RIvacationgirl

This is a very unexpected development from my initial questions that I asked! Has anyone flown out of Boston to Barcelona? Where did you stop if not non-stop flight?

The toilet seat comments are very interesting to me. I have never heard that there are no seats on some of the toilets!

We are going on a private tour before embarkation the day before we board the Escape.

We are seasoned Caribbean cruisers, but this is our first cruise in the Mediterranean. We are curious as to what type of music is played on the ship and ports? We are used to the basic Calypso and steel drum type music on our other cruises. We were not sure if they played more classical type music? Is there a charge to use the rest rooms in Europe? If so, how much is it? What type of electric adapter for the plug sockets should we bring and how many? Do you have any suggestions as to what type of headphones were the best to use for the excursions? We are told we must bring our own. I know that you should bring some Euros with you. We are planning to use our credit card as much as possible for purchases. We are basically doing ship excursions. How many Euros should we have on hand to maneuver in the ports, or do we need them at all? Thank you for your thoughts.

My husband I have been on the Escape two times, and are booked to go to on it again July 2024. We enjoyed the Adults only pool area, and we found the overall food choices to be very good. The crew was very friendly, and we never felt like the ship was crowded with people. I am not sure about the smell you mentioned, possibly the casino can be smoky at times, other than that we did not find any smells. We have been on Carnival and Holland America, but we enjoy NCL the best.

They have a few picture or "Date Nights" they called it. You can usually tell, because there is a lot more people who stepped up there attire for the night! We have seen ladies in long formal dresses at times, but I have never seen men in tuxedos. Women usually have nice dresses or pantsuits, and the men wear a nice suit and jacket. There are several places for the photo opportunities. Hope this helps!

Glad you had a wonderful cruise on the Escape. Thank you for the insights. We were on the sailing right before yours, and our room steward introduced himself. His name and number were on the television to call if we needed anything, and we did call a few times, and he answered himself, not a message machine. He even would greet us with our names each day- don't know how they remember this each cruise! I agree the American Diner is really just there- nothing to stand out. I think this area was a Margaritaville on the Breakaway- not sure if that still exists. We thought it might work better as a place to get ice cream sundaes, crepes and coffees. We also enjoyed the Level 8 area, we had our own balcony, but we would go sometimes and relax on Level 8 with a drink from the Pour House and people watch. There was always a place to sit. We even said, it was a great place for people with inside cabins to hang out and relax with a peaceful view. Happy Sailing

There was no Elton John show- but in the Supper Club there was a "Bamboozled" one night and "A Night of Soul Hits" on another. The Main Theater had three offerings, A Choir of Men, The Magic Show and These Guys Worldwide- Let's Party.

We would go to the buffet around 10 pm, and get a coffee, and then put it in the fridge for the next morning. Iced coffee on the balcony at sunrise!

I did use the free laundry bag, and it was returned the same day to my cabin.

I am not sure, it was Dominican Republic- and the stop was Taino Bay Puerta Plata.

The bed is by the balcony- beautiful view each morning!

Just returned from our July 16th Escape cruise from Miami. I am Platinum, and my husband will be Platinum after this sailing. We were in Balcony 14840, and enjoyed the location very much- we have booked the same cabin for next July to the Mediterranean, with our friends in the cabin next door. A quick two flights of stairs to the buffet, and a short walk to the elevators. We had Jun for our cabin steward- he did a nice job. We did miss the two times a day service to the room a bit, but it was no big deal as we are pretty neat in our daily routine. We did attend the Latitudes Party- and spoke to the head chef, he ended up sending us a dessert to our cabin several days later! I felt special!!! Spa: Spa massages twice this time- coconut poultice and a hot stone, both were equally relaxing. Casino: We were sailing on a CAS certificate, the casino has current games, we played fairly long on our money each day. It is quite smoky, but they do enforce the rules about you must play to smoke in the casino, and not just come in to smoke. Activities: I walked each morning on the track- if you do not like a lot of people while on the track, go early at 5 am, by 6 am starting to get quite a few people. There are also more smokers by the track as the day proceeds. We played miniature golf, trivia, future cruise lecture and went to lounge by the adult pool. There is something for everybody each day to do. Beverages: We found the drink package to suit our needs- I like vodka drinks, and my husband tried many different cocktails + drinks of the day, we enjoyed them! Visited the coffee cafe each morning- we are early birds so no line at all. Dining: We ate at Le Bistro- it was okay, Cagney's service was a bit disjointed, but our favorite specialty restaurant was Bayamo- which we ended up enjoying twice. We had a phone message twice in regards to proper attire in Bayamo- yet when we were dining saw people with shorts and t-shirts- not sure why they called us twice to let us know about the dress code LOL! Just a heads up, the buffet is not fully open until 7:30 am, for breakfast. O'Sheehans was okay, and we ate at all of the complimentary dining rooms, they were all very good, and service was excellent. Shows: Choir of Men was very good, Syd Norman's Pour House 70's show was fantastic- get there early as seating is limited. Walked out of the magic show- did not care for it ( AND I LIKE MAGIC SHOWS!) We skipped going to GSC, and remained on the ship. St. Thomas excursion- Sapphire Beach was a bit disappointing, the water was beautiful, but if you are looking for typical beach resort service this is NOT the place. We had to drag our own beach chairs to our spot, no beverage service on the beach, and many chickens running around! Tortola Beach Break was a wonderful experience, two beach chairs, with umbrella, and service for food and drink. Puerta Plata was an unexpected surprise, I was not thinking it would be a worthwhile visit. However, we loved the shops, and there was a lazy river and activities if you liked. Embarkation and disembarking was very smooth. I hope this helps- looking forward to our next Escape in July 2024!!!

Thank you for the quick response.

This is the first time I am eligible for a free bag of laundry. In your experience, how long does it take to have the laundry returned back to your cabin? Do they have a separate check-in line for CAS in Miami Cruiseport? This is the first time we have chosen a check-in time- if we are early, do we have to wait outside? Can you still go for lunch on embarkation day in the Main Dining Room? Thank you

Just booked a 10 day Barcelona Round trip along with our best friend traveling couple! My PCC was wonderful and it was an easy process. Decided to do the NCL Air and Hotel booking. Looking forward to a lot of research on excursions!

Thank you for your information. I bought the Rick Steves book, and the few pages I have read have already been so informative. I thank you all for the ongoing posts.

I am sharing all of this information with the other couple coming with us. There has already been a lot of considerations we did not realize. Do most of you use a travel agent? This all sounds like it is getting more complicated than we thought.

Yes, the joy is in the planning. Thank you so much- very helpful and happy sailing!

Thank you, I will definitely order it

Thank you very much for the information. We are a bit overwhelmed thinking about everything! Any helpful tips on traveling the Mediterranean are appreciated.

My husband and our best friends are just beginning to plan for a Mediterranean cruise for next summer. We have only cruised from U.S. ports, and have no knowledge about the differences cruising from Europe. We also do not know how the promotion works with airfare included. Do you get to pick where you fly from? Any tips you can share would be helpful about these two topics. Thank you!

Thank you all for the responses. It is appreciated.

Hello, Excited to return to cruising after 3 years this summer on the Norwegian Escape in July! I am Platinum Level, but my husband is Gold Level. Can he priority embark with me? Or do I have to stay with him and wait to embark? Thank you for all of your help.