kalesco

Thank you for the great photos!

I'm looking forward to the TA in fall :) will be nice to compare to my previous cruises on Epic.

Does anyone know whether it's still possible to have breakfast in La Cucina?

On the TA I was in 13294 - bed near entrance.

I want to mention that I had called an agent at NCL to change my room to one with bed NEAR BALCONY. This was done and confirmed, I checked on the UK site (the only NCL site then with this information), yet the room had the other layout in the end.

So I'm not sure whether the agents' and/or the website's information is accurate. Maybe it's better now that the ship has been in service for a couple of weeks.

The room was very nice, I was just surprised the agent didn't know about the layout.

Had the exact same thing happen to me:

Got cruise next and booked the Epic '16 TA at the same time with the same person on board the Escape.

Cruise next was not applied to the booked cruise and the cruise was shown as on hold and deposit of USD 400 due until Nov 16.

My soon to be TA (he will take over the reservation from NCL) was able to sort this out by contacting NCL with my details.

Shows as expected now on MyNCL yet on the PDF confirmation it says payment applied BUT still deposit due blabla. I choose to ignore the PDF ;)

They don't seem to be able to fully use/apply this cruise next thing as advertised yet. Though as long as things can be sorted out, it's all good.

Regarding the "booked on ship proof" - I was wondering the same thing, the booking date shows that I was on Escape at this time though...

After seeing photos of the menus and food, and reading comments of recent Escape cruisers, I’d pick Food Republic. Having said this, for the kids I'd pick Teppanyaki.

What they said!

I know the Epic is going to be cruising out of Port Canaveral for a time. Is there a repositioning cruise going to happen between UK and there sometime??

Apr 01 - 14, 2017

SAT - FR

PORTS EMBARK Orlando & Beaches (Port Canaveral); Royal Naval Dockyard (Bermuda); Funchal (Madeira); Granada (Malaga) (Spain); DISEMBARK Barcelona (Spain)

I am from New Zealand and would never go anywhere in the world without my Passport and my Photo ID Drivers Licence.

 

I also have a paper copy in my luggage and in my wallet and photos on my computer at home and on the tablet with me.

 

Think what would happen if you were marooned in a foreign country with out real ID. How many have been left in Bermuda in the last month; and that is a friendly country? Try missing the boat in Russia, Oman or India!!!!

 

Mike

Pom by Birth; Coin Collecting Retired Kiwi by Choice.

Being from Europe (Austria) myself, I guess this information primarily caters to US Americans. With NZ, Australia and European countries, the culture of getting passports is a bit different. We basically *can't* go anywhere without a proper ID. US citizens though can (could) go to every climate and two oceans incl. the caribbean without a passport ;)

I also think that everyone should get a passport if they want to travel anywhere, it's a one time inconvenience/cost (from what I heard on these boards) and offers such a range of advantages (being able to fly home without much trouble if you missed the ship in particular).

Sure... I'd be happy to try. Do you happen to know the timeframe of when she'll make her first Hamburg/Southampton transit?

She's starting on Oct 25 from Hamburg to Southampton, 2 cruises to nowhere from Southampton, then off to Miami on Oct 29, arrival date Nov 8.

:)

Thank you for trying!

Thank you for sharing!

I love time lapse videos :)

Could you do one for the Escape, as soon as she's getting a bridge cam until she's in Miami? :) I'll be on the inaugural TA and would love to see/get the video for it - even though with 10 sea days it will be boring for almost everyone else.

If she'll get the cam in Hamburg or before it would be really cool to see her coming to Hamburg and then to Southampton (3 times :D) before she starts for Miami.

For all sailing on Transatlantic Brenda Kaye comedy hypnotist will be performing. Try to see her shows she is awesome

I don't want to laugh at people doing weird things - not my kind of humour I guess. I like comedy (laughing about the comedian's stories), hypnosis not so much.

Thank you Ozzie's Mom!

I did the whole thing twice (yeah I'm still a newbie) and your post summarises everything perfectly.

It deserves a place an NCL's FAQ (and they should throw in some OBC for you imo).

Really helpful post!

Edit: sorry for getting the name wrong :)

I need to chime in: I love Epic on sea days, did a west bound TA on her last year, and am planning to do the next one in 2016.

If you want to have loungers directly at the pools and want to use the pools a lot, then you may have the same impression as Lilystar.

I was enjoying entertainment (classes and other things on the Atrium), forward sun deck, the spa, the slides and the bars and boom it was time for dinner ;)

Just to give another perspective :)

Will try to snap a few shots of the Escape's O2 if they open up some mix of cabins for show, they usually do!

 

edit; this different (taken from BA/GA):

I usually don't quote images, so I apologize, but in this case it's important ;)

This picture shows an accessible cabin (12700 is marked as handicapped/accessible cabin on both BA and GA). Please don't be disappointed when not every O2 (or O1) has that much space :D

Our cabin had an upper on each side.

Question as you may know this (or maybe someone else will):

is the bottom of this side bunk bed metal / magnetic? I thought it would be a nice place to put a poster or pictures or the dailies or something with magnets :)

Cheers

Have taken the plunge today and booked an aft balcony on the Escape for January 2016. Quite excited to learn about new dining aboard, like the dinner show in place of Illusionarium or Cirque Dreams...

megacruiser, that's great - I was wondering if you were going on the Escape too. Everyone can look forward to another great review!

I'll be on the maiden TA in fall :)

Thank you for your great reviews and those wonderful pictures - I am reading the Getaway thread as inspiration for the Escape and the Epic one to reminiscence on my past trips :D

Just seen this, is it old hat or will howl at the moon now be on escape

http://www.howlatthemoon.com/norwegian-cruise-lines/

:confused:

That's great news! I hope they will be there on the maiden crossing.

Another vote for the rebellious fish!

I also like Caipiroska - sometimes I have to explain to bartenders what it is ;)

It's like a Caipirinha with vodka instead of Cachaca.

Dark and stormy sounds great!

Does anyone know if they have - or are able to make - a Russian mule? (Vodka, ginger ale, lime, ??) wouldn't need to come in the special copper mug.

Great catch and thank you for posting!

I will now check regularly to get my spa pass for the Escape TA. I hope it will be available :)

I loved the spa on the last TA on the Epic, nice to warm up when the weather's not so nice.

Hi, there's a sun deck on deck 18, you reach it with the elevator right outside the garden cafe (or the stairs).

There's a public sun deck that is free, there are nice padded loungers all the way forward with a very nice view. It does get crowded there. However, there are also normal blue loungers on the port and starboard side.

There's also the access to the posh area when you leave the elevator, your key card is needed to access this (for a fee).

Toilets are available near the stairs. No bar, no regular waiter service. No shade either, apart from the dividers.

Thus was true for a med cruise in May 2014 and the transatlantic to Miami in fall 2014.

NCL wave15 European sailings come with 2 offers.

 

eg dining and beverage or sub one for the OBC.

 

Just checked the cheapest Spirit date and it is coming up with zero solo sup on insides and OV

 

5 Jan Spirit 10n Solo OV GTY $625.

 

the dining pack was $144 for that cruise beverage must be over $500 for 10 days

Just wanted to point that out too:

from a mock booking:

Norwegian Spirit, 10-Day Canary Islands & Morocco from Barcelona, Oceanview picture window cabin, 1 person, UBP + 200 OBC --> 704USD

Jan 5-15, from/to Barcelona

I thought this information might be interesting for other cruisers as well :)

back story:

On the afternoon before embarking the Epic for the transatlantic my purse/wallet was stolen in Barcelona. I still had my passport, the cruise docs and my smartphone as well as usd200 cash; credit cards, bank card and driver's licence were gone.

Credit card for the ship, when you don't have one on you:

As I wanted to avoid using the only cash I had left for the ship account, I tried to get my mother's credit card on my file. - This actually works even if the physical card is not with you!

Go to guest services/onboard credit booth and ask - they might not know it, ask for the supervisor. They have a form for this which is sent to the person holding the card via email. They need to fill in the rest and sign the form, scan it and send it back to the ship. Was a bit of a hassle to get everything sorted before sail away but it worked! Ship account works exactly the same as if it was your (physical) card!

At check in when they ask for a credit card, say you'll add cash on board.

Get cash on board with the ship account:

If you have a credit card on your account, there's no need to use the ATM on the ship (which adds more fees I believe). You can go to the cash out register of the casino and ask for money there. The amount is added to your ship account, fee is 3% - USD400 cash adds USD12 as a fee. I thought this was very reasonable.

I hope this information helps someone!

This was experienced on the Epic in Oct 2014 - ymmv!

It's true that there are liquor shops after the first security scanners (in Barcelona), but they have scanners when you board the ship.

They are not always used, but they are there and were used on embarking the Epic on Oct 26.

Ymmv.

I would go with the west bound TA - mainly because there are more stops.

Also, the 25 hour days sound nice and I guess it will be quite a bit warmer.

I'm biased of course: I will be on the TA in October ;) - can't wait!!

(We have a very active roll call btw)

I was on the Epic in May and we did the Hoho bus after our one night stay and before going to the port. I would suggest doing two of the three loops on Saturday and the third loop on Sunday - you'll have plenty of time for this.

Can't recommend a specific wine, but the Rioja we chose from the shop after the check in was fine. The rosé was a disaster. Both were not worth remembering the exact names though. We weren't checked when going on the ship. YMMV.

When walking from the pools to the table tennis area, there are cushioned loungers on one side, with shade.

Granted, you hear the noise from the pools and maybe spice h2o, but there's little traffic. I thought the loungers were pretty comfy. YMMV.

I love your writing style!

I'm going on the Serenade on a Baltic cruise next year, so I checked the thread for the ship but I'll stay for your very enjoyable 'story' :)

(Not all of the photos work though)