Revised Escape itinerary 11/04/17, 11/25/17, and 12/09/17

We're on the 12/2 sailing and not overly excited with that itinerary. I'm not gonna let it ruin the vacation for me but would have much rather gone to Cozumel or Costa Maya than Jamaica......again. Also, we were just in Grand Cayman in July. Oh well. Desperate times call for desperate measures and I'm sure NCL is doing the best they can. Hard to please all the people all the time.

On the bright side, at least all food and drinks at Great Stirrup are covered ( with the drink package of course) as opposed to Harvest Cay!

* sometimes it's the little things that have the silver lining.

**Okay, yeah, that itinerary is growing on me. I really feel for the 11/18 folks.

For those of you who are going to Costa Maya (November 18), you may see glowing reviews for day resorts Tropicante and Maya Chan.

I feel both are quite flawed.

Maya Chan is expensive, and the water is murky and FULL of sea grass. So you're not going to have a nice beachgoing experience. Sure, the service is great, and I guess it's great if you want to get hammered on alcohol, but you should skip this expensive tourist trap if you want a nice beach experience.

Tropicante is free and the owner is a nice guy. You can get cheap massages and fairly cheap food, and it sits on a beach without as much of a sea grass problem. However, that's where the positives end. The beach is just a little strip sandwiched in between other "resorts", and the whole area is very crowded. The water, while a lot clearer than that at Maya Chan, still has a bit of a sea grass problem, gets deep quickly, and has no fish. The food is mediocre, the kitchen gets orders wrong, and the massage girl (at least the one we had) acts disinterested. So it's cheap, but you get what you pay for. Oh, and there's a ton of pollution in the ocean about 1/3 mile down the road, so there's also that.

If forced to go to Costa Maya again, I wouldn't go to either place.

1174 5 Star Reviews for Maya Chan...........Been there twice and loved it. Seaweed is hit or miss, something they have no control over. The outer reef had lots of coral and fish. I don't consider $50 expensive for all you can drink if your into that, a great lunch and taxi ride there and back

Saturday - Miami, Florida 4:00

Sunday - At sea

Monday - Falmouth, Jamaica 9:00 - 6:00

Tuesday - George Town, Grand Cayman 8:00 - 4:00

Wednesday - Cozumel, Mexico 11:00- 7:00

Thursday - At sea

Friday - Great Stirrup Cay, Bahamas 8:00 - 5:00

Saturday - Miami, Florida 7:00

I just called and verified that this is indeed the itinerary for the 11/4 sailing. I'm just glad it's not the same itinerary as my Western Caribbean cruise in March (Getaway) - not that it's bad, I just wanted to see something different.

SUPER JEALOUS of all you going to Costa Maya and can visit Maya Chan!

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1174 5 Star Reviews for Maya Chan...........Been there twice and loved it. Seaweed is hit or miss, something they have no control over. The outer reef had lots of coral and fish. I don't consider $50 expensive for all you can drink if your into that, a great lunch and taxi ride there and back

How can you see the fish in the murky water?

Nearly everyone I've talked to about Costa Maya concedes that the water is cloudy and the sea grass is a problem. I'm not blaming them for this, but it's just not a good beach.

The $50 is fine for a single person and maybe a couple, but is pretty expensive for a family.

Perhaps I'm biased because I don't drink.

I just don't see the point of visiting a beach day resort if the beach isn't very good.

I love ports where I can either see the natural sights of the location, interact with the locals, or both. I've never been a big fan of tourist traps.

To each his own, I guess.

How can you see the fish in the murky water?

 

Nearly everyone I've talked to about Costa Maya concedes that the water is cloudy and the sea grass is a problem. I'm not blaming them for this, but it's just not a good beach.

 

The $50 is fine for a single person and maybe a couple, but is pretty expensive for a family.

 

Perhaps I'm biased because I don't drink.

 

I just don't see the point of visiting a beach day resort if the beach isn't very good.

 

I love ports where I can either see the natural sights of the location, interact with the locals, or both. I've never been a big fan of tourist traps.

 

To each his own, I guess.

In your opinion its a tourist trap, to many its a nice day at a private uncrowded resort. Your just going to love the new Harvest Cay:'):'):') And yes, I would much rather go to Belize City than HC

We are on the 12/2 Escape. Any idea when they will change the online info so we can see what excursions will be offered?

Not happy. Worst case scenario. Why not Costa Maya, Roatan? Ugh.

I agree! I was hoping for St. Lucia or Barbados., I'll see you at the bar:beer-toast:

Yesterday the website showed all of these itineraries based on the dates listed with "photo coming soon" above. It was only up for a few minutes and then it went back to the listing that shows the original ports. Looks like they are working on it and should have it sorted out fairly soon. We are on the Jan 13th sailing and haven't heard anything yet.

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me too! We are on the Escape 11/04/17.

We are also on Escape 11/4!

I am soooooo upset with NCL!!! This is the crappiest itinerary they could have come up with. Why could you just made our the same as you did for the people in October which is a much better itinerary. Jamaica is the armpit of the Caribbean. That is why I stopped booking any cruises with that stop. I wanted to go to Harvest Cay or Costa Maya. Your Stirrup Cay sucks big time as there is nothing to do, no swimming pool, no shade and you have to tender. I will never book an NCL cruise again. I am so sorry that I booked this cruise they just ruined my vacation!

I am soooooo upset with NCL!!! This is the crappiest itinerary they could have come up with. Why could you just made our the same as you did for the people in October which is a much better itinerary. Jamaica is the armpit of the Caribbean. That is why I stopped booking any cruises with that stop. I wanted to go to Harvest Cay or Costa Maya. Your Stirrup Cay sucks big time as there is nothing to do, no swimming pool, no shade and you have to tender. I will never book an NCL cruise again. I am so sorry that I booked this cruise they just ruined my vacation!

WOW, are you serious? Good, go back to Carnival - lol. Sorry I can't help throwing shade... the audacity of some people.

So here's the thing, you can't blame people for being disappointed with the change...you book a cruise based on the ship and the itinerary, so it's not surprising that when the ports of call changed, people get mad. It is what it is, but that's not going to stop people from coming to boards like this to complain.

I'm personally not mad, but I am disappointed. We do not go on vacation a lot and our funds are very limited. It just so happened that we were on the Getaway in March with the kids (we got talked into taking a cruise with friends), and we loved the cruise so much, we booked another one for our 20th wedding anniversary here in November (just the hubby and I). We really wanted to visit Atlantis! Maybe someday we can take a trip there, but we have already paid for this cruise and goddammit, we are going! (LOL) Again, although I loved Harvest Caye and Costa Maya, I'm glad we are seeing different parts of the Caribbean (Really, Great Stirrup Cay doesn't have a pool???? MAN!). Another thing that stinks is now I have to re-plan everything with only 43 days left, so look for me to ask a lot of questions in other threads!

Wondering why so many consider these ports as "armpits of Caribbean"??? We stopped at Falmouth on our first Celebrity Cruise three years ago. We went to a small beach club and it was amazing!! Grand Cayman is one of my favorite places as well. I have enjoyed Cozumel both times we went, and Costa Maya was enjoyable too! I never felt I was in danger in any of these ports. Have things changed that much in three years for Jamaica?

Wondering why so many consider these ports as "armpits of Caribbean"??? We stopped at Falmouth on our first Celebrity Cruise three years ago. We went to a small beach club and it was amazing!! Grand Cayman is one of my favorite places as well. I have enjoyed Cozumel both times we went, and Costa Maya was enjoyable too! I never felt I was in danger in any of these ports. Have things changed that much in three years for Jamaica?

I don't have a problem with any of the ports especially given recent events.

Hi Chris! Off topic here but what made you choose Norwegian over Celebrity for your next cruise? Just curious :-)

I don't have a problem with any of the ports especially given recent events.

 

Hi Chris! Off topic here but what made you choose Norwegian over Celebrity for your next cruise? Just curious :-)

Thanks for the input!!

This will be our first cruise with our kids. (Also my parents and sisters family with younger kids) We have been spoiled with Celebrity (Aqua all three times) so trying not to set expectations too high. I really like what I've seen and read about the Escape. We felt like there wouldn't be enough to keep the kids entertained on a Celebrity ship, especially the younger ones. We'll see. It's a vacation, so I'm sure everyone will have a great time!! We all booked mini suites, but it will be interesting sharing the room with 2 teenage boys!!

Wondering why so many consider these ports as "armpits of Caribbean"??? We stopped at Falmouth on our first Celebrity Cruise three years ago. We went to a small beach club and it was amazing!! Grand Cayman is one of my favorite places as well. I have enjoyed Cozumel both times we went, and Costa Maya was enjoyable too! I never felt I was in danger in any of these ports. Have things changed that much in three years for Jamaica?

Some people are just dramatic. Something like this gives them a stage and the drama queen comes out.

Wondering why so many consider these ports as "armpits of Caribbean"??? We stopped at Falmouth on our first Celebrity Cruise three years ago. We went to a small beach club and it was amazing!! Grand Cayman is one of my favorite places as well. I have enjoyed Cozumel both times we went, and Costa Maya was enjoyable too! I never felt I was in danger in any of these ports. Have things changed that much in three years for Jamaica?

Hi Chrisfromco! Do you remember the name of the beach club you went to in Jamaica? Also, what did you do in Grand Cayman? We're going to make the most of this changed itinerary!

Hi Chrisfromco! Do you remember the name of the beach club you went to in Jamaica? Also, what did you do in Grand Cayman? We're going to make the most of this changed itinerary!

Hey! It's called Bamboo Beach Club. It's in Ocho Rios. We had a fairly long bus ride from Falmouth arranged by Celebrity. Very friendly attentive staff. It included lunch and drinks. The beach was beautiful!! You can find reviews for them on Tripadvisor. We've done Stingray City and snorkeling twice in Grand Cayman. The last time was with Captain Marvin's on our own. Great guys. Highly recommend them! Again, you can find them on Tripadvisor.

We are also on 12/9 and not heard, I imagine we will hear this week?

Hi Chrisfromco! Do you remember the name of the beach club you went to in Jamaica? Also, what did you do in Grand Cayman? We're going to make the most of this changed itinerary!

I second Stingray City in Grand Cayman. I've never been to Falmouth, Jamaica but have stopped in Ocho Rios several times. Do the vendors swarm on you in Falmouth? That is why I am turned off with Jamaica. If our cruise goes to Falmouth, what is usually offered for excursions there?