Take 2: Our Norwegian Escape Experience - June 24th Western Caribbean

[tripleboom]

Staring out at the sea, not a care in the world. Can life get better? I submit that it cannot.

 

 

Her toes, not mine:

 

 

 

Horseback riding in the ocean was available in some of the packages sold, but I believe you could also purchase most of the additional fee activities a la carte as well.

 

 

 

The video here is shown in real time. Or at least that's how fast this day in paradise seemed to be going!!

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[bmwcmu]

I know people LOOOOVE Cagney's, but if there's one thing we're spoiled by here in Omaha, it's good steakhouses. If you're ever in Omaha, head to The Drover and thank me later. This porterhouse was good, but couldn't crack the Top 10 of steaks I've had. Stacy was very complimentary of her filet though.

 

Enjoying your review!

I really enjoy Cagney's, but after living in Omaha for a while and going to The Drover quite a few times, I can vouch for their steaks as being probably the best steak I've ever had!

[tripleboom]

Enjoying your review!

I really enjoy Cagney's, but after living in Omaha for a while and going to The Drover quite a few times, I can vouch for their steaks as being probably the best steak I've ever had!

 

They had me at "whiskey filet" :D Brother Sebastian's and Omaha Prime are a couple of other staples, but The Drover keeps me coming back.

[tripleboom]

After drinking in the sights for a while, it was time to head out on our snorkel trip. Hondruas is home to one of the largest reef systems in the world, so we knew we should be in for a treat. As is so often the case, these pictures won't do it justice. It was just incredible to see in person. With our guide and driver on board our skiff, we headed out for a 5 minute ride to the reef.

 

 

 

Once we arrived we donned our masks and jumped in. Life vests were available but not mandatory. I threw caution to the wind (or at least threw it a safe distance without the risk of hurting others... I am still an insurance guy ya know) and left the boat without a life vest. No regrets there. I was glad I was left unencumbered.

 

 

 

 

About halfway through the snorkel, Stacy told me she thought she could see jellyfish. For the life of me I couldn't see them through my own mask. I figured it was just something on the inside of her mask, but sure enough, I could see them later on in my GoPro footage. At least I think they were jellyfish? I'll leave it to the amateur marine biologists on the boards to let me know. You can see the creature I'm talking about in the photo below. The pink-ish translucent body is near the buoy on the rights side of the photo.

 

At any rate, whatever they were never bothered us while we snorkeled.

 

[tripleboom]

 

 

 

After we cleared the end of the reef our guide led us to a nearby shipwreck that was visible on the sea floor. Very cool! Cooler yet was our guide. He is an impressive free diver. I was able to swim about 10-12 feet down before the pressure on my ears became uncomfortable. This guy was able to swim all the way down to the bottom and hang around the shipwreck for a while before resurfacing. What a stud.

 

 

One last comment. Before the vacation I had purchased a set of lens filters for my GoPro. I had used a GoPro with no filters on a previous snorkel a couple years back and all the photos and video turned out pretty murky. I spent $15 on the set of three filters, used just the one here, and was very pleased with the performance. Dramatic difference in quality over the previous snorkel.

 

With our snorkel complete we all climbed back aboard the skiff and headed in. It was about 40 minutes or so in the water, and by now we had worked up an appetite!

[scopewest]

Loving your review, thank you for posting!

[tsimm0906]

They had me at "whiskey filet" :D Brother Sebastian's and Omaha Prime are a couple of other staples, but The Drover keeps me coming back.

 

Hey fellow Omahan! Yes love the Drover. My husband and I use to frequent that alot when we were dating 20+ years. Haven't been back lately, we might have to. So glad to see other Omahan's sailing Norwegian and on the forum. This will be our first cruise on the Escape but we are doing a Eastern Caribbean in September.

[tripleboom]

Hey fellow Omahan! Yes love the Drover. My husband and I use to frequent that alot when we were dating 20+ years. Haven't been back lately, we might have to. So glad to see other Omahan's sailing Norwegian and on the forum. This will be our first cruise on the Escape but we are doing a Eastern Caribbean in September.

 

Small world! On behalf of my wife, GOOOOOO BIIIIIIIG REEEEEEEEED! I'm an Iowa boy at heart so I can't shout that myself, but we sure do love living in Omaha. We actually ran into another Omaha couple one evening at Howl at the Moon Dueling Pianos, so it seems everywhere you turn a stone you'll find a Nebraskan :D

[canadadreamer]

Great reveiw

[marmirdc]

Small world! On behalf of my wife, GOOOOOO BIIIIIIIG REEEEEEEEED! I'm an Iowa boy at heart so I can't shout that myself, but we sure do love living in Omaha. We actually ran into another Omaha couple one evening at Howl at the Moon Dueling Pianos, so it seems everywhere you turn a stone you'll find a Nebraskan :D

 

A couple of Nebraskans loving the review (bout an hr west of Omaha).. 26 days till we leave Eppley and head for the Escape(stopping off first in New Orleans for a couple of days) Looking forward to the rest of the review 👍

[tripleboom]

Once we made it back to LFK, I noticed right away that the famous diving platform decks were right next to us. Starving as I was, I had to give it a try before we went to get some grub.

 

 

 

 

So much fun!! Video of my exploits here. This also includes footage from the other diving platform near the dock where we got dropped off on the island.

 

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After the shenanigans we headed off to have our meal. It included a pretty healthy portion of beans, rice, yucca chips, chicken, beef, shrimp, and calamari. Yum!! I devoured it too quickly to bother photographing. Sorry! Also washed it down with the local signature drink, the Monkey La La. Delicious and Nutri... well it was delicious anyway.

 

 

Another one of the beach areas was nearby and provided another picturesque view.

 

 

We had one other must-do activity on the island, so next we "swung" back over to the animal preserve area.

 

[usckatieh]

Whew!! So glad they're showing up ok now! That was a little aggravating last night.

 

To answer your question from the original thread, I use the GoPro Studio software available for download from their website to cut the video up into consolable chunks, than upload those clips as unlisted videos to YouTube. Once they're uploaded to YouTube, I assemble the clips into a movie with music, transitions, etc. and publish them as a public video. It's not professional quality work by any means, but it gets the job done!

 

Great meeting you as well Katie!

 

Sent from my XT1094 using Forums mobile app

 

 

 

Thank you! I just started playing with Go Pro Studio this weekend and it's working great! I appreciate the tips! Great review so far!!

[tripleboom]

My wife has three loves in her life: her husband and her two boys. But in an uncomfortably close 4th place comes big cats. Not Maine Coons mind you. So when I learned that a baby jaguar had recently been born at the LFK animal preserve, AND that interaction sessions with the jaguar would be available, it was a no-brainer. Best $35 I've ever spent on her.

 

When we first got to the enclosure, we saw that there was a baby tiger there as well. No extra charge to pet the 5-month old Bengal tiger!

 

 

 

 

Then it was on to the main attraction. The 3.5 month old baby jaguar, Esther. That grin on Stacy's face is actually 6-year old Stacy's smile. Pretty sure.

 

 

 

[tripleboom]

 

The baby tiger was getting a little jealous of all the attention Esther was getting, and started stalking Stacy and Esther! Just playfully, but even at 5 months, a "playful" tiger bite hurts!

 

 

 

 

 

[cuterlmt]

loving your review, even though I have no plans to go on the Escape or to the Western Caribbean. What a thoughtful gift to your wife! I bet she was thrilled. Great pictures.

[tripleboom]

I suddenly found myself wishing I had Pam's cell number. Maybe if I would have called her I could have convinced her to keep the Escape in port for a couple of extra hours, but alas we had to leave LFK to head back to Coxen Hole. We left a little earlier than may have been necessary, but since this was not an excursion booked through NCL we didn't want to risk getting left behind. We took the ferry back over to Frenchy's hopped in a minivan, and got back to the port in about 40 minutes from LFK to Coxen Hole. A lively Honduran band was greeting passengers back.

 

 

We headed back to the room and found that Musawir, our incredible room steward, had decorated the room for our anniversary, and that Deepak had sent some treats for us as well. So thoughtful!

 

 

 

 

[tripleboom]

We made such good time getting back to the ship that we decided that we finally had time to try out the aqua park on boards. The aqua racer slide was up first!

 

 

And then I had to give the drop floor Aqua Loop slide a shot. Even though my face says "I've made a terrible mistake" it was actually a super fun ride!

 

 

 

 

Here's my highlight video from my Escape aqua park experiences from over the whole week.

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After an incredibly fun day we decided to check out the scene at Spice H2O. With most people still enjoying the port, the area was buzzing but not busy. We ordered a couple of Bushwackers and then shuttled back and forth between the grotto and the hot tub.

 

[tripleboom]

We finally decided it was time to head back to the room and get showered and cleaned up for an active evening on the ship. We knew we didn't have time for a full sit down meal, so after seeing Roatan shrink behind us...

 

 

... then it was time to hit the buffet. Donatello was feeling a little introspective about today's adventures.

 

 

So while we left Donatello to his thoughts, we hit the buffet and saw this incredible melon artwork

 

 

If there's one thing I knew would brighten Donatello's spirit, it was pizza.

 

 

It takes a special woman to put up with my shenanigans. Glad I found her!

 

 

Killed a little time on The Waterfront before heading to Headliners.

 

Edited July 11, 2017 by tripleboom

[tripleboom]

We headed to Headliners next for the Howl at the Moon Dueling Pianos show and it did NOT disappoint! The barkeep hooked me up with my go to drink, Angry Balls (A pint glass full of Angry Orchard with a shot of Fireball at the bottom), we settled into some good seats, and at 8:30 sharp the show began! These guys were some incredibly talented musicians and they had the whole room going the whole night!

 

 

Happy birthday, British Pete! This guys was a great sport!

 

 

[tripleboom]

To absolutely no one's surprise, the omnipresent Tyler Gray made an appearance at Howl at the Moon! Tyler was a blast and a pretty talented drummer himself!

 

 

 

Word to the wise... Do NOT request Backstreet Boys while Tyler is there. Or do. Your call.. Just know that things happen. Things that can't be unseen.

 

 

 

 

 

Seriously though, this night was a blast! Sang along until we were both hoarse and laughed until our sides hurt!

[tripleboom]

After a late night at Howl at the Moon it was time to head to bed. Hope you don't mind a picture of a couple of love birds in bed.

 

 

 

Day #4 in Harvest Caye up next! Good night, Cruise Critic!

[tripleboom]

loving your review, even though I have no plans to go on the Escape or to the Western Caribbean. What a thoughtful gift to your wife! I bet she was thrilled. Great pictures.

Thanks for following along! Maybe I'll have you convinced by the end of all this to give the Escape a shot 😉

 

Sent from my XT1094 using Forums mobile app

[taylortime05]

I'm enjoying your review. We've cruised with Royal & Celebrity before. We are cruising on Escape on Nov 25 th with me and hubby. I can't wait. Can't wait for all of your review. Thanks so much.

[MsAllie]

Yay! I can see pictures now!!! Thank you so much for your amazing review :D

[slyone14]

Loving your review. Working as a claims adjuster also I can understand throwing caution in the wind.

 

I will join your "I'm really pale and have a farmer's tan club". When I'm at the beach I always wear a surf water proof type shirt. I admire your bravery of going shirtless. I'm scared to death of sun burn. Had sun poisoning once and will never again. Lol annndddd I live in Florida.