On the Escape!

[Lily815]

We are on the Escape now, waiting for Margaritaville to open. The line is already long. There is no way this place is staying complimentary...

[mrparkland]

I understand that the food will be complimentary.

[rhiannon35]

Lily, just wondering if you have any idea if the balcony rooms on the ship's "bump" look any bigger? I'm trying to find out.

 

Have a great cruise!

[Sfdtiller]

If you get a chance to do a cabin crawl, looking for aft balcony pics, especially on 9 or 12. Trying to figure out if they are bigger than others like on the "away" ships.

Thanks

[sixesandeights]

We are on the Escape now, waiting for Margaritaville to open. The line is already long. There is no way this place is staying complimentary...

 

The logic doesnt follow. There are often lines for things like the slides, or rock climbing wall, etc. Are they going to put a fee there also?

 

6&8

[LrgPizza]

Lily, just wondering if you have any idea if the balcony rooms on the ship's "bump" look any bigger? I'm trying to find out.

 

Have a great cruise!

Do you mean the angled balconies? If so, I was in one on the Transatlantic. Yes, like the angled on Breakaway/Getaway, they are larger than standard balconies - about 50%, I'd guess. Also, overall the standard balconies are larger on Escape than those 2 ships. We could have fit a lounger on our standard angled balcony. Lots of room there.

[NoahtheRed]

It's all about "Where can we implement Addtl. fees without upsetting too many people?" The idea of a dining venue with a cover isn't new or drastic. There are already lots of them onboard. Throwing a cover charge on a popular restaurant is a way to A. reduce lines and B. increase revenue and aside from the annoyance we'd experience on here, it'd be business as usual at NCL.

 

A cover charge for the slide or pool is a bit unprecedented. It'd be a hard pill for a lot of people to swallow and could probably become a PR nightmare. Not to mention, how do you implement that? Bouncers that check wristbands every time a 6 year old runs by?

 

It's all a game of "What is the price point that I can charge before I start losing money?"

[cmdchiefthom]

If you get a chance to do a cabin crawl, looking for aft balcony pics, especially on 9 or 12. Trying to figure out if they are bigger than others like on the "away" ships.

Thanks

 

I absolutely agree. I haven't seen any pic's from the corner suites with the bathroom to the rear of the bedroom and the two sliding balcony doors. Pic's of those balconies would great:D

[Shelleye]

Is there wifi service on this ship? If so, what's the rate/speed? Someone said you have to go to the Internet cafe for emails and only emails??? Me and my fam is booked for the Escape for a week and no-wifi would be difficult.

I hope you have a great time! Thanks!

Edited November 11, 2015 by Shelleye

[dexddd]

It's all about "Where can we implement Addtl. fees without upsetting too many people?" The idea of a dining venue with a cover isn't new or drastic. There are already lots of them onboard. Throwing a cover charge on a popular restaurant is a way to A. reduce lines and B. increase revenue and aside from the annoyance we'd experience on here, it'd be business as usual at NCL.

 

A cover charge for the slide or pool is a bit unprecedented. It'd be a hard pill for a lot of people to swallow and could probably become a PR nightmare. Not to mention, how do you implement that? Bouncers that check wristbands every time a 6 year old runs by?

 

It's all a game of "What is the price point that I can charge before I start losing money?"

 

They had the hippo slide on GSC they charged for, then it apparently went free, and from the last I heard, it is gone and with all the new fees I guess anything is possible. Although the hippo slide fee was under the old management.

[JohnIreland]

Is there wifi service on this ship? If so, what's the rate/speed? Someone said you have to go to the Internet cafe for emails and only emails??? Me and my fam is booked for the Escape for a week and no-wifi would be difficult.

I hope you have a great time! Thanks!

 

Wifi all over the ship.

 

Per-minute is 95cent per minute (plus $3.95 once off activation).

 

There is packages but I can't remember off hand.

 

For speed you would be better with a 56k modem.

[LrgPizza]

Is there wifi service on this ship? If so, what's the rate/speed? Someone said you have to go to the Internet cafe for emails and only emails??? Me and my fam is booked for the Escape for a week and no-wifi would be difficult.

I hope you have a great time! Thanks!

 

We bought the unlimited wifi package for the TA. It worked flawlessly, which we hadn't expected. (Other than part of one day, when all service was down for a while for some reason.) We were able to Facetime with our son, make voice calls through the Facebook Messenger app, etc. Talking to our son was like he was in the next room. It was great.

[SuiteCruiser]

We bought the unlimited wifi package for the TA. It worked flawlessly, which we hadn't expected. (Other than part of one day, when all service was down for a while for some reason.) We were able to Facetime with our son, make voice calls through the Facebook Messenger app, etc. Talking to our son was like he was in the next room. It was great.

 

Wow! You must have been in a hot zone or something. None of my gang could log in many days, and it took forever for pages to load.

 

I'm glad it worked for you though!

Edited November 11, 2015 by SuiteCruiser

[Shelleye]

Wifi all over the ship.

 

Per-minute is 95cent per minute (plus $3.95 once off activation).

 

There is packages but I can't remember off hand.

 

For speed you would be better with a 56k modem.

 

Do the Internet cafes offer faster speed or the same as the wifi? Thank you for the reply, much appreciated!:)

[rhiannon35]

Do you mean the angled balconies? If so, I was in one on the Transatlantic. Yes, like the angled on Breakaway/Getaway, they are larger than standard balconies - about 50%, I'd guess. Also, overall the standard balconies are larger on Escape than those 2 ships. We could have fit a lounger on our standard angled balcony. Lots of room there.

 

Yes, LrgPizza, thank you for answering -- that's exactly what I meant, just using wrong term, I guess! The balconies look bigger in deck plans, but it's so hard to tell sometimes. Was your cabin itself any bigger, or just the balcony? I'd love to know what cabin you were in, if you don't mind sharing. I'm hoping to book this week, and right now there are a couple angled balconies available.

 

We had a standard balcony on the Getaway and it was sooo small, so glad to hear all balconies are bigger. Thank you and I hope you enjoyed your cruise!

[LrgPizza]

Yes, LrgPizza, thank you for answering -- that's exactly what I meant, just using wrong term, I guess! The balconies look bigger in deck plans, but it's so hard to tell sometimes. Was your cabin itself any bigger, or just the balcony? I'd love to know what cabin you were in, if you don't mind sharing. I'm hoping to book this week, and right now there are a couple angled balconies available.

 

We had a standard balcony on the Getaway and it was sooo small, so glad to hear all balconies are bigger. Thank you and I hope you enjoyed your cruise!

 

I was in 14286. All of the angled balconies are the same cabin size as the rest of the balcony cabins, and all angled are identical to one another. Some will have bed near balcony and others will have bed near the closet. Ours had bed near the balcony (which we don't really like, but whatever.)

[SullytheBFG]

We were on an aft balcony 9320 for the two day. You could easily fit loungers on there big balconies.

[LrgPizza]

Wow! You must have been in a hot zone or something. None of my gang could log in many days, and it took forever for pages to load.

 

I'm glad it worked for you though!

 

That sucks! We used it all over the ship. I'd even go to bed logged in, and when I woke up, I'd still be logged in sometimes. I had been freaking out in the days before this trip that I wouldn't be able to communicate with my son, and it was such a relief. I'm surprised it didn't work that way for everyone.

[fabnfortysomething]

I was in 14286. All of the angled balconies are the same cabin size as the rest of the balcony cabins, and all angled are identical to one another. Some will have bed near balcony and others will have bed near the closet. Ours had bed near the balcony (which we don't really like, but whatever.)

 

we were in 10276 which has bed near closet-absolutely no problem getting between bed and wardrobe-there is at least a foot clearance which unless you are very large is ample space

 

can confirm after our cabin crawl all balcony cabins are same size but angled balconies are larger and could accommodate a lounger-need to pass the word for cabin stewards to get them out there!

[SeaWatcher65]

We are on the Escape now, waiting for Margaritaville to open. The line is already long. There is no way this place is staying complimentary...

 

Have fun! Tell us how the food and margaritas are! How are the water slides? The videos of aqua racer look fun!

 

I hope they keep it complimentary. NCL could easily manage crowds without charging money to reduce the number of people going there. That sounds like something stupid an NCL executive would come up with... just bad management. They could speed up turnover by having a "margarita only line" and/or a "take out" line for people who are happy to eat elsewhere, or add more staff, or divert people to other options (main dining, buffet, etc.) by offering special food options at other places. I just wonder if NCL really planned on providing service to 4,000 passengers.

[Cruisercl]

we were in 10276 which has bed near closet-absolutely no problem getting between bed and wardrobe-there is at least a foot clearance which unless you are very large is ample space

 

can confirm after our cabin crawl all balcony cabins are same size but angled balconies are larger and could accommodate a lounger-need to pass the word for cabin stewards to get them out there!

 

We were in 9324 - When the beds are next to the closet and the beds are in the single bed, not queen, configuration it is tight to get into the closet. The extra foot this poster is talking about, is then between the two beds.

Hope this helps some. :)

[TifffanyD]

I'd rather pay $5 than wait in a long line. Maybe they could charge just to skip the line.

[bluesea777]

Sorry, but IMHO, the kitchen in Margaritaville on Escape is TOO small for the size of the restaurant and the demand.

 

We went once - the service took sooo long - the drinks fine and the conch fritters good, the fish tacos okay - but we never returned. Our lunch lasted an hour and a half since it was a 2 course lunch.

 

There were kids at next table and they became so antsy while waiting sooo long (over 30 mins) for the food to arrive, that one fell asleep and left his lunch untouched.

[jbtyler927]

Do you know if they still have the App you can use to talk to other people on the ship, look up dailies, etc? I rember it costing like $10 pp to set up and we loved it on the Epic! TIA:)

[LrgPizza]

Do you know if they still have the App you can use to talk to other people on the ship, look up dailies, etc? I rember it costing like $10 pp to set up and we loved it on the Epic! TIA:)

 

 

Yes, but it wasn't working right most the time on the TA. It was a ship-wide issue.

Edited November 12, 2015 by LrgPizza