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christopherfar

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Posts posted by christopherfar

    Live From Escape: 5/20-5/27

    in Norwegian Cruise Line

    Posted

    Here's a tip: When drinking heavily, go to the bathroom right before the muster drill starts. Fighting the crowds when you have to go too badly to see straight will ruin you. That compounds into a long break from drinking that makes you tired.

     

    Ordered a vodka Red Bull to combat this fatigue. Have to pay for the Red Bull off of the UBP so here the cup of vodka they delivered me:

     

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    Live From Escape: 5/20-5/27

    in Norwegian Cruise Line

    Posted

    While we wait to board, how about some social commentary. The first come first served setup for Vibe passes truly brings out the worst in people. Manners kind of go out the window. It's everyone for themselves in that security line. If you so much as take a step in the wrong direction, you'll be suspected of attempting to cut the line. I should know, I almost accused an old lady of it...

     

     

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    Live From Escape: 5/20-5/27

    in Norwegian Cruise Line

    Posted

    Have some family in Miami, so we spent much of the afternoon catching up with little to report. Uneventful, as I promised today might be.

     

    Had to stop in and brag on the Kimpton Epic, however. Didn't have much opportunity to appreciate the amenities today, but came home late tonight with plans for an average room service dinner. No pictures, unfortunately, as I didn't expect it to be a meal worth writing about. Boy was I wrong. Really excellent burger, Steak Frites with truffle fries that were both worthy of a legit steakhouse. Can only assume this all came from the restaurant in the hotel -- come here for the food if awesome rooftop pools and waterfront views aren't your thing for some reason.

     

    For those worried about my sobriety, putting a good hurting on a bottle of CVS wine. Because there's nothing like a cheap wine hangover to start a cruise.

     

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    Live From Escape: 5/20-5/27

    in Norwegian Cruise Line

    Posted

    How much was the hotel? How did you pick it on Hotwire? Did you do a lot of research to see if you could figure out what hotel it was before you booked, or did you just look for something near the port area with a decent number of stars?

     

     

    Combination of all of the above, maybe? Looked for something near the port with good ratings, found a "boutique hotel," which we've had luck with in the past. Looked around and had a decent idea that it might be the Kimpton, but we were willing to take our chances. Paid $130 for the night.

     

     

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    Live From Escape: 5/20-5/27

    in Norwegian Cruise Line

    Posted

    View of the port from the balcony.

     

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    View of the hotel rooftop pool.

     

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    Downtown view from our balcony.

     

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    Boat cruising in.

     

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    And last but not least, this guy at the pool who is channeling exactly what I'm looking for in this vacation.

     

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    Live From Escape: 5/20-5/27

    in Norwegian Cruise Line

    Posted

    Random post flight musing:

     

    Why do pilots feel the need to tell me the direction and speed of the wind at my destination? I TOTALLY understand why they need to know, but what am I to do with such information? How did they know I brought my kite and have been dying to learn whether I could fly it?!?

     

    Just got to the hotel. The luck of the Irish is with me today. Showed up at noon for a 4:00 check in, and our room was ready. Pictures forthcoming.

     

     

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    Live From Escape: 5/20-5/27

    in Norwegian Cruise Line

    Posted

    I know what you're thinking... "Here comes another TheDougOut wannabe, trying to live review the Escape. He'll never rival that epic review." And you'd be right. When my wife and I booked our trip on the Escape a few months back, nothing got me more excited than reading that review. So while I may not share his wit, I do share his affinity for booze, and I figure it's my duty to pay it forward and create a review of my own. If just one person reads this and gets as excited as I did reading TheDougOut's review, then I'll be happy. Wannabe indeed!

     

    I'm writing from 39,000 feet, though I suspect I won't hit send until I'm wheels down in Miami. Is it really worth the $20 wifi to tell the Cruise Critic world that I'm on the plane?? That kind of edge of your seat drama is can only be found in Hollywood.

     

    A little background on this trip: my wife, we'll call her Meg (name not changed because laziness trumps privacy), and I (Chris) booked this trip intending it to be a surprise for our friend Sara's (remember the bit about laziness?) birthday. She and her husband (Asael -- you know the drill by now) had booked well before us. We coordinated with him, didn't tell her, and the secret remained intact until just a few short weeks out. Unfortunately, she booked an excursion to Jost van Dyke out of Tortola that would essentially be a repeat of a private charter we had already booked out of St Thomas the day before. The only way to convince her that she should get her money back was to let the cat out of the bag -- surprise!!!

     

    By the way, how many people would have believed me if I'd told you I made up four fake names: Chris, Meg, Sara, and.... Asael? Total lack of creativity followed by some Tim Burton levels of random? See how I tied this all back to the Hollywood drama?

     

    Anyway, this hardly qualifies as a late spring escape to warmer weather. We're all from Texas where it might actually be hotter than the Caribbean already. But there is no beach in my office. There is no District Brewhouse. This is an escape from the daily grind; an opportunity to turn off my wifi and relax. So how am I taking advantage of that opportunity? Getting wifi and sharing my trip with all of you, of course!

     

    I'll try not to bore you too much today by talking about the price of my Uber from the airport. I'll let you know what we think of the Kimpton Epic hotel we booked on Hotwire, then pick up the pace tomorrow when we get to port.

     

    Going after Vibe passes -- no Norwegian status to lean on. Meg is super excited (sarcasm) that I want to get to the port hours before boarding to try to secure Group 1 boarding. Anybody done this successfully since the change in embarkation?

     

    Oh, PS, in true TheDougOut fashion, I'll share my drinking progress: 1. Coffee, black 2. Apple Juice... our flight took off at 7 am, even I have my limits. I promise to get more interesting.

     

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