Partial Charter of the Escape April 16th-23rd 2016

[Kortehgehn]

Hi all,

I was wondering if anyone knew anything about a partial charter on the Escape during the week of April 16-23 2016?

 

I just heard about this in passing through another TA when I mentioned our cruise, and she said it was a music group, but not much information other than that. :confused: I can't find any information on it from NCL's website, so I am guessing that this means it may be a smaller group.

 

I'm just really wondering how big this group is and what exactly this charter is. Will NCL let groups like this take over venues and other areas of the ship? I'm really hoping that it's not going to affect my cruise, I've heard some awful stories on here about partial charters taking over the ship. Thanks in advance for any info!

[Sauer-kraut]

Trop Rock Junkies http://www.destinationsbycruiseplanners.com/rw/view/4793

 

 

Sat April 16, 2016 - 1:00 PM

Trop Rock Junkies Verified-artist-flat

Trop Rock Music Festival At Sea

with:Sauce Boss,TIM CHARRON,Barefoot Reggie Starrett,Jimmy Stowe and the Stowaways,Doug Walker,Shanty Hounds w/Dani Hoy & Key West Chris,Pup Morris the Scuba Cowboy,North & South Band - Deanna Brown & Matt Vrba,Hannah Bethel & David Mythre,AJ and Carmen Angelo,Mayor Gonzo Mays, MC

 

Join the Trop Rock Junkies and a great lineup of your favorite Trop Rock Artists aboard the brand new Norwegian Escape April 16-23, 2016 for a seven day cruise leaving out of Miami for St. Thomas, Tortola and Nassau.

Edited January 31, 2016 by Sauer-kraut

[TrumpyNor]

I just "googled" it (music norwegian escape april 16-23 2016), and came up with this result:

http://www.doodleworksproductions.com/trmfinfo.htm

Edited January 31, 2016 by TrumpyNor

[Kortehgehn]

Thanks, I don't know how I didn't find that. So does this mean that the group is not officially through NCL? I wonder how big this group is going to be... Has anyone been on one of these cruises before?

[Sauer-kraut]

Thanks, I don't know how I didn't find that. So does this mean that the group is not officially through NCL? I wonder how big this group is going to be... Has anyone been on one of these cruises before?

 

You will find that some venues will be closed due to performances during the day. You won't get in unless you have a wristband. Do a search for Music Charters here on the NCL board and you will find reviews with past cruises.

Edited January 31, 2016 by Sauer-kraut

[BayouDoc]

I had a cruise on the Jewel once and there was no notification or warning that a group called "aquafest" had a charter. There were about 500 with the group and 2 of our favorite areas on the ship were closed to the rest of the cruisers. These were the spinnaker lounge and the foreword sun deck on 13-14. I felt like I paid full price, (in a suite), for much less access to the ship than on other voyages. I don't think this cruise was advertised or listed anywhere except LGBT sites.

[Vyhanek]

This issue has come up several times thru the years. In general then non-group passengers were prohibited from certain areas of the ship during certain days and times including theaters, restaurants, lounges.

[Kortehgehn]

I had a cruise on the Jewel once and there was no notification or warning that a group called "aquafest" had a charter. There were about 500 with the group and 2 of our favorite areas on the ship were closed to the rest of the cruisers. These were the spinnaker lounge and the foreword sun deck on 13-14. I felt like I paid full price, (in a suite), for much less access to the ship than on other voyages. I don't think this cruise was advertised or listed anywhere except LGBT sites.

 

I have to admit I'm getting worried about this too. Nothing I have read about these music charters seems very good for regular guests. I am worried because this group has a block of 200+ cabins from what I can tell. I am afraid that they are going to take over Spice H2O or Margaretville and other dining venues with private functions. We already have all our dining an show times reserved but I am now concerned that we could still get bumped by this large group. I would also hate to not be able to go to Spice H2O or Margaretville because of private functions. :eek:

[Demonyte]

Thanks, I don't know how I didn't find that. So does this mean that the group is not officially through NCL? I wonder how big this group is going to be... Has anyone been on one of these cruises before?

 

NCL never advertises charter cruises, there is always an agent of some sort that is the organizer and handles the marketing, NCL only sells them cabins (or the whole ship). No matter how big the charter group, unless the whole scheduled cruise is cancelled because of the charter cruise (aka full charter), NCL never informs other passengers about the group.

 

NCL even has their own fully-(and-stealthy-)owned subsidiary for organizing charter cruises, Sixthman (https://www.sixthman.net/), that they acquired in 2012.

Edited January 31, 2016 by Demonyte

[Kortehgehn]

NCL never advertises charter cruises, there is always an agent of some sort that is the organizer and handles the marketing, NCL only sells them cabins (or the whole ship).

 

NCL even has their own fully-(and-stealthy-)owned subsidiary for organizing charter cruises, Sixthman (https://www.sixthman.net/), that they acquired in 2012.

 

That makes sense, I was just thinking of the Sixthman cruises as "official" because they are listed on NCL's website. I was just hoping that this group would be less likely to get preferential treatment and take over venues on the ship if they were not a Sixthman charter.

Edited January 31, 2016 by Kortehgehn

[kayleighbayleigh]

Wow, I'm fairly new to cruising and I had absolutely no idea that you could partially charter ships. That is just awful. Why do big groups think this is okay? Obviously this ruins everyone else's time. If you can't afford to fully charter a ship then don't do it at all, especially since others have no idea you and your 500 drunk friends are going to be wreaking havoc on their peaceful vacation.

 

I've been on a ship that had several volleyball teams on it and that was bad enough. For some reason everyone HAS to be together, all doing the same thing, with no regard of the fact that they've left zero room in the pools/hot tubs for everyone else. Same goes with the giant Brazilian tour groups at Disney. They snatch up all the FastPasses and make the lines go from a 5 min wait to an hour wait because they all flooded in at once.

 

Grr...I hate large groups! :mad:

[Golfin55]

It's not a partial charter. No such thing. Can't be almost pregnant either.

It's considered a large affinity group. Happens all the time, on land it's called a hosted convention.

 

As unfair as it can seem, the cruise lines usually do an excellent job in making sure crowd control is paramount. I was on Royal Carib a couple years back. Had the "Steampunks" on board, a huge group maybe 500 folks who dress in 19th century clothing. They had certain venues closed off for private functions, it was no big deal. Had little to no adverse effect on the masses.

 

It would only be an issue if you let it.

[Cruisercl]

It's not a partial charter. No such thing. Can't be almost pregnant either.

It's considered a large affinity group. Happens all the time, on land it's called a hosted convention.

 

As unfair as it can seem, the cruise lines usually do an excellent job in making sure crowd control is paramount. I was on Royal Carib a couple years back. Had the "Steampunks" on board, a huge group maybe 500 folks who dress in 19th century clothing. They had certain venues closed off for private functions, it was no big deal. Had little to no adverse effect on the masses.

 

It would only be an issue if you let it.

 

Semantics, really. All of the cruise lines do partial charters; my TA says some more than others, NCL is notorious.

 

I agree with most of the posters here; I have also been a few cruises with large groups and it totally impacted the rest of the passengers. There were several venues close off for the entire cruise....not what I would consider 'no big deal'. Did not see what would be considered crowd control; the rest of us were left to get what room and services we could out of the cruise with what was left.

 

It really is a crap shoot whether there will be a large group on any cruise you book, unfortunately. I am sure they are a huge money maker for a cruise line.

 

OP, hope your cruise is great.......still better than working!!! :D

[Sotermarler]

We were on the escape 7 day inaugural and there were 800-900 TA group on board and a smaller radio station group. They did have Spice closed at night for a couple events as well as 5 O'clock somewhere and Manhattan room for a few days. I think they also got access to the first showing of Million dollar quartet, then it was cancelled the remainder of the cruise. So no one else got to see it. Other than that it was just more a slight annoyance. The positive side was the pool and public areas weren't always crowded when they were In Sessions. We strategically stayed away from the group as much as possible.

I didn't check the link, but did it have a schedule of the group events? It may give you a clue to where and when they will be meeting. A Rock charter will be very different from a TA conference. If you go, just stay away from them and have fun!

 

 

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[herdingdogmom]

I had a cruise on the Jewel once and there was no notification or warning that a group called "aquafest" had a charter. There were about 500 with the group and 2 of our favorite areas on the ship were closed to the rest of the cruisers. These were the spinnaker lounge and the foreword sun deck on 13-14. I felt like I paid full price, (in a suite), for much less access to the ship than on other voyages. I don't think this cruise was advertised or listed anywhere except LGBT sites.

 

We just booked a cruise that also has an aquafest group. It sounds like they have separate cruise directors, entertainment, etc. Were there any other downsides on your Jewel cruise other than no access to the Spinnaker and forward sun deck? Did NCL's cruise director staff still hold trivia and other games? Our cruise is port intensive so I'm hoping the large group won't be overwhelming at night. However, it is Halloween, so I'm starting to wonder what the experience will be for the rest of us on the ship.

[ptuder]

We just booked a cruise that also has an aquafest group. It sounds like they have separate cruise directors, entertainment, etc. Were there any other downsides on your Jewel cruise other than no access to the Spinnaker and forward sun deck? Did NCL's cruise director staff still hold trivia and other games? Our cruise is port intensive so I'm hoping the large group won't be overwhelming at night. However, it is Halloween, so I'm starting to wonder what the experience will be for the rest of us on the ship.

 

We sailed on the Epic when Aquafest was sailing. It was interesting at times. They had Spice closed one night for one of their events and they definitely dressed for the occasion. You could hear some of their announcements over their microphone while walking by and some of it was fairly colorful. I wasn't offended but some parents with children were trying to shuttle them away quickly, the costumes were a little crazy so I would imagine Halloween will be interesting. There was a big group of them in Howl at the Moon one night and they really livened up the place. They also left one of their wigs floating in the Haven hot tub. We definitely knew they were there but they didn't adversely affect our trip.

[herdingdogmom]

We sailed on the Epic when Aquafest was sailing. It was interesting at times. They had Spice closed one night for one of their events and they definitely dressed for the occasion. You could hear some of their announcements over their microphone while walking by and some of it was fairly colorful. I wasn't offended but some parents with children were trying to shuttle them away quickly, the costumes were a little crazy so I would imagine Halloween will be interesting. There was a big group of them in Howl at the Moon one night and they really livened up the place. They also left one of their wigs floating in the Haven hot tub. We definitely knew they were there but they didn't adversely affect our trip.

 

Thanks for the info. We will be on the Gem which of course is smaller with fewer venues than the Epic. We won't have kids with us so that isn't a concern. And we rarely go to the night clubs. I'm wondering though if we will feel out of place - even though the aquafest group is a maximum of 25% of the guests on board. As you say, Halloween will likely be interesting. I'm sure it will all work out and not adversely affect our trip. Thanks again.

Edited February 19, 2016 by herdingdogmom

[Mikestrange]

Great to know all this. We were planning on going on this cruise and will pass. Want to go on the Escape, but not that week!

[waterbabies7415]

Good information....How can you find out when a group or partial charter has been booked??

[Demonyte]

Good information....How can you find out when a group or partial charter has been booked??

 

 

Pretty much only by making internet searches with your ship's name and sail date and hope those groups/charters are publicly advertised. There is no way of knowing about private groups.