dolita22

It was really shallow, but we (5 adults) used it. There weren't too many kids on our sailing, though, and it was a mostly-quiet place.

My DH and I are in our early 30s (34 and 33) with no kids. We are like you and your wife, in that we like a good time and drinking, but those hangover are getting to us a bit more now! :p

I've sailed RCCL twice and NCL twice. My DH has sailed Azamara once, NCL once and RCCL once. Our most recent cruise was with RCCL this past February for our honeymoon. We loved the itinerary and that it was an 8-day cruise, and our room steward was excellent! The ship (Indy, so same class as the Freedom) was nice, too, but for us did not have a WOW factor that everyone praises RCCL so highly on. Not a big deal, and maybe our expectations were high considering it was our honeymoon and we paid about double what we would have paid for a cruise on NCL for a balcony.

For us, we felt nightlife and entertainment options on RCCL were lacking in comparison to the nightlife on our NCL Epic cruise last year. On the Epic, we had Blue Man Group, Cirque du Soleil, Howl and the Moon, Fat Cats, bowling, etc., to choose from at night. On RCCL, if a show wasn't being performed, the only other options for nightlife it seemed to us was to go to a bar and listen to music and drink. Eh, that's all well and good, but not any different than what we could be doing back home. Entertainment/nightlife...hands down NCL. (For what it's worth, I sailed the Sky a couple years ago and enjoyed the nightlife/entertainment more on that cruise as well. I know the Sky and the Epic are probably the furthest from an apples-to-apples comparison, given that the Sky was a 4-day cruise without as many bells and whistles entertainment-wise as the Epic, but still excellent!)

I agree with the previous poster who said to go with the itinerary and price point that fits. No cruise is a bad cruise! Happy planning!

We sailed the Epic last year with my family and are sailing with first-time cruiser friends a few weeks after you again next January. We love the Epic and wanted to sail once more before the ship heads to Europe full time in April 2015!

When we sailed with my family, my then 8-month-old nephew was with us. He enjoyed the splash area, but since he was so young, could obviously not participate in the kids' program. That's about all I know kid-related. Sorry. :o

As for the ship itself, we had plenty of room on our balcony for the two of us. My parents, sister and BIL (and nephew) had B6 large balconies and had even more space! They were the angled balcony. Anyway, we felt all the balconies were spacious. I think you will like the balcony.

Dinner in the MDR was good and we enjoyed O'Sheehans a lot! My dad and my husband both enjoy the chocolate raspberry truffle cake in the MDR. They are updating menus fleetwide, but we're hopeful that remains when we sail in January!

We enjoyed relaxing on our balcony when sailing, so only saw the Blue Man Group. Something to see since it's included in your cruise fare, but it was a bit too out-of-the ordinary for us (except for my BIL, who LOVED it!), so we're hoping to experience Howl at the Moon (I've been to the one in Chicago) and Cirque du Soleil next time.

That's all I can think of for now. Happy planning and cruising!

We surprised my mom with cruise to celebrate her retirement in 2011, after teaching for 37 years. We didn't tell her until we were flying to Fort Lauderdale; she knew she was going there, she just didn't know we were heading on to Miami to board the Sky! Some family friends of ours even flew in to join us on the cruise as a surprise to her. I booked it in July, and we cruised in September, so it's about the same amount of time you have!

I was like you where I was very, very excited, because it was my parents' first-ever cruise and I hoped they would enjoy cruising in retirement (they have, and have since gone on 8 more cruises!). It was HARD to keep that secret, and in the end, we did end up telling a couple of her close friends about the cruise and requesting they keep it a secret. A couple friends even basked in knowing what was going on, knowing that she didn't know, and kinda liked to tease her with that. :D She's a good sport.

Anyway, I tell you this the surprise can be done and your husband will love it! Happy planning, surprising and cruising!

We did MyTime Dining on the Independence of the Seas this past February and had no problems showing up and getting a table. There were two of us, and we were seated in the same section with the same waitstaff each time we ate in the MDR - not at our request, that's just how it turned out. We chose not to reserve times online in advance because we didn't know when we would be hungry each day or even if we wanted to dine in the MDR.

Enjoy your cruise!

Next it was Maho Beach, where DH stood behind three different jetliners taking off, and got a very nice case of windburn - he was as happy as a clam, and would have spent the whole day there if he could. I got a kick out of watching folks tumble head over heels down the beach and into the surf - when those engines kick up, you will get knocked over if you aren't braced. The Sunset Bar looks like a place that we would visit again - I will spend the day in the water, and he can work on his windburn. After Maho, we drove the rest of the way around the island and Melanius got us back to the port area in plenty of time - two hours before all aboard.

Great review! I'm glad to hear your Dad is on the mend. Thank you for sharing your experience with having travel insurance, including the costs. We started buying travel insurance a couple years ago, but sometimes question that decision thinking we're young and healthy (early 30s) and likely won't need it. However, anything can happen at any time, and I'm glad your parents had the insurance to cover the expenses.

Quoted above sounds exactly like my DH while on our Bernard's tour of St. Maarten the last two years! Happy as can be getting blasted with sand when the big jets are taking off from Maho Beach. I've He tried to record the KLM jet's takeoff last year, but all we got was him falling into the sand as he blown over. :)

Also, your experience with Senor Frogs and getting back on the ship while having a good time reminds me of our experience on St. Kitts after an unlimited-rum-punch snorkeling excursion (after snorkeling was over) in February. That punch packs a, well, punch! My DH had to sleep it off in our stateroom that afternoon. :eek:

Thanks for sharing your experiences!

Love the Sky! So much so that I'm trying to convince my husband we should cruise the Sky once before our Epic sailing next January. :)

It's a small ship, but easy to navigate. Crew were friendly, the food was good and we loved the small pool area in the front of the ship (that may have been the kids' pool; I can't remember). As the previous poster said, rooms are small, but they are well kept and comfortable. And we loved GSC!

We did the 4-day Sky cruise in September 2011 and it was not like that at all. Spring break cruises definitely attract more of the party crowd, but the crowd on our sailing was well mannered and having a fun time without getting out of control.

Thanks for your comparisons! I would love to sail the Oasis or Allure one of these days...and the Getaway too. :-)

Scary experience about seeing the woman fall and how NCL responded. I would have been thinking much of what you and your husband were thinking. Agree with the poster who said you may want to contact NCL about that experience. When it comes to emergency situations, I would hope any company is willing to listen to their customers to improve how those types of situations are handled. That poor woman.

Also, I will say that food is totally subjective. We love the food on NCL. My husband can still list off all the items he enjoys on the NCL menus over a year after our last NCL sailing. We sailed RCCL's Indy this past February...and hated the food. I wasn't a fan of the food on the Grandeur a couple years ago, but went into our Indy sailing with an open mind, because we loved the itinerary. Let's just say we ate a fair amount of pizza on our honeymoon. My husband will not sail RCCL again until they change their menus. We're not foodies, but suffice it to say our experience on the Indy was yours in reverse on the Getaway -- we gained no weight on the Indy. ;-) Is there better food on the larger-class ships? It's the same across the fleet, so doubtful!

Last thing and not related at all to your post: notice you are from Clearwater. My DH and I were married on Clearwater Beach at the Sandpearl last November. LOVE Clearwater and Clearwater Beach and cannot wait to return!

Looking forward to reading more!

Check out NCL. They offer studio cabins for solo travelers to Caribbean destinations, and there is no single supplement for those. Studios are available on the Epic, Breakaway and Getaway; I don't believe they are available on smaller NCL ships, but I could be wrong about that. The studio lounge is great place for solo travelers to gather, meet and go to dinner, etc.

Have fun researching and deciding!

That's excellent! Take it! I was supposed to sail solo in a studio cabin on the Epic last year on a family cruise, and through some sort of stroke of luck, my parents' PCC at NCL gave me a balcony, because they weren't selling as well at the time. Yep, I took it! It was excellent...and my now-husband was able to join me. :-)

We've sailed the Epic once and are sailing again next January with some first-time cruiser friends! We really enjoyed our first sailing on the Epic and can't wait for our second.

As far as what ship to compare it to, I agree with the poster who said it's like the first iteration of Breakaway/Getaway. If you're asking about what it's like compared to other non-NCL ships...that's a tough question! All of the ships we've sailed on have had their own uniqueness. :) The Epic's entertainment was excellent, IMO. We enjoyed it more than the entertainment on our recent RCCL cruise.

Personally, I would save the $300 and book the balcony. While I've never sailed in a mini, everyone on this board who has sailed in them has said they are essentially glorified balconies with no suite perks. We sailed in a balcony on the Epic last year and the room and the balcony were perfectly comfortable for the two of us.

Enjoy your cruise!

We had a table of 7 on the NCL Epic last year and were seated with no problems. We never had a wait, and we dined at around 7 p.m. each evening. Maybe it was a fluke, but we have yet to experience long waits at MDRs on NCL. My parents sail NCL a couple times each year and also very rarely experience waits for tables for 2.

NCL's freestyle dining has worked quite well for us, and much better than RCCL's MyTime Dining did on our recent cruise with them. NCL has freestyle dining down! Other lines, IMO, do not seem to do it as well with the Anytime/MyTime dining options.

Another vote for SAS or QLS! Have used both and at $15 per person, per trip, it's not a bad deal at all!

I am in my early 30s and have sailed the Imagination (same class as the Ecstasy, I believe), the Inspiration, the NCL Sky and on Royal. So far, one of my favorite cruises has been on the Sky. We sailed a few years ago the week you are looking at for this year.

The Sky is a nice, smaller ship - very easy to navigate by following the fish in the carpet that face forward. Food, while subjective, was very good in the MDRs, Garden Cafe, etc. We have never dined in specialty restaurants. There were varying ages (we were on the 4-day Sky cruise), and lots of activities for everyone. If you prefer no set dining times and not having to dress up for dinner, NCL's freestyle concept is wonderful. We were in a balcony and it was comfortable. If you want a balcony, there are plenty on the Sky (not many on the Majesty and I'm not sure about the Victory or Sensation).

Also, you can bring as much soda and cases of water on NCL and Royal, though most people on our recent Royal cruise did not do this.

Hope this helps some! Good luck deciding, and have a great cruise!

I'm not even sailing the Getaway and I'm enjoying your review! Sounds like you enjoyed NCL and had a wonderful cruise. :)

My cousin, who lives in London, flew direct to Tampa from Gatwick, I believe, last year for my wedding in the Tampa area. You could add Tampa to the mix for Western Caribbean itineraries if flights are less expensive to Tampa (or Orlando, which is an hour or two away).

So many options! :-)

Thanks for your opinion.

 

IMO - I could say the same thing about the food on RCCL that you said about NCL and I have cruised more on RCCL. On our last RCCL cruise in Feb 2014, our reservations were screwed up, the table we ended up with was terrible (we were squished between two other tables and right next to the wait stand; I could have helped myself to anything on the wait stand while I was sitting), the service was slow and the food was mediocre at best. I liked our RCCL cruise but the food, again IMHO, did not stand out compared to other cruise lines.

 

The only reason I am sharing this is because all of the mass-market cruise lines are pretty much the same; all you need to do is try them all or several and you will find this out. IMHO :)

 

OP, all you really have to do is decide for yourself and use everyone else's opinion to help you decide.

Happy and safe cruising!! :D

I agree with you about the RCCL dining experience, as we had a very similar experience on our February 2014 cruise on the Indy. My husband won't sail RCCL again until they revamp menus and improve their dining service for the MyTime diners. We didn't realize how important food was to us (and we're not foodies) until on that cruise...where, for the first time, neither of us came home with "cruise weight." ;-)

OP, food is obviously quite subjective. If that's truly important to you, spend the extra money on Royal. Having cruised with them before and enjoying it, go with what you know. :-) However, as another poster said, just because you had a not-so-great experience once, does not mean it is reflective of the entire fleet.

Enjoy whichever cruise you choose!

Bumping this post. I am booked for Jan 25, 2015 and I starting to worry about the weather. I'll be leaving miami port, jamica, grand cayman and Mexico.

 

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We cruised that week last year to the Eastern Caribbean and it was in the 80s! Sailed in early February of this year...same weather. We're sailing the same itinerary as you next January, but a week earlier, and expect similar weather to what we've had the last couple years. Florida may be cooler, but the ports should be nice and warm!

Have a fun cruise!

Like others have said, personal preference. We've been in inside and oceanview rooms, and our last three cruises have had balconies. Now that we've sailed in balconies, my husband will only sail in balconies. For us, the additional cost for the balcony is worth it. We do only sail once a year, though, because we go on land-based vacation in addition to cruises.

I watch prices for our upcoming cruise, and the balcony we had reserved has fallen in cost. We have gotten the reduced rate by calling to request it. Depending on how close you are to final payment, you may want to watch prices for balconies to see if they align closer to that of what you're currently paying for the inside stateroom.

Enjoy your first cruise!

My daughter and I just returned from a 9 day cruise on Explorer of the Seas. While we enjoyed ourselves it was just missing something. I am not complaining we did enjoy ourselves. The best way to describe it is this cruise was missing the easy rhythm of an NCL Cruise. Good thing I brought my books with me because we often found ourselves with nothing of interest to do.

Pros on EOS: nice cabins, beautiful large pool areas, funky soda machines Cons| limited choices for dinning, buffet had no variety, shopping was rediculous with overkill tactics in the promenade nightly, debarkation and embarkation madness at Port Liberty.

 

We missed: Freestyle Dinning, Specialty Dining and O'Sheehans, quality of musicians, friendliness of staff, nightly parties and overall quality of Cruise Director and Staff.

 

For the right deal I would not exclude RCI from possibilities. However, I will look first to NCL.

We felt very much like you did after our cruise in the Indy in February. It was our honeymoon cruise, and while we enjoyed the cruise, there was something that was missing for us as well. The itinerary is what drew us in - absolutely loved having 8-nights (St. Maarten, St. Kitts, San Juan, Labadee) - but we realized on that cruise that we much prefer NCL and Freestyle over Royal.

Overall, we felt food and entertainment are both better on NCL.

Entertainment seemed to be lacking on our Indy cruise. When there wasn't a show being performed, the only other options were to go to a bar and drink or go to the art auction.

Glad you enjoyed yourselves! Never hurts to check out something new. :-)

For us, we can't wait for our NCL cruise next year!

Our priced dropped this weekend too! Saved about $320, but lost $100 OBC. Our friends who are first-time cruisers also benefited from the price drop. Woohoo!

If you do book a hump balcony on Indy, I'd try to reserve one on decks 7, 8, or 9. We were in a hump balcony on deck 6 in February and, since we always take the stairs, always seemed to be walking up up up. So if you take the stairs, aim for a higher-up hump balcony. :)

A dog on the Freedom. His owner had health issues which required the dog's assistance. The was well behaved and trained but it made me think about the challenges involved, especially with where they go potty. My DH spoke with the owner and there is a place that the dog went potty during sea days. Amazing that they were able to accommodate this couple and the dog. I'm a big dog lover so it was always a treat to see them but it caused me to miss my 3 k9 babies at home.

We sailed Indy in February, and there were service dogs on our cruise - about 10 or 12 of them, their owners and various family members. Loved seeing the dogs out and about on the ship! We wondered the same thing as you about where they go potty and happened upon an area in the aft part of the ship on deck 4 for with 4 or 5 sandbox-sized boxes full of mulch. Didn't realize at the time that it was for the dogs, but it dawned on us a couple hours later when one of our fellow cruisers and her service dog got off the elevator on deck 4. :)

Sailed RCCL for our honeymoon earlier this year, and sailed the NCL Epic last year. Hands down, NCL wins for us, all because of the Freestyle concept and laid-back atmosphere. Though we enjoyed the itinerary on our honeymoon cruise, RCCL was not for us. We enjoy Freestyle dining and not having to dress up for dinner, and NCL offers that. We prefer dressing comfortably (sundresses for me, Hawaiian shirts & shorts for my hubs) over dressing up, especially on our Caribbean/Bahamas cruises, and on Royal, we felt like we had to dress up. Also, we did not enjoy the food at all on either of our Royal cruises. On NCL, we felt like there were plenty of options and have never dined at a specialty restaurant. Most of the complimentary food has been very good. If not, we'll try something else. :)

In addition, we felt entertainment is better on NCL, and the Epic is truly a great ship! So much to see and do, it almost seems like a challenge to be bored. ;-)

I would go with the significant savings and go with the Epic balcony. The additional cost is not worth it for Royal, IMO. Save the money for shore excursions!

Happy cruising!