Everything.. ESCAPE (live 29 Oct 2015!)

[Kortehgehn]

I have to applaud your ticker ingenuity. Nice trick. :)

 

Thanks! I had forgotten about that, it was actually a pain getting CruiseCritic to accept that HTML without modifying it.

[Cruiser Bruiser]

Anyone notice the newly updated deck plans for the Escape on NCL's website?

 

Escape Deck 19

 

The cantilever hot tubs seem to be confirmed but as of right now there seems to be no designated Haven sundeck area... :confused:

 

My head is exploding!! :p Thanks for noticing the update. (Gem's deck plans were updated too, to include O'Sheehan's and Moderno.) But I digress.

 

I just booked the combined 14-night Eastern/Western sailing out of Miami on August 20, 2016. I'm a bit worried, frankly, about sailing on a family hauler in the middle of August, but the Deck 19 schematic gives me hope that there will be a few adult oriented quiet spaces on the Escape. It's going to be fun/torture waiting for more details. :cool:

[Cruiser Bruiser]

I really hope that's not supposed to be the only haven sundeck, it's pretty small. :( However the plans don't look complete, as the elevator banks seem to be missing as well as most of the graphics on deck 16.

 

And nothing about Spice H2O. But maybe there will be an expansion of Vibe, since it's so popular. I like that the seem to be making an attempt to open up the space around the main pool deck and be more efficient about grouping features together. Fewer, bigger hot tubs, for example.

[FreestyleNovice]

I'm hoping to sail on the maiden crossing of ESCAPE, but the one thing I notice with EPIC, BREAKAWAY, GETAWAY, and now ESCAPE is that with each newbuild, the deck space for just swimming and lounging gets smaller and smaller. In the case of ESCAPE, an entire deck of cabins was added but no more deck space. As it is, the slides, The Haven, Kids Aqua Park, and the ropes course take up a massive amount of upper deck space. Is there any left for those that just want a quiet spot by the pool to work on a tan?

 

Escape:

 

Breakaway:

 

It seems that NCL has taken away half the pool bar (and placed it on the upper floor) to free up deck space.

[Cruiser Bruiser]

Escape:

 

Breakaway:

 

It seems that NCL has taken away half the pool bar (and placed it on the upper floor) to free up deck space.

 

Thanks for pointing out what should have been obvious to my eye. :o I could clearly tell that the space had been opened up, but I didn't connect that the bar is now a double decker. That's some clever space planning that should really pay off. The lower deck is more open and folks on the sun deck have easier access to bar service.

 

I would imagine that the cantilevered hot tubs on Deck 19 also help to clear more space by pushing the tubs literally over the edge of the deck. But even if they weren't over the edge, by not being in the middle of the deck, they necessarily open up the floor space.

 

I'm glad to see Norwegian is focused on cleaning up the design of their pool decks. I enjoyed Epic very much last week, but the pool deck (from the Garden Café all the way back to Spice H20) was admittedly very cluttered and choppy. Could they retrofit these ideas into Breakaway and Getaway, or is that just too expensive...

[3DBeach]

Very neat that the pool bar is 2 decks!!

 

 

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[FreestyleNovice]

Another thing NCL probably already did would be maximizing deckspace like they did with Getaway vs Breakaway, by using the upper decks of the pool bars for extra deck space.

 

I found an image of Breakaway where she appears to also had that space added but I am rather sure that she never had that refit before 2013/14?

 

 

Getaway extra deck space on top of pool bars: http://files.parse.com/b54b1202-39a8-4faa-84b7-55139818647f/28b29788-d433-4577-a787-c3af8c8c9470-800.jpg

 

Breakaway at delivery: http://cruiseradio.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/norwegian-breakaway-seatrials.jpg

 

NCL is probably doing a good job at that, nice!

[Dave85]

Literally the only thing keeping me from booking Escape is definitive answers about the available open deck space. What will SpiceH20 look like? Will it have a pool? Are we sure that nice space on Deck 19 with the cantilevered hot tubs isn't actually the Haven Sun Deck or a Vibe equivalent that will not be available to all passengers?

 

I hope to book once those questions are answered, provided the answers are more publicly available deck space over the -away ships given the increased number of passengers on board.

 

 

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[JuneauWhatIMean]

I think most of us are pretty sure those (supposed) cantilevered hot tubs on Deck 19 are, in fact, part of the Haven Sundeck. What with them being on top of the Haven and all. ;)

[Cruiser Bruiser]

Literally the only thing keeping me from booking Escape is definitive answers about the available open deck space. What will SpiceH20 look like? Will it have a pool? Are we sure that nice space on Deck 19 with the cantilevered hot tubs isn't actually the Haven Sun Deck or a Vibe equivalent that will not be available to all passengers?

 

I hope to book once those questions are answered, provided the answers are more publicly available deck space over the -away ships given the increased number of passengers on board.

 

 

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I'm hoping for an enhancement of Spice H2O, as I spent nearly my entire week there aboard Epic. The Spice H2O pool on Epic was very popular, and I hear the water feature on the -away ships isn't used much. Obviously we will not know until Norwegian releases the details. But looking at the Breakaway Deck 17 schematic, the space is divided port half: public; starboard forward quarter: Haven; starboard aft quarter: Vibe. If they follow the Breakaway formula, there will be good public space with the added benefit of hot tubs. Of course, with the added Haven cabins and the high demand for Vibe, Escape may divide the space half-Haven, half-Vibe.

 

By the way, I reference the Breakaway deck plan because the Haven on Escape will have a glass roof, whereas Getaway has on open courtyard configuration. (I think that was a big mistake on Norwegian's part, but they must have had their reasons.)

[Dave85]

If they follow the Breakaway formula, there will be good public space with the added benefit of hot tubs. Of course, with the added Haven cabins and the high demand for Vibe, Escape may divide the space half-Haven, half-Vibe.

 

 

 

 

 

Agree 100%, both with the first point that it would be a nice public space enhancement, and with the fear in the second point.

 

Frankly, if that area becomes fully unavailable to the general public (some combination of Haven / Vibe), I probably won't book the ship because it would actually represent a decrease in publicly available deck space on a ship that needs more, not less. I'm certainly hoping that won't be the case. Breakaway was my first NCL experience after many cruises on other lines and I found the Haven space relatively unobtrusive, so I hope NCL will follow that formula again.

 

 

 

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[Cruiser Bruiser]

Agree 100%, both with the first point that it would be a nice public space enhancement, and with the fear in the second point.

 

Frankly, if that area becomes fully unavailable to the general public (some combination of Haven / Vibe), I probably won't book the ship because it would actually represent a decrease in publicly available deck space on a ship that needs more, not less. I'm certainly hoping that won't be the case. Breakaway was my first NCL experience after many cruises on other lines and I found the Haven space relatively unobtrusive, so I hope NCL will follow that formula again.

 

 

 

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Hey Dave, since you've been on Breakaway, what did you think of Spice H2O? I really liked the terracing on Epic, and that doesn't exist on the -aways. Did you see anyone use the water feature to cool off? Was Uptown Grill quite a distance away? I really liked having quick access to the Spice H2O grill on Epic.

Edited December 21, 2014 by Cruiser Bruiser

[Dave85]

Hey Dave, since you've been on Breakaway, what did you think of Spice H2O? I really liked the terracing on Epic, and that doesn't exist on the -aways. Did you see anyone use the water feature to cool off? Was Uptown Grill quite a distance away? I really liked having quick access to the Spice H2O grill on Epic.

 

 

It's kind of hard for me to say because the weather wasn't too warm on any of our sea days, so I did not get to see it at full utilization. Overall though, the water feature was nice to look at but mostly struck me as a waste of space. It would be a real disappointment if they cant do better than that, and put a real pool back in, with the increased space available on Escape. It was, however, a very nice space when used as an outdoor nightclub at night. I have not been on Epic, but based on pictures it looks like a much, much better venue on Epic.

 

Uptown was still pretty convenient from Spice, just pop in the ship, walk up one flight, and you're there. The distance didn't strike me as an issue.

 

 

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Edited December 21, 2014 by Dave85

[minnesotamamafish]

While I hope at least some of that area with the hot tubs is available for the general public, it makes sense that it would be half haven, half vibe. I can't see it as all haven as four hot tubs seems excessive when you compare percentage of haven guests to everyone else.

 

Could it be half vibe, half general public with haven having exclusive access to the sundeck on deck 20?

[FreestyleNovice]

I'm hoping for an enhancement of Spice H2O, as I spent nearly my entire week there aboard Epic. The Spice H2O pool on Epic was very popular, and I hear the water feature on the -away ships isn't used much. Obviously we will not know until Norwegian releases the details. But looking at the Breakaway Deck 17 schematic, the space is divided port half: public; starboard forward quarter: Haven; starboard aft quarter: Vibe. If they follow the Breakaway formula, there will be good public space with the added benefit of hot tubs. Of course, with the added Haven cabins and the high demand for Vibe, Escape may divide the space half-Haven, half-Vibe.

 

By the way, I reference the Breakaway deck plan because the Haven on Escape will have a glass roof, whereas Getaway has on open courtyard configuration. (I think that was a big mistake on Norwegian's part, but they must have had their reasons.)

 

Completely agree. Let's hope the aft megablock will be in a good view on the Meyer Werft webcam upcoming months.. :D

[SissasMomE]

I think most of us are pretty sure those (supposed) cantilevered hot tubs on Deck 19 are, in fact, part of the Haven Sundeck. What with them being on top of the Haven and all. ;)

 

That's what I'm hoping. Will be a nice, big space for sure.

[MasterSchnief]

Completely agree. Let's hope the aft megablock will be in a good view on the Meyer Werft webcam upcoming months.. :D

 

 

It will be. The first blocks for the second megablock have already been assembled. By the way, the first megablock is the aft section with the five main engines.

[LrgPizza]

It's kind of hard for me to say because the weather wasn't too warm on any of our sea days, so I did not get to see it at full utilization. Overall though, the water feature was nice to look at but mostly struck me as a waste of space. It would be a real disappointment if they cant do better than that, and put a real pool back in, with the increased space available on Escape. It was, however, a very nice space when used as an outdoor nightclub at night. I have not been on Epic, but based on pictures it looks like a much, much better venue on Epic.

 

Uptown was still pretty convenient from Spice, just pop in the ship, walk up one flight, and you're there. The distance didn't strike me as an issue.

 

Uptown Grill and Spice H2O are on the same deck. (At least on Getaway the Flamingo Grill and Spice are same deck, so Breakaway would be the same). No climbing stairs to get to the food like on Epic's Spice.

 

I liked Spice H2O better on getaway than Epic. We like hanging out at the bar there. Spice's bar at the Epic sits at the bottom of the stairway to the sports deck. As a result, our entire cruise it was always loaded with kids who had come down to get a drink. At one point my husband even took a pic of 6 kids approx age 10-12 sitting at the Spice H2O bar.

[FreestyleNovice]

Uptown Grill and Spice H2O are on the same deck. (At least on Getaway the Flamingo Grill and Spice are same deck, so Breakaway would be the same). No climbing stairs to get to the food like on Epic's Spice.

 

I liked Spice H2O better on getaway than Epic. We like hanging out at the bar there. Spice's bar at the Epic sits at the bottom of the stairway to the sports deck. As a result, our entire cruise it was always loaded with kids who had come down to get a drink. At one point my husband even took a pic of 6 kids approx age 10-12 sitting at the Spice H2O bar.

 

Heheh, that's a design flaw! ;)

Perhaps all the stairs at Epic's Spice H2O aren't efficient (what's under those decks anyway, storage?) but it is more cozy than the Away class. It seems like a city square on those ships. ;)

[SissasMomE]

Heheh, that's a design flaw! ;)

Perhaps all the stairs at Epic's Spice H2O aren't efficient (what's under those decks anyway, storage?) but it is more cozy than the Away class. It seems like a city square on those ships. ;)

 

I loved Spice on the Epic. The stadium seating was great!

[SissasMomE]

Any thoughts on which decks will have the largest aft-facing balconies?

[Dave85]

Uptown Grill and Spice H2O are on the same deck. (At least on Getaway the Flamingo Grill and Spice are same deck, so Breakaway would be the same). No climbing stairs to get to the food like on Epic's Spice.

 

 

 

Yep you're right, my bad lol. I confused it with climbing up from the main pool area, where I spent much more time. Either way, definitely no issue easily accessing it from Spice!

 

 

 

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Edited December 22, 2014 by Dave85

[snaveyeldarb]

Completely agree. Let's hope the aft megablock will be in a good view on the Meyer Werft webcam upcoming months.. :D

 

 

In agreement. Very impatiently waiting for the webcams....

:eek:

[cruisingcasinos]

Any thoughts on which decks will have the largest aft-facing balconies?

 

I am wondering the same thing. :D Can't wait for more information. Always Hungry for more!

[ich und ich]

Hi everyone

I wish you a happy new year.

Check this video out. Cam 01 -04 shows an animations, how the ship will looks like.

Behind the basketball court will be having a new sun deck and on deck 19 near by the pool there will be having a walkway from the port side to the starboard side.