Just off Escape 1/28-2/4 sailing - thoughts

[wil e coyote]

Hi all, my DW and I just got back from the 1/28 sailing of the Escape out of Port Canaveral. Here are my general impressions in no particular order. 

 

To set expectations, we have sailed NCL several times, but also other cruise lines. We stayed in the Haven for this sailing (this was a birthday cruise so we were splurging). More on the Haven later.

 

Overall crowd levels:

This sailing was 100% full. We were told that there were over 4600 passengers on board, and it looked like it. There were lines everywhere, starting at embarkation, for all the port disembarkations and embarkations, and especially for tendering at GSC. The pool deck was crazy full on sea days. 

This was our first sailing since ships returned to 100% capacity, and it seemed like A LOT of people. I am not sure how much of that was due to the whole not-used-to-crowds-post-COVID-thing, and how much was that it was just full.

All that said, this didn't actually affect us much as we were in the Haven - but we had initially booked a Club Balcony and then upgraded later. So part of me was looking at this and thinking, "boy, am I glad I upgraded!" I'm not sure we would have had the same experience if we hadn't.

Muster Drills:

We had an in-person muster drill shortly before sail-away. Our station was in the Escape Theater, and it was over-full. We headed there as soon as the drill started, and when we walked in there were no seats left. There were a lot of people standing around like us. I actually don't mind the in-person drill (go find another thread to debate this if you disagree) but I thought they could have planned things better. After all, they know how many people are assigned to each area, and how many people each area holds.

The drill was relatively quick, so as I said, I didn't mind it all that much. I do think there is muscle memory value in actually going to the place you'd need to visit in case of emergency. Feel free to disagree with me - somewhere else...

Ports of Call:

We actually made it to all four ports of call on this sailing! Hurray!

Puerto Plata - Escape docked at Taino Bay, much to my surprise. The interesting thing was that we were about 1.5 hours late in departing, as the captain told us they were waiting for the winds to die down before navigating the channel out of the harbor.

St. Thomas - We did the Magen's Bay and Shopping excursion through NCL. Magen's Bay was beautiful, and we would have gladly stayed there for much longer than the 2-ish hours we were allotted. I highly recommend this beach and we will plan to go back there. Our driver gave us way too much time for shopping in town. He dropped us off at 3:30, and told us he would pick us up at 5:45. There just isn't enough shopping to be done to take up 2+ hours, and half of the people from our little bus were at the meeting point by 5 pm. So we hired a taxi and went back the ship.

Tortola - This stop is silly on this itinerary. 6 AM to 1 PM? Tortola is a beautiful island, and so is Virgin Gorda, a brief ferry ride away. But I'm on vacation and I'm not getting up at 5:30 am to go on a shore excursion. We stayed on board.

Great Stirrup Cay - We actually thought this wasn't going to happen. The seas had been pretty high most of the week, and GSC had been cancelled the week before. But the winds and waves smiled on us, and we were able to go to GSC this time. We did the ziplining and the waverunners. Both excursions were fantastic! The staff were very helpful and friendly. My DW is afraid of heights but wanted to try the ziplining, and the staff helped her to feel comfortable. The waverunner crew was excellent. We had a blast! We stayed pretty basic on food - the lines were very long so we stuck with hot dogs and waited to get back on the ship. We headed back to the ship after 4:30, and the line was crazy long - this is one of the times that the Haven card paid off.

Specialty Dining:

Cagney's - We ate at Cagney's on the second night. We sat outside on the Waterfront, which was really extraordinary. The sunset and the ambience were perfect, and the wind was really not too bad. We thought the food was quite good, but not as good as the entrees in the Haven dining room.

We had been booked for Moderno also, but the food was so good in the Haven that we ate there for the rest of the week.

District Brew House - not specialty dining, but a really nice upgrade from prior NCL ships. I loved being able to order real beer!

The Haven:

Our experience in the Haven was outstanding in just about every respect.

Staff overall - Really great - multiple staff members remembered our names after the first day, and all were extremely helpful. Dilip (concierge) and his team were tremendous. They helped us rebook dining and shows, got us into shows and to disembarkation, and answered myriad questions.

Dining - The food was excellent all week at every meal. The star of the dining experience was Siva, the Maître D'. He stopped by our table every meal to ask how things were going. After my DW said hat she like the onion rings, he arranged for her to have them available for every dinner for the rest of the week. He also got us some Indian food one night after we saw another couple with it.

Haven area / sun deck - this was a wonderful oasis on an otherwise very full ship. I'm not sure we would have been able to use the pool deck hot tubs at all - they were always jam-packed.

Entertainment:

Choir of Man - Outstanding. Go see it. I especially like that they involve the audience in multiple ways, including serving beer at the start of the show!

The Pour House - The troupe on this sailing was good, but not great. We saw another troupe doing the same musical sets (Rumours, 80's prom night, etc.) on the Breakaway last June and that troupe was much better. Perhaps if we hadn't seen the acts on BA we would have felt differently this time.

Overall:

We had a great time. At the same time, I really don't know whether we would want to be on a ship of this size if we were not in the Haven. Maybe we could try the Haven-lite strategy on this board.

All the crew we came in contact with was friendly, and the ship was beautiful.

Feel free to ask any questions!

[catgags]

Glad you had a wonderful cruise! Thanks for sharing!

I sail on the Escape 2/18! I love the Brew House!

Cat

[Lupush]

Is the casino non-smoking on Escape? I was on that ship years ago and can't remember if it was before NCL went to the "sealed off" smoking section.

[wil e coyote]

58 minutes ago, Lupush said:

Is the casino non-smoking on Escape? I was on that ship years ago and can't remember if it was before NCL went to the "sealed off" smoking section.

The casino is definitely NOT non-smoking. The smoke odor from the casino is also quite apparent on deck 8 (casino is on deck 7).

[big al]

Thanks for the review...we are sailing the Escape in December...we share some similarities..we were on the Encore Jan '22 and we also loved dining outside in Ocean Blue..it was sunset, gorgeous night and DW & I had a table right near the water..magical! Just before , we went to the District Brew House ( close by ), where I could have one of 26 beers on draft..I am an admitted beer snob..I love good craft & draft beers..NO ONE beats NCL at this..we 've done 43 cruises on 7 cruise lines, the NCL's District Brew House is the best ( most cruise ships have 2-3 beers on draft, and they suck..)...Glad you liked Choir Of Man...did you notice some of what NCL announced a few weeks ago..that they were "cutting back" on entertainment? Did you eat at O'Sheehan's Pub? Love their Reuben, fish & chips..great place for a late night snack..Thanks again for your great review!!

 

Big Al

[Lupush]

10 hours ago, wil e coyote said:

The casino is definitely NOT non-smoking. The smoke odor from the casino is also quite apparent on deck 8 (casino is on deck 7).

It's unfortunate that NCL hasn't made all indoor areas non-smoking yet.  After being on the new ships in the non-smoking casinos, its hard to go back to a smoking environment.

[wil e coyote]

2 hours ago, big al said:

Thanks for the review...we are sailing the Escape in December...we share some similarities..we were on the Encore Jan '22 and we also loved dining outside in Ocean Blue..it was sunset, gorgeous night and DW & I had a table right near the water..magical! Just before , we went to the District Brew House ( close by ), where I could have one of 26 beers on draft..I am an admitted beer snob..I love good craft & draft beers..NO ONE beats NCL at this..we 've done 43 cruises on 7 cruise lines, the NCL's District Brew House is the best ( most cruise ships have 2-3 beers on draft, and they suck..)...Glad you liked Choir Of Man...did you notice some of what NCL announced a few weeks ago..that they were "cutting back" on entertainment? Did you eat at O'Sheehan's Pub? Love their Reuben, fish & chips..great place for a late night snack..Thanks again for your great review!!

 

Big Al

Thanks @big al - I will do my best to answer your questions.

It seemed like there was plenty of entertainment. Admittedly, we don't go looking for a show every night, so maybe I'm not the best person to answer. But there were a couple of very good comedians, several musicians/bands around the ship so it seemed sufficient to me.

We didn't eat at O'Sheehans. Honestly, we don't love their food (personal taste), so I can't comment on how it was on the Escape.

FWIW, I have become a bit of a beer snob too. This was our first sailing on an NCL ship with the District, and I loved it!

[Booboochase]

Hi wil e coyote! Also on this sailing - you covered it so well I don't need to write a review anymore so thank you lol! Couple things I will add if I may - we went to the bar Tobacco Road - best drinks we found.  Try Grass Clippings if you like Tequila, also the best Old Fashioned.  

We were Haven but aft on deck 11. Wonderful cabin, very quiet, large balcony, 2 bathrooms, same service as being in Haven proper.  Couldn't help but compare the Haven area to the Encore, which has a very large observation area with all day snacks, also the sundeck is much larger.  Agree about Dilip and Siva - they were great.

We did Escape to Jost Van Dyke through an outside agency - wow was that a long trip there, and saw our lives flash before our eyes several times on the bus on Tortola.  Scary stuff.  But the beach is beautiful so there's that! Sapphire Beach - nice beach, nice bar - but kind of a haul to get there.

DH tested positive for Covid yesterday 😞

[big al]

4 minutes ago, Booboochase said:

Hi wil e coyote! Also on this sailing - you covered it so well I don't need to write a review anymore so thank you lol! Couple things I will add if I may - we went to the bar Tobacco Road - best drinks we found.  Try Grass Clippings if you like Tequila, also the best Old Fashioned.  

We were Haven but aft on deck 11. Wonderful cabin, very quiet, large balcony, 2 bathrooms, same service as being in Haven proper.  Couldn't help but compare the Haven area to the Encore, which has a very large observation area with all day snacks, also the sundeck is much larger.  Agree about Dilip and Siva - they were great.

We did Escape to Jost Van Dyke through an outside agency - wow was that a long trip there, and saw our lives flash before our eyes several times on the bus on Tortola.  Scary stuff.  But the beach is beautiful so there's that! Sapphire Beach - nice beach, nice bar - but kind of a haul to get there.

DH tested positive for Covid yesterday 😞

What outside agency did you use to get to JVD? "The Escape to JVD" is still not available on the NCL site for my Escape cruise in Dec...just want a back up in case...and how much $$ was the excursion? Thanks!

 

Big Al

[Wedgie Wedgie]

Hey Wil

I hope I didn't hit you with a coaster on the first Choir of Man show at 9:00.

I made alot of friends in the Haven too. We had a blast on this cruise.

 

Kerry with a K - Haven upper deck hot tub hog!

[wil e coyote]

23 minutes ago, Booboochase said:

Hi wil e coyote! Also on this sailing - you covered it so well I don't need to write a review anymore so thank you lol! Couple things I will add if I may - we went to the bar Tobacco Road - best drinks we found.  Try Grass Clippings if you like Tequila, also the best Old Fashioned.  

We were Haven but aft on deck 11. Wonderful cabin, very quiet, large balcony, 2 bathrooms, same service as being in Haven proper.  Couldn't help but compare the Haven area to the Encore, which has a very large observation area with all day snacks, also the sundeck is much larger.  Agree about Dilip and Siva - they were great.

We did Escape to Jost Van Dyke through an outside agency - wow was that a long trip there, and saw our lives flash before our eyes several times on the bus on Tortola.  Scary stuff.  But the beach is beautiful so there's that! Sapphire Beach - nice beach, nice bar - but kind of a haul to get there.

DH tested positive for Covid yesterday 😞

Thanks @Booboochase for the kind words and the extra info. We didn't hit Tobacco Road so your info will help us for next time!

We were in Tortola in 2020 on the Epic for a full day, and went to the Baths on Virgin Gorda. That was an amazing trip, and we would love to go to Jost Van Dyke as well. Just not at 6 AM!!! 😀

[Booboochase]

17 minutes ago, big al said:

What outside agency did you use to get to JVD? "The Escape to JVD" is still not available on the NCL site for my Escape cruise in Dec...just want a back up in case...and how much $$ was the excursion? Thanks!

 

Big Al

We used Shore Excursions dot com, saw them recommended on another thread - it was $139 pp I believe? Part of it was a ferry ride.  Myself and another person were quasi begging the guy who drove the Rebel Yell from the NCL excursion to take us back with them! 

[Booboochase]

Regarding the excursion to JVD - it was the bus driver on Tortola, not affiliated with Shore Excursions, however, I did email them to let them know.  She was passing on curves with traffic coming. It was BAD.

[Panhandle Couple]

Thanks!

We are on Escape next month.

Booked the Jeep and Beach tour on Tortola.  Sounds like driving them will be fun!

 

[SunshineGal2022]

22 hours ago, Lupush said:

It's unfortunate that NCL hasn't made all indoor areas non-smoking yet.  After being on the new ships in the non-smoking casinos, its hard to go back to a smoking environment.

I agree.  California made smoking illegal in most indoor places about 20 years ago (maybe longer).  It’s a rare thing now to see cigarette or cigar smokers here; my children are more used to smelling pot smoke than cigarette smoke.  It’s hard for me to go into places with smoke at all now, and will not visit any casino that allows smoking.  Obviously I wouldn’t expect cruise ships to be completely non-smoking, but I would love it if they all had a well filtered casino that didn’t allow the smoke to drift outside a particular section, or if they restricted smoking to one outside section of the ship.

[SunshineGal2022]

21 hours ago, Booboochase said:

We used Shore Excursions dot com, saw them recommended on another thread - it was $139 pp I believe? Part of it was a ferry ride.  Myself and another person were quasi begging the guy who drove the Rebel Yell from the NCL excursion to take us back with them! 

I’ll have to check them out!  

 

I hope your DH recovers quickly. 

[Booboochase]

43 minutes ago, SunshineGal2022 said:

I’ll have to check them out!  

 

I hope your DH recovers quickly. 

Thank you so much! Also - it's shore excursions group dot com - sorry, I forgot that part! I have post cruise brain!