Escape, Escape - Two Times the Escape. Live Review B2B NCL Escape, Dec 9-16 & Dec 16-23

[Stealthdog]

We are excited to be in our sailing week for a B2B on the NCL Escape, December 9-16 & December 16-23 out of Port Canaveral.

 

Special thanks to @CAKEisgood for their live review from the Escape last week and posting of the dailys, which has been incredibly helpful in planning this B2B.  This week before boarding I'll post some background information, packages we have purchased, pre-cruise planning, and hopefully start collecting questions from people looking for information on board.  

 

This will be our first B2B, so really looking forward to learning and experiencing that.  We did a side by side last year (Royal then Celebrity), which caused us to disembark, go to another pier, and embark a different ship.  Planning a B2B has been interesting so far because we can spread activities across two sailings and not try to cram everything into one.  

 

This is our first NCL sailing since COVID, and first Breakaway category ship, but have been on the Pearl, Epic, Sun, and Star.   Our last cruise was an Alaskan Princess Majestic Cruise Tour (7 day cruise followed by 5 day land tour in Denali) June 2023.

 

Itinerary NCL Escape Cruise 1 (Dec 9-16):

Day 1 - Port Canaveral

Day 2 - At Sea

Day 3 - Puerto Plata

Day 4 - St Thomas

Day 5 - Tortola

Day 6 - At Sea

Day 7 - Great Stirrup Cay

Day 8 - Port Canaveral

 

Itinerary NCL Escape Cruise 2 (Dec 16-23):

Day 1 - Port Canaveral

Day 2 - At Sea

Day 3 - Cozumel

Day 4 - George Town

Day 5 - Ocho Rios

Day 6 - At Sea

Day 7 - Great Stirrup Cay

Day 8 - Port Canaveral

 

[cruiseny4life]

Ooooooo!!! Can't wait to follow along. I just got off Pr1ma and had a lovely time. I'm jealous you'll be at Great Stirrup Key twice. My husband and I love that little island. Have a lovely time on the back to back!!!

[GuelphCruisers]

Are you planning on attending the Choir of Man? Or the shows in Syd Normans Pour House?

[prov2727]

I am doing this, only the other way around (east Caribbean then west Caribbean). I will be interested to see if they let you stay on the ship or if you have to get off and go back through the check in process.

 

My TA thought they put me in the same room both cruises but did not (across the hall) so I know I have to completely depart the room, but wonder if I'll have to get off, go through customs, just to get back in line to get back on.

 

Really hoping to get to see Choir of Man. Maybe twice!

 

I want to know what shore excursions you have booked.

 

HAVE FUN!!
 

[APDMOM]

Will be following along, then joining you on the 16th!  We have done B2B’s 4 times in the past and LOVE them. Enjoy, but don’t save too much for the second week.  😁 Work in a few ‘Relax’ days for that second week.

[wilmingtech]

Looking forward to joining you on the first leg of your cruise!   Its going to be a great time on the Escape and heading to the Caribbean for some warm weather is something we are really looking forward to.  

 

It'll be great to follow along and see how our experiences compare on the same cruise.

 

 

[Stealthdog]

17 hours ago, GuelphCruisers said:

Are you planning on attending the Choir of Man? Or the shows in Syd Normans Pour House?

 

We made reservations on both cruises for Choir of Man.  If we like it enough, we will probably keep the reservations on the 2nd cruise and go again.  The Pour House is kind of 3rd priority right now to us - we chose the Choir of Man dates we wanted, and then penciled in the nights for the Supper Club we are interested in.  I need to go back to the dailys and see what is happening on the other nights we have no plans and will probably do a couple of the Pour House shows. 

Edited December 5, 2023 by Stealthdog

[Stealthdog]

16 hours ago, prov2727 said:

I am doing this, only the other way around (east Caribbean then west Caribbean). I will be interested to see if they let you stay on the ship or if you have to get off and go back through the check in process.

 

My TA thought they put me in the same room both cruises but did not (across the hall) so I know I have to completely depart the room, but wonder if I'll have to get off, go through customs, just to get back in line to get back on.

 

Really hoping to get to see Choir of Man. Maybe twice!

 

I want to know what shore excursions you have booked.

 

HAVE FUN!!
 

 

I'll take pictures of all the B2B instructions for you.  We booked the same room on both cruises, and didn't participate in any upgrades because we didn't want to run the risk of having different rooms.

 

We are still finalizing excursions this week.  So far we booked 1 each cruise through NCL (mostly to spend enough $ on AMEX to get the cash back).  We have been to some of these ports several times (Cozumel and Puerto Plata), so we may stay on or close to the ship for some of the stops.

[Stealthdog]

We are in a Club Balcony (MC), 9th deck, the same cabin both cruises.  We typically like longer cruises in December (12 days+) because they tend to be cheaper and have fewer children on board.  The last 2 years its been more challenging to find a longer cruise that was affordable, and one we were interested in. 

 

We still had 4 Cruise Next Certificates to use before they expired, so used 2 per cruise.  We also got the 10% military/vet discount from the fare, so this B2B ended up being a very affordable 14 days of cruising.  Port Canaveral is a cheap port for us because we don't have to pay for lodging the night before and can get a ride to the port to avoid the parking fees.  Its about a 1 hr ride for us - a family member (who is our also our TA) is taking us this time, so this review won't have any information about the parking garages, prices, or experience. 

 

We are Platinum status and will be looking to book some of the status events on board, particularly the wine tasting event and the ship tour. 

[Stealthdog]

We typically prefer specialty dining on cruise ships because we have been disappointed too many times in MDRs....and have seen too many unsanitary guests in the buffets so normally avoid that as much as we can.

 

We have a total of seven specialty dinings per cruise to use and this review will be very heavy on the specialty dining restaurants, light on the MDR, and probably just a few comments on the buffet and cafes (I'll still post menu pictures):

2 pack - Free at Sea (with booking)

2 pack - Free at Sea Upgrade (purchased upgrade)

2 dining - Platinum

1 dining - Amex Platinum perk

 

We have already booked five dinners per cruise but will need to adjust that because of Supper Club shows we want to go to.  We will probably end up doing six dinners and one lunch per cruise in the specialty restaurants.  The plan is to do each restaurant at least once, minus Moderno and Teppanyaki.  Our favorites on other ships have been Le Bistro and Cagneys, so we will probably go to those two multiple times.

[prov2727]

5 hours ago, Stealthdog said:

 

I'll take pictures of all the B2B instructions for you.  We booked the same room on both cruises, and didn't participate in any upgrades because we didn't want to run the risk of having different rooms.

 

We are still finalizing excursions this week.  So far we booked 1 each cruise through NCL (mostly to spend enough $ on AMEX to get the cash back).  We have been to some of these ports several times (Cozumel and Puerto Plata), so we may stay on or close to the ship for some of the stops.

Thank you!!

[CAKEisgood]

9 hours ago, Stealthdog said:

and have seen too many unsanitary guests in the buffets so normally avoid that as much as we can.

Agree! I  watched a guest walk away from the buffet with a plate in one hand and licking the fingers of her other hand. I was so disgusted I felt like I needed to go take a shower. 

[CAKEisgood]

Have a wonderful cruise! 

[Stealthdog]

On 12/4/2023 at 1:36 PM, cruiseny4life said:

Ooooooo!!! Can't wait to follow along. I just got off Pr1ma and had a lovely time. I'm jealous you'll be at Great Stirrup Key twice. My husband and I love that little island. Have a lovely time on the back to back!!!

 

Thanks! I love the private islands.  I would go on a cruise that just goes to a private island and stays there for 3-4 days.  First time for Great Stirrup, and have some research to do this week (though running out of time).  Of the recent islands, Coco Cay is my favorite, followed by Castaway Cay.  

[vacation44]

Looking forward to reading about your B2B!    I am sure you will have a wonderful time.

[GuelphCruisers]

On 12/5/2023 at 8:32 AM, Stealthdog said:

 

We made reservations on both cruises for Choir of Man.  If we like it enough, we will probably keep the reservations on the 2nd cruise and go again.  The Pour House is kind of 3rd priority right now to us - we chose the Choir of Man dates we wanted, and then penciled in the nights for the Supper Club we are interested in.  I need to go back to the dailys and see what is happening on the other nights we have no plans and will probably do a couple of the Pour House shows. 

Please let us know how the shows are this cruise. 🙂

 

[justhappy]

Can’t wait to follow along, I’ll be back on the Escape next month for the 6th time.

 I’ll be curious to hear your thoughts on the Breakaway class ships vs the previous ones you’ve been on. 
Enjoy your cruises!

[Stealthdog]

15 hours ago, justhappy said:

Can’t wait to follow along, I’ll be back on the Escape next month for the 6th time.

 I’ll be curious to hear your thoughts on the Breakaway class ships vs the previous ones you’ve been on. 
Enjoy your cruises!

 

We are really looking forward to Breakaway class.  We have typically preferred the older, more traditional cruise ship feel, but went on RCL Oasis class ship last year (Symphony) and loved it.  Even though there were so many people on board, the ship design did a really good job of making it feel like it wasn't so packed.  I think the waterfront concept, it may be the same on Escape too.  

[justhappy]

33 minutes ago, Stealthdog said:

 

We are really looking forward to Breakaway class.  We have typically preferred the older, more traditional cruise ship feel, but went on RCL Oasis class ship last year (Symphony) and loved it.  Even though there were so many people on board, the ship design did a really good job of making it feel like it wasn't so packed.  I think the waterfront concept, it may be the same on Escape too.  

The only smaller NCL ship I’ve been on was the Pearl, loved the smaller size but I found it kind of confusing at first. If you liked the Oasis class ship I think you’ll be ok with the Escape. I do love the Waterfront area, I found the Oasis ships I’ve been on to be to inward focused so I appreciated the ocean views from the Waterfront and other sundeck areas on the Escape.

The atrium area is the biggest choke point on Breakaway class ships.

 

[Stealthdog]

We have a number of free at sea, pre-paid packages, and mixtures of OBCs we have to track this cruise.

 

We of course have the standard Free at Sea:

$50 off shore excursions 

2 meal specialty dining

150 minute internet package

Beverage Package

 

We did not pay for the whole Free at Sea Plus upgrade, because it just didn't make $ sense.  We really aren't using the NCL excursions (1 per cruise) and don't really care about the alcohol package upgrade (for a few reasons, which I will get into later).  We did get portions of the upgrade.

 

We had an AMEX Platinum promotion offer to spend $1K on NCL and get $200 credit back.  We got the offer past final payment, and because we were going to spend the $ anyways, we wanted the free $200 back.  We both had the promotion, so each of us had to spend $1K. 

 

We did get the 2 pack Free at Sea dining upgrade per cruise.  For us, being happy with the food on a cruise is probably the most important factor into our overall enjoyment of a cruise ship.  So, we think it was worth getting the two extra speciality dinings.  We had already booked this before the AMEX promotion, so we cancelled the upgrade, and repurchased it so it would apply to our required $1K spending.

 

We also purchased 1 internet upgrade to the unlimited premium wifi per cruise.  We were having some challenges with doing the upgrade on the app because its default is to force the upgrade for everyone in the cabin, with no way to edit it.  ***You can buy the internet upgrade for just one person in the cabin by using the website***.  We don't need 2 unlimited wifis.  The last couple of ships we were on have all have great internet speed - on one we brought our laptop and logged into a server of a MMORPG (online game).  There was no lag and connection was stable.  We will see how good it is on the Escape.

 

 

We prepurchased gratuities on both sailings to apply that towards our Amex purchases.  Normally we will not pre-pay (unless they are part of a promotional booking) and have them charged to the onboard account.

 

We did buy 1 excursion per cruise through NCL.  Cruise 1 we got the Virgin Gorda and the Baths excursion, and Cruise 2 we got the Discover Cayman excursion.  Georgetown is a tender port, and we prefer to go through the cruiseline at tender ports just for the ease and not have to worry about getting back to the ship late.  Typically, we prefer private excursions because they are usually cheaper with fewer guests.  Note - the fine print of the AMEX offer specifically excluded excursions from the promotion, but when this charge hit out AMEX accounts, it applied to the offer.  

 

We finished our AMEX offers by each buying $250 OBC....and the $200 credit has already hit our AMEX accounts.

 

We did not buy the Thermal Suite pass this cruise - just didn't seem like it was worth the 7 day price.  In previous NCL cruises, buying a spa treatment also gave a day pass to the Thermal Suite for the day of the treatment.  Not sure if the Escape does that, but will find out soon!

 

We also did not buy the Vibe pass.  We just don't spend that much time at the pools to make it worth it to us.  

 

We will be trying both the Platinum wine tasting and Platinum ship tour (at least for the first sailing).  First thing I do Saturday when we get on board will be to go to Cruise Next to make those reservations.

 

Edited December 7, 2023 by Stealthdog

[Stealthdog]

OBC these cruises will be the most complicated we have experienced and sadly, I'm going to have to track everything to make sure we use it all, particularly the non-refundable so we don't lose it.  

 

We have a total of $300 non-refundable OBC per cruise.  $100 for shareholder benefits.  The benefits submission for NCL was quick and the approval was applied within a day.  Kudos to NCL for streamlining this process and making it easy.  $200 for AMEX Platinum benefits - our TA did whatever training or partnership necessary with AMEX to be able to apply the AMEX benefits.  Only requirement from our part was to pay for the cruise with the AMEX card.  For NCL (7 day sailing), the benefits are $200 OBC and 1 dining at Bistro (for two).   Non-Refundable OBC is very specific on what it can be used for - don't think it can be used for DSCs, Casino charges, or Cruise Next (someone can correct me if I am wrong).  So, the plan is to use it for Spa charges, individual drink upgrades, and Starbucks, and whatever the balance remaining on the last day to make purchases in the on-board stores.  

 

We also have $300 refundable OBC ($50 TA, $250 purchased) for the first cruise and $325 ($75 TA, $250 purchased) refundable OBC for the second cruise.  We are not as concerned about these because we will get back any remaining balance.  We will probably spend these on bingo and casino charges.

[justhappy]

18 minutes ago, Stealthdog said:

OBC these cruises will be the most complicated we have experienced and sadly, I'm going to have to track everything to make sure we use it all, particularly the non-refundable so we don't lose it.  

 

We have a total of $300 non-refundable OBC per cruise.  $100 for shareholder benefits.  The benefits submission for NCL was quick and the approval was applied within a day.  Kudos to NCL for streamlining this process and making it easy.  $200 for AMEX Platinum benefits - our TA did whatever training or partnership necessary with AMEX to be able to apply the AMEX benefits.  Only requirement from our part was to pay for the cruise with the AMEX card.  For NCL (7 day sailing), the benefits are $200 OBC and 1 dining at Bistro (for two).   Non-Refundable OBC is very specific on what it can be used for - don't think it can be used for DSCs, Casino charges, or Cruise Next (someone can correct me if I am wrong).  So, the plan is to use it for Spa charges, individual drink upgrades, and Starbucks, and whatever the balance remaining on the last day to make purchases in the on-board stores.  

 

We also have $300 refundable OBC ($50 TA, $250 purchased) for the first cruise and $325 ($75 TA, $250 purchased) refundable OBC for the second cruise.  We are not as concerned about these because we will get back any remaining balance.  We will probably spend these on bingo and casino charges.

For our cruise next month I too took advantage of the AmEx offer and bought 1k of OBC, plus our travel agent was offering free  prepaid gratuities. For some reason NCL wouldn’t allow him to add our Amex Cruise perks with the PPG  offer so he reached out to his BDM and they are covering the $200 OBC but we are not getting the free Le Bistro meal, which is ok with me since I’m getting pre paid grats.

We will also get $100 Stockholder OBC and a $25 OBC from the TA.

I plan to wait till day 2 onboard to upgrade our Internet packages and  will also purchase Vibe passes if they are available. They are sold out online so we are probably out of luck there. What I have left over may go toward more CN certificates.

Do you love saving money by spending money like me😜 Hey I was going to cruise anyway, saving a bit always helps!

 

[wilmingtech]

I'm interested to see if charges automatically come out of the non refundable OBC first or if it's random or if they take it out of the refundable OBC first.

 

We have a mix of OBC and honest none of it makes sense except for the shareholder OBC.  Our TA gave us 150 when we contracted with them and we were supposed to get another 50 from NCL (200 total plus 100 shareholder) but after Final Payment we had 250 from NCL.  So it'll be interesting to see if that is some of what our TA gave us or if we get more from the TA after we board.

 

We are on a plane now headed to Orlando.  We will see you at the M&M on Sunday.

Edited December 7, 2023 by wilmingtech

[RebekahTN]

Where do I go to look to see if the shareholder credit has been credited to my account. I mean what tab on the website would I need to look at? I clicked everything I can think of under my reservation and on the site, and don't see anywhere that I thought it would be.

[Stealthdog]

6 hours ago, justhappy said:

Do you love saving money by spending money like me😜 Hey I was going to cruise anyway, saving a bit always helps!

 

 

I'm with you.  If you are going to spend on a cruise anyways, may as well get the cash back! 🙂