Never been before

Hi guys,

Never been in a cruise before, me (29m & 23 F) we are from Edinburgh and having a vacation in Orlando. We are totally Scottish and would love to know about any tips you have about Miami and Orlando and of course aboard the grand NCL Escape.

Are you planning on spending several days in Orlando prior to or after your cruise? (Miami and Orlando are 236 miles apart.) Give us more details of what you are planning and like to do and we can advise in more detail.

We have 3 days to absorb what some of what Orlando has to have to have to offer, then we are off on the cruise and then another 4 days in orlando. We are doing the whole "theme park" thing. I am a bit of a beer geek so I'll try to try get a few bars/breweries in too

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Hi - not certain what type of information you are desiring.

On the Florida Departures board on Cruise Critic you should be able to find more information about Orlando and Miami.

Florida Departures board:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=495

What are your interests in Orlando? Is it a port stop or are you planning to spend extra time there? DH and I spend 5 days in Orlando at Universal Studios and didn't begin to see everything. And that is just one of the many attractions available in Orlando.

This is a link to posts about the Escape on the NCL Board.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/search/norwegian/escape

Have a wonderful cruise.

P.S. This looks like the first thread you have ever started - a tip for future threads - if you are a bit more specific in your heading, i.e. "Questions about NCL Escape and Miami & Orlando" you might get a better view to response ratio.

Disboards.com

When did you book and when are you going?

Dollar rate is rubbish just now - pre paying grats and buying OBC is right now, a win deal for most of us.

If you booked when say the $ to £ rate was near the 1.5 - you can buy on board credit at that rate instead of the current 1.2 whatever it is just now. I just bought a load of OBC the other day at 1.46 - - much better than getting cash at the bank or travel agents.

Prepaying your grats are £8.50 pppd as opposed to 13.5$ per day on board.

What free perks did you get? If you got the drinks package, note we do not pay the 18% that the USA does - it is in fact - a free perk for we UKers. Not sure what craft beers they have on board NCL (if any?).

Leave the kilt at home - Freestyle has no formal nights. Just "Dress up or not" nights.

There will be a white hot or glow party- up on deck - good wee night out :)

SPA? Passes go on sale 100 days in for suites, 90 days for mere morsels.

I'm not sure about Vibe(?) for Escape - someone else will fill you in on that.

Have a great cruise!

We have 3 days to absorb what some of what Orlando has to have to have to offer, then we are off on the cruise and then another 4 days in orlando. We are doing the whole "theme park" thing. I am a bit of a beer geek so I'll try to try get a few bars/breweries in too

 

 

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I would suggest spending the 3 days in Orlando at either Disneyworld or Universal Studios - not both - not enough time. Stay in a hotel on sight as this will include transportation throughout the entire Disneyworld resort area including hotels and theme parks and also gets you early entry to the parks. At Disneyworld you want a park hopper pass to be able to move between the parks for example you might spend the day in the Magic Kingdom and then that night have dinner in Epcot or get on a bus and go to one of the other hotels to have dinner - Boma at Animal Kingdom Lodge is awesome or if you want something fancy - Jiko. At any rate, read up on all the great restaurants in all the parks and make reservations in advance. Plan on one day in each park you might visit. The more thrilling rides at Disneyworld are in Disney's Hollywood Studios (tower of terror, Rock'n'Roller Coaster. The more classic rides (Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain, Space Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean) are in the Magic Kingdom. Strongly recommend very comfortable shoes with supportive soles for this adventure! We like the Port Orleans resort or if we want to pay more, the Animal Kingdom lodge. The most important thing to beware of is don't walk near bodies of water such as lakes or water hazards on golf courses in Disneyworld or Universal Studios as there are alligators all over Florida - even in these tourist attractions.

Alcohol is served throughout Disneyworld and Universal Studios. You might like the Big River Grille and Brewing Works at the Boardwalk Resort (near Epcot) or you might enjoy the Rose and Crown Pub in Epcot.

Universal Studios has the more thrilling/more adult rides than Disney, so if you are looking for some really great roller coasters and really advanced 3D technology, you might prefer Universal Studios. I would stay at one of their hotels as well. It might be cheaper to stay offsite, but you lose time going from your resort to Universal Studios. Universal Studios is 2 theme parks and then 2 water parks. You could spend a day at each theme park and then another day at one of the water parks. They have nice hotels within Universal Studios such as Royal Pacific, HardRock and Portofino - I recommend choosing one of these as they include not only transportation to the parks and early entry but also skip the line - which will save you a ton of time!

In Miami, the place to go is Miami Beach. This is a very happening area with lots of clubs and, of course, beautiful Miami Beach. The Fontainebleau is the classic place to stay. It is expensive but it has a buy 2 nights, get the 3rd night free deal going on. You can easily walk from the Fontainebleau to any other part of Miami Beach including South Beach. BTW, the Fontainebleau was the hotel used in the move "The Bodyguard". But if you are not beach people, then I would suggest you stay at the Epic Hotel in Miami which is very awesome! It's a very new hotel with great rooms and excellent service and the sushi restaurant (reservations required) is one of the best in the world. Typically, the thing to do in Miami is take a land tour and a boat tour of Biscayne Bay and an Everglades Tour:

https://www.viator.com/tours/Miami/Miami-Combo-Tour-City-Sightseeing-Biscayne-Bay-Cruise-and-Everglades-Airboat-Ride/d662-5408COMBO

This will acquaint you with the area on your first day and then you can decide what you want to do be it clubbing in South Beach or shopping at Dolphin Mall or going to beach or seeing little Havana and trying Cuban food.

We have 3 days to absorb what some of what Orlando has to have to have to offer, then we are off on the cruise and then another 4 days in orlando. We are doing the whole "theme park" thing. I am a bit of a beer geek so I'll try to try get a few bars/breweries in too

 

 

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I'm assuming you have round trip tickets from Orlando, and that's why you are going there before and after. Were you going to rent a car and drive back and forth with Miami? I don't know if you have booked accommodations or not, but if you haven't, I'd suggest doing your 3 pre-cruise days in Miami, then the 4 post days in Orlando. There's not 7 days worth of stuff to do in Orlando, and they really aren't close enough together to do day trips back and forth.

Def do one of the everglades boat tours in Miami, there's also several hop on/hop off buses, south beach, interesting architecture, etc.

Unless you have small kids or are a Disney fan, I'd def recommend Universal for Orlando. Very cool theme-ing, more adult rides and atmosphere. Universal has two parks so you can get a 2 day combo ticket and do both and then Sea World.

One day, do Epcot Center (Part of Disneyworld)....they have "beers from around the world"! Hubby tried them all!!

Also...get a guidebook on both Universal and Disney...there is so much to do in each, knowing what is important to you will really help you maximize your time in each park!

Some really good replies here! Especially since I gave you all basically no info!

Definitely want to go to universal studios and my other half really wants to try the Harry Potter theme park. My main goal is beer, sun and some rollercoasters!

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How do you plan to get from Orlando to Miami and back ? It is apx 3 1/2 hr drive. If you rent a car make sure you find out about Sunpass for the toll roads or you may be in for sticker shock

I think Universal is your best bet as they have Harry Potter and the best rollercoasters (IMHO) You can purchase a ticket to both and travel between the 2 parks. DH and I did do both these parks in 1 LONG day but is doable, though not on a weekend.

Feel free to ask more specific questions

I think we are going to fly to Miami and I am not sure about the way back.

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Some really good replies here! Especially since I gave you all basically no info!

 

Definitely want to go to universal studios and my other half really wants to try the Harry Potter theme park. My main goal is beer, sun and some rollercoasters!

 

 

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Harry Potter is in Universal. Universal contains 2 parks and there are many ticket options available. Go to the Universal website to get more details. You will need 2 full days to finish both parks depending what time of year you are going. There is also a crowd calendar for Universal to help you determine this. It's great fun I would suggest going there!

I think we are going to fly to Miami and I am not sure about the way back.

If you are OK with driving on the wrong side of the road, you can rent a car in Orlando and drop it off at Miami International Airport. Some of the car rental agencies have a free shuttle bus to the Port of Miami. That same free shuttle bus can pick you up after your cruise if you have a car reserved for the final days. When we did this National Rental Car had this available.

If you want to see Disneyworld as well as Universal (Wizarding World of Harry Potter), then you could easily spend all of your days in Orlando and still not see it all. If Disney doesn't matter as much to you then splitting your time between Miami and Orlando makes sense. Having a car in either city is convenient.

Well, definitely check out the District Brewhouse once you're onboard, if you like beer. They have a better selection than any bar on any other NCL ship I've ever been on.

From Orlando to Miami, a cheap option would be Amtrak, at around $35 per person if you buy far enough in advance. It will take longer than driving or flying, but you won't have to deal with the hassle of an airport, and you'd be able to do some scenery watching on the way. Pretty cheap too. Of course, Amtrak is frequently running late, but if you want a unique experience, it can get the job done.

We used Uber to get around Miami—it was very convenient.

Miami Beach would be a great place to stay. We stayed in the Brickell area, and it was nice, but we liked Miami Beach better when we got to visit it.

The Escape is a fantastic ship. Have a great time!