Light review of Escape 10/8 to 10/15

[Elevatorman]

My DH and I are retired BabyBoomers who have cruised 43 times beginning in 1991. We have cruised on Princess, RCCL, Celebrity, NCL, and 2 Carnival. We have snorkeled, swam, tubed and rafted our way around the Caribbean, and Panama Canal. We haved shopped till we dropped, ate and drank and taxied our way around.

I mention this because we rarely get off the ship anymore. It's great to have a half empty ship to enjoy and an empty pool deck to enjoy. We are early risers and like to be at the pool all morning till about 2 o'clock . On to the review.

 

We left Fort Lauderdale at 9:30, using Larry's Limo car service. We were at terminal B at 10:45. Our group was #3. We boarded around 11:30.

First stop was lunch at the buffet. We ate at the buffet for every breakfast and lunch. The layout was not very functional. The food was good . You could always find something. The best experience for us was to go all the way to the aft. The view was great and it was quieter. Both sides of the line had the same items, but at the aft you had paninis,sandwiches and in the evening crêpes.

 

At this point I should say that there must have been 1000 children on this sailing. We never ate dinner in the buffet because it was just too loud and with the kids running around, not a great environment . The families must have loved it so good for them. They paid for the cruise too, it's not fair to fault kids for being kids, and the parents need to let loose on vacay.

 

On to our first drink, Tobacco Road, we loved this bar and it was our go-to all week. The team of servers were fun, no matter how busy.

 

The cabins were ready so off we went, it must have been around 1:30. We had minisuite 13234. The cabin was odd, very narrow,no drawers, the closet was awful and the hangers were difficult. The bed was by the small balcony. The bathroom was huge, deluxe and spotless. Our steward was just OK. We tipped him extra up front, but he ignored notes I left him, for 2 extra coffee packets, & to empty the fridge. It wasn't a language issue, we had prepaid tips, didn't leave him extra at the end.

 

The pool deck is not a beautiful resort style area. The kids aqua park seemed like fun for families. The Pool there was as noisy as you would imagine. The adult till 5pm pool was small, so very crowded. The music noise level was way over deafening. The loungers were slapped right on top of one another, no little tables between to put stuff on. Some veteran cruises figured out to remove a chair to make room to get up and down. I missed the meet and mingle because I didn't want to loose my spot. If you looked for a lounger after 9:30 forget it.

 

We ate at Bayamo, Le Bistro, Cagneys and Food Republic twice. I give them all a rave review, food and service great. DH didn't like the Bistro french onion soup. But that didn't ruin the experience.

 

We did early disembark and got down to deck 7 at 7:15 , got through customs and were sitting at the taxi stand at 7:35. Perfect

 

I only commented on the areas we used, sorry about the shows, just never got to them. We hope you enjoy the Escape, we feel lucky to be able to cruise and don't let little problems spoil our fun! We had a good time!

[back-at-it]

So with 43 cruises and many ships, how do you rate the ships in your personal preference. I have only cruised on Carnival until 5 days from now and I will be on the EPIC transatlantic.

[Elevatorman]

As far as cabins go, the Royal and Regal Princess has the best mini-suite. A tv across fron the sofa and a tv across fron the bed, a drape separating the areas if you choose to use it. All free movies. The pool deck is great, with a real pizza shop and burger place on that deck. Beautiful atrium.

I love the Allure and Oasis of the Seas on RCCL, diving show, Central Park, Boardwalk with carousel , fun night life , top shows in theater.

Celebrity ,we like the Silhouette, very adult, not too flashy at night, great solarium, great specialty restaurants. Good vibe at the bars.

My favorite is Oasis class RCCl, with Princess a close second.

I hope I answered your question, it's hard to choose.

[easyboy]

Thanks for the feedback.

[bazbov]

Thanks for telling us about your cruise experience,very pleased that you enjoyed it. Happy cruising. :)

[cincicruisers]

Thanks for sharing your review with us.

[chicail16]

Thanks! Good quick review!