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

[jaxw17]

Loving the review. Congrats on the wedding anniversary as well.

[C-Hawk]

Well if that's not the craziest case of "small world" I've ever seen! It's one thing for you to know my wife and sister-in-law. Quite another to know them AND sail on the same ship as us less than a month apart! Incredible! I'll mention the chance encounter to Amanda next time we chat!

Tell Amanda Aaron says hi

[NayRN]

Funny you say this I grew up between 10 mile and Stephens Used to be East Detroit . I used to go to all the Kid Rock shows at the RITZ. lol and hang out at Harpos.

 

HARPOS!! Holy cow! Blast from the past!! :cool: I grew up on the Warren side of 8 Mile!

[cruzqueen518]

I'm going to go with anteater. Loving your review!!!

 

Hahaha, I was going to say anteater as well! :')

[sjbdtz]

I wish I had gotten a definitive answer from our steward! I went with brontosaurus, whereas Stacy thought it was a large tortoise, the type with really long necks. Maybe her contacts were bothering her that day ;p

 

 

I assume it had to be one of these:

 

 

There was green alligators and long-necked geese,

Some humpty-backed camels and some chimpanzees,

Some cats and rats and elephants, but sure as you're born,

The loveliest of all was the Unicorn.

Stephen

.

[WaywardBlue]

I'm enjoying reading about your adventure! The pictures...the videos...the comments...all great! Looks like you both had a great time...I look forward to reading about what's up next...thanks for sharing!

[anonmom]

If he didn't, I saw that shadowmeboy was just on Escape and he posted menus as well as the Dailies. Here is the link:

 

Shadowmeboy's Escape to the Western Caribbean!

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2516206

 

 

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Thanks for the tip! Between these 2 awesome Escape reviews, I'm not going to get anything done this week. B)

 

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[anonmom]

Unfortunately I did not take any photos of the MDR menus. We scoped out the menus on a couple of different nights, but on those nights we looked, nothing looked particularly appetizing! I'm kinda disappointed we never got around to eating in the MDR, particularly The Manhattan Room.

 

 

 

This cruise really did get me excited to take them on a cruise somewhere down the line! Airfare is the most difficult part. Each of our previous three cruises we've used an airline credit card program to fly for free. That's doable when you're flying two people down, but tougher when trying to make it four. Time to start saving!!

 

I hear that. I am trying to figure out how to maximize our SDP without missing out on the MDRs, especially the Manhattan Room. What I've got so far is that we are going to have to eat 4 meals per day! 😝

 

As far as taking the kids or not, we're doing the opposite of you. For our first two cruises, we felt like we'd be leaving money on the table if we didn't use the KSF! So we just sucked it up and 'paid' for three airfares each time. (We also use credit card rewards and airline miles to fly to our departure ports.) But our Escape cruise will be our honeymoon, so we are leaving our daughter at home and getting the SPD for our second perk instead of KSF. (UBP always being our first perk, of course.)

 

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[alreadypacked]

Once at the bottom of the first set of zip lines we were directed back into the shack below the lighthouse. Once there the staff removed the harness we were first set up in, and were then helped into the Superman Zipline harness set. It essentially looks like you're wearing an oversized apron with all the hardware on your back. Once suited up we headed back to the freight elevator and to the other side of the lighthouse. Stacy went first. They hook you up to the zip with stunning speed and efficiency. While the speed was honestly kind of alarming, there's nothing to make me think they weren't being safe. Just well trained and able to get the job done quickly. Once Stacy was hooked up while still upright, they then had her lean forward until she was suspended in air. Once the final checks were made, they let go of the line, and off she went!

 

Waving to my constituents below.

 

 

What would have been an 8-10 minute walk from the lighthouse (if taking the land route of course. No matter what my boys think, I can't walk on water) was done in about 30 seconds. INCREDIBLE!! I hit the brakes at the end and screeched to a halt. Once lowered through the hole in the platform I was detached, hopped on a golf cart, and we caught a lift back to the lighthouse to collect our belongings from the locker.

 

A video of the highlights of our Flighthouse Zipline experience is here:

HEbwYbdjjA8

 

Thanks for the awesome zipline video! Truly impressive--glad you enjoyed it!!

 

I will live vicariously through you, as I don't do heights. Looking at the video, I was saying to myself, "No [insert expletives here] way!

 

Loving your review and pictures in general; so nice of you to repost so everyone could see the photos!

 

Love the "10 Forward" reference! One of my all-time favorite shows!!

 

Congrats on your 10th Anniversary--you have a beautiful family!

 

Looking forward to my fall Escape cruise!

[Dmccourt]

Thanks for your post. We changed our excursion for Roatan based on your posts. Did you all get the drink package on the ship? We haven't done NCL in many years so we are wondering do they still do paper receipts for each drink so we have the option to tip on our account rather than carry a lot of small bills. Thanks.

[tripleboom]

Thanks for the kind words, and for following along everyone! Full family weekend, so I'm sorry I haven't been able to get to put day in Cozumel just yet! Full day at the amusement park with the boys tomorrow, so I should be back to posting sometime Monday!

 

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[Dannirose]

Really enjoying your recap, thanks for sharing! I can't wait to experience the Escape and your review is making me even more excited. Happy anniversary!:D

[sun_lovin!1]

Sailing on the Escape in September for my birthday. Thanks for the awesome review!

 

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[NMLady]

... Did you all get the drink package on the ship? We haven't done NCL in many years so we are wondering do they still do paper receipts for each drink so we have the option to tip on our account rather than carry a lot of small bills. Thanks.

 

If you buy or are given the "free" drink package you pay gratuity charge up front so no paper receipt.

If you buy your drinks as you go there is an automatic gratuity added to the price of the drink. But yes you are then given a paper receipt to sign and you can add a tip on top of the already added gratuity if you wish.

[Stcksav]

 

After about a twenty minute drive, and a handful of rain clouds along the way, we arrived at the location for the ATV ride. After dumping our excess bags and gear and getting carpet bombed by bug spray, we were given a quick tutorial on how to use these automatic transmission ATVs, covered the hand signals used to communicate while out on the trail, and then we were broken into groups of inexperienced riders and experienced ones. The experienced riders would lead the pack, with the inexperienced at the back.

 

 

Did they supply/recommend the mosquito spray?

[tripleboom]

Thanks for your post. We changed our excursion for Roatan based on your posts. Did you all get the drink package on the ship? We haven't done NCL in many years so we are wondering do they still do paper receipts for each drink so we have the option to tip on our account rather than carry a lot of small bills. Thanks.

 

Looks like LFK owes me a commission ;p Enjoy your time there! You'll love it!

 

As another poster mentioned, the only time I received a paper receipt for my drink purchase was before we were in international waters, so they charged my the Miami sales tax on the value of the drink. The UBP for free is only sort of free as you do pay an 18% gratuity charge on the value of the package at the time of booking.

 

Did they supply/recommend the mosquito spray?

 

Prior to leaving the camp, they did supply a giant tub of mosquito repellent lotion, but in hindsight I'd recommend bringing your own. There was only one occasion where we stopped in denser jungle where the mosquitoes were present, but there were a LOT of them on that one occasion.

[tripleboom]

Well boys and girls, after making the mistake of using PhotoBucket for this second go round, I regret to inform you that I will be unable to complete this review. Photobucket would like me to pay them $399/year to be able to share my photos with you, and since the photos have told my story all along, I feel I can't really continue with the review. All my previously shared photos are now blocked from viewing, and I'm sure I'm not alone in this forum and countless others out there.

 

Sorry everyone! I'm super disappointed in this turn of events. :(

 

I will leave you with a couple more YouTube videos highlighting our day at Xplor Park in Cozumel.

 

c0tOs5_sors

 

ahCnHakLuXc

[POA1]

If you can transfer pictures to a phone or tablet, you can use the CruiseCritic Forums app to post your photos. They'll be hosted on Tapatalk's servers at no charge. The app is free and is available for both iOS and Android.

[usckatieh]

I hate that photobucket doesn't do the monthly charge anymore. I'd actually pay the $40/month for 2 months or so that I'd need to post a review but $400? Nope! I moved my photos to Flickr this time and it seems to not have any issues with bandwidth if you wanted to give it a try and it's free. I love the videos though!

[tlund]

I've been dying to know the story about how you got such special treatment on the cruise. Was there a mix up or what?

[Bellyflopchamp]

I've been dying to know the story about how you got such special treatment on the cruise. Was there a mix up or what?

 

 

 

I think it was because he organized the meet and greet.

 

 

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[tripleboom]

I've been dying to know the story about how you got such special treatment on the cruise. Was there a mix up or what?

All I can figure is that it was a perk associated with hosting the Meet & Greet. It was wildly unnecessary for someone of my status, but it was also wildly appreciated.

 

Thanks to photobucket I can't quite complete my story, but I can tell you that the evening after Cozumel we contacted Pam and she escorted through crew passages to early entry to the Supper Club for the dinner and show with The Company Man. Front row seats before the doors opened to the public. It was a special experience to be sure.

 

Additionally we were given priority disembarkation when we got back to Miami. Pam again met us that morning and escorted us to the front of the exit lines so we could head to the front of the line to get to customs. The line behind us as nauseatingly long, and while I was thankful for the perk, I feel more than a little guilty about it!

 

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[tripleboom]

I hate that photobucket doesn't do the monthly charge anymore. I'd actually pay the $40/month for 2 months or so that I'd need to post a review but $400? Nope! I moved my photos to Flickr this time and it seems to not have any issues with bandwidth if you wanted to give it a try and it's free. I love the videos though!

It's killing me not to finish this Katie! Not a fan of unfinished work, but with the first five days worth of photos lost to the internet abbyss, I feel like I can't put out a complete product. Boooooo!

 

On a brighter note, I'm enjoying the heck out of your review!! Awesome job!

 

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[MacCruising2018]

You both rock the reviews!!

 

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[BlueHonu]

Hey Dustin, just wanted to say "Hi". Love your review. Too bad about the photos. We had an awesome time on the ship. Thanks for the work on the meet and greet.

Tom and Kelly

 

 

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