Everything.. ESCAPE (live 29 Oct 2015!)

[eroller]

I was on a msc cruise a few years ago for nothing a company trip. Ports were great but i wouldnt go on another msc ship again if you paid me. Cold food , no manners just mop but others also felt the same was. Venice,athens great ship was bad. Msc musica

 

 

Totally different experience out of the US.

[barnacle_boy]

I was on a msc cruise a few years ago for nothing a company trip. Ports were great but i wouldnt go on another msc ship again if you paid me. Cold food , no manners just mop but others also felt the same was. Venice,athens great ship was bad. Msc musica

 

 

Nothwithstanding the much older MSC ships that have since been retired and their Lauro heritage, MSC is a relative newcomer. There were/are teething problems, but they'll be great before long.

[FreestyleNovice]

The best way to take a photograph of those lovely large M6 balconies? From the bridge!

 

[FreestyleNovice]

Agreed on X's Edge, although the X board on CC isn't my cup of tea lol..

The balcony room renders had an Epic style bathroom btw, might not suit X's demography. Also looking forward to MSC's newbuilds, major Mediterranean takeover within the coming years if you ask me. We might end up with the Spirit doing 3 days from Barcelona a la Sky if NCL doesn't gives the Euros a BA or BA+ soon. :D

[eroller]

Agreed on X's Edge, although the X board on CC isn't my cup of tea lol..

The balcony room renders had an Epic style bathroom btw, might not suit X's demography. Also looking forward to MSC's newbuilds,

 

 

 

I would be very surprised if those concept cabins for Project Edge actually make the cut. I don't see Celebrity going for exposed sinks in the cabin. EPIC's cabin "experiment" along with its popularity or lack there of is very well known throughout the cruise industry. Regardless it's interesting to see what different design firms come up with.

 

Funny you say that about the Celebrity CC board. I visit most all the boards because I cruise on just about every cruise line. I find NCL along with Carnival to be the most hostile group.

[juneo23]

The best way to take a photograph of those lovely large M6 balconies? From the bridge!

 

 

Great Photo!!! I will be in a M6 January 30th! Thank you for the preview :)

[FreestyleNovice]

I would be very surprised if those concept cabins for Project Edge actually make the cut. I don't see Celebrity going for exposed sinks in the cabin. EPIC's cabin "experiment" along with its popularity or lack there of is very well known throughout the cruise industry. Regardless it's interesting to see what different design firms come up with.

 

Funny you say that about the Celebrity CC board. I visit most all the boards because I cruise on just about every cruise line. I find NCL along with Carnival to be the most hostile group.

 

Hehe, I feel out of place on the X board. One for being a lot younger and less experienced on their ships. Two for being happy with (the now discontinued) 123Go offer and X's total product where the hardcore Celebs are in an uprise over taking away water bottles from Aqua class.. Must feel the same for a NCL newbie on here. ;)

BTW I might stalk the new MSC private island, will do a search on that or make a thread. :D

[FreestyleNovice]

And a pic to make up the offtopic:

 

[happy cruzin]

And a pic to make up the offtopic:

 

 

 

 

 

Absolutely BEAUTIFUL!!

[Spaniel Lover]

The truth is that we really need a new ship to stalk... :D

 

I think you ought to be taking a close look at the first three ships for Viking Ocean Cruises: The Viking Star, Viking Sea, and Viking Sky. These are the first ocean-going vessels from the folks who dominate the world of river cruises. The Viking Star is coming to the Caribbean in October of 2016... and once I started looking in to what's so different about the way Viking does cruising, I was immediately hooked.

 

Basically, they've taken a very strong stance against nickel-and-diming their passengers. It's the exact opposite strategy of most of the major cruise lines!

 

Look at this beautiful thermal suite within their spa... available to every passenger at no additional charge! That would cost you $400 per couple on Norwegian Cruise Line.

 

 

And here's something about the Viking Star's spa that I totally respect... if you go in and pay for a massage, they never once try to sell you any products or additional treatments or anything. It's a totally relaxing experience, without a sales pitch. They are not trying to get any additional revenue out of you.

 

It's the first cruise ship with an infinity pool!

 



 

 

The main pool is quite lovely, too...

and features a glass dome that can be closed during cool, windy, or rainy weather.

 



 

 

I really like the beautiful interior design and color scheme.

It's like if you had IKEA design your cruise ship!

 

 

 

Another thing that's really cool about the Viking Star is that their buffet restaurant, the World Cafe, has its own kitchen right there... not 10 decks below. Have you ever noticed when you eat in the buffet on most cruise lines, it tastes like the food was cooked several hours ago? That's because in many cases, it was. There's nothing like having breakfast at 8 AM and eating bacon that was cooked at 5 AM, is there?!? Well, on the Viking Star, they don't make their buffet food hours in advance like that. Hot stuff is served hot and cold stuff is served cold... because it wasn't prepared hours earlier.

 

Back to their policy against nickel-and-diming...

Want a beer with lunch or dinner? Or wine? Or even a coca-cola? It's all included. Want to eat at one of their specialty restaurants? No additional charge. There's also unlimited Internet access at no additional charge, and a free shore excursion offered in every port of call. Need to do some laundry? The self-service laundry facilities are totally free, even the detergent. Room service is free, too. They're really serious about the no nickel and diming thing on Viking Ocean Cruises.

 

By the way, in most cases, there are no sea days! The itinieraries are very port intensive. On the 11-day Caribbean explorer itineraries, you visit 10 different ports of call! The ships are fairly small, too... roughly the size of Carnival's Fantasy-class. Total guest capacity: just 930 passengers. And even the least expensive stateroom has a balcony. There are no interior staterooms at all.

 

Another amazing thing about Viking Ocean Cruises is that there aren't any children onboard. None! The minimum age to cruise is sixteen years old.

 

So, if you need a new ship to stalk...

my advice is to look in to Viking Ocean Cruises, and to look at their Caribbean itineraries which begin next Fall.

[barnacle_boy]

I think you ought to be taking a close look at the first three ships for Viking Ocean Cruises: The Viking Star, Viking Sea, and Viking Sky.

 

 

They are lovely ships, but with the first in the class already in service, there's not much to "stalk."

[eroller]

.

 

 

 

So, if you need a new ship to stalk...

 

my advice is to look in to Viking Ocean Cruises, and to look at their Caribbean itineraries which begin next Fall.

 

 

 

 

 

I've been watching Viking Ocean closely. Very refreshing product. Love that there are no kids and no nickel and diming (about as opposite of NCL as you can get). They are on my short list to sail, and it will be interesting to compare them to Azamara and Silversea which I greatly enjoy. One thing I don't like about Viking is their deposit, final payment, and cancellation policies. Probably the most restrictive in the industry.

[Mooguy]

I've been watching Viking Ocean closely. Very refreshing product. Love that there are no kids and no nickel and diming (about as opposite of NCL as you can get). They are on my short list to sail, and it will be interesting to compare them to Azamara and Silversea which I greatly enjoy. One thing I don't like about Viking is their deposit, final payment, and cancellation policies. Probably the most restrictive in the industry.

 

 

I would definitely look into Viking is well maybe when they get more ships out they will offer us some shorter Caribbean itineraries 7-10 days. I don't mind a few sea days myself especially on a ship as nice as they seem to be.

[jssmith76]

I just read someone giving advice to "book the youth programs asap, in case they fill up"... Is this true, cause I ha e to seen anything like that on NCL's website... I was under the impression that you would just take care of that at the guest relations desk, or directly at the youth areas? Am I wrong?

[sjnyc323]

http://www.beyondships2.com/norwegian-escape-hotel-director.html

 

Escape Interviews

Edited December 26, 2015 by sjnyc323

[travelinmoma]

I booked my interior room on NCL.com myself. I couldn't figure out how to choose my own room at the time, so I just took the one they assigned to me. Then I get an email a few days later saying that I am booked in an accessible room. It also said in the email that if I don't need the room, they can reassign me at any time. I'm totally fine with that because obviously I don't want to take a room from someone who needs it. I guess my question is, will we get in "trouble" for having this room if we don't need it? I didn't pick it. It's the one they assigned to me. Do I need to call them and request a change (I liked the location of the room) or just wait and see what happens?

[LrgPizza]

I booked my interior room on NCL.com myself. I couldn't figure out how to choose my own room at the time, so I just took the one they assigned to me. Then I get an email a few days later saying that I am booked in an accessible room. It also said in the email that if I don't need the room, they can reassign me at any time. I'm totally fine with that because obviously I don't want to take a room from someone who needs it. I guess my question is, will we get in "trouble" for having this room if we don't need it? I didn't pick it. It's the one they assigned to me. Do I need to call them and request a change (I liked the location of the room) or just wait and see what happens?

No, you don't have to do anything. If they want to reassign you, they will. Otherwise, you are fine.

[Daenerys T]

Wow - Viking looks amazing!

[FreestyleNovice]

Thanks Spaniel Lover, their ship(s) do look amazing. I saw Viking Star in port whilst on Epic in Barcelona last spring. For now I think I'm too young and too poor to fit their pax demographic heheh..

 

[sjnyc323]

Happy New Year everyone

[517roger]

Does anyone know if they have a wok station on the buffet on the escape?

[Catnapper7]

I didn't ever see a wok station during my week. But I never ate dinner there.

[jrr4]

With the substitution of Tortola to the eastern Caribbean itinerary, the excursions (and the reviews of them) seem somewhat limited. We had intended on renting a car and exploring on our own, but now feel that may not be the best idea. Any thoughts on things to do in Tortola?

[Diana68]

With the substitution of Tortola to the eastern Caribbean itinerary, the excursions (and the reviews of them) seem somewhat limited. We had intended on renting a car and exploring on our own, but now feel that may not be the best idea. Any thoughts on things to do in Tortola?

If you are looking for an inexpensive way to see an overview of the island, they have open air busses that will give you a tour for $20pp. It was an ok tour, nothing exciting, but stops at overviews to take pictures, a couple of bars to get a beverage, the rum distillery, and the beach. We were suppose to have 45 min at the beach, but since we were running late, the driver asked if we could cut it to 15 minutes and we agreed. It was our last stop, and traffic in town was bad,and getting worse, so he didn't want to cut it too close to all aboard time. We returned with about 45 minutes to spare.

 

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[Catnapper7]

My daughter and I were very disappointed with Tortola. We didn't book an excursion figuring we would just check out the shops. Well, the shops are minimal, the shopkeepers seemed to have very little interest in the cruise passengers and their money. They all opened later than their posted hours despite having people gathering on the doorstep. The roads are very narrow without sidewalks and the people drive fast and crazy. Very hazardous to pedestrians.

The port area is a mess because they're building a large shopping area around the dock. Once that is completed, it may be a better itinerary stop.