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15 minutes ago, Michel D99 said:

On the Breakaway smoking in the Vibe seems to be allowed. 

 

That was our experience on the Getaway in 2019 - minimal smoking at the far end of the bar (furthest from the entrance).  No one, including us, seemed to mind.

With the cost of drinks I am glad it was available. What did surprise me was I was able to use 30,000 credit card points to go to a balcony from an ocean view. Same point cost whether 7 night or 40. That made those points worth $6000 in value when I used them.:eek:

Bravo mscdivina2016! I have 30,000 points to use next time, and an upgrade from inside to oceanview, or oceanview to balcony, will likely be a much better use of them, especially if we can nab something longer than a 7-day cruise.

I think we were on that cruise too (Key West wasn't a stop though), 1/8 - 1/15.

For us, "Slide Deconstruction" was definitely a feature, not a bug. Sure, it was a bit unsightly for a couple of the days, but so are an awful lot of the cruisers, and we don't let that ruin our good time.:D

We found the ship generally clean and well-run, as have been just about all our NCL cruises. I expect we'll continue to enjoy their services in the future.

Just got back from a week on the Jade, and I sincerely doubt those slides are ever coming back. They were working on them with power saws and blow torches, sometimes into the wee hours of the night. Not sure how the deck space will be reclaimed after the last vestiges are gone (should be this week, if last week's progress was any indication), since you can't just plop deck chairs onto that space.

Heading out on the 22nd as well, for my 3rd go-round on the Sky. I tend to look at it as a "consolation" cruise, as it's the itinerary of choice for us when a week in the Caribbean just can't be done. Glad to hear it still gives satisfaction!

YES THERE IS!!! We have enjoyed our time out there 3 years ago. By the bottom of the forward funnel, there is a sign at the bottom of the stairs that reads "freestyle sun deck" :)

We saw the same thing on the Pearl last year, in the same place I think. We took "Freestyle Deck" to mean clothing optional.....not sure if we were right because there was no one there.

This is a very informative thread! A question: once fares start rising again for a cruise that's only three or four weeks away, is there any chance they'll go lower again before sail date?

We're looking VERY late in the game this year, and I want to know if my window for price-dropping has officially closed.

:confused:

I took Sue's testimonial as a refreshing way to see her cruise experience (negative in several ways) within the greater context of her life.

Stereotypical cruisers (myself included) can blow the negative aspects of their cruise experiences out of proportion, especially considering that THEY'RE ON A FREAKIN' BOAT OUT ON THE OCEAN (or wherever) WITH AS MUCH FOOD, ENTERTAINMENT AND (often now) BOOZE THAT THEY CAN HANDLE. Talk about First World problems. :rolleyes:

Sue, thanks for the generous reflections on your Epic adventure. Your assessment of the ship's shortcomings (design-wise) are pretty much the same as ours (over-focused on inside the ship; lack of space to move around, etc.), but we would consider giving it another try, knowing full-well what we're in for. We've only cruised on NCL, and find that we prefer the older ships (Dawn & Jewel Class especially) to the mega-sized Epic. If the Getaway/Breakaway/Escape have fixed some of that, hooray for them, and I'm sure we'll give them a try sometime in the future.

And I would never DIScourage anyone from enjoying themselves on the Epic. We thought the food was great (never much of a wait in the buffet, even with 4000 of our closest friends eating at the same time). And unlike you, we did not have any negative staff experiences -- fellow cruisers yes, but staff no.

One question: you and your peeps shot a lot of photos. What did you shoot them with - phonecam, point-&-shoot, DSLR, etc?