CAKEisgood

Looks like a lot of people are having internet issues. Long line at iConnect Internet cafe. 😫 same at Guest Services. 🤔 no line at the Shore Excursion desk. I walked right up and got my shore excursion tickets. ☺️

That’s sounds so much like the staff on the Escape. I’m so glad they were able to offer you something you enjoy.

For those of you that have sailed on NCL before, you might know cruise director Jack. Well, he is on this ship and it’s a pleasure to hear his positive voice 😁. I have not met Jack, but I have seen him and he appears to be a wonderful person. I might try to say hello this trip. There are a lot of ship staff we have seen before and it’s wonderful to see them and to hear they and their families are doing good.

Day 2 Freestyle Daily. SEA DAY!

Dinner last night was Bayamo, seafood restaurant. This is a lovely, small dining room next to the Sugarcane Mojito bar and Pincho’s tapas. Highly recommend for those that enjoy seafood. My husband started with beautiful shrimp cocktail, then the cod ( nicely done. Flaky and light butter seasoning) with asparagus. La Crema Chardonnay. Normally Chardonnay and asparagus don’t pair well together, but he said the hollandaise sauce cut through the acidity in the asparagus and was a nice pairing with the wine. my plate was filet mignon with rice and asparagus. I’m seafood allergic so this was a dinner for him. The wait staff looked at me like I was nuts having dinner at Bayamo. My husband jokes they must think I’m a crazy HR lady trying to get them fired (I do work in HR). I do feel bad because they had to prepare my food in a separate kitchen and we have to wait longer because of this, but we don’t mind. We’re on vacation and the view is to die for. we had a cheesecake in a jar and I paired it with lemon cello neat. The cheese cake was a layer of raspberries and cheese with graham cracker crust broken up into small chunks. It was delicious and I’m going to try and make it at home. It takes skill to layer this dish and I was impressed.

Good morning. We searched for hash browns and found none. There are fried potatoes that looked good. breakfast in the “chow hall” (that’s what my husband former Air Force calls the Garden cafe). We got there just before 7 am to enjoy the view at the back of the ship and saw a beautiful double rainbow. I enjoyed French toast with a caramel banana apple syrup. OMG it’s was delicious. grilled tomatoes and a hard boiled eggs for breakfast are a nice, light addition. My husband had grits, pork sausage and the grilled tomatoes. There is pretty much anything you want at the garden cafe. I enjoy espresso and so I was hesitant to try the drip coffee in the Garden Cafe. It was good. taste like pour coffee. Stronger than normal drip but not espresso. They have a package for Starbucks and, in my opinion, it’s too much for one week.

Internet speed got up to 1.6 mbps. We purchased the premium, unlimited wi fi. It seems to be working faster than on previous trips. My husband said it’s because they are using star link. I also found the process to connect to the Wi-Fi was simplified I can easily send texts with pics, stream video on YouTube, stream music. Pretty much all that I normally do, but it can slow down at times. Well worth the price to us so we can stay in touch the pet sitter and family.

The luggage drop off is at front of the terminal and closer to where we enter the terminal. It’s easy to find. You could drop off your luggage before entering the garage. With the construction, it might be challenging getting back around to enter the garage. and we have been able to arrive around 9 am each time and park with no problems. I asked if this was a new process and I got a blank stare.

SpaceX rocket on the landing ship very cool to see that. It looks crispy 🔥

In our cabin. Todays Freestyle Daily

There were no spaces on the bottom 3 floors. We parked on level 4, which had plenty of parking. Looking over at the garage from the ship and it’s clear the garage is full. Highly recommend get here early if you plan to park

Afternoon lunch at Savor ( Or Taste…they are the same restaurant across from each other on deck 6) I enjoyed a lettuce wedge with bacon and hard boiled egg with chicken noodle soup. My husband had the quiche and Cobb salad with Pinot Grigio We shared his glass of wine. It smells very fruity - like honey- but doesn’t taste sweet. Nice light wine with light lunch. Stopped off at Elemis spa and they open at 4! At District Brewhouse enjoying a pint of Miami Weiss . This is a cool bar. I enjoy the vibe and nice beers on tap.

Good morning almost afternoon. We are on the ship! Drive went smooth, traffic was light. We got to the parking garage just before 9 am and they didn’t open the garage until 10:30. There was no explanation for the wait and no one came out to tell us. Once we got parked and in the terminal it went smooth. We even said hello to Linda who always checked us in (just darn luck we go to her station each time) FYI Construction going on at the parking area Since we were last at Port Canaveral they have torn up the area where we used to drop off our luggage. They are building a new parking garage.

ME, TOO! However, I have gravitated to more of the old world wines living in South Florida because the cost of California wines are way overpriced here, but Italian, French and Spanish wines are much more affordable. I am hoping the wine list has been expanded since our last trip on the Escape in Feb. Will update and share!

Hello and so good to hear from a fellow bourbon fan. I will provide updates on the awesome bourbon drinks and the bartenders. We don't have Vibe passes, so sorry I won't be able to provide any info about that.

I don't usually eat breakfast, but I will look for the hash browns We purchased the Unlimited Premium WiFi and in the past it has worked pretty good. I hope it stays the same or is better on this trip. I'll report back on how the internet is working ...or not 😬

Absolutely!

Will do!

Hello. I’m fairly a newby to cruise critic, but not to cruising. I really enjoy the live posts from other cruise critics folks, so I’m going to give this a good ol’ fashion try. We (me and the husband) are embarking from Port Canaveral on Saturday, Nov 25th, on the NCL Escape. This is our 4th cruise on the Escape. We absolutely LOVE the Escape. The staff have been so attentive and they bend over backwards. It will be interesting to see if it is the same on this cruise (our last Escape cruise was in Feb 2023). We are staying in cabin 15160, club balcony suite with unlimited access to the thermal spa (an absolute must for us) We are foodies and enjoy good wine (love the Mondavi wine bar). We have reservations in 4 of the specialty restaurants. I’m allergic to seafood, but my husband is not, and so seafood reviews will be based on his opinion. Also, we enjoy good whiskey (him) bourbon (me) , rum (both) and gin (me). Tobacco Road is a fav spot to people watch and just to chillax. Today I started organizing all my “toiletries” (is that still a word used? I’m aging myself). Put my facial wash, creams ,etc in their small travel size containers. Got out the passport and began to put together my little carry on bag. Got out my luggage, printed the luggage tags attached them to the bags. We bought apple AirTags, and it will be fun to “find” our bags when we are on the ship. Weather is forecasting to be typical Florida November weather (mid to high 70s) on Saturday, low chance of rain. We are driving from Northern Palm Beach County, and the drive takes about 2 hours. It should be an easy drive I will give updates daily on the cruise, as long as the internet is working, and we purchased the high priced premium Wi-Fi, so it darn better work good! Post questions. I’m not an expert on all things NCL, and I’ll do my best to answer your questions

OMG this is the best! On the Escape this Saturday, Nov 25, 2023, and I am looking forward to a beautiful crepe

Yes! We are going to the Med and have balcony suite with thermal pass and so looking forward to it! Enjoy your cruise

Thanks for this info about the Epic thermal suite. We are sailing on the Epic next year, and I'm excited to use its thermal suite. Agree, the Escape thermal suite can get loud, but we found this mostly on the port days when day passes are offered and the thermal suite fills up. We have learned to avoid the thermal suite on port days for a few hours after people return from excursions. but by evening time, it thins out with everyone going to dinner. We eat dinner late, so we can have the entire thermal suite to ourselves from 5-8 pm. I will even go back after dinner and it is empty!

We are big thermal suite and spa users/lovers. We book cabins specifically to have all access to the thermal suite/spa on our cruise. We might spend the entire day in the thermal suite. I enjoy a morning circuit of the salt room, sauna, thermal pool, and will repeat this several times a day. I have enjoyed the thermal suite and spa on the Escape and the Prima. We loved both. There are pros and cons to each of them. The Escape is a big, open space and it is easy to get into each of the rooms -- salt room, sauna. I love the sauna because I can sit and watch the ocean/scenery as I sweat out toxins. They always have hot tea available along with oranges, and cold water that is infused with oranges. On each side they have the loungers set up in 3 rows. If you aren't in the front row, then you don't have the best view, which is not normally an issue, except on port days when they issue day passes, then it gets crowded. If you sit in a lounger at the front of the ship, then the heated loungers are in front of you, but they are spaced out enough that it doesn't interrupt my view. I'm not a fan of the heated loungers because I can't sit up and read. When there are lots of people in the pool it can get loud. The women's and men's changing areas are a nice size and they have large windows looking out over the ocean, and some of the best views in my opinion. Prima thermal suite has all the suites/rooms set up inside a dark hallway. I get a bit claustrophobic sitting in those rooms, and I found myself in the heated pools more often because it is a big open space with a high ceiling. The Prima has a salt pool and it is heaven (in my opinion). The actual thermal spa area to lounge is in a room separated from the pools and it is at the front of the ship. Luxurious was my first impression. The loungers are extremely comfortable and there is lots of places to lounge, despite the space appearing so small. They have heated loungers with a high back and I really enjoyed those. The table with oranges, tea and water were taken away on our cruise, and I think it was because it wasn't long after COVID restriction were lifted and they might have wanted to be cautious. Maybe someone who has been on the Prima recently can update if they keep the table with water, tea, etc still out.The lounging area is very quiet. I love it...except the fitness center is just above the lounging area and when people are using the treadmills you can hear the "thump, thump, thump" and in one corner the hanging ceiling tiles vibrate. VERY annoying and we would have to move to the other side of the lounging area to get away from the noise. I hear the Viva has the same set up and they haven't fixed this thumping and vibrating ceiling tiles. The women's and men's changing areas are very small, too small in my opinion and are, again, down a dark hallway and you can't see outside inside the changing room. If I were to choose which one I prefer, it is the Escape because it is a big, open space. I really enjoy being able to watch the ocean and sky from the sauna and the salt room, which I can't do in the dark thermal suite area of the Prima. I get a bit sea sick in the salt pool when the water is rough because I can't see outside. I don't have very good pics of the entire thermal suite area on each ship, otherwise I'd share. Maybe another person has some good pics. I hope this is helpful.

Nice review Interesting to read Mini golf will run you $10 per person; darts $20. These were no cost on the Prima, at least it was no cost on our cruise in January 2023 So glad you talked up Hudson's. It is a beautiful dining room and we enjoyed many breakfast there (on the Prima, which it looks like it is the same on the Viva). Looking forward to cruising the Viva in 2025. Thank you!

Ugh!