Escape From Miami - Kinda, Sorta "Live From" - October 7-14, 2017

Our entire party, save for my father-in-law, are heading out to see the 10:00 PM performance of For The Record: The Brat Pack. My father-in-law is sitting this one out. Eighties movies aren't really an area of interest for him. It's also a 10:00 PM show following on the heels of a long day of bar hopping. *The deciding factor though was when we told him he couldn't wear Gary's & Wyatt's head gear during the part of the show when they played "Weird Science"

After the show, we're hoping to hit the "Awesome 80s Party" being held at Spice H20. * The 80s Party starts at 10:30, so we'll probably miss part of it while we're at the Brat Pack show.*

Huskerchick said that the included lunch at Maya Chan was very good. She grew up in Southern California and has an appreciation for good Mexican food.

Also grew up in SC.....food at Maya Chan was great...think the owners are from the San Diego area? Anyway we had a great day there....would love to return....but they need to get the potholes fixed in the road LOL :eek:

Also grew up in SC.....food at Maya Chan was great...think the owners are from the San Diego area? Anyway we had a great day there....would love to return....but they need to get the potholes fixed in the road LOL :eek:

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The Department of Scanning Things is feeling pretty good about itself since it has the Freestyle Daily for Wednesday, October 11th actually scanned and posted on Wed 10/11/2017.

http://www.evernote.com/l/AFi8nml2ffxH-bOrfOyorMA-QcH1SNBvWwM/

The Department is now calling it a day and will be known as the Department of Craft Beer Drinking for a while before dinner.

We've settled on Food Republic for dinner this evening. Pre-dinner drinks are either in the District Brew House or the Wine Bar. Nor exactly sure.

We managed to bang out the Spice H20 bar this afternoon. It's a nice area, but it is can be smokier than the casino when the ship isn't moving. We've failed to hit all the bars in three days. I set that goal when we had the original itinerary with two sea days at the beginning. That's not an excuse, merely an explanation.

We have the Cozumel Bar Hop Tour scheduled for tomorrow. There are some ruins on Cozumel, but if the tour goes well, we might make our own.

Pre-dinner at The District Brew House. DW is having Cigar City Maduro. I'm having Duvel Belgian Strong. DFIL is having Sam Adams, which is kind of exotic for him.

Pre-dinner at The District Brew House. DW is having Cigar City Maduro. I'm having Duvel Belgian Strong. DFIL is having Sam Adams, which is kind of exotic for him.

The social messaging data plan allows you to use Facebook Messenger, Whatsapp, and other messaging apps. It doesn't allow FB photo posting or viewing according to the literature. I've asked the Department of Scanning Things to try to get a copy of the Internet flyer for you.

Thank you!

Cocktails: Ancho Pancho, Huskerchick. Revolutionary Cure, me.

Back at Doug's house. Dogfish 90 Minute IPA. DW sticking to Maduro. It's her favorite and she'll have it again on Saturday when we go for pizza.

We're not getting to The District as often as we'd like, so I'm working my way down starting from the higher ABVs. Seems like a plan.

Hello! I'm loving your review so far. It's giving me lots of ideas for our cruise bingo cards (think fanny packs, kid on a leash, etc. ) and our "bar golf" game for our wedding cruise on Escape next year! If your team is able to find the group's contact information, I would greatly appreciate that so that I can book some group dinners when we get closer to the trip.

Enjoy the Cozumel Bar Hop tomorrow, we did that last year for my birthday cruise and my group said it was the best thing they did all cruise! (It was part of our Professional drinker continuing education, we meet yearly to make sure we are in top shape for the other drinking events that occur throughout the rest of the year).

I will continue to follow along as this will be our first time branching out to NCL, we are diamond on RCL & Elite on Princess.

Thanks for all the time, effort, and research. Keep up the good work team!

Jenn

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I have a most critical question because this is night 5 and I'm only noticing it now:

Do platinum guests still get their nightly chocolates?

We're chocolate-less and clearly this is very important since I'm missing them very much. Clearly.

*Disclaimer: I'd ask concierge but they're off now. But I know my fellow critics understand the criticality of this. Don't make me wait till morning, my friends. We're pregaming our bar hop tomorrow.

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We're holding our restaurant and entertainment reviews back until later. (Nothing to do with laziness, I can assure you.)

I did want to pass along this one tip on the outside chance that you've got reservations for "For The Record: The Brat Pack." If you sit in rows 1-6, some of the show takes place behind you. You may want to avoid those rows.

As a general rule, you want to sit around half the stage width back, and in the center. (It almost always translates to rows L-N in a regular theater. Acoustically, you want to look for the location of the sound board and be near it. I'm not sure that this applies Escape Theater specifically. They may have balanced the sound when they staged the show.)

Long story short, sit about 12-15 rows back in the center section for best results. (We're a "two on the aisle" people, but you'll get your best sound in the middle of the row.)

We're in port in Cozumel, Mexico from 8:00 AM until 5:00 PM today.

AlexandNessa found an alternative excursion for our modified itinerary. It's one she and my brother-in-law have done twice before - so it's got a double stamp of approval. We're going on the Cozumel Bar Hop tour. They have two mottoes on their website. The first is "We are MORE than just a tour that visits bars..."The second is "We'll drive you to drink!" I'm not exactly sure how to resolve those two statements. They seem to be in conflict. Luckily, we're dispatching a team of highly trained mission statement experts to help.

The tour leaves the leeward side of Cozumel and heads across the island to the windward or "wild side" of Cozumel. It makes four stops at bars on the windward side of the island: Punta Morena, Coconuts, Playa Bonita, and Rastas. There's an included shot at each bar and we'll have the opportunity to purchase additional food and beverages at each establishment. (While four shots might seem like a lot, it's a 5 hour tour. We usually spill more than that in five hours.)

In case you are interested, here are The Shots.

There's a much sought after peanut butter tequila at Rasta's that's supposed to be amazing. (I should point out that Rasta's is the last stop on the tour. After five hours in genuine, authentic Mexican bars, anything might be amazing. In photos, it looks sort of like chocolate milk.)

Dinner is in Bayamo this evening. Pre-game is in the Sugar Cane Mojito bar where we have a list of contenders based on CruiseCritic recommendations. Also Coors Light. My pre-cruise investigation indicates that Bayomo might have an excellent wine list. I'm not sure how current the wine list I found online was, but I'm very hopeful.

Tonight we're going to hit the world-famous NCL "Glow Party," inspired by the 1986 Bangles hit, "Walk Like A Norwegian." The "Glow Party" starts at 11:00 PM, but without Tyler, who will inspire us to "Make some noise?"

I have a most critical question because this is night 5 and I'm only noticing it now:

 

Do platinum guests still get their nightly chocolates?

 

We're chocolate-less and clearly this is very important since I'm missing them very much. Clearly.

 

*Disclaimer: I'd ask concierge but they're off now. But I know my fellow critics understand the criticality of this. Don't make me wait till morning, my friends. We're pregaming our bar hop tomorrow.

 

 

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They stopped the chocolates last year

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Cozumel Bar Hop is awesome! It's a great tour of the east side of the island even for someone not looking to drink much or at all. Done it a few times and will most likely continue to do it each time a ship I'm on lands in Cozumel. [emoji568]

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I'm very concerned about how much work you've been doing this week. Please can you just take a moment, sit back, maybe enjoy an adult beverage? I fear you all may pass out from over working! [emoji481][emoji485][emoji484]🥃[emoji482][emoji898]🥂

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Loving all your reports.

Keep up the good work.

Hello! I'm loving your review so far. It's giving me lots of ideas for our cruise bingo cards (think fanny packs, kid on a leash, etc. ) and our "bar golf" game for our wedding cruise on Escape next year! If your team is able to find the group's contact information, I would greatly appreciate that so that I can book some group dinners when we get closer to the trip.

 

Enjoy the Cozumel Bar Hop tomorrow, we did that last year for my birthday cruise and my group said it was the best thing they did all cruise! (It was part of our Professional drinker continuing education, we meet yearly to make sure we are in top shape for the other drinking events that occur throughout the rest of the year).

 

I will continue to follow along as this will be our first time branching out to NCL, we are diamond on RCL & Elite on Princess.

 

Thanks for all the time, effort, and research. Keep up the good work team!

 

Jenn

 

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Another recent review of the escape that is a must read!

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2503996

I love all the great live reviews that are being written now!! Classic!

Back at Doug's house. Dogfish 90 Minute IPA. DW sticking to Maduro. It's her favorite and she'll have it again on Saturday when we go for pizza.

 

We're not getting to The District as often as we'd like, so I'm working my way down starting from the higher ABVs. Seems like a plan.

 

How is the leaderboard contest being run? If you recall, pretty much all of the balls got dropped on Doug's cruise. I'm really hoping the District has gotten their shiz together by now and is updating the leaderboard regularly.

Also, is there a charge for Escape the Big Top? If so, how much? How long is the whole experience?

Thanks!

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I'm very concerned about how much work you've been doing this week. Please can you just take a moment, sit back, maybe enjoy an adult beverage? I fear you all may pass out from over working! [emoji481][emoji485][emoji484]🥃[emoji482][emoji898]🥂

 

 

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The great inventors Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla were known to have operated on very little sleep. We're a lot like that - except for the coming up with useful innovations part.

Loving all your reports.

Keep up the good work.

Hello! I'm loving your review so far. It's giving me lots of ideas for our cruise bingo cards (think fanny packs, kid on a leash, etc. ) and our "bar golf" game for our wedding cruise on Escape next year! If your team is able to find the group's contact information, I would greatly appreciate that so that I can book some group dinners when we get closer to the trip.

 

I'll make sure to pass this along to AlexandNessa so she can get the contact details for you. Drop me an email and I'll send it to you when she gives it to me. Use poa1 - at - instituteofcheer.com

This query comes from Ann Chovee of Embarrass, Minnesota. Ann asks, "How early do you need to get to the shows to secure a good seat?"

Excellent question, Ann!

I can't really speak to the shows in the Atrium or on the Main Stage because we only went to see shows for which we had reservations, comedy shows, or dueling pianos. We tried to arrive about a half hour before the shows whenever possible, and that seemed to work out pretty well. You could usually find decent seats and enjoy some anticipation juice while waiting for the show to start. Just remember that you can't always get juice during the shows, so plan ahead. This is important if you are on a juice cleanse and need to avoid dehydration. Howl at the Moon is an exception as they continue to serve during the performance.

How is the leaderboard contest being run? If you recall, pretty much all of the balls got dropped on Doug's cruise. I'm really hoping the District has gotten their shiz together by now and is updating the leaderboard regularly.

 

Also, is there a charge for Escape the Big Top? If so, how much? How long is the whole experience?

 

Thanks!

 

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We were trying to figure out if the District Brew House leader board was updating or not. It was a little hard to tell. I'd grab a copy of the menu pages and keep track manually. Maybe take some pictures with your phone. This last tip might also help you explain your headache the next day. Drink plenty of water, too. Safety should be your #1 priority.