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Thanksgiving Week Escape Review

eyoreblu

By eyoreblu,
in Norwegian Cruise Line

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eyoreblu

eyoreblu

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Sitting here in the airport for 8 hours gives me plenty of time to write a review of our Thanksgiving week on the Escape. I just want to thank everyone who posts reviews and helpful information as it always proves invaluable! This was our first NCL cruise and I have to admit I was worried about the size of the boat. Come from Princess and Holland ships and knew it would be different. I will definitely cruise NCL again!!! Never felt the effects of a sold out ship and loved the huge variety of things to do on board.

 

We flew out of LAX Friday before the cruise and stayed the night in Ft. Lauderdale. We stayed at the Courtyard at Ft. Lauderdale beach. Great location and great hotel. Took Uber to Miami port Saturday morning and was on the ship within 15-20 minutes. Easy Peasy!

 

Went to Taste for lunch and had the popcorn shrimp on a recommendation from another post. LOVED the popcorn shrimp and had it another two times. Already miss it! We got Vibe passes and I have to say it is worth the expense. Everyone there was so friendly and nice to talk with. My husband loved that he could sit at the bar and watch some football without such a crowd.

 

Food - we had the UDP and used it! Cagneys - great steakhouse. We ate there for Thanksgiving and loved it! Had the surf and turf and ribeye. Both cooked perfectly and great flavor. La Cucina - this was not my favorite but that was not because of the service or the food. Just that I am a picky eater and the sauce on my fettuccini and shrimp wasn't to my taste. The shrimp was huge and tender! Moderno - this was different for us. We have never eaten at a Brazilian steakhouse type restaurant before. As stated before the salad bar is amazing and the meat choices were awesome. My husband tried them all and the lamb chop was his favorite. My favorite was the lemon herb chicken breast. The bacon wrapped filet was tasty too! Teppanyaki - really had a good time here. Fun presentation and such good fresh food! Ate at Taste our first night and for a couple breakfasts. Always good hot food prepared how I asked for it. Ate at buffet a few times and it is buffet food. Nothing bad just buffet food. Ate at O'Sheehans for a quick lunch but it was not my favorite. Would have rather had my popcorn shrimp! Also did the Supper Club one evening but the food was so far out of my comfort zone I cannot honestly give a review as I hardly ate anything. Again my fault for being so picky! Food Republic - OMG so, so good. I really felt the prices were low! Had the wings. The Korean beef tacos Yummy and the sliders were so juicy and flavorful! Hung at the District Brewhouse for some different beers. Great vibe to the place.

 

Entertainment - LOVED, LOVED Howl at the Moon. Went three different times. Stayed hours each time. I truly think the sign of good entertainment is when the crew shows up to hang out. That happened every time. Tyler Grey, the cruise director, would show up and play the drums. They let an 11 year old play drums with them several times. He was amazing! Didn't do the dance parties, not our thing but talked with people and they said they had a blast! Went to several things in the atrium. Probably my only complaint, the seating situation sucked! Tyler was so funny and good with guests. It was hysterical to watch him. We got to watch someone win $1000 during Deal or No Deal.

 

Ports - St. Thomas. Did the Snorkel Champagne Catarman - crew was great and took us to a beautiful beach! Tortola - did the Ultimate Adventure Jost Van Dyke this was so worth every penny! Took a small rapid inflatable boat (RIB) with 7 of us completely around Tortola. Stopped at Jost Van Dyke for an hour. Such an awesome beach. I was worried about the boat but our guide was so good navigating that I never once felt nervous. It was awesome! Nassau - we took a taxi to the Atlantis hotel and walked forever. It is an amazing hotel and should be checked out. We went where we probably shouldn't have but we just walked around the pools and beach. Was a fun but tiring trip!

 

Overall we had an amazing trip. Yes the pool area is crowded. Yes there kids who need manners but so do some adults. We met so many friendly people. I never had trouble with finding a table or places to sit. I would recommend making reservations early if there is something you really want to try! I would recommend the Escape to anyone, I feel it met the needs of such a large, diverse group!

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myToast

myToast

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Thanks for your awesome review! I board the Escape next week. So excited and your review added more!

I'm also staying in Ft Lauderdale the night before and thinking of taking an uber to port. What time did you did you get to the port?

 

 

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L1211 "Live from...." Rare

L1211

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Tortola - did the Ultimate Adventure Jost Van Dyke this was so worth every penny! Took a small rapid inflatable boat (RIB) with 7 of us completely around Tortola. Stopped at Jost Van Dyke for an hour. Such an awesome beach.

 

Thanks for your review - we leave mid-December! Can you tell me more about your Tortola excursion? Was it private? Who'd you book through? Did you have to charter, or only purchase your tickets? How about time frame? the short day in Tortola scares me for doing too much. Appreciate your thoughts!

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eyoreblu

eyoreblu

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We got to the port right at 11:30 or 12 ish. Literally was on the boat within 15 minutes. DO NOT go this late if you want to try for Vibe passes. I think that people were in their rooms by 3 or so. Seemed earlier than what I had previously read.

 

Leslie

 

Thanks for your awesome review! I board the Escape next week. So excited and your review added more!

I'm also staying in Ft Lauderdale the night before and thinking of taking an uber to port. What time did you did you get to the port?

 

 

 

 

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eyoreblu

eyoreblu

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Booked through NCL. It was not cheap, I think that it was 179? We had two time slots, did the 7:15 am and were back just before 11 am. It was perfect, stayed in Jost Van Dyke for about an hour, and just as we were leaving it started to get crowded with other catamarans. When we arrived, we had time to go in all the shops at the cruise port in Tortola. Even had time to have a glass blown necklace made custom. Watch the video on the NCL Excursion site. I was worried about getting wet and we never did, but we did purchase in St. Thomas, waterproof cell phone pouches (should have gotten before we left!) and those allowed me to take tons of pictures while on the small boat. He even took us to the small island where they filmed the Corona Beer commercials.

 

Leslie

 

Tortola - did the Ultimate Adventure Jost Van Dyke this was so worth every penny! Took a small rapid inflatable boat (RIB) with 7 of us completely around Tortola. Stopped at Jost Van Dyke for an hour. Such an awesome beach.

 

Thanks for your review - we leave mid-December! Can you tell me more about your Tortola excursion? Was it private? Who'd you book through? Did you have to charter, or only purchase your tickets? How about time frame? the short day in Tortola scares me for doing too much. Appreciate your thoughts!

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eyoreblu

eyoreblu

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I booked early, as soon as we could on the NCL website, I think 90 days in advance? I noticed Cagneys was off the table very early even on the website so glad that we booked it. I would recommend booking if you have any idea what you want to do. Every restaurant was amazing. We sat outside on the waterfront both at Cagneys and at La Cucina and just loved it.

 

Leslie

 

How far in advance did you book dining and shows?

 

thanks!

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snownow

snownow

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Tortola - did the Ultimate Adventure Jost Van Dyke this was so worth every penny! Took a small rapid inflatable boat (RIB) with 7 of us completely around Tortola. Stopped at Jost Van Dyke for an hour. Such an awesome beach.

 

Thanks for your review - we leave mid-December! Can you tell me more about your Tortola excursion? Was it private? Who'd you book through? Did you have to charter, or only purchase your tickets? How about time frame? the short day in Tortola scares me for doing too much. Appreciate your thoughts!

 

We did the Escape to Jost van dyke.... In going to agree, woth every penny. I love this place. It is less adventurous than the Adventure one but had more time on the island. I love this place... I wonder if one of the bars is for sale :)

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