yoohoo97

Thanks for an honest and great review. I'm sailing Encore in August and was worried about the lack of deck space, my wife and I love spiceH20 and do spend most of our time during the day on the waterfront so at least we'll have that. We'll miss the parties at night in spice though.

Spa pass is worth every penny, as long as there is a thermal suite on board, we will definitely buy the spa passes

Never sailed Breakaway but did sail the Getaway. Bliss only opens around 10-10:30 for the late night dance party. It's essentially a night club. Never open during the day unless they have a special event going on in there. It's great if you're into the club scene.

I've only left out of New York, being I live on Long Island, for both my cruises. Once on the Gem and once on the Escape, both times we got dropped off at the terminal at 11:30 and both times were on the ship within a half hour. Faster for the cruise on the Escape. I've read some of the horror stories on here about NYC embarkation but thankfully haven't had an issue.

24 minutes ago, david_sobe said:

Ok everyone convince me to go.  I can sit through a Broadway show no problem. But when I looked at the videos of Choir of Men, it sort of annoyed me LOL. Not saying the guys are not talented.  I just don't think I could get into guys singing loudly for over an hour.  Is there something more to the show?  Am I alone to think its annoying LOL

Choir of Man is one of the best shows I've ever seen. It was simply fantastic.

I think your first-timers will be fine, while it's only one port of call, Bermuda is beautiful and there is so much to do there, you really get a chance to explore the Island. Plus, to me, it doesn't matter where the ship is going, it's going to be relaxing and the only thing you have to worry about is what time you should go to bed!!

I don't think it means no upgrades because when I sailed the Escape on 8/19, it claimed it was sold out on the website for two weeks before cruising but I got upgraded a week before we sailed

Used the Thermal Spa on the Escape, got upgraded to a Spa Mini-suite so didn't have to pay, but 100% worth it. I will definitely be buying the same category just for the access to the thermal spa.

As others have said, the great outdoors is a great spot, I also loved Spinnakers lounge. Spent a lot of the cruise going between the two. That was the biggest thing I missed while sailing on the Escape.

I’ve also been on both. Each had their own benefits but overall I’d probably pick the Escape. If it had a Great Outdoors and a Spinnaker it’d be near perfection.

 

 

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This was my mine and my wife's sentiment as well. We really did miss both places, as we spent at lot of our time there when we sailed the Gem.

The only thing I didn't like about the Escape, and it is a good problem to have, was I felt like I missed out on things, because there was so much to do. There were a few performers we didn't get to see, just because we didn't have enough time. Where on the Gem, we were able to see all the shows and performers at least once.

The comedy club was first come first serve for seating for people with reservations. They then had a stand by line and filled the rest of the seats and more with that. Only the theater had a Haven exclusive seating area.

Someone can confirm but I swear I read once what the difference was between a balcony and mini-suite. Someone said a balcony has a queen bed and mini suite King bed. Maybe someone can confirm who stayed in once.

The bed we had in the mini-suite on the Escape was definitely bigger than the bed we had in a regular balcony cabin on the Gem. I'm not sure if that's because of the ship or the cabin difference. The bathroom in the mini-suite is also larger, bigger shower and a double sink. Sink was kind of pointless but having the bigger shower was nice.

Having an angled balcony would be pretty nice but my wife and I upgraded to the spa mini-suite on the Escape at the end of August and for us it was completely worth it. I didn't think I would be a big spa guy but it was so relaxing. Being able to get away from the crowds or head into the thermal pool after a long day of excursions was really nice. Spoiled us, because now I'll always have to have a thermal spa pass, if one is on board!