Our take on the Escape 1/9-1/16

[Pappion]

This is my first attempt at a more detailed review. It won't be as good as some of the great posters here, but it will have a few entertaining moments at my expense. I'll break it down by days, and try to include a few pics I managed to remember to snap along the way.

A little background. Our group consisted of myself (38 year old RN), DH (39 year old finance guy), and his parents (72 and 73, retired). We decided to take them on this cruise as a gift because my husband wanted one last trip with his father who was diagnosed with stage 4 liver cancer 2 years ago, and is already past the life expectancy the doctors gave him, so no time like the present to show them NCL, and their newest greatest ship the Escape right? DH and I are frequent cruisers, especially on NCL. In-laws have cruised a few times, but last time was on a smaller than jewel class sized ship. MIL has COPD and a torn tendon in her foot, can’t walk long distances, and refused to let me rent her a wheelchair. I mention this because it will come up later in the trip. FIL moves around pretty well, his only main restriction is no drinking. We offered to fly them down with us, but they insisted on driving because they wanted to visit friends and family along the way.

I’d also like to mention my experience is not going to be the same as others. My opinion might not align with yours. This is my review and opinion. I know some are going to say I’m a knit picker with issues, and others are going to poo poo at my being a non-smoker or gambler. So take this for what it is. My opinion/experience.

Fast forward to Wednesday night (our flight down to Miami was Friday). DH gets a call at work from his mom who his hysterical saying that she had put out FIL’s passport and he somehow moved it, and they couldn’t find it so they just took their birth certificate and marriage license instead and could we go look for it after we get out of work? I work afternoons so I don’t get out until midnight and DH works with a lot of west coast clients so he usually doesn’t get out of work until after 10pm. In-laws house is about 40 minutes from ours, so looking that night was out of the question. Not to mention DH had to work Thursday, and I had a doctor’s appointment and packing to do on Thursday with not a lot of wiggle room schedule wise. DH called his aunt who lives a few blocks away and asked her to look. No luck finding the passport. We decided that we would just hope the birth cert was good enough.

As a side note, I’m a notorious over packer. I promised DH I would make it work with just carry ons and a backpack for each of us. Determined to still take all I wanted (and more) I searched you tube for how to pack for a week in a carry on. Let me tell you, it works. The bundle method (not rolling) allowed me to fit 4 dresses, 5 pairs of shorts, 15 tops, 2 bathing suits, undergarments, 3 pairs of shoes, and a pool cover up all in my carryon. In DH’s I got a dress shirt, dress pants, 3 polo shirts, 7 tshirts, 2 tank tops, 7 pairs of shorts, swim trunks, undergarments and 2 pairs of shoes. I put our toiletries and medications in the backpack, along with phone chargers, camera, headsets, and other various items (magazines, gum, tissues, glasses, sunglasses, hair brush etc). I was pretty pleased to fit it all in carry ons. And no, we didn’t actually wear all of it but you have to have options right?

Friday morning we got up (I double checked for our passports before we walked out of course) and took an Uber to DTW. We got there with plenty of time to spare and spent a few hours in the sky club. I booked us in comfort plus because DH has long legs, so we enjoyed a few “we’re on vacation now” cocktails and landed in Miami. There we took another Uber to our hotel which I had got on priceline.

We stayed at Hotel Urbano in the Brickell district. It was a cute boutique hotel with a nice pool area. The rooms were large and clean. My only complaint was that ours faced a parking lot that was under a bridge of the highway and had some noise at night. The room came with free breakfast which included both hot and cold foods in the morning, not a bad spread for a free meal. Friday evening we had arranged to meet up with the in-laws and some family friends at one of our favorite Cuban places. We don’t have any good Cuban food in Detroit, so we try to get some at least once each time we are in Miami. Our hotel was across from a free trolley stop, and the trolley dropped us off 1 block from the restaurant, so it worked out perfectly. We all had a good time at the restaurant. They did not disappoint, and we left full and happy. We went to our room to sleep, so we could hurry up and wake up to board our fabulous ship!

[grammyfrimpy]

Unless my computer is having issues, I do no see a review of the Escape? That's what I'd like to see.

[blueclawfan]

Unless my computer is having issues, I do no see a review of the Escape? That's what I'd like to see.

 

I may be wrong but it looks like to me that the op is going to break it down like others have so i would give it some time.

[Pappion]

DAY 1 Saturday

After we got up and had our included breakfast, we summoned Uber and almost ended up at the airport. The driver spoke little to no English, and thought the port meant airport. We had to motion boat not plane and he understood. For boarding we were in terminal C and the inlaws in terminal B. I contacted NCL but they said we could not board together so I asked if they could at least have a wheelchair for MIL as the ramp would be a bit much for her. They did have that. We booked through CAS so we used the CAS check in line. We were very glad, as there was a huge line for regular check in. MIL said the same thing was true in their terminal and they were happy we had booked their room through CAS as well. In spite of getting there what I thought was early (around 10:30) we were in boarding group 14. No vibe passes for us I suppose.

When we finally got onboard, our room was open for us to drop our backpacks in, so we did. Our steward Chris was there and greeted us. We had angled balcony 12292, so DH asked Chris if we could have 1 lounger brought down. He said yes, and not even 10 minutes later delivered it. We unfortunately had the couch by the balcony layout, which meant the closet was 5 inches from the bed. Not a huge deal, but it was nice last year when we had the bed by the balcony on the Getaway.

Our room had a few welcome things in it. Our gold lattitudes welcome letter with the coupons for the laundry, party, and priority luggage tags for when we were getting off the ship (who wanted to think about that on day 1). There was also the box of godivas, and our welcome letter from CAS with our drink cards and players cards. After checking it out and taking a few pictures we decided to try to find the parents for lunch. We called them and met up at O’Sheehans.

We had wings (jerk and buffalo), salads, burgers, hotdogs, fish and chips, and fajitas. All were pretty good. The service was a little slow, but we were in no rush at that point.

After lunch we went to check out the in-law’s room 13627. We had got them a handicapped interior (because we didn’t know if MIL or FIL would have a wheelchair, and we were told these had better location to elevators). The room seemed pretty far from the elevator, which MIL was quite winded after walking there, but said it was ok. Well, we were all inside looking around (and OMG is the bathroom huge in that room) and all of a sudden buzzers were going off, a green and white strobe light were going off, and the bed was vibrating. Apparently that is what happens when the doorbell was pushed in order to let deaf or blind people know that there was someone at the door. It was neat, but a little odd as it kind of reminded me of a fire alarm at the hospital with the flashing lights. There was also an emergency call light on the side of the bed for medical emergencies (also nice to know if you have loved ones with health issues like we do). The closet also had a pull down bar, so that someone in a wheelchair could hang their clothes and then push the bar back up to normal closet height. I haven’t seen anyone detail these facts in previous reviews, so I thought those of you who may need a handicapped room would be interested to know.

We then decided we would book at Cagney’s for dinner. They told us all they had open was the following evening at 8:30 so we took it. FIL prefers to eat early as he is diabetic and eating late effects his blood sugar, but what could we do? So we went down to the MDR to make a reservation for that evening. We also went and explored the garden café, found the crepe station and decided why not? And we each had a wonderful crepe. Sadly we forgot about it the rest of the trip.

(Also as a side note, we had prepurchased the 5 day UDP for ourselves, the 3 day for the in-laws. We had also prepaid gratuitites.)

In-laws decided to sit and read in their room until dinner. DH and I went to our balcony for sail away. During sail away the pilot boat passed by and I explained to DH the pilot boat process (he thought I was bsing him until later in the week) that I had learned about here on CC. FIL called us to ask about the gift shop carrying shorts. Apparently they did not pack 1 pair of shorts for the whole trip for him. We then asked who the heck packs for the Caribbean and doesn’t pack a pair of shorts? And what the heck is in his suitcase if there are no shorts? He did have 4 swim trunks, 1 of which could pass for shorts which would have to get him through until he could buy some.

Then we went upstairs to Spice H2O to see if the NFL playoffs were on the big screen. They were. The only down side is that there were no waiters to be found, and the line at the bar was insane. We decided to forego drinks and just watch the game until dinner.

We went to dinner in Taste. There was no wait with our reservation and we were seated quickly. MIL ordered a pepsi (that took 45 minutes to get), and the rest of us had water. DH ordered the fish (which was flavorless), and the rest of us got the beef that was on special. Mine was overcooked, FIL’s was undercooked, and MiL’s was just right. Like the 3 bears I guess. We all ordered a few desserts to sample amongst the 4 of us, and when we had our fill, we headed up to the casino.

The main casino area was smokey (yes I know it’s a hot issue on here, sorry I’m a non-smoker and am disappointed in the smoking being allowed once again). All of the tables were full, and a lot of the more popular slots were busy. When we went to the non-smoking area it was hot, almost like the AC or ventilation didn’t work in that area, and none of the non-smoking tables were open except for a $25 blackjack. There was also a lounge singer with keyboardist at the skyline bar, and the volume was entirely too loud for the 10 person crowd they were playing to. You couldn’t talk to the person next to you at the casino. Being that I booked through the casino, I obviously like to gamble, and had planned on spending some time in there. We ordered drinks and played a bit. I won a little on the slots, but the noise and the smoke got to be a bit much and we headed out to our rooms.

DH and I relaxed on our balcony for a bit and hit the sack. During the night there was a lot of CLANG CLANG CLANG from the closet (which mind you is 5 inches from the bed) hangars hitting the wall with the motion of the ocean. I wrapped a towel around and it stopped, but you could hear the neighboring cabin’s closet CLANG CLANG CLANG through the wall, they apparently didn’t care as we would hear it every night for the rest of the week.

I should also note that we felt the rocking of the ship, even in little 4 ft waves WAY more than we ever did on any of the Jewel class ships, or even the Getaway. DH even got a little queasy at times during this trip, and he usually never has any issues with motion sickness. It didn’t matter where you were, forward, aft, middle, you felt it.

[Pappion]

Sorry, it'll be broken down by days. I guess I forgot to mention that in my opening disclaimer.

[Pappion]

DAY 2 Sunday

We slept in, so late that the only thing still serving breakfast was O’Sheehans. (oops!) I got the express, and DH got the corned beef hash. The eggs with my express were AWFUL. The texture was slimy mush, and nothing like a scrambled egg should be. I ate my bacon, hash browns, and muffin, drank my juice and waited for DH to finish. After that was the CC meet & greet!

This would be my first meet & greet and DH even came with. I signed up for the slot pull and we met various officers. DH was impressed at how many showed up, and that NCL provided refreshments (including really good banana smoothies), and that several of the officers went from table to table to say hello and ask if you had any issues so far. After the m&g was the slot pull. Our group tried, but I think the machine was rigged. Anyone who got the “bonus spin” never got more than a 2 digit number, and I’ve played the Wheel of Fortune machines enough at home to know that the 3 digit numbers hit more often than they did on this thing. It was still fun, but as a group we all had that *** look when the wheel never went over 60. At one point we all chanted 20 hoping reverse psychology would work on the effing machine.

After that DH & I went to the art auction. I know some of you hate Park West and think it’s a scam. We buy what we like, what we can afford, and don’t really give a crap what others think of it, because the paintings and prints make us happy so please don’t try to crap in my cheerios over buying things from them. We also found out that this cruise had 150 of their VIP buyers on board, as well as the artist LEBO (who painted the Getaway) and Marcus Glenn (who was the official grammy artist and from Detroit). DH and I found a few paintings from Tim Yanke that we had to have (we have others from him), and also a few by the child prodigy Autumn that we wanted. The auctioneer was kind of long winded, but we liked the art so we stayed for the whole thing. We set up our appointment for before dinner, and off we went back to the casino.

We played blackjack and 3 card for a while, and then I wanted to play the coin push game. It’s gotten to be a ritual with us that we play this every year. And every year I get a new colored dice key chain and a few bottles of bubbly from the machine. This would be no exception. We put in about $50 worth of tokens, but got out 3 bottles of bubbly (which you could get champagne, white wine or red wine) and a blue dice key chain. We used the remaining tokens to try to get the blasted mystery prize token to drop, but it wouldn’t and we refused to feed the machine any more cash. In all fairness though, the cheapest bottle of wine on the ship was about $24, so we figure the 3 bottles we won were a deal even with what we spent on tokens to play. Plus we had fun.

We went to our appointment with park west and picked out the frames we wanted for our new pieces, and signed the slips to be charged and away we went to change for dinner. At this point MIL realized that she didn’t bring any shoes with proper foot support, so the tendon in her foot was killing her so we called about a wheelchair. Guest services basically told us they had an “uber” like service where you call 15 minutes ahead. They send someone to take you where you need to go, and when you want to return you call and they come take you back to your room. Pretty neat, and we were thankful the service existed. Along the way we also stopped at the casino bar to get a bottle of our free bubbly.

We got to Cagney’s and noticed a few changes on the menu. Nothing big, but we were easily able to find things we wanted. We both ordered the ribeye and asked if adding a lobster tail would be additional (the waiter told us with UDP its not a problem), we ordered a few sides and appetizers, and the inlaws both got surf and turf and a few sides. The food was wonderful. The crab cakes were some of the best we’ve had anywhere, lobster was now served halfved (but full lobster not just tiny tails like we remembered from last year), the steaks cooked to perfection, and most of the sides were amazing (except for the cold mashed potatoes, ick!). We ordered a few desserts to try between the 4 of us, and we were stuffed. Then came time to pay. For some reason, the in-laws card would not swipe, so without asking us, the waiter took 2 nights off each of mine and DH’s card and told us we would need to go to guest services to clear it up. We told him this was not acceptable, and he basically told us oh well it’s done, and you need to go to guest services. So DH and FIL went to guest service’s to clear it up, while I walked with MIL to the casino.

When DH and FIL arrived at guest services, they were told it had to be cleared up with the hostess at Cagney’s. They went back up to Cagney’s and were told to go back to guest services. The line at guest services was long, but they waited AGAIN only to be told there was nothing that could be done. No one could fix this. NO ONE. It was really loud, so we decided we would try again later to fix this. (Spoiler alert: it never got fixed)

DH and I stayed in the casino and played for a few hours. We ended up walking out even, which any gambler will tell you is a win for the day.

[Pappion]

DAY 3 Monday

We got up and went to breakfast at Garden Café. It was packed and a lot of things were not refilled. We tried the other side and the same items were empty. They must have been good. We found a few things to munch on and headed to see if the pools were packed. They were. We went to spice and it was packed too. We decided to go to the casino. We played a while and headed to O’sheehans for lunch. DH had a burger, I tried the shepards pie (it was awful, like sloppy joe meat with extra dry mashed potatoes baked on top). Then we went to the art auction. Nothing else we needed to buy so afterwards we tried to make dinner reservations. They were pretty much impossible to make for the week. Le bistro (where we wanted to go) was booked, so we ended up at Cagney’s again. Le Bistro said the only night they could get us in was Wednesday at 5:30 and only in the atrium seating. We were not thrilled as the atrium got pretty hazy from the casino smoke, but the parents wanted to try Le Bistro so we agreed to it. We also booked Moderno for Thursday night for just the 2 of us.

We went back and sat on our balcony for a while. We were relaxing and then we smelled cigarette smoke, as strong as if we were in the casino. After 20 straight minutes of being downwind, I went in and called guest services. They sent security up and said we hadn’t been the only ones to call, but no one had seen where it was coming from. We had. It was up and to the right of us and they had dropped a butt down onto our balcony. Security saw them in the act and went up to talk to them. I give NCL credit for actually doing something about it. I’m not out to spoil people’s good time, but there are smoking decks, and the casino so I’m sorry (not sorry) I expected to get fresh air on my balcony.

We got ready and headed to dinner. We tried to explain the mess again about the billing and UDP but they wouldn’t reverse the charge. The meal itself was good, the service a little better than the night before, and we all left full again. We all went to the casino afterward. DH and I lost a little, but we did sit at the blackjack table for quite a while. We started losing when a few people who obviously don’t play much decided to sit down and started doing crazy things like splitting 10s or staying on cards you should always hit on. The dealer would pull 21s left and right, That was our cue to go.

We decided to hit up the hot tubs. The college championships were on the big screens at the pool and the hot tub was empty, except for one teenage kid, so we spent about 2 hours in there watching until they kicked us out. We also enjoyed watching people try to get in the pool, because it was so wavy from the ship motion that it was more like a wave pool. That provided entertainment of its own.

When we got back to the room I decided to check our onboard account. There was a charge at the gift shop and I asked DH what he bought. He told me nothing. I told him to think again, did he get anything for his parents? He said no. So we went down to guest services. They looked at the charge, and sure enough, the charge was not ours. It was from some other cabin. We asked how a charge could be put on OUR bill without being swiped on a keycard and they said that the charges are put in manually up there. I asked why they didn’t at least verify it was the right cabin, and they didn’t answer me. They said they would take care of it, so I took it at face value and we went back to the room.

[Pappion]

DAY 4 Tuesday St Thomas

We got up and called FIL. He had said he wanted to get off and go try to find powerball tickets. DH and I hadn’t planned on getting off in St Thomas as we have been there several times before and wanted to explore the ship more with most of the crowds being off, but we had agreed the night before to go with. Well, MIL said FIL got up at 7:30 and got off as soon as they cleared us. So we went in to town to try to find him (we didn’t). We did a little shopping. Bought each of our moms a pendant they would like. Then I got some earrings to match a pendant we bought last year (the day to night ones from diamonds international if any of you ladies are curious), as well as some rainbow topaz ones from Effy to match a bracelet we got last year. Yes I’m little spoiled. Poor DH is a wonderful man who puts up with my whining and obsession with sparkly things. We also did the sky ride (because I read about it here on cruise critic and HAD to try it) and took a few pictures of the ship and view, and checked out the birds at the top and shops, and returned to the ship area.

In the shops around the ship there is a lottery office (so of course we got the powerball tix) and a Cruzan rum tasting stand. The guy let you try as many as you wanted for free (we tipped him and ended up buying 4 flavors), so of course we tried them all.

Feeling invincible as we returned, I decided I was going to conquer the ropes course. I am not a small woman, and I did not realize I would be supporting my own fat arse for the duration of this course. My husband kissed me, said he’s glad I have the life insurance paid up, and to have fun (cute eh?) So, here is how the ropes course went down for me. I got my harness, they tightened it to feel like someone was grabbing my thighs, but I was glad to have it seeing as I would be swinging by it later. I then proudly climbed up the stairs (as DH was down below waiting to take pics) and started the course. There was a metal beam and I thought, “hey this isn’t so bad” it was narrow, but doable. I made it across to the next section which was two ropes side by side (with no rails). Crap…ok I can do this. Scoot scoot scoot scoot. Made it. Yay! Next a wobbly beam. Made that. A few more things. Wooo! I’m at the plank. This one goes over the water. I’m fearless. I have bungee jumped, went in the glass box at the sears tower, rode the tallest roller coasters, etc, I’m doing this plank. Wait, why is this effing beam smaller than the width of my foot? You want me to go how far? Ok fine. I did it. I pulled the cord. (They should tell you to grab the cord, turn around and THEN pull it, because if you don’t turn around, the picture taken is of your butt) I looked down. BAD LIFE CHOICE. I quickly turned around and got back to the next station which was the first zip line. They tell you to run, so I did. Wheeeeeeeeee that was fun. A few more obstacles, and you get to the next zip line that goes over the edge of the ship. Wheeeeeeee that was fun too. Ok I’m ready to get down. Nope. Gotta keep going. You have 3 rope options. None of which look easy. So I choose one. Half way across, I’ve had enough, its wobbling and I want the eff off this godforsaken course. So I step down onto the metal beam below Sure you can reach it to get your footing, but your harness is too tight to move. Now I’m stuck. I scream down to my husband to go get someone. A crew member comes over and I tell him I want off. He tells me I have to finish the course. FML. He then pulls the horrible rope net down for me to climb back onto to get to the next obstacle. I’m at this point almost in tears and embarrassed because 8 year olds are fearlessly climbing on the level above me, and here my big butt is holding up the line. I get to the next thing which is a single rope with no rails or anything and climb on. Some a-hole teenage kid behind me gets on and starts shaking it. He doesn’t speak English, but apparently me turning around and telling him if he shakes the rope again I’m going to kick him in his nads when he catches up to me is a universal language because he backed up. A few more obstacles, the other plank (no thank you, its over the concrete dock not water) and I was almost done. When I finally made it to the stairs (you can either go up or get off) the worker asks, “you no want to try to the 3rd level?” I looked at him and said, “If you see me again this week tell me to go away. No I don’t want to try the 3rd level thank you.” Got down to my husband, hugged him, took off my harness and went to the room to try to calm down.

We went to the hot tubs at Spice H2O and remained there until a family with 3 kids came in to the hot tub. When DH said Spice H2O is adults only, the dad proudly proclaimed, “not after 7” and in they came with their kids, Including the one in diapers! The other 2 kids started kicking and splashing so we moved to the hot tub on the other side. After a while we decided maybe we should grab some dinner, and went to the room and changed.

I think that night was prime rib at O’Sheehans. It was ok. Nothing to write home about but good enough. While we were eating dinner, I decided to use iconcierge to check our onboard account and the gift shop charge that wasn’t ours was STILL there.

So after we finished dinner we went down to guest services. We had to shout, as there was a game show being played (bad place for guest services IMO, or maybe have the game shows in the theater or something?), and I told them I wasn’t going to go away until it was taken off our account. I told them it was not acceptable that someone else could charge things to our room. No I’m sorry, no nothing. Just silence. The man promised it would be taken off and a printed statement showing such would be sent to our room. I know it wasn’t his fault, and I didn’t curse or yell at him, but I felt like he couldn’t give two craps that if I hadn’t checked our bill we would have paid someone else’s gift shop tab. It’s a little concerning that it was that easy for someone else to use our credit. While I was there I also asked for our ship pins, which were not in our room. He did find some and give them to me.

We hit up the casino, had a few drinks and played a few hours and went to bed.

[Pappion]

DAY 5 Wednesday Tortola

We ordered the “Free” breakfast to the room and got up to go check out Tortola. We had never been there before, and originally wanted to go to the Baths, but the excursion was sold out so we decided to just go do an island tour on our own. It was $20/pp in an open air trolley type truck, and I think there were 20 of us total on the trip. We were the youngest on our bus, and half didn’t speak English so it was an odd group, but it was interesting.

I should mention that the pier itself right now has only 5 shops, and they are building what will someday be a strip mall, but for now its pretty sad. There aren’t any real restaurants or bars or other shops nearby that could be easily walked to, so if your plan is to just walk around and explore, you won’t see much.

So back to the tour. Tortola is basically a mountain. And boy did you feel it on this trip. I read about how a group of people were hurt (and 2 killed) on a similar excursion where the trolley lost control in the rain and went over the side of the mountain, and I’m glad I didn’t read about it until we got home, but I see how it can happen. If these trolley things don’t have brakes that work, you’re all in big trouble, rain or no rain. Most of the roads have no guard rails, and are 1 to 1.5 lanes. So if 2 cars going opposite directions are at the same spot, you better pray there is room to swerve to the side off the road so the “winner” can pass. There are some beautiful breathtaking photo ops along the way, and the driver did stop and let you out to take photos. There were also a few stops along the way that felt preplanned at little roadside stands for drinks or snacks. At one of the stops, my DH pointed out that one of the older gentlemen had indeed crapped himself. None of his friends or his wife bothered to say anything to him, and sir poopypants didn’t seem to care. I felt like I should tell him, but then again I don’t know him so how do you really approach someone and say , “Pardon me but do you know your pants have poo on them?” It was a little odd. There was also a stop at a cute little distillery that had been open for well over 100 years. They had a tasting, and the rums were good. I got a shot glass to add to my collection. The whole thing up and down and around the mountain took about 3 hours. There were historical lessons along the way, and it was beautiful, but it made me realize that there is NOTHING to do in Tortola except lay on a beach, or catch a boat to one of the other BVI to see the sites. We returned to the ship area, paid and tipped the driver and headed up to see if the hot tubs were full (they were).

We went onto our balcony for sail away and it was gorgeous. You got to sail past all the virgin islands and I was able to get some great pictures and videos (and post little clips to facebook to make my friends and family in the cold in Michigan go “I hate you right now”).

We had dinner plans at Le Bistro that night, so we got dressed and met the inlaws there. We were booked in the courtyard area, asked if we could be moved inside but were told no, those tables were reserved for VIPs (and they remained empty the entire 2 hours we were there). The casino was busy and so the noise and smoke overpowered us at times during the meal. The service was actually really bad, and the waiter seemed annoyed when we would ask for things like refills on water, or a glass of milk with dessert. The thing that really stuck us as odd was my MIL’s sorbet was served 20 minutes after all of us had finished our desserts. You would think that would have been the easiest and most readily available of any of ours choices. MIL also mentioned at dinner that she went to look at pictures we had taken together and none were in her portfolio, and when they went to look at ours, some other family was in ours. Sure enough, when we went to look, it was not us. (We did get it cleared up the next day, but MIL was not with me and never saw the pictures. Of course she wants one, so I’m going to try to contact NCL about if its possible to purchase one digitally after the fact.)

After that we of course went to the casino.

[Pappion]

Unless my computer is having issues, I do no see a review of the Escape? That's what I'd like to see.

 

Sorry its not an instant review. I'm hurrying.:confused:

[Pappion]

Day 6 Thursday

We woke up late and went to have a little bit of lunch. Ate at O’Sheehans and went to the art auction. I can’t remember if it was this one or the previous one, but the artists Lebo (who painted the Getaway) and Marcus Glenn stopped by. It was cool to hear them talk about their art, and they were willing to take pictures and sign things for people who purchased their artwork.

After that we hit up the casino for a while again after checking the pool decks (which were jam packed). We had reservations for Moderno that night.

On the way to Moderno we stopped and used a free bubbly token for a bottle of white wine. We got to the salad bar and many things were empty (they remained that way during our entire time there). Our server Melanie was the most friendly attentive server we had the entire time on the ship. She even remembered us and said hello the next day in the garden café. We have Texas de Brazil by us, and its one of our favorite places, and due to the comparison that we had in our heads, Moderno was just ok, and it was hard to get the cuts you wanted at your table. The meat lacked seasoning and flavor. It was cooked ok, but needed a little something. The best cuts were the lamb chops and beef ribs. The grilled pineapple however, was amazing. That is the one thing Texas de Brazil needs to look into adding.

We went back to the casino of course, and played table games well into the late hours. The only frustrating thing was the live music by the skyline bar was so loud (for the tiny crowd) that it was almost annoying.

We aren’t haters of live music or people dancing, but the volume was way too high for how many (few) people were there.

[Pappion]

Day 7 Friday Nassau and Day 8 Homeward

We woke up and knew we weren’t going in to town. We headed to the supper club to watch the Minions movie. There were hardly any people there so we had good seats and the movie was cute. As it ended we were docking in Nassau.

That was our cue to get our swimsuits on. Today was pool/hot tub day as we have been to Nassau so many times we don’t get off. The parents were going in to town, but we told them we were staying on the ship. So, we went to the hot tubs in Spice. They were pretty empty except for 1 other person. We got in. The person we didn’t know hit the button for bubbles and my husband felt a sharp pain in his back. One of the plastic jets had shot off into his back from the tub. He told staff and they shrugged it off and took the piece from him. It happened a second time and we switched hot tubs.

After a while we decided to dry off and go have lunch in the garden café. Many selections were empty, and the other side was closed so it was a wait for the items we actually wanted. After getting the things we wanted to try, we ate and watched the people pour off the ship and down the dock into Nassau.

We then headed to the water slides. I did the drop slides on Getaway last year and loved them, so I knew I was doing those. DH just wanted to try the one with the color changing lights so we headed up the ladder. We thought the blow up rafts were at the top, but they weren’t so instead of climbing back down the steps, I took the drop slide down. So much fun (although this one didn’t have a countdown like the getaway one). I grabbed one of the rafts for 2 and down we went. It was great. We had fun, but DH said his stomach was still too full from lunch and we headed back to the hot tubs in spice again.

We joined a guy who we ended up spending a few hours chatting with (he stayed onboard and his family went into Nassau as well) and had drinks and good conversation. A few ladies from upstate NY joined us and they were fun to talk to as well. It rained for all of 3 minutes (which we all prayed would stop so we could selfishly enjoy the hot tubs) and I think we all stayed in there almost 5 hours in total off and on (getting out to get drinks). We would have used the grotto, but it was drained and closed for some kind of repair.

As an aside: whoever on here posted about the toasted almond drink, I hate (love) you, its one of my new favorites.

Earlier in the week when making reservations the only thing left open for Friday was La Cuchina (which we didn’t like on any other ship, but its all that was open and we wanted to get use of our UDP). On the way there we grabbed our final free bottle of bubbly (white wine). When we arrived we were seated close to the “hallway” area. When asked to move to the inside we were told they were reserved for VIPs (and once again, remained empty the entire time we were there). This time the problem was not smoke, but noise from Tobacco road, and the karaoke at 5 O’Clock Somewhere bar that was so loud we could hardly talk to one another at dinner. There were doors to the 5 O’Clock that someone thankfully closed after we (and other tables) repeatedly asked. I’m sure the 3 older couples celebrating their anniversary enjoyed hearing “baby got back” karoke as the staff sang them “let me call you sweetheart”. Poor planning on the layout of this place in my opinion.

After dinner I asked DH to do a selfie with me on the kiosk they had that will post to your facebook or Instagram. That was a cool feature, but hard to use when the hall is crowded. People would walk by just as the camera snapped. It took about 5 tries to get one. (firstworldproblems)

After dinner we took our booze that was now in our room to the inlaws to take home (since they were driving and we flew, way easier for them to take it), then we all headed to the casino. We played a good part of the night and headed back to the room to pack. Sadly, vacation was almost over.

I managed to get everything back into our 2 carry ons, and left out only what we were wearing home. I left a note and a cash tip for Chris in the room, as he was not in the hall when we were leaving. In the morning I woke DH up for easy walk off, and we were down, through customs and on our way to the airport early enough that we had over 2 hours in the sky club to wait for our 11:05am flight home from MIA.

Our flight was not direct, as it was cheaper to take a layover, so we headed to LGA. The organizer of our cruise critic meet and greet was on our flight, and DH was like, “hey it’s the cruise critic lady.” But she seemed distracted and headed back to her seat.

Our layover at LGA was ok. The sky club there had good snacks and drinks and we got on our flight home. We arrived at DTW a half hour early, Uber’d home, and were greeted by our pet Parrot with a salty, “hello!” He then mumbled at us for a solid half hour, as he does whenever we leave him with “grandma” (my mom) to babysit him.

Now, all I have are some pictures, a sunburn, and my cruisenext certificates (to start planning our next trip). DH says he wants to try the Haven next time, so I’m hoping I can find one that he will agree to.

In summary, this was not a bad trip. How can you have a completely bad time when you’re on a ship in the gorgeous Caribbean? However, DH and I both agree that when they built the Escape, they kept the same amount of public spaces , but added too many more staterooms. Everything is and felt way more crowded than the Getaway (which we both loved).

We were upset that they had sold the UDPs and then didn’t have the reservations or room to accommodate people who had already paid, and they didn’t care if you got to use your package or not. You had to beg for reservations and/or be willing to eat at almost 10pm. It was almost impossible to get a drink by the pool or hot tub unless you went and waited in line for it. On other ships you could rarely go 5 minutes without seeing a waiter. Service on this ship was lacking. The staff was either miserable or didn’t care, and it showed with a few exceptions.

The billing errors were concerning. This was not the NCL we wanted to show the parents. I was glad I had reserved shows for them ahead of time or they might have missed out. Its not “freestyle” like the other ships we’ve been on. We have never been told flat out “no you can’t eat here tonight” by any restaurant on any ship until now. We do not recommend the Escape, and would not go back on it again. Between the increased feeling of motion, crowds, and service issues, this is not the NCL we know and love, and not the ship for us.

[grammyfrimpy]

WOW - so much info!

[Pappion]

I should also add we aren't much on broadway shows, and the comedy show was full when we tried to go. We did hear that the adults only 11pm one was pretty entertaining.

 

I do have dailies but don't have menus. I figure they've been posted a lot already anyway.

[lilcruzr]

Sorry, it'll be broken down by days. I guess I forgot to mention that in my opening disclaimer.

No worries!!!! You mentioned it in your very first paragraph! I am enjoying your very detailed review. We will be cruising on the Escape in March. Great job. Thank you for posting your review!!!!

[Pappion]

Hopefully I can get more pictures up tomorrow. They are uploading super slow.

[Jenjer]

Thank You for your time and review. Unlike someone else I enjoy reading about your pre cruise info. I for one fly in the night before and its helpful to read about other peoples experiences.

 

I laughed at your ropes course review.

 

It is disappointing to hear about the lack of dinning reservations and smoke issues. Did you ever figure out who where the VIP's that they held all the tables for?

 

Just my little vent but I don't understand why NCL can not design a ventilation system for their latest and greatest ship.

[Pappion]

Thank You for your time and review. Unlike someone else I enjoy reading about your pre cruise info. I for one fly in the night before and its helpful to read about other peoples experiences.

 

I laughed at your ropes course review.

 

It is disappointing to hear about the lack of dinning reservations and smoke issues. Did you ever figure out who where the VIP's that they held all the tables for?

 

Just my little vent but I don't understand why NCL can not design a ventilation system for their latest and greatest ship.

 

Park West had 150 of their best buyers onboard and they were the VIPs. Each restaurant held spots open for them every night. I know this won't be the case every sailing, but it got to be rather annoying on ours when we couldn't get a spot and the tables remained open/empty.

 

And I agree on the ventilation. It shouldn't be that hard with modern technology. Smoke eaters, air purifiers, whatever most casinos use should be put in.

 

Also, This ship felt really hot in areas. Not sure if I mentioned it, but by the elevators, and certain places in the casino felt like they had no air conditioning what so ever and it was downright HOT in those areas.

[weltek]

Our flight was not direct, as it was cheaper to take a layover, so we headed to LGA. The organizer of our cruise critic meet and greet was on our flight, and DH was like, “hey it’s the cruise critic lady.” But she seemed distracted and headed back to her seat.

 

Ha! That was me! I didn't see or hear you guys, darn it!

 

By the way, I also missed experiencing the grotto. Waited to long, I guess. Should've been doing that instead of spending so much time in the brewhouse. :)

 

And I think you summed up our slot experience nicely...unbelievable bad luck!

[Chipster2]

Thanks for taking the time to post your review of the Escape.

[cpj]

if u dont mind spending the extra money the Haven is outstanding. your butler will get u anything u want for breakfast. I had steak and eggs for 5 days. they also will get you reservations for the restaurents, and you also have special seating for the shows. The Haven area was quiet and the whirlpools were never full. Also like you I spent a lot of time in the Casino and it was one of the busiest casinos Ive ever experence. Smoke does not bother me but being as big a ship as it was they should have built an enclosed room in the casino for smokers. They could have had the best of both worlds then. Also cruise ship food is want it is and I dont expect much from any of the restaurents. My only complaint was only 2 sets of elevators one the ship. we were in a suite 10706 far forwand and we really had a long walk to the elevator. Also being in the Haven we were the first off the ship, which really is a nice perk if you have a early flight.

[Pappion]

if u dont mind spending the extra money the Haven is outstanding. your butler will get u anything u want for breakfast. I had steak and eggs for 5 days. they also will get you reservations for the restaurents, and you also have special seating for the shows. The Haven area was quiet and the whirlpools were never full. Also like you I spent a lot of time in the Casino and it was one of the busiest casinos Ive ever experence. Smoke does not bother me but being as big a ship as it was they should have built an enclosed room in the casino for smokers. They could have had the best of both worlds then. Also cruise ship food is want it is and I dont expect much from any of the restaurents. My only complaint was only 2 sets of elevators one the ship. we were in a suite 10706 far forwand and we really had a long walk to the elevator. Also being in the Haven we were the first off the ship, which really is a nice perk if you have a early flight.

 

DH really is interested in the Haven for our next trip. I've been having him read reviews on here to see what the difference is.

[operaclg]

I keep reading conflicting reports on whether there is a CAS line. Glad to hear there is on after all! Can't wait for 2/27/16!:D

 

 

DAY 1 Saturday

After we got up and had our included breakfast, we summoned Uber and almost ended up at the airport. The driver spoke little to no English, and thought the port meant airport. We had to motion boat not plane and he understood. For boarding we were in terminal C and the inlaws in terminal B. I contacted NCL but they said we could not board together so I asked if they could at least have a wheelchair for MIL as the ramp would be a bit much for her. They did have that. We booked through CAS so we used the CAS check in line. We were very glad, as there was a huge line for regular check in. MIL said the same thing was true in their terminal and they were happy we had booked their room through CAS as well.

[Pappion]

I keep reading conflicting reports on whether there is a CAS line. Glad to hear there is on after all! Can't wait for 2/27/16!:D

 

 

DAY 1 Saturday

After we got up and had our included breakfast, we summoned Uber and almost ended up at the airport. The driver spoke little to no English, and thought the port meant airport. We had to motion boat not plane and he understood. For boarding we were in terminal C and the inlaws in terminal B. I contacted NCL but they said we could not board together so I asked if they could at least have a wheelchair for MIL as the ramp would be a bit much for her. They did have that. We booked through CAS so we used the CAS check in line. We were very glad, as there was a huge line for regular check in. MIL said the same thing was true in their terminal and they were happy we had booked their room through CAS as well.

 

 

In our terminal it was all the way to the far left. There was a large banner that said Casinos at Sea.

[Karysa]

Thanks for the review. I am not a gambler but I did learn to avoid the casino area due to smoke. I didn't pick the UDP and instead decided to book a couple of specialty restaurants which I now know to book ahead. We will make a point to get to the comedy show early. So thanks for being so detailed. :)