ESCAPE - looking at booking 3 balconies side by side... Any advice/info?

[LSKC]

We are currently booked in an OV on floor 5. Now another family is joining us on vacation and we are going to look into booking 3 balcony cabins side by side. I don't know much about the Escape and the different balcony categories but I do know we do want to stay on budget and stick with the regular balcony category unless it is a very small upgrade$.

 

Questions:

 

1. Are there any balcony locations we should avoid? I'm not a big fan of the balconies that are located right by the lifeboats. I'd love to be able to sit on my balcony (we will have them open the 3 partitions) and enjoy a lounger.

 

2. Between the 2 families we have 4 teenager children - so we were wanting to book 3 cabins and then rearrange the sleeping arrangements so that the 4 teens shared the middle cabin ...with their parents in each of the other cabins. I know that when we book it will be a pain b/c it will come into play with our free perks and we will need to "assign" a parent to be on the booking for that room until we board. Have others done this and will it be ok?

 

3. The mini suites are not very much more money - I don't really see much of a difference in the layout and size. Am I missing something - what makes them "mini suites"?

 

Torn between a January 6-13 sailing or a February 3-10 sailing (out of Miami)... is there anything weather or holiday related I'm missing that would help us decide? Hoping for whatever is "less busy" on a boat of 4400. Would one sailing tend to have less people onboard?

 

Thanks,

Leslie

[Two Wheels Only]

(we will have them open the 3 partitions)

1. There's no guarantee that they will open the partitions. In fact, they aren't supposed to open them but some stewards will do it anyway.

 

2. Extra room keys and sleeping arrangements aren't a problem. The booking (as you are aware) must be done a certain way.

 

3. Mini-suites have nicer/larger bathrooms. There are some with larger balconies.

[snownow]

1. Our last cruise they told us no on the opening the partitions. However, call customer service tell them you have children in each room and would like them opened to make it easier to check on the kids. They opened ours up. Our room steward would not do it on his own.

 

2. We book 1 parent, 1 child in each room and get two. After they opened the partition up we asked for an extra set of key cards to be made. 0 issues. We just needed to use our original key cards for UBP ect..

 

3. As the other poster pointed out a larger bathroom is all we really noticed. Shower in the balcony room... is odd. Storage set up was a little different as well.

 

We are currently booked in an OV on floor 5. Now another family is joining us on vacation and we are going to look into booking 3 balcony cabins side by side. I don't know much about the Escape and the different balcony categories but I do know we do want to stay on budget and stick with the regular balcony category unless it is a very small upgrade$.

 

Questions:

 

1. Are there any balcony locations we should avoid? I'm not a big fan of the balconies that are located right by the lifeboats. I'd love to be able to sit on my balcony (we will have them open the 3 partitions) and enjoy a lounger.

 

2. Between the 2 families we have 4 teenager children - so we were wanting to book 3 cabins and then rearrange the sleeping arrangements so that the 4 teens shared the middle cabin ...with their parents in each of the other cabins. I know that when we book it will be a pain b/c it will come into play with our free perks and we will need to "assign" a parent to be on the booking for that room until we board. Have others done this and will it be ok?

 

3. The mini suites are not very much more money - I don't really see much of a difference in the layout and size. Am I missing something - what makes them "mini suites"?

 

Torn between a January 6-13 sailing or a February 3-10 sailing (out of Miami)... is there anything weather or holiday related I'm missing that would help us decide? Hoping for whatever is "less busy" on a boat of 4400. Would one sailing tend to have less people onboard?

 

Thanks,

Leslie

[LSKC]

3. As the other poster pointed out a larger bathroom is all we really noticed. Shower in the balcony room... is odd. Storage set up was a little different as well.

 

Why is the shower odd in balcony rooms?

[snownow]

It seemed very tight. Single sink, toilet crowded in-between a small shower and the door for the shower opens into the same space that the bathroom door opened to. It seemed to be an odd set up, and very cramped.

 

The mini suite room had a double sink, and a shower that you could actually fit in. Based on the small cost to upgrade totally worth it in my opinion.

 

Why is the shower odd in balcony rooms?

[kayjay76]

If you're worried about the life boats book a higher floor. We were on the 14th floor AFT section near elevators and the view is amazing. Straight out to ocean and you don't see the boats unless you lean over and look down.

 

1. As some have said, stewards will not open dividers. One of our party was told by their steward that the steward could get in trouble if they saw the divider open. But if you're in your room, enjoying the view, open them then close when you leave. Do not leave them open. Also a note about lounger... the reg balcony rooms have 2 regular chairs and a small table, no lounger. And even when you open the divider, you still have a partial partition. Opening them just causes you to be able to walk from room to room. You still have a half wall.

 

2. I'm pretty sure the only thing different in mini suites is the bathroom is bigger with a fancier shower. Someone commented on regular balcony room bathroom being odd. I found it perfect. Good storage, decent glass enclosed shower.

 

3. Book Feb!!!!! We went this year 4th-11th. First... it's superbowl weekend ( Feb 4th 2018)! It was awesome watching the game on the boat. They play it everywhere on all the big screens and in the rooms. We enjoyed it so much we booked same week for 2018 but western this time around.

Second... Hardly any little kids. We maybe saw a dozen. And not too many teenagers. I have teens and they don't feel the need to meet new people so that's a plus. But if your kids are social and want to meet others, they might not like this time frame. February vacation for schools is a couple weeks later so not many parents take their kids out before then. ( I would and have no problem doing it as I said my kids didn't care for meeting new people). Our sailing was mostly full of adults.

Third, the weather was perfect. No rain, not too hot but perfect! Around high 70s to med 80s

 

Watch the sailing and offerings. They keep running the no government taxes special which saves I think around 300 a room.

[lamo0050]

Those family OV rooms on the Escape are amazing, I would stay put! They are basically a mini suite with the balcony space inside the room so it is much more spacious. There is a lot more closet space, a curtain so you can partition off the kids area and 2 tvs.

 

 

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[LSKC]

Those family OV rooms on the Escape are amazing, I would stay put! They are basically a mini suite with the balcony space inside the room so it is much more spacious. There is a lot more closet space, a curtain so you can partition off the kids area and 2 tvs.

 

 

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Yes, they look perfect but I can't get the thought of early morning coffee and croissants on my balcony out of my mind lol.

Do you think the OV family rooms are fairly large enough to handle our family of 5 though? I think the living quarters are fine as I doubt we'll be in our cabin much except to shower and change = BUT... the 1 bathroom for 2 adults, 2 teens and a 9 yr old is my main concern. I know it's do-able and would save us $800 for the week.

[packer99]

I never thought the shower in the balcony room was odd........I thought it was a decent space.