coach jim

Thanks very much for your informative and well balanced review. We sail on the Escape in February and we are really looking forward to it.

Safe travels,

Coach Jim

Like everyone has been saying they are very similar ships, though Escape has a few "extras". The District Brew House and Food Republic are both outstanding and only on the Escape. Also the standard balcony is larger, extra level of the ropes course and one extra water slide. We did however enjoy the Western itinerary more, but Eastern route is more relaxing and an extra day at sea.

You will enjoy both,

Coach Jim

Glad to hear you had a nice cruise.

 

I'm wondering if the head waiter you mentioned "Kaviraj Luchmun" if he is the same one we had. He insisted we call him "Raj" and I never thought to look for his full name. He was excellent for us all (Group of 7 or 8 families) and was adored by all our kids. Made their cruise experience all that much better. On most nights, we sat all the adults at 2 or 3 tables and all the kids sat together at their own tables. The serving staff (especially Raj) were great at making the kids feel like VIPs

 

dp

Kaviraj was in Silk, so if you were in Silk and had a large group it was probably the same person. After the first night problems, he more than made up for it and was a big part of why we had a great cruise.

Coach Jim

A few final items. My wife, one son and father-in-law did the iFly and thought it was great. We got some great pictures. Know they are tough with the weight restrictions, under 6 foot, 230, over 6 foot 250. Some people in their group were turned away. They put you on a scale in private. North Star was fun, go on while in port if possible. It was open before we left, check at the North Star bar, you will see people lining up. Boys enjoyed the bumper cars, also open while still in port in Bayonne with a relatively short line. Only one of the xbox stations worked during the cruise if this is important to your kids. Indoor pool and the Solarium were ideal for cruises out of the New York area. One day was very windy and a bit cool. My wife and I particularly enjoyed the Solarium and while we needed to look a bit, did find loungers. Good cover band in the Music Hall, "Rock the Boat", along with a few theme nights. Plenty of people on the dance floor.

Feel free to ask any questions,

Coach Jim

A few other areas, first Entertainment: We saw all three main shows, The Gift, We will Rock You and Spectra's Cabaret. All three had great special effects and performers. For planning purposes, The Gift was a lean 45 minutes, WWRY is a full two hours! Good show, in particular if you are a queen fan, I am not but enjoyed the show, make sure you stay for the encore! Many rushed out and missed a great final number. Spectra's was just under 1 hour and is performed in 270. For all three arrive early, 1/2 hour if seat location is important. The performer we enjoyed the most was Charlie at Michael's pub. Great voice and knew a tremendous range of music. Performed all requests he knew, which was extensive. Great voice for Johnny Cash, but also did the Eagles, Neil Diamond, and everything in between. Great sing-along music. He often played through his break. We did not see the comedians, but heard they were very good, or the various "game shows" but saw them on TV and they looked fun.

Ports: We caught great weather, both ports, Bar Harbor and Halifax, had great weather, 70's and partly sunny. In Bar Harbor we went to Cadillac Mountain, which I strongly recommend, in particular on a clear day and enjoyed some great lobster roll near the water. Best part of the excursion was getting an early tender ashore. We were also able to explore the town and do some shopping. Know the town is on a hill. In Halifax, we walked off the ship, walked along the harbor and went to the maritime museum. A good 20-25 minute walk along the harbor. Nice small museum, with emphasis on Halifax, the Titanic and the role Halifax played, and model ship building. Several of the artist had open work rooms. On the way back we stopped at the Stubborn Goat beer garden along the harbor. This is an outdoor area with a service section with tables and an open area with a window for beer and food. Great local beers. Exchange rate was favorable for the American dollar!

A few final thoughts, crowed was more geographically mixed than I expected. There were big groups from Texas and Oklahoma escaping the heat back home. Age was families and middle aged. Not a party cruise like those in the Caribbean, but a very relaxing cruise. While there were not many in our sons age bracket plenty of activities and opportunities for brother's to compete with each other! There is a lot of road construction going on in Halifax, so excursions to Peggy's Cove were delayed getting back, so we left a little late.

Leaving the ship was a bit delayed, "congestion in the terminal" we were told, so you may want to adjust your time, this is apparently common. Once off the ship things moved reasonably through immigration, just a lot of volume in the terminal. Last thing, know a dinning room is only available for breakfast and lunch on sea days, other wise it is windjammer buffet, solarium bistro small buffet, or sandwiches and salad bar in 270.

Safe travels,

Coach Jim

I wanted to give a review of our recent sailing on the Anthem of the Seas, 6/26 to 7/1 to Bar Harbor Maine and Halifax, Nova Scotia. Several other people including LouTheGlue and video have done extensive reviews, I will attempt keep this short.

This was a family trip, as our boys are getting older and have a life of their own and my wife's parents are getting older, it was important we take a trip all three generations could enjoy, and I am happy to say our trip exceeded our expectations. My wife and I are north of 50, our boys are 21 and 24, and my wife's parents are north of 80. My wife and I have been lucky enough to have taken over a dozen cruises, mostly on NCL and Royal Caribbean, but we had not been on a RC cruise since 2008 when we were on the Explorer to Bermuda.

Food and Service: While we recognize food is very subjective, we had a very good experience with dinner, with my boys and I primarily eating meat, and my wife and in-laws primarily eating fish and chicken, we found something we liked each night. We would all usually order two appetizers and one entree each night. The braised pork shank was particularly good, along with the prime rib and lobster tail, yes they still have lobster tail on the regular menu one night. For us that was night four after we left Nova Scotia. None of us had a bad meal or sent a dish back because it was not cooked correctly.

Service, here we had a bit of an issue night one. While the food was good, service was not. Our meal took three hours, with several tables around us arriving after us and leaving well before we even ordered dessert. My 'displeasure" was obvious as the supervisor/head waiter came to our table. He promised to make this up to us, told us to use his name and he would personally take care of us the rest of the cruise. I am happy to report he did this and more. The service the rest of the cruise could not have been better. Even when we got moved to another of the restaurants, he came down to check on us and talk to our waiter. One particularly memorable act, with no advance warning we told him when we arrived that it was my Mother-in-law's birthday. They served us a magnificent cake that evening and of course sang happy birthday. The cake was a wonderful surprise and really good! By the way, the head waiter was Kaviraj Luchmun and he was just outstanding.

Bar Service/beer: We had the drink package, great being able to get bottled water, fresh squeezed orange juice and specialty coffee, things not included with the NCL package. We found everything we ordered to be covered, $13, except a particular wine my wife ordered, where she only paid the difference. Service was generally good, in particular at the bars we regularly frequented, Schooner bar and Michael's pub. One thing a bit odd, the wine and beer selections could be a bit different bar to bar, so if brand is important, you will need to check out the various bars ;) I enjoy craft beer and the selection in general was not great, though Paulaner Hefeweizen was available at most bars. At Michael's Pub, they also had Anchor Steam ale, Storm King Stout, and Widmer Hefeweizen in bottle, and Brooklyn lager and Loose Canon, an IPA from Heavy Seas, on tap.

Well, I have already gone a little longer than I wanted to. I will come back and include a few more thoughts.

Coach Jim

Awesome review - nice warm up for our Getaway in two weeks - I think we sailed with you before - seem to recognize your name - BA to Bermuda??

 

 

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Yes I believe so! The GA is the exact same layout as the BA so it will seem very familiar. Evan some of the staff had moved over like Lilly in Headliners who is one of the best bartenders I have encountered on a cruise ship.

Safe travels,

Coach Jim

That does help, thank you!! I was trying to decide between 5 and 6 bars but was leaning toward 5! I like the card idea, too. Thanks for taking the time to respond :).

No problem. Simple google search for beer and cocktail trivia brings up great stuff. If you want I can send you mine. Sugarcane is a good stop to reorganize as the drinks are a little labor intensive and takes a little longer to get a drink.

Enjoy,

Coach Jim

Hi Coach Jim. Thanks for the review! If you have a minute I would love to hear what you did with the pub crawl. I'm leading ours in 2 weeks on the Getaway. Did you play any games, how many bars, etc. thanks so much!!

 

 

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First we identified everyone doing the crawl by wearing mardi gras beads at Spice H2O during sail away. We then moved to the Chill Bar in Margaritaville by 4:45 (they close at 5!) and handed out three cards. We used three decks of cards. I put together beer and cocktail trivia. Every right answer got a card. I asked 3 or 4 questions at each stop. Everyone gets a new card at each stop. We moved from Chill bar to Waves by the pool, then down to the 8th floor and went to Sugarcane. Next we moved outside to the sunset bar where we finished the trivia. Person with the best hand using 5 cards wins. I picked up mardi gras beads with beer mugs and Nancy who set up the M & G got a "boobie" prize for the lowest hand. We were supposed to finish at O'Sheehans on 7 but by the time we got to the sunset bar everyone was having too good a time and some people were headed to dinner. Tried to stick to about 20 minutes at each bar, that got longer as we moved.

Hope this helps,

coach Jim

entertainment: One other show we went to was the Illusionarium. This was a bit uneven. We opted for floor seats, we ended up in the second row of seats, center. All seats face the stage. Haven guests get the first row. My wife and I love "magic" shows and go whenever we can. There was a bit of a silly story line to set up the four acts. Of the four acts we thought two were very good, the woman who did levitation of objects and the last act, which did some well done traditional acts, woman in a box, switchings places with assistant, very quick and polished. First act was not as polished as the last act and the mind reader/telepathy was a bit hokey. Meal was better than we had last year on the Escape Brat pack show, filet and shrimp, with three small desserts. All in all an enjoyable show and worth using one of our meal plans with an up charge. Get there early to be seated close to the stage, remember Haven gets first crack at the seats. We also saw Burn the Floor twice, once in the theater, once up close in the Tropicana room during dinner. Both times it was fantastic. This one has more of a latin theme than the breakaway and seeing them up close in the dinning room we could really see how quick and talented they were.

Food and Service: We all recognize food is subjective but we feel Norwegian has continued to improve in this area but service was a bit uneven. We ate dinner at O'Sheehan's the first night after the pub crawl. It was prime rib night which I had. It was good but a little fatty, my wife had the salad with grilled chicken, she said it was ok. A good meal to have after a pub crawl. Second night was the Illusianarium, good not great but better than the meal we had last year on the Escape. We ate in the Tropicana room twice, both times the meal was good and service efficient if not friendly. Other people we talked to complained of slow service but we did not experience that. I will concur with other reports, while quality has improved, choices are limited. Catch the Burn the Floor show in the Tropicana if you can. Our other three meals were in two specialty restaurants, Cagney's twice and Ocean Blue. We love Cagney's and both meals were outstanding. No issue with extra appetizers or sides. Lump crab cake was again outstanding as was the filet mignon, cooked to perfection. Service the first night was outstanding, not as attentive the second night. Ocean Blue was very good and the service was great. We were able to eat outside on a perfect weather night. We had king crab legs, my wife the grilled shrimp and I has surf and turf, lobster and filet. This was part of the dinning plan. While there is an up charge, only one meal is not included, their seafood supreme or something like that. We found the quality and variety of food at the buffet has continued to improve, in particular the omelette station and the "roast of the day" station, the chicken was outstanding. We also ate breakfast and lunch at taste/savor, great spot to get fresh french toast and burgers. Their vietnamese pho soup is particularly good.

Ports/excursions: For this trip we did all our excursions through the ship, but we talked to many people who booked privately and had no problems. In Roatan my wife went zip lining, an excursion she highly recommends, I went to Maya Key, plenty of options and loungers both in the sun and shade, interesting collection of animals, most rescued. They have "mayan ruins" but they are not original. They have snorkeling, which I thought was included and people who did it thought it was very good. It is but it costs extra to rent equipment. Relaxing day other wise. Harvest Caye was beautiful, but be aware if you wait to go ashore, pool will be really crowded and you may have to walk a bit to find loungers near shade by the beach. Food and beverages are extra and some of the stores will only take cash or you ship card.

The other two stops were in Mexico, Costa Maya and Cozumel. In Costa Maya we went to the ruins at Chacchoben. One warning, the crowds getting lined up for excursions gets a bit chaotic and one member of our group got caught up with the crowd and ended up in the wrong area. Our young guide recognized a person was missing and eventually found him. He was an earnest but inexperienced guide. On the ride back we found out how knowledgeable he was, the guides tend to have a set scripts during the tour. The site was bigger than expected and much of it has not been uncovered which was interesting. We went early, which I recommend, as it was getting hot as we left, though there are plenty of areas with shade. The ride is a little less than an hour. The "village" they have created in port is nice, but be prepared for the "enthusiastic" sales people. If you can watch the Mayan ritual where they climb a tower then swing down with no safety harness, we thought it was really impressive. In Cozumel we went to the mainland and went to Xcaret, a manmade eco park which we thoroughly enjoyed. There are three new Mexican theme parks, this one is good for strolling around and seeing the wildlife and learning a little about Mexican history. One other is an adventure park, XPLOR, which sounds like it would have been ideal for our sons. One unique element of Xcaret was the "river" you can swim/float down, partially through carved out "caves". They give you vests to stay afloat and you can get fins if you want. At the end they have showers, though out door, and changing rooms. If you are interested, do the river first. The park is huge, study the map on the way there and pick you spots. The walkway is color coded, made it fairly easy to get around. You will not have time to see everything. It was a bit crazy getting out of Playa del carmen, apparently road work, but easy getting back.

Staff/fellow passengers: Our experience was the staff was always efficient and usually friendly. Of particular note was our room steward who was great. Most impressive was the bar staff who was besieged by thirsty passengers with the UBP. Of particular note was Alejandro at the outside area of the Sunset bar and Lilly at Headliners. Now what really made the trip was our fellow passengers. A large number of folks from the upper mid-west, upstate NY and Canada, and like us, escaping the cold weather for a week. Doing the pub-crawl was a great introduction to some wonderful folks, many of whom we regularly shared drinks and conversation with. The Sunset bar at sunset was a particularly good spot.

Random thoughts: Beer selection is poor with two exceptions, all the bars have Little Sumpin Ale from Lagunitas and at O'Sheehan's they have La Rubia from the Wynwood brewery in Miami on tap. Spa treatments still give the hard sell for products, the thermal spa is great and we feel worth the extra money, we always get a spa cabin. Gym is crowded at times but plenty of treadmills, weight room was never crowded and machines were in good working order. Silas was our cruise director and he did a great job, minimal announcements. Ship is really well maintained, but as stated earlier, pool area way to congested, and some seemingly wasted space at Margaritaville, the restaurant never seemed more than half filled and even the bar closes at 5!

Overall we had a great cruise and will be going on the Escape again next Feb. Looking forward to the District Brew House:D and the beaches of St. John's:cool:. I will be happy to answer any questions.

Be well and safe travels,

Coach Jim

Just wanted to give a short review of our trip on the Getaway. First we had a great time, experienced fantastic weather and met some really wonderful people. We are in our mid-fifties, like to escape the Northeast during the winter and like to have a few drinks and a good time. This was our 7th cruise on Norwegian, and we have been on Disney (2), RCCL (3), Carnival (2) and Celebrity (1) in the past. This was our second cruise without our kids who are now adults.

The layout is identical to the Breakaway and very similar to the Escape. Though identical to the Breakaway, I find it interesting the Getaway gets higher grades in reviews. The problems are the same, pool area is too crowded, pool too small, small standard balconies, and smoke smell from the casino. We found the smoke smell was only a problem if you were walking through the casino and my wife and I are both sensitive to smoke. We expected all of these things so they were not a problem for us. As stated we had a great time primarily because of the entertainment, food, ports, weather, and most importantly the great people we met. A special thanks to Cool70 (Nancy) for setting up the Meet & Greet, which drew over 80 people, and setting up a pub crawl which I was able to lead. This is a great way to get the layout of the ship (the bars anyway) and meet people. We continued to share drinks and stories with the people we met on the pub crawl the entire week.

Entertainment: We love Howl at the Moon and this cruise had the best trio of performers I have seen. They all were really talented piano players, had great energy and really got the crowd going. We went every night they performed. While I know the performers will change, make sure you go the last night. The entire cast from MDQ showed up and performed along with Allah Sheffield who regularly performed at the Sugarcane bar and the atrium. She has a beautiful voice and did fantastic renditions of Me and bobby McGee and Killing Me softly with HATM. In addition, both comedians, Mark Viera and Brad Mastrangelo, were very funny, Mark Viera might be headed to bigger gigs. We went to both the "family" show and the adult shows. This was our second time seeing MDQ and it was again outstanding. The actor who played Jerry Lee Lewis also showed up at HATM earlier in the week. Deck parties were fun, though the Caribbean and 80's parties were not heavily attended.

I will continue a little later.

Coach Jim

Great video! Where did you go in Cozumel?

Coach Jim

If beer is a priority go on the Escape. Beer selection in the District Brew House is outstanding both on tap and in bottles.

Coach Jim

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i've only done a cursory glance at the escape on the NCL site but besides a few more passengers and decks it pretty much seems to be the same as BA. what would be more positive things about escape?

They made a few improvements; standard balconies are a little larger, pool bars are stacked creating a little more room on the pool deck (though the pool is still too small), added slide the aqua racer which is great fun, extra level of ropes course. In addition there is the District Brew House with a great selection of craft beers and a fun singer/piano player at night and the food republic. One last difference, Bayamo has replaced Ocean Blue and there is a wine bar but no ice bar.

Hope this helps

Coach Jim

Thanks for your great review. Really well balanced. We leave on the Getaway on Feb 19th. Looking forward to it and getting out of the cold.

Coach Jim

Well done. Concise, thoughtful and well balanced.

Thanks

We did this tour in Feb. Lockers are not really worth it, they are on the side of the entrance. You would have to go through, walk to the top then down again. Know the entrance is a little tight for people larger than average size. I am 6f 3', about 270. I made it through but a bit tight. It can get very crowded, so if possible take the early tour. I think it was Devil's Bay is by the exit, nice beach, beautiful water but limited shade and no chairs. Area at the top where you arrive has a nice covered porch and a big patio and a small pool. There is a bar and if you are hungry a restaurant. Nice place to relax before the buses return to the boat. Be careful with how loaded your backpack is and remember water shoes and sun screen.

Enjoy it is a really unique place

Coach Jim

Final thoughts II: I forgot to mention our room and the spa. We had a spa balcony, room 15748. First thing we noticed was the balcony, they have made a significant improvement from the BA. On the BA I had to sit sideways and it was tight for the two of us, it really did not qualify as a balcony. On the Escape there was plenty of room for three chairs and room to sit forward. Great place for coffee in the morning and a drink at night. The room itself was more than enough room and storage for two. The bathroom is a lot smaller than the mini-suite bathroom we had on the BA. Our bed was by the balcony making it easier to get into the closet. Our room was starboard under the very beginning of the gym and did not hear any noise. We really love the spa and this is another area they have improved. It is larger the the spa on the BA, more loungers and more heated tile loungers. We were always able to get a tiled lounger, just not always next to each other. The steam room, sauna and pool were great for cleaning the system and refreshing yourself after a night of HATM and the UBP. The gym itself is more open than the BA and is wider so the machines are a little more spread apart. They have also made the weight room and cardio rooms open to the hallway to the spa, as opposed to walled off as they are on the BA, giving it a more open, spacious feeling.

One other area I should mention, smoke. My wife and I are both very sensitive to smoke and felt unless you were walking directly through the casino it was not a problem. The humidor was another story. It is located directly across from Tobacco Road, near the 5'Oclock somewhere bar. The first two days at sea, anytime the door to the humidor opened, it seemed a cloud of smoke entered the area by, appropriately, Tobacco Road. We think this was only a problem those first two sea days as there was a lot of traffic in and out as people were still exploring the ship. We tended to avoid this area so Tobacco Road was one of the few bars we did not frequent.

I should add Silas was a great cruise director. He seems to really enjoy his job and had a lot of fun with guests. He also was waiting at the exit of the Brat Pack asking how everyone enjoyed the show. By the way, the cast comes out to meet patrons and take pictures after the show.

Well, I think I covered all of the areas that I wanted to. We had a great trip and I welcome any questions.

Safe travels,

Coach Jim

Well, let me try to finish my "brief" review. I want to get the one negative addressed, but stress this was not an issue for us. There is clearly a design flaw with the one adult pool that they repeated from the away ships. It is not big enough for a ship with so many passengers. Also, while they have created a little more room by stacking the pool bars instead of them being side by side, they have filled all the space with loungers so it can be difficult to move around. Many others have commented on the chair hogs, they need to enforce the rules about unoccupied chairs, but I doubt they will. I can fully appreciate the observations made about the kids pool, too deep and not any seating areas for parents watching their kids. It is unfortunate they did not address this which has been well documented as a problem on the away ships. One family we met on their first cruise was a little bothered by the overcrowded pool area and stated "it is like you are up in everyone's business", this did not make a good impression for their first cruise. This was the only negative but not an issue for us because we spend very little time around the pool. There are many other sunning areas that were not crowed and even another small bar and cooling station on deck 18 I believe near the Vibe entrance but open to everyone.The slides were great and the aqua racer is a great addition. The drop slides are great fun and a boy told me he thought they were faster than the Getaway for what that is worth. The ropes course looked great, never seemed too crowded.

Bars: We had the UBP and the pool bars and the bar in Spice were the only ones during sea days were we had to wait for a drink at all, and even there I thought the wait was short. A small tip can go long way. The UBP allows for some experimentation, so try all the drinks you were curious about. The Mojito bar normally had a good crowd and since that is a labor intensive drink, there was sometimes a wait. As has been noted bong is very popular and could probably use a second bartender earlier in the evening. I found all the drinks to be fairly strong and we did not experience a drop in service because of the UBP. My favorite place was without question the District Brew House. Besides Beau, the big attraction was the beer. I love craft beers and I thought their selection and variety was very good. They had the taps set up light to dark, going from El Presidente to Left Hand brewery Milk Stout. They always had enough people on staff so there was never a wait and the staff was knowledgeable. The comfy chairs by the big windows were a great place to read, watch the waves and have a nice craft beer. I was on the leader board but came in second. Met the guy who won who approached the challenge of drinking the greatest variety of beers, like a military operation. There were too many good beers and drinks on the cruise to drink Coors light, Budweiser and similar swill. The 5'Oclock bar on the waterfront was lively. The waterfront is still an underused area, but great on a warm calm day to read. The addition of the DBH and the food republic has significantly cut down on the wind which could be a problem on the BA. Speaking of Food Republic, we ate there once. It is an extra charge but very high quality and not very expensive. My wife had the california roll and I had lobster roll. Both were very good. Side point, there was a little screw up with our order going through, I think similar to the glitch mention by DougOut, so be aware and check if your order went through. All ordering is done through an Ipad.

Excursions: In St. Thomas we went on the St. John Eco Hike $ Beach. Fairly short ferry ride to St. John's, a good hike with a knowledgeable guide pointing out the plant life. You finish at beautiful Trunk Bay. We felt we had plenty of time at the beach, which is stunning. Then we walked through the Trunk Bay resort, I think, which is on the old Rockefeller compound and an old sugar plantation. A very relaxing day with a little exercise through a beautiful area. In Tortola we went to Virgin Gorda to visit the Baths. It is appropriate they changed the level to "3" for this excursion. I am 6ft 3, about 275, former college football player. Yes I made it through the entrance but it was not easy or pleasant. If you are claustrophobic and it is crowded you may have a tough time with the entrance. A few people decided not to go in. I want to make it clear, the Baths are stunning, a really unique excursion, but it can be a bit of a challenge for large people, especially ones north of 50 and carrying a small backpack. About 99% of the people start at the narrow entrance and work their way to Devil's bay. That 1% going against traffic created some delays getting through. I highly recommend it but recognize there are some narrow areas and some climbing of rocks. Remember to bring water shoes. Devil's bay is nice though limited shade. The pavilion at the top is great with a bar, restaurant, a small fresh water pool and plenty of space on the big patio to view the surrounding area. In Nassau we just went into town, visited a few shops, the beer garden at the Pirate museum and the Pirate Republic Brew pub. Nice gift shop and decent beers. We thought Nassau looked better than when we were last there about 6 or 7 years ago. It was clean, the people were friendly and there was a presence of people in uniform and the "free information" people. Minor issue with a "bait and switch" with one jewelry store. One of the stores recommended by Norwegian advertised a triangular pair of earrings for $129 with a "gift" of a matching bracelet with the same triangular design. When my wife talked to the sales person the only offered circular earrings with the triangular bracelet, triangular earrings were $199. We left and reported it to the sales consultant on the ship. A minor issue just something to be aware of. We did purchase some great shirts made out of bamboo.

Final thoughts: A lot of people have reported movement, I thought the times we did feel the ship move it was the seas and not a design flaw. I like being reminded we are at sea and not on land. The internet is painfully slow. We needed to have some contact back home as temps went well below freezing and we had our son checking the house and my wife has elderly parents. There was a period the internet was not working at all, the internet manager more than made up for the lost time by giving us a significant amount of time which we appreciated. Chipster did a great job organizing our meet and greet as did Margie with the the slot pull. Officers and staff were very active talking to us and asking about any issues. Later that day we received chocolate covered strawberries and two trays of various little treats. They were compliments of the executive sous chef, Godfrey Fernandes and the Hotel director Jovo Sekulovic, both of whom we had met at the meet and greet. I would strongly encourage people to go to the meet and greet. We found the staff overall to be polite, friendly and efficient. Our cabin steward Manuel was outstanding, thorough and timely but never intrusive. I found the staff to be better organized, friendlier and open to requests than the crew of the Breakaway during their inaugural year. Many people have the UBP and there were some stories about late night drunkeness but we were long in bed by then and did not witness any problems and we spent a good deal of time in the DBH and other watering holes. We enjoyed our cruise so much we did the cruisenext and booked the Getaway for next Feb with its new itinerary to Belize and Mexico and one more cruise cert which got us a $250 on board credit.

Safe travels,

Coach Jim

I am going to try to give a brief review of our trip on the Escape 2/13-2/20. A little background, this was our 12th cruise, 3 RCI, 2 Carnival, 1 Celebrity, and this was our sixth on Norwegian, which includes two CTN on the Breakaway. In fact we have been on the Breakaway three times in total, so we were very familiar with the layout of the ship. This trip was particularly special for us because it was the first time in 18 years we have been away for more than a weekend without our kids! We are middle aged and were traveling from Northern New Jersey.

We flew to Miami Friday night and stayed at the airport Hilton. If you can, I highly recommend traveling the day before. That way you are rested and ready to go the day of the cruise, along with giving yourself some room if the weather is bad and your flight is delayed. The hotel is a typical Hilton, we flew in late and left at 10:15 the next morning so we did not have the time to explore the hotel grounds or facilities, but we had a big, clean room with a comfortable bed.

We arrived at check in a little after 10:30, got to the counter quickly and we given the 7th boarding group. The waiting room was a little overcrowded but we were called to board about an hour after we arrived, so on to the Escape.

Food: We ate in Taste several days for lunch, only open on embarkation and sea days for lunch. We found the service polite and efficient and the food good, though the menu never changed. We ate in the Manhattan room three nights, again we found the service to be polite and efficient. We had reservations and we were seated within 5 min of checking in. We found the service to be significantly improved from the Breakaway and they did not stack dirty dishes near the tables as they had done on the BA. Food is subjective, but we thought the quality had improved from the BA and there were at least 4 new items each night, and if you are interested, some type of steak each night. We had breakfast and several lunches in the buffet, again I feel an improvement in quality and choice from the BA.

The only real line was for omelets, which they also served on the last morning, I do not think that was the case on the BA. We had one breakfast in O'Sheehans. The food was fine but lack of coordination, toast came out long before the eggs, so the toast ended up being cold. We ate in three "specialties", Cagney's for Valentine's Day, which was outstanding. We both had the surf and turf, cooked to order, both were of high quality. Yes you can order as many apps and sides as you want with the SDP. Love their crab cake and shrimp cocktail. We also ate at Teppanyaki. Plenty of food, our server was entertaining and the food was again high quality. My wife had the shrimp and sea scallops, I had filet Mignon and lobster, both were good but we felt a little salty for our taste. Third was the Brat Pack show which I will address under entertainment, but the food was mediocre, something many people have addressed. Shrimp that was breaded and short rib which was fine. The food did not match the quality of the show.

Entertainment: I believe this is the area where Norwegian shines. I would agree there may be a lack of entertainment at night for kids, but this trip that was not a concern for us. The Brat Pack show was really well done. The young performers had great energy and really good voices. They loosely tie together various scenes from John Hughes films. I think it is a great move thatthey are moving it to the main stage and will be able to do more with the sets. The performance made up for the food. Million Dollar Quartet was really outstanding. Six talented signers in all with the Jerry Lee Lewis actor/singer/piano player almost stealing the show. Wait for the grand finale! After Midnight is well done but not for everyone. The performers are all talented and hard working, but the music and dance is not going to appeal to everyone. I enjoyed it but my wife did not. I am a history teacher and do a unit on the Harlem Renaissance every year so I was a little familiar with the music. Unfortunately this was the one show a number of people left early. Two other venues that were great fun. First, Howl at the Moon, this cruise had probably the best trio we have seen in 4 cruises that had HATM, they seemed to like each other and played well off of each other. They had a little trouble with my request, The Letter by the Box Tops, but gave it a great try. Really high energy a a whole lot of fun. This group did more novelty songs than past performers. Similarly, Beau Tahana did a great job at the District Brew House, he drew a very active and enthusiastic crowd. His show is often very interactive, with audience dancing and singing. We never made it to the comedy show, a consequence of other options and the UBP! We heard very good things about the comedian.

Well, so much for a brief review, I will continue later with the bars, excursions and the pool deck.

Doug,

Best travel log/review ever! Really outstanding. We get to go "home" next Sat. Looking forward to challenging the top of the leader board. Again, thanks for taking us along.

Safe travels,

Coach Jim

Doug,

Loving your review/travel log. Your sense of humor has been cracking me up, in particular your brother-in-law's surprise choice for a beer. Never leave such important decisions up to an amateur, important choices like that should be left to the professionals! Did you do any excursions in Tortola? We leave in 10 days, cannot wait.

Coach Jim

Dougout,

Really enjoying your beercentric review. So, how go things with your position on the leader board in the brew house? Any chance of catching A #1 who I believe you mentioned was on your cruise? We leave in less than two weeks, cannot wait.

Cheers,

Coach Jim

We are having the exact same problem. Our plan is to eat something light before hand and dinner after, or just something light again after. With the kids club, can one bring them and the other save seats?

Safe travels,

Coach Jim

Great job with your review and posting all the photos. Thanks very much. We are really looking forward to our cruise on the Escape Feb. 13th.

Safe travels,

Coach Jim