Getaway vs Escape/Joy/Bliss

[cusematt4]

Hi,

 

I wanted to try a newer ship such as the Bliss or Joy as I have sailed the Epic and know the ship was refurbished.

 

Does anyone have any information on how the ships compare post refurbishment?  Is entertainment and is dining similar?  Other than go carts would anything else major be different?

 

How is the specialty dining on the Getaway?  How about entertainment?  Does Getaway offer dueling pianos?  Footloose sounds better than million dollar quartet or burn the floor - how are the shows?

 

Thank you 

[davencl]

We've sailed on the Joy and Bliss.  Basically identical ships.  I did not like the Epic staterooms with curved couches and curved beds.  Otherwise it was OK.  Can't compare the shows you referenced as we liked all of them.  Can't say specialty dining was much different but I'm not much of a critic.

Edited May 30, 2021 by davencl

[gmbhardy]

3 hours ago, cusematt4 said:

Hi,

 

I wanted to try a newer ship such as the Bliss or Joy as I have sailed the Epic and know the ship was refurbished.

 

Does anyone have any information on how the ships compare post refurbishment?  Is entertainment and is dining similar?  Other than go carts would anything else major be different?

 

How is the specialty dining on the Getaway?  How about entertainment?  Does Getaway offer dueling pianos?  Footloose sounds better than million dollar quartet or burn the floor - how are the shows?

 

Thank you 

The Getaway is a nice ship (sailed on her seven times), but IMO the other three ships you mentioned are a tad nicer. We particularly like the observation lounge on the Bliss (haven’t been on the Joy yet but I imagine they are similar). You can research each ship on the NCL website to compare amenities like entertainment and dining. IMO, Million Dollar Quartet is the best show I’ve seen, closely followed by Jersey Boys and Choir of Man.

[jonbgd]

21 days on Epic

7 on Getaway

7 on Escape

they all have the same food quality

all have the piano bar comedy bar

we enjoyed all the entertainment

 

I prefer the Escape and the B+ ships it has the district brew house and bigger La Cucina

[BirdTravels]

3 hours ago, cusematt4 said:

Hi,

 

I wanted to try a newer ship such as the Bliss or Joy as I have sailed the Epic and know the ship was refurbished.

 

Does anyone have any information on how the ships compare post refurbishment?  Is entertainment and is dining similar?  Other than go carts would anything else major be different?

 

How is the specialty dining on the Getaway?  How about entertainment?  Does Getaway offer dueling pianos?  Footloose sounds better than million dollar quartet or burn the floor - how are the shows?

 

Thank you 

The specialty dining menus are the same across the fleet. Since everyone has been down for 1 1/2 years, all ships should be in sync. 
 

in general, they are all about the same. All Breakaway class ships. 

 

The getaway is a smaller ship,, so there are fewer dining rooms. The three other ships will have Food Republic and the Brew House. 
 

Dueling pianos is specific to the itinerary not the ship. 
 

The Escape has more rooms, so more people. 
 

The Bliss and Joy have the large observation lounge taking up 1/3 of deck 15. 
 

The Escape had the Supper Club,,, not sure what’s there now. The Bliss and Joy has Q BBQ in that location. 
 

The Joy was built for the Chinese market so there is no thermal suite. On the other ships, the thermal suite is used by a tiny portion of the passengers. 

[debenson0723]

Getaway was my favorite ship until I was on the Bliss.  Now I have been on Bliss twice and did the again Getaway afterwards.  For me, I like the Bliss better, as I love the Observation Lounge (which I believe is a quieter venue as long as you are not sailing to Alaska). I love all the shows but by far my favorite is Choir of Man.

 

Fingers crossed I will be taking my first sailing on the Epic 5 months from tomorrow.

[hallux]

The Bliss is a beautiful ship, and I'm sure the others have their merits also.  NCL swapped out the second theater show for SIX, and it's a HUGE improvement over what was there (I've sailed with both shows but I don't recall what it was the first time, before SIX was put in and I don't feel like getting up right now to check the dailies I've saved).

 

I agree on the OL space, it's a GREAT place to relax and take in sights while trying to read as well. 

[boatseller]

I've sailed on Getaway, Escape, Epic and Encore.  I hope to sail Bliss in January.

 

Escape is currently my favorite ship of all, over Symphony and Anthem also.  However, I predict my new fav will be Bliss because of the Observation Lounge and Q.  Ropes Course vs Go Karts is split even.

[Sthrngary]

21 hours ago, cusematt4 said:

Hi,

 

I wanted to try a newer ship such as the Bliss or Joy as I have sailed the Epic and know the ship was refurbished.

 

Does anyone have any information on how the ships compare post refurbishment?  Is entertainment and is dining similar?  Other than go carts would anything else major be different?

 

How is the specialty dining on the Getaway?  How about entertainment?  Does Getaway offer dueling pianos?  Footloose sounds better than million dollar quartet or burn the floor - how are the shows?

 

Thank you 

I went on the refurbished Getaway out of Port of New Orleans November 2019.  Very nice ship.  

 

Specialty Restaurants:  Basically the same as Bliss or Joy with maybe on exception in the Italian restaurant.  Food will be the same. 

Shows:  I am on the Joy and going to see Footloose in November of this year.  I have seen the show before and it is a nice show.  However, I could not have been more impressed with the shows on the Getaway.  GREAT especially the Latin dancing. 

Dueling Pianos:  I can't answer this one but I think they did have this.

 

If I was choosing a ship, I would choose the Encore, Bliss or Joy.  Newer and more state of the art.  My initial choice was the Encore.  Got cancelled a few time.  Then the prices went up to much.  I ended up on the Joy.  If you choose the Joy, know it is a new ship and has been refurbished recently also.  It was originally for the Asian market.  NCL almost immediately took it to the US and put an additional $50,000,000.00 into the refurbishing.  The pool layout is a bit different and their is no Thermal Spa in the Spa area.  Other then that, very similar to Encore and Bliss. 

 

I hope I was helpful.  Please know, when we go NCL we always go Haven.  So my take is somewhat different than others.  If you choose to do a Haven Suite, skip the Getaway.  It did not have the retractable roof over the Haven Pool or Hot tubs on the Haven sundeck.  Just an FYI.  Enjoy

[Ocean Cat]

Doesn’t The Escape have an observation area too? 

[hallux]

1 hour ago, Ocean Cat said:

Doesn’t The Escape have an observation area too? 

No.  The Escape is a bit of an outlier in the BA+ class ships.  No OL, the Garden Cafe is aft while the spa is forward.

[Shidah]

Million Dollar quartet is an amazing amazing show.  We sailed the Getaway once and the entertainment was the one thing I did like on that ship.  Everything else was just okay, and I wouldn’t go out of my way to sail on it.  But don’t base it on MDQ it is awesome.

[WarfRatWA]

On 5/30/2021 at 6:06 PM, cusematt4 said:

Hi,

 

I wanted to try a newer ship such as the Bliss or Joy as I have sailed the Epic and know the ship was refurbished.

 

Does anyone have any information on how the ships compare post refurbishment?  Is entertainment and is dining similar?  Other than go carts would anything else major be different?

 

How is the specialty dining on the Getaway?  How about entertainment?  Does Getaway offer dueling pianos?  Footloose sounds better than million dollar quartet or burn the floor - how are the shows?

 

Thank you 

The Getaway did have dueling piano's in September 2019.  We enjoyed the show several times.  Not sure if that has changed.  The Joy's pool deck is a bit odd in layout and perhaps the pools are a bit smaller than the Bliss' (though I don't know).  I think this was due to it originally being built for the Chinese market.  Also the Joy lacks a Thermal Suite, while the Bliss and Getaway have one.  While you can't go wrong on any of these ships...I'd probably go with the Bliss.

 

We are booked on the Epic next summer precisely due to the referb.  The Epic's Haven is the largest in the fleet and the referb looks stunning.  Very Prima like IMO.

[aubreyc1988]

I have been on Escape/Getaway/Bliss

 

I prefer Bliss over Escape/Getaway because of the non smoking casino and general vibe of the ship

 

However, itinerary for me is more important usually Getaway has more unique itineraries and better pricing so I've sailed on the Getaway many times, so she has a special place in my heart as well, even with her smoky 6-7-8. I even have fav slots on that cruise ship haha! 

[RunBikeCruiseDC]

Sailed on Bliss, Escape, Breakaway and Getaway.  Escape is our favorite (District Brewhouse, Pinxo tapas bar).  Bliss is our least favorite - while the observation lounge was beautiful, there's less outdoor space (also due to go-carts and laser tag).  Don't care much for BBQ or country music so Q BBQ has no appeal to us.  Bliss, Encore and Joy are low on our priority list - we probably would not choose them unless they had a great ports of call.

 

That being said, I'd book Breakaway or Getaway before I would a Joy/Bliss/Encore.  

Edited June 3, 2021 by RunBikeCruiseDC

[kpjb]

Loved the Getaway, but the others you mentioned have the District Brew House, so if you like craft beers like me, that's a big deal.  50 or 60 good beers vs pretty much 1 on the other ships.

 

[WAHMto5]

We have been on the Bliss, Escape & Getaway.  They are all great ships but if I had to pick one, it would be the Bliss. Loved everything about it from the layout, shows, observation level and the speciality dining choices.  Agree with the pp about the District Brew House which is one of our favorite bars. 
We had a couple Encore cruises cancelled, so looking forward to trying it in April 2022.