mcmomny

I have been on both and enjoyed both ship. The Peral was nice and we had a great time. We like the smaller ships as you really get to know the crew quickly. It is a much older ship than The Escape The Escape is a fun ship with lots to do and I really liked the adult only area. We always choose our cruise based on ports of call so maybe let the ports of call be your deciding factor? Enjoy!

Yes, thank you for the review! We are also on the Seashore for the first time in October with grandkids so really looking forward to the inside jungle pool and Ocean Cay!

The POA is basically your floating hotel, as the Islands are the main focus for most passengers. There will be a few things on board to do but after long ports days we just relaxed and enjoyed a nice dinner and a few drinks. We never swam nor saw a show while on the POA. Small ship. We had friendly crew but some cruisers complain about the crew. Our food was good and so was the service. We throughly enjoyed this cruise and Hawaii. We went in 3 days early and stayed 2 days after. Enjoy!

Many years ago our Alaska cruise was cold and damp so we spent all of our time inside, bingo, trivia, games, reading and napping! Plus the scenery was breath taking! So we hung out in the Observation Lounge at the front of the ship During breaks of rain we did walk outside and some people where in the hot tubs! But because we were in Alaska they had onboard experts on Alaska giving talks and presentations which was very informative and enjoyable. The ship tours, thou not cheap are very interesting!

I agree with JandC-cruising! But I also will mention it depends on the type of cruise we are on. Caribbean no but our special cruise to Greece or Europe yes! On our Greece cruise on The Jade this past fall we did the Plus upgrade and really enjoyed it! This was a trip we had been planning for years and had to cancel several times for one reason or another so we opted once could finally go to make it extra special! My husband loved his Starbucks everyday and his cappuccino after dinner, the unlimited wifi was a huge plus as we own our own business and he needed to be able to keep in touch. The two extra dinners were also a huge plus for us! He also loved his high end scotches each night and the extra $50 shore excursion came in handy as we only used NCL for our excursions in Greece. So $100 per port meant some excursions were close to covered or only a few dollars. Plus we had unlimited boxes of water. Now for our upcoming Canada New England cruise we will not upgrade as we figure we will be enjoying a lot of local beer in port and doing our own thing in port (no excursions) and each port will have good wifi for him to keep in contact. We are now Platinum so will have two extra dinners. We have only used NCL transfers twice and both times were great experiences. These two times were because we had early flights home. Most places we book our own excursions but for Greece we went with NCL for each port and they were all great excursions. After shows we love the Marini or the Whiskey Bars, always someone singing or playing the piano. Don't miss Howl at the Moon! The Escape has H2O which is an adult only outside area with bar, hot tubs lots of loungers and a water feature to cool off in. No pool in this area but their is a main pool in the center of the ship My husband loves Teppanyaki but I much prefer the Italian or French they are quieter and more romantic, Teppanyaki is loud! Also enjoy MDR for breakfast and lunch, much less crowded or noisy! As for Free Style this also means attire, you will see everything from PJ"s to glitter gowns and tuxes. We are not PJ public people and also not glitter tux people so we wander in our typical vacation attire, sundresses for me and button down short sleeve shirt and khaki pants or shorts for him! Several dining options will require long pants for men, sometimes it is adhered to and others not. In Europe all of our experiences have been they do adhere to dining dress code Enjoy NCL, we do!

Same here, but I just went to Guest Services and they gave me a latitudes laundry slip and we were all set!

We're on NCL Breakaway in Sept round trip from NYC. We wanted to take a relaxing cruise as most of our cruises in the past have been heavy port intensive trips, and we also wanted to go to Bar Harbor before the cruise ship ban that starts in 2025. From Bar Harbor we can hit Acadia National Park (one of our bucket lists is National Parks!) We don't have to fly to NYC which makes this an easy 7 day trip, flying into ports of departure turn your 7 days into 8 to 9 depending on flights. And add to the cost of the trip! Where are you located? Can you drive to Boston or NYC and do a round trip? We like NCL for it "free style" theme, not big drinkers but enjoy drinking when on vacation. We haven't had a bad cruise with NCL. But you do have to have patience and sometimes have to deal with big crowds or long lines, we just say to ourselves that at home we would have to wait too on a busy weekend trying to go out to dinner without reservations! But were not home, we are sailing on a beautiful ship with tons of things to see and do!

It's been a few years but we stopped in Falmouth on our NCL cruise, one of those gated cruise ports with shopping, drinking and relaxing. I don't remember a swimming pool area but i do remember a Margaritaville. It was ok but we had booked thru NCL a Dunn's River Falls and The Bob Sled adventures excursion, both really good and amazing scenery! So we spent very little time in Falmouth other than the walk to the buses from the ship

I have done both cruises, both are amazing. But they are totally different experiences. What I can say about Greece in August, which is when we did it was super hot (100 degrees each day), humid and crowded as it was summer vacation time period. But very historical and port intensive. Our cruise itself had lots of kids and was booked solid. Each port was jam packed, not only with cruise passengers but other vacationers from around the world. So crowded we often went back to the ship early to escape the crowds and heat. If we did Greece again I would go during school time to avoid the crowds, late fall or early Spring. Hawaii we did in February, the rainy season and it sure did rain a lot! But it was wonderful and comfortable temperatures. We rented a car at each port and did our own things and rarely encountered large crowds. The POA is basically just your floating hotel, not a lot of on board activities as the reason people take this cruise is to see Hawaii, very few people stayed on board other than meals and sleeping. As already mentioned, not a good idea to fly in to any cruise the day of departure as too many things can happen to delay you and possibly make you miss your cruise. For Hawaii we flew in 3 days early and the time difference was still kicking our butts even after boarding the ship. Athens we went in 3 days early also so we would have time to sight see before the cruise. I understand that this might not work with your tight schedule but you should try too fly in at least the day before your cruise to avoid the stress of being delayed or even missing your cruise

It will be chilly in Glacier Bay, dress in layers. We had a balcony cabin so viewed the Bay from our cabin, we did go up onto the top deck a few times also Plus be prepared for rain in some ports. Yes binoculars are a huge plus! Make your reservations for dinner before you get on board Figure out your excursions and book before you leave as they might be sold out once you get there!

Yes, I was also told two billing cycles before I would see my refund but I got my refund in under two weeks! For NCL people, I just cancelled one with them and was told 7 to 10 days and I got the refund in 3 days!

I also had the same experience when I canceled Egypt for this summer. Quick and easy!

Traffic is bad due to congestion but it is very easy to drive in Hawaii, we rented a car and saw the sights we wanted to see before our cruise. I have not used them but Robert's Tours were mentioned many times when I was doing my research. Sometimes NCL offers a pre or post excursion option, did you look into that? Congrats on 50 states! We have 4 left!

Yes, we were so tired each day that after dinner and a cocktail or too we went to bed! I don't remember doing any shows or using the pool! Good plan coming in early, we woke up at 2 am the first day due to jet lag! Yes we are ready for Monday, not sure about the crazy traffic they are predicting!

Our favorite of all cruises so far! We did not do any NCL excursions, but the few excursions we did do we booked on our own. Go to your roll call and there might be people looking to share excursions which makes the cost less and it's a neat way to meet new people! Road to Hana we were in a small van of 8 people and a great driver/guide which included lunch. Valley Isle Excursions. We booked our own luau with Smith's Family Garden Luau in Wailua in Kauai and they came and picked us up at the cruise port and returned us to the cruise port. The rest of the cruise we just rented a car in each port and did our own thing and had an amazing time! Saw tons of beaches. ate local food for lunch, saw both National Parks, tons of whale watching and beautiful scenery all along the way. Each island was easy to drive and never worried about getting back to the port in time. If at all possible try to go in a few days before the cruise, we did 3 days before and we still struggled with the time difference after the cruise started! Now about The POA, it is basically a floating Hotel. Not much going on on board and it is an American flagged ship so the crew is mostly American kids doing 3 month stints and hate being there. Many people have complained about the ship and the crew but we had a great time, enjoyed many of the crew and felt it was one of the best ways for us to see as much of Hawaii as we could in one visit. PS, are you ready for Monday and the Eclipse!

Yes, I understand. We just like to tip for special service we receive. For example the bartender on The Jade last year remembered our names and drinks on the second night so we tipped him every evening. It's just something we like to do!

The floor is layers of rugs, that thousands of people have walked on barefoot. So yes it wasn't nice, I too brought wet wipes to wipe our feet before putting our socks back on. Think about pre check at TSA, thousands of people have to take their shoes off and walk thru the check out line then put their shoes back on! Pretty much the same thing! We were given a bag to carry our shoes and socks, we did not have any place to sit to take off or put our shoes on so we knew this and wore slip on shoes. We went in July and it was blistering hot, I wore a cotton dress that covered my shoulders and my knees. I brought a very lightweight scarf to cover my head, yes women must cover their heads. I did not see sun hats as an option. My husband wore khaki pants and a short sleeve button down shirt

Even thou we get the pre paid gratuities we still tip our room steward, our bartenders and waitresses.

Same for us, just booked a Sept cruise and got the pre paid gratuities, on board credit, all the free at sea perks, my double airline miles, Latitude points and was able to apply 3 cruise next certificates to the sailing! Have used the same company several times with no problems!

Thanks for your review and I love #6! As we live by this theory also!

So I looked at my notes from our trip in August and the excursions we took are still listed on NCL website if you search the excursions tab, so maybe they just aren't linked to your cruise date just yet? Maybe call NCL and see if they can book them for you? We did these five excursions "Magnificent Ephesus" "Classical Istanbul" "Exploring Rhodes Religious Past" "Scenic View of Mykonos" "Charming Oia and Winery" Hope this helps! On a side note, make sure to be on the top deck of the ship as you cruise the Bosphorus Strait and under the Bosphorus Bridge! Super cool! Once at around 1 am and again when leaving Istanbul before dinner!

Same for me, 63 and no knees showing!

I know that our tours were posted much closer to the cruise as at the time we were sailing Greece was having those terrible fires and extreme heat problems. Classical Istanbul we booked as soon as we saw it available as it has always been one of my husbands bucket list to see Hagia Sophia. I have noticed that NCL since Covid doesn't seem to have a lot of excursions posted all at once, they seem to trickle in. So you have to look often and book fast before they fill up. In 2023 we wanted a certain excursion to St John so we could hike the National Park but it was sold and and a few days before we sailed they posted another one so we were able to go! There are no excursions at all for our booked Africa cruise in January which makes us wonder if this could become a problem as we really would prefer to use NCL excursions but if they don't have anything we want than it might be too late for us to find private excursions. I do find it difficult sometimes to book a cruise when you have no ideas about what kind of excursions they will offer!

We did "Classical Istanbul", yes pricey but very worth it. This was our most expensive NCL excursion on this trip. Bus to get to a few different locations but than a walking guided tour in the heart of the city, about 2 miles of walking on and off. Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace, Grand Bazaar plus our guide also pointed out many other things along the way, either on the bus or walking. FYI, women must cover their heads in the Mosque and no bare knees for men or woman. Tour included an excellent Turkish lunch! Matter of fact all of the tours we did with NCL included a snack break of local food and wines or lunch if it was an all day tour. Again we were there in the summer which is the height of tourism for Europe and it was packed! And hot! But worth it! If you are starting in Athens try to go a few days early as Athens was amazing, crowded but amazing!

We were on The Jade last August and had purchased the FAS Plus package so we had $100 per excursion savings plus our Latitude discount so we opted to use only NCL excursions where in the past we have booked privately. We were in Greece when it was 100 plus degrees so we basically booked the cheapest excursion as they would provide transportation so some of our excursions ended up being free due to our $100 port excursion costs Our tour guide for Ephesus was fantastic and we felt we had plenty of time even thou it was a short stop! Istanbul, our guide was great and kept us moving so we could see all the major sights and when we were given free time to shop the market we asked her for advice to go somewhere for a drink and snack she she pointed us in the right direction for a great experience! Santorini, we also booked NCL so we could avoid the cable car lines up as they tender you to the old port where the buses are, nice scenic drive and a nice stop at a winery before being dropped at Oia where we walked around and took the cable car down. We lucked out with no lines but we heard other complain later about the long lines. Rhodes, because all that was left was The religious history tour we booked for the transportation but boy this was the high light of all of our tours! Our guide was great and we learned so much history and really were glad we had booked this excursion! Mykonos, again a bus ride to tour the island but we also had free time so worked out great. Each port we had enough free time to sit at a scenic cafe for a cold beverage and snack and watch the world go by! Our favorite part of travel!