Bklynjo

I too was on the same sailing. I stayed in the Haven and it was crowded compared to the Breakaway. I found out there are 30 more Haven rooms than the Breakaway. I was also told that the Bliss has less rooms because of the observation deck, which should make the Haven less crowded. The prices on the Bliss, (Haven Rooms) are also ridiculously priced. Anyway, it was a good cruise overall, and as far as those two ladies are concerned, set your watches 1/2 hour ahead of time so you won't miss the boat!

As usual an amazing review is headed our way. Well wishes to your mom for a speedy recovery!

We are booked in that room for our August sailing. Thanks for the preview!

I think you may be referring to the greater NY area which covers NJ and LI ( which is part of NY). Boston is considered in the New England area.Mid- Atlantic is the area that includes Virginia.

Yes, there are many good people in the greater NY area. Unfortunately, you may have encountered rude,demanding passengers on your cruise out of NYC, but those types of individuals can be encountered from all areas of the country and on cruises leaving from any port.

Enjoy your family cruise to Alaska on HAL.

I do hope you do not encounter any rude ,demanding passengers on that cruise .

PS I am a native of NYC ,now living on LI.

My family, friends and neighbors are neither rude or demanding 😀

Thanks for setting indykitten straight. I am also from NYC and still live here, and have been on the Breakaway several times out of NYC to Florida, Bahamas and Bermuda and I have encountered rude people from all over the country. Not every New Yorker is rude.

Read the queen of ugliness review. What a piece of work. Nasty is a really nice word for her. I would like to use some other choice words, but my mother raised me to be a lady. If I ever encounter her, I would probably kick her down a flight of stairs. Anyway, your review was soooo fantastic, I felt like I was on the cruise with you guys. You should get a medal from Norwegian for all the hard work you put into this cruise making it great for so many.

Just want to add a few more stupid questions.

1. How many fish are there on the carpet from your room to

the elevators?

2. Which shrimp was colder on your plate, the one on the right

or the one on the left?

3. What color eyes did the whale you encountered have?

4. When was Sue's purse made?

Great review, but some people ask the stupidest questions I've ever heard. Enjoy the rest of your cruise!

Anybody want to take this one for me?

No, I think you'd be pretty good answering it 😂.

Can't wait to read more and see more! Have a safe trip!

Reading a review like this makes me think of the expression:

 

"Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?"

 

I mean I could just about feel the bitterness emanating from my laptop's screen.

 

I've read many good and bad reviews, but this is the first one I feel I need to provide a breakdown.

 

So second NCL cruise but 33rd overall. Stayed in Haven both times ( Escape and Epic). Here's my take on the Good, Bad, and Ugly:

 

The Good:

Epic's Haven physically is superior to that of Escape. Well appointed and the addition of Posh is a plus. My Grandkids loved having the separate pool as you couldn't get near the main one.

Haven breakfasts were brilliant. All the choice you could want and REAL eggs, not the liquid stuff in the buffet.

NCL buys liquid eggs which are REAL eggs that have been pasteurized for safety and do not have any fillers or extra ingredients .

Haven lunch and dinner menus are always the same so that limits the number of times you may want to eat in the Epic Club but the food was generally better than any other dining venue on board.

The variety found on The Haven Restaurant menu for lunch and dinner was enough for me to decide that on future cruises, I will pass up the specialty dining package, in favor of all of my meals in The Haven.

Epic's Concierge was a big asset. Guided us to tenders, off ship at ports, and best of all, expedited disembarkation. Captain and staff were friendly and efficient. Kids enjoyed the Rock Wall and Toilet Bowl of Death! I enjoyed the Martini Bar.

 

The Bad:

The Premium unlimited wifi is a joke. Experienced a lot of down time and the speed was no better than normal cruddy ship wifi. I would not waste my $$ again.

Premium wifi is NOT faster than the unlimited wifi. Premium wifi allows for streaming services such as Netflix and Pandora, which are blocked from the unlimited package. NONE of the ship's internet offerings are intended to match 4G speeds found on land, and NCL never makes that claim.

It took 3 days for Bowen, the Concierge to get our free dinner at Le Bistro confirmed (AMEX benefit) despite having it posted on cruise record. He ended up having to call Miami to get it sorted.

Sounds like it did get sorted out and you received your benefit. I'm sure you would have told us in your post if the 3 day delay caused you to completely re-arrange your dinner reservations.

Venues outside Haven were a scrum.

Scrum? Is that good, bad or ugly? That's a sports reference that I couldn't relate to the venues. Even a lookup in The Urban Dictionary --which has such entries as "dutch oven" and "sticky maple"-- pointed out the sports reference. Oh ... wait... there is another definition for scrum in the Urban Dictionary, but surely that couldn't be what you mean.

As others have noted, the lack of midship elevators definitely slowed down using the forward and aft ones.

It is what it is. Easily solved with a few cocktails after Muster Drill before attempting a ride to the room, or simply adding an extra 10 minutes to a point to point plan that requires an elevator.

Dinner in Le Bistro was very good and worth going although the Dover Sole was a little overcooked.

Did you send it back if it wasn't to your liking, or did you at least say something to the waitstaff? None of us here reading this can cook another one for you.

Cagney's also very good. Both times our waiter announced that we could only get 1 app and 1 entree. Both times I replied , "I know you have to say that but we will order extra apps". No problem and no charge.

 

 

Seems like the staff is trained to inform guests of this. That you were subjected to the back and forth you describe, did it spoil the meal or your evening?

 

 

 

On Escape, there was fruited ice water and M&M's available poolside every day. On Epic, they apparently abandoned ship.

 

 

Did you mention it to your butler or the concierge team? Possibly they could have offered the items, an alternative, or an explanation as to why not.

The Ugly:

I expected La Cucina, being a specialty restaurant, to be much better than it was.

I wouldn't characterize any of NCL's food outlets to be "fine dining" restaurants. I've had nice experiences in La Cucina with good food, but it's not high end. NCL caters to the mass market.

Wife and I had the Branzino and it was so overcooked it was inedible. Pasta was as far from al dente as you could get.

Again, did you send it back and ask for something that was edible, or did you just take notes to share this in your review? The dining room staff in specialty restaurants on NCL are RESPONSIVE. When I only ate about 15% of my crab cakes appetizer in Ocean Blue, the waiter probed to find is something was wrong. I told him they just were not good crab cakes. He offered to bring a different appetizer which I declined stating my entree would be enough. He still informed the dining room manager who also inquired with me. NCL does seem to take extra care and effort to ensure guests are satisfied.

Avoid the free Chinese venue, Shanghai, at all costs. Egg roll starters came out burnt -seriously, burned and hard as a rock. I would be embarrassed to serve such. Fried Rice was OK but the Chow Fun was a gloppy congealed mess that did not use Chow Fun noodles. Best thing about it was the Azuki Bean and Chestnut pastries with Green Tea ice cream.

More food fails. Poor thing! How much weight did you lose during the cruise, as it seems you were deprived of a good meal?

No lobster anywhere, not even for an upcharge??

Perhaps too many people complained their lobster was burnt or mushy or inedible.

And why, in this day and age, does NCL still allow smoking in the open air Casino?

Simply because NCL doesn't want to impede their most important revenue stream on the ship by shooing away players self-sedated with nicotine. I'm a non-smoker, and hate cigarette smoke, but I know they'll never ban smoking in the casino.

We sat down to lunch at Taste one afternoon and had to leave due to the overpowering smell of cigarette smoke.

Sounds like hyperbole to me!

I'm a former smoker, and if someone wants to prematurely end their life, that's their business. Just don't try to take me with you.

 

So, overall, ship was well appointed, food needs some serious work, and Haven is the only way I would ever sail NCL but they need to step it up on their menus and provide different ones during the cruise as Princess and Celebrity now do. There are many other choices out there with better food such as Celebrity, Princess, and now MSC. As always, YMMV.

 

Really.... it just doesn't sound like the NCL model is for you.

I'm a former smoker too, the smoke doesn't bother me. I wonder if he/she who wrote the review worried when they smoked if they affected anyone else around them. I stay in the Haven when I cruise. If I have a problem I state to the appropriate person/persons, politely, that I am not satisfied and never had a problem having it corrected. Happy sailing!

Don't they use plastic cups? Why get rid of straws when you are using plastic cups. Makes no sense to me.

The Haven is Heaven!

The Haven is Heaven!

Did they really do away with food voucher for Platinum members?

Do you honestly think it was only NCLs ship that was affected? I don't think so....

We sail every year the second week in August to Bermuda. The weather is beautiful. I travel with my daughter, her husband and their two sons ages 5 and 11. There are a lot of families on board. All age groups. We've never had a bad time.

Was this a winter sailing? If it is a winter sailing, the kids probably can't go into the other pools on the ship or enjoy the water slides. We travel with my grandsons and stay in the Haven. They rather be on the water slides and ropes course then spend time in the Haven pool.

Hi. I am traveling with my 2 kids and DMIL. She will be staying in the second bedroom because she likes her privacy. How comfortable (or not?) is the second bedroom bed? I have read you can get an egg crate but wondering how it is with that? I am driving to the port so I could bring a mattress topper. I could also stay in there with my daughter and my son is staying in the living room. I would just rather if we can make the bed comfortable since it’s only her in that bedroom for her to stay in there. She is also paying a little less than 1/4 also.

Thank you!

Ah, the joys of cruising with some of the entitled idiots from NY. Most are fine but the bad ones from NY are worse than anywhere else, IMHO of course.

How do you know they were from New York?

Ah, the joys of cruising with some of the entitled idiots from NY. Most are fine but the bad ones from NY are worse than anywhere else, IMHO of course.

Who said they were from New York?

A recent fellow cruiser who just returned from a trip posted on another forum that Ocean Blue will be replacing Bayamo on the Escape. Is it true?

A fellow cruiser in another forum recently returned from a week onboard the Escape. She heard that Ocean Blue will be replacing Bayamo. Has anyone heard about this or have additional information about the possible timing?"

I stay in the Haven and I've seen people being shown around by one of the crew. Whoever told you that, shame on them.

Were thinking of booking April 22 Escape to Bermuda. I'm just concerned about the weather 70's? Has anyone been to Bermuda in early Spring? We have done Breakaway to Bermuda July 2015 it was awesome.

Been on the Breakaway to Bermuda in the middle of May. It was beautiful weather, slightly on the cool side. No rain, but if we have an early spring/summer, the weather might be warmer. Happy sailings ⚓️

187 days until we Escape on the Escape. Bermuda, here we come!

$280 for the week. Very convenient. End of cruise porter will take your luggage up to the roof. Only cars sailing on that cruise will be allowed up there. Once you sail, it is closed off to any other parking. Done it numerous time, no problems.