HuskieRed

He is registered but has not received a code for the previous two onsales. We are going to try to stay optimistic about our chances for this time....which is why Ticketmaster on the high seas will be attempted ;p

 

We are doing everything we can to avoid paying the astronomical upcharges of the resellers/scalpers on other sites. Hopeful that with the introduction of more tickets into the market, resale prices may go down as tickets are less scarce.

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Has anyone successfully used the Ticketmaster app while on the ship’s WiFi?

 

To make a long story short, my DH is a life-loyal fan of The Boss. He has tried twice, unsuccessfully, to purchase Springsteen on Broadway tickets. We recently found out that there will be a third ticket release while we will be onboard the Pride enjoying our second sea day.

 

The tickets sell out in minutes. Would he be able to use the TM app? Ship’s internet browser? Has anyone done this successfully?

 

 

 

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"Due to overwhelming participation in the original Onsale powered by Ticketmaster Verified Fan[emoji768], there will be no additional registration for this extension. Fans who previously registered and were verified but placed on Standby and did not receive a code, and fans who received a code but were unsuccessful in purchasing tickets will be contacted by Ticketmaster with further information about the added shows."

So unless your already registered for a code it may not matter if the site works or not.

I was not able to register the first time so I'm a little disappointed and am hoping the show is extended and opened to new Onsale registrations.

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I recently saw an article that tortola suffered lots of damage from a storm earlier this month. Are the norweigian ships changing to a different stop. I'm on the escape in about 4 months and am concerned about booking any excursions.

 

Badgeaz

We were on the Escape from 8/12-8/19 and were diverted from Tortola to San Juan due to damage at the port from a tropical storm earlier in the week. Nothing was said that this was a permanent change so I would guess that the ship has returned.

Thanks for your review ... quick question:

When you disembarked and got an Uber to FLL - was it just a regular Uber for the four of you or XL?

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I am also curious as I'm sailing in 3 weeks.... :confused:

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I have a green card and cruising in November on Escape. I do have a passport from my origin country ( Russia) but it expired and I won't be able to renew it on time. I am also in a process to get my US citizenship ( already did fingerprints and waiting for my interview). Everywhere I read it seems like I only need my GC and DL to board the ship.

Can someone who cruised with green card confirm it?

Not sure I can confirm but my wife is a Permanent Resident Cardholder and cruised a few weeks ago on the Escape. We used her Permanent Resident Card for identification for online check-in but NCL reviewed both her passport and the id card at the pier. Not sure if that helps but wanted to share our experience.

Thanks for the review...we sail the ESCAPE in Jan:)

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Thanks for sharing your experiences with us! Would you choose to sail with NCL again?

Glad I already made my reservation for Bayamo next month:D

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Stateroom

Stateroom - We were in a two bedroom family villa (17712) and I can say that we had no complaints about the room other than the balcony could have been bigger. The room had tons of storage, two bathrooms (great if you traveling with teenagers) and a good size living room. We loved the room and all the amenities that came with it.

During my planning of the trip I read much on CC about unruly kids in the Haven so I was prepared for the worst, but it turned out to be fine. Yes there were a lot of kids, but they were just kids being kids and doing what kids do. It's clear to me that NCL is marketing the two bedroom villas to families so I would expect to see kids in the Haven courtyard and the pool. With that said I never really saw kids upstairs or on the sundeck so if I was looking for quiet my wife or I would just go upstairs. Never had an issue getting food or drink as I would either walk to the bar or order from the pool waiter.

Ports

1. St. Thomas - Rented a car drove to Sapphire beach (arrived before crowd) rented chairs and snorkel equipment. From there we went to the Tap and Still (Redhook not the one by the dock).Loved this place, great food and beer. Drove up to Mountain Top, took pictures, wife had a Banana Daiquiri, bought some crap and headed down to the ship.

2. San Juan - Walked to the fort, toured, and then left the boys at Starbucks while my wife and I shopped.

3. Nassau - Made the mistake of going to Cabbage beach (on recommendation of concierge). It was crowded, smelled like boat fuel, and tons of people walking around selling boat rides, snorkel trips, and other crap. We were there 40 minutes and headed back to ship. If we are ever back in Nassau I would stay on ship or go to Atlantis beach.

Debarkation

1. We waited in the Haven lounge, went down the crew elevator to the exit, and were through customs in about 20 minutes. Called for an Uber and were at the airport (FLL) by 10:15am. Easy as could be.

Some general impressions

1. Loved the ship - Being in the Haven was a definite bonus as we didn't have to deal with large crowds on the main pool deck.

2. Food - See above, but generally thought it was excellent overall, especially Food Republic and Bayamo.

3. The selection of Red Wines by the glass is terrible. I talked with the Beverage manager about this and even he seemed surprised that there were only (at most bars and restaurants) seven different available by the glass. He blamed it on Corporate, which I'm sure is true. There were some excellent wines at the Tapas Bar and Bayamo that were not served elsewhere.

4. The Waterfront on deck 8 could be the best place on any ship to hang out and watch the water go by. I did all my morning walks there (by Friday it had been discovered) my son and his friend played cards and chess there most afternoons and we watched for pier runners there in San Juan and Nassau.

5. I've never seen a more crowded pool area than the main pool deck on the Escape.

6. The staff and crew were just awesome. Everybody was friendly, ask how the cruise was going, made sure we didn't need anything, and went out of the way to make sure that there were no issues. Just about every officer that I met at the Meet and Mingle would talk to us during the week if they saw us.

7. Tipping - We tipped the Butler, Concierge, room attendant, left our service charge in place, and others who made our vacation great (Haven Bar staff, Brew House bar staff, speciality restaurant waiters, and the Chef at Teppanyaki)

8. I found that a dollar or two went a long way with the bar staff and was much appreciated.

9. The internet on board is pretty bad. Really don't know what else to say. I had trouble connecting with the free 250 package that came with the room. On Sunday the Internet manager offered to upgrade me for 80.00, which I took. After that it was better and at least I could stay online but it seems that NCL still has work to do in this area.

Continued:

Dining (going to list where we ate and some general observations)

1. Teppanyaki - We dined here the first night and had a great time. Food was excellent and the show was great. This was really a great place to start our cruise.

2. Jimmy Buffets - Food was average at best. Only ate here because my son loves the one we went to at Universal Studios City Walk. Plus it was free for Haven guests on first day. Would have probably been better off in Haven restaurant.

3. Bayamo: I heard such differing opinions regarding this place on CC that I really didn't know what to expect. I had the Bife DE Chorizo which was amazing and probably the

best steak I had on the ship. My wife had the Duck which was also excellent. For as great as the food and service was (and the service was superb) the atmosphere was not so great because there was some kind of party going on in the Mojito bar which kind of ruined things for us.

4. Cagneys - We had a good meal at Cagneys. It was good but I was expecting great so I was a little underwhelmed. The service was excellent and we loved the sides but just didn't love the steaks the way we had expected.

5. Le Bistro - Great service and food. Both my wife and I had the Dover sole and it was probably the best we've had at a restaurant. We celebrated our 17th anniversary here and had a great time.

6. Food Republic - I could have eaten every meal in this restaurant. The food was amazing, probably the best meal I've ever had on a cruise ship and in the top five overall. It's a clear do not miss on the Escape

7. Haven Restaurant. Ate just about every breakfast and lunch and two dinners there. The food and service was always top notch. In our opinion this was one of the best perks of staying in the Haven. Never had a bad meal here and really enjoyed eating outside in the outdoor seating area. The only time I saw that it was crowded was on the last day. Seems like everyone wanted to get one last meal in before leaving.

8. Buffett - We offered the boys the chance to pick dinner on Wednesday night. They picked the buffett. I had beef curry and a Cuban dish which was pretty good. The boys had pretzel rolls and salami. My wife had a salad and some other type of Indian dish. To me it was a typical cruise ship buffet - decent food, lots of choices, and very crowded.

Bars

1. District Brew House - One of the best places to drink on the ship. Loved the seating, staff was awesome, and bought a growler to bring back to room (filling as needed). If my wife was ever looking for me she would have probably look here first.

2. Mojito Bar - Loved the drinks, bartenders, and its a great location to people watch.

3. 5 O'clock somewhere Bar - (outside). The Chocolate Cowbay was as great as I had read.

4. Haven Bar - The bartenders (Bong and Miro) were two of our vacation heroes. Always greeted us by name, knew our drinks, friendly, and just great bartenders. We'd always have our last drink of the night here (and many times the first).

5. Cellars Wine Bar: Great place and was able to try some very good wines.

Entertainment

1. Wine lovers the musical - Terrible. Waste of money and time for us. Food was alrigt but not great and most of the white wine was warm by the time it was recommended to drink them. This is not a show we would see again or recommend seeing.

2. After Midnight - Fun show, great music and dancing but didn't love it. The boys hated it as it was more about jazz than anything else.

3. Howl at the moon - Lots of fun. We went twice and loved it both times.

4. Ryan Joyce - The show was entertaining but not enough comedy which was wierd as it's billed as comedy and magic. My wife was on stage at the end and received the red rose. She didn't really love being called up but was a good sport about it.

5. The Brat Pack - We all loved this show. High energy, excellent cast, and fun to see how they molded the story around the films.

This is my first review so please bear with me.

About us

I was traveling with my wife, son (15) and his best friend (15). This was my and my son's 3rd cruise, not sure about my wife but we think over 10 and my son's friends first. This was our first cruise on NCL.

Overall we had an amazing cruise on the Escape and would definitely sail NCL again. We loved our room, the Haven area, ropes course, slides, and The Waterfront, Food Republic and the Brew House. Aside from a check in issue (detailed below) I don't really have a bad thing to say about our time on the Escape. The staff was friendly, greeted us by name (when they knew it) and just generally went out of their way to help us enjoy our cruise.

When we cruise we don't do much in the way of onboard activities so I'll stay away from discussing any cruise director activities. I don't book any excursions through the ship and usually find my around whatever port we are stopped at. For the most part, on sea days and when we get back aboard, we sit by the pool and read, swim, drink, nap, repeat.

Pre-Cruise

Since there were four of us coming to FLL at three different times I thought the best way to handle this was to rent a car. I rented a Ford Edge from Budget at FLL for one night. My son and I arrived late Thursday, took the shuttle to Homewood Suites near FLL, stayed the night, and took shuttle back to pick up his friend from Raleigh at 9 on Friday morning. Once we had Ethan I picked up the rental and drove to the Diplomat Beach Resort in Hollywood Beach, where we checked in, but were not able to get in the room. Around noon all of us went back to the airport to pick up my wife. By 1:30 we were all sitting by the pool. On Saturday morning we left for Miami, drove to the Budget office on 2nd street (I think) dropped off the car and took the Budget shuttle to the port. Budget was crowded but most of the people there were waiting for cars so it was a pretty quick process to drop off car and jump in the shuttle to the port.

Embarkation

We arrived at the port around 9:45 as the boys wanted to be on the ship as early as possible. Getting through security was a breeze and took about 10 minutes. From there we were directed to the corkage fee desk as I had two bottles of wine with us, we paid the fee (figuratively speaking) and headed to the Haven check in area. Check in was an easy but we did have one issue with NCL. Prior to the cruise I asked what the process was to bring a minor who was not my own child. I was directed to the form that I needed to have Ethan's parents sign and, as it said on the form, had them provide copies of their driver's license.

No problem, got all that done and had it all with me ready to show to gate agent. My issue here is that nobody ever asked to see the paperwork. My wife, son, and myself were all traveling under the same last name with the same address here in Michigan. Ethan has a different last name and an address in North Carolina (which was noted during online check in prior to the cruise). During the check in process nobody asked for the paperwork. So NCL let me walk onto the ship with a minor child without ever confirming that I had permission to bring him along. My wife kept saying somebody will ask at some point before we board but nobody did. During the meet and greet I talked with one of the hotel directors about this this and he seemed pretty surprised to hear that nobody asked and told me he would pass on my concerns.

With check-in out of the way we waited in the Haven check in area for about 10 minutes before someone came and lead us upstairs to another waiting area. There we waited (I think) until around 11:15 when we were lead onboard into the Haven area to hear the speech from the concierge. At this point our rooms were available to drop off bags only.

Last week on the Escape I never had to show two cards if I was ordering drinks for my wife and myself.

:cool: Just off from Escape Haven 8/12-8/19

It's Bong & Miloslav ( Milos)

I mentioned to Bong that he has fans and people were asking about him.

He was very humbled and said to tell all he was fine .

Great team and Bong is a hoot.

We were on that week as well and those two had to be two of the best bartenders on the ship. Had a great time sitting at the Haven bar.

 

Camera #1- My main camera which came with me pretty much everywhere except in the water was my trusty Nikon d800 full-frame digital camera. I use this body for weddings too and I usually don’t bring along my wedding workhorse but I’ve gotten spoiled by having the d800’s dual card slots and I have a fear of card failure so it graduated from ladies in white dresses to children in snorkels.

 

My lens of choice was the Nikon 24-120 VR 3.5-5.6. While it’s not as fast as some of my other lenses (talking about widest apertures, not running shoes), it’s lightweight, versatile (wide angle to telephoto) and just a good lens for any daytime lighting conditions. If you’re shopping for lenses, I think this one is now just available in the constant 4.0 aperture version and it’s pricier than the original, but it’s still a great travel lens! I also brought my 14-24 2.8 lens because it’s great for indoor available light and architecture type shots, but it stayed mostly on the boat. I grabbed it in the evenings when I wanted to get photos of the pool deck with the lights on or when I wanted to get a wide view of our tiny bathroom.

Thanks for the great review. Your pics are beautiful. I really appreciate the info about your choice of cameras and lenses. I've been thinking for weeks about which lens/es to bring on our Escape trip next month. Your thoughts on which to bring has helped me decide what is getting packed and what is not.

June 16 Seattle Day 2 Cont.

The winner today was MOD Pizza, and my wife even caught a couple pictures before I could eat my food. The pizza at MOD was very good. For a set price of $8.47 you get to make a pizza with any number of ingredients. Now if you just made a cheese pizza this would not be a great deal, if you love food like me and put every meat they had its a great deal. The wife and I ended up leaving very full for under $25, that is a win in my book.

Next stop the Great Wheel and a Harbor Tour

Thanks for the great review and for the pics of Seattle. It's definitely on our list of places my wife and I need to visit. We have a MOD near our house and my 14 year old can't get enough of the place. You're right about the cost not being a great deal if you only get a cheese pizza (that's all DS eats) so the MOD here charges a dollar less if you only get cheese and no other toppings.

Great review. Thanks for all the pics and taking the time to write such a detailed trip report.

we are 75 days out and nothing - curious if others on august sailings have gotten emails yet - thanks!

Our offer came at exactly 80 days from our 8/12 sailing.

I'm wondering if Montreal is kicking themselves in the A$$ for the PK trade

Thanks for the great review. I'm thinking about an MSC cruise for my wife and I sometime next year. Your review really helped me with that decision. I think it would be great for the two of us. As for Montreal, the relationship with Subban seemed to be going downhill so I think it was best for both teams. That contract of Weber's is long though and could become an issue when he is a few years older.

Me and the DH split all the time. Especially at our steakhouses in Chicago. They actually encourage it. We order a 10oz filet and they split it in 2 and cook it the way we each want it. We split a side and have a shrimp cocktail. We split when we are going for a night on the town and can't carry leftovers. If we are going straight home, we get our own meal. No shame in sharing.

 

 

 

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Which steakhouse? Always looking for a good restaurant when we are in town (which is never enough by the way).

Not sure about the other 2 but The Victory is a amazing ship. My first one of course, I had zero complaints about her. You will have a great time.

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When i get off boat at port, what all do i need to get back on boat? Just SS card?

Not sure about the other 2 but The Victory is a amazing ship. My first one of course, I had zero complaints about her. You will have a great time.

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I was told by our travel agent the last minute bargain deals were a thing of the past. Mostly due to the loyal cruise customers who book in advance complaining (for good reason I know) and the options available to them now for upgrades. Would love to hear thoughts on this.

 

 

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Your TA is exactly in line with NCL's current marketing policy. This paragraph taken directly from NCL's 2015 annual report shows that they are no longer looking to fill ships with last minute deals.

DRIVING HIGHER DEMAND TO DELIVER HIGHER YIELDS

Essential to driving higher per diems, which in turn drive higher yields, was building on the initiatives

implemented to promote organic growth. To drive higher yields in the Norwegian brand, we introduced

many of the Oceania Cruises and Regent brands’ proven and successful go-to-market strategies. This

meant supplanting Norwegian’s discount-to-fill approach of revenue management, whereby price

discounts were offered closer to sailing in order to ensure full ships, with a market-to-fill strategy.

This strategy maintains pricing integrity by (i) offering the best price early in the booking cycle and (ii) offering value added promotions when necessary to avoid compromising on price. Clear benefits of this initiative are already evidenced in an extended booking curve, allowing us to enter 2016 with an extremely advantageous booked position and significantly more revenue on the books than ever before.

We had our Golden Wedding Anniversary on the Sun after we left Buenos Aires last March. Beautiful meal in Le Bistro, highly recommend it. They knew it was and treated us royally.

Thanks. Most have said Le Bistro so think that is the plan. Congrats on what would be or close to your 51st. My wife and I married later in life so not sure w will make it to 50 but it's possible.

We done two anniversaries in Le Bistro. I imagine if you let them know it is your anniversary, they may do a bit extra. I never let it be known in case they wanted to gather around and sing to us. But, if they do, that's a nice gesture and a memory.... just not for me..........

Don't think the singing is for us either. Maybe I'll request they not do that.

My husband says that, when he booked the cruise, he seems to remember that something popped up asking if we were celebrating anything. He pointed out that we were celebrating our anniversary. There was a certificate in our room, which we gave to the maitre d' at Le Bistro. They then brought us a small cake at the end of the meal.

 

This was in 2014, and there was no charge. Not sure if this holds true now, but it's at least worth looking into.

 

--Michael

 

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Thanks for letting me know that. I will let them know.

Cagneys (steakhouse ) or LeBistro (french ) would be good.. Although LeBistro is much more romantic and quieter.

Happy Anniversary

Safe sailing

 

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Thanks. Was thinking the same.