Escape From Miami - Kinda, Sorta "Live From" - October 7-14, 2017

[psac]

I really laughed at the Escape room description. Interesting tip with the vanilla vodka and Pepsi. I like sweet drinks, so that might be up my alley! Thanks!

[AlexandNessa]

I really laughed at the Escape room description. Interesting tip with the vanilla vodka and Pepsi. I like sweet drinks, so that might be up my alley! Thanks!

This was my drink. Vanilla vodka (which I also ordered for our room) and diet Pepsi. Sometimes they offered to put grenadine on top. I didn't care for it way, but if you like cherry coke, you will. :)

 

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[POA1]

This was my drink. Vanilla vodka (which I also ordered for our room) and diet Pepsi. Sometimes they offered to put grenadine on top. I didn't care for it way, but if you like cherry coke, you will. :)

 

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My bad. I didn't know it was diet Pepsi.

[AlexandNessa]

My bad. I didn't know it was diet Pepsi.

Since I ate my weight, I had to cut back somewhere ....

 

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[PelicanBill]

You'll need to make sure that you hand the tip discreetly to your server. Folded tight under your room card and passed by hand is probably the best way to go...

Old biddies noticed that I tipped. They expressed their displeasure...

does not seem to be as prevalent as I expected...

 

Fantastic yet enjoyable waste of hours reading all 32 pages (so far)!

 

I wonder if city of origin makes a difference in tipping.

On Breakaway out of New York tipping is much more common and no need to be discreet. A dollar placed on the counter with your sailaway card and repeat visits to bartenders means great service and strong drinks.

I would have loved to see the biddies overhear me and start a discussion about how the staff support their families, away for months on less than minimum wage.

[POA1]

Fantastic yet enjoyable waste of hours reading all 32 pages (so far)!

 

I wonder if city of origin makes a difference in tipping.

On Breakaway out of New York tipping is much more common and no need to be discreet. A dollar placed on the counter with your sailaway card and repeat visits to bartenders means great service and strong drinks.

I would have loved to see the biddies overhear me and start a discussion about how the staff support their families, away for months on less than minimum wage.

Thanks!

 

I don't know if the departure city matters as much as the city where guests are from. You probably have more of a concentration of people from within driving distance of New York / New Jersey when compared to South Florida. Miami is the busiest cruise port in the world, followed by Fort Lauderdale. Port Canaveral is third. There are more people who fly in to cruise out of Florida's ports - not that it's a big surprise if you count the number of ships.

 

We did wind up going to the direct hand off because placing our cards on top of the tip on the bar kept resulting in just the card being taken.

 

No problem though, we figured it out.

 

As I said, the ship had some very good bar staff people and we felt like they deserved our appreciation.

 

We normally cruise on ships less than half the size of the Escape, which means fewer bars and lounges. It's not unusual to have a handful of servers you see every day. Some guests take care of their best servers at the end of the cruise. Given the number of venues on the Escape, tipping as you go seemed to make the most sense.

[POA1]

Wednesday morning found a band of 43 people, including some of the walking wounded from Howl at the Moon, trying to find our way out of the port at Costa Maya to meet our buses to Maya Chan. The port takes its design guidance from the Hotel California. It's not easy to find your way out. I kind of thought it might have been due to the fact our tour conductor was out a little late the night before. However, upon returning to the port after our day at Maya Chan, we realized that it truly is a convoluted path to and from the dock to the taxi stand.

 

We filled several buses and began our trip to Maya Chan. The drive to Maya Chan is along what can loosely be described as a road. It's about the width of a road and there aren't any trees in it, but it's more of a dirt path.

 

When you reach Maya Chan, a staff member greets you and you are escorted to your seating area, where you have seating in the shade and in the sun. The beach sand is finer and softer than that at Harvest Caye. The water is murkier though.

[anonmom]

Escape The Big Top is free, but the reservations go fast. Sign up as soon as you can. The contest runs 50 minutes. If you add in the introduction and the revelation, or the part where they tell you how to solve the puzzles and you smack yourself in the head because you got one stinking part wrong, figure about 75-90 minutes total.

 

We were trying to figure out if the District Brew House leader board was updating or not. It was a little hard to tell. I'd grab a copy of the menu pages and keep track manually. Maybe take some pictures with your phone. This last tip might also help you explain your headache the next day. Drink plenty of water, too. Safety should be your #1 priority.

When and where should we sign up for Escape the Big Top?

 

Any update on the DBH leaderboard?

 

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[POA1]

The bar servers pass pretty much continuously and lunch is served from around 11:45 AM and was available for two hours. The bar stays open for your entire visit.

 

Huskerchick enjoyed lunch tremendously. She grew up in Southern California and any time you have Mexican ladies making hand-made tortillas and cooking lunch, it's a good thing.

 

It started to rain during lunch. (I think we were too far from the magic ponchos on the ship, or else they're getting low on energy.) The storm looked like it was going to hang around, so DW, her dad and I opted to request transportation back to the port.

[POA1]

When and where should we sign up for Escape the Big Top?

 

Any update on the DBH leaderboard?

 

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The box office, as soon as you can. Make sure you have everyone's name and room number.

 

I saw the DBH Leader Board rotating at one point and it looked like they were showing both all time and current leaders. Not being that invested and realizing that my handful of beers was not in prize winning contention, I did not see who the winner was.

 

The leader board is an electronic board that rotates through the beer lists and the scores, so you have to stare at it for a while.

[BeeeJay]

 

Aside from our arrival at the port and boarding the Escape, our big concern is how are we going to keep track of the Nebraska vs. Wisconsin game tonight. (And by "our concern," I mean Huskerchick's. Her screen name comes from the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers. To say she's a fan is putting it lightly. Nebraska's season did not start out well, and they have two tough games this week and next: Wisconsin and Ohio State. In case you were wondering, yes, she has a corn head. No, she's not taking it on the cruise - although it would make an excellent flotation device. I have no doubt that one of her roughly 280 Husker's shirts will make an appearance. Poohby Joe is wearing his already.)

 

 

 

Corn Head Hat:

 

 

 

On a cruise with no way to track our Husker games is probably the best way for Huskers like your wife, and me, to follow the team. Just getting started on this trip report in preparation for upcoming family voyage about Escape.....LOVING IT so far!!!

[POA1]

A side benefit of the convoluted path back to the ship is that it took us past the swim with the dolphins tanks... Sorry, habitats along the shore. We initially walked along the path so Huskerchick could try to get a good photo of the ship.

 

When we saw the dolphin habitats, she started taking pictures. She only snapped 8 photos to get these, which is pretty impressive. I would have had 35 photos of water.

 

 

 

 

 

[Huskerchick]

Yes it was helpful to be blissfully ignorant about what was really going on with my beloved Huskers.

 

 

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[POA1]

After showering, we dressed and headed out for some bar work. We wound up at The District Brew House where we had a few beers while we waited for DBIL and DSIL. James Morris was doing a smooth R&B show, which was very good.

 

I will say that the musical entertainment in the bars and lounges was quite good. There was "bigger" entertainment in the Atrium, but we preferred the solo performances in the smaller venues. If you watch your Freestyle Dailies, you can string together a full night of low key entertainment with ease.

[LincolnLog]

Thanks!

 

I don't know if the departure city matters as much as the city where guests are from. You probably have more of a concentration of people from within driving distance of New York / New Jersey when compared to South Florida. Miami is the busiest cruise port in the world, followed by Fort Lauderdale. Port Canaveral is third. There are more people who fly in to cruise out of Florida's ports - not that it's a big surprise if you count the number of ships.

 

We did wind up going to the direct hand off because placing our cards on top of the tip on the bar kept resulting in just the card being taken.

 

No problem though, we figured it out.

 

As I said, the ship had some very good bar staff people and we felt like they deserved our appreciation.

 

We normally cruise on ships less than half the size of the Escape, which means fewer bars and lounges. It's not unusual to have a handful of servers you see every day. Some guests take care of their best servers at the end of the cruise. Given the number of venues on the Escape, tipping as you go seemed to make the most sense.

 

 

I was on this cruise too. Like you I also was surprised how rarely I saw other people tipping the bartenders, based on what I've read on cruise critic. I usually tipped $1 per drink and there were definitely times when I felt self conscious doing it because no one else at the bar was.

[POA1]

We then proceeded to dinner at Food Republic. AlexandNessa announced that everyone was going to order their own thing. Given the menu, I wouldn't have taken that approach, But, DW and I were going to order whatever struck our fancy anyway, so it didn't really matter to us. We have several small plate restaurants that we frequent in Fort Lauderdale, including our favorite: S3 in the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort on the ocean.

 

My father-in-law wasn't really up on the whole tablet ordering thing, so I gave an assist while he ordered the Baja Fish Tacos: Beer Battered Mahi-Mahi & Spicy Coleslaw for $4.00. That's all. (The small plate concept was really not in his wheelhouse, but I knew that we had him covered since he was sitting next to me. He got to try several of our dishes.)

 

DW & I skipped over the Sushi section of the menu. From the Hand Helds, We had the Korean Chicken Wlngs with Kimchee, Gochujang & Mustard Miso for $4.50. From the Sharing Is Caring section, we ordered the Dates with Chorizo: Bacon, Spicy Tomato & Goat Cheese Crema ($6.00), the Tuna Tartare With Garlic Yogurt, Pine Nuts, Spicy Piquillo Peppers Served With Pita Bread ($7.00), and the Broiled Bay Scallops served with Shiso Garlic Butter & Sea Salt ($6.00.) From the Grill Republic part of the menu, we opted for Pork Belly Kushiyaki: Butterscotch Miso & Corn Powder ($6.00), and the Lamb Chops with Roasted Peppers and Mint-Shiso Yogurt for $8.00. From The Dumplings section, we had both the Short Rib & Corn Dumplings with Black Truffle & White Corn Soy Parmesan ($4.00), and the Pork Belly & Scallions Dumplings served with Spicy Su-Shoyu Dipping Sauce for $6.00.

 

I placed the order straight through, knowing that the differences in prep time would space the dishes out enough because they're sent out as they finish.

 

Overall the food was excellent and we enjoyed everything we ordered. The Korean Chicken wings rated a "Yum! Tasty!" and there really wasn't anything we did not like.

 

I kind of remember what DSIL and DBIL ordered, but the net-net is that they did not like it as she said earlier.

 

The servers ran into problems getting the correct dishes to the right places, which I found kind of strange since we used three different tablets and we were sitting in front of our respective tablets.. If you want to give any special instructions, you're supposed to click on the name field and type them there. (That's not really intuitive for me, let alone a non-technical user.)

 

Since we're trying to do a review, I like to wait to see if our water is refilled in a timely fashion. Food Republic was the first place it wasn't.

 

We were the only ones at the table to order dessert: The "Banana Bun" - Bananas,•Cinnamon Roll, Streusel & Dulce de Leche for $4.00 The dessert was outstanding.

 

Food Republic is open for dinner nightly and lunch on sea days. The menu is here:

 

http://www.evernote.com/l/AFiH-8YL6s5Ig4qB2Q-jrXaiJQOVpL4jXos/

[POA1]

I should add that they're weren't any delays at Food Republic. The meal pace was pretty quick, with no real gaps.

[AlexandNessa]

My fault. I've gotten into the habit of not sharing food on cruises if I can help it, but since I got sick anyway, I guess it didn't matter.

 

I can say though, that the buffalo rock shrimp was rather disgusting, and was the absolute worst thing I ate all vacation.

 

This was a huge miss for both me and Batman, which I was surprised since it typically gets such rave reviews.

 

And oh, I should also add that the special request where your name goes was hit or miss. They ignored Batman's lone request to have the spicy coleslaw on the side instead of dumped over his fish tacos.

 

I'm calling this one a waste of 40-something$.

 

 

 

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[Jshanleypt]

Drink menu food republic

 

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[POA1]

Each of the items on the Food Republic menu comes as a certain number of pieces - dates, wings, pieces of sushi, dumplings, etc. If you are sharing, you move a piece from the serving plate onto your dining plate and send the serving plate to the next person. You wouldn't normally be eating off of the service plate.

 

You do need to pay attention to number of pieces in each order if you want everyone to be able to try everything. Alternatively, you can get an extra knife and slice up the odd piece.

[POA1]

Drink menu food republic

 

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The drinks weren't on the printed menu, only on the tablet. I took photos of the screens at the wine bar, but that was when it was just my wife and me. I didn't want to take pictures of screens before dinner.

 

We had the Ancho Pancho and the Revolutionary Cure. The Toro Toro was not allowed on the UBP according to our waitress. This was another anomaly, since it was under the $15 limit. The Revolutionary Cure and Ancho Pancho were both good. The Cure and the Toro Toro were the drinks people seemed to recommend most, so they were "the plan."

 

I'll see if I can find the drink list somewhere. Food Republic serves the standard drinks along with a few specialty drinks of their own.

[POA1]

Just to prove that this review cannot be trusted, I managed to find the Food Republic drinks screen on one of our phones. Unfortunately, there aren't photos of each of the drill-down screens, which means I couldn't tell you what was in each drink.

 

 

You can click the image above to bring up a larger version of the photo, because - as I often tell you - we care.

[POA1]

After dinner, we had reservations for the 10:00 PM performance of "For The Record: The Brat Pack" in the main theater. I covered this pretty thoroughly in previously in this report in posts #313 and #350. However, if you want to relive the magic and see the tips, you can click on the post numbers.

[Jshanleypt]

Sorry about the terse question! I didn't realize that I was in the reply area, I thought I was entering a search term. Anyways thank you, you guys are doing an amazing job.you should turn this into a book!

 

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[POA1]

Sorry about the terse question! I didn't realize that I was in the reply area, I thought I was entering a search term. Anyways thank you, you guys are doing an amazing job.you should turn this into a book!

 

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No problem. I saw your post and I thought, "Hmmm. That's a little abrupt." However, it was compact and to the point. ;) Most importantly, I knew what you meant.