Biz64

My family and I were on the NCL Escape in january, and while at the beach in St. Thomas my 5 year old daughter spiked a temp and ended up having a febrile seizure. We rushed her back to the ship and the medical center. The final bill was around $600. My regular health insurance covered it like it was a regular hospital visit that happened on land, i just submitted the claim along with the receipts when I got home. Most health insurance will cover medical treatment performed on a cruise ship.

I looked at Allure/Oasis before deciding on Escape. I'll admit that it was the UBP that actually sold me :-), but while I was waiting to be sold by the concept of free flowing liquor I compared the Royal Promenade to Spice/Waterfront. I felt like I would be more connected to the ocean on Escape. So, for those of you who have sailed both, if I want oceanfront dining, relaxing and drinking - how do the ships compare? I hope I'm not hijacking the thread! Just seems to be a comparison developing in the discussion.

I have to admit, the Waterfront on the Escape is nice a nice concept, but to me I still preferred the Allure. The Royal Promenade was great because there was always stuff going on there like parades and parties. Even just grabbing a drink and people watching was interesting. The escape didn't really have any open spaces like that. As for the shows, while the Million Dollar Quartet was probably the best show I've seen on any cruise, there were just way more options on the Allure and all were good to very good. Lastly, if you enjoy relaxing out on the pool deck with a drink or maybe going for a swim, there is no comparison, the Allure hands down. Now with all that being said, the Escape was still a nice cruise, and I probably would have enjoyed it even more if my wife and I went without the kids, especially with the UBP :D

Is Blue moon still avail as a beer choice

It was on the Escape when we sailed in February. Actually we thought the drink selection was excellent for the UBP, including lots of different beers ( a lot of microbrews) and top shelf liquor. The only thing I had to pay extra for was when I was having any single malt scotch. I will say however that I didn't try any wine, so not sure about that. There were lots of stuff I didn't really like about the cruise, but honestly, the drinks were one of the positives.

Yes, Oasis and Allure. However, the Carnival Breeze and Liberty of the Seas also had a little wow factor. Nothing bad about the Escape, I just personally did not like the layout.

 

 

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I agree with this...the pool deck was probably the worst of any cruise I've been on.

The best show on the Escape (really one of the best I've seen on any cruise) was the Million Dollar Quartet. The rest of the shows were only so-so at best. Now that MDQ is no longer playing it certainly would make entertainment below average IMO.

We were on the Escape and it varied by bartender. Sometimes I would be able to get two drinks (one for the wife and one for me) with just my card, sometimes they would ask for two cards, and sometimes they would only give me two drinks if she was standing with me.

When you were on the Escape did you notice if it had the Climbing and trampoline activities for kids?

We were on in February, no rock wall and no trampoline. BTW if your thinking of RCCL, maybe try one of the Oasis class ships? I think there is way more to do on them than the Escape/Getaway, especially for your kids. My kids enjoyed the Allure a lot more than the Escape.

I completely agree with you on the entertainment. Our kids are ages 10, 8, and 5 and there was absolutely no entertainment on the ship that caters to families with younger children, especially in the evening. Disney, of course, was much better but so was the Allure of The Seas. On the Allure we had something to do with the kids every evening, including shows geared toward families and even parades! Our kids are the type that really enjoy things like that, so because of the entertainment and the pool area I doubt we will do any NCL cruises with them again.

chocolate lava cake in MDR and the cheeseburger and wings at O'sheehans.

How deep is the kids pool on the Getaway? We were on the Escape and the kids pool was 5ft deep. I have to say the pool deck on that ship was terrible.

7:30? Good God ya'll.

Every night I am about to click and reserve my first NCL cruise but things like this stop me....argh!

It was pretty bad for our sailing, especially since we had kids with us. We wanted to be somewhat close to the kids area to keep an eye on them, so that made it even harder to find a spot. What makes it bad is they just don't have enough pools and the pool deck layout is terrible. . If you sit anywhere in the front of the ship you would have a very long walk to the pool and back. Now all that being said, I don't know if I would let that stop me from booking if the price was right and I didn't take the kids. If you have children though, especially young ones, I would look elsewhere. IMO this ship is not very child oriented or family friendly.

We'll be on The Escape in April with this same itinerary and these are our plans: Our kids are 6 & 9.

 

St. Thomas: 99 Steps/Blackbeard's Castle and explore the grounds there. There's a nice pool on that property, pirate statues, and the castle and a few small houses to tour. Depending on how long we are there and how the kids are doing, we may take the tram up to Paradise Point, but I'm kind of not liking it would cost us $80 to get up the mountain. We've never been, so we'll see how it all goes.

 

Tortola: Really wanted to do The Baths, but with such a short day and not wanting to take the ship's excursion, we're doing Dolphin Discovery instead, on our own.

 

Nassau: Blue Lagoon Beach Day. Really wanted to do the dolphins here but also wanted to enjoy the beach and the inflatables. I don't think we'll have time to do both given Blue Lagoon's hours, so we decided to do the dolphins in Tortola and enjoy a beach day here instead.

How long is your stop at Tortola? If it is 7am-3pm like we had, you will have no problem doing the Baths on your own. There were 11 of us, including 4 kids, and it was super easy to do and never really felt rushed at all.

How early is early? Just curious. Is it as bad as the main pool deck area for chairs after a certain time?

Well we had kids with us so we only visited there for a short while as opposed to actually lounging there and it was always packed, but my sister and brother in law tried to sit there on one of the sea days and had a hard time finding two chairs together when they got there around 10am. The main pool area seats were usually gone by about 730am and by about 9am it was almost impossible to find a seat anywhere near the pools. While the ship overall is pretty nice, the pool deck is the worst of any cruise I have been on.

Do not miss the Baths when in Tortola. It was my kids' favorite day of the entire cruise. The beach there is amazing! It was like swimming in an aquarium! Don't forget a pair of goggles.

Ours was kept as a bed all day, but I'm sure we could have asked the room steward to make it a couch. I have to say the service from the gentleman in charge of our room was fantastic!

Yes it's first come first serve for the chairs. No pool, just a grotto (little cave with some misting and water falls). Get there early on sea days if you want to find a place to sit.

We have sailed Oasis class the past three spring breaks and haven't experienced similar issues. We are sailing Escape this spring break. I'm excited to compare

 

 

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I'm sorry to say it's no comparison. We were on the Allure last year and it was a much better experience in my opinion. Don't get me wrong, the Escape is nice and you will have fun, but not compared to Oasis class ships.

We were on the Feb 20th cruise on the Escape and it was the most motion I've felt on a ship before. It was from the moment we left Miami until we got back and it was all kids of motion, including vibration we noticed in the main dining rooms. We were on the Allure of The Seas last year and barely felt any motion. The motion doesn't really bother me, but you can really feel it. Even the water in the pool was splashing from side to side.

I just booked the 7:15 cruise excursion (earliest time to beat crowds) there but you have me reconsidering. Is Devil's Bay beach right there near the Baths and you just hang out until ready to leave?

Once you go through the Baths, you come out onto Devil's Bay on the other side. After the beach you walk back up a different trail to get back to where the taxi/bus is to pick you up. You could go back through the Baths and take the same trail up that you take on the way down, but it would take longer. It was very easy to do on our own and cost about half of what NCL charges. Bring snorkel gear or at least a pair of goggles for the beach, it was like swimming in an aquarium! If you have a waterproof camera bring that too. You will love it there, this was our favorite part of the trip.

get to the running track early, especially on sea days! There are so many people and loungers on deck that I saw many runners having a hard time navigating their way around people. Technically, there are specific times for the running track listed on the daily activity guide but I don't remember the specifics.

Does anyone know if you go to the Baths on your own if you will be on the same ferries as people doing the NCL excursion will be on? Also, if you do the excursion with NCL do you 100% have to go back on the specifically timed ferry for your group or can you go on a later one?

 

Thanks!

No, we did it on our own and we were on a different ferry. We also got there before the big crowds and had the Baths mostly to our selves as we walked through. We got to enjoy the beach at Devil's Bay for a couple of hours too before we headed back. Definitely do it on your own. We spoke to some people who did the NCL excursion and they said they felt rushed and crowded. Just make sure to catch the 745am ferry and the 1245pm ferry back. We were done with the Baths and on the beach before 10am I think, and there were 11 of us.

We just got off the Escape last week and The Baths at Virgin Gorda was our favorite excursion of the entire cruise! It's beautiful and so much fun, not to mention so easy to do on your own.

We just came off the Escape last week and my kids (ages 10,8,and 5) barely used the pool. It's not really a kid friendly pool at all. It's way too deep and with how much the ship moves, it feels like a wave pool :eek:. There were times when the water would shift and even I could barely touch the bottom, and I'm 5'8". The pool decks design on this ship is awful.

How were the kids clubs now that Nickelodeon has departed NCL? We will have 15, 13 and 9 with us. Not too worried for the teenagers, more so the 9 yr old. I don't want him to be bored and wanting to hang with us at night. Mother-of-the-year here wants to put the UBP to good use. [emoji56][emoji12]

Sorry, but I would't know lol. My kids didn't try the kids clubs because they would have to be separated by age and they also had cousins on the ship that they wanted to hang out with. I did walk by the club a few times on the way to our room and on a few occasions I heard kids telling their parents that they didn't want to leave yet, so I'm assuming they were having fun. It's a fun ship during the day, but honestly there isn't much for kids to do after dinner (besides the clubs). For adults though, there is a lot of fun things going on at night!

That's too bad…MDQ was an awesome show!