starfishee

Cruising out of San Juan on the Epic on Sunday as well. 100% going! I can't wait to get away from all the negativity!

Great review! I've never been on the Getaway and your review definitely has me excited to be going next month! That, and the fact that i've had it booked since last November. So nice that it is finally getting close AND you put up this fantastic review WITH pictures! Thank you, thank you, thank you. I am looking forward to see what you have in store from the rest of your trip!

When, where and how do you sign up?

Word of caution, the answers you will receive are purely guess work or the posters upgrade experience.

For instance, reading the upgrade thread, I knew I would never be upgraded.

Lo and behold I was, from a mini suite to a 2 bedroom Haven on my upcoming Baltic cruise. My bid was in the poor range, my cruise also vanished from web site leading me to believe it was full, no more upgrades.

My cruise departs on 08/18/19, I was notified on 07/11 or there abouts.

 

So take the answers with a grain of salt as no one truly has the magical equation for an upgrade, way too many variables.

 

Good luck and enjoy your cruises

Apologies for leaving you hanging... thanks for carrying on the thread without me.

 

Personal side note...

 

The week before our cruise one of our two goldendoodles (they are sisters from the same litter and are 8 years old now) got a ping-pong ball size lump on the top of her head. I had grooming appointments scheduled for them the Wednesday before our cruise... but thought I should have Lila's head looked at before that, so I took her into the vet on Tuesday. I was thinking she had a bug bite or infection... but x-rays revealed she had advanced bone cancer in her skull and it had also already spread to other parts of her body. We left both of them with my brother-in-law and his wife & kids, where we knew they would be loved on & spoiled while we were gone -- but it was still hard to leave them not knowing how long Lila had.

 

Long story short... she had to be put to sleep yesterday and we were all just :loudcry:.

 

Lila (left) & Gabby-

 

I'll finish the review today and then I may very well just sit and watch Pasta Grannies on YouTube. Watching comfort food is almost as good as eating it... almost.

Is the chocolate lava cake offered every night in the main dining rooms? Love that dessert, but mostly go to speciality restaurants

Now, I must admit that when they called Boarding Group #1, I got Vibe envy for a moment. We had such an amazing time there and I knew exactly what we were missing. And I knew how crowded this cruise would be. I am not one to wake up at the crack of dawn to run up and get a lounger. I'm also not a chair hog. I'll admit, the temptation is there, but I just would never do it. I once left my towel on a lounger when I went to a Meet and Greet. I was only gone 45 minutes but I was just so sure I was going to be arrested. Or made to walk the plank. Or at least given dirty looks by 4000 other passengers. None of that happened (thankfully) but chair hogging is not for me. I held steady with my decision of no Vibe, and was consoled with my knowledge that loungers should be available on the sun deck which would make it all ok.

 

Group #3 was called and we headed on board. It was washy washy time, then we stepped in. My family stopped and looked at me. Where to? We didn't need to race to Guest Services for Vibe passes, but that habit somehow remained. Down we went to Deck 6, and we were welcomed into the Atrium. I immediately went to the bar and put my UBP to use. Last cruise, my first drink was a Mango Meltdown. I hadn't thought about what to order and the pressure was on. I wanted to come up with a great first drink and before I knew it, I heard myself ordering a Pina Colada? What's with that? How boring.......but it did hit the spot. The rest of the family ordered their drinks including my 17 y.o who ordered a Virgin something. We then headed up to the pool area and found some chairs to enjoy our drinks.

 

My two younger sons went to the buffet to grab lunch. I always like to go to the dining room for my first lunch. To me, that proves that I'm really there......ordering appetizers, desserts, drinks, and someone bringing me anything I want. That's a cruise. So - time to get it started. My husband, oldest son and I went to Taste. It never fails - every time I sail, there is someone posted in front of the bar between Taste and Savor trying to send people to the buffet. Why? My guess is most people who find themselves there are actually there because they want to eat there. We were told "They're serving lunch in the buffet" and I nicely told her "No thanks, we'd like to eat here". We went in and were seated immediately. I ordered the hummus appetizer, meatloaf wrapped in bacon and had peanut butter cheesecake for dessert. I had a nice glass of Pinot Grigio to wash it all down.

 

By the time we were finished with lunch, we heard the announcement that the rooms were ready. We found my two other boys and headed to check out our cabins. We were in balcony cabin 13126 and the boys were around the corner in 13421 which was an inside cabin. I was a little disappointed that their cabin was further than I thought from us - I'm not sure why I thought they were right across from us. But, having booked the cruise almost two years ago - I suspect there was a reason that my old brain cells just don't remember. I very much enjoyed being on deck 13 - I had cabins both above and below us, and we were a quick trip up to the pool deck (which helped for UBP refills).

 

Cabin 13126 is pretty much your typical balcony cabin on the port side. The bed is by the balcony, which is new to us. On previous cruises our bed was scrunched up against the closet. There are pros and cons to each set up, but I kind of liked it this way. I feel like there was less shelving space than on the Escape but there was still plenty of room. There were big storage drawers in the sofa, shelves all around and enough closet space for two. There were 20 hangers (I counted so I would save half for my husband when I was unpacking - then I proceeded to take two extra!!!) in the closet and even though I way overpacked, I had plenty of room for all my clothes and shoes. We had the same view from our room that we had on our last Escape trip. In fact, I saw the same yacht that I was drooling on the last time. Just sitting there waiting for me.

 

https://pix.sfly.com/6-zs7m

 

After unpacking, we went to our boys cabin to check it out. They've never seen the bunk come from the ceiling as their last cruise they had a balcony and the sofa opened to the third bed. My youngest (as usual - last pick so the bunk was his) asked me if the bunk gets put away each day, and there's no sofa, where does he sit during the day? Hmmmm - good question. Sit on your brothers bed! My middle son (second pick) would get the bed below the bunk. He wanted to know how low the bunk would go and if he would die when it crashes down onto him. And the oldest son (first pick) already seemed very comfortable in his awesome bed. The room worked out great - and the only issue we had was getting them up each morning with it so dark. Luckily - the middle son listens to his alarm - unlike his brothers that can sleep through 15 snooze buttons. The boys unpacked and soon it was time for the Muster Drill.

 

The boys had been joking ever since I told them about the drill. Mustard Drill? What's that? I told them that they weren't very original as many people have made that joke previously. Imagine their enjoyment when we found out that we were to muster at O'Sheehans. And when we got there we sat down at the table for the drill right next to a bit bottle of mustard. "See mom, there is mustard at the mustard drill". The drill was surprisingly quick, and it's so nice to do it sitting down, as opposed to when we used to be lined up standing outside for 30 minutes or more. I just wish they would have served us wings during the drill. Now that would have been a great drill.

 

Following the drill I had to reschedule our Million Dollar Quartet reservation. As we went into the cabin and checked out all our welcome letters, etc waiting for us, we had one stating that our reservation for Thursday was changed from Million Dollar Quartet to Burn the Floor "due to technical difficulties". Hmmmm, I didn't want to see Burn the Floor, I wanted to see Million Dollar Quartet. I was so excited to see it on the Escape and had it reserved but it was cancelled when the show moved to the Getaway. I made a phone call and luckily was able to reschedule it for Monday night. While going through the other welcome information, I saw that we had a $100 on board credit with a message stating Bon Voyage. I was so excited. Who sent it to me? I read it more carefully and realized that it was placed in my room by mistake - and was for someone else. Boo.

 

Soon it was time for sailway. We decided to stay on our balcony and made sure we each had drink in hand. My oldest son made a great time-lapse video of the whole thing. I'll have to make sure he sends it to me, so I can watch it during this whole post-cruise depression. For now, this photo will have to suffice:

 

https://pix.sfly.com/Adxs0J

Just curious what time you actually boarded arriving that late and getting lucky enough to get boarding group #3?

Excellent review so far, I always LOVE when people include photos in their reviews. I also love that you are only giving bits and pieces, leaves us something to look forward too! I've been on the Epic once and the Escape twice, going on the Getaway for the first time in October, so it is nice to read this review. Looking forward to the rest! Thank you for taking the time to share your experience!

Our family spends a lot of time on St. John, both from cruise ships (which we are doing next week) and for weeklong vacations.

 

Here's some info I hope will be useful.

 

First, St. John was heavily damaged by hurricanes Irma and Maria. However, she's turning green again quickly and the beaches look pretty good with the exception of Maho (my favorite). She was decimated and I wouldn't recommend anyone going to Maho at this point in time. The road is still under repair; the parking lot closed for repair and there is little shade here any longer.

 

If I were going to head to a beach on St. John right now, it would be Hawksnest or Trunk. In fact, it's the perfect time to do this as there are far less visitors right now. Both these beaches are in great shape and they are currently NOT charging admission at Trunk. It's a perfect time to see it. It's a 15 minute open air taxi ride from the Cruz Bay ferry dock.

 

The ferry from Red Hook to Cruz Bay, St. John pretty much has only ever run every hour on the hour. They run some half hour ferries early in the morning but you'll see it's still hourly other than 7:30 & 8:00 AM. Google Red Hook to Cruz Bay Ferry Schedule and it will pull up the times for you.

 

Getting to Red Hook is easier from Havensight (the West Indies Dock) than Crown Bay because it's much closer to Red Hook and the taxi drivers don't like to leave Crown Bay until their taxi is full (and that can be quite a wait). The earlier you can get off your ship and head to Red Hook, the better.

 

When you get to St. John, you'll find taxis generally waiting as you exit the ferry. They'll take you to any beach you'd like or give you an island tour. Given what the island still looks like, I'd probably skip the tour and go to a beach and then some shopping at Mongoose Junction back in Cruz Bay. There are a lot of great restaurants open in Cruz Bay. Walking from the ferry to Mongoose (or Mongoose back to the ferry) is a short five minute walk.

 

If going it alone (you'll have the most time on St. John if you go on your own), I'd recommend taking a ferry back to St. Thomas three hours before your ship is scheduled to leave. So if you are to leave at 6:00 PM, I'd take the 3:00 PM ferry back. I recommend this type of schedule to all who haven't been there on your own before.

 

St. John is a VERY special place. The residents and business owners are VERY appreciative of cruise ship passengers starting to return. They need us to survive. These are genuinely kind and generous people. I can't believe how much they've done to help the recovery in a short five months. They are the best.

 

If you go, enjoy every moment. And keep going back....it will get better and better!

Thank you for sharing. I have read so much and seen so much about the destruction and absolute devastation. We are not returning to St. John until late October. I had a friend that was just there a few weeks ago and he did visit Maho and share many pics, it is just surreal how different it is. My question to you, as you seem to be an expert on this lovely place, would you return to Maho in late October? I have never been to Trunk as i've always read about avoiding it on days when there are ships in port. However, i've only been to St. John while on a cruise! Are there turtles at Trunk Bay? Or Hawksnest? I am going with a group and several have never been to St. John and are really looking forward to snorkeling and seeing the turtles. Any recommendations you can offer are greatly appreciated! Thanks!!

Yes, but what a great day the RY yo Jost sounds like! Have a great time.

It certainly is! I was just hoping to get a few more stops in that just Jost! However, i'll spend the day at Jost and i'm 99.999999% certain that I will forget there were any other options. LOVE JOST!:cool::cool:<3

Thank you for the feedback! Does anyone have any experience going to Maho Bay once they got to St John?

Thanks Blue Water, unfortunately, you are correct. Tough request for a large group. I have reached out to those that you mentioned, and the cut off is usually 10-12 people. Either that or a small fortune! Yes, we do have a boatload! Thought about trying to get two boats, but I think it is just going to be easier to book the Rebel Yell through Norwegian. (which we have done twice and had a great time!)

I've been looking for a reasonably priced, private excursion from Tortola to Jost that will take 14 people (most cut off at 10-12). We have done the Escape to Jost aboard the Rebel Yell twice and had a fabulous day both times, so I decided to reach out. I contacted them via FB messenger(which they always respond well to) and received the following great news: Luckily all the crew and staff survived as well as the Rebel Yell. She is fully operational and are looking forward to having Norwegian Cruise Lines back in the BVI and escaping to JVD. Here is a pic from last week with another group

The last two times we stopped on a cruise in Tortola, we took the Rebel Yell to Jost Van Dyke for the day. It looks as though she's currently out of commission based upon what i've read here on CC. I did send them a Facebook message as they've always been great about replying in the past. In the meantime, I feel that it is just wise for me to explore other options. We currently have a group of 13 cruising, it may go as high as 20. I am looking for either a power boat or a power catamaran that we could take to Jost. It can be private, or combined with other passengers. I have read through many posts here on CC (both good and bad) and have sent emails of inquiry out to a few that i've read about here (Aristocat, Bad Kitty & Patouche). Any others that you would recommend? Or avoid for that matter? Thanks a bunch!

Oh no, that's awful! So sorry to hear. Definitely try it again sometime down the road, the Virgin Islands (both US & British) are BEAUTIFUL! We are booked on the Getaway for October 28th, now i'm concerned about ours too! However, i'm more than certain that we would have fun wherever we ended up. Did they give you a choice of changing to another ship? Or are you "stuck" with whatever they decide for the Getaway??

I posted on trip advisor so hopefully something will happen there. Went to JVD last year on a private charter from Tortola. It was great but pretty pricey when all I care about this time is spending time at soggy Dollar. You don't have as much time off the ship on Tortola so it's kind of rushed. I've booked the same private charter but would cancel if I can find a cheaper alternative.

 

 

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Would you mind sharing the charter company? We have done the Escape to JVD aboard the Rebel Yell the last two times, but we want to see what other options are out there. Thanks!

I have done this excursion twice, one time it didn't show up until last minute and the last time I was able to book months in advance. I asked my PCC yesterday and she said that it is all a matter of how they load them into the system. Sounds like it is going to be more of a last minute thing this time around if they suffered some damage and are still working on the repairs. Hope that you'll be able to book with them, great excursion! The crew is awesome!!!!

We are sadly not until 2/19 and we are stopping in Tortola. I hope by then the island will be back and running. I am thinking maybe 6 to 9 months out we will be things to book.

 

 

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Well, this happened...

 

 

Photo credit to Christoph Assies. Thanks, Christoph!

HOW EXCITING! Thanks for sharing!:cool::cool::D:D

Here’s my question; if Margaritaville now has a cover charge, does it count against the UDP? I’m sure as hell not going to waste a lunch at Margaritaville when I can have a dinner at Cagney’s.

 

 

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Haha! Same! I would NEVER!!!!!!!!!!

Where is that quote from FDR about the Bliss race track from? I haven't seen it before, and I have Google alerts set for anything and everything NCL or Bliss related...

 

Meanwhile, the thing I'm looking forwarde to the most is Happy Hour: The Prohibition. SOunds like something very cool. I know it ran for a while in NYC, but I never had a chance to see it.

 

"One exciting production that will be offered on the ship is Happy Hour Prohibition: The Musical, straight from popular runs in both New Orleans and New York City. Guests will be transported back in time to January 16, 1919, where they’ll step into Miss Lulu’s New Orleans-based speakeasy, Mahogany Hall. There, bootleggers and madam’s will entertain you with hits of the era while you sip on specialty cocktails blending prohibition era spirits with a modern twist."

Richard

How does one set that type of Google alert? Do tell!

I've read in several reviews and comments that people have requested and received extra!

Enjoying your review thus far. It is so nice to read a review from someone who was onboard recently! I have to say that I read many negative reviews before my first time on the Escape last year, and I still don't understand why! Glad to see that people such as yourself are still enjoying it! I'm really looking forward to sailing the Escape again next week and reading your review is getting me even more excited! Thanks for the time you've spent writing it!

White bay on Jost Van Dyke could be the nicest beach we have ever been to. We have gone 3 times. So laid back, a true beach bum kind of day.

OOOOOOH, now this sounds like fun! Thanks for the info, we will definitely be looking into booking this when we board next week! Yep, NEXT WEEK! Can't wait! Just one more thing to look forward to on our second cruise on the Escape!!