Photo Review of the Norwegian Escape - June 18 to 25

[Dan_K]

Dan--Can you give us more photos of the Haven cabin? I assume it is a H4 (2 bedroom family villa), Any other details of the cabin would be appreciated.

 

Here are photos of the living room and the small bedroom.

 

 

[Dan_K]

Now turning my attention to food on the ship. As I previously indicated, I am a long-time vegetarian. I have to say that the staff on the Escape went out of their way to make sure that I had enough variety of excellent food. No complaints at all from this vegetarian.

 

We ate at Cagneys (the steak house) twice. Now, steakhouses are not usually the most friendly venues for vegetarians, but the staff went the extra mile to accommodate me. The Matre De at Cagneys (I believe his name is Johnson) looked after me personally. He sent down to the main dining room to get their vegetarian entre so I could eat with the family. One night it was an eggplant rolitini. The second night was an Indian dish that I enjoyed.

 

All that being said, I could have eaten every meal at the Haven restaurant. It is that good! And the decor of the restaurant is pleasing. Here is a photo.

 

 

The Matre de in the Haven restaurant is Lili (Lillibeth, I believe.) She is awesome, and looked after this vegetarian well.

 

 

One night, Lili arranged for this beautifully arranged fruit salad to to sent up for me from Food Republic.

 

 

Another night, the chef in the Haven restaurant sent out this pasta dish for my enjoyment.

 

 

Overall, if you are a vegetarian, you will be well taken care of on the Escape.

Edited June 29, 2016 by Dan_K

[CandiceK7187]

Following

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Dan_K]

A couple of photos of the waterfront on deck 8 at dusk.

 

 

[j603]

Great pics! I can't wait to be in the Haven in September!

[Two Wheels Only]

All that being said, I could have eaten every meal at the Haven restaurant.

Other than Tepp, FR, Bayamo, and Pincho, I might do exactly that next time on Escape. :D

 

 

The Matre de in the Haven restaurant is Lili (Lillibeth, I believe.) She is awesome, and looked after this vegetarian well.

She's also great with kids. Very friendly.

[jeff.witwer]

Love the pics and info.

 

Hey....what can you tell us/me about the bartenders in The Haven??

 

Who were they, did you have a favorite, and any special concoctions you enjoyed,etc.

 

Oh and I have to ask - Any kid/teenager issues in The Haven?

 

There was two main bartenders, Silvia <sp> and I can't remember. Both were excellent but Silvia was awesome. Always had a huge smile and a very good at what she does. My parents really got into the "Smoked Bourbon" but I didn't really go for anything exotic. I can tell you though that what they made in the Haven was always better than what I got at the main pool bar when comparing the same drink.

 

Personally...the kids in the Haven pool turned it into a kids pool. My only issue with the ship as a whole is that the pools were not great. The main pool is small and you are either sitting in 3" of water or treading water that is 7' deep.

[Cindyscruising]

Erol is the other Haven bartender..both were fantastic

[Dan_K]

Excursion 1.

 

Our first port of call was Saint Thomas in the US Virgin Islands. (Parenthetically, if you are on Verizon for cell service, internet works here with no roaming charges. Check with your carrier to confirm.) My wife didn't want to do an excursion, so my 12-year old daughter and I went for a snorkel and beach excursion. We had been snorkeling on a previous cruise at Norwegian's private island and greatly enjoyed.

 

We set off off on the catamaran called the Virgin Breeze to the snorkeling location.

 

 

Depending on where you sit on the catamaran, it can get VERY wet with water spraying up. Fortunately, I had brought along my boater's dry bag which kept my camera gear dry.

 

Once we got out to the snorkeling location, and after a brief instructional and safety presentation, we exited the catamaran and followed the guide to look for sea turtles. We did not realize, and the excursion literature failed to mention that it required quite a long swim in deep water with fairly strong currents to reach the sea turtles. We never made it that far. My daughter and I both got tired, and swam back to the boat. After resting a while, we went back in the water, stayed close to the boat, and snorkeled and saw some nice fish. Overall, we were both disappointed with the snorkeling portion of the excursion. If you are going on a snorkeling excursion and are not a VERY strong swimmer, please be sure to clarify how far you will need to swim and how deep the water is.

 

After the snorkeling portion, we spent about an hour or so at ABI Beach. This is a relatively secluded beach with lounge chairs. There is a bar, snack restaurant and you can rent kayaks, float mats, etc. We enjoyed this part of the excursion much more. My daughter and I rented floats ($10) and enjoyed floating in the warm water in a scenic location.

 

 

 

Overall, this excursion in Saint Thomas was enjoyable, but not as much as we had hoped. I wish we had done a different excursion where the snorkeling location was not as far a swim from the catamaran, and perhaps in shallower water. I guess it is somewhat my fault for not asking the right questions, but I also think that Norwegian's excursion literature could have explained this better.

 

Next, Virgin Gorda and the Baths.

[williecruz]

Loving your review and excellent pictures...Can't wait to hear about the Baths!

[tycup]

Excursion 1.

 

Our first port of call was Saint Thomas in the US Virgin Islands. (Parenthetically, if you are on Verizon for cell service, internet works here with no roaming charges. Check with your carrier to confirm.) My wife didn't want to do an excursion, so my 12-year old daughter and I went for a snorkel and beach excursion. We had been snorkeling on a previous cruise at Norwegian's private island and greatly enjoyed.

 

 

Is it just internet, as in data, or can you call, text, and use data on Verizon?

I heard it was all three but after reading other threads I'm not sure what is true or not.

[Dan_K]

Is it just internet, as in data, or can you call, text, and use data on Verizon?

I heard it was all three but after reading other threads I'm not sure what is true or not.

 

I believe all three, but I am not certain. I only used the internet.

[LrgPizza]

Is it just internet, as in data, or can you call, text, and use data on Verizon?

I heard it was all three but after reading other threads I'm not sure what is true or not.

 

Simply check with Verizon, because it's spelled out very clearly on their website. Data and texting are covered under the terms of your domestic plan. Voice calls are $1.79/minute.

[Dan_K]

Excursion Number 2 - The Baths.

 

Let me say this up front. This was the absolute highlight of the cruise. We booked the excursion through Norwegian. From Tortola, you take a ferry to Virgin Gorda, another island in the British Virgin Islands. The ferry ride takes about 30-40 minutes and is fairly smooth. (That being said, someone got seasick on the trip, and left an inconvenient puddle on the deck.) Upon arrival at Virgin Gorda, it is about a 10 minute ride on open-air safari buses.

 

You have the choice of either taking the path to the left which goes directly to Devil's Bay, or take the path to the right which goes to the caves, and ends up at Devils Bay. The path through the caves is definitely one way. You don't want to try to go against traffic as it can get narrow and it is crowded.

 

If you have mobility issues, you shouldn't try to pass through the caves. It does require scrambling over boulders, and fitting through tight spaces. You also walk through water, never more than ankle deep. I wore water shoes, and these are highly recommended as the rocks can be slippery. You don't need to be young or athletic to go through the caves (I am neither.) My spry 82-year old mother in law did it! So glad she did.

 

Here is my favorite photo that I took all week from the excursion to the Baths.

 

 

As you can see, it is quite beautiful. Maybe I am exaggerating, but to me it seems like one of the most beautiful places to which I have traveled. Definitely the best day of the week-long cruise.

 

Next Nassau.

Edited June 30, 2016 by Dan_K

[Cindyscruising]

Gorgeous pictures!!

[williecruz]

On our last sailing two weeks ago we skipped the Baths excursion since others complained about the mass of people. Did you find it to be overly crowded? After reading your review I'm thinking of doing the Baths excursion on our next sailing in September!!!

Great photo!!

[Dan_K]

On our last sailing two weeks ago we skipped the Baths excursion since others complained about the mass of people. Did you find it to be overly crowded? After reading your review I'm thinking of doing the Baths excursion on our next sailing in September!!!

Great photo!!

 

Thanks for the compliment on the photo. Yes, it was crowded. Not overly so. We took the 9 am excursion - I had lobbied to take the earlier 7 am excursion, but I did not prevail. I am not sure if it would have been more or less crowded had we gone earlier. Even with the crowds, this is not to be missed if you can do it.

[Dan_K]

Nassau and excursion 3.

 

The next to the last day of the cruise was spent in Nassau, Bahamas. I have been to Nassau many times, and it is not my favorite port, so I didn't have high expectations for this port. My family did not want to leave the ship and my daughter wanted to stay onboard to ride the waterslides. (Port days are good for doing the waterslides and the ropes course, as the lines are much shorter.)

 

As we sailed into port, I got this shot of the Nassau lighthouse. Although I have photographed the lighthouse several times before, I liked the position of the yacht in the frame.

 

 

There were four (maybe five) large ships in port this day, so the streets of Nassau were very crowded. It was also around 90 degrees.

 

Immediately upon arrival in port, I left the ship to run quickly to the straw market. I have a tradition of always going to the straw market to purchase a straw-market photo album for my cruise photos.

 

 

Having been to Nassau before, I decided to try to do something different and take the excursion to the zoo and gardens to take photographs. Unfortunately, by the time I tried to book, surprisingly the excursion was sold out. I thought about taking a taxi and going on my own, but I had excursion credits that I did not want to lose.

 

Instead, I booked an excursion entitled Beauty and Grandeur of Nassau (I think that was what was called.) This turned out to be a disappointment as it was merely a bus tour with very limited opportunities to get off the bus and photograph. The most interesting stop on the tour was the John Wattling's distillery. Here, they pour very small free samples of the rum and you can make additional purchases.

 

 

 

Overall, I did not enjoy the excursion as much as I would have hoped. I should have asked more questions and I thought the excursion could have been explained better in Norwegian's excursion literature. I will know better for next time.

 

That is it for Nassau.

 

Next time, crew, cabin, ship and conclusion.

[Dan_K]

Sorry for the delay in finishing this as I was away for the holiday weekend. Here is my impression of the ship itself.

 

 

This is a brand new, very clean and well appointed ship. It strikes me a huge. We were docked in Nassau next to one of Carnival's older ships, and she literally dwarfed her. Most of the public areas are on decks 6, 7 and 8.

 

With regard to cigarette smoke. I had read horror stories about how bad the smoke from the casino is in public areas. You can definitely smell it, but it was not as bad as I was expecting after reading about it. It seemed worse later in the week and particularly in the evenings, I suppose when the casino is most crowded. I would not have wanted to eat out at Le Bistro in the atrium, as the smoke smell would have detracted from the enjoyment of the meal. Inside the restaurants, there was no problem at all.

 

The main pool deck is overly crowded. It seemed to me that Norwegian devoted a huge amount of deck space to the ropes course and the water slides. The main pool is tiny and very crowded. My daughter and I enjoyed the water slides and the ropes course, but the top decks just don't have enough breathing room. That being said, as we were staying in the Haven, the lack of space on the pool deck didn't effect us as much.

 

The smoke, and the less than ideal design of the top deck are nitpicks. Overall, this is a beautiful and well engineered ship. By the way, I had read here about people thinking that the motion of the ship was worse than other ships. I did not experience that at all.

 

Next: food.