TonyFred

Yes, you pay 18% gratuities on the Beverage and dining pkgs. It is in plain print and has been discussed many many times on here.

Anything in particular on the Food Republic and District Brew House that sealed the fate of the Getaway?

 

 

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The 2 venues really complimented each other. They are on deck 8, port and starboard across from each other. They both are window intense and there are great views, while they have a very intimate feel to them. The beer in the Brew House was really good and was covered by the UBP. You could order food from the Republic while in the Brew House.

As far as food, the pork belly was amazing...very flavorful and cooked perfectly. We tried a lot of things and didnt find anything we didnt like. The staff was great and very helpful. They had singalongs, trivia, etc in the brew house each night.

Did you have any kids/teens with you? If so, what did they like about the escape. We are booked on it for next year but not sure if we want to keep the reservation.

No sorry, both of mine are grown and werent on the cruise. I know the ropes course and water slides are a big draw for the teen crowd.

We were on the NCL Escape Halloween cruise this year and enjoyed it so much we have rebooked her for next October. Wanted to do Halloween again but chose the Oct 14, 2017 cruise for the Western Itinerary so we can check out Harvest Caye.

The Food Republic and District Brew House was enough to win us over from booking the Getaway Halloween cruise that also does the Western in 2017.

Both are great ships but the Escape wins hands down overall. Best cruise experience overall out of the 13 I have been on.

So, only 323 days to go!

Thanks for taking the time to post! Over 20 of us sail on Escape this coming Saturday! I was glad to see you mentioned the 80's night. One of my sisters really lead the group in making sure we got to this event. We all have our 80's outfits lined up... PLEASE tell me we won't be the only ones in 80's gear! LOL No matter... we'll have a ton of fun either way. The drink package will make sure of that. ;)

You are going to be so glad you dressed up! That party was a BLAST!

Heres a short video montage from the party on our recent Halloween cruise.

I guess Scott moved right after our Oct 29th Escape cruise. I found him to be great CD. He and Andre had a lot of chemistry. I normally dont even pay that much attention to the CD but those 2 really stood out to me. They were great at the 70s and 80s party up on H2O.

The drill will be held around 430 pm. If you cant make it there is makeup drill the next day. I really liked getting the drill out of the way long before sailaway.

Make sure you have your NCL card and a photo ID. You will need them to get back on.

I take it you havent been on this forum in a while. This has been discussed to death.

Thanks for all the reply's! I was fearing we would end up with dozens of receipts.

No paper receipts anymore if you have the UBP. Thank goodness.

You ever been up in there? 'Cause I've spent many an hour with ceiling panels down, and have crawled up into the space, so guess what, there is plenty of space. But believe what you want.

Then obviously it was done just so passengers would stub their toes.

1. The good ones will introduce themselves. Yes, leave notes if you have specific requests

 

2. With a Ship's excursion, they will ALWAYS wait for your return.

 

3. Any plastic card will keep the "juice' on in the cabin while you are gone. Remember that also keeps a light outside your cabin on, that will keep the cabin steward from entering...thinking you are in there.

Correct except for number 3. There is a switch near the door that indicates whether you are in, do not disturb or makeup room. You simply select which one applies. Dont think the card in the slot has anything to do with it.

We will be on the Escape February 2017 with our two children (4 and 9 years old). Wondering if the shows aboard the Escape are kid-friendly. I assume that the late night ones are not.

The Brat Pack is not kid friendly. Not sure about After Midnight.

Sailed both and would sail either again. The Food Republic and District Brew House would sway me towards Escape. We loved both of those venues.

Ask your room steward for a pitcher.

I asked mine last week and he said I would have to order it from room service. I drank the water from the bathroom faucet and survived just fine.

There are machines in both Miami terminals. (very surprising considering the crackdown on bringing soft drinks and water on board).

I believe the cost was 2 dollars and there was a wide selection. They are the multilevel machines that hold a a lot of bottles.

As stated there are no more security checks after you are in the terminal and no problem bringing them onboard in a carryon.

If you are a beach person, Jost Van Dyke is as pretty a place as I have ever seen. NCL offers "Escape to Jost Van Dyke". First class excursion. I have taken it twice and will again the next time I visit Tortola.

The food on the Escape and Getaway was better overall than any I have had on my RCCL cruises. In particular the buffet offers a much better variety and quality of food. Cagneys is consistently the best overall restaurant I have eaten at on any cruise ship. Of course these are strictly my opinions and others will think differently.

It is located midway between the couch and bed. Yes it can be angled either way.

You can buy water and Coke products from the vending machine in the cruise terminal and put them in your carryon. There are no bag checks between there and your cabin. I did it last week. Only needed one bottle of water as the ship's water was fine to refill it as needed. I threw a couple of Diet Cokes in for good measure.

We were able to get into all of the shows that we wanted to see last week by simply showing up, even though most were listed as sold out. Once onboard you can go to the Theater box office to secure reservations though.

Had the Australian Double pork chop last Thursday on the Escape. Best meal I have had in 13 cruises. AMAZING.

Had the New York strip last Sunday and it wasnt quite as good as what I have had in the past in Cagneys. But the apps and starters were still great.

No room for dessert here either.

It's PER bottle?

 

Also, if we buy bottles (of any alcoholic type), in ports that we are visiting; do they get taken when we come back onto the ship? Do we get them when when disembark the final day?

Yes it is per bottle. And it only applies to wine. No other alcohol allowed.

If you buy alcohol in the ports they will hold until the night before you depart.

You must have made that redemption under older rules.

 

The current redemption rates for cash/statement credit are:

 

0 to 9,999 points - 0.5 cent per point

10,000 to 24,999 - 0.8 cent per point

> 25,000 points - 1.0 cent per point

I just redeemed 15000 points for 150 dollars onboard credit for my 10/29 Escape cruise. Redeemed less than a month ago.

Take care of that ship! I leave next Thursday to board her on 10/29. We will be the ones smiling in line, watching all of the sad faces on the folks departing.