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We did go to the Vibe for Sail-Away. Muster didn't get over until just after 4pm and that was when they opened up the rooms. We quickly went from muster, to our rooms and then up to Vibe. According to Day 1 Daily, Savor was open noon to 2:00pm for lunch. We did not eat outside at Cagney's, but did walk by on the Waterfront several times - it never seemed to be very windy for those eating outside. Regarding Vibe, I walked up towards Vibe about 11am and the whole deck 19 was roped off. It was very windy at that time. I never checked back, but heard from someone else that it did open for a little while later in the afternoon.

They opened up the sign-up for tender on Wednesday morning. I checked about 11am and it was at tender group 7. There was not an official formal night, but we cruised on Valentines Day, so there were many dressed formal for dinner and photos. My wife and I dressed up for Cagney's, Teppenyaki and Manhattans. I wore nice shorts and collared shirts for Taste, Savor and the Supper Club.

We just returned from a fabulous cruise on the Escape. This cruise had 4700 passengers and many areas were quite crowded. We were able to avoid the main crowds by planning our days and utilizing the Vibe Beach Club whenever possible. Here are some of our highlights. Vibe Beach Club – we booked this when we booked the cruise in early November ($209 pp). We spent a good part of each day in the Vibe area (Vibes was closed for most of one day due to high winds). We loved the cushioned loungers and ample supply of beach towels. Our bartenders (James, Charlie and Mary Jane) were great, serving fabulous drinks, light sandwiches, fruit skewers and cookies throughout the afternoon. We also experienced “shot o’clock” each afternoon. The bartenders each made a special shot for everyone to sample. Very fun! Dining – We ate at two specialty restaurants (Cagney’s and Teppanyaki) and the rest of our dinners at Manhattans, Taste and Savor. Both of the specialty dinners were excellent. The main dining rooms were good, but not exceptional. Entertainment – We scheduled our entertainment as soon as we got on the ship (at the Supper Club), then worked our dinners around the fun stuff. - Choir of Man – This is one of the best shows we’ve seen on a cruise. Very talented cast as well as talented and fun audience participation. - Comedy – Each comedian had Family, PG13 and 18+ shows. They only allowed to book two shows for each stateroom. Vince’s 18+ show was hilarious while Andy’s 18+ show would have been fine for most families. There was a standby line for each show and most people without reservations still got in via the standby line. - Howl at the Moon – This is our third cruise with Howl at the Moon – the musicians are very good and know how to make it fun for the audience. - District Brewhouse – We had a few beers at the District (they ran out of IPAs on day 3). They had a piano player or a guitar player each night – both were very good. - Syd Normans – The house band as Syd Normans was very good. To get in to see them, we had to be in line as soon as the doors opened 60 minutes before the show. Their Fleetwood Mac Rumours tribute show was amazing. We didn’t get into the Friday night “80’s Prom Theme”, but watched some of it from the outside bar on the Waterfront. - Supper Club – Female Icons Tribute – We had dinner and listened as the Golden Octaves performed some hits from famous female singers (although I wouldn’t consider Boogie Oogie Oogie a female icon classic). The Chicken Primavera was so-so. (I snuck up to the Garden Café after the show for some BBQ ribs). - Divas3 – on our last night, we watched Divas3 do a tribute to female artists in the main theater. They were very good, but the show was only 40 minutes long. - Magic by Brian Ledbetter – we saw this show on the first evening – he basically did old standard magic tricks with ropes, rings, etc. We heard later that his other show was much better with psychic type of an act. - Super Bowl – Lucky for us, our Vikings failed to make it to the big game…again! We watched the first half in our room, then bailed on the halftime show to find a better place to watch the second half. Both H20 Spice was and the main pool screens were showing the game, but were packed. We found a seat at the Atrium Bar and watched the rest of the game on the Atrium big screen. Ports – we didn’t’ do any shore excursions – we did go ashore and shop in each port. - Amber Cove has a very nice pool area with many loungers and a lazy river. - We only shopped at St. Thomas and Tortola - Great Stirrup Cay – We went ashore by 9:45 (Tender Group 7) and found a nice shady spot for the morning. My wife ate at the taco stand and I had the ribs and jerk chicken at the main dining area. After lunch, we lost our shade and went for a swim to cool off. We had a nice time and were back in Vibe for “Shot O’clock” Other comments – We avoided the crowds on sea days (there were basically 3 since we left Tortola by 1pm) by staying in Vibe. The rest of the ship was totally full and it looked like there weren’t any loungers left anywhere. With the big crowds, there were lines for everything. We ate breakfast in Taste or Savor due to crowded chaos in the Garden Café (just be sure to check daily for breakfast hours in Taste and Savor – they varied by day). NCL_Escape_Feb11-18_Day4.pdfNCNCL_Escape_Feb11-18_Disembarkation.pdfL_EsNCL_Escape_Feb11-18_Entertainment.pdfNCL_Escape_Feb11-18_Day7.pdfNCL_Escape_Feb11-18_Day6.pdfcape_Feb11-18_Day5.pdf NCL_Escape_Feb11-18_Day1.pdfNCL_Escape_Feb11-18_Day3.pdfNCL_Escape_Feb11-18_Day2.pdf NCL_Escape_Feb11-18_Day2.pdf