Just booked Escape for April! Help with excursions!

[helene109]

Off of Breakaway on Friday and booked Escape yesterday! Any tips on these ports? Thanks 

Edited August 22, 2022 by helene109

[tallnthensome]

Baths of Virgin Gorda in Tortola and Monkey Land in Dominican Republic. 

[jlabs03]

I was on this itinerary in May. If you do not have mobility issues then these are to good excursions.  In Puerto Plata, which ended up being Amber Cove for us but basically the same port, we did the Damajagua Waterfalls.  This is were you slide down waterfalls.  This was one our of favorite excursion ever.  It is quite a hike to get to the falls but they stop you every 5 minutes to give you a rest. In Tortola we did the Virgin Gorda and Baths.  This is basically a beach day but you get to walk and climb through really cool rock formations on your way to the beach. On GSC we rented a Silver Cove Ocean Cabana.  It was nice and private.  For most of the day it was only me and my daughter in the water in our area, which had waves (the Lagoon did not have any waves). I always like Cabanas since they give you a place to drop your stuff and guaranteed shade.  I know there are other Cabanas not in Silver Cove that are cheaper or if you do not want to be away from the action.  Silver Cove is a private area for only Silver Cove guests and they cart you to the area since it is on one end of the island.

Edited August 22, 2022 by jlabs03

[ggTexasGal]

Just to clarify info on above post...

https://www.ncl.com/freestyle-cruise/great-stirrup-cay#gsc-map

 

Silver Cove Villas are in two areas, which make up the Silver Cove exclusive area, which includes an exclusive bar and dining area.

Lagoon Villas surrounding the lagoon are available in three sizes (2 bedroom Villa, 1 bedroom Villa, and small villa).  The separate Ocean Villas are just a short distance away and receive same perks as Lagoon Villas.  Villas have A/C!

 

Cabanas are NOT a part of the Silver Cove!

Small and Large Cabanas are available further along the beach, which is approximately the middle of Great Stirrup Cay (near the Lighthouse Beach Bar). They are open, but do provide shade.

Edited August 22, 2022 by ggTexasGal
Added Villas A/C info

[tallnthensome]

Coral Ocean World in St Thomas as well ..... Swim with Remo the Sea Lion. Amazing and fun! 

[Susandt]

In dr we did the waterfall slide, wasn’t great

in Tortola we used  adventures charters and went to bath, awesome 

[PhillyTravelBug]

I was looking at this cruise for February. I believe Escape and Encore have the same itinerary from Port Canaveral and Miami. 

[hallux]

2 hours ago, PhillyTravelBug said:

I was looking at this cruise for February.

lol, I was looking at it for March!

[RumRunner2021]

On 8/22/2022 at 1:00 PM, ggTexasGal said:

 The separate Ocean Villas are just a short distance away and receive same perks as Lagoon Villas.  Villas have A/C!

 

On 8/22/2022 at 1:00 PM, ggTexasGal said:

Small and Large Cabanas are available further along the beach, which is approximately the middle of Great Stirrup Cay (near the Lighthouse Beach Bar).

Is the lighthouse bar an easy walk from the Ocean villas or is it a hike?  Is that the closest bar to the Ocean Villas?  Thanks.

[ggTexasGal]

2 hours ago, RumRunner2021 said:

 

Is the lighthouse bar an easy walk from the Ocean villas or is it a hike?  Is that the closest bar to the Ocean Villas?  Thanks.

The closest bar would be the Silver Cove bar.  However, you could order drinks from a server.

I've enclosed the link below for the GSC map (It is semi-interactive, so you can click on the orange dots to see what is at that location).  For us, the walk would be easy for either bar.  But we also take the stairs on the ship most of the time!

https://www.ncl.com/freestyle-cruise/great-stirrup-cay#gsc-map

[RumRunner2021]

20 minutes ago, ggTexasGal said:

The closest bar would be the Silver Cove bar.  However, you could order drinks from a server.

I've enclosed the link below for the GSC map (It is semi-interactive, so you can click on the orange dots to see what is at that location).  For us, the walk would be easy for either bar.  But we also take the stairs on the ship most of the time!

https://www.ncl.com/freestyle-cruise/great-stirrup-cay#gsc-map

Thanks!!  After my prior post, I educated myself much more on the GSC villas.  I now see that there is clearly a generic bar at the villa buffet, and also have read about the availability of servers.  I hadn't paid much attention to the villas before, but just booked one for our Spring 2023 Caribbean cruise.  😎  Looking forward to it!

 

We also have a fall Caribbean booked that stops at GSC.  I checked my reservation and while the rest of the GSC excursions (including the cabannas) are showing up, none of the villas are.  Hopefully that just means it's too early, but I would appreciate other educated opinions.  Thx.