Fresh off the NCL Escape April 7th-April 14th

[LinzS10]

Hello- long time CC reader, first time poster! We just returned from our 7 day cruise off of the NCL Escape and I figured I'd post a review. First a little background on me. This was my 4th cruise with Norwegian and 8th cruise overall (used to cruise with Carnival). I'm in my mid thirties and travel with A, my spouse who has been on over 15 cruises, so you can say we are big fans of cruising! This was our 3rd time on the Escape since November 2016 and boy was this cruise very different from our first two sailings. Our idea of fun on cruises is big on relaxing, utilizing our UBP to the fullest and entertainment! So lets dive right in!

 

Day 1- Saturday, April 7th

We flew into Ft. Lauderdale the night before and stayed in nearby Hollywood. It has a great little restaurant/bar district and the prices are way more affordable than South Beach where we stayed for our first NCL cruise. Our check in time was 11-11:30 and due to our uber driver getting a flat tire we were a little late, but no big deal! Arriving at around 11:50 we quickly got through security at met a massive line to check in. Next time I'll definitely try to get in closer to 11 if possible. Once aboard the boat, we were immediately met by one of my favorite Escape cruise staff members Rowen aka Washy Washy singer! When we immediately recognized we yelled hello and he smiled and welcomed us back. Since we hadn't eaten lunch yet, we headed straight for the Garden Cafe. So many good options! A quick tip, we always go all the way to the back of the buffet, most newbies jump in long lines at the beginning and don't realize all of the good food in the back where there are less lines. Plus this is where they have the healthy stuff, like burgers, pizza and mac & cheese ;-). Way more options. After enjoying lunch, there was one important thing left to do, get poolside and get our first drink of the cruise! We went with the Grey Goose Moscow Mules, sat poolside and listened to the band. Vacation has begun! Day 1 on the ship is always so exciting, everyone is happy and ready for a fun week!

After enjoying a few beverages, our room was ready around 2pm so we headed down to check it out. We were in cabin 11308, a balcony room 2 rooms away from the very back. Typically we are mid or towards the front room wise, so I was a little concerned about the back. The room was nice and clean as always but we had a pretty yucky odor in our bathroom. We aren't super picky travelers so we didn't complain about this but it wasn't pleasant. We relaxed a little and I checked out the Dailies, I love reading through all of the things going on in the day and planning out our evening. Soon it was time to get the Muster Drill out of the way and then we headed back up to the pool deck for the sail away party. This was the first time we noticed a difference in our Escape experience. We saw Scott, our CD for the first time, previous cruises were with Tyler who was high energy. Scott came out and seemed fun, and he of course introduced the entertainment staff which included Terry aka TeeTee (love him!). Sail away parties in the past included everyone up dancing to your typical group dance songs like the Cupid Shuffle and the Wobble. I know this isn't everyone's favorite but we love watching people dance and have a good time to these dances, and these are what usually get people out of their seats. No go on any of this for this cruise. Maybe it should be mentioned that being right after spring break there were little to no kids on the boat and the average age may have been a little higher than normal, but that usually doesn't make a lot of difference in dancing! They played some Latin music and while a few people danced with the staff it was pretty underwhelming. Either way, we had a cold drink in hand and were sailing away so we were happy!

 

Stay tuned.....more to come! :)

[LinzS10]

Day (Night) 1 continued:

We headed to dinner at Taste a little bit early than our reservation time which didn't seem to be a big deal. We had pretty good service and good food although I can't remember what we got to eat that evening. After dinner we roamed around a bit, we are usually big fans of the Atrium at night as we love the different game shows as well as the bands at night. Typically we can post up there for a long time with the combination of entertainment and nearby bar. Since it was the first night there wasn't a lot planned that evening so we made our way over to The District. Last cruise we spent a decent amount of time here since I was competing for the leader board on who can drink all the different beers throughout the week. I would not be competing this time so that I could enjoy the beers I prefer! Unlike last cruise on the Escape, we had a piano singer named Beau who was set to play and was SO much fun! He played everything from Sweet Caroline to Snoop Dogg on the piano, got engaged with the crowd and instigated a dance off and a tag in dance which was a blast! This was a welcome change to the last cruise in the District. After Beau finished up we decided to call it a night. The next day was a sea day and I love a good sea day by the main pool.

 

Day 2, Sunday, April 8th, Sea Day:

Since it was the first Sea Day I thought I wouldn't have to wake up too early to get a good spot by the pool. If you've never been on the Escape the deck by the adults only pool is super small and if you want to be anywhere close to the pool you can't arrive around noon. Getting up there around 9am I thought would be no issue, wrong. This ship had several early risers and I found myself completely chairless within anywhere close to the pool (and bar). Bummer. A & I decided to get some breakfast and go back out later to figure out what to do. Eventually when we headed back out we decided to post up on some seats in the pool and while not the most comfortable, considering it was 87 degrees out this wasn't a bad option. By 10:30am the pool was jam packed, this is not something I've seen on the last cruises unless there was a pool game going on. Crazy. Thinking about it further since there were basically no kids on board we think that's why there were so many more people at the adults only pool. We enjoyed some nice beverages in the pool, another tip- bring a few bucks to the pool and tip a waiter. Even the minimal amount got us prompt and consistent service which was awesome. Shout out to Ida and Arnold! We eventually asked for a bucket of beer which apparently they didn't do but our waiter went to the back and found us a bucket they usually use for champagne. This was a funny sight I'm sure but our neighbors soon started asking if they could keep their beers cold in it too lol. We watched the Sexy Legs competition which was funny but unfortunately that was the only contest for the day. The DJ came out and this is typically when the pool folks let loose a bit but not on this cruise. The music volume was very low and the DJ didn't play anything that most people knew or could dance to. Every other sea day we've had has been a party, not this one as everyone was sitting. Nevertheless we still enjoyed ourselves and ended our sea day afternoon with a nap.

That night we made a last minute decision to check out the Supper Club for dinner as the Company Men were singing and we've never been before. We didn't have a reservation but arrived about 20 minutes early and were seated right away. We really enjoyed the singers and show but weren't over impressed with the dinner. The entertainers sang old and new stuff with a lot of mash ups and kept everyone entertained during the entire dinner. Definitely recommend. After dinner we headed to the Atrium to get some good seats for the Newlywed Not So Newlywed game which is a fav of ours. The Atrium tends to fill up fast so we always try to get there and snag some seats. CD Scott ended up hosting the show, he was okay but this is a show that is funnier the more the host can react off of some of the answers given. Scott was very by the book and while it was a funny show it even ended about 15 minutes earlier than previous games we've watched. There were no other shows in the Atrium that night so we made our way to Howl at the Moon. It was still a little early but the crowd wasn't really involved which is what makes Howl at the Moon fun. We were a little disappointed so we decided to call it a night and went back to the room for some room service. The next day was the first port day at Falmouth, Jamaica. More to come!

[PTC DAWG]

I was on this cruise..the weather couldn’t have been better...Jay & Johnny at 5 O’clock are the best...zero luck in the casino... :(. Agree on The District...lots of fun.

 

Best meal was Le Bistro...

[LinzS10]

We enjoyed the 5 O'Clock Bar as well! I had a little blackjack luck the first day, but didn't have that same luck later in the cruise unfortunately. We've never tried the Le Bistro.....

[tallnthensome]

Nice review! The Escape is a great ship and we enjoyed her. We were anchored next to you on the new MSC seaside in Georgetown last week.

[Clarea]

Nice start!

[LinzS10]

Day 3, Monday, April 9th, Falmouth, Jamaica Port:

Today was our first port day as we docked in Jamaica. A & I have been to this port before and had previously decided not to get off the ship. The port itself is nice with some general shopping, a small bar and Margaritaville that can but fun but pricey. We also weren't super interested in doing an excursion because most trips were at least an hour away. Too long for us on this day. We felt like seeing the port once was really all we needed plus we had never stayed on ship in the port and were looking forward to having the ship to ourselves so to speak. This turned out to be a great option! We headed up to the pool and had the entire deck to ourselves minus maybe about 10 people. We took advantage of the hot tub and then did some swimming. We brought our waterproof speaker which was a good idea since no music was playing on the pool deck. Our neighbors kept asking us to turn it up, but we tried not to disturb others! We popped in for lunch and had no lines to contend with which was also very nice and then ventured back to the pool. At around 2pm we decided we'd done enough pool time and did some wandering around the ship. Since it was a port day there wasn't a ton going on which we knew so eventually we went to relax in the room.

 

Dinner this evening was Cagney's, highly recommend! We went a little early to have a drink at the bar between Modernos and Cagneys which was nice. The whole ambiance of the restaurants there are dark and fancy. I ordered the filet and shrimp, with a crab cake for an appetizer and this food never disappoints! Service was great and dinner took a little over an hour. We had a little bit of time before anything was going on in the Atrium so I decided to play a little blackjack and ended up winning a little cash! It's always hard to walk away but luckily there were some shows in the Atrium we wanted to see. We headed that way and scored some seats in the front. I almost forgot to mention on of my favorite Escape bartenders always in the Atrium, Pia. She is always great and honestly is always working (yes we visit the bar in the morning and evening lol). She made me an incredible raspberry martini that tasted like cotton candy which soon became my favorite Atrium drink, and I don't even like martinis! The first games was Sing it if you Know It, this is a fun one for anyone to participate at any time. All you have to do is guess the song and then your teammates (people on your side of the room) come join and sing. Fun stuff and everyone seemed to enjoy it. Next up is typically my favorite show of the cruise, Dancing with the (NCL) Stars where the cruise staff gets to dance with guests. We've been in tears before laughing at this one. The show was hosted by CD Scott and while it was funny it seemed cut a lot shorter than the previous shows. Maybe it's just the difference in the CD's but we were seeing a drastic difference in the entertainment compared to the last 2 Escape cruises. After that show we headed to the Theater where they were hosting both comedians with no reservation needed. Vince was funny as he picked on the crowd, Keith was hilarious and we decided we wanted to try to go see another show of his if possible. Having an early morning the next day in Grand Cayman, we decided to call it a night after this!

[PTC DAWG]

Nice review! The Escape is a great ship and we enjoyed her. We were anchored next to you on the new MSC seaside in Georgetown last week.

 

I was pretty cool to see the 5 ships lined up at Grand Cayman....

[SmoothFlying]

Great review !!:D

 

Mac

[tallnthensome]

I was pretty cool to see the 5 ships lined up at Grand Cayman....

Yes it was, we did some parasailing there near the ships and it made for some great high aerial footage on the GoPro from 400 feet above.

[DaisyL]

Following along...great review! Can’t wait for our cruise on Escape out of NYC. Very interested in all things Escape.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[TonyFred]

We were with you on this cruise. It was a great one but the casino slots.....so tight!!!

[LinzS10]

Day 4, Grand Cayman:

This was one of the days I was most excited for! We've been to Grand Cayman several times and with this being a Tender port it's always ideal to have plans when going rather than just winging it. Reading up on CC it's pretty easy to learn what Grand Cayman is famous for excursion wise, Stingray City. So while A was extremely reluctant, I did some research and looked into how to get there. We booked this cruise about 2 months ahead of time so we were pretty limited on some of the highly recommended excursions. I knew that I could get it way cheaper not going through NCL (but if you do this I recommend reading reviews and only going with the best!). The biggest thing we were looking for was a smaller catamaran style boat to avoid a large boat with an enormous amount of people. We came across Dexter's and after reading reviews and learning that they capped their tours at 15 people we were sold. Emailed him ahead of time and he emailed right back with directions, so we were set!

 

We woke up that morning knowing that we needed to be on one of the first Tender boats off the ship since our bus was leaving at 8:30am. We did book a tender reservation from our TV the night before but we actually arrived about 30 minutes early to Grand Cayman so we hopped on an early boat. Very happy about the early arrival and this would be a theme! After arriving off the Tender we were met to hawkers, which a simple "no thank you" always works. It took a little time to find Dexter's bus but once we did we were off to the Yacht Club! We boarded the catamaran with about 14 others and got to sit up front by the net area. They took a slow trip out and it probably took 30 minutes but we soon saw no less than 20 other boats visiting Stingray city. Dexter got everyone in the waist/chest deep water, immediately dove down and grabbed a huge stingray! I was brave and went first, he let me hold it and kiss it for good luck. Such a unique experience. A was initially NOT thrilled since there are several stingrays swimming around your feet. Somehow Dexter got A to pet one, hold one and even kiss it and all fear was erased! Afterwards we hopped back on the boat and headed off to snorkel. Since we've been snorkeling pretty often we opted to stay on the boat. I will say that there were no adult beverages provided (it's obvious we enjoy these), when Dexter offered everyone water out of the cooler he had a few beers that he ended up giving to me & A for free. Nothing like a cold beer in the middle of beautiful water on a boat! We headed back to land soon after, I think the excursion was about 4 hours with travel time and was $40 a person. Highly, highly recommend!

 

We got back to the port and decided to hop the next Tender as we were starving and weren't really interested in the local chain restaurants. Tendering took a long time to fill up the boat but we eventually got back on and grabbed lunch at the Garden Cafe (buffet). We like buffets always found something new here for lunch. We went out to the pool for a little while to relax and then headed to the room for a nap.

 

Dinner this night is our absolute hands down favorite....Teppanyaki! This is hibachi but it our opinion has the best steaks and entertainment all in one. I was so excited to see Rowen aka Washy Washy as our waiter! He was singing and serving and of course happy. We both decided on the steak and shrimp which also came with edamame, soup, salad and desert. And all the hibachi rice you want. The food could not have been any better but prepare to be extremely full leaving this restaurant. I believe it took almost two hours which flew by with the entertaining cooks. We thanked Washy Washy for the outstanding service and took off. Afterwards we headed to the Atrium because this was Deal or No Deal night, A's favorite game. They sell cards that you can play for $25 and pick 2 players from these cards to come on stage and play like the game show. I was hoping so badly A would get picked but no go. This is still a very fun game to watch because CD Scott hosts and the crowd really gets involved on which numbers to pick and if they should keep the money. Again, tipping in the Atrium will get you great service as we enjoyed our Mules and Martinis. Unfortunately there wasn't much going on after deal or no deal so we went and checked out karaoke at the 5 OClock Somewhere Bar. I do really love this bar, it seems to have some of the friendliest staff. Most of the tables were full and there were some really good singers this night, not including the drunk guy who removed his shirt and swung it around, but hey that's funny! We meant to get up to the 90's Party at Spice H20 but never made it up there unfortunately. After a fun day we decided to call it a night, as the next day would be a beach day in Costa Maya! Did I mention- we had the most amazing weather this entire trip?!

[AStallkamp]

Stingray city is so awesome! Dextor's Fantasea tour was one of the best we've ever taken! Great reco!

[Gershep]

Enjoying your review.

[LinzS10]

Day 5, Wednesday, April 11th, Costa Maya:

Today was another day that the Escape arrived early at port which was really nice! We were planning to get off the boat at around noon, so we popped up to the Garden Cafe Buffet and grabbed a quick small breakfast before getting off the ship. We were of course met by Washy Washy and sat in a place where we listened to him singing to everyone walking in. Everyone loved it! After breakfast we decided to grab a drink at the Atrium bar since we weren't in any hurry. Who doesn't like a good mimosa? Of course Pia was working and she made some delicious drinks. They have a huge screen in the Atrium and while enjoying our drinks we watched some kids (and adults) playing Wii Sports. Finally we were ready to check out Costa Maya!

 

We've been to Costa Maya 3 times and really enjoy this stop. First a heads up, the walk from the ship to port is long! It never looks that long but its a hike if you have problems walking. The port itself was absolutely packed, there is a ton of shopping and the locals do a great job of entertainment. They even have a large pool in the middle with a swim up bar. But, I highly recommend leaving the port, it is was too packed and this is an easy stop to get to the beach! They do a good job of keeping you almost fenced in the port but if you go to the far back you can either grab a open air trolley or a cab. We headed to Mauhaul (spelling) which is about 5 minutes away and is a little tiny beach town with restaurants and an awesome beach! If you take the open air trolley they will try to stop you at places and get you to go there, so just say no thank you and they will move on. In the past we've gone to Tropicante which we love but decided to try Jamies Blue Reef since it was all food, drinks and beach chairs for $40 per person. This place was spectacular! Jamie set us up with two chairs and a beach umbrella right by the water, we had delicious cocktails and buckets of beer and enjoyed delicious food. They even had live music. We honestly didn't want to leave, it was so relaxing and is a beautiful beach. Eventually we were forced to head back to ship, and took a taxi for $8. Easy peasy! Costa Maya is fun if you leave the port!

 

Back on ship we didn't have dinner plans that night, so we decided to hit Food Republic. We had a little bit of onboard credit to spend so we decided to try a few different food items. We got the sushi which was our favorite as well as the ramen and corn. The corn was awesome too. This was also some of the best service dining wise, everyone in the Food Republic was so nice. After dinner we popped into the Atrium and listened to the band Innovations- they were doing a motown set and the crowd was really getting into it! This was our favorite band on the ship. Next up for the night would be the Ultimate 80s Party at Spice H20. The entertainment staff was all dressed up as 80's music celebs and it was fun! They played music videos and there were a lot of people on the dance floor cutting it up! Probably my favorite was when the staff did Thriller. So much fun. Even if you don't know 80s music, this is like a warm up for the Glow party the next night. After dancing the night away at Spice we called it a night, the next day would be a Sea Day and I wanted to snag some good poolside seats!

[LinzS10]

Day 6, Thursday April 5th, Sea Day:

Sea Days are always a favorite of mine because I really enjoy relaxing by the pool. Since our first sea day was absolutely packed on the deck, I set my alarm to get up to the deck about 8:30am to get some poolside seats. No I was not a chair hog, I actually ended up laying in my chair and falling back asleep since it was pretty peaceful on the deck at that time. Eventually I popped up to go wake A up and get her to join me on the deck. We grabbed a very quick breakfast and got back to our pool chairs. They did have a guy tagging seats, so for those that were gone for longer than an hour they ended up getting their stuff moved from chairs. Nothing really was happening at the pool until about 11am when they finally started playing some music. Eventually they did the ice carving and by this point the pool was packed! They had some pool games after which were fun to watch but were very much less entertaining than our last time. Last cruise Tyler ran these games and even participated while wearing a crazy outfit. It was a hit. Scott was no where to be found for this one. Also, typically the last sea day will have other games like Miss Norweigan or a scavenger hunt, this cruise had absolutely nothing. It was honestly pretty boring at the pool deck which was disappointing for me. We had some drinks and made it a fun day regardless of the entertainment.

 

A & I decided to see what else was going on around the ship after getting bored at the pool. We stumbled on a black jack tournament in the casino and for $20 decided to give it a go! We both ended up coming in second on each of our tables, so close to the finals! This was pretty fun even though we didn't win. We hung out at a few other places around the ship and then decided to take a nap before dinner and Glow.

 

Dinner this night was at the Manhattan room which is the main dining room. We were lucky enough to get a table at the very back window of the ship and got to watch the sunset while we ate. We both can always find something here we like and really enjoyed the food and the service. Also they had a band playing which was enjoyable with dinner. After we checked out the Perfect Couple gameshow in the Atrium with Terry, this is a funny show where they put couples through some interesting tasks. Always funny! Next up it was time for my favorite party on the Escape, Glow! We brought some of our own glow gear, headed to Spice H20, got a table and a bucket of beer and were set! A & I aren't really club people although we do enjoy fun music so we really enjoy Glow. I will say, as tame as this cruise was compared to my others this was the MOST packed Glow party of all my NCL cruises. People were ready to party and the entertainment staff was great during the party. Once Glow was winding down we headed to the club area because usually everyone migrates down there for some more dancing after Glow, unfortunately there were only about 10 people there. We called it a night soon after but definitely had a great time at the Glow Party.