Just off the Escape, new changes

[Caroldoll]

On 10/31/2019 at 2:33 PM, jacksonx said:

try an MSC cruise in the yacht club- their version of the haven.

unlimited drinks of all types- alcohol or not, in both your room as well as anywhere on the ship.

Cheaper than the Haven with far more perks and better service.

Thanks for the tip

[Caroldoll]

On 10/31/2019 at 8:17 AM, richg35 said:

 

Oh no, no water! How will you manage without bottled water in single use plastic containers that go right in the trash? I hope you're able to somehow pick up the pieces and carry on. 

It is my understanding that you can not carry it on either.

[salty dingo]

6 hours ago, Caroldoll said:

It is my understanding that you can not carry it on either.

We carried refillable water bottles ashore and they were half full when we returned and nothing was said at the x ray. Probably with so many people with open bar promo, it is not so much of a concern.

[luv2kroooz]

On 10/28/2019 at 11:28 PM, Aldeya said:

We just off the Escape and discovered new changes since our Escape cruise in March of this year.

There are no more beach towels left by an attendant for you in the cabin. We were informed by our cabin attendant this was implemented just 2 weeks ago. Now you have to go to the deck 16 pool area if you want these towels and then return them afterwards. Quite an inconvenience if you have few beach days in port one after another.

 

We were looking for a little nice voucher booklet with our Platinum perks for specialty restaurants. We couldn't find it until we saw that those vouchers are now a simple printout on a piece of paper. Another little touch lost.

 

I know I'll get the responses "go get your own towels!", "who needs nice paper for the vouchers" and such. Every time we cruise with Norwegian something is taken away, little by little, and IMO it's cheapening the whole experience.Well, this is MY opinion and  things along with non-existing towel animals and such it's what made cruising special for us.

 

Same here. Just disembarked.....also no more bar soap or lotion. Only available on request now per our cabin steward, ditto with ice buckets and towel animals which have been discussed here before. Also, coasters seem to have replaced cocktail napkins at many bars. We asked at prime meridian and they both kind of looked at each other and said sorry we don't have any...lol. Yes, the cruise experience has been cheapened on many of the mass market lines and we always consider value vs price before booking with NCL. 

[mking8288]

It is what it is ... I suppose.  Pretty soon, we will be asked to support by greening efforts by pre-sorting items into our garbage can in the stateroom ... or, perhaps taking them directly down the hallway to toss them into the mass collection bins directly.  For our convenience, of course.  Are they doing this across the board, even for Haven & suite guests ?? 

 

Thankfully, we got plenty of Marriott branded bar soaps, lotions & toiletry items in "reserve" - just going to take a few along, as they too, are moving in the same direction - ending the era of travel sized free freebies.  

[salty dingo]

I personally did not mind the lack of ice bucket or bar soap. The liquid soap is just fine, and who needs ice anymore with a drink package? I totally understand how eliminating ice will reduce the steward's workload. We got twice daily service in a timely manner. No complaints.

[luv2kroooz]

2 minutes ago, salty dingo said:

The liquid soap is just fine, and who needs ice anymore with a drink package? 

Me. When I wake up hungover at 3am with "dry mouth", it's nice to have some ice or ice water from melted ice in the ice bucket.

[Aldeya]

5 hours ago, blcruising said:

no more bar soap or lotion. Only available on request now per our cabin steward, ditto with ice buckets and towel animals which have been discussed here before. 

We know about these "upon requests" items because many of us are seasoned cruisers. What about people who never cruised before? How would they know to request these things? Is it mentioned anywhere in cruise documents? 

 

Also few months ago we were on Dawn and wondered what happened to the Fairwell Show we used to see at the end of every NCL cruise? Well, after the cruise I asked about it here and someone who was on the same cruise posted that the show was at the end of the last performace: as usual "we aree the family" song, crew members on stage and all that. Apparently we missed it.

 

So this time we decided to go to the last show of the cruise to make sure we see the lovely ending of our cruise. Well, there was no Farewell Show. Nothing. So I'm asking again.. Did NCL took away this Farewell performance, at least  on the big ships? 

Edited November 4, 2019 by Aldeya

[Zippeedee]

1 hour ago, Aldeya said:

We know about these "upon requests" items because many of us are seasoned cruisers. What about people who never cruised before? How would they know to request these things? Is it mentioned anywhere in cruise documents? 

 

I think the goal is that the new people won’t know what they are missing and the service or item will just fade away, like midnight buffets and pillow chocolates.

[Caroldoll]

So question, will they give you ice if you ask for it?  This is a must for me!

[Oakman58]

8 hours ago, Caroldoll said:

So question, will they give you ice if you ask for it?  This is a must for me!

 

Yes, when we were on the Breakaway this past September we told the room steward to keep the ice bucket filled and he was happy to oblige.  I don't mind most of the amenities NCL has done away with but having to ask for an ice bucket is ridiculous.  Even the cheapest motels have an ice bucket in the room.

[Caroldoll]

14 minutes ago, Oakman58 said:

 

Yes, when we were on the Breakaway this past September we told the room steward to keep the ice bucket filled and he was happy to oblige.  I don't mind most of the amenities NCL has done away with but having to ask for an ice bucket is ridiculous.  Even the cheapest motels have an ice bucket in the room.

Correct!

[DZcreature]

13 hours ago, salty dingo said:

I personally did not mind the lack of ice bucket or bar soap. The liquid soap is just fine, and who needs ice anymore with a drink package? I totally understand how eliminating ice will reduce the steward's workload. We got twice daily service in a timely manner. No complaints.

 

13 hours ago, blcruising said:

Me. When I wake up hungover at 3am with "dry mouth", it's nice to have some ice or ice water from melted ice in the ice bucket.

 

I need ice in my room too. Occasionally, I actually grab a soda from the minibar, and like to have it out on the balcony. I like my soda in a real glass with ice. We also use the ice in our mimosas that we make with our free champagne. With the drink package, I especially need ice water when I wake up at 3 am! 😉

[salty dingo]

1 minute ago, DZcreature said:

 

 

I need ice in my room too. Occasionally, I actually grab a soda from the minibar, and like to have it out on the balcony. I like my soda in a real glass with ice. We also use the ice in our mimosas that we make with our free champagne. With the drink package, I especially need ice water when I wake up at 3 am! 😉

I can totally relate to the waking up with cotton mouth at 3 am. I would always just go to the bathroom and drink some of the excellent tap water. Cold water can give me a brain freeze.

 

In the past when we had ice, it was appreciated because I usually needed some to fix a drink with my rumrunner of vodka and crystal light. Now I just go to the bar 🙂 ... the ice never seemed to be enough or last very long, and I could never bring myself to drink water from an ice bucket, even though I would take ice from there. Just a quirk I guess.

[Zaphod1962]

We just sailed on the Breakaway, the pool towel policy needs to be reversed, that or staff the towel station 24/7. Not a major problem, but it is irritating, and we cruise to get away from the many irritations in our lives.

[17cruisesnsl]

On 11/3/2019 at 3:41 PM, mking8288 said:

It is what it is ... I suppose.  Pretty soon, we will be asked to support by greening efforts by pre-sorting items into our garbage can in the stateroom ... or, perhaps taking them directly down the hallway to toss them into the mass collection bins directly.  For our convenience, of course.  Are they doing this across the board, even for Haven & suite guests ?? 

 

Thankfully, we got plenty of Marriott branded bar soaps, lotions & toiletry items in "reserve" - just going to take a few along, as they too, are moving in the same direction - ending the era of travel sized free freebies.  

Based on the photos Doug posted from the Encore, the Haven toiletries and lotions appear to be larger items, so they may be refillable.   I couldn't tell but he said they were nicely scented

 

Good idea bringing minis - will do the same! 

[Rosewater93]

Related but maybe not - is there any way to get mock tails with the adult Soda beverage package? We don’t drink alcohol..

[Megalyn]

On 11/3/2019 at 7:50 PM, Aldeya said:

So this time we decided to go to the last show of the cruise to make sure we see the lovely ending of our cruise. Well, there was no Farewell Show. Nothing. So I'm asking again.. Did NCL took away this Farewell performance, at least  on the big ships? 

 

I was on the Breakaway in October.  There was the family song with crew members standing around after one of the performances, but it wasn't the last night.  I remember being surprised that it was so early but I don't recall it was 2 or 3 days before the end.

 

Also, on previous cruises a video was shown of the exact cruise we were on - various games shows and such had the people in the crowd.  Instead of it being played during the farewell piece it was just on in the atrium while we were disembarking.

[PelicanBill]

On 11/3/2019 at 8:50 PM, Aldeya said:

We know about these "upon requests" items because many of us are seasoned cruisers. What about people who never cruised before? How would they know to request these things? Is it mentioned anywhere in cruise documents? 

 

Also few months ago we were on Dawn and wondered what happened to the Fairwell Show we used to see at the end of every NCL cruise? Well, after the cruise I asked about it here and someone who was on the same cruise posted that the show was at the end of the last performace: as usual "we aree the family" song, crew members on stage and all that. Apparently we missed it.

 

So this time we decided to go to the last show of the cruise to make sure we see the lovely ending of our cruise. Well, there was no Farewell Show. Nothing. So I'm asking again.. Did NCL took away this Farewell performance, at least  on the big ships? 

 

I was on Breakway last October and got to know the Cruise Director.  A lot of these things are based on the choices of the Cruise Director. On my cruise, there were two things the crew did that I had not seen on 4 prior Breakway trips.  One was a parade of nations and celebration of each country represented by crew members (In the Atrium, limited seating!)  The second was a dance party kicked off poolside one sea day by many members of the crew including the officers (Even Vuk, which was delightful to watch.)

 

Things I missed:  Did not see a return to ship red carpet dance party in the last hour of the last port.  Did not see a farewell line up of officers and staff as we got off the ship (possibly due to the annoying Immigration check being done on the ship before walking off).

 

[mking8288]

For the Gem (2017 and 2018) the farewell included brief remarks & comments by the Captain, acknowledging his senior leadership team & thanking some.  Most recently, last December, 2019 on the Gem, it was shortened by done instead by Luz, the CD - very quickly.  Captain just waved & as if on cue - they all marched off the stage as quickly as they arrived, and returned to their duty stations or whatever.  Ours held on the last evening before arrival back to homeport, immediately following the evening's performance in the Stardust Theater.  

 

We had been there when the ship did  the farewell special 2 nights before disembarkation ... last evening, folks sometimes are busy packing & focused on reconfirming travel arrangement & flights, ground transport, etc. 

 

Then, one year on the Breakaway, it was mainly the dining room team including some of the gallery crew & chefs, dancing & singing thru Taste & Savor MDR during dinner services, waving & spinning their white tablecloth a la Carnival style, LOL.  

 

 

Edited February 17, 2020 by mking8288