ellenw

1 hour ago, BAM55 said:

Thats our number 1 complaint is that the venue is too small.  Reason why is to get that dive bar feel for people who'll watch the show.  I think on the Getaway, it's gonna make more seats in it during dry dock in May

See you on the April 7 Getaway!

If you have the time to do it, do the B2B! Stay on in Quebec City, and add the 7 day back to Baltimore!

We did this from NY last year and it was terrific. 

10 minutes ago, YVRteacher said:

My sense of the Breakaway is that it is a great ship with excellent leadership and happy staff. I’m having a wonderful time and am so impressed. I feel really grateful to be onboard and more importantly am reassured and reminded why I love NCL.

Your review is doubly welcome. First because your reviews are a treat. Second because I am cruising on Breakaway out of NY in Sept with my sister and two nieces. 

Really enjoying following along. FYI - they better still be giving treats during the Behind the Scenes when I do it! Never had that before.

2 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

Anyone who is interested in doing a group directed pub crawl on Friday afternoon in Sydney, let’s meet at the pool bar at 2:30 on Thursday.  Please come with at least one suggested pub/bar/restaurant. We will plot out a start time, path and plan of attack together. 
 

I’ve pictured my suggestion below, the Fortune of War Pub. 

What a great memory you just gave me of our time in Sydney! Love Fortune of War. "Education is important. But beer is importanter". Cheers!

31 minutes ago, bkrickles1 said:

April 19th 

We will take of her for you!

9 hours ago, bkrickles1 said:

 

We're sailing Getaway in April and booked Escape to Jost Van Dyke for the 2nd time. We were there in January, 2020 and it was so nice my wife insisted we do it again.

BTW we took pics by Soggy Dollar, but we parked ourselves in front of Hendo's and got painkillers and food from there as their setup and lounge chairs were a little nicer.

 

What date? We are on the April 7 sailing on Getaway.

My other big advice to new NCL cruisers is that there will be a dining room open on embarkation day. So much better than going to the buffet. Go there for lunch. 

Food Republic! It is so good. Use one dining credit, and share. Then you can go another day and use the other credit. 

Great review. Thanks!

We spent 27 days on the Escape in Oct/Nov 2022. First leg a fabulous Mediterranean cruise followed by a TA to New York. And I will say that 27 days days is not too much!

Food Republic and Pincho's were our favorite places to eat. We also enjoyed Le Bistro, Cagneys and La Cucina. But Food Republic and Pincho's were different and great. We would use one dining credit between and two of us for a great meal. So got to go several times. I think that Pincho's is the best kept secret on the ship. That staff was so happy when we told them how much we liked everything. And they were glad to see us when we went back!

My sister has just told me that she booked on Celebrity Beyond. Timing of her trip isn't great for us, but will definitely look into that ship. 

6 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

And Nov. 30th was the night. Here's what I did not like - it doesn't keep score the normal way. They use points and superhero shots and batman and avatar and all sorts of other fancy stuff. Ok, no batmans or avatar, but a lot of points that made no sense to me. Can't we just have a non-fancified mini golf? But, more upscale than Joy? We walked up to Joy's mini golf back in March and immediately turned around because of how pathetic it is. A happy medium please. Pr1ma ain't it, but it was still fun.

Glad you had fun, but I'll take the boring Joy mini golf! Got creative on some of the holes.

On 12/1/2023 at 3:52 PM, Fischmom said:

I just booked the Escape for January so of course there are no dining reservations available before 9 pm. Food Republic says “please book onboard” rather than “not available to book” like some of the others. Were you able to pre book Food Republic or did you have to book that once on board. I am planning on getting on as early as possible (we are platinum) and I am hoping at least that restaurant will have some decent options. Le Bistro is my favorite but I’m not counting on reservations being available. 

I have sailed on both Escape and Joy that have Food Republic. Making reservations on board is not a problem. Plus, there are always many empty tables. I'm sure that you can be seated as a walk up. One of my favorite dining options. And, get to Pinchos. Best kept secret on the shipt. Yum.

Just an FYI in case this applies to anyone. We had a B2B cruise booked. We moved up to Platinum after the first cruise. We were able to go to Cruise Next and they made the adjustment manually so we got the extra perks on the second cruise. 

Enjoy your new perks!

4 hours ago, junieh said:

Thank you. I don't actually eat meat so my food consumption at Q Smokehouse will be limited to the side dishes 🙂 We picked that restaurant as my husband and my son really enjoy a BBQ so if my son can have the food that I am entitled to and I can order a couple more side dishes and an extra dessert, that will be great for us.

We went to Q on the Joy in September. The portions are huge!. My husband and I used one specialty credit and split the meal. If you use 2 credits, it will most likely be more than enough for the 3 of you. Especially since you will only eat the sides. 

4 hours ago, OrcaGirl said:

 

3. The specialty restaurants, but especially the pork belly dishes at Pinchos and Food Republic and the petite filet at Cagney's

 

 

Pincho's and Food Republic were our favorites on the Escape! When we talked to other passengers about Pincho's, no one was familiar with it. Best kept secret on the ship! Wish it was on more NCL ships. And using one dining credit at each is plenty for two people. I know that some cruisers were told that you couldn't share. We did not run into that.

Food Republic on Joy was just as good as on Escape. 

Good on you for trying to get the "saved" loungers cleared! Rules are rules!

Food Republic is one of my favs. Have done it on Escape and Joy. And one dining credit is definitely enough food for two. It's all sooooo good. 

At both Food Republic and Q, we used one dining voucher and shared. Plenty of food! There has been some discussion that this isn't allowed, but we had no problem doing it on each of our B2B cruises on Joy in September. That will spread out your vouchers. 

Spent 27 days on the Escape last year and enjoyed every one of them.

It is especially good for warm weather sailing due to all of the outdoor bars and seating areas.

My two food recommendations are Food Republic and Pinchos Tapas. Both are totaling underrated. We went to both a couple of times. I wish Pinchos was on all of NCL ships! 

The other food options are good as well. I feel like these are the "off the radar" spots.

Go and enjoy yourself!

12 hours ago, sid_9169 said:

In reference to the above post. I'm pretty sure that whatever I caught was from the ship, whether it was food poisoning or caused by food prep practices such as hygiene or food temperature issues. A couple of weeks ago on Scarlet Lady at least 80 or so people came down with something, and the likelihood of them all eating something at the same place on shore is highly unlikely...

i say it is all from lack of soap. Wash your hands!

11 hours ago, graphicguy said:

Keep finding random pics…….Open air market in Florence selling wild boar (among a little of everything else, too)…..

 

 

 

 

Oh, those markets in Europe! Love them. Makes me wish I was staying somewhere with a kitchen that I could cook. Well, almost....

2 hours ago, D_And_K_gocruising said:

We've never gone on a cruise, so NCL will be our first..  As far as trying to figure out what I need to pay, to get what I want, and be able to walk off the ship without having any charges, NCL seemed to be IMO the easiest to figure out.. I'm still trying to figure out how much a drinks package will cost me on RCI if I wanted to book there.  It may be between $59 and $105 pp/day.. ***** kind of price is that?   I also never ever thought the "free at sea" was actually "free"  I saw when I was pricing that it included the gratuity pp/day that would be charged.  Told how much the "free" specialty dining was.   None of that was hidden.  I think the only "add on" that is expected was the pre paid daily service charge.. And maybe I just missed that on the initial booking.   Sure since then I've upgraded and bought the vibe and went to FAS+, but because I just want it.  Not that I needed it, had to buy it etc etc..   From trying to compare as close apples to apples in my newbie to cruising mind, NCL just seems simplest to see what the whole cruise will cost me.   Obviously not talking about stuff that used to be included to what's not blah blah blah.. It is what it is now.. Since i never had it, I cant miss it..    

Wow! How well informed your are for this being your first cruise! I look back and feel like I knew nothing on my first cruise! I hope you have a wonderful time, and are taking the first of many future cruises. 

I think many of us remember cruising when there were no drink packages. Yikes! Who knew what your bill would be? It was so easy to lose track of what you were spending. 

5 hours ago, jsn55 said:

I'm in London for a couple of nights, flying to Marseille tomorrow.  Ordered a glass of ice water with my lunch today and got a big glass full of water ... with 4 tiny ice cubes!  I had forgotten how things are in Europe when it comes to ice!  I've learned in hotels without ice machines to ask the bar for an 'ice bucket' of ice so I have enough for the afternoon and evening.  The Europeans think we're all nuts about ice.

 

 

We were in Oslo last summer, at a bar in the train station. We asked for ice water (in addition to our beers), and got a glass of cold water, no ice. When asking for lots of ice in the water, the bartender said "oh, you want American ice water". It was a fun exchange. I've asked for American ice water in several cities overseas. 

I always mention this to first time NCL cruisers. On embarkation day, NCL will have a dining room available! Possibly two. It is so enjoyable to have a nice sit down lunch rather than dealing with the insanity of the buffet that day. 

11 hours ago, JamieLogical said:

 

No smoked salmon at the buffet this morning. Just pickled herring: everyone's favorite!

On a recent NCL cruise, I was at the "cold" bar in the buffet for breakfast. I see capers, onions, cream cheese and tomatoes. Can't wait to see the salmon! Next up - pickled herring. Well, I do like pickled herring, but it doesn't go with any of those salmon fixings!

Was B2B on the Joy for the two cruises before yours. First time on this ship, and really like her.

Food Republic may be my favorite dining on the ship. Have always loved sharing food. And such a variety. Four menu options per person is a ton of food!

Didn't see Footloose, but agree that Elements is great.

Glad you had a great cruise.

20 hours ago, Grandma Nomad said:

Vietnam, Phillipines,Malaysia,Brunei and Singapore. I’ll have to pick a small amount up because in some places we will need to get a taxi from the port.Thank you

Enjoy! Never been to any of those ports. Sounds like an adventure.