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

[Krazy Kruizers]

We're back from our island tour and visit to Daniel Johnson's Monkey and Sloth Hangout. DW was digging on the sloth. The capuchin monkeys did not really want to jump on her like they did everyone else. I figure that's a good thing as it means she has no bugs in her hair.

 

We had an excellent tour guide and our day had just the right amount of sightseeing. It was just DW, her dad, me and the guide. More on Roatan later.

 

 

We did a similar tour many years ago and enjoyed it.

Good observation about your DW not having any bugs to attract the monkeys.

[POA1]

Right now.

 

[POA1]

And now Tobacco Road.

 

Moscow Mule for Huskerchick (left) and Grass Clippings for me. 1800 Silver Tequila, Cointreau, Cucumber, Cilantro & Lime Juice. With a sprinkling of black volcanic sea salt. Very good.

 

[AlexandNessa]

Monkeys schmonkeys.

 

DH and I and 32 of our closest friends shared a private charter.

 

Divorce was on the menu as I failed to tell hubby that the ride was an hour to our charter and we'd be 34 people on a 30 person bus.

 

Fortunately we do not have children, so no lap sitting was required on our part.

 

Aside from the travel to and from the charter, everything else was perfect.

 

Look up radical adventures in Roatan for more info.

 

We're one of the largest charters they had. Excellent snorkeling, way excellent food, free flowing open bar, etc.

 

In hindsight, scheduling Le Bistro after this tour wasn't the best decision, but we'll power through after a 3.48$ espresso martini.

 

And for the record, I'm glad I skipped after midnight, as we learned we could tip a server to reserve us a table at Skyline. Woot! It was awesome, especially when my friend's 7 year old daughter emerged @ 11p and attempted to order a "La Mosa."

 

I owe her one tmw morning from the Haven lounge pre-cabana madness, where her mimosas will consist of orange juice and club soda ...

 

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[SSMcruises]

AlexandNessa - amazing choice!!! Did the Free Radical during a Roatan land vacation a few years ago and it was one of the best days of vacation. Alas, we only had 10 ppl on the boat. Totally worth the drive but oh, what a drive it is. Enjoy the rest of your vacay

 

 

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[LilRhody]

Loving this review!! We're on the Escape in 48 days, so reviews like these help build the excitement.

 

 

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[barb65]

My new favorite drink on the Escape is a Bushwacker. Tastes like a chocolate milkshake, but w/booze. The bartenders in Cagney's and the Atrium make the best ones.

Edited October 10, 2017 by barb65
added information

[POA1]

After Le Bistro, we caught a set and a half of Howl at the Moon. We then headed up to Tobacco Road, where we helped to advance international relations with our new friends, Ian (Ireland) and Andy (Scotland.)

 

If Mrs. Ian or Mrs. Andy are reading this, please be advised that the "American Couple" was very, very chatty. Your devoted (and may I add, loving) husbands tried to come back to the room. We kept them at the bar, ordering red wine and single malt. (Not in the same glass. That would be disgusting.)

[POA1]

I am pleased to announce that both my wife and my sister-in-law went out after dinner tonight.

 

My father-in-law and DBIL tapped out after dinner. (Tonight is the night that they serve lime Jell-O with pineapple at the home, and I'm sure they didn't want to miss it.)

 

We're all supposed to meet at hallway by the Haven tomorrow morning at 8. I've already said that it's okay to abuse me if I'm hung over. I feel confident because it's only 12:15 AM and I'm already in bed, writing to you.

[POA1]

Besides the Sugarcane Mojito Bar, we've now checked off everything - save for the Atrium Bar, and the two pool bars. We should be able to bang those out in rapid succession tomorrow.

 

If you are reading this at home, and there small children present, please make sure to tell them that we are taking every caution and that safety is our #1 priority.

[POA1]

My new favorite drink on the Escape is a Bushwacker. Tastes like a chocolate milkshake, but w/booze. The bartenders in Cagney's and the Atrium make the best ones.

 

Thanks for the tip! On our original itinerary, we planned to get a Bushwacker at Pusser's in Tortola. They don't use coconut in theirs. Coconut is a nice place nonstarter for AlexandNessa, so we thought Pusser's Bushwacker would be a good fit.

[POA1]

An update on Huskerchick's quest to try the signature cocktail at every restaurant: The French Manhattan at Le Bistro is currently in first place. It's Scotch, Chambord and bitters. The drink is served up, in a martini glass, with a slice of orange as a garnish.

 

Our food tonight was excellent. Service pacing was typical for an NCL speciality restaurant, based on our experience. The time between being seated and your appetizers hitting the table was 47 minutes. (It was 45 minutes at Cagney's. We don't have a comparable measure at Moderno. Moderno has a salad bar component which more or less negates the seat-to-served metric.)

 

Out of the four specialty restaurants we've tried, Le Bistro had the best food. Pincho y Tapas was a close second. The service at the tapas restaurant puts it in first place so far.

 

I should point out that Pincho y Tapas was only lunch. The others were dinner. We're planning to go to Pinchos on Friday for lunch. (It was that good.)

[wdw1972]

Uh, is this who I think it is?!? Did you used to post regularly on RADP? That used to be my old stomping ground. If it is you - we once crossed paths at AK, on the gorilla bridge, yet I was too star-stuck to say Hi. Too funny. I hope all is well with you!

*******************

 

Yes - lol - never thought I'd be recognized on an NCL board ;-) I'm here following POA1's wonderful trip report, having read them on the HAL board in the past. I guess it's true "It's a small world after all"! Hope you're well!

 

Sue/WDW1972

[Krazy Kruizers]

Keep up the great reports.

[purpleally]

Please, please tell me I can get a glass of champagne on the UBP. And, not processco. The French restaurant?

[POA1]

Please, please tell me I can get a glass of champagne on the UBP. And, not processco. The French restaurant?

I would tell you that, but I would be lying. You can get Veuve yellow label if you pay the difference between the $23.50 price and the $15.00 allowance.

[POA1]

A note on food...

 

Since food opinions are highly subjective, the fact that DW and I liked particular restaurants best, does not necessarily mean that you will feel the same.

 

However, there are certain technical merits that are objective, like time to service, whether or not your meat is cooked to temperature, etc. that are really independent of whether or not you like a particular cuisine. My wife and I tend to enjoy what some may call "fussier" food. That doesn't mean that we don't enjoy it good burger, or great pizza. We do. However, we will gladly order something like foie gras or caviar. (I haven't seen any here yet, but I would not be sad if it were to appear.)

[POA1]

We're pulling in to Harvest Caye, NCL's private island off the coast of Belize. The weather is... Dark.

 

The sun's not up, but I am. I have a slight headache this morning, which means I have graduated to big boy drinks. Yay!

 

Back to the weather... There was a FB group for this cruise and many of the participants obsessed about the weather and how there was a 100% chance of rain every day. Did we worry? Absolutely not! DW and I have these magic rain prevention ponchos that we bought when we lived in Maine. They don't prevent the rain in Maine, but they stop the precipitation on vacation. They the really inexpensive, disposable ponchos and I think they cost about a dollar each. They have served us tirelessly since we were on the ms Zuiderdam in 2003. I was a little worried that the magic had discharged since they're getting up in years, but so far, so good.

[keeponcruising]

Did you hit the bar on deck 19 outside Vibe?

[POA1]

I am leaving on the Escape when you get back---10/14.

IF you happen to hear anything about what is going on with the Thermal Spa next week please let us know. NCL has been very tight lipped with us as far as why it will be closed during our sailing. Maintenance is all that we have heard. Several of us are very disappointed---the Spa was the main draw for me to book the Escape again.

While I have received a refund for the spa pass that I purchased, NCL is still selling them for our sailing so something just doesnt add up.

Enjoy the cruise and take care of that ship for us! Good luck with the weather. Hope it is perfect for you folks.

 

Sorry for the delay on this. The person I spoke to said that the spa was closed "temporarily" and may not be open for next week.

[POA1]

Did you hit the bar on deck 19 outside Vibe?

.

Not yet. Didn't even have it on my list. I'll add it and we'll try to get there later today or Thursday.

[POA1]

 

We're scheduled to be in port from 8:00 AM until 5:00 PM today.

 

A few weeks ago, someone posted a trip report and called Harvest Caye "Fake Belize." I found that to be pretty funny, so I am stealing the term. (Thanks, firstmickey!) My sister-in-law and brother-in-law really wanted to score a private beach cabana, aka "Luxury Beach Villa." I believe that getting a beach cabana was a condition for DBIL's getting off the ship in Harvest Caye. The beach cabanas hold 6 people and have both outdoor and air conditioned indoor areas. However, the most important thing to my dear wife and her baby brother is the cabana's private bathroom. Mere words cannot describe the value of the private facilities in their world.

 

We were vigilantly watching the excursion list on NCL's site, waiting for the Harvest Caye excursions to show up. We realized that the excursions most likely to show up first would be the ones on Norwegian's private island, because unlike the other port stops on our itinerary, these were under their complete control. There wouldn't be any competition with other cruise line, since we'd be the only ship there. Sure enough, on September 25th excursions began showing up for Cozumel. (Wait! What?! Cozumel? Not Harvest Caye?) The watching continued - with vigilance. We were rewarded about a day later when AlexandNessa spotted the great white whale of Harvest Caye excursions, the elusive Luxury Beach Villa. "Thar she blows!" I imagined her yelling at her computer screen. (I have theatrical imagination. It was probably something more along the lines of, "It's about time, dammit. I thought I was going to wear out the Refresh/F5 button.")

 

Moving with feline quickness, she booked a Luxury Beach Villa for us, lickety-split. The one photo on NCL's excursion pages doesn't seem to do a very job of selling the villas, so we'll be sure to take some additional photos. DBIL and DSIL were at Harvest Caye earlier this year and rented one of the beach cabanas. At the time, the villas went for $495, but they were $699 during our visit. (An NCL phone rep explained that this was due to it being peak season. I guess that's what they euphemistically call hurricane season. Why, just a few weeks ago, the season was so "peak" that NCL, along with Carnival and Royal Caribbean had to close their south Florida offices for a few days. Thank goodness we're not traveling in January through March! No matter. I'm sure that the beach villas will be 41% more deluxe than they were the last time my in-laws were on the island.)

[POA1]

I should add that yesterday our tour guide in Roatan told us that it was the very low season for Honduras and Belize now. I guess Harvest Caye has its own seasons. ;)

[POA1]

On tap for today: Dinner in the private room at Taste at 5:30 PM. This might be our one and only dinner in the main dining room. We do have one “open” night with no plans - tommorrow, so it's possible that we'll have a second shot at the MDR. Other than that, the rest of our dinners are already scheduled.

 

Tonight’s dinner was arranged by AlexandNessa. She’s got “people” on the cruise with her, so she planned this big get together. Actually, she made all our dinner reservations for us. We really appreciate that. I’m perfectly fine with knowing what time to show up and how to dress*. I don’t think I’d have been wild about figuring out where we wanted to eat, running around, and making reservations. This works out well.

Huskerchick’s quest for specialty restaurant signature cocktails might come to a halt tonight because we’re in the main dining room and there’s no signature drink. She’ll have to do something from the Mixx bar. I’m recommending the Mr. Worldwide because… Pitbull. Also, it’s got basil and strawberry in it, which she tends to like.

 

*- Allow me to head off the person who really wants to respond with, "It's Freestyle! Wear what you want!"

[POA1]

Fun fact hat everyone may already know...

 

There's a detente point on the temperature adjustment knob on the shower. It's for scald prevention. In order to get past that point and make the water hotter, you need to depress the button. You can then make the water hotter.

 

What I did not know is that there is also a detente point for water pressure, Once you reach it, depressing the button allows you to dial up extra pressure.This may not mean much to you, but I loves, loves me some water pressure. The shower head in our master bath at home has no flow restrictor. It makes me happy. Not sure why.