Live from the NCL Escape - 12/23 Sailing

[Diver2014]

Still looking forward to cruise in 2 weeks.  Don't care if we miss all ports.  Don't care if entertainment is cancelled.  Just want to be on a ship after a 2 year wait.  Having knee surgery after cruise so this will be my time to relax and do nothing (well, except maybe EAT).  Sitting on our balcony watching the sea go by is all I can think about.....ah, pure bliss!

[SimplyAlbert]

49 minutes ago, Diver2014 said:

Still looking forward to cruise in 2 weeks.  Don't care if we miss all ports.  Don't care if entertainment is cancelled.  Just want to be on a ship after a 2 year wait.  Having knee surgery after cruise so this will be my time to relax and do nothing (well, except maybe EAT).  Sitting on our balcony watching the sea go by is all I can think about.....ah, pure bliss!

 

I'm with you!  We don't cruise until February on the Breakaway (and I moved it from May 2022 to February 2022 just last week) and our plan is to sit on our aft-balcony and enjoy being out of the snow/ice/cold.  We don't plan to get off in any of the ports, with the exception of maybe Harvest Caye.  We've cruised this itinerary multiple times and we're just looking forward to being on the ship and relaxing.

[Travelicious]

57 minutes ago, Diver2014 said:

Still looking forward to cruise in 2 weeks.  Don't care if we miss all ports.  Don't care if entertainment is cancelled.  

Same.  As long as at least some bars and restaurants are open, we'll be happy.

[anyman]

On 12/28/2021 at 7:03 AM, AnitaVacation said:

Also, is this number total passengers and crew or just passengers?  The capacity for this ship is 4266 passengers, 1733 crew for a total of 6000 souls.

 

Just trying to figure out what percentage ships are sailing at now.  I can imagine that since re-opening and covid numbers were going down and onboard cases were dropping and confidence was high, the percentage went up...but now, with another surge upon us, will these numbers be reduced?

 

I was told a max of 60% by the Hotel manager.

 

[Photoc]

4 hours ago, bassmaster150 said:

Haven’t posted a current review yet as we have been way too busy, but so far we have made all of our ports and have been allowed to disembark in all of our ports.  These ports were:  Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, St Maarten, St Lucia, and Barbados.  We are currently pulling into port at Antigua, and tomorrow is St Thomas followed by a Sea Day, NCL private island in the Bahamas, and then back to Port Canaveral.  Hopefully will have more detailed write up tonight.

Thank you very much for taking the time to keep updating this thread while you're on vacation. We all hope you are enjoying your trip tremendously and living vicariously through you!  

[bassmaster150]

 

1/1/2022 UPDATE

Apologies for not having an update for a while, but this has been a port intensive cruise, and we have been a little busy.  I am going to try to update as much as I can now which will make this post a little lengthy, and then I will come back in a couple of days with my final thoughts….so here goes:

The Boat

So far the ship has been incredible.  All dining venues and entertainment have been open as far as I know.  Earlier in the cruise, someone had posted that Choir of Men was cancelled after the first show, but I have heard of nothing else being cancelled.  We have been to just about every dining venue (except the main dining rooms…Manhattan, Taste, and Savor).  This is our second NCL cruise where we spent the majority of the cruise in the specialty restaurants.  We have been to music shows as well as the standard game-show type stuff in the atrium as well as a couple of shows in the Headliners Comedy club.  Last night there were 6 New Years Eve parties on the boat as well.  The only thing that is closed is the outdoor sports complex.  They say it is closed for maintenance, but I have not seen anyone working on it the entire cruise.  Masks are required inside the ship at all times unless eating or drinking.  If you are outside on the open decks, you can remove the mask and do whatever you need to do.  They will make you go get your mask if you are not wearing it inside, but they are very nice.

The Ports

Like I stated earlier, this has been a port intensive 11 day cruise with only two sea days.  So far we have made every port and have been allowed to disembark in every port.  Tomorrow is our last port of call and it is Harvest Cay.  The cruise ends the next day in Port Canaveral.

Port 1 – Dominican Republic

We did a horseback riding and kayak excursion.  This excursion is more to the interior of the island as opposed to being on the beach.  You will go to a ranch to horseback ride and then the kayak part of the tour is in a river that goes through the ranch.  It was fun.  Expect an hour bus ride each way.  Masks and vaccine cards are required in the country but we were never asked to show cards.

Port 2 – Puerto Rico

We have been to PR multiple times in our lives so we did a simple excursion in Old Sal Juan called “Let’s Take a Selfie”.  We had a great guide who walked us through old San Juan and gave us history.  I have family that lives in San Juan so we tipped our guide and left the tour early to meet up with my family for lunch at a local restaurant.  Again, vaccine cards and masks are required in PR.  Make sure you are wearing your mask in the port area as they will fine you.  Also, when we went to eat lunch in PR, we had to show our vaccine cards to be able to enter the restaurant.  There were two ships in port (including ours) as well as two ships on turnaround.

Port 3 – St Maarten

We arrived into St Maarten 30 minutes early, but for some reason they decided to do some extra checking of something before we were let off the ship.  This caused us to be delayed by over an hour getting to our excursion but they finally let us off the ship.  We did the Rhino Rider excursion which we usually do when we go to St Maarten because it is just a blast to do.  There were 6 ships in port on this day so it was a bit crowded.  Again, you were required to have your vaccine cards as well as wear your mask around the port area.  Nobody asked us to show vaccine cards in St Maarten.

Port 4 – St Lucia

This is an amazingly beautiful island…we will probably go back there for a land vacation at some time.  We did the St Lucia by Land and Sea tour with a little bit of snorkeling involved.  The sea part of the tour takes you by the iconic Pitons which St Lucia is known for.  The group going on the tour was large so they will take the first two groups by bus for land portion and the last group by sea and they you will meet up halfway through the tour and switch.  You do stop at an old plantation for lunch.  The lunch was not that good, but the plantation tour was pretty cool.  Now here is some important information about cruising into St Lucia right now.  First, you cannot at anytime wear any sort of camouflage clothing (including masks) of any color.  They will not let you ashore if you do.  You also had to go through a health screening process as you entered the port area.  This consisted of a little building that you walk through and they take your temperature.  Finally, you have to take a ship excursion.  You cannot take a private tour at this time.  You cannot take a taxi either.  If you don’t have a ship purchased excursion, you can only stay in the port area.

Port 5 – Barbados

This is our second time in Barbados and it is nice.  We once again did the “let’s take a selfie tour” on this stop.  This one was a little different as it was more like an island tour where they gave you four stops as you drove around the island.  The guide was very knowledgeable and the tour was fun.  We did this more for some “sentimental value” that we have at one of the areas of Barbados that we had to return to (mushroom rock at Bathsheeba).  This was a long excursion and took about 4.5 hours to complete.  The ship does ***** quite a ways from the main port area, so there was a bus system that they were using as you came off the ship.  This caused a traffic jam at the gangway as they were using crown control measures to get people off the ship.  When we were returning to the ship…several excursions were late, so they just let us walk back to the ship if we wanted to.  The Queen Mary 2 and Queen Victoria from Cunard were offshore as they are stuck there right now….we feel bad for the passengers on those vessels, and you can Google the ship names to find out what is going on there.  NCL Epic was also in port with us.

Port 6 – Antigua

Another really beautiful island.  We did a catamaran and snorkeling tour.  The snorkeling portion of the tour is offshore, and the clarity of the water as well as the amount of fish on the reef is incredible.  The seas were choppy which made the snorkel a bit more challenging, but the guides were awesome.  You are also snorkeling in deeper water.  From there we drove around the island on the catamaran a bit, then beached it for several hours for a beach break.  The included lunch was very good, and the beach time was great.  We finished up with a sail around of our NCL escape singing to the boat (yes, a lot of people were “happy” after a few drinks), and then made it back to the boat with about 5 minutes to spare before all aboard.

Port 7 – St Thomas

We have been to St Thomas many times, so all we did was take the cable car up to Paradise Point, and have a few Rum and Cokes before heading back to the dock for a little shopping and then back on the boat.  This was the shortest stop of the cruise as we were cleared at about 8:00am, and all aboard was 1:30pm.  Shortly after we arrived, the Sky Princess also arrived and they were allowed to disembark as well.

Interesting Observations

So about 5 days ago, something weird started happening and I am not sure why….whenever we go to a specialty restaurant and order drinks from the bar, they are no longer charging us for those drinks.  We do not have the drinks package as when we booked we chose the cash option since we do not drink enough to justify the package.  I have asked multiple times for the bar bill, but they tell us to not worry about it.  We are not complaining at all, but I am a little curious as to why they are no longer charging us.  If we go to a regular bar, then we pay.

That is it for today’s update.  We are at sea all day today, and then Harvest Cay tomorrow (1/2/2022).  I will give final thoughts when we return on Monday.  Until then….HAPPY NEW YEAR, and I hope many of you are cruising soon!!!

 

 

[TNcruising02]

Thank you so much for such a detailed report of your cruise.  It sounds like your timing for a cruise was great!

[Brandy14]

 

8 minutes ago, bassmaster150 said:

Tomorrow is our last port of call and it is Harvest Cay. 

We are actually in Great Stirrup Caye tomorrow. 🙂 Too many ports to keep straight!

I’ll agree that everything has been wonderful. We did different excursions that were mostly island tours and all were good except in DR. 
Unfortunately the After Midnight show was also canceled. We had both shows booked toward the end of the cruise and missed both because they were canceled.  So if you can book them at the beginning I would do so! The did replace one of the canceled shows with another showing of the comedian/magician. And then added another one with the various bands from the shows. We weren’t too disappointed as we don’t cruise for the shows! And we are more than happy with the attentive staff! I may hate cruising at 100% capacity again…I’ve been spoiled!

[Diver2014]

The thing about not wearing camo clothing in St Lucia has been around for quite awhile but it's not just St Lucia, quite a few Caribbean islands have laws against that (Barbados,  St Kitts, and I believe PR as well as others).  Only active members of each island's military wear camo and they take it seriously.

[bassmaster150]

4 hours ago, Brandy14 said:

 

We are actually in Great Stirrup Caye tomorrow. 🙂 Too many ports to keep straight!

I’ll agree that everything has been wonderful. We did different excursions that were mostly island tours and all were good except in DR. 
Unfortunately the After Midnight show was also canceled. We had both shows booked toward the end of the cruise and missed both because they were canceled.  So if you can book them at the beginning I would do so! The did replace one of the canceled shows with another showing of the comedian/magician. And then added another one with the various bands from the shows. We weren’t too disappointed as we don’t cruise for the shows! And we are more than happy with the attentive staff! I may hate cruising at 100% capacity again…I’ve been spoiled!

Yes you are correct...to many ports to remember correctly.  But I have to agree with your statement...cruising at less than 100% capacity has spoiled us forever!!!!!!

[Montanagirlalways]

Nice review! We decided to cancel our 1/8 cruise on the Escape. Too much unknowns at this time. Very happy you have been able to visit the ports.  Maybe in a month or 2 it will settle some.

[disneykins]

Thanks for your detailed report. We Escape in Feb and are really looking forward to it after 2 years land locked. 

Tony and Debbie

[thechief52]

Thank you for the detailed and very interesting report bassmaster150. Appreciate your insight. We are coming from Australia and are booked on the Escape for transatlantic april this year. The Escape sounds wonderful.

[bassmaster150]

In case anyone is wondering....we did make our port call into Great Stirrup Cay which means we officially made all 8 of our port calls!!!  It was an amazing cruise...but sadly, it ended this morning.  We are so glad to be cruising again!!!

[Rungee]

Thanks for the great report.  We also were on this 12/23 cruise and had a great time.  We just disembarked today. Near perfect weather and made all ports.  Crew was so glad to see us and to be working again.  Just want to clarify that I was told by one senior officer that guest capacity was 2300.  Another said 2400, so it sounds like the number was somewhere in that range.  (2300-2400 or so).  Even at that reduced capacity though the atrium was quite crowded at most major events.  By the way, a check in agent said there was around 300 or so guests under 18 years.  

[Photoc]

A lot less guests on the current 1/3 sailing. I am on it now and an old acquaintance of mine works the check in counter in the NCL terminal. I ran into him while I was checking in. He said 1700 confirmed resos but does not include last minute cancelations or flight issues. 

[wampuscat7]

Thanks for the great review! This is an odd question, but you mentioned how much you enjoyed Teppenyaki. Do you recall about how long the meal took? 

Edited January 4, 2022 by wampuscat7

[Photoc]

22 hours ago, wampuscat7 said:

Thanks for the great review! This is an odd question, but you mentioned how much you enjoyed Teppenyaki. Do you recall about how long the meal took? 

Probably 45 mins or so for appetizer and main course/presentation 

[wampuscat7]

8 minutes ago, Photoc said:

Probably 45 mins or so for appetizer and main course/presentation 

Thank you!

[Clodia]

What happens if you are medically exempt from wearing a mask, as they were not required when pax booked and that may be the reason for choosing this line if you really cannot wear one.

[MsTabbyKats]

7 minutes ago, Clodia said:

What happens if you are medically exempt from wearing a mask, as they were not required when pax booked and that may be the reason for choosing this line if you really cannot wear one.

I don't know the official answer, but be prepared for a lot of evil eyes and the unofficial mask police reminding you to put yours on.

[mking8288]

46 minutes ago, Clodia said:

What happens if you are medically exempt from wearing a mask, as they were not required when pax booked and that may be the reason for choosing this line if you really cannot wear one.

Depending on when you are planning to sail on the cruise, you might wish to reconsider and/or use a mask, regardless of grounds for medical exemption.  Between the Delta, Omicorn and Fluorana viruses, all of them airborne & deemed highly infectious, and a new strain being watched closely in France, it would not, IMHO, be consider smart to walk around without a properly fitted facial masks, not a cotton one either, but at a minimum, 3-ply surgical mask ... KF94/KN95 and N95 respiratory masks being recommended for protection.   Check with your doctor abut what are the possible consequences and check with NCL Special Needs/Access Desk about your exemption, really ... possibly even with your UK insurance plan(s).  Just my opinion, of course and not scientific-medical advice.  Good luck, as this is really off-topic. 

[momofjohnjr]

On 12/23/2021 at 9:13 PM, bassmaster150 said:

So this is our first cruise in just over 2 years, and our first during the COVID mess.  I wanted to update everyone who has not cruised on what the process is to board a NCL ship with all of the new protocols in place.  We are sailing on the 11-night Caribbean cruise on the NCL Escape out of Port Canaveral.

 

We arrived at the cruise terminal within our scheduled time period of 11:30-12:00pm.  The terminal was already packed with people so it is up to you as to whether you decide to show up on time or prior to your scheduled time.  Nobody is checking this, so they just let you in link which is ok by me.

 

Upon arrival, you are directed to the first of 4 tents for the COVID testing process.  In the first tent, you stand in a line, and they verify your passport, vaccine card, and the code you are supposed to have for your COVID test.  Once that has been verified, you move into the second tent where you stand in another line waiting to be tested.  When you make it to the front, they you move to whatever station is open and then do your self-swab test in front of the testing person (they hand you all of the stuff).  The good news is that it is not a brain scrape test, so you only have to swab the inside of your nostrils.

 

Once you have finished the test, you are handed a card with a code on it and moved to the next tent where you take a seat and look at a screen waiting for your code to show up.  Once your code shows up, you are given a wristband and you can move into the building which I will get to in a minute.  Now here is the interesting part….my wife’s code showed up after 10 minutes, but mine did not….it didn’t show up after 30 minutes so I was concerned that I might be positive.  However, someone got on a mic and called for all who had a time stamp in the past 30 minutes but whose code didn’t show up.  Then we were given wristbands and permitted to board.  What I think happened was that they had no positive results in that time period, so they moved everyone forward.  I did get a text message about 30 minutes later with a negative result.

 

Once you are through the testing period, then you move into the main building for checkin.  Yes, you wait in yet another line.  Once you make it to an agent, they ask for your passport, boarding pass, and vaccine cards.  They also ask you a series of COVID questions as well as take your temperature.  Once all that is done, you are given your room cards and permitted to board.  All in all it was about 2 hours and 15 minutes from the time we entered the first tent until the time we were on board the ship.  There was no confusion or anything like that….it was a very orderly process.

 

Now that we are on board just a few things of note...originally this was supposed to be a mask-free cruise.  Two days prior to sailing, they changed it to mandatory mask which is interesting since everyone is fully vaccinated and tested before boarding so I don’t quite understand that one but we will comply…kind of...I just went downstairs and apparently many did not get the memo as there are quite a few people (in the hundreds) walking around without their masks so we will see what happens as we cruise on.  They also closed the ropes course for “maintenance” but nobody is doing any maintenance.  Since we only have 2 sea days on this 11 night cruise (port intensive), I am not concerned…but I really wanted to do the ropes course.  I will update you as we cruise along.

 

You said you didn't understand why the masks but the news is constantly telling everyone that you can get Omicron if you are fully vaccinated. Smh. My son has it right now. He's fully vaccinated.  My sister was fully vaccinated in August and died from it. I just don't get it. 

[bassmaster150]

On 1/4/2022 at 2:24 PM, wampuscat7 said:

Thanks for the great review! This is an odd question, but you mentioned how much you enjoyed Teppenyaki. Do you recall about how long the meal took? 

If I remember correctly, about 1.5 hours approximately.  They try to fill up all the seats before starting at each of those grill thingys.

[bassmaster150]

23 hours ago, Clodia said:

What happens if you are medically exempt from wearing a mask, as they were not required when pax booked and that may be the reason for choosing this line if you really cannot wear one.

You probably need to contact NCL on that one...I have no idea.