Escape NYC to Bermuda 5/13 Trip Report

[Indykitten]

Day 7. Final sea day.

Breakfast again in the relative peace of Margaritaville. At this point I’ve eaten and drank so much I should be rolled off the ship. But I still had a bottle of sparkling wine in the cabin from latitudes rewards. So I carried it to breakfast to make mimosas from the self-serve juice machine. No sooner had I removed the cage and the top popped, almost taking out a light in Margaritaville. Sorry! You really just can't take me anywhere.

 

Breakfasts at least were becoming lighter, a bowl of museli and that’s all, thank you very much. I will say we never once took an elevator. Stairs only, no matter how many decks it was. I’m going to die when we’re on Breakaway next because our cabin is on Deck 8 and the Garden Cafe is on Deck 15. That is 7 flights to breakfast every day people! But I need every calorie burned possible and also, no thank you to getting sick from being in a crowded elevator with others in close proximity.

 

We watched a bit of the Royal Wedding on TV in our cabin as we got ready for the day. Gorgeous dress.

Behind the Scenes tour at 9:20. I’d booked this as soon as we got on the ship. It was limited to 18 people and it was really very interesting. We toured backstage at the theater and supper club, one of the galleys, cold food storage, the laundry room and the environmental (garbage sorting) room. This was the paid tour as we are not (yet) platinum and it lasted about an hour and a half. As I said, hubs and I are always interested in how things work. They take a goofy pic of you holding a giant whisk and wearing a chef’s hat and give it to you at the end. At this point I’d gained like 25 pounds and wasn’t feeling totally camera friendly, but so what. But I'm not posting it.

 

My preeeeecccioooouuuuusssss

A light bit of lunch and we popped down to the theater for the Deck and Engine Q&A. I warned you we like seeing how things work. Never been to bingo but I’ve been to every Q&A.

 

Oh, what’s a few more pints? Although at this point we were really running out of good beer. I’m telling you, that contest is HARD, repeat beers do not count. I did enjoy the variety, trying beers I would not normally buy or try at home. But you have to finish them in the District for them to count and at this point I was missing hops and struggling to choke down a couple cheap lagers. Again, #CruiseProblems. We were still #s 1 and 2 on the leaderboard and at this point our lead was substantial. We’d established our dominion and we were chatty with other the contestants. Hi, Chris! Did you ever move back up to 3rd place?

 

Current-ish leaderboard (one or two days behind): You can see Kevin is still at one pint...

I’d brought some cash and a pack of thank you cards from home. I’d also stopped by the atrium and picked up a few Vacation Hero cards so I set to work at the bar. I do my best work with a pint in front of me. We pay the regular service charges but I like to give an additional cash tip for those who go above and beyond. I know I could tip as I go but I don’t like to carry cash with me during the week. So on the last day I will write out thank you cards, slip a little cash in there and deliver them. As I was writing my cards out there was a Code Alpha called out and an immediate page for a passenger to contact Guest Services. My paramedic spidey senses piqued briefly. Hope everyone went home safe. Almost there!

 

After a few pints I’d talked the husband into waterslides, against his wishes. So we went back to the cabin and threw on our swimsuits. Tube slide was blast and very easy going, loved the clear part over the side of the ship. Then it was time for the drop slides. 3 story free fall! Let’s do it again! After I pull my bathing suit out of places I didn’t know it could go.

 

Dinner tonight was at Pinchos and OMG this was the best food on the ship. As I gushed about how great the food was the waiter asked, why did you wait so long to visit us?? I don’t know #CruiseProblems. It really was fantastic. I ordered two plates at a time until we finally gave up. We were stuffed. The waiter says, ONE MORE, and brings us a Spanish creme brulee type custard. It was amazing. Well done. Well worth the upcharge, would do again, 10 out of 10. At this point my husband was feeling the effects of overindulgence and as much as I wanted to return to the District for a victory lap we went back to the cabin to pack. I KNEW I should have snuck back up there while he was sleeping so I could have “won”. Hubs kept track. I believe we finished at 62 pints.

[WaywardBlue]

oh my gosh, this has been so much fun! from pints to unicorns to fish n' raisin bread and beyond! love it! thanks so much for the info and the smiles!

[Indykitten]

Day 8. Disembarkation.

I’m not usually in a hurry to get off the ship but we were meeting the husband’s brother at the Bronx Zoo and I was worried about being late with 5,000 other passengers so we chose early self-disembarkaton (is that really a word?). It went very smoothly, breezed through customs with our duty free rum and we were off in midtown Manhattan. BTW Bronx Zoo is AMAZING. Seriously one of the best zoos in the world.

 

Wrap-up.

Would I do “the contest” at the District again? No, once was enough. It was fun, I enjoyed it, but I neglected some other bars that could have used some of my love and attention. Also some really good beers that I only drank one of because I had to drink something “new” for it to count.

 

Positives:

Escape is a beautiful ship and I loved all the outdoor access. The Waterfront is an excellent setup and we enjoyed it very much. The District is phenomenal for both beer and as a live music venue. Entertainment was very good, as always. Food was also very good to excellent for the most part.

 

Our regular BF category cabin was perfect for us. Bathroom setup was much preferred over Epic. Shower was plenty roomy. The bed was very comfortable and also bigger than the one we had on Epic.

 

I LOVED Bermuda. It’s clean, polite, beautiful with a great climate and the most gorgeous beaches. Never once did people ask for money or try to sell us junk like in the Caribbean. There was no plethora of skinny, stray animals. It was Britain in Paradise. I would love to go back but I think staying on the island is likely out of our price range. It’s an expensive place to live and visit. The entire island is developed and there’s little to no farmland, everything must be imported.

 

I LOVED being at the same port for 2 ½ days. 8 to 5 feels too rushed to me and I loved being able to get to know a place a little better, see a little more. Honestly I think I could do another 2 ½ days here and see completely different things, feeling like it was a totally different place. I would happily go on another itinerary with 3 sea days and 3 days at one port.

 

Negatives:

Escape felt really crowded. I can’t even imagine what the pool deck was like as that’s not really my thing. It was difficult to get reservations for dining and shows.

 

iConcierge was useless to me. I tried a couple times to get it to work and gave up. Maybe others have better experience with it. I couldn’t book anything with it. I could book via the TV in the room but you can’t cancel reservations, which seems to me like a hole in the system. I suspect that a lot of people make reservations and never show up because it is onerous to cancel. It would be nice if they had a better streamlined system for managing reservations.

 

I’ll be honest, I had some reservations about sailing out of New England. I was nervous about being on a ship full of people from New Jersey and Long Island from some things I had read. I wish I could tell you my fears were unfounded, but…..let’s leave it that we had a great time but I don’t see myself booking out of NE again any time soon. Too many scenarios where I witnessed rude, entitled and demanding behavior.

 

Smoking. Lots of smoking. Smoking where there should be (casino and SpiceH2O) was still a little overwhelming to me but I may just be sensitive to it. Smoking where there shouldn’t be (on the waterfront and on balconies) was even more annoying. I don’t blame the crew or NCL, they can’t police everyone, everywhere, all the time. People should be considerate enough to follow the rules. I know I could have called and complained about the smoking on the balcony but how are they supposed to track down where it is coming from? Obviously one (many) of our neighbors needed their morning cigarettes but it did make our balcony less usable for us.

 

Join me in the fall for our next trip on Breakaway’s TA from Copenhagen to NYC. So excited for Denmark and the northern European ports! And then, gasp, we are cheating on NCL next year for Alaska. Bliss was out of my price range (although tempting) and I wanted Glacier Bay on the itinerary. So we are taking the whole dam family on a dam ship to Alaska. You can guess which line we are sailing. ;-)

[kpark895]

Nice review! Congrats on DBH leaderboard standings! Just one thing - New York and New Jersey are not part of New England!

[Indykitten]

Nice review! Congrats on DBH leaderboard standings! Just one thing - New York and New Jersey are not part of New England!

Sorry? Is New England/MidAtlantic more accurate? I guess I meant more that I won't be choosing to sail out of NY, NJ or Boston any time soon. Although I'm sure there are some very nice people in any of the states.

[MJSailors]

I think you may be referring to the greater NY area which covers NJ and LI ( which is part of NY). Boston is considered in the New England area.Mid- Atlantic is the area that includes Virginia.

Yes, there are many good people in the greater NY area. Unfortunately, you may have encountered rude,demanding passengers on your cruise out of NYC, but those types of individuals can be encountered from all areas of the country and on cruises leaving from any port.

Enjoy your family cruise to Alaska on HAL.

I do hope you do not encounter any rude ,demanding passengers on that cruise .

PS I am a native of NYC ,now living on LI.

My family, friends and neighbors are neither rude or demanding 😀

[trideltjenn]

Thank you for the great review! We are going on Escape in July for our wedding at the Reefs. We stayed there for a few days in April to sort things out for our wedding and I do agree the hotels on the island are a bit expensive, but if you are looking to go back and stay on the island, i wanted to suggest Bermuda Accommodations, they have some really nice condos, houses, and apartments to rent. We rented a 3 bedroom house right by Henry the VII restaurant, right below the light house) and it was really reasonable for being in July. Others in our wedding party have rented smaller accommodations for less then $200/night and most have full kitchens to save some money on things such as breakfast or lunch. I will definitely be planning a trip back to Bermuda again and renting a house for a few days to be able to enjoy more time and all the things to do on the island.

 

My fiance did have one question, how early/quickly do you think he needs to get to the District to get on the beer board (he and his friends are very competitive and this is right up his alley, he for sure will not be Kevin with only one drink and never come back! I have a feeling he will be up there in the numbers. :)

[Indykitten]

Thank you for the great review! We are going on Escape in July for our wedding at the Reefs. We stayed there for a few days in April to sort things out for our wedding and I do agree the hotels on the island are a bit expensive, but if you are looking to go back and stay on the island, i wanted to suggest Bermuda Accommodations, they have some really nice condos, houses, and apartments to rent. We rented a 3 bedroom house right by Henry the VII restaurant, right below the light house) and it was really reasonable for being in July. Others in our wedding party have rented smaller accommodations for less then $200/night and most have full kitchens to save some money on things such as breakfast or lunch. I will definitely be planning a trip back to Bermuda again and renting a house for a few days to be able to enjoy more time and all the things to do on the island.

Thank you! I did hear some people on the island talking about Airbnb so I think that would be an option as well. I'm sure you'll have a great wedding.

 

My fiance did have one question, how early/quickly do you think he needs to get to the District to get on the beer board (he and his friends are very competitive and this is right up his alley, he for sure will not be Kevin with only one drink and never come back! I have a feeling he will be up there in the numbers. :)

LOL I would go there first! Don't be a Kevin! :D

[trideltjenn]

Thank you! I did hear some people on the island talking about Airbnb so I think that would be an option as well. I'm sure you'll have a great wedding.

 

Some of them are also using Airbnb as well, I just saw a lot more selection with the Bermuda Accommodations for whatever reason so just another thing to check out. :) VRBO has some as well, but not many that I could see.

 

 

LOL I would go there first! Don't be a Kevin! :D

 

Oh he will not be a Kevin, there are 40 of us, so I might just have to send a few of them down there right after trying for Vibe (those that want it). They also will be looking for new beers for their beer app as well so that will help motivate for sure.

[klfhngr]

The tap and bottle list has not changed from Florida and they said they currently have no plans to change it. So any pics of the menu you see online from here or on google image search is pretty accurate. If you like Belgians there are three different large bottles of Chimay that are excellent. There's a $5 upcharge from the UBP but definitely worth it and you get two servings.

 

NICE, very nice!!! Love my IPA's, IPL's, Stouts and Belgians! ;)

[Lau92080]

What a great review thank you for taking the time to write this!

I have a question for you, is the ferry to St George located across from the ship? It looked like it is in the picture and does it run back and forth all day?

[Indykitten]

What a great review thank you for taking the time to write this!

I have a question for you, is the ferry to St George located across from the ship? It looked like it is in the picture and does it run back and forth all day?

Yes, it is only a few feet away. You step off the ship, walk straight through a very small building and the ferry is docked on the other side. Here is the schedule: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wXgWUonGj8-bUbiuIEcAFUSDjOESC3hO/view

[poohdreaming]

Thanks for writing and sharing your review along with pictures. Thank you so much. I do have 1 question, do you remember how much it cost for the behind the cruise ship tour? Thanks.

[flyingandcruising]

Day 8. Disembarkation.

I’m not usually in a hurry to get off the ship but we were meeting the husband’s brother at the Bronx Zoo and I was worried about being late with 5,000 other passengers so we chose early self-disembarkaton (is that really a word?). It went very smoothly, breezed through customs with our duty free rum and we were off in midtown Manhattan. BTW Bronx Zoo is AMAZING. Seriously one of the best zoos in the world.

 

 

We are going to Bronx zoo after our cruise in August. How far was the zoo? What time did you end up getting there? and how long did you stay? was it enough time?

 

Thank you

[Indykitten]

Thanks for writing and sharing your review along with pictures. Thank you so much. I do have 1 question, do you remember how much it cost for the behind the cruise ship tour? Thanks.

It was $79 per person. Since we are "silver" we got a 10% discount though.

[Indykitten]

We are going to Bronx zoo after our cruise in August. How far was the zoo? What time did you end up getting there? and how long did you stay? was it enough time?

The zoo was incredible! We got there just after they opened at 10 and stayed until 5, and we didn't even see everything. My husband used to be a zookeeper though, so we are more zoo geeky than the average person. The Congo gorilla exhibit is fantastic. Bonus gorilla pic.

 

We took the BxM11 express bus, which couldn't have been easier. We actually took Lyft to one of the Madison Ave bus stops, but we really should have walked because we got there too early and wandered around and got coffee. I was so worried about being late that it didn't even occur to me we'd be early. We had our giant Osprey backpacks with us though. You'll need to figure out what you're doing with your luggage. It took 45 minutes to get from Madison Ave and 47th St to the zoo.

[psac]

Yes, it is only a few feet away. You step off the ship, walk straight through a very small building and the ferry is docked on the other side. Here is the schedule: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wXgWUonGj8-bUbiuIEcAFUSDjOESC3hO/view

 

Thanks for this!

[Bklynjo]

I think you may be referring to the greater NY area which covers NJ and LI ( which is part of NY). Boston is considered in the New England area.Mid- Atlantic is the area that includes Virginia.

Yes, there are many good people in the greater NY area. Unfortunately, you may have encountered rude,demanding passengers on your cruise out of NYC, but those types of individuals can be encountered from all areas of the country and on cruises leaving from any port.

Enjoy your family cruise to Alaska on HAL.

I do hope you do not encounter any rude ,demanding passengers on that cruise .

PS I am a native of NYC ,now living on LI.

My family, friends and neighbors are neither rude or demanding 😀

Thanks for setting indykitten straight. I am also from NYC and still live here, and have been on the Breakaway several times out of NYC to Florida, Bahamas and Bermuda and I have encountered rude people from all over the country. Not every New Yorker is rude.

[MJSailors]

Thank you, Bklynjo !

I read the entire thread by indykitten and was enjoying her description of the cruise to Bermuda on the Escape.

I like to read about cruises leaving NYC and vacations to Bermuda. Both places have a special place in my heart as I said in my previous post, I grew up in NYC and my DH and I have visited Bermuda 13 times in the past 34 years.

While I found indykitten’s thread to be interesting, I had to take exception to her generalized impression of passengers from “New England”.(sic)

I don’t mean to hijack her thread, but as a New Yorker, I have to tell it as I see it.

Good people are everywhere. That’s a bonus from travel. A person can learn from meeting people outside of their own environment.

[flyingandcruising]

The zoo was incredible! We got there just after they opened at 10 and stayed until 5, and we didn't even see everything. My husband used to be a zookeeper though, so we are more zoo geeky than the average person. The Congo gorilla exhibit is fantastic. Bonus gorilla pic.

 

We took the BxM11 express bus, which couldn't have been easier. We actually took Lyft to one of the Madison Ave bus stops, but we really should have walked because we got there too early and wandered around and got coffee. I was so worried about being late that it didn't even occur to me we'd be early. We had our giant Osprey backpacks with us though. You'll need to figure out what you're doing with your luggage. It took 45 minutes to get from Madison Ave and 47th St to the zoo.

 

Thank you very much for the info, what time did you line up to disembark and what time did you actually get to street level? We are driving, so not an issue with luggage. Awesome Picture.

[kba1988]

Very nice, detailed review. Thanks so much for sharing. Can you tell us how far is Art Mel's from the Caves? Is it a long bus ride? And do you have any food pics? LOL!!

 

Thanks again.

[Bkelly1026]

Does anybody know what time the pool/hot tub closes? What about the spa?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Happyday1023]

Thank you, Bklynjo !

I read the entire thread by indykitten and was enjoying her description of the cruise to Bermuda on the Escape.

I like to read about cruises leaving NYC and vacations to Bermuda. Both places have a special place in my heart as I said in my previous post, I grew up in NYC and my DH and I have visited Bermuda 13 times in the past 34 years.

While I found indykitten’s thread to be interesting, I had to take exception to her generalized impression of passengers from “New England”.(sic)

I don’t mean to hijack her thread, but as a New Yorker, I have to tell it as I see it.

Good people are everywhere. That’s a bonus from travel. A person can learn from meeting people outside of their own environment.

I also loved the review. Very interesting and helpful. I am from Long Island and was a bit surprised by the ending. I have been to many places and have met many wonderful people. I have also met very rude and pushy people. Both of these types live all over.

[Indykitten]

Very nice, detailed review. Thanks so much for sharing. Can you tell us how far is Art Mel's from the Caves? Is it a long bus ride? And do you have any food pics? LOL!!

 

Thanks again.

Google maps says it's a 17 minute car ride from the caves to Art Mel's but that seems suspiciously short to me. It's on the north side of Hamilton. I didn't take any pics (I'm a moron) but here's their TripAdvisor page with pics:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g147257-d1906709-Reviews-Art_Mel_s_Spicy_Dicy-Hamilton_Pembroke_Parish_Bermuda.html

[Indykitten]

I also loved the review. Very interesting and helpful. I am from Long Island and was a bit surprised by the ending. I have been to many places and have met many wonderful people. I have also met very rude and pushy people. Both of these types live all over.

Sorry about that, I'm sure there are many lovely people from there. I may have just been terribly unlucky with the demographics on this cruise.