thatjoeguy

Good choice of week

 

The ba will still be crowded as it holds 4000 and sails full every week and is so poorly designed that you will feel like you are in a sardine can. Sorry but true

We sail on the BA last spring and never felt like we were in a sardine can.

The only difference I found was that the mini suite has a bigger bathroom.

Which includes double sinks in the mini-suite, which is nice.

I'm grandfathered into gold and get some extra free stuff. I'm happy.

Even Disney has adult-only areas. Cheers :)

So does NCL. The dining rooms aren't one of them.

I don't know yet why the Haven is so expensive but the prices has gone up a lot.

 

We planned to cruise on the Epic this summer but after checking the prices we decided to try MSC and their Yacht Club instead. We pay more than $3000 less than for a rather similar cruise in the Haven. (One week from Barcelona.)

For those who have done both, how does MSC compare to the larger and newer (Epic and onward) NCL ships outside of the suite areas? We've been planning to start booking the Haven now that we have a little one, but we really like all the other activities on NCL, so we're unlikely to just stay in the Haven area all the time.

I guess we have a different opinion. Been on BA once for the winter trip and Gem twice. Prefer Gem. Yes, the BA has much more to do but on the winter trips you lose about 1.5 days each way (typically) due to cold weather for the outside areas. We also missed GSC and on that day they had the outside areas on 678 roped off so everyone was inside which meant crowded public areas. We were in the Haven so that made things better but have no interest going on BA again. We did book Escape though but that is for a Bermuda trip. I'd think the BA trip to Bermuda would be pretty good though.

The BA to Bermuda is fantastic. I don't think I'd book a NY to the Caribbean trip. Since we have to fly to port either way, I don't want to lost 3 of my 7 days to cold weather, and am much less excited for the NY itinerary than the Florida itinerary.

You'd never have to pay for something if the server failed to notify you there would be a charge. Well, at least I'd never pay for something if I hadn't been told.

When I've used the package, I never told them I was using it, so I don't see why it would be their fault if you were charged for something that clearly has a charge on the menu. I know people who get the included SDP and then have more meals in the specialty restaurants once the package is done - they can (clearly) order whatever they want, since they're paying.

what about the ala cart, can you go there for free?Yes you can go to the a la carte restaurants for free.

On the Escape, Food Republic isn't included in the SDP. A few of the other places have a flat "upcharge" fee. Off the top of my head, I believe the sushi place, tapas place, and Ocean Blue. Check the T&C for the full list.

Thank you. I was thinking of entertainment. We usually eat in the main dining rooms or we'll use the Haven dining. We like to leave our schedule open for anything that pops up and I hesitate to book anything to far in advance. There really isn't any theater shows I would feel awful if I missed so it is not that big of a deal, but when I heard the comedy and Howl at the Moon shows booked up, I would hate to miss those.

Howl at the Moon doesn't take reservations. The comedy shows have in the past, but there's usually walk-in spots available too.

I will never for the life of me understand why people ask. Simply order! If you are told no, then discuss. Why would anyone ask first? That seems so counter-intuitive.

Maybe they were worried about charges if they went "over" the package? When we were on the Breakaway this past spring, they told me I could only order one app at Le Bistro with the package. I ordered the second anyway, but don't remember seeing it on the bill.

I second the Howl at the Moon. They've made several of our cruises extra fantastic.

I think a regular cabin with 4 in it would be a cramped enough. NCL does have some cabins for 5, but it's limited. Let's face it, Cabin aren't very big. If they were, there'd be fewer cabins and they all would need to cost more. You want 5 in a cabin. What about those who have 4 kids, should there cabins for them too, without going to suites? Not sure you're being realistic about it, from the cruise line standpoint.

My dad was one of seven kids. Where are the options for his family?!?

I HAD to have three, didn't I?? For the record, I had 2 at once (thats twins, for those not paying attention), so the third just felt natural. Now, I feel like when I travel I'm being punished.

 

I currently have a family ocean view room booked on the escape for 2/3. it seems that, besides the Havens, this was the only viable option.

 

I mean. Do MOST people have just 2 kids? Is it me? Am I nuts? Besides Disney (And I don't have 11 gajillion dollas'), NCL was the only one that seemed to be even remotely understanding of my situation. But how is it that groups don't have better options?

 

Am I cray?

You could always just cruise with one parent. That would get you back to four.

I'm not usually a steakhouse fan, but Cagney's was the best food on our Breakaway trip this past spring. If you really want to splurge, and if it's available, the chef's dinner was AMAZING when we did it a few years back.

I enjoyed Burn the Floor much more than I thought I would. Rock of Ages wasn't bad by any means, but was not my favorite NCL show. Howl at the Moon and Second City were both lots of fun. The dance parties up at Spice were also fun, if you enjoy that type of thing.

We normally just walk over to Junkanoo Beach, which is a little under a mile's walk west (right) of the cruise terminal. Last time we stopped, I just stayed on board and enjoyed the empty ship.

I just saw the Escape news this past weekend. We loved the Escape when we were on her last winter (probably our favorite ship) and also had a blast when we were on the Breakaway to Bermuda last spring (our favorite stop the leaves from the US) so I'm really excited to combine the two. (I'm especially excited now that we have a new addition to the family, and the Escape is the only NCL ship with 6 month daycare!) I just wished the Bermuda cruises started a bit earlier in the year - winter is when I really need my cruise fix!

I am looking to book a cruise to the Caribbean. I have been on the smaller ships several times but not one of the bigger ones. Pros and cons on the getaway and escape would be super helpful. Thank you :)

Two things I haven't seen mentioned are the Cellars (wine bar) and the Guppies Nursery (drop off for kids 6 months to 3 years) both only on the Escape. The Cellars ended up being out meeting place/pre-dinner drink location back in January, as they have 100+ different wines by the glass. We'll probably do the Escape again next to take advantage of both that and the Guppies nursery.

As stated above, Food Republic was also amazing.

The Getaway has a dedicated after-hours nightclub that is separated from everything. This is replaced on the Escape by an open casino bar space that functions as a dance area late night, bu is still open to the rest of the ship. I like the Getaway design more.

Going for two weeks....

We had it back in the spring for the trip to Bermuda, and loved it, but we were able to use it every day, which you probably won't in November. However, I do love it to try and avoid the crowds, and try for it every cruise.

Thanks for the review! Did you notice crowds waiting for the Dinner Cirque show? People said get there 30 mins before, does it really matter? I know you have to pick your own seat

We arrived about 10 minutes before the show started (were running later than we wanted) and there was a line when we arrived. I believe that everyone was sat by the hostess, with those arriving earlier getting better seats.

Don't get me started on NCL and martinis. They have totally dumbed down their entire drink menu since the UBP. My best advice is to search the bars until you find someone who actually knows how to make drinks, and then explain exactly how you want your drink made. My pet peeve is the limp wristed half hearted shake and the pour of a luke warm martini. I like tiny shards of ice floating on the top of my Cosmo, and it should be ice pink, not cranberry. Good luck

I've always had great luck with martinis (Tanqueray or Hendricks, dry, a little dirty) at Shakers, where they've always been well shaken and cold. It's not the type of drink I'd order at the poolside bar.

Sorry for the (much) delayed review. I'll try and put everything (that I remember) into one post, but let me know if you have any questions.

Deciding on the trip: Living in the midwest, we normally cruise in the winter, but since we were expecting our first kid in October (meaning no winter '17 cruise) and had several friends performing on the Breakaway, we decided to add on a second, spring cruise to May of 2016. Previous NCL cruises included the Escape in winter '16, Getaway in winter '15, and Epic in winter '14, as well as several of the smaller ships before that. Outside of NCL, DH and I have done two Princess trips, and I've also cruised on Celebrity, Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Holland America. Overall, we prefer NCL for the freestyle dining and the entertainment.

Booking: Back in February, we booked a guaranty MX through our warehouse club travel agency. We ended up with a family mini-suite, which would be fantastic on our future cruises, but less than ideal for us on this trip. (Husband is 6'7, and the tub decreases the shower ceiling height even further.) We chose the dining and beverage packages when we booked.

Before the trip: We both love NYC, so we headed out a few days early to see a few shows and visit the Met. Since we were staying in the middle of Manhattan, we Ubered to the cruise port the morning of the trip, which was quite a bit easier than the usual Miami boarding. We were there early enough to grab Vibe passes for the trip, which is always a perk.

Sailaway: Leaving New York, we split our time between Vibe and the front of the ship for our best sailaway ever. Sailing along the Hudson river gave an amazing photos of the New York skyline and some fantastic views of Ellis island and the Statue of Liberty.

Food: With the dining package, we ate at Cagney's, Le Bistro, and La Cucina. While I'm not a huge fan of steak houses, the food was best at Cagney's, and good at Le Bistro and La Cucina. The only downside of any of the dinners was remarkably loud and drunk foursome next to us at Le Bistro. They were obnoxious enough that our server moved us to a new table across the restaurant without our asking. They also comped our desserts, which didn't matter to us with the dining package, but was a nice gesture.

We did breakfast at the buffet most days, or on the balcony. We also ate dinner in the buffet a few nights, so that we had more time for the evening entertainment after a full day in Bermuda.

For lunch on the sea days, the Breakaway has (complementary) themed buffets at Moderno, which was a great hidden gem on the trip. My husband ate there all three sea days with some friends, while I skipped the first to sleep late.

Entertainment: We used our fourth dinner for the Cirque Dreams and Dinner show. Having seen the dinner show on the Getaway, Epic, and Escape, we expected good but forgettable food at the dinner show, which is what we got. The show itself was a lot of fun, as I've come to expect from the NCL dinner shows.

We saw both Rock of Ages and Burn the Floor in the theater. While we always make a point to attend the musicals, which are always great for the space, this was the first time we've seen the dance show in the theater. We normally make a point to see them perform in the dining room, and skip the theater show to spend time somewhere else on the ship, but the show was fantastic.

We spent a lot of time at Howl at the Moon (fantastic) and Second City (also good). I also went to several of the late night deck parties, which were pretty standard for an NCL trip, the "glow" party being my favorite. I also had a few very late nights in Bliss, which I like as a standalone location rather than the more open bar on the Escape.

Bermuda: This was the first cruise where we stayed in one port for longer than a day, which was a nice change of pace. We enjoyed not feeling that we had to rush to see everything in 8 hours.

The first day, we took the water taxi into Hamilton with some friends. After stopping at a cafe for a bit, we explored the town and the fort, then headed back a bit early (again via water taxi) since our friends had to perform that night.

Day two, we took the bus to the beach (Horseshoe Bay). The beach was fantastic. We climbed up to the top of the rocks near the cove, then I went off for some great swimming and mediocre snorkeling. After that, we took the bus from the beach to the botanical gardens in Hamilton, walked through town a bit more, and then took the water taxi back to the ship.

Day three, since we were leaving early, we stayed near the port, and spent some time at Snorkel Park, which had better snorkeling than I expected, and much better than I found the day before.

Miscellaneous: As stated above, we snagged Vibe passes for this trip, which is where we spent most of the day on our sea days. We had previously had in 2015 on the Getaway, but missed out on our Escape trip earlier this year. To me, the extra cost is definitely worth it make always have a padded lounger (especially if you're looking to sit together) and easy access to a bar with no line. I went through quite a few Mango Meltdowns there.

I also attended the LGBT mixer at Shakers, which had great service, though I do like it when the mixers are held in a more out-of-the-way location. During the dueling piano shows, I found it faster in many cases to run up to Shakers for a drink rather than wait for the Fat Cats bartender.

Between the ability to do pre-vacation in NYC and the multi day stop at Bermuda, we're looking forward to doing this itinerary again, once the little one is old enough for the kids program. Next time, I'd like to check out the crystal caves and take advantage of Harbor nights.

Any questions, let me know!

Can you only make reservations on board for some of the specialty restaurants on Escape? I only see a few of them when I log in. I am interested in Food Republic and Pinchos. Does anyone have feedback on these venues? Any favourites? Are they both tapas style? How many dishes would you order at each for two people?

We also loved everything we tried at Food Republic. It was one of my top three cruise meals, along with the two chef's tables we've done.

There was a group of 5 of us, and I believe we each ordered 2-3 things for dinner and split it with the table. I tried to walk up to make a reservation (for after the show) and was told to just walk up when we were interested. It always seemed less than half full, likely because it wasn't part of the SDP.

Good luck! On the Escape you could find a nice selection of higher priced wines at the Mondavi bar...like $30+. The kicker? You couldn't use the $15 credit for the UBP. Same was true for the only "real" champagne by the glass: Veuve Clicquot. It was available on special for about $22 or $23 a glass with no UBP credit.

 

IMO, the Mondavi "experience" will not last long term.

If I remember correctly, out of the 100 or so wines available by the glass at the wine bar on the Escape, only 3 or so were above the $15 limit. It always seemed to be empty at the start of our cruise, but by the middle it was hard to find an open table there. None of us had complaints with the selection.

I see you chose to ignore the April to April comparison in my post. But still...

 

Norwegian Getaway, 7 Day Caribbean / Miami:

 

Nov 2016: Balcony, from $879

Apr 2017: Balcony, from $1149

 

Jewel, 7 Day Mex Riv:

 

Nov 2016: Balcony, from $989

Apr 2017: Balcony, from $1189

 

I'd say April and November are comparable enough for the purposes of this discussion.

How about this:

Getaway, Jan. '15: Balcony for $769 pp with $200 OBC

Escape, Jan. '16: Balcony for $749 pp with UBP and $50 OBC

Interestingly enough, a gallon of milk cost more in 2016, but my cruise didn't.