NCL Escape Review 5/14 to 5/21

[LovetheCubs]

Background...this was our first cruise. It was our 10 year anniversary trip. We are 37 and 32 and traveling for the first time in almost 10 years without our children!!

 

Here is how our cruise went!

 

We had originally booked the angled balcony room on the 12th floor. We flew out on Friday and just had a very frustrating experience with annoying people at the airport. When we landed in Miami my husband said to me "Call the upsell number and see if any of the Haven rooms are still available". I figured the day before there was NO way there would be any rooms left. Lo and behold we snagged the last Haven room on our trip. It was the 2 bedroom suite on the 18th floor. 18104 to be exact!! Let me go ahead and say this was worth EVERY penny! It was the MOST relaxing place we have ever been. I have heard people say the Haven can be crowded and kids running all over. We didn't experience this! It was simply amazing and we are now spoiled and afraid to try to cruise not in an area like the Haven! Michael our room steward was the best!! Our room was never messy, we had fun towel animals daily, and he always was smiling. These men work HARD and long hours and he was ALWAYS happy!

 

Boarding was easier than anticipated. We arrived around 10 and we were escorted to the Haven check in and then upstairs to the waiting area with comfy seats and refreshments. We chatted with a few avid cruisers and we were boarding before we knew it!

We were escorted to the Haven lounge where we met Adrian and had cheeseburger sliders! We then took the time to wander around the ship that was relatively empty and got some GREAT pics! This was the perfect time to do this and get pictures without a ton of people in them!

We then retreated to the Haven restaurant for lunch. Again this was our first cruise so the whole eat and leave thing took some getting use to! The meal was great and the service phenomenal! Our luggage arrived about 3:45.

 

The Review Highlights:

-The Haven Restaurant we found to be relaxing and the food delicious. We never had bad service. We made a comment about liking seats by the windows in passing and every time we went back after we were promptly seated at a window seat! The only thing is we ate there for almost every dinner and got to the point where we had tried the whole menu! Since this was a last min upsell we didn't get the dining package and after paying for an upgraded room didn't have the money to spend on extra meals! :)

 

-The Haven Bar was a great place to hang out. We loved Brancko (sp?) He was the best bartender we have ever met! I would say something like...."I want a rum and coke" and he would give me a look and say "no you don't". Then he would make some AMAZING drink I had never heard of! I always enjoyed seeing what he would make when he knew what I was in the mood for. He made some smokey drinks for my husband that were so fun to watch being made and he loved them! We only ever had a problem finding a place AT the bar to sit once. People did congregate there to watch the fun and talk with the bartenders.

 

-The Haven Sundeck was amazing. We never had a problem finding 2 seats next to each other in the sun. We went up there at 10 one day and 2 and every time in between. The service was good during the day. They would come around with light snacks and would bring you anything you wanted from the bar. At night it was deserted. We sat in the hot tub one night at 8 and we were the only one around! It was so quiet and peaceful! Did I say this was our first trip without kids?!!! :)

 

-Margaritaville Restaurant....we went here twice! We LOVE the atmosphere at Margaritaville at home so we HAD to try it! The first time we sat by the window and had cheeseburgers. It was almost empty in there at 11:30. We can't complain about the cost at all. It was VERY inexpensive compared to land! The food was on par with what you would get on land too! The second time we sat at the bar. Again it was almost empty. Although it was VERY hot by the bar. There was no airflow over there so it may have been the reason it was not busy! I have to say we would have LOVED to have seen it open later in the evening for a late night snack. They were only open from 11-4 which seemed like a waste to us! On the last night we did find the sandbar shop did have Margaritaville at Sea T-shirts that they hadn't had all week! This was exciting for us!

 

-O'Sheehans...we went here about 2pm on our St. Thomas day. This was the WORST experience we had on the ship. They sat us at a high top by the bar. It took about 15 min before anyone came to ask us if we wanted a drink. We ordered drinks....nachos...and hot dogs. Our drinks came, then our hot dogs. Our drinks were gone and no refill was offered. And we didn't get the nachos. We finally tracked down another waiter and asked him for our nachos as our original waiter was no where to be found. They finally did come out and we left and got drinks at the bar on our way out. The table next to us was told they had to go to the bar to get a soda or water which I found odd. The wait staff just didn't care here which was disappointing because it seemed like it could be a fun place to hang out. We never went back!

 

-Shows....After Midnight was ok. I fell asleep in it to be honest. We went to the 10 pm show and it just wasn't our cup of tea. The men dancers were good and the singing ok it was just boring to us.

The Frankie Valli Tribute Band was great. We did enjoy this show. The dinner was ok, nothing special but the singing and stage show was great.

The Brat Pack was the highlights of popular 80s movies. Maybe we were too young for this to be entertaining for us. We just couldn't get into it. The talent was good just again wasn't our cup of tea. I wouldn't go back if we had the chance....if you get what I am saying!

Howl at the Moon was amazing....once! We went on Wednesday night and loved it! They were very talented and hilarious! We loved the audience participation and really enjoyed the show. We went back on Friday and we were kind of disappointed. It was the same songs and yes they are requested but just not as fun the second time around!

Brenda Kaye show....my husband really didn't want to go to this but went to humor me! We both said it was way better than we expected. We hadn't laughed that hard in a long time! It was fun...we would have went again if it wasn't the last show of the week!

The Comedy Club at Headliners....we went to the 11 o'clock adult show. Everything is funnier with a F bomb thrown in there every once in a while! It was fun and enjoyable!

 

St. Thomas-We took the ship excursion from Captain Nautica. We snorkeled at turtle bay. We enjoyed this trip. The ride was fast and fun. We were the first of about 5 boats to reach the snorkel sight so it was great to be in the water before all the others showed up! We had a ton of water time! We saw a turtle up close and personal and that was really neat! We also went to another site where there was a shipwreck. We saw some fish but the turtle was way cooler! We then did some shopping and headed back to the boat. If you want to buy alcohol this is the place. They had several shops that had liquor for DIRT cheap!! We also were able to find our fill of cheap t-shirts and plenty of touristy items!

 

Tortola-We made the mistake of rushing off the ship here. There wasn't anything open at 7am! Nothing really opened until 9. We did some shopping around the pier and then did the snorkel trip to Norman Island with Sail Caribbean Divers. The water here was phenomenal. This was our top snorkel trip ever (beating out HI and Key West). We saw some amazing fish and really neat coral! We even saw a squid and a barracuda! After about an hour in the water we went to a beach and hung out for a while. This was so relaxing and the water was clear and warm! Some did some additional snorkeling but we decided to hang out on the beach!

 

Nassau-We ended up arriving here late because of a medical evacuation that occurred after we left Tortola. We didn't get off the ship until about 1:30 so they gave us until 7pm to spend here. We spent the day at Blue Lagoon. Getting from the ship to the ferry to go to Blue Lagoon wasn't the easiest. There wasn't much communication on where exactly to go so it was kind of guess and follow the herd. Luckily we went the right way but it was frustrating! We got to Blue Lagoon and the water was beautiful. It was shallow and the sand was soft. We found a spot under some shade as we had spent TOO much time on the Haven sundeck haha! The water seemed like it would have been AWESOME for younger kids. In fact I plan on taking our kids there on a cruise next year. With the trip we were given lunch and a drink. It was good picnic like food. The hammocks were shaded, comfy and relaxing! We only spent about 30 min in them but wish we would have spent more time here! The boat ride back was about an hr. They weren't in a hurry and we made it back to the ship at 7:05!! Of course I was stressing but luckily it was a NCL excursion so we knew the boat wouldn't leave us behind!

 

Disembarking was easy and sad! They brought the papers on Thursday and it was definitely a downer! Being the Haven we were escorted down the staff elevators and right to the ramp. Cabs were lined up and ready to take us to the airport. Kicking and screaming of course!

 

Public Service Announcement- They have made a marvelous invention called headphones. They work wonders! If you do not like the music that is being played over the boats intercom system USE HEADPHONES!!!! Not everyone wants to listen to Taylor Swift OVER the music the boat is playing. Bluetooth speakers are for your cabin and balcony! That is all...thank you!!! :)

 

Thanks for reading!! Fell in love with cruising on this trip! It is so relaxing when you have no choice but to relax!!

[Sand and Seas]

Thanks for your review! And upselling to the Haven at the last minute? How awesome is that.....so jealous;)

[Two Wheels Only]

I was on the exact same cruise.

 

We probably saw each other in the Haven restaurant. :D

[BirdTravels]

Congrats on the upsell. We were with you in the Havens also.

[cincicruisers]

Thank you for taking the time to post your review.

[Yorkvillain]

Nice review. I enjoyed it.

[Keith1010]

I enjoyed reading your review.

Keith