Ramblin and Gamblin

I "think" it may be a phone/tablet stand. If you turn it around, you set the bottom of the tablet in that curved area and it rests against the dark strip.

Thanks! Very helpful. DW uses a mobility scooter so tender ports are basically extra sea days for us. This will help us know what to expect.

Thanks for taking the time to share this semi-live report. I have been looking at this cruise and your posts have been very helpful. On NCL's website, several of the ports on this cruise are flagged as "dock or tender". Based on your comments and pictures, it looks like you docked at every port. Is that correct or did you have to use tenders anywhere? Thanks again.

Be sure to fill out a Guest Special Needs Request form in advance of your cruise. A sharps container is one of the many needs covered by the form.

When texting with an iPhone, look at the color of the text bubble after you hit send. If the bubble is blue, your text was delivered via iMessage, which slips through without using your minutes. If it is green, then it probably won't slip through.

Just to clarify a few comments: You won't be able to communicate in airplane mode. That disables all data flow to and from the device. Instead, you connect to the ship wifi, but don't activate your internet minutes. When you are connected to the ship wifi, you can use the NCL app, but you are blocked from the internet unless you activate your plan. However, as some have commented, there has historically been a hole in the technology that allows iPhone iMessages (blue boxes). So if both you and the other party use iPhones, you can communicate without using your minutes. If you are an Android user, or the other person is an Android user, then you will have to burn minutes.

The Coq Au Vin in Le Bistro is a underappreciated gem. I think it gets overlooked simply because it is a chicken dish on a menu with steak and seafood options. However, it is fabulous. DW orders it every time, meaning I also get to enjoy it because it is too big for her to finish. Also, +1 to the other Le Bistro dishes others have mentioned. LB is our favorite specialty dining restaurant.

When we were in the Escape Le Bistro in April, the waiter informed us "you can order two items from the left side of the menu plus one entree and one dessert." The left side of the menu was the appetizers, soups and salads. Several others have also reported being able to skip the appetizer and get soup and salad. I don't think I have seen anyone report trying to skip first or second course for an extra dessert. I have no idea if that is possible. And the only way to get an extra entree is pay for it.

Thankfully, even for Syd Normans, we only needed to line up about an hour early, so I didn't have to test my endurance too much.

DW and I were recently on the Escape the first week of April. The ship had over 5000 passengers due to spring break. Like another poster, we didn't intend to go during spring break; we just didn't pay enough attention to calendars. The negatives: the pool area was packed on sea days, and the buffet was frequently crowded. In addition, you had to line up early at Headliners and Syd Normans if you wanted to get a seat. Thankfully, we didn't care about the pool or the buffet, and once we learned we needed to line up early, we adapted. Turns out I can hold a drink and stand in line at the same time. Outside of those areas, the crowds were not as noticeable. DW uses a mobility scooter, and even with the space it takes in an elevator, we never had to wait more than a few minutes for one with enough room for us to board. We never waited for a table for two in an MDR and service was great. As long as you got to the main theatre 15-20 minutes before show start, you could always get a seat. The ship has enough bars that we could always find a place to hang out, maybe not our first choice bar, but easily manageable. Like you, I was worried as we approached our date based on what I was reading from others. It turned out fine. Happy travels.

At a small airport I typically tip $3-5 depending on factors such as TSA line length, whether we stop at restroom, etc. I have no idea what the "standard" is.

Group size also makes a difference. My DW and I are just off a very full Escape and we never waited for a table for top in the MDRs. I did see bigger groups (5+) that had brief waits.

As others have said, NCL does not rent scooters. You will have to rent via their third party partner Scootaround. The contact info is on the accessible cruising page others have linked to. You will need to reserve your scooters in advance; you cannot rent after you board. In addition, I suggest reserving the scooter far in advance. You don't want to risk their running out of inventory for a given week. I highly recommend reserving an accessible room when using a scooter. As BirdTravels notes, you cannot leave the scooter in the hallway. An accessible room is much easier to drive your scooter into thanks to the wider, automatic opening doors. CruiseCritic forums have an Accessible Cruising section as well. You can get a lot of advice from the people that post there.

That was not my experience. At 120 days, specialty dining reservations opened. However, MDR reservations were not an option online until about 30 days out. This is a ballpark number; I don't remember exactly when but it was close to online check-in opening. I am on the April 1 Escape.

Is the Vibe handicapped accessible? On the Escape, the Vibe is located on deck 19, but when looking at the ship maps on the NCL website, it appears the elevators stop at deck 17.

I have taken one cruise with NCL and used the BOGO offer and had no problems. Flights were close to on time and the connections were long enough that we weren't rushed. I am using the Free at Sea BOGO again for our cruise in April. I was a little frustrated at how long it took to get our flight info, but the flights themselves are great, with direct flights in both directions at decent times. My one caveat to my experience is that for both cruises I requested a 2 day deviation on the front end. That takes so much risk out of the equation and we use the time to explore the port city a little and extend our vacation. Most of the complaints I see about the BOGO air are from people who tried to fly on their cruise departure date. There is just too much that can go wrong, regardless of whether NCL books your flights or you do it yourself. Yes I am paying for extra days food, hotel, and entertainment, but it is small change compared to the price of the cruise. Why chance weather, mechanical issues, etc, all of which are outside NCL's control.

Perfect. Thanks!

Are you allowed to take provided towels off the ship for a shore excursion, or do we need to bring our own beach towels? Thanks in advance.

Not a weird question at all - at least not to those of us who live with these issues. From the NCL website under Accessible Cruising: Should you choose a stateroom that has not been designated as accessible, you will need to bring a collapsible wheelchair, or if you have a motorized wheelchair or scooter, the width must not exceed 26 inches to enter the stateroom door. https://www.ncl.com/about/accessible-cruising Happy cruising!

Ok, making reservations it is! Thanks all.

Our one and only cruise so far was on the Bliss to Alaska last year when ships were sailing with reduced capacity. On that cruise, dining in the MDR was easy with no waits, and I didn't even consider that MDR reservations were possible. Now, as I prepare for our April cruise on the Escape, I am seeing people post about making reservations for the MDR. Are reservations needed on a full ship? Are the waits that bad without them? It sort of defeats the concept of Freestyle Cruising. And if they are needed, when and how do I make reservations? Thanks in advance for the info.

Thanks for the suggestions so far. To address your questions, we don't have any limitations flying. Regarding our scooter, we have a Pride Revo 2, which we would take to ports within driving distance in the Southern US. Anywhere else, we would rent. The Pride GoGo seems to be a common rental, and is what we used on the Alaskan cruise. I think both would be allowed on a tender but would have to be disassembled. My wife can handle short distances on flat ground and a few steps. Rough seas would definitely be a challenge. Thanks again.

My mobility limited wife and I just took our first cruise (Alaska) and loved it. But we also realized we got a bit lucky with a destination that was scooter friendly. There were no tender ports, towns were easy to navigate, and there were plenty of excursions that could accommodate someone with mobility limitations. After we booked the cruise, I started reading more and realized that some destinations would have been much more challenging. So, I am looking for recommendations for our next cruise. What are other destinations that are scooter friendly? And yes, I know with some work that any destination is possible. But I don't want to work; I am on vacation! And pushing a wheelchair around, constantly lifting scooters off curbs, etc., is not how I want to spend it. Plus, my wife likes the independence her scooter provides and doesn't want to rely on me all day. Conversely, are there any places/ports to avoid? Thanks in advance.