Our Fabulous "Escape" review w/lots of pics, information & dailies 12/12/15

[CruisinwithZ]

Hi, thank for your review so far..we are on the escape on 3/26/16.. Traveling with a 5 year old girl. Did you notice if all deck 9 balcony cabins are set up the same way? Did your daughter sleep on the pullout sofa? How was that, comfort, location? Also, compared to other ships, did you feel any difference in motion, rocking? Swaying? Me also have a deck 9 balcony cabin, midship. Oh, and did your daughter go to the kids club? How was that? Thanks!

[calgaryhhr]

Hi, thank for your review so far..we are on the escape on 3/26/16.. Traveling with a 5 year old girl. Did you notice if all deck 9 balcony cabins are set up the same way? Did your daughter sleep on the pullout sofa? How was that, comfort, location? Also, compared to other ships, did you feel any difference in motion, rocking? Swaying? Me also have a deck 9 balcony cabin, midship. Oh, and did your daughter go to the kids club? How was that? Thanks!

 

The cabins alternate between bed by the closet and bed by the balcony. We were in 9752 and our bed was by the balcony and we had a pull down bed above the sofa. The sofa bed was really firm but my kid didn't complain and slept fine.

 

I actually found the master bed in the cabin to be much firmer than most beds at hotels and such. I never wake up with any sort of back pain at home or when I stay at hotels but the bed in our cabin was giving me back pain in the morning. Pillows are great though.

[calgaryhhr]

I didn't realize there was a kid friendly hot tub, hoping that their future ship is more kid friendly in regards to the pool area. The adults have the main pool, vibe and spice h20 then they cram everything into a tiny area for families! Just my little rant!!

 

The starboard hot tub was adult only and the port one was kid friendly. Also on the upper deck (19 I think) the forwardmost of the two hot tubs was kid friendly. I don't recall if the first hot tub on the upper deck actually had an adult only sign but whenever we were up there that tub always had adults while the forward one usually had some kids in it.

[VegasChic]

Hi, thank for your review so far..we are on the escape on 3/26/16.. Traveling with a 5 year old girl. Did you notice if all deck 9 balcony cabins are set up the same way? Did your daughter sleep on the pullout sofa? How was that, comfort, location? Also, compared to other ships, did you feel any difference in motion, rocking? Swaying? Me also have a deck 9 balcony cabin, midship. Oh, and did your daughter go to the kids club? How was that? Thanks!

 

Hello!! Like the other posted said, they alternate with the bed or sofa by the balcony. Our room steward set up the bed on the sofa and left it that way the entire cruise, I was not happy with this I thought the bed should be set up every evening then all bedding taken off during the day so that we can use the it as a sofa during the day but I did not say anything. The sofa is very firm but my daughter slept on it and didn't complain my husband also slept on it one night and said it was firm as well but no complaints, so for them it was fine! I liked the set up the way it was easy to get to the restroom at night I just wish there was more space between the bed and closet. Since you mentioned it, yes I did feel a lot more movement on this ship than any other, not sure why though! My daughter even noticed it, don't know if it was the design of the ship or time of year. However, it was not enough to make me sea sick so it was fine. My daughter did go to the kids club and enjoyed it very much. Tonight I will post on the kids club and all the activities.

[Seatbelt_Bag_LOVE]

I am enjoying your review so much! We go on the escape in one month!! I can't wait, and I am very happy to read that you had a fabulous time. It is our first NCL cruise, and we are bringing friends on their first ever cruise. I want them to love it so badly, and I have been getting discouraged with the negative posts. I can't wait for the rest of your review.

[jonasmir]

Can't wait for more pictures and infos.

[akbrown1972]

Thanks so far..waiting for more..even though I am only 7 days away now

[VegasChic]

Merry Christmas everyone, it's been crazy because of the cruise I was pretty behind in my holiday planning but I promise to continue this by tonight or tomorrow morning!! Have a beautiful day!!

 

Sent from my SM-N915T using Tapatalk

[VegasChic]

This is the area between the adult and family pool, somedays they would sell stuff like hats and tshirts and from where I'm standing there is a bar to the right.

 

 

The towel station is right in front of mini water park

 

 

Shower to rinse off.... there was one on the other side by the yellow slide.

 

 

Plenty of loungers...

 

 

 

I didn't have much time to explore because it was time for the Mandatory Safety Drill (fun!! Not). I headed to the Escape Theater where I was assigned and once there the crew were scanning key cards. They made an announcement that whomever was not there would have to do the makeup drill tomorrow (sure!!). My husband and daughter nowhere to be found (I texted him on iconcierge and he said he was on the way but never arrived!! While sitting there I could not help but think, if there were really an emergency would all these people be here sitting calmly? What would happen next? I really don't think this prepares us for much and no-one was even looking at the life vest demonstration. I'm a total dork and take safety very seriously I was livid that my husband and daughter weren't there. It only lasted like 10 minutes then we were free it was a little chaotic getting out of there.

 

 

Went back to the room and guess who was in there? Yep they totally skipped out on the safety drill! Anyway we headed back out to explore some more and check out the sailaway party.

[VegasChic]

Aaaaahhhh the best feeling.... Sailaway!!

 

 

 

Goodbye Miami, see you next week!!!

 

 

As a local, this is our favorite beach hangout, it's called South Point Park/Beach or South Pointe Pier, it's a great spot we like to come here on the weekends and watch the cruise ships go by there's a small park and water feature for kids plus there's a Smith and Wolensky restuarant right on the water. 1 block down there is a Nikki Beach club if you want to have drinks/party! It's nice to see it from the ship!!

 

 

This is the water feature in Spice H2O I only came back here one more time during the cruise and that was for the 80's party! While the water feature is a nice addition, my opinion is that Spice H20 is wasted space they should have made the adult pool area bigger and had this area for the families but what do I know about cruise ship design.

 

 

[VegasChic]

Sailaway party has begun!! Julie our cruise director kicked off the celebration at main pool!

 

 

 

 

 

The kids front and center doing the nae nae dance...

 

 

Pool bar always packed...

 

[VegasChic]

We stayed at sailaway for 15 minutes then went on to check out the spa and kids club. 1st we stopped in at Entourage teen club on deck 17...

 

 

 

 

 

[calgaryhhr]

The grotto is pretty cool but a terrible design for hanging out and lounging. I never saw anyone hanging out in there and I only walked through it once.

 

It would have been much better if the back rock wall with waterfalls was in place but the front portion was open with a larger/wider wading pool. The grotto didn't have much room to sit around and you couldn't bring drinks in there. The grotto was largely under utilized.

 

The hot tubs were always packed though and they really needed another pool area to lounge around in (even if it was a shallow wading pool along the rock wall.)

[DCT61]

Vivian..

Quick question..where is the best place to park if I (a visitor, yet hopeful resident someday soon) want to watch the ships depart Friday afternoon from the park you mentioned above?

Thanks for the review. I enjoyed the last one as you were writing it!

[VegasChic]

Next, we went by the Spa I was given a tour by one of the staff members. The spa was wonderful, very spacious with plenty of lounge chairs. The thalasso and vitality pools were amazing! There was also a salt room, sauna and steam room and snow room which was out of order till we got to St. Thomas on tuesday. They were offering a discount which was 20% and I feel so foolish as I write this because I'm thinking I was ripped off. After the tour I purchased the spa pass for my husband and I and was charged $394 for both or maybe they meant a 2% discount. Either way, I should have questioned it!

 

I was only able to take one picture of the spa as there were many people already there however, they told me to come back later like at 9 or 10pm when there aren't many people there but I never went back at that time.

 

 

[margie1221]

Great review and pics - thanks!!! Looking forward to next set of posts.

[VegasChic]

Vivian..

Quick question..where is the best place to park if I (a visitor, yet hopeful resident someday soon) want to watch the ships depart Friday afternoon from the park you mentioned above?

Thanks for the review. I enjoyed the last one as you were writing it!

 

You can park inside in the same parking lot as Smith & Wollensky they have a public parking lot however, if it's full you can park along s. pointe drive or the streets near it. Bring cash almost everywhere on the beach is either metered parking or private lots that charge a flat rate but these only take cash. Get there by 3:30 to see the ships!

 

Thank you for following the review!!

 

Edited December 27, 2015 by VegasChic

[VegasChic]

The grotto is pretty cool but a terrible design for hanging out and lounging. I never saw anyone hanging out in there and I only walked through it once.

 

It would have been much better if the back rock wall with waterfalls was in place but the front portion was open with a larger/wider wading pool. The grotto didn't have much room to sit around and you couldn't bring drinks in there. The grotto was largely under utilized.

 

The hot tubs were always packed though and they really needed another pool area to lounge around in (even if it was a shallow wading pool along the rock wall.)

 

I agree, I feel that NCL did such a great job with all the public spaces, the waterfront and all the restaurants/bars area are lovely but it feels like they didn't put much thought into the pool areas. I also though the theater was very bland not appealing at all and the casino should have had it's own separate area. Other than, I loved everything else!

[VegasChic]

In all our NCL cruises, Splash Academy never fails! My daughter loves it and even the nights she was hesitant to go, she always came out smiling and saying what fun she had. The staff was phenomenal so sweet and attentive I cannot say enough about them. My daughter was in the 6-9 age group (she is 9). Some of the activities she loved were the pajama party, hollywood night (they did a fashion show) and glow party!

 

On sea days, splash academy closed from 12-2pm and from 5-7pm this was a bit of an inconvenience at times, sometimes there were tournaments in the casino that started around this time so both my hubby and I could not participate but it was fine I don't gamble nearly as much as I used to.

 

Here are the Splash Academy schedules for the week....

 

 

 

 

 

 

[VegasChic]

Also, the kids will practice all week to perform in "Splashtacular Extravaganza" which takes place on the last sea day "Thursday" in the Escape Theater at 3pm. The kids learn to do different circus acts like balancing plates, juggling, something with sticks and other stuff! My daughter did it on the Getaway last year and it was pretty awesome!!

 

Hallway on the way to Splash Academy....

 

 

 

 

 

 

[VegasChic]

 

 

 

 

 

[VegasChic]

I had many plans for day 1 none of which came to fruition!! Exhaustion was kicking in so we headed back to the cabin. Anthony brought our luggage into the cabin when it arrived (very nice of him!) I decided to unpack with the balcony door open, the sound of the ocean and this view....

 

 

Unpacking took some time and my daughter fell asleep, I was starving and was not in the mood to shower and get dressed to go to dinner so I went to the garden cafe for a quick bite, I just grabbed random stuff and the salmon was surprisingly good....

 

 

After, I headed to the Cellars to get a glass of wine to take to my cabin I ran into the beautiful chandelier which was my favorite place on the ship...

 

 

 

Back at the cabin I showered and went to bed. I read a little of my book and drank my wine then fell asleep. Meanwhile my husband headed out to the garden cafe then the casino to play some poker. The bed was comfy, I slept well and soundly through the night however, at times I would hear people running in the hallways (so inconsiderate!)

 

Next up Freestyle Daily for day 1!!

[MandyMommyof2]

I am loving your review! We had hoped to book on the Escape for next summer, but we decided to go on the Getaway again. We wanted that different itinerary than the one we took this past summer. I can't wait to read all about your week! And so lucky, living right there in Miami :)

[VegasChic]

 

 

 

 

 

[VegasChic]

I am loving your review! We had hoped to book on the Escape for next summer, but we decided to go on the Getaway again. We wanted that different itinerary than the one we took this past summer. I can't wait to read all about your week! And so lucky, living right there in Miami :)

 

Yes living in Miami is definitely nice when you love cruising like we do!! Thank you for following along!! Where is the Getaway going this summer? We are doing Alaska possibly on the pearl and then hopefully (fingers crossed) the Harmony of the Seas! Thank you for following:):)