JOURNEY TO THE ESCAPE or Planes, trains, Taxis & A Cruise Ship! - "LIVE/ALMOST LIVE"

[kikki21]

It really was a short walk to the Hafen Hotel - which actually was a huge building with lots of different places to eat and drink - it was a good job we decided to get to the Tower Bar early as it didn't open up till 6pm and there were people already queueing up the stairs! I'm not sure how many people in the Roll Call actually made it up there - there was lots of reserved seating and not too many staff serving!

 

We managed to find another roll call member Coffee Goddess and settled down to drink a cocktail in the chaos!

 

 

We spied a few more stunning bulldings while waiting around for the var to open - this one is the Concert House in Hamburg.

 

 

More harbour front area

 

 

We spied the dry dock area where the Escape had some final work done to her under the waterline.

 

 

We managed to drink 1 cocktail and decided to get out of the Tower Bar as it was getting busier & noisier and find the Port restaurant and had an extremely pleasant/rowdy evening with our fellow Roll Callers - thank you so much for all of you who planned/organised this evening and all the other events - you all did a FANTASTIC job!!! :D

 

For some reason, probably because I was talking too much ( I blame my husband for this as we shared a bottle of wine!) I just took pictures of the food - I'm not quite sure what we had - but it all tasted good!

 

[kikki21]

I know this was steak and it tasted really good!

 

The chef basically did a set menu and tailored it as to whether you wanted meat/fish or a vegetarian option!

 

 

 

We were among the last people to leave the restaurant (too busy talking again!) and then we took a walk along the Reeperbahn spying some interesting places and an advert for our ship - yay nearly there!

 

[kikki21]

Did I wake up with a bit of a sore head?! Er yes.....:rolleyes: but nothing was going to take away my excitement! I just wanted to get down to the pier ASAP!

 

We checked out our breakfast option and plumped for the Cafe May not too far from our hotel - we could have had a croissant breakfast at the hotel bar for 4 Euros each or the restaurant breakfast buffet for 22 euros each - ( I hope they serve caviar and champagne for that price!)

 

The Cafe May was rammed as they serve a breakfast buffet there for 7 euros each and other items, it's a place for locals and tourists! We enjoyed our breakfast, went back to the hotel and the time was nigh!!!

 

 

Outside our hotel - also outside is a taxi rank!

 

We enjoyed our stay here, despite the late night noise. We wanted to buy some lovely shot glasses but they were out of stock!

 

 

Packed and ready for the off!

 

 

The taxi seemed to take ages to get to the pier - there were roadworks and traffic but then we spied the ship's funnel in the distance and the excitement started to build up again!

 

We finally got the pier - exclaimed wow she's big & proceeded to check in - that was the easy part and then we waited to actually board the ship - I think we got there just before midday and we were on board after about a 45 minute wait - so the next photos you're going to see will be ALL Escape ones!

[sctexan]

So enjoying your review! Can't wait to hear what your thought of deck 15 and your cabin. Spa mini-suite, correct?

[AntjeG]

 

 

Enjoying your review. Living in Northern Germany I´d like to explain the game of words in the ad on your photo. I had a good laugh when I saw this.

 

To us Germans, Escape is just the name of the ship. To you English speaking folks it means "to escape". "Schmuddelwetter" is a northern German term for really nasty, cold, windy, rainy weather (even the people in Southern Germany don´t have this word in their language - this kind of weather is supposed to only occur in the North). So the advertisement in your photo tells the people from rainy, cold, windy Northern Germany to escape our bad weather and book a Carribean cruise on this very ship!

[trish4bruce]

[quote

 

 

We are staying in room 15166 during our February cruise! I hope you share photos. There will be three girls in the room -how did you find it for space?

[kikki21]

So enjoying your review! Can't wait to hear what your thought of deck 15 and your cabin. Spa mini-suite, correct?

 

 

I will hopefully be posting more photos tomorrow! It is quite a long process - edit, load onto Facebook ( saves doubling up on a job here! ) and then copy onto Photobucket to copy onto here! [emoji106]🏻 Phew!!! [emoji13]

 

Yes we stayed in room 15166 a spa mini suite! [emoji4]

[kikki21]

Enjoying your review. Living in Northern Germany I´d like to explain the game of words in the ad on your photo. I had a good laugh when I saw this.

 

 

 

To us Germans, Escape is just the name of the ship. To you English speaking folks it means "to escape". "Schmuddelwetter" is a northern German term for really nasty, cold, windy, rainy weather (even the people in Southern Germany don´t have this word in their language - this kind of weather is supposed to only occur in the North). So the advertisement in your photo tells the people from rainy, cold, windy Northern Germany to escape our bad weather and book a Carribean cruise on this very ship!

 

 

Haha nice one!

We have schmuddelwetter a lot in England! [emoji299]️

[kikki21]

[quote

 

 

We are staying in room 15166 during our February cruise! I hope you share photos. There will be three girls in the room -how did you find it for space?

 

 

Photos are coming soon! Space wise - yes definitely room for 2/3!

[kikki21]

 

This was our breakfast at Cafe May - I don't know how I ate it as i just wanted to hurry up and get on the ship!

 

You can't really can't good views of the ship you are about to board until just before you get to the cruise terminal and then you get the best chance of a view when you are on the actual boarding bridge and you just want to get on!!!

 

[kikki21]

Ok I have to admit that I was kind of hoping to snag a room in the Haven for this short cruise - I think when I looked initially prices were doable but when I came to actually book, the prices had shot up so I plumped for a mini suite balcony with spa access.:D

 

I figured that it would be great to have us both relax - I have a lot of muscular problems & migraines so that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!

 

I went for a room on Deck 15 - that's the one with the overhang and with the pool deck above you which shouldn't be an issue for this cruise but might be if people are up early for the Caribbean!

 

We were in room 15166 which had the bed by the balcony door, they do alternate the configurement of the beds so the room to the right of us had the bed by the bathroom - I don't mind which way they go but it was a nice surprise!

 

The rooms were ready when we boarded and as we boarded with all of our luggage, we decided that once we could get on a lift, we would take our baggage up, start exploring & find somewhere for lunch!

 

 

The bed was very comfy!

 

 

The balcony - I thought it was ok - not massive though!

 

 

The room from the balcony - plenty of room for 2 people, maybe a squeeze for 3?

 

 

Nice sofa with drawers underneath containing pillows and beach towels.

 

 

Good sized wardrobe and drawers complete with a safe.

[kikki21]

 

The bathroom was lovely - a big double sink with storage to the top, on the side and underneath. I would say this was the best bathroom I've had on a cruise ship for this type of stateroom. Shaver point to the top left of the mirror.

 

 

I liked the tiles!

 

 

Yes those Bvlgari toiletries - nice touch!

 

 

The spa shower with 6 message jets - washing line in the shower as well - yes the shower was lovely and roomy too!

 

 

Worked well - drained well!

 

 

One TV lots of info on it as to where we were sailing, menus on the TV, you could book restaurants on the TV and view your bill. There are also movies you can view but they are chargeable!

 

Underneath the TV - there were more storage units so 10/10 for storage.

There was a sizeable drawer/mirror unit where I tend to do my make up etc with power points for charging phones and cameras although the bedside light in this category also had USB points for charging - which was a genius idea!

 

There was a fridge there too but this was locked for the whole 3 days/nights we were onboard and also there was no in room coffee!!! Apparently, it was coming onboard in Southampton - not a biggie but some people really need their caffeine fix in the morning!

[kikki21]

I loved the bathroom a lot - but I didn't like the living/bedroom area of the stateroom.

I thought about it a few times and gave it a chance to grow on me and IMO with a ship full of wow factor, the stateroom looked pretty drab and boring with all of the brown tones - there was no pzazz!

 

Just compare this room to the Superior Deluxe Balcony Room, we had on the Britannia this June!

 

 

 

The room on the Britannia just looked more spacious as it used much lighter tones - definite wow factor there - combine this room and the Escape's bathroom then that would be a complete winner!

 

It wasn't a biggie, if I were to sail on the Escape again and not have a Haven room then I would book this category again as I would know what to expect!

 

Next up - where we go for lunch and exploring the ship before muster drill time!

[fabnfortysomething]

Hi Kikki

 

hubby got a big shock when you disclosed your age in this review-he had you both pegged as in your 30's at the latest!

 

Lyn

[kikki21]

Hi Kikki

 

hubby got a big shock when you disclosed your age in this review-he had you both pegged as in your 30's at the latest!

 

Lyn

 

He he Lyn! Give your hubby a big kiss - he's very kind!!!!:D

[kikki21]

There will be more pictures and a lot more of the review to follow, will try and do some more tonight!

 

Work is getting in the way plus we are moving house in 11 days time!!! :eek:

[kikki21]

After getting into our cabin, we left our baggage to have an explore around the ship and lunch before muster drill!

 

We went up on deck to see all the water features/pool and then decided complimentary lunch at Margaritaville seemed like a good idea!

 

Margaritaville is slightly enclosed but is subject to the elements - in particular wind - which is great for Miami but not so good for Northern Germany!:p Still we braved it out although my husband wanted to borrow a jacket lol!

 

Our server suggested that our chosen salad was a big portion so we decided to share it as well as our fries! Maybe that was a good thing as we were eating at Moderno later but I was stlll feeling a little delicate so 1.5 big prawns wasn't really going to cut it - we also shared dessert!

 

 

The pool deck looked great - when you're in the sun!

 

 

If I was a kid, I'd be happy with this area!

 

 

We don't have Margaritaville in the UK so there were probably a load of Brits trying out this venue!

 

 

The drinks menu - I passed but hubby had a beer to start his holiday!

 

[kikki21]

 

 

 

 

 

The food was actually really tasty but getting cold quite quickly in the wind! The Key Lime Pie tasted great too! So with a quick meal done and dusted, we headed off to explore the ship some more!

 

We have now seen that Margaritaville has a breakfast menu - shame we didn't get to try that on the ship!

[kikki21]

The Grotto area looked great, ideal for cooling down in the hot sun!

 

 

 

So far, the Escape for us - had the wow factor!

[kikki21]

I can't believe that we have been back a week already!!! It only seems like 5 minutes ago that we were getting on the Escape!

 

Apologies that my review is going so slow at the moment - it will get done but work & moving house are taking priority!

 

I hope to write up another section very soon and I am enjoying other people's accounts as well! :)

[kikki21]

So lunch left us exploring more of the ship - we wanted to see the spa first, sort out our spa passes ( we needed a sticker on our cards!) so we had a spa tour and loved it and then went off exploring other areas both before and after the muster drill.

 

No need to wear life jackets - phew!

 

And prepare for sailaway!

 

But first what we wanted was to track down the new food areas and menus!

 

 

 

 

I had a few standard mojitos but didn't try any of the special ones as I forgot - the standard bar menu didn't really excite me in terms of cocktails - I think I may have to come back & sail on the Escape again!!! :D

 

[kikki21]

 

 

 

I quite liked the menu at Bayamo but we never had the chance to try it - it's the sort of food we both like to eat.

 

 

[kikki21]

Pinchos also looked a decent menu to try!

 

 

But actually it was the Food Republic menu that really got us going and we did end up going there for our dinner on the 3rd & final night of the cruise!

 

 

The iPads were not on the tables as yet when we had a look round!

 

 

[kikki21]

Then we discovered the adult games area near to O Sheehans and what's more for our cruise - it was FREE!

 

 

We played a lot of basketball and I am pleased to say I beat my husband at this ALL of the time! :D

 

We would have loved to do ten pin bowling but everytime we tried - it was out of order!

 

 

 

Ok I had to concede with this game as the hubby was FAR better than me!

There is also an air hockey game, some arcade games and a pool table which has a very questionable lean to one side!!!

 

Of course the games we like playing as well are the casino slots - we are not big spenders on them by any means - on the first night, the casino wasn't going to be open till 2am - a bit late for us!

 

[kikki21]

Here's a few photos of the Mandara Spa area.

 

 

 

 

In general we loved the spa area - it was quite well done out - I liked the layout on the Epic and this one seemed to follow a similar plan.

 

Just a few things - the Steam Room broke down on the 3rd day of our cruise so that was out of order.

 

There were not enough hooks or places to hang robes or towels around the spa area and then everyone tends to wear the ships robes!

 

The Snow Room although lovely and novel was also a bit dangerous - there is nothing to hold onto in the room itself and it is icy!

 

You do really need to wear something on your feet and again watch you don't slip up!

 

We took advantage of our spa pass and used all the rooms we could plus the jacuzzi and water therapy areas - I have now turned my husband into a spa addict so no doubt, I will get told to sort out a spa pass for future cruises!

 

I think that's what I call a result - sorry fabnfortysomething!!!! :D