NCL Escape Review 1/2/16-1/9/16 with Pictures

[Cruzface]

 

 

 

Edited January 24, 2016 by Cruzface

[Cruzface]

Now, we (me) love Jimmy Buffett, so the 5 o'clock Somewhere bar was a must. It was a nice venue, basically where the blues club is on Breakaway and Epic and where the Grammy Experience is on Getaway.

 

 

 

The band, Starlights, was excellent. Always a nice crowd.

 

 

Also checked out the District Brewhouse. Nice place with a piano player.

 

[Cruzface]

Not having Vibe, we figured there was going to be a fight for loungers on the first sea day. We decided to try for Spice H2O since it is only a few decks above us and is adults only. Well, we got up early and surprisingly there were plenty of chairs! I guess this will be ok after all. Got a great spot in the sun.

 

 

Until... I looked behind the lounger...

 

 

Yes. That's a diaper. Wow.

 

At least Spice has the grotto. Great place to cool off.

 

 

[Cruzface]

I'm a Jets fan. I know, pathetic. I was more than ready to miss the last game of the season even though if the Jets won, they were in the playoffs. So, to my surprise, look what they were showing on the big screen in Spice:

 

 

 

Really wished they hadn't. The Jets suck and will always disappoint. Once again, on a cruise, so who cares.

 

As my wife and I were lounging, we noticed black soot on us. It's from the smoke stack. Big particles. You know how they get rid of the toilet waste, right? Incinerate it. Is this the waste? Ewwww.

 

[Cruzface]

So we left that sad area and went back to our favorite bartender at Waves. Here is sock monkey. Long story short, my sister gave him to me a few years ago as a joke and now he goes on vacation with us and I torture her with pictures of sock monkey...

 

 

First and last swim in the pool. Not sure why, but maybe just too much other stuff to do.

 

 

Awesome rainbow...

 

[Yorkvillain]

Jets fan??? Your avatar says otherwise. Lol. Well hopefully you are an Islanders fan since you are from LI.

 

Anyway, great review so far. And thanks for the great tip about picking one bartender and sticking with him throughout the week.

[Cruzface]

Dinner in Manhattan was entertaining, but not because of the band. At the table next to us, the mother was berating her teenage son so badly it was shocking. Our boys were blown away that a mother could say those things to a kid. Like, "You are ruining my cruise," and the father saying, "You're only on this cruise because of her, so show some gratitude." Wow.

 

After dinner went to Howl at the Moon, dueling pianos. We got there early and got our seats at the bar. Not as good as the Breakaway, the bar area is very small. Soon the place became packed. But guess who was saving about 5 seats. Yup, mother of the year from Manhattan. Classy.

 

 

Great show. Lots of fun. But the place soon became so packed with people standing around us and over us that we just left and gave our spots to a nice couple who were very polite.

 

We headed to the Norwegian's Night out at Spice. Great party and my wife was interviewed by the cruise director Julie. I have to say, that I rarely care or notice the CD, but she was very good. Very visible and extremely nice.

 

 

[Cruzface]

Jets fan??? Your avatar says otherwise. Lol. Well hopefully you are an Islanders fan since you are from LI.

 

Anyway, great review so far. And thanks for the great tip about picking one bartender and sticking with him throughout the week.

 

Very observant. I am a Jets and Giants fan unless they are playing each other, then, I'm a Giants fan.

[lostone65]

Excellent review so far! We are headed out on the Dawn in 3 weeks but I'm already looking ahead to 2017 and we are thinking of the Escape. We weren't fond of the Epic (too many small spaces and not enough open deck areas) so the decision will involve a lot of reviews.

[Cruzface]

Next day, we expected the same situation in Spice. NOT! The chair hogs woke up early! We got a couple chairs right in the middle of Spice. Had to share 2 loungers with these two...

 

 

Oh well, at least I got my Red Stripe today. Notice the shirt...

 

 

Great day of relaxation. Met some very nice people in Spice. Before dinner, we went to our favorite bartender Melvin and watched the shinanigans at the main pool.

 

 

Dinner at Manhattan was entertaining again! Not just because of the tap dancer who was excellent:

 

 

But there was also a group of people dressed in full pirate gear. Jack Sparrow and all! With swords! How did the swords get onboard? Really?

 

Edited January 24, 2016 by Cruzface

[Cruzface]

First stop, St. Thomas. We have been here several times. Done St. John twice. So we wanted to just chill at a quiet beach. Once again, our travel agent came through big time. Emerald Beach. So close to the port.

 

 

 

 

 

Great beach with a nice resort and bar:

 

 

The Cruzan Confusion drink is nine flavored Cruzan rums and fruit punch. OMG.

Edited January 24, 2016 by Cruzface

[Cruzface]

On the way back to the port, it poured. Like torrential. When we got closer to the ship, it stopped. Nice.

 

 

 

Had a nice lunch on the ship and headed off again. We wanted to try tram ride to Paradise Point. $21 each? Ouch. Oh well. Once in a lifetime.

 

 

Our future house:

 

 

Beautiful flowers:

 

 

It was worth the trip:

 

[Cruzface]

More of the trip to Paradise Point.

 

Cruzan Pineapple. Dangerously good.

 

 

 

 

Celebrity leaving port:

 

[Cruzface]

Great sail away from St. Thomas:

 

 

 

[Cruzface]

No recollection or pictures of our night after St. Thomas...:eek:

 

Just this:

 

[Obx_1974]

Jets fan??? Your avatar says otherwise. Lol. Well hopefully you are an Islanders fan since you are from LI.

 

Anyway, great review so far. And thanks for the great tip about picking one bartender and sticking with him throughout the week.

 

Yorkvillain, I hope you plan on doing a review of your upcoming Escape cruise. I noticed you have sailed Royal a lot. We are going on Escape in April and we have only cruised Oasis Class in the past. I am VERY curious how the Escape will compare. I'm especially interested in the Adult Only areas as we aren't traveling with our kids and loved hanging out in the Solarium on the Oasis and Allure. Hope you have a great trip!

[Nola26]

We did the same thing in St. Thomas, first stop the beach, back to ship for showers and lunch and then walked to the gondola for Paradise Point. My nephew and I decided that house would be our summer home, thought I guess winter home would be better!

 

Tip: buy the tickets for Paradise Point onboard, you save $2 and it is my understanding that they're returnable if unused

 

We also did our post card mailing from the US Post Office there, nice option.

[Cruzface]

Next day: Tortola.

 

 

 

Our only planned excursion was the Escape to Jost Van Dyke purchased through NCL. I usually never purchase excursions from the cruise line, but this time, once again at the recommendation of our travel agent, I did it.

 

Best. Excursion.Ever.

 

We had the 9:15 pick up time. The port is still under construction so not much to see there.

 

As soon as our power cat, the Rebel Yell, arrived, it looked like rain. Well, once we got on the boat, it poured. Once again, torrential. We picked a good spot up top deck with the captain and had a covering.

 

 

What a great ride to JVD. I suggest you sit up top and ask plenty of questions of the knowledgeable captain. She pointed out so many interesting facts. Like the island bought by the inventor of Otterbox. He paid 50 million.

 

It's about 45 minutes and by the time we were approaching JVD, the weather was awesome.

 

[Cruzface]

Getting closer:

 

 

Closer:

 

 

Closer:

 

 

Almost there....

 

 

Touch down!!! Not for the Jets, but for us!

 

[Cruzface]

Welcome to paradise. The famous Soggy Dollar bar has free chairs to sit in and hammocks. They suggest that you buy a drink. No problem, mon.

 

 

 

 

The Painkiller. Lots of rum, some fruit juice, creme of coconut and nutmeg.

 

[Cruzface]

There are several bars at White Bay on JVD.

 

 

 

 

Still the holiday season:

 

[PhoenixCruiser]

Excellent review, cannot wait to read more!

 

Your future house is beautiful :)

 

###

[Cruzface]

This was an awesome day. The sun was so hot that my scalp got burned. We spent a ton of time in the water. Now, my wife is very particular about her water. She needs to be able to see her toes all the time. No problem here. She loved it.

 

 

 

So, as we are just soaking in the water, talking to some wonderful people on our cruise, one of the ladies let's out a scream. A school of fish was swimming by and she got startled. As I am laughing at her, a fish comes right at my face, jumps out of the water. I ducked and screamed like a little girl. Think Ned Flanders from the Simpsons. Not my proudest moment, but hey, I saw Piranha on SyFy.

 

The boys loved this beach:

 

 

Our friends:

 

[Cruzface]

Sock monkey made it:

 

 

And took over the cat:

 

 

The trip back was awesome. The wind was in our face and the sea spray was vicious. The people who sat down front got soaked. Thought we were safe up top. NOT! My wife stood up one time to look up front and got a face full of sea water! Awesome!

 

 

I loved the ride:

 

 

On the ride back there was free rum punch. The first mate, Rachel, mixed it and served it while we were bouncing all over the place. She never spilled a drop. Amazing. We tipped well.

 

There's our home.

 

 

We were supposed to be back by 2:30, but we were running late. The captain called ahead and made sure the ship knew we were on our way. This is why you need to book this through NCL, if not, the ship won't wait.

 

Without a doubt, best day we have had on a cruise.

 

[Cruzface]

Tortola sail away: