Which is a better deal for Escape cruise ?

I am on the Escape 5/13--20 Western Caribbean.

Just looking for opinions.

Right now I have selected the $50 onboard credits for up to 3 excursions.

I also chose the 250 web minutes.

I am told I can switch if I want

So I am wondering if doing the specialty dining (assuming I would use it) is a better deal?

and keeping the web minutes?

I don't have personal experience yet because our trip is in June but I chose the excursions and dining partially because I heard the internet is slow. Plus, I sort of prefer to stay out of touch for a while on vacation, but that's just me. And seeing some of the specialty dining options had me intrigued. There's a lot to choose from. I figured that would add more to my vacation experience than internet anyways.

I am on the Escape 5/13--20 Western Caribbean.

Just looking for opinions.

Right now I have selected the $50 onboard credits for up to 3 excursions.

I also chose the 250 web minutes.

I am told I can switch if I want

So I am wondering if doing the specialty dining (assuming I would use it) is a better deal?

and keeping the web minutes?

Well, really only you can decide what's more important to you. But in my opinion, the specialty dining is a more useful package. On the other hand, you don't sound like you're sure you'd use it, so.....

I am on the Escape 5/13--20 Western Caribbean.

Just looking for opinions.

Right now I have selected the $50 onboard credits for up to 3 excursions.

I also chose the 250 web minutes.

I am told I can switch if I want

So I am wondering if doing the specialty dining (assuming I would use it) is a better deal?

and keeping the web minutes?

I'd get the specialty dining. NCL Escape now has really good pricing on some internet packages (like $5/day for social packages which I would use) which I think makes this promo not worth much at all. FWIW we picked the UBP and SDP for our cruise in September. We are not huge drinkers, but for the tips of $99 ea that is like 1 drink a day to make it worth while.

Have you priced out the different options? If there were no promos, decide which extras would you actually purchase and start there. Price up a few scenarios and pick the cheapest one for you.

I'm going on a solo cruise in October. The drink plan sounds nice but I rarely drink alcohol. I'd rather have specialty dinning. I priced up my cost if I selected option 1: drink plan as promo and adding specialty dining and compared that with option 2: specialty dining as promo and adding unlimited soda plan. Since I'm not much of a drinker option 2 was like $100 less. I can pay for a few alcoholic drinks and still come out ahead.

I'm only doing one excursion so the $50 per port wasn't worth it to me.

I think I am leaning away from the credit for excursions because I don't really see 3 that would appeal to me any way. I might do a parasail some where but the rest are all kind of redundant anyway

Thanx for the feedback

I tend to always book independent excursions, and it's rare the $50 credit would cover the full price of one of the ship ones, so you might end up having to pay some out of pocket.

I love all of the specialty dinning options on NCL, so would choose that every time!

my wife and I are on this cruise also we took the dining and beverage package (not big drinkers but you can get soft drinks with it) and we liked the lebistro and cagneys on the getaway last year. for a couple of special evening meals we also have a very active roll call for this cruise with a lot of fun activities planned (slot pull is a waiting list ) join us if you want

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2332300

My family and I are also on the May 13th sailing....the Escape has new internet packages Social Chat for $35, Basic for $189 and Premium for $245....so Internet perk is only worth it if you are using it for more than social media!!!

We found that booking private excursions were cheaper than NCL even with the $50 perk!!

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I don't drink at all, but found the UBP very useful. All drinks are included, I had the non-alcoholic beverages and Pepsi products.

i am a picky eater so i never bothered with the specialty dining but on my last escape cruise i decided to go for it and have some steak at Cagneys. Well if you like steak, get the dining package cause their steaks are amazing!! The gratuity is cheap on this one. I did a back to back so i took the shore excursion credits the other week because i wanted to do the Baths while in Tortola and being a short day i decided to do the ship excursion so figured why not take the shore excursion credit to make it cheaper. It was a great excursion. In St Thomas i did the st john beach and snorkel and that beach was amazing! And in Nassau I did Athol Island snorkel. Also a good excursion. I normally do my own thing but i felt these were worth it Cost me around $60 total for all three with the credit and the 10% off for being gold. Depends what you like but i thought this was worth the $60 out of pocket it cost me. If i did the baths on my own and trunk bay in st john on my own and a snorkel trip booked on shore it would be more than $60. Just my thoughts.

100% agree, the internet is horrid. Skip it, get the dining package. It really does add to the trip. We also tend to get the beverage package as well... but that is more of a personal choice.

I don't have personal experience yet because our trip is in June but I chose the excursions and dining partially because I heard the internet is slow. Plus, I sort of prefer to stay out of touch for a while on vacation, but that's just me. And seeing some of the specialty dining options had me intrigued. There's a lot to choose from. I figured that would add more to my vacation experience than internet anyways.

I would never do the internet package. You can find free WIFI at the ports if need be. Unless for some reason you feel the need to be super connected. I would do the beverage package and SDP. You won't probably have much for an on board account. The $50 excursion credit doesn't appeal to me either.

We did the UBP and SDP. But it's not worth doing those if they aren't worth the service fee to you. It only takes about 1 drink a day to equal the cost of the UBP service charge so we got our money's worth there. We really liked having the SDP also. If the UBP wasn't worthwhile to me I probably would have picked internet - though with the new internet packages it does make that a little less valuable. For me the shore excursion has the least value. We never use ship shore excursions. Plus usually you are booking two people per cabin on the same excursion so it's really only a $25 pp credit; can almost always beat that savings by just doing something on your own.

$50 per port per cabin doesn't cover anything as far as excursions are concerned -- even if you are a solo cruiser! The dining plan is more worthwhile. We chose the UBP and the SDP for our "Free at Sea" promos, but we have also cruised Carnival and RC and bought the drink packages because it would unusual for us to have a bar tab under $1000 on a cruise.

While it is a matter of choice, I don't see the value in the excursion credit. Most excursions cost between 75 and 125 each. Using $100 as the average and assuming that you are traveling as a couple, you will have to spend about $150 to avail yourself of the credit. And since the credit is $50 per port, it will cost you $150 each time you use it. I vote UBP and SDP but, no matter what you choose, you will have a great time.

Love the NCL speciality dining, much better than the regular. The shore excursion is only worth it if you plan to do one in each port, and it's only 50 per cabin not person. We almost always book off ship so this would be of no value to us. It is all what you find important. For us, NOT being connected to the web and our kids away from their phone is a plus on a ship. And remember if you take the drink package you still pay the tips on them, so for the alcohol package it's a couple hundred easy pp. in tips. Worth it if you drink a lot. NCL drinks are more expensive that I have found on other lines.