The Cellars, Bayamo, Tobacco Road?

[Trumpster]

We are considering the Escape, since he reviews have crossed into positive territory (52%) have been reading most of the reviews both good and bad.

 

Very few have touched on or even mentioned The Cellars wine bar, Bayamo's or Tobacco Road.

 

The one mentioned a few times was Bayamo and they were not that positive.

 

anybody have anything to report on these?

[Kdiamond55]

I was on a quick 3-day on the Escape in November, and my husband and I were at The Cellars every night and there was rarely anyone else in there with us...maybe 2-3 people tops. I will be back when I go in March.

 

I don't get why it wasn't busier, but I wasn't complaining. It was a cool little place.

 

If you like cab, the Michael Mondavi they have there is amazing!

[Trumpster]

This is what I mean, no responses except for KD, thanks by the way.

 

Has no one tried these venues?

[punkincc]

We never made it into the Cellars on our January cruise. I really wish we had. There is just so much to do. We passed by there several times and saw well attended tastings going on. They offer many types. One afternoon, we had booked the chocolate and wine pairing one, but got involved elsewhere and never made it.

 

Tobacco Toad is a very nice bar with big leather couches and chairs. Always lots of people there in the evenings. We had drinks there one evening while we waited for our La Cucina reservation.

 

Bayamo looks lovely, and we had a reservation for out party of 7, all with dining plans. Maybe it would have been good, but we decided the menu looked a little too exotic for our crew. If not for the $15 upcharge, we might have risked it. This place always looked empty.

Edited February 3, 2016 by punkincc

[hpecorari]

I was on the fence about Bayamo but decided to go since (1) it was only $15.00 due to us having the UDP and (2) CAS gave us a food credit.

 

Was very happy we went. Food as well as service was very good. I was surprised!

 

My theory? Try everything new. If it's not what I expected, liked, wanted, etc......there is always somewhere else to eat!

 

Harriet

[punkincc]

I was on the fence about Bayamo but decided to go since (1) it was only $15.00 due to us having the UDP and (2) CAS gave us a food credit.

 

Was very happy we went. Food as well as service was very good. I was surprised!

 

My theory? Try everything new. If it's not what I expected, liked, wanted, etc......there is always somewhere else to eat!

 

Harriet

 

If it had been just the two of us I'm sure we would have gone, but with 5 other somewhat picky eaters who were not enthused with the menu, we took the path of least resistance.:)

[weltek]

My two cents:

 

Tobacco road was sort of a throwaway. An "alcove" bar right off a main hallway. I was disappointed in that. Had drinks there twice. Drinks were good, bartenders were friendly. But since it was in a main thoroughfare, it ended up being a "stop, sit and wait" spot for a lot of people, kind of killing any shred of ambiance.

 

The Cellars was okay inside, a little small and notched out. Modern ambiance. But the nice part was the waterfront part of it. Wine outside, pretty tables. The iPad ordering system was okay. I've never really been a huge fan of doing that. YMMV.

 

Bayamo...we loved it! Went in January, and people have noted the recipes have been tweaked over time, so that may have resulted in mixed reviews. Dessert was fairly forgettable, but our apps and entrees were delicious across the board. Service was great. We ate on the waterfront and it was very nice.

[LrgPizza]

On my cruise, there was not yet any smoking allowed in the casino. One of the few smoking areas was immediately outside Tobacco Road on the waterfront. As a result, Tobacco Road was so overwhelming smoky from the door being opened over and over, that it wasn't very enjoyable to sit there. I ordered one drink there, just to say I did, but I don't recall what. The only time I actually sat down there was early one morning when looking for a quiet spot to make a FaceTime call home.

[punkincc]

So many of the other bars have entertainment in the evenings and it tends to get loud and boisterous. Sometimes you just want a quiet, comfortable place to relax, talk and have a drink. Tobacco Road is perfect for this.

[laurabegorrah]

I was on the fence about Bayamo. I thought the food was good - but not so much that I would want to pay to eat there again (no dinning package on one cruise, and next we had UDP, but there were so many other places that excited me more, that we never got around to going there). A foodie friend of mine called Bayamo the best meal she had all cruise.

 

Cellars and Tobacco Road I think suffer from the same thing - because of location, neither seemed to turn into hot spots to hang out. I don't think either had any entertainment in or around it, so nothing much to do there except drink and chat. Also, as someone mentioned, Tobacco Road can get pretty smoky smelling at certain times of the day. Cellars seems to get more people hanging around their Waterfront bar. Neither location seemed to have enough spark to make it a deal breaker for picking the ship.

[Marknari]

We enjoyed Cellars for a glass of wine (or two) after dinner, but the servers told us that most people went before dinner.

Agree with thoughts on Tobacco Road-feels a bit like an after thought and more of a "pass through" area. We never made it there.

The menu at Bayamo didn't really do anything for us.

How about Pincho's? That was great!

[CruisinHarvey]

Liked the wine Cellar. They have a couple different wine tasting during the week. They were fun.

 

Due to the bad reviews haven't tried Bayamo.

 

Tobacco Road is the same bar they have on the getaway and Breakaway, it's just called something different. We really liked the Mojito bar on the Getaway. On the Escape though, they just expanded shopping. So, now the mojito bar is just the restaurant bar next to Bayamo. Not the same atmosphere at all, even though Bong tries.

[SullytheBFG]

We were on the Escape for two weeks on the Escape and ate in Bayamo twice, we felt it was the best restaurant on the ship. We ate on the Waterfront both nights. We had the UDP so a $15 extra each but well worth it.

 

Visited the Cellars a couple of times good for a glass of wine and a small bit of tapas served from Pinchos.

 

Tobacco Road can smell from the smoking room however they have some cocktails that are specific to there. Depending on the time of day it can be quiet with comfy chairs.

[thatjoeguy]

...Very few have touched on or even mentioned The Cellars wine bar, Bayamo's or Tobacco Road...

 

anybody have anything to report on these?

 

We were on the Escape the first week of January (and I keep meaning to write up a review for it.) We went to the cellars pretty early on in the trip and loved it. If I remember correctly, there were 200+ different wines available, with 100+ of them available by the glass. We started using it as a meeting place before dinner or shows, since they had a much better list than the restaurants. It started out pretty empty on the trip, but by the end of the week, it was hard to find a table inside. (I believe the waterfront part was always full.)

 

We didn't try Bayamo's.

 

We first stopped by Tobacco Road midway through the cruise since it was pretty empty and we wanted to grab basic cocktails before heading back to the room. The bartender (jokingly) gave us a hard time about not ordering the specialty cocktails, so we told him we'd be back another day. After that, we came back several times, always sitting at the bar. As some have mentioned, the bar is open to main hallway, so becomes a "sit and wait" type spot for lots of people, as it was for us the first time, but we never found this to be the case at the bar. The drinks were very good. Several in our group also went to the cigar lounge, which is right next to this, and it was also a great spot to wait for them.

[vicocala]

I'm a previous smoker but not high and mighty about cigarette smoke like some, but I find it highly ironic and amusing that people would complain about tobacco smoke in a place called Tobacco road. SMH

[LrgPizza]

I'm a previous smoker but not high and mighty about cigarette smoke like some, but I find it highly ironic and amusing that people would complain about tobacco smoke in a place called Tobacco road. SMH

 

Tobacco Road doesn't permit smoking, but was still smoky. Not a complaint, just stating a fact. For example, if I point out that the carpeting is blue, I'm not complaining about it being blue.

 

Ironically, smoky rooms bothered me more during the 25 years I smoked than they do in the 3 years since I quit. I generally enjoy a bit of a smoky smell, especially in a bar. I live in a state where smoking is still permitted in bars, and it doesn't slow me down at all. That said, it was heavy enough in the non-smoking Tobacco Road to bother me. No reason that should cause you to SYH.

[punkincc]

i am very sensitive to smoke, and I was surprised to find that I never noticed the smell of smoke anywhere on the ship, except when I passed by that outdoor pool bar where all the smokers go. Even the casino, where I swear I never saw a single smoker, there was no odor of smoke. If not for the pool bar, I would have sworn I was on a non smoking ship. This was the 1-23rd cruise.

 

Maybe they have installed the new air handling equipment they talked about for the casino?