NCL Escape chair situation?

[Jay_Outstanding]

I'll be sailing on the Escape in less than two weeks on April 8th. It's spring break time so I'm sure it will be fairly crowded. But given my age and only traveling with my Middle Aged mother, I'm sure I'll enjoy that aspect for the most part (I love meeting and getting to know people on cruise ships. I still have friends to this day that I keep in contact with from my previous spring break sailing on the Breakaway).

 

However I've been reading reviews and almost every one of them complains about the lack of pool chairs. I'm as pale as a ghost so if the weather is nice I definitely plan to spend a lot of my mornings/afternoons tanning on the sun and pool decks.

 

From what I've read, many people wake up at around 6 or 7 am to put towels on the chairs and leave them there for hours. I'm not an early riser so I definitely won't be participating in that practice. But I'm also not opposed to moving towels once I notice they aren't actually occupied. :lips-sealed: But I'll be on vacation and I'd like to avoid a confrontation.

 

I'd like to ask those who have sailed the Escape before: is it really that bad or is it just another case of over dramatic, exaggerated reviews?

[triptolemus]

Hooray! Another chair hog thread!

[Jay_Outstanding]

Hooray! Another chair hog thread!

 

lol I'm hoping these stories are exaggerated. I hate being "impolite" but I think occupying chairs with no intention to use it for hours and hours later is very inconsiderate and rude to other cruisers.

[AliceIn]

I haven't been on Escape yet (we go this summer), but I believe I've read several times that the public sundeck on 19 is usually pretty empty and there are plenty of chairs available up there. Another option is Spice H20 - more people there, but generally chairs available.

 

I think on any cruise ship, it will be difficult to find chairs right around the pool. There will probably be loads of chairs available on the very upper decks. If you don't care about the swimming part, you'll probably find a chair no problem. For me, the pool deck is so loud and crazy (no matter what line I've been on thus far), that when I wanted to just sit and lounge in the sun with a book, I went looking for those quiet spots anyway.

 

Good luck!

[zqvol]

There are plenty of chairs, BUT they are not around the pool. If that is not an issue for you then you will not have any problem. If you want to be near the pool, then it is going to be an issue.

[LrgPizza]

If you get up early and plop yourself down in a chair, you will be fine. If you choose to sleep in instead of finding a chair, that's your choice. Yeah, some people put towels and things out, but some of us find a good spot and sit there. That solves the problem.

[Lido_Deck]

I'll be sailing on the Escape in less than two weeks on April 8th. It's spring break time so I'm sure it will be fairly crowded. But given my age and only traveling with my Middle Aged mother, I'm sure I'll enjoy that aspect for the most part (I love meeting and getting to know people on cruise ships. I still have friends to this day that I keep in contact with from my previous spring break sailing on the Breakaway).

 

However I've been reading reviews and almost every one of them complains about the lack of pool chairs. I'm as pale as a ghost so if the weather is nice I definitely plan to spend a lot of my mornings/afternoons tanning on the sun and pool decks.

 

From what I've read, many people wake up at around 6 or 7 am to put towels on the chairs and leave them there for hours. I'm not an early riser so I definitely won't be participating in that practice. But I'm also not opposed to moving towels once I notice they aren't actually occupied. :lips-sealed: But I'll be on vacation and I'd like to avoid a confrontation.

 

I'd like to ask those who have sailed the Escape before: is it really that bad or is it just another case of over dramatic, exaggerated reviews?

 

The ship will be no more crowded that is always is because it has the same number of cabins during Spring Break that it does in November. That being said, the already crowded pool area might have a few more people because "youts" tend to hang out at the pool more than the old geezers. However, I can't see how you can crowd more people around the pool since every week it is hip to hip, shoulder to shoulder around the pool resembling a crowded refugee camp with insufficient resources. Good luck, though.

[cb at sea]

Go up a deck from the pool...loungers up there, and it's WAY less crowded!

[Vyhanek]

It would be nice if there was a metric that tracked the pool lounger to passenger ratio. We could book our cruises based on deck space, available loungers and quality of outdoor space!

 

The Escape would have one of the lowers ratios of loungers per passangers at sea. It's beyond a normal chair hogging situation. When the ship is at maximum capacity as the OP is speculating, the situation is even worse. I've never seen such limited deck space as on the Escape. Yes, it's an issue. If you can be the very first in line on the ship, after Haven guests, after platinum members etc., you could have a shot at purchasing Vibe passes.

[Loonbeam]

As everyone has noted, the pool areas on the Escape are miniscule for a ship that size.

 

That said, also as noted, as long as being near a pool is not a deal breaker there are PLENTY of open chairs in other areas either up on the upper levels or in Spice

[laurabegorrah]

...as long as being near a pool is not a deal breaker there are PLENTY of open chairs in other areas either up on the upper levels or in Spice

 

Yeah - not so much. Last year, we were taking a walk around the ship when we ran into a poor couple that had been looking for some chairs for almost an hour. Could they have been exaggerating, oh heck yes, but as we were walking around we didn't see any empty chairs. And we looped the entire ship a few times, including the sundeck and Spice...and the Waterfront too. It was just wall to wall people. And this was a mid-Jan cruise, I can imagine it would be more crowded for spring break (b/c while there are only a finite number of state rooms, how many people are in each of those rooms can vary.)

[Jay_Outstanding]

Yeah - not so much. Last year, we were taking a walk around the ship when we ran into a poor couple that had been looking for some chairs for almost an hour. Could they have been exaggerating, oh heck yes, but as we were walking around we didn't see any empty chairs. And we looped the entire ship a few times, including the sundeck and Spice...and the Waterfront too. It was just wall to wall people. And this was a mid-Jan cruise, I can imagine it would be more crowded for spring break (b/c while there are only a finite number of state rooms, how many people are in each of those rooms can vary.)

 

Welp! Looks like I'll be moving towels in a week or so

[LrgPizza]

Welp! Looks like I'll be moving towels in a week or so

Yep. Just make sure you've verified that the seat has been unoccupied for over an hour, per NCL's rules. If you remove things sooner than that, you are making your own rules which makes you no better than the chair hogs.

[drneal]

I didn't have any trouble finding a couple of chairs after breakfast

on deck 19 forward or deck 20.

You can also do well going to the Spice H2O adult only area on

deck 17 aft.

The biggest problem I had was finding a chair/place to put my belongings

when going on the slides. They need to put in some "cubbies" for your

shoes, towel and key card.

[NCLfamily]

Deck 19/20 there were always beds. As stated, if you want near the pool, get there early.

 

 

 

 

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[LSKC]

How big of a struggle is it going to be on Sea Days to find 4 or 5 together for my husband, myself and our 3 kids? I don't care if it is right on the pool deck but I really hope we will be able to lounge around and relax a bit (a deck or two up would be nice) all together since we can escape to Spice H2O but our 3 kids (2 teens, 1 9 yr old) cannot.

 

I don't intend in spending much or any time in the small pools but will try the waterslides. Same with kids I imagine.

[BirdTravels]

100% correct. There are not 4500 loungers next to the pool. (Not sure that if you placed loungers side-by-side and cover the entire top deck, you could get 4500 chairs.)

 

That being said, if you do have to have your toes hanging in the water, you can always find a lounger on the upper decks.

[snownow]

Teens i doubt you will see them much.. Just saying... :confused:

 

My nine year old did spend quite of bit of time in the kid pool, or even in the kiddie play area. We normally were able to grab few chairs right above that area behind the bar area. It does block some of the sound from the main pool area, you can keep an good eye on them, its close to the slide stairs, and well the bar. Only negative is that bar is a smoking area so from time to time you do smell smoke.

 

To the OP. Main pool area is a horrid design. Get there early and camp, or get lucky. However, if you are looking for a quieter place to lounge there were always chairs on the decks above and in spice. You do miss the pool area shenanigans though.

 

How big of a struggle is it going to be on Sea Days to find 4 or 5 together for my husband, myself and our 3 kids? I don't care if it is right on the pool deck but I really hope we will be able to lounge around and relax a bit (a deck or two up would be nice) all together since we can escape to Spice H2O but our 3 kids (2 teens, 1 9 yr old) cannot.

 

I don't intend in spending much or any time in the small pools but will try the waterslides. Same with kids I imagine.

[quaker77]

Yep. Just make sure you've verified that the seat has been unoccupied for over an hour, per NCL's rules. If you remove things sooner than that, you are making your own rules which makes you no better than the chair hogs.

We board on the Escape the 8th and we are in reflexion of trying to get vibe passes. To avoid any of theses ghost chairs

[iaswam]

We were on the Escape March 4th - 11th and the only real problem day was day 3 because the first 2 days were really stormy. When the weather cleared up and the sun was out, the masses were out on deck and EVERY chair had a body in it. We did see a deckhand going around and removing towels that were on chairs that were unoccupied for an hour, so they were enforcing the policy. After that, it was kind of hit and miss. Some days they were really crowded, other days not so much.

 

NOTE: This applies to chairs one deck above the pool and higher up (we never sat by the pool, but could see down to it). The pool area seemed to be more crowded, but again only on certain days/times.

[TandK0826]

Yep. Just make sure you've verified that the seat has been unoccupied for over an hour, per NCL's rules. If you remove things sooner than that, you are making your own rules which makes you no better than the chair hogs.

 

 

Was just about to say that. Last year on my cruise I came back to people trying to move our towels and we were in the pool for literally 20 minutes. Ridiculous. Oh and I had a red tag on the seat with a time they came by. WE WERE JUST IN THE POOL WITH OUR KIDS!!

[LrgPizza]

Was just about to say that. Last year on my cruise I came back to people trying to move our towels and we were in the pool for literally 20 minutes. Ridiculous. Oh and I had a red tag on the seat with a time they came by. WE WERE JUST IN THE POOL WITH OUR KIDS!!

The red tag is there for your protection. You should be glad they did that. NCL is letting others know that they are monitoring the situation so no one takes your stuff. As long as you stay within the rules, as you did, your stuff didn't get moved, right?

[MICHLEV1974]

When you get on the ship, walk around the pool deck and make friends with the DECK STEWARDS. Give them a nice smile and and ask them to reserve 2 pool chairs for you each day--a small tip is kind. I hope it works out for you :)

[BirdTravels]

We board on the Escape the 8th and we are in reflexion of trying to get vibe passes. To avoid any of theses ghost chairs

 

Do you have priority boarding (Havens, Casino, Ambassador, Platinum Plus, Platinum) or are you with general boarding. Let us know how you did getting your passes.

[claireruth]

We were on the 3/11 sailing and had no problems finding chairs further up on the ship, like the sun decks on 19 and 20? Or 18 and 19...I don't remember now. Plus there was a bar right there which was nice because it was rarely crowded. We had our kids with us, ages 8 and 11, and we all went together to get our seats so they'd know where to find us then let them go swim and play on the waterslides. If they were in the kids club, we would go to Spice H2O. The only time we couldn't get seats in there was the first day at sea in the morning.

 

As far as Vibe, we really wanted to get passes and were in boarding group 6. My husband literally ran to guest services as soon as we were on board to try and get some, but Haven guests had bought all of them. We were pretty upset at first--and then we'd get annoyed, too, when we could see in there from the sun deck and it was totally empty! I don't think we ever saw more than four or five people in there.