janiss815

I'm so glad I booked the week AFTER the NYC public school spring break. I can't believe they have it so late! I figured booking first week in May, I wouldn't even come close to the spring break crowd but I guess not! School ends just a month later it seems like. So bizarre!

Can't say I blame you! LOL Yeah this year has been strange with spring break weeks for NY and NJ schools scattered throughout March-April. This is the latest in my recent memory for NYC schools. However if we are the only ones on spring break this week, I'm hopeful it won't be too crowded...in past spring break cruises we've taken, NYC kids weren't the majority in the ships.

Spring breaks are mostly over I think, so maybe it will be better. The lines weren't horrible the 1st week of march.

I like the sound of that. NYC public school spring break is so late this year. I'm not complaining, since we may have "missed" the crowd.

Thank you! I guess the lines are as expected - long. I don't think our sailing is fully booked, so hoping for short-ish lines. :rolleyes:

Hi, those who have been on the Escape recently, during spring break weeks...looking for some feedback on how long the lines have been (how many minutes wait) at the ropes course and water slides? We will be on her in 10 days (finally!!!) and I want to prepare myself and the kids mentally with lines for these activities.

Thanks!!

Janis

Thanks for the review and especially the tips. I copied them to take with us. Really enjoyed reading your review.

We were "upgraded" to a guarantee mini-suite when prices went down after final payment. We are 46 days til the cruise and still haven't received cabin assignment. I think the terms say that NCL may assign our cabin at check-in but I know they usually assign cabins well in advance. Does anyone know when they "typically" assign cabins for guarantees? Do they do these all at once or can be one by one?

Also, what we paid for our original cabin (balcony) was more than the current price for the mini-suite - would NCL consider what we paid when assigning us a cabin (ie, would they give us a better cabin since we paid more)?

This was a great review. I learned so much from your descriptions and pictures. We will be doing the Baths ourselves as well. So it was helpful to follow your experience. One question which I am still confused after reading so many "Baths self tours" - what's the difference between the Devils Bay path and the Baths path?

3100 on the crossing. The ship holds 4200+. 3100 seemed perfect. Venues were lively but not overly crowded (with a few exceptions). When completely full I think ESCAPE will feel pretty packed in. Hopefully I'm wrong on that. We also had very few kids onboard which makes a difference.

 

Even with only 3100 pax onboard getting a drink could be challenging. With so many people having the beverage the bar staffed seemed very understaffed often times with lines at the bar to try and get drinks.

Thank you eroller! Very helpful information. We're going during spring break so it will be interesting what the experience will be like at full capacity.

Thanks! Really enjoyed your pictures. We're also in a regular balcony on deck 14 so I was very happy to see your cabin pictures. The ship didn't look crowded at all. Do you know how many passengers were there on the transactlantic?

I came back from the Baths this past weekend and we did the self excursion and to me it was a great decision! Keep in mind I'm 41, my wife is 33 and our little one is just over 3. We're both in good shape but I really don't see anyone having issues even if you're out of shape as long as you're not too out of shape. We left the ship at 7:15. The walk to the ferry is about 10-15min. We took the 7:45 Speedy's and got to VG at 8:30. Cab ride to the Baths drop off area was no more than 5-10 min. The hike down was about 10 minutes to the top of the Baths where you start going through the rocks. The 10 min hike is really not that hard at all and I carried my 3 year old 80% of the way down. She doesn't like to walk on dirt... Going through the caves/rocks had more obstacles as you need to climb some steep stairs and go over some boulders but not that many, and still pretty easy. My 3 year old had a blast in the caves! I'm highly opposed to going through the Baths from Devil's Bay as everyone you encounter in the caves will hate you unless you're going on a slow day. The walk in the caves is only about 10-15min if you don't stop much. But we took our time and explored the less traveled areas as well and we were in it for a good 30min. We came out to Devil's Bay around 9:30 and the beach was gorgeous! The water was really fun to wade in but be careful, waves could knock you down and probably has strong riptides. My wife who never wades in saltwater did this time as she had so much fun. We left Devil's Bay at 11:40ish and went up the trail from Devil's bay. This trail has no steps unlike the trail coming down. It's slightly longer because of it. Again, I carried my 3 year old going back up. We got to the top just before 12 and rested a bit at the restaurant. Got on the cab around 12:30 and made it to the 12:45 ferry no problem. Ferry coming back dropped us off next to the ship, not sure why, but that was a treat!

 

Overall, it was a trip well worth going. The beach is gorgeous, the caves are a must see. And I'd recommend doing a self excursion to maximize time and money. We saved over $110 compare to ship excursion!

Awesome, thank you! We will be doing same thing in April with our 9 and 13 year olds. Were there a lot of taxis waiting to take you to and and from the Baths? Were these the free taxis that come with the ferry fare?

I decided to chime in as I just came back on my cruise with the same port time.

 

This was the only DIY excursion I was a bit nervous and considering my flight to the cruise was delayed by 3.5 hours making me almost missed my cruise, I debated doing this myself or booking with NCL.

 

As fate would have it, there was only one spot left on both excursion time, so it was destined for me to do this on my own with my girlfriend.

 

Waited to get off the gangway at 6:50am, boat had cleared customs and I was the first one off the boat. The walk to the ferry was about 10 minutes, ignore the recommendations to take a taxi. It's a waste of money and you probably won't find much available at that time. I overheard a family of 6 paid $30 for the 10 minute walk....

 

Got to Speedy Ferry terminal at like 7:00am, waited a good 45 minutes for the 7:45am departure. No need to rush down, take your time, grab breakfast. Don't wake up early like I did. A safe bet would be leave the ship around 7:15am.

 

Over 100+ people from my ship was doing the same thing as I was. Taxi is included with the $38 round trip from Speedy. I got to the Baths about 8:45am, I would say it took longer to get there than on the way back. That's because you are sharing the same ferry as people who go to school and work from the islands. There's two taxis when you arrive, make sure you get off the boat first and get the first taxi to save a bit of time. I easily spent a good 3 hours at the Baths.

 

If I had gone with the Excursion, the caves would be packed with everyone I was going with NCL. By arriving much earlier, I was able to enjoy Devil's Bay before people arrived and also after people had to leave.

 

I also recommend to go down the Left side, don't even bother going to the right side. It's mostly stairs with no view and that side of the beach is nowhere near as good as Devil's Bay.

 

Left side gives you a nice scenic trail down to Devil's Bay where you end up on the other side of the caves. Lots of grottos and areas you can navigate yourself.

 

I stayed till around 11:30am before trekking back up, you can easily stay till 12pm and trek back up in about 5-7 mins. Taxi driver said he would be around 12:00pm to 12:15pm. We actually got back on an early taxi. I arrived at the ferry at around 12pm, I think if you stretched it comfortably you can get a good 3.5 hours at the Baths. Since I went Coki Beach at the day before at St. Thomas, didn't need to stay that long at Gorda.

 

The dock for the ferry has a goregous beach. Imagine getting a beer and swimming in the water off the same body of water the ferry is waiting for you. When the ship was ready to depart, they flagged us and we hopped out of the water and right on the ferry. The best experience ever while waiting for the boat.

 

All in all, I got a good 3 hours at the baths versus the 1 hour you would get with NCL. The cataraman option is pretty good too, you come up 15 feet from shore and jump in with a life jacket with a guide leading you straight to the beach.

Thank you. I appreciate you sharing your experience with us. Give me confidence we can do this on our own! Did you experience crowds when taking the ferry. Were they able to accomodate everyone or did you see some people having to wait for another ferry?

It's on Getaway, but not sure yet what will be on Escape. Other ships have the White Hot Party. It usually gets started around 10 or 10:30pm. Although it doesn't really cater to kids, there will be plenty of big kids there. My 11 year old lasted about 20 minutes, then was annoyed by the loud techno music and people grinding on each other thinking they were dancing. It's mostly cruise staff screaming "We are partying! Everybody dance! This is the greatest thing ever!" and other stuff to try to make it seem more fun than it was.

I do not know if it is on the Escape or not. We were on Breakaway.

The glow party was held on top deck, a LOT of people attended, as I mentioned, if you have your own t shirts or Neon painted clothing, that shows up better than just white .

It used to be called " white hot party" , but is now called " glow party" also, what we had on BreaKaway it was held Thursday night while docked in Bermuda, one thing to note though, if you have teenagers there could be a DIFFERENT night for their " neon" party. Again, on Breakaway to Bermuda, the teens Neon party was held Friday night Just thought I would mention that, but . if you are able to get someone to provide you with the Escape " freestyle daily schedules" ahead of time, you will have a better idea on which night glow party is planned.

Oh, ok, thank you both. I have heard of "white hot party" on previous NCL cruises but never made it out there. I have a 9 and 13 year old, so we'll keep an eye out for the teen version for the 13 year old.

This sounds like fun. Is it on every ship? We will be on the Escape in April and this sounds like something I'd like to take my kids to.

Beach and aquarium passes are not available online. You must show your cruise ID card at the desk at Atlantis in order to purchase. Neither beach nor aquarium past allows access to pools or outdoor activities.

 

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I see, thank you. How much are beach and aquarium passes - adults and kids are the same price?

We usually get the beach passes which give access to all 3 beaches and the aquarium. We skip the main beach and go down to Cove beach which is less crowded. IMO the water park pass is not worth it when you will only be docked for 6 hours which leaves about 5 hours max at the resort. The lines to the slides get pretty long so you may only go down the slides 2 or 3 times. Is that worth 300 bucks? Guess it's up to you....

Hi, where do you get the beach passes? When I click on the link the only options I get are the Aquaventure passes. My concern is not having enough time to really enjoy the waterpark as you mentioned. Does the beach pass also give you access to the swimming pools?

Hi, has anyone gotten a room at the Comfort Suites only to use the day pass for Atlantis? I'm thinking of doing this rather than going through the cruiseline excursion which will cost me over $600 for our family of 4. How close is Comfort Suites from Atlantis? Are there disadvantages to doing this? Do we have access to everything at Atlantis? I'm trying to be smart about how we spend our day as we have a short time in Nassau (12pm-7pm on NCL Escape) but at the same time not go broke. When we check in do we tell them we actually won't be using the room and to automatically check us out?

Thank you!!

When renting a car in St. Thomas, which location does Carnival dock at and what companies have car rentals at the cruise port?

 

Thanks!

Budget and Avis have locations across the street from the cruise port. I rented from Budget for April 2016.

I haven't been there but based on research for my trip in April 2016, Budget and Avis have locations across the street from cruise port. I rented a Jeep Wrangler from Budget.

You can have a very nice day and see a lot by renting a car. Just so that you do not have an unanticipated surprise, I hope you are aware that although the VI is a US territory we drive on the LEFT. Most vehicles are American makes and have the steering wheel on the left. It may help to remember "shoulder to shoulder". Drivers left shoulder is on the left shoulder of the road.

And be especially careful at intersections. You can't turn right on red after stop. ;)

Exercise caution!.....sing the left,left,left song over and over before you leave....the locals drive FAST.....the roads are quite narrow and curvy.....the taxis are large and don't share the road well.....have a wonderful time!

Thank you for the warning. I definitely would have assumed they drive on the right side there. My husband has driven plenty of times on the left but with with the steering wheel on the right side...not sure how comfortable he is driving left with steering on the left. That seems crazy and confusing to me.

You should have no problem with your plan. Once you get out of town you will not have much traffic. The roads are hilly, windy, and narrow but the speed limit is around 30MPH so you should have no trouble.

 

Parking can be difficult at Secret Harbor, but the other beaches have parking. You might add Smith Bay Park as a stop after you leave Sapphire and before you get to Coki. It is a beautiful undeveloped beach.

Ok thank you! Would definitely love to fit in Smith Bay.

Hi, I've decided to rent a car for the day we will be at St Thomas so that we can visit different beaches at our own pace. We have about a full day at St Thomas (8am-6pm) but plan on returning to the cruise port before 5pm since the rental company closes at 5.

How are the roads at St Thomas? I am thinking we drive the loop from Havensight to Secret Harbor to Sapphire Beach to Coki Beach to Magens Bay and back to Havensight. Is this too much to do in one day? I thought we'd get maybe an hour at each place. Am I insane to do all this? Kids are 12 and 8 and are used to road trips (although google maps shows the loop should only take 1 hour, I wonder if the roads are steep and windy).

Do you recommend we remove or add other points of interest?

Thanks so much!! It's our first time visiting St Thomas and we are quite excited!

You dock at all ports

 

6&8

Awesome! Thank you 6&8!

Hi everyone, we aren't going on the Escape until April 2016 but I am doing research on excursions now and wondering if any of the Escape ports - St Thomas, Tortola and Nassau - tender. I'm hoping we dock in all three but wanted to be sure. Thank you!

I emailed them as well, they don't like to answer their emails seems like. But I'm guessing they are used to getting ship crowds and can add more ferries if needed, at least that's what I've heard from other people here.

 

We're probably not on the same cruise as you. We're be on it in 4 weeks! :) So we might cross paths when we come off it.:mad:

We are planning the same trip. I emailed Speedy too, but have not heard back. Im assuming it would all be fine, however the 12:40 only ferry back does worry me. I worry if we miss that one then the next is too close to departure time. I may try to call them this week. See you on the ship.. 5 weeks left!!!

Kerri

Hi, I would appreciate an update once you've had your trip. We have the same amount of time on Tortola and would really like to do The Baths but am too concerned about not having enough time and the timing of ferry schedules give our departure time of 3:00.

I was a 3rd passenger and when I checked in, they didn't have record of either. They said they'd look into it and when I returned a day into the cruise, they confirmed I had these perks and gave me the credit. I missed out on one day of drinks. On internet, they said they'd charge and credit at the end but when I went to the internet room, they just gave me a code for 38 free minutes.

Thank you. This was helpful