and quickly into thee courtyard.

The Haven restaurant is on 18, and we intend to eat there for breakfasts, lunches and a dinner or two but that ws not enough reason for us to move up.

Mango Meltdowns were everywhere on the Getaway a couple weeks ago. Tasty and refreshing

i believe that they will, though it can be just as easy to pack your own extension cord, and to use the ship's tap water, which is pretty close to distilled.

this!

Great start, thanks for taking time to post your review.

I didn't think my eyes were tricking me.

 

Was there a Seabourn ship in port with you? I do recall a review of a Seabourn cruise where their butlers did a caviar or champagne tasting in the water.

I have seen this before at GSC.

The photo dept would have a crewmember dress in the top half of a Tux carrying a tray of drink glasses that were glued down and he would wander around the shallow water taking pictures with guests.

Use the pre cruise concierge service. I sent them all my requests via email and had my ressies back in a confirm the next day