mkbnoc

I've done the Bar Hop a few times as a solo traveler. Always meet great people that are very welcoming and I have made a lot of new friends, I'm still in contact with some I made on the excursions. One of my favorite excursions ever on a cruise. 

So can I buy a Carnival gift card from them, apply it to my onboard account and then turn around and pay for an excursion or cheers?

I just bought 4 $100 gift cards from Verizon. Same 10% discount. If you pre-purchase Cheers package you pay now, not on board the ship. So I used the 4 cards today to pay for my Cheers package, plus $2.01 balance I put on a credit card. If you purchase Cheers on board it is $5.00 a day more expensive.

 

Not sure if you have to pre-pay for shore excursions now or if they charge to your on board account once on board.

 

I also remember taking gift cards on a previous cruise and had to go to guest services to have them added to my account.

 

Mike

do they randomly pick teams or can you keep your group together? There would be at least 5 of us possibly 6 and would like to play together

As you sign up you are put in groups of 8. I believe there are 6 groups of 8 in each performance. You are not "locked" in some type of small room but one of the showrooms, all the groups together. If you have a group of 5/6 you just need each group's cabin number and one person can sign up for everyone. I went to the box office and got 8 of us over 4 cabins signed up. You just may have another couple of people added to your group. It's a lot of fun!

Hi,I cant seem to locate information on Harvest Cay food /drinks. Ive been to private islands on DCL, HA, Princess, RC, And NCl Great Stirrup Cay. Food has always been included and drink packages honored. Ive been told that this is not the case at Harvest Cay. Do we ha e to pay for lunch, drinks? Surely add ons like para sailing etc would be charged but lunch? Thanks in advance.

 

Hi, I was there a few weeks ago. I posted pics of the food menus here. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=53088076&postcount=38. I just ordered drinks while poolside and did not go into the restaurant. A few friends did and both reported service needed a lot of work. I went back to the ship for lunch which was free and fast.

 

Mike

It was mine too. Don't be like me and always double/triple check. Haha.

 

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My passport. Yep I'm that person. Had it packed in my backpack weeks early. One week before cruise went to sign up for TSA PreCheck and pulled it out. When I got home I carefully put it back in my safe, not my travel backpack. I flew to FLL day before cruise and about 10pm realized what I had done. Luckily I was able to contact my roommate who emailed me a copy of my birth cert. After a sleepless night the kind people at Port of Miami let me board.

I followed your thread and printed each daily. However, I don't think you posted the daily for Friday. Do you have that? Thanks for posting them. I am on the Escape August 5th and it has helped in planning dinner reservations and evening activities.

 

Hi,

Here is a link to Friday's. If they didn't load correctly I have them at home and can retake the images. I'm at work now and didn't save the images on my phone. Have a great cruise, it was crowded last week but a lot of fun.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=53107568&postcount=57

 

Mike

Does anyone just off of last weeks Escape have picture of the dallies. I am sailing this Saturday and I would love to take a look at them, thanks.

 

Hi, I was on board last week and posted them daily. See the thread here. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2495415

mkbnoc - Thank you for posting the dailies! I'm not sure how late you were staying up but did you happen to make it to any of the nightlife on the ship? The earlier Dailies seem to indicate the only nightlife / nightclub was Skyline Bar after midnight or 1AM!

 

Did you encounter rain a lot at night closing Spice H2O or was this just normal? I saw GLOW was up at Spice H2O. Just wondering why the nightclubs start so late on Escape versus the other Breakaway class ships. Did Skyline really feel like a proper nightclub?

 

I remember when Escape first came out I noticed she didn't have a Bliss and they tried to have Skyline stand in for it.

 

Hi. I was up past midnight most nights. Skyline, O'Sheenans (sp?) and H20 bars were pretty it after 1am. Here is a close up of the bar hours, this was from Day 7. The ship did die down quite a bit after midnight. 4 straight port days does that i think. Both sea days we had rain, closed last nights deck party and i believe day 2's as well. 80s and Glow parties were fine. All dance parties were after 10 at Spice. Skyline had musicians playing till later then the dj, it's pretty nice but not what i would consider a night club. Opens up to the casino so not an enclosed, club vibe. I'm not a dance club type so others may have different opinions on skyline. I was there for a bit most nites watching NHL games.

 

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Hi. I did, went to Tropicante. First time there so can't compare but I wouldn't consider over built. Definitely a small village feel. The beach was one of the nicer ones I've been to.

 

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I feel the same way, i don't push the back on board time at all. The Escape docks at the downtown pier and i can see there being some traffic jams as the cabs will just drop off along the sidewalk. Just add in some extra time for ride back. If the encounter is just 2+hrs i would think that is enough time though. Another option might be the one in Costa Maya. It's right in the pier area so just a 10-15 min walk from the ship. http://www.**********************costa-maya/

 

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dolphindiscovery. com/costa-maya/

 

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In Cozumel. Based on google it is only 10min ride from the port...but i am not sure don't want to be late for the ship haha

 

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I feel the same way, i don't push the back on board time at all. The Escape docks at the downtown pier and i can see there being some traffic jams as the cabs will just drop off along the sidewalk. Just add in some extra time for ride back. If the encounter is just 2+hrs i would think that is enough time though. Another option might be the one in Costa Maya. It's right in the pier area so just a 10-15 min walk from the ship. http://www.**********************costa-maya/

 

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Want to book the Dolphin Encounter on our own and they offer inly 1pm. Is this not kind of too late to be back on board by 1630?

 

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Which port were you looking at doing that? I know a few ports have dolphin encounters.

 

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When visiting Harvest Cay, how was the water? Blue? Brown? Some of the pictures I've seen I can't tell. Also, where was your ship key card accepted? Restaurants, shops? I've heard that because the island is owned by Belize that this can't be done. I'll be visiting in October and would like to know ahead. Thanks for taking the time out to do this forum. I greatly appreciate it.

 

 

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To be honest I didn't wander down to the water line of the beach. I don't remember it being as blue as Cozumel or Costa Maya though . Yes, you can pay with your card key for everything on the island. NCL runs or controls all the facilities there and is set up to charge your ship's account.

 

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Day 7

 

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Day 6. Yesterday took the shuttle to the Costa Maya downtown/beach strip. $3per person out and $2 per for a cab back. Lots if "helpful" locals trying to direct you to the beach bar they work for. Helped to know which one to go to in advance. Water was amazing. Reef protected, very warm and clear. Fish just a few feet out. A few vendors but a simple no thank you worked. One of the nicer port shopping areas i have been to. Nice, but small, pool with swim up bar. A few lounge chairs around it.

 

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Hi there . thank you so much for the info its great:) quetion : are aldo the pool lounge chairs and umbrelas for a fee or are they free based on availability? We will be with 3 children and i wonder if we will be able to get some chairs and shade with no problem. Is it possible to reserve upfront?

 

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Hi. The loungers and umbrellas pool side are free. First come only and they seem to go quickly. There are many more loungers along the beach. If you want a few near the pool go early. There is a child's water play area. That is closer to the beach if that helps.

 

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I just had a lounger near the pool. Some shade, pool to cool off in, and a few frozen drinks made my day. Not a lot of excursions from that port. It's fairly new and not near Belize City where other ship dock and have established excursions. Here is the list currently from Ncl, most are activities/rentals around the port area.

 

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Thanks for the Harvest Caye information!

 

 

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Your welcome! Follow up on the restaurant at Harvest Caye. Spoke with two different couples that ate there. Both waited 45 after ordering for food to arrive. Multi tables next to them served during the wait. Seems like the service needs some work still. But you can charge to your room.

 

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Day 5.

 

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Thank you for all the posts! It looks like a great cruise. We are cruising 7/22/17 on Escape.

 

How has the internet been? Unfortunately I will be working while on vacation.

It's been pretty good.... and pretty expensive. Just ran a speed test as we near Costa Maya. 7.5 down and 2.0 up. NCL is testing new unlimited packages. $35 for the week for social media access only. $210 for full internet without streaming. $240 for premier. Only a few times was it off and took just a few mins to come back on. There is an icafe with desktops if you don't want to carry your laptop.

 

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This is a smaller bar down the beach.

 

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I had found several videos and pics of the resort before sailing. I did not find any of the food/drink menus. This is the main restaurant. Also there are runners taking orders pool side. UDP does not work.

 

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Zip line price was $79. Must have closed toe shoes, they rent for $5.

 

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Beautiful resort area. Pool lounge chairs filled up fast. Plenty of chairs on the beach but ones with shade go fast as well. Pool was cool and refreshing, deepest part I saw was 4ft.

 

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