A HAVENly week on Escape - January 16 - 23, 2016

[jmele999]

Love it so much. Thank You for doing this

 

Thanks for the comment. It is a great way to remember our vacation.

[jmele999]

Wow love your review and photos.I was on this cruise with you did b2b 9th Jan till the 23rd.Can't believe it's been one month since I boarded the amazing EscapeLooking forward to Breakaway next Jan for 2 weeks.

 

Were you onboard the Escape for two weeks or a b2b on another ship? I am sure that you had a great time.

[jmele999]

This might be a really silly question. Sorry about that. I noticed that the Haven food looks mighty delicious and is only for Haven guests. Is some of the same food available in the regular dining room as well or is it a completely different menu?

 

The menu in the Haven restaurant is different from the MDRs and in some cases there are items on the Haven menu that are free (lobster) while you have to pay an uncharge in the MDR.

[CoyoteVA]

This might be a really silly question. Sorry about that. I noticed that the Haven food looks mighty delicious and is only for Haven guests. Is some of the same food available in the regular dining room as well or is it a completely different menu?

Pork belly appetizer is available at Cagney. Breakfast items are similar/identical to what you'll find at "public" restaurants.

[jmele999]

St. Thomas

 

We got up early to enjoy a nice breakfast before our excursion to St. Johns and were lucky enough to enjoy the views of our arrival from the outdoor section of the Haven restaurant.

 

 

We picked up the pilot around 7:00 am and arrived at the pier before 8:00 am.

 

 

 

Anthem of the Seas was right behind us. I must say that it is a beautiful looking ship.

 

[jmele999]

A trip to St. Johns

 

Prior to the cruise we had decided that we wanted to visit St. Johns and were going to do the excursion on our own. For those of you interested in going to St. Johns on your own, here are some simple instructions.

 

1) Take a taxi from the pier to Red Hook ($20 pp roundtrip)

2) Take a ferry from Red Hook to Cruz Bay in St. Johns ($14 pp roundtrip)

3) Upon arriving in Cruz Bay, you can either do an island tour ($25 pp) or head to one of the local beaches ($7pp each way)

 

However, two days before arriving in St. Thomas we decided to book the St. Johns Island Tour offered by NCL. It costs $75 pp and it is faster than taking a taxi and a ferry as you pick up the ferry right at the pier where Escape docks. The difference in price between the tour offered by NCL and doing the excursion on you own is only about $15 pp.

 

 

 

 

[lor74]

Awesome review, eagerly awaiting more. Great pics, I am so hungry!!!

[jmele999]

We were asked to meet in the theater at 8:15 am and walked together as a group down to the other end of the pier to take the ferry to St. Johns.

 

Anthem of the Seas meets Escape

 

 

Our ride to St. Johns (I wish)

 

Here is the ferry taking us to St. Johns.

[jmele999]

The ride from St. Thomas to St. Johns only took 45 minutes and although it was cloudy we were able to enjoy the scenery.

 

 

 

 

It was also interesting to see some of the other small islands around St. Thomas.

 

[jmele999]

Immediately upon arriving in St. Johns we boarded taxis (see below) to take us on a tour of the island.

 

 

 

The driver/tour guide made several stops along way and told us about the history of the island.

 

 

Trunk Bay Beach

 

Private resort

 

[Yorkvillain]

Wow, thank you so much for that info on St. John.

 

We just want a beach day there and we were going to do the taxi-ferry-taxi thing to get to the beach. But now you have me convinced that the NCL excursion for $85pp is the better move. It will cost a little more but we will save a ton of time that way.

[jmele999]

 

 

The tour lasted almost two hours. The driver dropped us at the pier and since we had about 30 minutes before the next ferry we decided to walk around some of the local shops and visit the Virgin Islands National Park Visitors Center.

 

 

 

 

[jmele999]

Wow, thank you so much for that info on St. John.

 

We just want a beach day there and we were going to do the taxi-ferry-taxi thing to get to the beach. But now you have me convinced that the NCL excursion for $85pp is the better move. It will cost a little more but we will save a ton of time that way.

 

You are welcome.

Edited February 10, 2016 by jmele999

[summer0621]

Your Photos are "CRAZY AMAZING" !! Very nice review. Looking forward to the rest of your review.

[jmele999]

As we had predicted, doing the excursion through NCL was a great idea as we were back at the pier around 12:45 pm leaving us with plenty of time to enjoy the ship that afternoon. Also, our departure time had been changed from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm thus allowing us to spend some more time in St. Thomas.

 

When we arrived back at the pier there was another group from Anthem of the Seas going on an excursion.

 

 

After arriving back onboard we decided to go to the Haven restaurant for lunch.

 

I decided to start lunch with one of Marc's creations - a bloody Mary with onions and mushrooms-infused vodka. I don't like onions, but the combination of onions and mushrooms was a great idea as the bloody Mary was very tasty.

 

 

DP decided to get the herbed chicken with rosemary jus. This entree is one of DP's favorites, but he noted that instead of polenta, the chicken is now served with potatoes.

 

 

I decided to try the salmon with lobster sauce. It was very good and probably the healthiest thing I had all week.

 

[jmele999]

We spent the afternoon in the Haven sundeck enjoying a beautiful and sunny afternoon. Since the sun was out I decided to take a few more pictures of St. Thomas from the ship.

 

 

 

Besides taking pictures, I found time to enjoy some adult beverages including another margarita with jalapeño-infused vodka.

 

[jmele999]

Since we were staying in St. Thomas until 8:00 pm we decided to enjoy the sunset from Paradise Point. In order to get to Paradise Point you need to take the skyride ($21 PP), which takes you 700 ft above the town of Charlotte Amalie.

 

 

Picture taken while riding the Skyride

 

 

The views from paradise point are breathtaking.

 

 

 

 

[jmele999]

The Paradise Point Bushwacher - you must try it if you visit Paradise Point.

 

 

 

 

[jmele999]

Dinner that night was at Cagney's, but as some of you might remember, one of our goals for this cruise was to visit every bar onboard so before dinner we made a stop at the prime meridian bar to get a drink.

 

 

The weather was great that night so we decided to dine on the waterfront to enjoy our last few hours in St. Thomas.

 

 

 

[jmele999]

We started dinner with oysters Rockefeller, potato chowder and Lobster bisque. I was glad to see that the oysters Rockefeller were back on the Cagney's menu, but they were not very good. The soups were ok.

 

 

 

 

I ordered my porterhouse steak medium well and it was overcooked, but very tasty - 3.5/5

 

T-bone steak - 4/5

 

We were very full that night so we skipped dessert. Overall, dinner at Cagney's was just ok. The highlight of our dinner was dinning outside enjoying the great weather and the beautiful scenery.

[jmele999]

After dinner we walked around the ship and made our nightly stop at the Haven bar. Pranko prepared one of his special drinks for us - an old fashioned infused with strawberries and cinnamon.

 

 

We went to bed early that night since we were scheduled to arrive in Tortola at 7:00 am the next morning.

 

 

Here is a map of the US and British Virgin Islands so that you can get idea as to how close these islands are to each other.

 

 

End of Day 4.

 

Next - Day 5 - Tortola

[lor74]

Sounds like a pretty good day!

[JCioc]

Have been on many NCL cruises, some in the Haven and must say once you've gone Haven it's very hard to go back. Will be in a 2 bedroom villa in the Haven in May on the Escape and always excited to sail with NCL. Thanks for the menu.

[j603]

Your review sounds absolutely Havenly right now. We are gearing up for our arctic blast this weekend. I will need to read read you review and TheDougOut's review this weekend to keep from thinking about the cold.

[Yorkvillain]

The Paradise Point Bushwacher - you must try it if you visit Paradise Point.[/color][/size]

 

Oh man. I could go for one of those right now.