Had to finally book with NCL because Disney wanted me to sell my house... lol

[sweetpee_1993]

They sure are good hope to see
you guys on another cruise.

We'll be on the Escape 5/14/16 & 5/21/16!

 

[perdidobay]

Drinks! Our favorite spot was Sugarcanes on the Waterfront! If Candize is bartending, best onboard! My faaaavorite libation all cruise was the Jalapeño Cucumber Mojito. I looooove cucumber & love a little bite. That was my perfect cocktail. I loved all the mojitos, tho. They strain them! Also, I'm not a big frozen beverage girl (waters down the drink) but the Miami Vice was tight. I enjoyed several. For a good sipper, one of our new friends got us started on Tennessee Honey. I don't care much for bourbon on rocks but the Tennessee Honey (made by Jack Daniels) is smooth & tad sweet. On rocks it goes down easy. And, another pal got the hubby started on Kahlua & Cream. Basically just Kahlua with half & half. Holy wow is it tasty!

At LeBistro I fell in love with the 4 cones appetizer. I know it sounds weird but trust me. They're interesting & quite tasty. I asked our server what was the acceptable way to eat them. She said pick it up, tear off the paper, and crunch away. It was delicious! We both had the filet (beef). Excellent. Hubby had the duck the first night which he enjoyed. He says the filet was better, tho. For dessert I had a glass of the ice wine which is absolutely lovely. Perfect finish for me.

At Cagneys we both had the prime which I thought was good but not great. Wish I'd gone with the filet. You MUST try the truffle fries! They're killer! Everyone goes crazy for the Oreo cheesecake dessert. I liked it but it wasn't up to the hype for me personally.

I wouldn't recommend anything from Carlos. I had my cake that I decorated. The cake part was dry & pretty tasteless. I had to try a cupcake, too. It was not moist, little flavor, and whipped topping vs buttercream. Yuck!

We didn't go to Spice H2O. We walked back there 1 morning and it wasn't crowded then but I don't feel confident recommending anything there. I'm clueless.

Shows. We went to Burn the Floor. The dancing was crazy athletic. Impressive. But, there wasn't a plot. It was basically about an hour of really wow Latin dance numbers. I enjoyed watching but I can see how kids or anyone not impressed by that sort of thing would feel meh about it. We ditched Legally Blonde reservations to relax with our newfound gaggle of friends. More fun. I wish we'd gone to the comedy club. Just never got to it. The 11:00 shows sell out first so if you're going to reserve anything, grab those then cancel later.

We did pay to use the messaging feature on the app. Unlike DCL (<--theirs has never worked for me) it actually worked. Reliably! It was $7.99 per device. We hooked up just my iPhone. Swapped contacts with our new friends the first day and we all used the app for the duration. It was crazy wonderful!

Ask all the questions you want!

Thanks for the suggestions sweetpee, I'll make it my mission to try all the drinks you mentioned! Also the 4 cone app at Le Bistro. We do have some comedy shows reserved, also plan to do Howl at the Moon a few nights. I love dueling pianos.

 

[MC0810]

Yep. I'm baaaaaack! Loved the Getaway! It was sooooo much fun! The first at-sea day I was a bit wistful for my comfort zone but I soon got over that. We had a blast. We did the ropes course twice, the rock wall, putt-putt, and slides. We got a whole lot of mileage out of our free beverage package. Ate dinner at LeBistro twice, Cagneys once, the noodle bar once, Teppanyaki once, and the buffet once. Really enjoyed all the choices. I'm completely in love with Freestyle dining vs traditional assigned dining. Did not miss my servers getting to know me at all. Not at all. Our balcony room was perfectly comfy. All the service we received from check-in to disembarking was great. Everyone was helpful and super friendly.

We did a cabin crawl with the CC gang and saw a myriad of rooms. We ultimately decided we would rather book our adult sons in an inside room for our Escape cruise(s) in May. We are keeping our balcony room, too. In all fairness, we felt our 306 sq ft verandah room on the Wonder was a tight squeeze with our boys. They're just too big now and we like to not look at their messes.

Any specific questions, ask away.

And, no, we did not feel nickel & dimed although I understand why peoe say that. There's tons of things you can partake of that are an added charge but we never had anyone twisting our arms to part with our dollars either. Yeah, room service aside from continental breakfast is a $7.95 service fee. However, at any time of day you can easily go grab food from the buffet. Or OSheehans. OSheehans serves pub fare grub 24 hrs a day. There's never a real necessity to order room service because there are always other options. Additionally, if $7.95 is gonna break me I probly don't need to be cruising in the first place. LOL!

Hi Fellow disboards member! We were on this Getaway Cruise too!! We LOVED it! It was out first time on NCL. We are in no hurry to go back to DCL I'm afraid unless Disney gets a new ship....I want to do escape next year or try RCCL Oasis Ships. We felt the food on NCL BLEW disney away imo.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Hi Fellow disboards member! We were on this Getaway Cruise too!! We LOVED it! It was out first time on NCL. We are in no hurry to go back to DCL I'm afraid unless Disney gets a new ship....I want to do escape next year or try RCCL Oasis Ships. We felt the food on NCL BLEW disney away imo.

Agreed. But, I do realize my opinion of the food could be highly influenced by my excitement to have something different. And more options. And ZOMG!!!!! Freestyle! Yay! Next year we are booked b2b on the Escape. We've done Allure but my inlaws swear the food on Oasis was way better. We'd like to try Oasis, too.

 

[MC0810]

Agreed. But, I do realize my opinion of the food could be highly influenced by my excitement to have something different. And more options. And ZOMG!!!!! Freestyle! Yay! Next year we are booked b2b on the Escape. We've done Allure but my inlaws swear the food on Oasis was way better. We'd like to try Oasis, too.

what was your opinion on the service? We had no problems at all and felt the service comparable to disney. We have sailed magic and fantasy and unfortunately both cruises got stuck with dining servers who were just OK to BLAH and didnt really go above or beyond AT ALL... and actually ate room service twice for dinner to get a break from them. I too liked the free style of the dinners! We LOVED Cagneys so much. WOW I am craving it. I wish they had a land based restauran.. Only thing I felt some of the bartenders english could have been better but overall we had NO issues with service at all. We saw the ship officers all over the ship and were very friendly with us and guests. I thought Disney was special because they gave cold towels and drinks in the port getting back to the ship but NCL did this too. did you go to illusinarium show?? My kids even liked the NCL kids club surprisingly ( Disneys looked so much more appealing so I was a bit shocked when they begged to go to the NCL club at night). Our cruise included unlimited drinks, $75 per port shore excursions, Free Specialty restaurants and free internet. we enjoyed our disney cruises of course but I wanted to encourage others that you can have a GREAT time on other lines too.

 

[kaseyC]

The Godfather for the Escape has been announced. It is "Mr. Worldwide" himself... Pitbull!!

 

[sweetpee_1993]

The Godfather for the Escape has been announced. It is "Mr. Worldwide" himself... Pitbull!!

My boys will be that much more excited!!!!!

 

[kaseyC]

My boys will be that much more excited!!!!!

I see the cranky folks are coming out on CC. Starting to quote lyrics and such. I guess it will be turning ugly soon, similar to the threads on the Dis when Mariah Carey was made Godmother of the Fantasy. LOL

 

[sweetpee_1993]

I see the cranky folks are coming out on CC. Starting to quote lyrics and such. I guess it will be turning ugly soon, similar to the threads on the Dis when Mariah Carey was made Godmother of the Fantasy. LOL

Go look what I posted. LOL!

Seriously, within that industry Pitbull IS classy. He's very relevant. Relevant in terms of being a very popular artist. Relevant within the entertainment industry in addition to being a performer. Relevant to the Miami scene being represented all over the ship. He IS classy. He dresses well, has his pants pulled up. He's active with philanthropy within the city of Miami.

Risqué lyrics isn't anything new. That's been going down for many generations. ((I'm 41 yrs old. We listened to 2 Live Crew, etc.)). People need to get over themselves....or dig a hole to climb in. If Pitbull is too much to handle there are cruise lines that cater more towards seniors and/or more conservative tastes.

 

[kaseyC]

Go look what I posted. LOL!

Seriously, within that industry Pitbull IS classy. He's very relevant. Relevant in terms of being a very popular artist. Relevant within the entertainment industry in addition to being a performer. Relevant to the Miami scene being represented all over the ship. He IS classy. He dresses well, has his pants pulled up. He's active with philanthropy within the city of Miami.

Risqué lyrics isn't anything new. That's been going down for many generations. ((I'm 41 yrs old. We listened to 2 Live Crew, etc.)). People need to get over themselves....or dig a hole to climb in. If Pitbull is to much to handle there are cruise lines that cater more towards seniors and/or more conservative tastes.

I saw it. I think that thread is going to get crazy. Pitbull isn't even close to hardcore hip hop. Some of those folks need to listen to some of the artist's my 19 yr old DD and friends listen to.

 

[tinkerone]

Go look what I posted. LOL!

Seriously, within that industry Pitbull IS classy. He's very relevant. Relevant in terms of being a very popular artist. Relevant within the entertainment industry in addition to being a performer. Relevant to the Miami scene being represented all over the ship. He IS classy. He dresses well, has his pants pulled up. He's active with philanthropy within the city of Miami.

Risqué lyrics isn't anything new. That's been going down for many generations. ((I'm 41 yrs old. We listened to 2 Live Crew, etc.)). People need to get over themselves....or dig a hole to climb in. If Pitbull is too much to handle there are cruise lines that cater more towards seniors and/or more conservative tastes.

he's BRILLIANT! end of that
could you give me a link to the thread? i would love to read it. TIA

 

[kaseyC]

he's BRILLIANT! end of that
could you give me a link to the thread? i would love to read it. TIA

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2266933

 

[sweetpee_1993]

I saw it. I think that thread is going to get crazy. Pitbull isn't even close to hardcore hip hop. Some of those folks need to listen to some of the artist's my 19 yr old DD and friends listen to.

It's hilarious! Like hearing unPC words burns their innocent widdle ears. Gimme a break. And if anyone thinks that their precious youngsters/teens wouldn't listen to such because Mom & Dad said not to need to spend some time revisiting their own youths again. Parental Advisory labels were created when I was a kid. My parents said no to anything with a label at first. Most of our cassettes had the labels. Kids will do what they want. I'm sure there were a few who did as they were told and didn't listen. I didn't know any of those kids. LOL!

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Just had to pause to say @kaseyC , you have a fabulous avatar there. 2 thumbs up on that one.

 

[Bree]

I love me some Pitbull! I was just listening to him on my morning run. His music is great to listen to and set a pace with!

I had to cancel my Escape cruise and go back to DCL and pay their ridiculous prices for the week before Xmas 2016 (we are disembarking Christmas Eve). He has some issues (we are in the middle of an Autism diagnosis) and can't handle changes very well. No amount of videos and discussing how much fun he will have on the ship would stop his anxiety over the situation. He told me he would rather stay home than go on the Escape And please, please, please no comments on letting my child dictate our vacation dollars. He isn't a neurotypical kid who can bounce back from change in routine or approach the "unknown" without a whole heck of a lot of fear and anxiety.

 

[kaseyC]

Leaving London on our way to Southampton to board the Escape. Looking forward to exploring this fancy ship for the next 10 nights. Will post pictures and impressions when I return.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Leaving London on our way to Southampton to board the Escape. Looking forward to exploring this fancy ship for the next 10 nights. Will post pictures and impressions when I return.

Cannot wait! Have a fab cruise!

 

[sweetpee_1993]

what was your opinion on the service? We had no problems at all and felt the service comparable to disney. We have sailed magic and fantasy and unfortunately both cruises got stuck with dining servers who were just OK to BLAH and didnt really go above or beyond AT ALL... and actually ate room service twice for dinner to get a break from them. I too liked the free style of the dinners! We LOVED Cagneys so much. WOW I am craving it. I wish they had a land based restauran.. Only thing I felt some of the bartenders english could have been better but overall we had NO issues with service at all. We saw the ship officers all over the ship and were very friendly with us and guests. I thought Disney was special because they gave cold towels and drinks in the port getting back to the ship but NCL did this too. did you go to illusinarium show?? My kids even liked the NCL kids club surprisingly ( Disneys looked so much more appealing so I was a bit shocked when they begged to go to the NCL club at night). Our cruise included unlimited drinks, $75 per port shore excursions, Free Specialty restaurants and free internet. we enjoyed our disney cruises of course but I wanted to encourage others that you can have a GREAT time on other lines too.

I totally forgot to respond to you! I'm sorry.

We thought the service was great. Well, slow at O'Sheehans but that seems to be across the board for that place. Everywhere we are, our room steward, Guest Services, the dining desk, etc....all friendly, efficient, & helpful. I've been on 12 DCL cruises. Thinking back, I think 3 or maybe 4 of those we had truly exceptional service from our MDR serving team. Most are good but not crazy good. We had 1 cruise the service was so so soooooo bad that we seriously mulled over walking away from the $$ on the 2nd leg of that b2b and just going home. It was truly terrible. And it's not like the alternatives to MDR meals are so abundant. I was so disgusted over it.

We chose the semi-free adult beverages package (you still pay the service fee). We made great use of it, $880 worth! We saved all our bar receipts for sh**s-n-giggles. We had 2 upcharge meals we planned to book so we paid for the 3 night specialty dining package. The cost was exactly what we would've paid for the 2 meals but then we got the 3rd meal. Not a bad deal at all.

We didn't do Illusionarium. I read so many mixed reviews that we pretty much chickened-out. No regrets.

We really enjoyed our NCL cruise. In terms of service, cleanliness, and quality we felt the cruise was fantastic. Solid. So SO glad we did it!

 

[holula]

Leaving London on our way to Southampton to board the Escape. Looking forward to exploring this fancy ship for the next 10 nights. Will post pictures and impressions when I return.

Enjoy! And enjoy the smoke free casino.

 

[Shea&Van]

Smoke free casino? Tell me more! I didn't realize the Escape casino was smoke-free!