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Live From Escape: 5/20-5/27


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I know what you're thinking... "Here comes another TheDougOut wannabe, trying to live review the Escape. He'll never rival that epic review." And you'd be right. When my wife and I booked our trip on the Escape a few months back, nothing got me more excited than reading that review. So while I may not share his wit, I do share his affinity for booze, and I figure it's my duty to pay it forward and create a review of my own. If just one person reads this and gets as excited as I did reading TheDougOut's review, then I'll be happy. Wannabe indeed!

 

I'm writing from 39,000 feet, though I suspect I won't hit send until I'm wheels down in Miami. Is it really worth the $20 wifi to tell the Cruise Critic world that I'm on the plane?? That kind of edge of your seat drama is can only be found in Hollywood.

 

A little background on this trip: my wife, we'll call her Meg (name not changed because laziness trumps privacy), and I (Chris) booked this trip intending it to be a surprise for our friend Sara's (remember the bit about laziness?) birthday. She and her husband (Asael -- you know the drill by now) had booked well before us. We coordinated with him, didn't tell her, and the secret remained intact until just a few short weeks out. Unfortunately, she booked an excursion to Jost van Dyke out of Tortola that would essentially be a repeat of a private charter we had already booked out of St Thomas the day before. The only way to convince her that she should get her money back was to let the cat out of the bag -- surprise!!!

 

By the way, how many people would have believed me if I'd told you I made up four fake names: Chris, Meg, Sara, and.... Asael? Total lack of creativity followed by some Tim Burton levels of random? See how I tied this all back to the Hollywood drama?

 

Anyway, this hardly qualifies as a late spring escape to warmer weather. We're all from Texas where it might actually be hotter than the Caribbean already. But there is no beach in my office. There is no District Brewhouse. This is an escape from the daily grind; an opportunity to turn off my wifi and relax. So how am I taking advantage of that opportunity? Getting wifi and sharing my trip with all of you, of course!

 

I'll try not to bore you too much today by talking about the price of my Uber from the airport. I'll let you know what we think of the Kimpton Epic hotel we booked on Hotwire, then pick up the pace tomorrow when we get to port.

 

Going after Vibe passes -- no Norwegian status to lean on. Meg is super excited (sarcasm) that I want to get to the port hours before boarding to try to secure Group 1 boarding. Anybody done this successfully since the change in embarkation?

 

Oh, PS, in true TheDougOut fashion, I'll share my drinking progress: 1. Coffee, black 2. Apple Juice... our flight took off at 7 am, even I have my limits. I promise to get more interesting.

 

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I'll be following along! Let us know if they've got TheDougOut's bronze statue erected inside the District Brewhouse yet. I want to be sure to get a selfie with it when we cruise at the end of June. :-D

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Random post flight musing:

 

Why do pilots feel the need to tell me the direction and speed of the wind at my destination? I TOTALLY understand why they need to know, but what am I to do with such information? How did they know I brought my kite and have been dying to learn whether I could fly it?!?

 

Just got to the hotel. The luck of the Irish is with me today. Showed up at noon for a 4:00 check in, and our room was ready. Pictures forthcoming.

 

 

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Enjoy! Cant wait to read more! We sail in July and the more detail the better so add those Uber prices lol. Good luck with Vibe!

 

Enjoy and thanks for taking the time to post and take pics on your vacation.

 

 

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View of the port from the balcony.

 

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View of the hotel rooftop pool.

 

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Downtown view from our balcony.

 

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Boat cruising in.

 

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And last but not least, this guy at the pool who is channeling exactly what I'm looking for in this vacation.

 

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How much was the hotel? How did you pick it on Hotwire? Did you do a lot of research to see if you could figure out what hotel it was before you booked, or did you just look for something near the port area with a decent number of stars?

 

We're on the Escape in December and I am about ready to book my pre- and post-cruise hotels. Thinking of doing one night in South Beach and one night in Downtown or Little Havana.

 

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How much was the hotel? How did you pick it on Hotwire? Did you do a lot of research to see if you could figure out what hotel it was before you booked, or did you just look for something near the port area with a decent number of stars?

 

 

Combination of all of the above, maybe? Looked for something near the port with good ratings, found a "boutique hotel," which we've had luck with in the past. Looked around and had a decent idea that it might be the Kimpton, but we were willing to take our chances. Paid $130 for the night.

 

 

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I am following along as I am sailing on the Bliss next year and since I can't see reviews of that for awhile this is the closest thing for me.

Thanks for the review. My sister will be on Escape in September. I need to send her to this sight.

 

Candi

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We will be on the Escape in June. So, we will be looking for any pointers that you have.

Would you be able to post the officers from the card that you will receive at the Cruise Critic party?

Have a great time and thanks for taking the time to post!

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I love being bored...so,,how much was the uber from the airport and how easy was it to find at MIA? (Trying to research for a future trip). Thanks.

 

 

$16 got me downtown. Super easy to pick up. Driver arrived in about two minutes.

 

 

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Combination of all of the above, maybe? Looked for something near the port with good ratings, found a "boutique hotel," which we've had luck with in the past. Looked around and had a decent idea that it might be the Kimpton, but we were willing to take our chances. Paid $130 for the night.

 

 

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Thanks! I'm pretty sure I see the listing on Hotwire now. It is $287 on the night before our cruise and $167 on the night after. I wish it was the other way around! We want to see Little Havana on one of our afternoons/nights in Miami and South Beach/Art Deco district on the other. It seems like it would be more convenient to go straight to the Kimpton from MIA, but maybe it will work the other way around. Please let me know how walkable the area is and how the public transportation is if you try it. And of course we all want to know exactly what you eat and drink, with pictures of everything!

 

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