Some thoughts on my Xmas cruise on the Escape

[dans0202]

I am just off the Escape and wanted to pass on along my thoughts and experiences as I have always benefited greatly from my pre cruise readings on these boards.

 

Just a bit about where I am coming from.

I am mid 40s, traveled with my family of 4 including 2 teenagers. We were in a larger group of 20.

I have travelled with NCL many times and am a few points shy of platinum status.

Have always enjoyed my NCL cruises and returned the following year.

My last 5 cruises have been week 51 on the calendar so I am use to crowded ships, with many kids and with paying higher then average cruise rates.

 

My comments will most likely come off as very negative, but I want to be clear, I had a very fun time and love cruising. I came on board the Escape having read everything I could find on the Escape and was amazed by the negativity out there. I could not see how a new ship could warrant such a low overall rating on Cruise Critic and overall I still do not believe a rating in the 30s is deserved but I understand it more today. I will just point out some of the issues we encountered. I have never felt the anger and frustration I sensed on this cruise. NCL has been doing a terrible job (in my opinion) with spinning the changes being pushed out my management. As a result people are coming on board complaining before they even set foot on the ship.

 

 

THE SHIP

For the most part the ship was what I expected but there were a few surprises. Having been on the Epic a few times and the Getaway I pretty much know what to expect. There were a few surprises but most of them negative. I was shocked the rock wall was removed. I thought this was a great activity for the kids and young adults. Also I think in retrospect the 3rd level of the ropes course was a waste as it can not be used when the ship is in motion as it is too windy and the exhaust causes problems. This leaves just a few hours with the 3rd level of the ropes course being open when the ship is about to leave port. Also the zip line over the edge of the ship can only be used when the wind direct is just right. At 200 lbs and a running start the wind stopped me from reaching the other side. I managed to wiggle my way to the end. Then for some reason the operator allowed my 13 year old to go next. She got stuck 1/2 way and it took a while for them to find a way to pull her to the end. After that they closed that zip line temporarily.

 

I believe the Escape is narrower then other large ships with a beam of 34 less feet then the Aways and Epic but a similar length. The Escape has 20,000 tonnes on the Aways and 300 more guests. I assume this is accomplished with more decks. The weather the first 2 days resulted in rough seas with 11 foot waves but I cant comment if the Escape handled this worse the then Away ships but I sure felt more uneased then in the past.

 

I found the Escape to be harder to navigate in the buffet due to large crowds but the people flow else where was similar to the Away ships. I liked the colours and décor of the ship and being just a few weeks old everything was in good order. I was surprised by the dust build up in the rooms but I think that was simply due to the room attendant being stretched too thin.

 

THE STAFF

Nothing bad to say about all the front line people I met. They work very long hours and will bend over backwards to please you. I suspect NCL management has been assigning more rooms to each room steward as our person who I would see in the halls early in the morning and throughout the day would not normally get to our room to clean it until after 2pm. I was amazed to see how far down the hall from my room he was working at times.

 

 

THE FOOD

Again as expected. We ate in the main dining room 6 times and Moderno once. We certainly never went hungry and there was a beef chef recommendation most nights on the main dining room menu.

Maybe my memory is failing me but I seem to remember lunch in the main dining room being available daily with a changing menu. This year the dining room was only open for lunch on sea days and the menu did not change. I assumed this was an effort to push people to for fee dining options at lunch.

Likely due to the limited free lunch options the lunch buffet was extremely busy especially on the Tortola day when most are back on the ship by 1pm and the dining room does not open.

Our Moderno meal with not a good as in the past, we were very rushed by the staff and some cuts of meat were removed or not available until the very end. Also the dessert remains lacking in my opinion.

Food republic was the highlight of my food experiences. The food is fantastic and as a result the restaurant was packed. The lunch hours are very limited, I wish they could be extended a bit. This would make sense as it would only generate more revenue.

As previously reported by many Margaritaville was empty and did not hear anything positive about the food. This has become a waste of space in my opinion.

 

The UBP truly saved the day. While not a big drinker I really took advantage of the package.

 

THE ACTIVITIES

In my opinion. NCL has a very rigid policy on the schedule it runs. I suspect these is to ease operations and it seems nobody has the power to change things on the fly from closing a restaurant with a line up waiting to be seated to extending an activity was 50 kids waiting for a turn. They have made it clear over the years that they run programs and activities the same in week 51, 10 and 22. They don't care if there are 7 kids on board or 700. They are only opening the ropes course at 10am on sea days and later on port days. I have enjoyed the ropes course on both the Getaway and Escape. I have found that if you arrive 15 minutes before it opens you will be one of the first 10 in line. On this last cruise they had to keep the ropes course closed due to weather on days 1 and 2. Day 3 being another sea day was crowded with waits of over an hour but luckily I arrived early enough that the wait was under 30 minutes. On day 4 I arrived with my son 15 minutes before it opened to find over 100 people in line. The wait that day was over 60 minutes. I suggested to the head sports rec person that given the extra demand they should consider a few extra hours or addition staff. I estimate that on the Escape alone the extra revenue in weeks 51 and 52 is between 3.0 and 4.0 million in cabin revenue alone with few if any variable costs. While I am all for NCL making money how about spending a few 100 dollars of the extra revenue on overtime wages. The anger and frustration of the parents in line could be felt by the staff and I actually felt bad for them as they have no ability to adjust anything. This issue is once again a management issue, but they hide behind closed doors for the most part and feed their front line staff to the wolves.

 

THE PORTS

This is where things really went off the rails. St. Thomas and Nassau were the same as in past years. Tortola is simply not ready and NCL knows it and should not be going there yet. I assume this is a money issue why NCL changed to Tortola over St. Marteen.

Our experience was as follows:

We booked the baths through NCL a few weeks prior to departure along with others in our group.

We booked the 9:45am time slot which was the latest of 3 times offered by NCL

When we arrived on board in our cabins were tickets. Of my 4 tickets 2 were for the 7am trip and 2 were for the 9am trip. Upon enquiry we were told the 9am time was not correct either and that the meeting time was now 7am. This would mean getting up at 6am for breakfast to be at the meeting time as required. We would not have booked this time given how difficult it can be to get teenagers out of bed.

Over the course of 5 trips to the shore excursion desk over the next 3 days I learned many things:

NCL Escape has not been able to offer the times noted on the website as they have not been able to secure a ferry for transportation at the times currently offered.

NCL by taking the booking in advance leads you to believe your desired excursion is available therefore you do not search for alternatives.

By the time you receive notice from NCL that the excursion time has changed by almost 3 hours there is nothing else available to book.

In my opinion NCL took the booking with full knowledge they would be potentially ruining my day.

Over the course of my 5 trips to the front desk they managed to arrange for an 8am time slot for the hundreds of guests they apparently did this to. While not ideal we agreed to this new time.

Upon return to my room I noticed they charged me twice, so again I had to line up and visit the front desk to get this corrected.

At this point the fun had only really just begun.

The ferry over to the baths was an extra trip sandwiched in by the operator so obviously the operator was in a rush. We knew we were in trouble when the crew started handing out barf bags which unfortunately many needed. We were rushed on to busses and driven to the baths. From there the instruction was simply be back by 11:45 or else. The operator was not responsible if we did not make it back for the 12:00 ferry. Nobody had any idea what to do. We followed a path down to a beach and put down our stuff. To the left there was a line of a few hundred people waiting at the opening of the rocks. We got in line and waited and waited to enter. Once inside it was a zoo. Some people were trying to exist against the crowd but that was not going well. Once inside people were saying it was 90 minutes to get through what was normally a 20 minute trip. Some people panicked they would miss the return ferry and tried to exit back the entrance. This was creating a huge bottleneck just inside the opening. I felt stuck and choose to carry on. In the end the 90 minutes to get through was about right. We spent 5 minutes on the gorgeous beach at the end but had no idea how long we needed to get back up top. We trek up top and a large crowd formed. People became very upset. There was one police officer and an employee of the tour operator. When the first cab arrived people ran at it, there was a lot of pushing and shoving. Once it was full, the operator lied and told people this cab was not going to go to the ferry in an attempt to gain order. People then got off the first cab. Another cab arrived and it too was attacked. This time it left full. Then another cab arrived, again it was swarmed. You have to picture a group of tourists running through a parking lot with other moving vehicles, dragging their kids. Half our party got on this cab and then the real yelling started. Families with young kids were split up and there were some parents panicking. It was then determined that 1/2 the people on the cab were not even part of the excursion and they were kicked off. I managed to squeeze in with the driver so that I could be on the same cab as my kids. NCL has nothing to do with the excursion, they are simply paying somebody to transport you. You will not see an employee of NCL once you leave the Escape until your return to the gangway. Think of this excursion as a $72 cab/ferry ride, nothing else. We when returned I took a closer look at the NCL literature. They added a comment stressing they are only providing transportation and that the excursion may be busy. Keep in mind NCL is overbooking the excursion and they are making it busy. After some harsh words for the shore excursion desk they refunded 1/2 the fees paid. I have to say the baths are beautiful, but we were not able to enjoy them due to the sea sickness and stress during the visit. This was the first time I ever felt unsafe on an excursion as the situation in the parking lot at the end was a disaster waiting to happen between the people running in the parking lot and the moving vehicles.

 

THE ENTERTAIMENT

The members of the cast for the two shows were great. As I said earlier, NCL does nothing to recognize the change in demographics at holiday time. I would estimate that about 15% of the crowd (mostly kids) left during the cotton club show as the kids did not get the show and were bored. The cast had to see this, and I actually felt bad for them.

I really think during these weeks where NCL generates the extra millions in revenue that they should consider a variety show or two. Maybe a magic show or family comedy show.

One comment about the Howl at the moon show. This is my favorite show on any cruise ship. I think it is even better then the diving show on the Allure. This last trip however the Howl at the moon players would get so drunk later in evening. The songs simply degraded into fowl language combined with piano playing. One evening they went on for 15 minutes about a pussy cat. I know that after 11 it is an adults only show, and I am no prude. I have no issues with adult entertainment, violence on tv or swearing but they went too far on multiple nights.

 

OVERALL

I know I have dragged on and on but I want others to know about some of the negative experiences I had. I want to know if I am being too demanding and expecting too much. As of now I simply plan on taking a break from NCL and trying some of the other brands out there. I suspect we will try Royal again given the age of my family. The only reason we ever left Royal was for the value offered by NCL but that seems to be gone.

 

I question the competence and ability of the current management and while that sounds arrogant so be it. I feel some of the changes being made lack adequate research and investigation and believe the current public relations tactics are incorrect for a public company of the nature of NCL. I could turn this review into a financial commentary on why I think the stock price 6 months from now will be lower, on how month over month revenue will be lower in Q4 of 2016 and Q1 of 2017 and on why I think shorting the stock will pay for my next cruise. However at this point I prefer to hear what others have to say about my observations and hope my comments help others to know ahead of time what to expect (both good and bad) on the Escape. If there are any questions about the Escape I can try and answer them as well.

[riclop]

I am just off the Escape and wanted to pass on along my thoughts and experiences as I have always benefited greatly from my pre cruise readings on these boards.

 

Just a bit about where I am coming from.

I am mid 40s, traveled with my family of 4 including 2 teenagers. We were in a larger group of 20.

I have travelled with NCL many times and am a few points shy of platinum status.

Have always enjoyed my NCL cruises and returned the following year.

My last 5 cruises have been week 51 on the calendar so I am use to crowded ships, with many kids and with paying higher then average cruise rates.

 

My comments will most likely come off as very negative, but I want to be clear, I had a very fun time and love cruising. I came on board the Escape having read everything I could find on the Escape and was amazed by the negativity out there. I could not see how a new ship could warrant such a low overall rating on Cruise Critic and overall I still do not believe a rating in the 30s is deserved but I understand it more today. I will just point out some of the issues we encountered. I have never felt the anger and frustration I sensed on this cruise. NCL has been doing a terrible job (in my opinion) with spinning the changes being pushed out my management. As a result people are coming on board complaining before they even set foot on the ship.

 

 

THE SHIP

For the most part the ship was what I expected but there were a few surprises. Having been on the Epic a few times and the Getaway I pretty much know what to expect. There were a few surprises but most of them negative. I was shocked the rock wall was removed. I thought this was a great activity for the kids and young adults. Also I think in retrospect the 3rd level of the ropes course was a waste as it can not be used when the ship is in motion as it is too windy and the exhaust causes problems. This leaves just a few hours with the 3rd level of the ropes course being open when the ship is about to leave port. Also the zip line over the edge of the ship can only be used when the wind direct is just right. At 200 lbs and a running start the wind stopped me from reaching the other side. I managed to wiggle my way to the end. Then for some reason the operator allowed my 13 year old to go next. She got stuck 1/2 way and it took a while for them to find a way to pull her to the end. After that they closed that zip line temporarily.

 

I believe the Escape is narrower then other large ships with a beam of 34 less feet then the Aways and Epic but a similar length. The Escape has 20,000 tonnes on the Aways and 300 more guests. I assume this is accomplished with more decks. The weather the first 2 days resulted in rough seas with 11 foot waves but I cant comment if the Escape handled this worse the then Away ships but I sure felt more uneased then in the past.

 

I found the Escape to be harder to navigate in the buffet due to large crowds but the people flow else where was similar to the Away ships. I liked the colours and décor of the ship and being just a few weeks old everything was in good order. I was surprised by the dust build up in the rooms but I think that was simply due to the room attendant being stretched too thin.

 

THE STAFF

Nothing bad to say about all the front line people I met. They work very long hours and will bend over backwards to please you. I suspect NCL management has been assigning more rooms to each room steward as our person who I would see in the halls early in the morning and throughout the day would not normally get to our room to clean it until after 2pm. I was amazed to see how far down the hall from my room he was working at times.

 

 

THE FOOD

Again as expected. We ate in the main dining room 6 times and Moderno once. We certainly never went hungry and there was a beef chef recommendation most nights on the main dining room menu.

Maybe my memory is failing me but I seem to remember lunch in the main dining room being available daily with a changing menu. This year the dining room was only open for lunch on sea days and the menu did not change. I assumed this was an effort to push people to for fee dining options at lunch.

Likely due to the limited free lunch options the lunch buffet was extremely busy especially on the Tortola day when most are back on the ship by 1pm and the dining room does not open.

Our Moderno meal with not a good as in the past, we were very rushed by the staff and some cuts of meat were removed or not available until the very end. Also the dessert remains lacking in my opinion.

Food republic was the highlight of my food experiences. The food is fantastic and as a result the restaurant was packed. The lunch hours are very limited, I wish they could be extended a bit. This would make sense as it would only generate more revenue.

As previously reported by many Margaritaville was empty and did not hear anything positive about the food. This has become a waste of space in my opinion.

 

The UBP truly saved the day. While not a big drinker I really took advantage of the package.

 

THE ACTIVITIES

In my opinion. NCL has a very rigid policy on the schedule it runs. I suspect these is to ease operations and it seems nobody has the power to change things on the fly from closing a restaurant with a line up waiting to be seated to extending an activity was 50 kids waiting for a turn. They have made it clear over the years that they run programs and activities the same in week 51, 10 and 22. They don't care if there are 7 kids on board or 700. They are only opening the ropes course at 10am on sea days and later on port days. I have enjoyed the ropes course on both the Getaway and Escape. I have found that if you arrive 15 minutes before it opens you will be one of the first 10 in line. On this last cruise they had to keep the ropes course closed due to weather on days 1 and 2. Day 3 being another sea day was crowded with waits of over an hour but luckily I arrived early enough that the wait was under 30 minutes. On day 4 I arrived with my son 15 minutes before it opened to find over 100 people in line. The wait that day was over 60 minutes. I suggested to the head sports rec person that given the extra demand they should consider a few extra hours or addition staff. I estimate that on the Escape alone the extra revenue in weeks 51 and 52 is between 3.0 and 4.0 million in cabin revenue alone with few if any variable costs. While I am all for NCL making money how about spending a few 100 dollars of the extra revenue on overtime wages. The anger and frustration of the parents in line could be felt by the staff and I actually felt bad for them as they have no ability to adjust anything. This issue is once again a management issue, but they hide behind closed doors for the most part and feed their front line staff to the wolves.

 

THE PORTS

This is where things really went off the rails. St. Thomas and Nassau were the same as in past years. Tortola is simply not ready and NCL knows it and should not be going there yet. I assume this is a money issue why NCL changed to Tortola over St. Marteen.

Our experience was as follows:

We booked the baths through NCL a few weeks prior to departure along with others in our group.

We booked the 9:45am time slot which was the latest of 3 times offered by NCL

When we arrived on board in our cabins were tickets. Of my 4 tickets 2 were for the 7am trip and 2 were for the 9am trip. Upon enquiry we were told the 9am time was not correct either and that the meeting time was now 7am. This would mean getting up at 6am for breakfast to be at the meeting time as required. We would not have booked this time given how difficult it can be to get teenagers out of bed.

Over the course of 5 trips to the shore excursion desk over the next 3 days I learned many things:

NCL Escape has not been able to offer the times noted on the website as they have not been able to secure a ferry for transportation at the times currently offered.

NCL by taking the booking in advance leads you to believe your desired excursion is available therefore you do not search for alternatives.

By the time you receive notice from NCL that the excursion time has changed by almost 3 hours there is nothing else available to book.

In my opinion NCL took the booking with full knowledge they would be potentially ruining my day.

Over the course of my 5 trips to the front desk they managed to arrange for an 8am time slot for the hundreds of guests they apparently did this to. While not ideal we agreed to this new time.

Upon return to my room I noticed they charged me twice, so again I had to line up and visit the front desk to get this corrected.

At this point the fun had only really just begun.

The ferry over to the baths was an extra trip sandwiched in by the operator so obviously the operator was in a rush. We knew we were in trouble when the crew started handing out barf bags which unfortunately many needed. We were rushed on to busses and driven to the baths. From there the instruction was simply be back by 11:45 or else. The operator was not responsible if we did not make it back for the 12:00 ferry. Nobody had any idea what to do. We followed a path down to a beach and put down our stuff. To the left there was a line of a few hundred people waiting at the opening of the rocks. We got in line and waited and waited to enter. Once inside it was a zoo. Some people were trying to exist against the crowd but that was not going well. Once inside people were saying it was 90 minutes to get through what was normally a 20 minute trip. Some people panicked they would miss the return ferry and tried to exit back the entrance. This was creating a huge bottleneck just inside the opening. I felt stuck and choose to carry on. In the end the 90 minutes to get through was about right. We spent 5 minutes on the gorgeous beach at the end but had no idea how long we needed to get back up top. We trek up top and a large crowd formed. People became very upset. There was one police officer and an employee of the tour operator. When the first cab arrived people ran at it, there was a lot of pushing and shoving. Once it was full, the operator lied and told people this cab was not going to go to the ferry in an attempt to gain order. People then got off the first cab. Another cab arrived and it too was attacked. This time it left full. Then another cab arrived, again it was swarmed. You have to picture a group of tourists running through a parking lot with other moving vehicles, dragging their kids. Half our party got on this cab and then the real yelling started. Families with young kids were split up and there were some parents panicking. It was then determined that 1/2 the people on the cab were not even part of the excursion and they were kicked off. I managed to squeeze in with the driver so that I could be on the same cab as my kids. NCL has nothing to do with the excursion, they are simply paying somebody to transport you. You will not see an employee of NCL once you leave the Escape until your return to the gangway. Think of this excursion as a $72 cab/ferry ride, nothing else. We when returned I took a closer look at the NCL literature. They added a comment stressing they are only providing transportation and that the excursion may be busy. Keep in mind NCL is overbooking the excursion and they are making it busy. After some harsh words for the shore excursion desk they refunded 1/2 the fees paid. I have to say the baths are beautiful, but we were not able to enjoy them due to the sea sickness and stress during the visit. This was the first time I ever felt unsafe on an excursion as the situation in the parking lot at the end was a disaster waiting to happen between the people running in the parking lot and the moving vehicles.

 

THE ENTERTAIMENT

The members of the cast for the two shows were great. As I said earlier, NCL does nothing to recognize the change in demographics at holiday time. I would estimate that about 15% of the crowd (mostly kids) left during the cotton club show as the kids did not get the show and were bored. The cast had to see this, and I actually felt bad for them.

I really think during these weeks where NCL generates the extra millions in revenue that they should consider a variety show or two. Maybe a magic show or family comedy show.

One comment about the Howl at the moon show. This is my favorite show on any cruise ship. I think it is even better then the diving show on the Allure. This last trip however the Howl at the moon players would get so drunk later in evening. The songs simply degraded into fowl language combined with piano playing. One evening they went on for 15 minutes about a pussy cat. I know that after 11 it is an adults only show, and I am no prude. I have no issues with adult entertainment, violence on tv or swearing but they went too far on multiple nights.

 

OVERALL

I know I have dragged on and on but I want others to know about some of the negative experiences I had. I want to know if I am being too demanding and expecting too much. As of now I simply plan on taking a break from NCL and trying some of the other brands out there. I suspect we will try Royal again given the age of my family. The only reason we ever left Royal was for the value offered by NCL but that seems to be gone.

 

I question the competence and ability of the current management and while that sounds arrogant so be it. I feel some of the changes being made lack adequate research and investigation and believe the current public relations tactics are incorrect for a public company of the nature of NCL. I could turn this review into a financial commentary on why I think the stock price 6 months from now will be lower, on how month over month revenue will be lower in Q4 of 2016 and Q1 of 2017 and on why I think shorting the stock will pay for my next cruise. However at this point I prefer to hear what others have to say about my observations and hope my comments help others to know ahead of time what to expect (both good and bad) on the Escape. If there are any questions about the Escape I can try and answer them as well.

Thanks for your thoughts.

[barnacle_boy]

I believe the Escape is narrower then other large ships with a beam of 34 less feet then the Aways and Epic but a similar length. The Escape has 20,000 tonnes on the Aways and 300 more guests. I assume this is accomplished with more decks. The weather the first 2 days resulted in rough seas with 11 foot waves but I cant comment if the Escape handled this worse the then Away ships but I sure felt more uneased then in the past.

 

You're mistaken. Escape is actually 2 meters wider than Breakaway and Getaway, and about 1 meter wider than Epic.

Edited December 31, 2015 by barnacle_boy

[Loonbeam]

All of those concerns seem reasonable, and the good part is most are correctable (Tortola being partially an exception other than changing the port).

 

More importantly they are in line with other reports...

 

Hopefully things will clean up over the next 10 months before we sail on her so that we can report better things.

[xcell]

I was on you cruise...

 

Things to add, not sure you had the same but the boat was very creaky...creaky in the hallways, stairways and worst...in the rooms...

 

I enjoyed Tortola/the baths but I went to Devils cove not the one the tour operator suggested (ie where the lockers and small shops were). I would skip the trek through the baths and just spend your hour at the Devils cove...

 

The garden buffet seem to have more seating possibly due to the square tables vs round ones on the GA and BA but I found the walls to be long so only two ways into the seating area (no short cuts).

 

I liked the million dollar quartet but walked out of the cotton club one...I must have missed something because there was no story line to pull it all together...

 

 

Thanks for the review...hope I didn't high jack it...

 

Sent from my SM-N910W8 using Tapatalk

[LrgPizza]

Thanks for your thoughts.

 

 

I'm curious why you quoted the entire post, requiring everyone to scroll and scroll in order to get to your response. I mean, you were the first person to reply, so we already know you're replying to the OP, right?

[Sotermarler]

It just curious, how many ships were in port in Tortola?

I was on the first 7 day cruise and we did the Jost Van Dyke excursion, and we saw hoards of people heading to the baths too. I was glad we didn't do that excursion.

 

You are right about NCL booking excursions they are not sure if they can keep, but I'm not sure it's all their fault. Our Jost Van Dyke excursion booked up quick on line and I though I had missed out. A month prior to the cruise they opened another one so we happily booked it. Once on board we got a letter it was cancelled. Then on day 2 or 3 we got a letter stating it opened back up and we were confirmed again.

 

The captain of the catamaran told us that the other ship in port pays them ($45) $10 more a head so they cancelled NCL, but when the Aria ship couldn't fill the 30 or 40 person slot they offered it back to NCL. So moral of the story is NCL screws the excursion providers too. ;)

[hpecorari]

 

 

THE FOOD

Maybe my memory is failing me but I seem to remember lunch in the main dining room being available daily with a changing menu. This year the dining room was only open for lunch on sea days and the menu did not change. I assumed this was an effort to push people to for fee dining options at lunch.

 

Also the dessert remains lacking in my opinion.

 

 

 

Thank you for your review. I already know that the away ships have lots of their 'shows' in the Atrium, and that's usually very loud and crowded and hard to find a seat, which is one minus, in my eyes, for the away ships....even though you didn't mention it.

 

In regard to lunch - it's been at least two years now, I believe, that one of the MDR's would only be open on sea days and closed on port days....no matter what ship. This isn't anything new.

 

I will agree with you about Moderno. Their dessert selection is bad! I won't be going there anymore. The first time or two years ago was nice but now the meat isn't really hot, I only eat rare to med. rare and it's hard to get, and I simply like the land based restaurant near me better!

 

In regard to the baths....I can't thank you enough for your review. We were thinking of doing this but now that's out. I'd go nuts with the wait and the crowd! So, what else is there really to do there?? I'll be on the Escape in about 3 weeks.

 

Again, thanks for posting!

 

Harriet

[hpecorari]

I'm curious why you quoted the entire post, requiring everyone to scroll and scroll in order to get to your response. I mean, you were the first person to reply, so we already know you're replying to the OP, right?

 

Ha! I said the same thing to myself!

 

Harriet

[Laszlo]

Nice review with some good info. So glad we are going to Norman Island when we land in Tortola. Don't tell anyone;), the rest of you can continue to the Baths

[Macadian]

We booked this cruise a few weeks ago for February. We did so with some trepidation having read of the many negative reviews, this one being no exception. We have always avoided the bigger ships in the past and for us, this is a first. Such ships and the associated high passenger load will get one opportunity to shine with us, and this cruise wil be it. It will be our first cruise with ncl since 2012. Prior to that we have sailed with them three times. Last few cruises have been with Celebrity. We will board in February with an open mind however, I do hope the ubp is not required to make it tolerable and us be forced to make full use of our veranda..😁.

 

 

Upwards and onwards!

[disneyg1rl]

The weather the first 2 days resulted in rough seas with 11 foot waves...

 

THE PORTS

The ferry over to the baths was an extra trip sandwiched in by the operator so obviously the operator was in a rush. We knew we were in trouble when the crew started handing out barf bags which unfortunately many needed. We were rushed on to busses and driven to the baths. From there the instruction was simply be back by 11:45 or else. The operator was not responsible if we did not make it back for the 12:00 ferry. Nobody had any idea what to do.

 

Thanks for the details and trying to be objective. I sail in just over 2 weeks and would rather hear the issues now so that <hopefully> I can be positively surprised if I don't experience them vs the other way around.

 

I hope the weather will result in calmer seas, but I guess I'd best pack Bonine in the medicine 'go-bag' this time. :-)

 

QUESTION: I've always believed that the biggest selling features of booking ship excursions was that the cruise lines guarantee that they will not depart without you, whereas if you explore on your own you run the risk. The above implies this is no longer true. Has something changed or have I mis-understood somewhere along the way?

Edited December 31, 2015 by disneyg1rl

[dans0202]

Xcell

I was trying to not be too negative so I held back a bit.

About the creaky ship, I was not going to say anything. We were on deck 11.

I had one of the balconies where the ship jets out so it was a bit bigger.

I asked for and received a lounge chair.

One afternoon I was trying to nap on the balcony and noticed the creaking. I tried to ignore it. Then my wife came out to check on me and the first thing she said was how could I sit out here with that noise. End of nap. I assumed I was on some sort of joint and tried to ignore it.

As for the cotton club I too did not really get the story but felt bad with so many people leaving during the show that I stayed.

I started trying to count the number that left and came up with about 15%. The show started with about 70% occupancy.

[dans0202]

Barnacle boy - I read the beam numbers right from the book in the room, even double checked them as they looked off to me. The hard cover book was most likely wrong.

 

Sotermater - there were 2 ships in port, both NCL. I think After our really bad experience on the tour we did not even stop to look around in the port. Most areas appeared blocked off and under construction. According to the map there looked to be 4 stores / shops in port but don't know how accurate it was. If you are at all scared of small places then the baths are not for you when they are crowded as you can be stuck in a very small place for a few minutes with no where to go. If not busy then you are able to pass through the tight areas and catch your breath in one of the many larger openings. There was one spot just inside the beginning where we were stops for 15 minutes due to a slippery climb combined with hundreds of people waiting and a few trying to give up and go back.

 

Hpecorari - On our cruise all 3 main dining rooms were closed for lunch on port days and when 2 were open on sea days (Taste and Savor) the menu remained constant all week.

[dans0202]

Disneyg1rl - I almost never book excursions with the cruise line as I prefer to explore on my on. The only reason we booked with NCL for the baths was due to the tight time line and fear of not making it back on time. That said the excursion operator was very explicit in telling people they had to be on the 12pm ferry and it was their responsibility to be at the return port. That meant being on the 11:45 cab back. There was no head count on the return possibility due to the craziness that broke out. NCL afterwards was rather explicit in telling people they are simply arranging transportation so in answer to your question I don't know what NCL would have done if somebody missed the last return ferry. The truth was very difficult to obtain as each time we spoke with the shore excursion desk we got slightly different answers and new facts.

[hpecorari]

 

Hpecorari - On our cruise all 3 main dining rooms were closed for lunch on port days and when 2 were open on sea days (Taste and Savor) the menu remained constant all week.

 

It's been like that for about 2 years now. Same lunch menu in MDR every day. One MDR only open during sea days. Port days all MDR's are closed.

 

Port days: O'Sheehan's or Buffet on most ships or pay to eat lunch.

Sea days: One MDR plus O'Sheehan's or Buffet - or pay to eat lunch.

(Sometimes, depending on the ship, there's a BBQ outside by the pool for lunch which is free -

 

If in the Haven or have a suite the Haven Restaurant or Cagney's - depending on the ship remains open port days and sea days for lunch. (Same breakfast and lunch menu every day)

 

Harriet

[sixesandeights]

One comment about the Howl at the moon show. This is my favorite show on any cruise ship. I think it is even better then the diving show on the Allure. This last trip however the Howl at the moon players would get so drunk later in evening. The songs simply degraded into fowl language combined with piano playing. One evening they went on for 15 minutes about a pussy cat. I know that after 11 it is an adults only show, and I am no prude. I have no issues with adult entertainment, violence on tv or swearing but they went too far on multiple nights.

 

Howl at the Moon on the Escape was the worst I have ever been to. They rarely finished any songs. They rarely sang the correct words to any songs. They told the exact same jokes at each show...it was overall terrible. HatM is usually my favorite entertainment on the ship, but the people on the Escape are a joke.

 

I also ate at Moderno and thought the meat quality was the worst I have ever experienced. If it wasn't for the sushi on the buffet it would have been a complete waste. La Cuchina was also very bad on this ship (service and food). We did love, Cagney's, Tep, and Le Bistro though. They were all fantastic. We also had no problems at the Buffet, and the Eggs Benedict stations were a very welcome site, as on previous trips we had to wait in the omelette line to request them.

 

6&8

[barnacle_boy]

Barnacle boy - I read the beam numbers right from the book in the room, even double checked them as they looked off to me. The hard cover book was most likely wrong.

 

 

When in doubt, consult the Det Norske Veritas (DNV) website. Until recently, they were NCL's classification society of choice, which means they'll have a wealth of technical information on the ships to ensure their regulatory compliance.

[Daenerys T]

Nice review with some good info. So glad we are going to Norman Island when we land in Tortola. Don't tell anyone;), the rest of you can continue to the Baths

 

How do you get to Norman Island?

[LrgPizza]

Howl at the Moon on the Escape was the worst I have ever been to. They rarely finished any songs. They rarely sang the correct words to any songs. They told the exact same jokes at each show...it was overall terrible. HatM is usually my favorite entertainment on the ship, but the people on the Escape are a joke.

The good news is that these players generally only sign contracts for a couple weeks, so it's different people all the time. The one performer on the Escape TA (Jeremy) had signed a 3 month contract, which he said was by far the longest anyone had ever done with HaTM on any NCL. Many performers to whom I speak are only doing a single week long cruise!

[Turtles06]

How do you get to Norman Island?

 

I can't answer for the person you asked, but we'll be on the Gem this winter and have booked NCL's Norman Island Snorkel excursion. (The times in Tortola are just too tight for me to feel comforatble with anything but a ship's excursion.)

[LMaxwell]

It's been like that for about 2 years now. Same lunch menu in MDR every day. One MDR only open during sea days. Port days all MDR's are closed.

 

Port days: O'Sheehan's or Buffet on most ships or pay to eat lunch.

Sea days: One MDR plus O'Sheehan's or Buffet - or pay to eat lunch.

(Sometimes, depending on the ship, there's a BBQ outside by the pool for lunch which is free -

 

If in the Haven or have a suite the Haven Restaurant or Cagney's - depending on the ship remains open port days and sea days for lunch. (Same breakfast and lunch menu every day)

 

Harriet

 

I was on the sky this year and one of the MDR's was open in Freeport. Since we also ate in the MDR on embarkation day I do recall that the menu had changed between the two days.

[Kkate]

I have to agree with OP. One other big disappointment for me was the Mojito bar. They just have the high bar chairs around the bar. No comfy seating like the Getaway, no ambiance, no entertainment or trivia - just blah.

[cruis247g]

Thank you very much for the review. You really provided a wealth of useful information and it is much appreciated.

 

For a number of reasons, some quality/service related, we've recently taken a break from NCL, but I just booked another cruise on the Breakaway. I hope that things are going well on that ship.

[calgaryhhr]

It sucks to hear that your kid got stuck on the zip line. That would be a pretty frightening experience. I noticed that the two main zip lines (over the lawn bowling deck and over the side of the ship) had very minimal slope. I had never seen such low angle lines. I made sure to push off extra hard going over the edge because it seemed to be flat and it curved.

 

I didn't hear or see anyone get stuck on a zip line but we were in a hot tub with someone that got stuck on the loop slide.

 

I only noticed the upper rope course open once during our sailing and it was during a time when the ship was sailing. It was an extremely calm night though with absolutely no wind.