danstr1

I can't speak for the Silhouette, but I was on the Reflection in late February and it did indeed have a movie screen opposite the Lawn Club.

The dessert quality and selection is better than what you find most times in the dining room. For this reason, I often skip the dessert in the MDR in favor of having it at the Cafe later in the evening. It has a tendency to get rather crowded some evenings but you have the option of taking it to go.

I consider myself a big eater and have never needed to order an additional entree at any of the specialties including Murano. More typically, I waddle away hating myself for overindulging....yet again :-) The portion sizes at the specialties are much more generous than what you find in the MDR. Some evenings in the MDR I can easily find myself devouring two entrees. With that said, if you can handle two, you've earned my respect and eat away!

With the Spencer Ambrose beach break, are there any umbrellas or the opportunity to rent some? If not, any available shade to lounge in? Love the beach but my pale complexion doesn't allow me in the sun long!

Jeremiah1212,

Just laughing to myself over the NCL Escape. The screen name sounds familiar! You didn't happen to be on the September 3rd 2016 sailing of the Escape? I recall speaking to a couple in the District Brewhouse as we compared notes and shared sentiments over the Escape and how we missed Celebrity during this sailing. I too just got off the Equinox last week which I had booked shortly after sailing the Escape. I now feel redeemed over the last cruise experience and I too proceeded to book my next cruise with Celebrity while onboard. Sometimes a bit of a change is good to gain a better appreciation of what you really like.

- Dan

Just got off the Equinox myself. I had the Elegance Chardonnay each night I attended dinner at the MDR. Even towards the end of the cruise, they still had it. I only drank this at dinner so I can't speak for the other venues. I tried other wine selections while dining at the specialty restaurants. Still struggling with the post vacation blues:loudcry:

On the Equinox a few years back, there was an elderly lady carrying her drink with a big scowl on her face. She clearly was not happy over something. The poor pool butler just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time as she approached him to explain her dismay over the poor quality of glasses as her's had a hole in it and needed to be replaced. At first I thought she must be joking as I have a friend who is an avid drinker that makes this similar statement to waiters and waitresses all the time. Seeing the whole exchange she was clearly convinced that her glass had a hole in it causing the moisture on the exterior of the glass and she was not pleased! To her this obviously had nothing to do with the glass gathering condensation as it sat on the hot pool deck. The pool butler handled it very well and smiled briefly at me as he witnessed me holding back the laughter.

Looks like a hopping place. Honestly though would two 71 year old fuddy dudies

feel comfortable?

Admittedly, I'm a 70 year old fuddy duddy myself trapped in the body of a 40 year old. I visited the Boatyard two years ago after reading rave reviews. I guess it depends on what you like, but our experiences were not good. I would not go back. We got off the ship and to the Boat Yard as soon as we could. Once we arrived, all the beach chairs were already accounted for. There was no beach service and the service at the bar was very slow. The place was jam packed! If you're into crowds, people watching, and the party atmosphere this might be the place for you. If you're looking for relaxing on a beach chair under the shade of an umbrella while being served cold beverage, this place is not for you! It could be that I was just there on a bad day. The beach was beautiful and the facilities were very nice. Maybe check the cruise port schedule to see how many ships are in port. This could change the experience dramatically. On our last trip to Barbados we did the resort for a day at the Hilton which is further down the beach. I highly recommend it and will probably be visiting there again in February myself :-) Hope this helps!

Wish I knew that Margaritaville served breakfast while I was on board last week! I would have definitely taken advantage of that! As for the venue as a whole, I really enjoyed it. Granted, I'm not a parrothead so I didn't have any preconceived notions beforehand. Garden Cafe was absolutely crazy on sea days so I found the nominal upcharge at Margaritaville to be well worth it for the relaxing atmosphere and great view. The food is much better than Sheehan's so it's somewhat justified from that perspective as well. I did enjoy Sheehan's as well though.

Yay! Another lobster thread!!!

 

Cheer up everyone. FDR may have removed all the lobster but he did add hot dogs at O'Sheehans!!!!!

And if you like those, you don't know the real thing! They're nothing like the hot dogs you get here in the North East:D

Fortunately, it landed on the floor but that would have made the story so much better. I left it there as a testament as to what I thought of their "Surf & Turf" ;-)

Just got off the Escape. I can attest that lobster is no longer available at Cagney's. I can understand eliminating it at the MDR but not at the specialty restaurants. I had purchased the concierge app where I browsed the online menu before arriving. It clearly states the Surf & Turf as being filet and lobster. Since I had already decided I was having Surf & Turf before arriving at Cagney's.... I was "surprised" when the filet arrived flanked by 3 shrimp on a skewer. To add insult to injury, those shrimp are really placed securely on the skewer. One of the three went flying across the dining room as I attempted to remove/devour it. The shrimp was good but I was disappointed as I don't consider this Surf & Turf. Silly me for not reading the actual menu in front of me before placing my order. This was my first time aboard NCL so I have to admit it was disappointing. I've cruised with Celebrity several times and this was never the case. Who knows, cruise lines seem much like air lines these days. If one does it, the others will likely follow suit. Wouldn't necessarily keep me from sailing with NCL again but something that I would hold under consideration. Someday, I hope to go to New England where I can have the real thing. For now, I typically only have lobster while cruising so it's all I know.

Then there will be more drivers available. I've never had any problem with Uber to or from PortMiami, MIA or FLL.

Good to know! Does the price estimate of $35/$40 coincide with your experiences?

My only fear is Uber/Lyft may be very busy on a Saturday morning which is a popular travel and port day. I just wish there was a means to book them in advance. Guess it's worth taking the chance. Worst case, I pay $80 for a cab.

Thanks for all the feedback so far! I just ran across an interesting article on the matter that I wanted to share. Both Lyft and Uber are viable and cost-effective options. The article estimates the fares to be $30 to $40.

http://www.floridacruisetips.com/using-uber-or-lyft-to-port-of-miami-and-port-everglades/

Looking forward to cruising soon (not soon enough) aboard the NCL Escape on 9-3. My flight is scheduled to arrive at FLL airport at 9:43 AM. The Escape leaves from the Port of Miami later that day. I'm trying to figure out the best transportation options that will get me to the port ASAP economically. I'm not necessarily looking for the cheapest option but not looking to spend hundreds of dollars either. Has anyone taken a cab from FLL to the Port of Miami and have any ideas of the associated costs? There are only two of us so I don't need anything big and huge. A standard cab will do. I know there are a various transportation services that offer van services but I fear they may have several stops that would impact the amount of time to arrive to the port (haven't ruled it out as an option though). No sitting in a van all day while teh UBP sits underutilized! I did some searching on the matter that rendered some rather old posts. Any feedback or recommendations are greatly appreciated :-)

Thanks for the feedback. Certainly all things to consider. No fear of children...only a cruise ship overrun by them :) Celebrity and Princess have both been a very good fit. They just don't sail the waters of the Caribbean that time of year. I'm a fairly young curmudgeon at 40 so much of the entertainment offerings aboard the Escape are appealing. I've found the the entertainment on Celebrity and Princess to be geared more towards an older crowd. I guess it's all a trade off. Heck, with the free beverage package, I may not notice those dang kids anyway!

I'm considering booking the Escape for a cruise over Labor Day (9/3 thru 9/10). I don't want to come off as a curmudgeon......nor do I want to offend anyone. My only apprehension about booking is the amount of kids on board. I had done some googling on the matter previously and found overall that there wouldn't be many children since most schools return to class the week prior or of Labor Day. Recently, I've found posts that suggest otherwise. My past several cruises have been with Celebrity and Princess so there were few children (sadly, I may have been classified as such). Not that I mind well behaved kids but my phobia started years ago on the Carnival Dream where the amount of kids nearly outnumbered the adults (I'm not kidding). Anyone out there been on a Labor Day cruise on Norwegian that could share their experience? I certainly don't expect don't expect no children. Just hoping not several hundred!

I too would be disappointed if The Molecular Bar truly is on the chopping block. However, I hope to ease some pain for those who are huge fans of the Black Mamba. Through much Googling, I found the recipe online. It's actually from Junior himself and I can say it's spot on to the several I've indulged in while on the ship. The link also includes the recipe for the Kentucky Derby which I haven't yet made but look forward to doing so soon. I'd better start now so it's perfected by May.... Enjoy!

My partner and I along with one of our single friends (who's hag left him solo) will be sailing among you. We're not part of the big PP group (Pied Piper). Does anyone know how many PP's will be represented? Looking forward to having a good time and meeting new people. Next week can't come quickly enough!

I was on the Equinox last year and will be doing the same cruise again next month. Were Sean Golden and the Stereo Girls still onboard this year? Sean was a vocal guitarist who often played at the Sunset Bar. The Stereo Girls were a duo who were often found at the lounge in the evenings among other venues.

I'll soon be going on a cruise aboard the Equinox. I contacted Verizon Wireless to discuss my options. I pursued the Global Data plan through them which provides me X amount of data at a very good rate. I knew the Global Data would be applicable on the islands but the Verizon rep said it would also work on the ship. Anyone have any experience with this?

Thanks!

Thanks for the helpful feedback. I have my planning all under control now :-)

I'll soon be embarking on a 10-day cruise aboard the Celebrity Equinox. This is my first 10-day cruise and I was curious if anyone might know when the formal nights would occur? I've already searched the boards to learn that the formal evenings will still be limited to 2 despite the longer cruise duration. So to not cause controversy, I'll be hiding in the bowels of the ship in my informal attire during these evenings. Well maybe not quite the bowels but my partner and I have made habit of partaking in the alternate dining venues.I'm a planner so I'd like to get Murano and Silk Harvest booked in advance if I'm able to narrow down when the formal nights might be. I included the cruise itinerary below.

Fri Jan 31 Fort Lauderdale, FL

Sat Feb 1 At Sea

Sun Feb 2 At Sea

Mon Feb 3 St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands

Tue Feb 4 St. Kitts

Wed Feb 5 Barbados

Thu Feb 6 Roseau, Dominica

Fri Feb 7 St. Maarten

Sat Feb 8 At Sea

Sun Feb 9 At Sea

Mon Feb 10 Fort Lauderdale, FL

Thanks in advance! :D