Just off the Norwegian Escape, any questions please ask!

[clearandsunny]

Just off the Norwegian Escape, any questions please ask!

[tallnthensome]

I want to touch on a couple things I have read:

 

1.Does the ship rock more then expected for it's size? Sea sickness?

2. Is it as hard to get a deck chair as I have read?

3. How cool or nice would you describe the kids aqua park and pool?

4. Wait times at a bar to get a drink?

 

Thanks so much for any info .......

[asubaru]

Hi....welcome back! Hope you had a wonderful cruise.

 

Were any shows canceled?

 

What were your favorite shows, restaurants, bars......?

 

 

 

Just off the Norwegian Escape, any questions please ask!

[clearandsunny]

I want to touch on a couple things I have read:

 

1.Does the ship rock more then expected for it's size? Sea sickness?

2. Is it as hard to get a deck chair as I have read?

3. How cool or nice would you describe the kids aqua park and pool?

4. Wait times at a bar to get a drink?

 

Thanks so much for any info .......

 

1. Ship rocks about as expected. We had one day of rough seas where it was really rocking, but besides that it wasn't bad.

 

2. Not too hard for one person to find a deck chair, bit if you are looking for a few it can become difficult. I highly recommend heading to deck 19 forward for available deck chairs.

 

3. Kids aqua park and pool was very nice. It can become crowded though. There were 1500 kids onboard this past week.

 

4. Wait times at bars can be up to 5 minutes if you are waiting for a drink at a popular bar. For example, the pool bar on sea days. However, besides this only about a minute wait or less.

[tallnthensome]

Thank you! :)

[Sonoran_cruiser]

With respect to "does the ship rock more than expected":

 

I was on the Inaugural 7D cruise out of Miami (and had been on a Princess Mex Riviera cruise just 2 weeks before). The Escape didn't so much rock, as it seemed to "shimmy like a bowl full of jello". To me, it was as if the ship stabilizers actually try to do too good a job to stop ship motion. On my Princess ship, the motion was more noticeable (traditional), than that on the Escape.

 

On the Escape, I experienced what felt like a slight side-to-side motion at a very rapid rate (felt like every few seconds). To me, this was more noticeable than actual rocking and rolling. You did tend to get use to "the shimmy" as the cruise went along, but it never went away. Only on our northbound sea day did we actually encounter a "rolling sea" which provided a more normal ship motion sensation.

[clearandsunny]

Hi....welcome back! Hope you had a wonderful cruise.

 

Were any shows canceled?

 

What were your favorite shows, restaurants, bars......?

 

Thanks! It was an amazing cruise. The only letdown was the entertainment. Our shows were canceled on 3 separate occasions. They did wind up flying acts onto the ship, but they weren't that good. The only originally scheduled show that we saw was after midnight. It was good, but a bit boring at times.

 

We only did free retauarnts but LOVED every single one of them. Amazing food and great service. Osheehans wings were amazing.

 

Loved district brewhouse when beau played, a very talented piano player/musician.

 

Hope this helps!

[KirkNC]

Just off the Norwegian Escape, any questions please ask!

 

Welcome home!

[clearandsunny]

Welcome home!

 

Thanks!! Unfortunately we aren't home yet. This blizzard really messed everything up and we are inching our way home day by day

[duchesslt]

With respect to "does the ship rock more than expected":

 

I was on the Jan 16-23 sailing, too. Seas were flat except for heading back north west over Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic towards bahamas. This was the only day you knew you were on a ship. It made some people sick, but my mom, my son and I weren't bothered by it - it was more of a gentle rocking and rolling you'd expect being out on the ocean.

[Rob0519]

We were on the inaugural 7 day as well.

 

The ship did rock a lot. We saw people stagger on stage during presentations and heard the hangers in the closet rocking against each other every day.

 

Most of our cruise was rather overcast and windy, so getting a deck chair was not all that hard that week if you wanted one.

 

Kids aqua park was not used as much as I'm sure it would be in better weather, but the pools were really crowded as one of the slides was broken all week.

 

The Million Dollar Quartet was cancelled almost all week due to a cast member being ill, or so I heard. NCL does not know the meaning of the word understudy.

 

I thought getting drinks was difficult during peak times. There is no "line" at most bars. You just had to squeeze your way in and pray to get a bartender's attention.

 

We liked all the specialty restaurants. Manhatten MDR was good, but the service in the other two was severely disappointing.

[Ozzie's Mom]

Why were shows canceled?

Best experience?

What would you NOT do again?

[duchesslt]

We were on the inaugural 7 day as well.

 

 

The Million Dollar Quartet was cancelled almost all week due to a cast member being ill, or so I heard. NCL does not know the meaning of the word understudy.

 

 

How many people in the US can play the piano like Jerry Lee or sing like Elvis plus be willing to live on a cruise ship? I think perhaps the ambition of wanting a broadway show on the ship comes with the risk of not being able to deliver when something goes wrong. We were disappointed but did find plenty of other things to do. Some cruisers used these cancellations as an excuse to demand full sailing refunds - insisting they had booked the Escape just to see Million Dollar Quartet and For the Record.

[clearandsunny]

Why were shows canceled?

Best experience?

What would you NOT do again?

 

Shows were cancelled due to an "illness in the staff" We also heard they were canceled because of "technical difficulties" so I am not quite sure which is the truth.

 

A few great experiences.. Party Tour in Tortola, Ropes Course, Waterslides, Glow Party, service, and the food.

 

I would not do the Castaway Girl excursion again in St. Thomas. It was a complete waste of money.

[Rob0519]

If anyone books a cruise specifically to see a show, that's a mistake. How many people can play a piano like Jerry Lee Lewis? Probably more than you would think. I'm sure the booking agency could start with a list of people who auditioned, but didn't get the part. That person could be flown into St. Thomas and be on the ship with about 4 days left. Personally, I had no plans to see that show even if it ran as scheduled.

[HowardK]

If anyone books a cruise specifically to see a show, that's a mistake. How many people can play a piano like Jerry Lee Lewis? Probably more than you would think. I'm sure the booking agency could start with a list of people who auditioned, but didn't get the part. That person could be flown into St. Thomas and be on the ship with about 4 days left. Personally, I had no plans to see that show even if it ran as scheduled.

 

I would have filled in myself for some meals at Cagneys and extra filets!!

[Speasda]

Clearandsunny-

 

Did you notice what dock you were at in St. Thomas?

 

How were the desserts in the main dining rooms?

 

Was there anything "special" on the buffet at night (anything memorable)?

 

Thanks for the tip on Deck 19 - now stop sharing that!!!

[2hearted]

How many people in the US can play the piano like Jerry Lee or sing like Elvis plus be willing to live on a cruise ship? I think perhaps the ambition of wanting a broadway show on the ship comes with the risk of not being able to deliver when something goes wrong. We were disappointed but did find plenty of other things to do. Some cruisers used these cancellations as an excuse to demand full sailing refunds - insisting they had booked the Escape just to see Million Dollar Quartet and For the Record.

 

No, they should not get full refunds, but they should get at least $50 obc per person if they had reservations. That is about how much of your fair goes toward the show.

[CruisinHarvey]

Did you say 1500 kids on board? Did kids get off school more than MLK day? WOW! I have nothing against kids, Mines grown now. But, it used to be unless school was out for the entire, or most of the week, you could depend on the ship being mostly school age kid free. We who like the piece a quiet were more than happy to give families holidays and the summer. We just didn't book then. With these promo's NCL is running it's like all family all the time. Parents are much more willing to take their out of school, if they travel for free. We may be considering another line. It doesn't look like there trend a on NCL is going to change. We're not ready for HAL yet, but maybe Celebrity is in our future. We were on the Escape Dec 12th, and there were only, again only 632 kids that week. We'll be back on Feb 6th, so we'll see.

[duchesslt]

No, they should not get full refunds, but they should get at least $50 obc per person if they had reservations. That is about how much of your fair goes toward the show.

 

That explains why there was a mutiny at guest services. I didn't ask for a refund or compensation for the million dollar quartet.

 

I was refunded for the surcharge I paid for the Brat Pack, with a lot of confusion and time being consumed figuring out the charges and credits for 3 show re-bookings because I prepaid and this amount was not refunded.

 

It would've probably been the right thing to do for NCL to offer on board credit for losing 2 of 3 shows for those with reservations. They offered alternative entertainment and I didn't go to any of them, figuring it wouldn't be very good and word was it wasn't very good. Instead, NCL got extra casino time from me.

[duchesslt]

Did you say 1500 kids on board? Did kids get off school more than MLK day? WOW! I have nothing against kids, Mines grown now. But, it used to be unless school was out for the entire, or most of the week, you could depend on the ship being mostly school age kid free. We who like the piece a quiet were more than happy to give families holidays and the summer. We just didn't book then. With these promo's NCL is running it's like all family all the time. Parents are much more willing to take their out of school, if they travel for free. We may be considering another line. It doesn't look like there trend a on NCL is going to change. We're not ready for HAL yet, but maybe Celebrity is in our future. We were on the Escape Dec 12th, and there were only, again only 632 kids that week. We'll be back on Feb 6th, so we'll see.

 

Our district in NC had a 3 day semester break for all grade levels (MLK plus 2 days) because the HS now teaches semester blocks like college and the teachers plan before the start of the new semester this week. With the storm, my son only missed 1 day of school.

 

You can expect a lot of North Carolinians traveling this week the same as NJ teacher's convention week in November. A lot of parents had grade school and below kids and I personally could see it being ok for kids to miss 4 days of second grade.

[AdGuyMG]

How many people can play a piano like Jerry Lee Lewis? Probably more than you would think. I'm sure the booking agency could start with a list of people who auditioned, but didn't get the part. That person could be flown into St. Thomas and be on the ship with about 4 days left.

 

Of course there are lots of piano players. That's not the issue.

 

If this were the issue there are 3 or 4 other piano players already on the ship like the Howl at the Moon Guys and the one who plays in the Atrium and the one who plays piano in the Manhattan dining room.

 

But this is a 75 minute production play with spoken dialogue that has to be memorized, cast member cues, blocking, timing and choreography. Nobody could just be flown onto a ship in the afternoon and be expected to jump in and play the JLL role unrehearsed.

[firstprincesscruise]

Shows were cancelled due to an "illness in the staff" We also heard they were canceled because of "technical difficulties" so I am not quite sure which is the truth.

 

A few great experiences.. Party Tour in Tortola, Ropes Course, Waterslides, Glow Party, service, and the food.

 

I would not do the Castaway Girl excursion again in St. Thomas. It was a complete waste of money.

 

What exactly is the Party Tour in Tortola? Did you book it through the cruise ship?

[clearandsunny]

Clearandsunny-

 

Did you notice what dock you were at in St. Thomas?

 

How were the desserts in the main dining rooms?

 

Was there anything "special" on the buffet at night (anything memorable)?

 

Thanks for the tip on Deck 19 - now stop sharing that!!!

 

We were at the dock with senor frogs. It is the main dock in the port with walking distance to paradise point.

 

Deserts in MDR were absolutely delicious. There were 3 of us traveling and each of us said that the food/deserts were well above any other cruise that we have been on.

 

The buffet closes for dinner at 9:30. Light snacks are available for a little bit after 9:30. To be honest, I don't recall everything but I do remember seeing cookies lol nothing memorable though. Head to osheehans for some good late night food.

[clearandsunny]

Did you say 1500 kids on board? Did kids get off school more than MLK day? WOW! I have nothing against kids, Mines grown now. But, it used to be unless school was out for the entire, or most of the week, you could depend on the ship being mostly school age kid free. We who like the piece a quiet were more than happy to give families holidays and the summer. We just didn't book then. With these promo's NCL is running it's like all family all the time. Parents are much more willing to take their out of school, if they travel for free. We may be considering another line. It doesn't look like there trend a on NCL is going to change. We're not ready for HAL yet, but maybe Celebrity is in our future. We were on the Escape Dec 12th, and there were only, again only 632 kids that week. We'll be back on Feb 6th, so we'll see.

 

Yes, I talked to an employee and he said there were 1500 this week compared to 700 the previous week. All were very well behaved and brought a fun atmosphere to the ship. According to some people I talked to, some schools were off multiple days for mlk day