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Everything.. ESCAPE (live 29 Oct 2015!)

FreestyleNovice

By FreestyleNovice,
in Norwegian Cruise Line

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Jenjer

Jenjer

Posted
Posted
Thank you for this. My son is DYING to go on either the Oasis or Allure and I chose this ship instead. He will be 16 at the time of sailing and it'll just be us 2. He wants to sail for the ship and not get off at any port, but I saw Escape goes to STT for 10 hours and want to go back to STJ. Now I'm torn between keeping Escape booked vs booking Oasis/Allure. The prices are about the same, but the drink package on Escape is what really sold me. We've never sailed NCL before and I'm worried that I'll regret not just doing what he wants so he can cross it off his bucket list.

 

Great problem to have, but it's made me become a frequent checker of cruise prices. UGH!!

 

My 13 YO DD is a athlete (water polo). She looks and acts much older than she is. She has no fear and loves to try new things. When we sail Rccl she lives on the flowrider. She is "that girl" you know the one that is ALWAYS there. Even on Quantum for springbreak she lived on the flowrider no matter how cold it was she did not care. She has to be kept physically active or she climbs the walls.

 

She was never ever bored on Getaway we had to make rules about when she has to be with her family and when she can do what she wants with her friends. Between the water slides and ropes course during the day and the teen club at night she never stopped.

 

It might be our money but these are our kids and giving them great vacations are one of the reasons we work so hard. We want them to have a great time and us to have a great time too. That is why cruising works so well with our family. We have time together and time apart. All the activities and shows keep us going and having a good time. We are not lay on the beach or pool all week long.

 

Since your used to Rccl get a specialty dining package maybe 3 or 4 nights so you can enjoy what the specialties have to offer. Teppanyaki and Moderno are family favorites.

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Newbie Cruiser 2010

Newbie Cruiser 2010

Posted
Posted
Let me put it this way....It's just my son and I so he travels everywhere with me. He uses the phrase "bucket list" because he hears me say it. I let him use it to aim high and make goals for himself to strive for. I'm guessing you don't have kids or you wouldn't think it's "silly" for mine to have a goal in mind even if it is just a vacation. Maybe wish list would be a better title?:)

 

I've never been on NCL and am worried about all the bitching and moaning on here about the changes. I'm also worried about port time changes that keep happening. I'm hoping since I've never sailed with them before that some these changes won't matter to us.

If you think NCL is having issues you should have been reading the RCCL Quantum boards. That was terrible and many people canceled their cruises. That being said about the Quantum boards my cruise on the Quantum was the best I have ever had. Ship was fabulous and service was good to great. I have been on Oasis and the service was terrible. Food not that great either. Ship is beautiful and shows spectacular. I was not a fan of Oasis at all. Seemed like you were in a condominium complex and the smoke ventilation system from the casino was terrible. You could smell the smoke in the Royal Promenade. Yes O&A has flowrider, rock climbing and zip lining but how many times would he want to do that over and over again waiting in line every time. The only pool area on Oasis that I remember was way over crowded and people packed in like sardines. Maybe we didn't explore enough to find a less crowded pool. Drinks on RCCL Quantum were VERY expensive. I don't remember the prices of drinks on Oasis. NCL has offered some great bonuses. Since I have only sailed NCL once before I can't really comment on the service or food in general.

You know your son the best and only you two can make the best decision. Depending on when you are cruising I would definitely throw RCCL Anthem of the Seas into the mix also.

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vital1

vital1

Posted
Posted

First of all, I'm sorry for hijacking the thread:)

 

Second of all.......could y'all be any NICER?!?! Thank you so much for your honest and unbiased opinions. What a breath of fresh air getting honest and non-snarky answers! I'm going to sit tight with the Escape and see what the new RCL ships have to offer. We used to cruise yearly, but now we fly to our destinations. My son misses being able to get food when he wants, lay around and chill if he wants, meet new peeps, etc so I told him we'd sail again next year.

 

Thanks again!!!!!!

 

Now, back to the Escape!!!!

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SissasMomE

SissasMomE

Posted
Posted
First of all, I'm sorry for hijacking the thread:)

 

Second of all.......could y'all be any NICER?!?! Thank you so much for your honest and unbiased opinions. What a breath of fresh air getting honest and non-snarky answers! I'm going to sit tight with the Escape and see what the new RCL ships have to offer. We used to cruise yearly, but now we fly to our destinations. My son misses being able to get food when he wants, lay around and chill if he wants, meet new peeps, etc so I told him we'd sail again next year.

 

Thanks again!!!!!!

 

Now, back to the Escape!!!!

 

You didn't hijack it. :) No worries!

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cruiseJMO

cruiseJMO

Posted
Posted
I agree with xcell. Actually, I'm doing the same. I've always wished to sail Oasis or Allure. And I wanted to sail Escape too so I decided to take the best of both worlds and wait for Harmony. I figured might as well wait and do the worlds biggest ship just a little over a year from now. So tell your son to be patient and practice delaying gratification. Then he can go back to his bragging friends and say that's great you sailed oasis, I sailed her new larger and more advanced sister who happens to also be 2000 gross tons larger and 6 years newer!! And I sailed the Escape!

We all seem to be on the same line of thought. So funny.

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sweetpee_1993

sweetpee_1993

Posted
Posted

Howdy yall! I'm trying to sift through all the pages...this is a MASSIVE thread! I'm about to pull the trigger on booking 2 Escape sailings b2b next May for our youngest son's homeschool graduation. (It'll take place during the trip.) I'm forcing the family to buck-up & *rough* it by squeezing all 4 of us into 1 stateroom. I say squeeze because my boys will be 20 & 18 yrs old so they're big fellas. I'm looking at a category BB midship balcony room on deck 13. It's a little different because the balcony has a bit of an odd shape. Will this make the balcony a little bigger? It's stateroom 13778 as seen in the deck plan I'm attaching. Has anyone had this room on the BA or GA? It says it sleeps 4. Speculation for a pullman in here?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Gotta say, the excitement here is soooooo infectious!!!!!!

image.jpg.4708fe58ecc241ea741acb9c92ee9906.jpg

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LrgPizza

LrgPizza

Posted
Posted
Howdy yall! I'm trying to sift through all the pages...this is a MASSIVE thread! I'm about to pull the trigger on booking 2 Escape sailings b2b next May for our youngest son's homeschool graduation. (It'll take place during the trip.) I'm forcing the family to buck-up & *rough* it by squeezing all 4 of us into 1 stateroom. I say squeeze because my boys will be 20 & 18 yrs old so they're big fellas. I'm looking at a category BB midship balcony room on deck 13. It's a little different because the balcony has a bit of an odd shape. Will this make the balcony a little bigger? It's stateroom 13778 as seen in the deck plan I'm attaching. Has anyone had this room on the BA or GA? It says it sleeps 4. Speculation for a pullman in here?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Gotta say, the excitement here is soooooo infectious!!!!!!

That's an angled balcony cabin. The balcony itself will be about 50% larger than the standard, tiny balconies. We had one on Getaway, and we have them booked for both of our upcoming Escape cruises.
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sweetpee_1993

sweetpee_1993

Posted
Posted
Love the enthusiasm Sweetpee! We need more people like you on these boards.

 

If I wasnt desperately trying to heal this nasty plantar fasciitis in my left foot I promise I'd be running circles outside. I'm so excited I can't stand myself! This is our first NCL sailings and we're jumping all-in. I love Disney, it's forever ingrained in my soul.....but there's only so many times I can watch the same shows, eat the same foods, go to the same places, meet the same characters, etc etc. I'm beyond ecstatic to have a whole new world to research. So much we haven't done! Can't wait to drink it all in! <----and with the free UBP the hubby & I will be drinking en masse. :cool: Now to get caught up on all the lovely details about this amazing ship! I'm itchy for those here who are on the inaugural sailings to go, come back, and drown us in pictures, video, and glowing reviews!!!!

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sunnydaygirl

sunnydaygirl

Posted
Posted
If I wasnt desperately trying to heal this nasty plantar fasciitis in my left foot I promise I'd be running circles outside. I'm so excited I can't stand myself! This is our first NCL sailings and we're jumping all-in. I love Disney, it's forever ingrained in my soul.....but there's only so many times I can watch the same shows, eat the same foods, go to the same places, meet the same characters, etc etc. I'm beyond ecstatic to have a whole new world to research. So much we haven't done! Can't wait to drink it all in! <----and with the free UBP the hubby & I will be drinking en masse. :cool: Now to get caught up on all the lovely details about this amazing ship! I'm itchy for those here who are on the inaugural sailings to go, come back, and drown us in pictures, video, and glowing reviews!!!!

 

 

So sorry about your foot. My DH still wears his brace to bed at times but at 67 is training for a marathon so it does heal!!!! We have the free UBP and can't wait to experience this wonderful ship with a drink in hand. Had a pkg on the Celebrity Reflection and loved the freedom of wine tasting and drink tasting without worry of not liking and paying/drinking anyway!! Whoot Whoot for NCL!

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Son of a son of a ...

Son of a son of a ...

Posted
Posted
Howdy yall! I'm trying to sift through all the pages...this is a MASSIVE thread! I'm about to pull the trigger on booking 2 Escape sailings b2b next May for our youngest son's homeschool graduation. (It'll take place during the trip.) I'm forcing the family to buck-up & *rough* it by squeezing all 4 of us into 1 stateroom. I say squeeze because my boys will be 20 & 18 yrs old so they're big fellas. I'm looking at a category BB midship balcony room on deck 13. It's a little different because the balcony has a bit of an odd shape. Will this make the balcony a little bigger? It's stateroom 13778 as seen in the deck plan I'm attaching. Has anyone had this room on the BA or GA? It says it sleeps 4. Speculation for a pullman in here?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Gotta say, the excitement here is soooooo infectious!!!!!!

 

We booked that cabin for 11/14/15 because of the angled balcony.

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sweetpee_1993

sweetpee_1993

Posted
Posted
So sorry about your foot. My DH still wears his brace to bed at times but at 67 is training for a marathon so it does heal!!!! We have the free UBP and can't wait to experience this wonderful ship with a drink in hand. Had a pkg on the Celebrity Reflection and loved the freedom of wine tasting and drink tasting without worry of not liking and paying/drinking anyway!! Whoot Whoot for NCL!

 

Hubby & I paid for the ultimate package on Allure a couple years ago right after the restructure to include bottled water. I was a bit sticker-shocked on the front end when paying for it. Not accustomed to paying for even soda let alone the prepaid bar tab. But I wanted to give it a shot especially after DH & I walked off a 7-night western on DCL Fantasy a couple months earlier with a final bill of more than the package cost. I don't know for sure if we drank the full $700-something worth. With the bottled water I suspect we did. The biggest value for us was the convenience. I'm super excited to have a package again. I've lamented about the lack of this option on every Disney cruise we've been on since our experience with it on Royal.

 

 

Welcome aboard Sweetpee!

 

Thank you!

 

 

We booked that cabin for 11/14/15 because of the angled balcony.

 

Yay! I feel really lucky to have found it on 2 sailings b2b then. I'm mostly worried about storage for a family of 4 in 1 stateroom but I have that sentiment about most non-suite rooms on NCL. We've not had any problems in DCL's rooms but there's a ton of storage in those. It's hard to tell exactly from all the pics & video I've found. I figure worst case the boys can live out of suitcases by sliding them in & out from under the bed like a dresser drawer. A bigger balcony is much appreciated by us for sure! But not switching rooms between sailings will be a Godsend. DH & I sailed b2b on the Wonder last fall switching rooms between. We vowed to never do another b2b if we had to switch because packing up twice is the pits! LOL!

 

Take a TON of crazy detailed pics/video of our room for me. The family & I would appreciate it soooooo much!

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