CamaCama's Family Vacation on the Escape 11/21/2015 (Detailed PICTURE Review!!!!!!)

[CamaCama]

Kids pool rules

 

 

Yellow open slide next to kids pool (opposite side of aqua park) -- this was not a fast slide, Sienna loved it.

 

 

Walk through outdoor marketplace and you get to the main pool (adults only)

 

 

About 11:45 I went to pick up Sienna and brought up to the pool deck. She had the best time at camp but was excited to get in the pool!

 

 

We found chairs all the way in the back by the staircase that brought you up to Deck 17 where ping pong was. In the shade. The pool area was WAY TOO SMALL for the amount of people on board. Not enough chairs on the main deck and chair hogs were out in full force!! We would see towlels on chairs in prime locations for HOURS before anyone got there. Nobody from NCL did anything about it, not that I expected them to. But I could never do that, I don't know how people think that's ok.

 

The layout was awful too. No area to dance or do the games/contests by the pool like on other ships, it was strange to have such little floor space by the stage. I did like the seating inside the pool but they should have made them bench like instead of squares... nobody wants to sit with their butt up against a stranger on a little square haha so most had just 1 or 2 people on them when they could definitely fit more. Anyway, just some observations.

 

The area right behind our chairs

 

[CamaCama]

Pool time!

 

 

They loved playing in this little shallow area by the water feature. The kids pool was designed perfectly! Places for parents to sit, good size, little splash areas for younger kids, loved it all. The only thing was in the aqua park there was a water gun up on the bridge and the kids would spray it into the kids pool area and all the parents would get wet. We heard a lot of parents yelling at kids up there to stop and point the gun into the aqua park... I didn't mind since it was hot out and I was usually already wet, it was pretty funny actually.

 

 

 

The girls played for a while then Sienna wanted to try out the hot tub. There were 2 hot tubs by the adults only pool, one said adults only on it and the other wasn't labeled so it had all kids in it.

 

 

Time for a drink!

 

 

And a nap for the little one apparently...

 

[CamaCama]

Mila took the best naps on the pool deck, she sleeps great through loud noise... sometimes we'd have to wake her up!

 

 

2 hours later, new position but still sleeping...

 

 

My mom said she'd stay with her while she slept so I went in to the garden café and got her a plate of food. Also got Mila pizza for when she woke up... and the rest of us ate inside garden café.

 

 

 

After lunch they announced the Sexy Legs contest for men. 3 women volunteered to be the judges and about 7 guys participated... it was pretty funny, but again, not much space for them to really do anything and hard to see if you were at the back of the pool.

 

 

[CamaCama]

Cruise Director Julie stopped by... in the orange dress.

 

 

Afterwards the live band played for a while, they were very good.

 

 

Mila woke up and ate her pizza then wanted ice cream...

 

 

By this time it was after 4pm and we had a 6:30 reservation at Manhattan Room main dining room so we headed back to the rooms to get ready. We wanted to try to take some pictures of the girls tonight if they had any set up.

[CamaCama]

We all got ready pretty quickly and walked through the atrium to find a spot to take pictures.

 

 

 

We found a set up nice set up by one of the staircases and the girls cooperated nicely... the pictures came out nice but at $25 a pop we just couldn't spend that kind of money on a photo when I took almost 2,000 myself for free.

 

 

Another set up

 

 

We walked around and the girls danced a little in the atrium before dinner

 

[CamaCama]

Some family shots before going to Manhattan Room

 

 

[CamaCama]

Mila waiting for her food... we only use the phone as a last resort and dinner took FOREVER tonight. We were seated at 6:30 and we didn't get out of there until 9:30! It took over 2 hours for the main courses to be served... so needless to say the girls were antsy towards the end. Sienna actually fell asleep at the table right after she ate and didn't get to have dessert. The servers felt bad and they explained that all the dining rooms had the steak and it was the Chef's Special that everyone wanted (3 at our table ordered it)... they actually let us all have a free drink!! I thought that was really nice plus they brought over extra main courses for us to try.

 

 

No menu pictures tonight but I remember what some of it was...

 

Steak (sorry I don't remember the exact name of it, I'm not a steak eater lol) -- everyone said it was "OK"

 

 

Veal -- everyone LOVED this and they all wish they ordered this instead

 

 

Orzo Stuffed Tomato -- this was mine and it was delicious

 

 

I don't remember what this was.... Chicken roll up of some sort maybe?

 

 

Dinner was long and everyone was tired after that... the ship was rocking a lot too so we all went to bed. Our first towel animal!

 

 

END OF DAY 2!

[bevkay]

Absolutely love your review! The pictures are great. Thank you for doing it. Looking forward to more. We will be on the Escape in February.:)

[tartan cruiser]

Just love your review and all the pictures of the girls. They look like they had a fun cruise. Things my grandkids would enjoy, too. You are a beautiful family. By the way what is name of the slushy drink Sienna is enjoying? Looks very refreshing! Thanks for the day by day menus too. Helps in planning our specialty dining days. Hopefully they will be the same after January 1.

[MandyMommyof2]

I am loving your review! We have been sailing with our girls since they were 4 and 1. It's our favorite way to vacation. Your review of the Escape is a great one! Can't wait to hear about the rest of your week.

[vacation44]

I am really enjoying your review. Thanks for sharing and also for posting the MDR children's menu

[hj1madison]

CamaCama, you have been so good to answer questions as we "go along for the ride" with you!

 

How full do you think the ship was? At capacity? What do YOU think was the cause of that ridiculous delay in the MDR? Do tell me that happened just one night! Are all the ship photos $25? Finally, is the ice cream from the place that sells Gelato? If so, pricing??

 

Your trip details are so like ours: 3 generations traveling together, 2 little girls, though older (7 & 10), 3 cabins in a row, etc. We are treating everyone to their very first cruise and I just want it to go really well! Can't wait to hear about your days in port. Thanks again!!!

[StuckiTribe]

I am so anxious to read more of your review! We are sailing on the Escape at the end of May and will also be 3 generations cruising (my folks, husband and I, and our 5 children: 24, 21, 12, 11, 8). My folks have cruised Carnival before, but were NOT fans and said they would never cruise again and we've talked them into trying the Escape with us. We cruised on the Getaway in May 2014 and loved it and wanted to try the new ship. I am concerned about the smokiness of the open area around the casino...that was one of my mom's big complaints about Carnival (years ago, and I know many ships like NCL have gone "smoke free" in public areas and balconies and have designated smoking areas). I love seeing all your pictures! Can't wait to hear how the rest of the week went!

[CamaCama]

Absolutely love your review! The pictures are great. Thank you for doing it. Looking forward to more. We will be on the Escape in February.:)

 

I am loving your review! We have been sailing with our girls since they were 4 and 1. It's our favorite way to vacation. Your review of the Escape is a great one! Can't wait to hear about the rest of your week.

 

I am really enjoying your review. Thanks for sharing and also for posting the MDR children's menu

 

Thank you so much and thanks to you guys for commenting!!!

[CamaCama]

Just love your review and all the pictures of the girls. They look like they had a fun cruise. Things my grandkids would enjoy, too. You are a beautiful family. By the way what is name of the slushy drink Sienna is enjoying? Looks very refreshing! Thanks for the day by day menus too. Helps in planning our specialty dining days. Hopefully they will be the same after January 1.

 

Thank you! The girls had a great time, esp my 6 year old.. perfect age to cruise!! Sienna's drink was a virgin strawberry daiquiri I think... she loves frozen "drinks".

[CamaCama]

CamaCama, you have been so good to answer questions as we "go along for the ride" with you!

 

How full do you think the ship was? At capacity? What do YOU think was the cause of that ridiculous delay in the MDR? Do tell me that happened just one night! Are all the ship photos $25? Finally, is the ice cream from the place that sells Gelato? If so, pricing??

 

Your trip details are so like ours: 3 generations traveling together, 2 little girls, though older (7 & 10), 3 cabins in a row, etc. We are treating everyone to their very first cruise and I just want it to go really well! Can't wait to hear about your days in port. Thanks again!!!

 

Oh you will have the best time, I love cruising with lots of people!!

 

How full do you think the ship was?

I think it was almost 100% full, I know the room next to us was empty but I don't think many were.

What do YOU think was the cause of that ridiculous delay in the MDR?

In Manhattan Room? They said it was the chef's specialty that was offered at all 3 MDRs and they couldn't keep up. I really have no idea if that's true but glad they gave us free drinks and didn't just brush it off.

 

Do tell me that happened just one night!

Yes, every other night was quick service.

Are all the ship photos $25?

Yes, there is a deal if you buy 10 but so not worth it to me.

 

Finally, is the ice cream from the place that sells Gelato? If so, pricing??

We didn't go to the place that you buy ice cream, there was always free soft serve in the buffets when they were open and also hard scoop ice cream on both sides with toppings, etc!

[CamaCama]

I am so anxious to read more of your review! We are sailing on the Escape at the end of May and will also be 3 generations cruising (my folks, husband and I, and our 5 children: 24, 21, 12, 11, 8). My folks have cruised Carnival before, but were NOT fans and said they would never cruise again and we've talked them into trying the Escape with us. We cruised on the Getaway in May 2014 and loved it and wanted to try the new ship. I am concerned about the smokiness of the open area around the casino...that was one of my mom's big complaints about Carnival (years ago, and I know many ships like NCL have gone "smoke free" in public areas and balconies and have designated smoking areas). I love seeing all your pictures! Can't wait to hear how the rest of the week went!

 

So fun! The escape is gorgeous and if they were on the older carnival ships this is completely different. New updated décor, wood tones, unique designs, etc... older carnival ships are bright lights and cheesy décor in my opinion. I was interested to "see for myself" the smokiness that I had read about prior to sailing because I just couldn't believe the ship designers didn't think of that... but you can smell smoke and that "old" smoky smell 24/7. I have a very strong sense of smell, but everyone in my party noticed it too. Even in the elevator one night a couple we didn't know commented on how that elevator always stunk of smoke. Maybe they will work it out somehow before you sail... totally not a deal breaker since we didn't spend much time just standing around in that area.

[CamaCama]

DAY 3 - Sea Day

 

We woke up to a gorgeous day.

 

 

 

 

 

We turned the clocks ahead 1 hour as per the note in our room the night before so we were all up at 8am (really 7 to us). Len went to the gym... I totally meant to all week but never made it. I do usually work out regularly when we're home but on vacation I just can't ever bring myself to do it, it's like a break for me. My mom and mother-in-law went to the track to walk and we all met up at Garden Café for breakfast around 9:15.

 

BOTH girls were going to camp this morning so after breakfast we found chairs at the pool and then I went down to Deck 5 Splash Academy with the girls. Mila's drop off was first. Apparently there were still people who hadn't signed their kids up or received any information yet so there were 2 people in front of me who were taking forever. All I wanted to do was drop off Mila and nobody acknowledged me. We were there about 15 minutes when Sienna had to go to the bathroom... so we got off the line and walked down the hallway to the bathroom... got back on line after that (1 person had come during that time) and waited another 15 minutes. So after 30 minutes it was finally time to drop her off. She seemed fine walking in but since we waited so long by the time I actually was handing her off she didn't want to go. Screaming and crying. I felt horrible but didn't want her to not try it. There were a few crying kids there so i'm sure that didn't help. Sienna and I waited outside the door where she couldn't see us and after 3 minutes she stopped crying so off we went to Seals to drop her off. They were at the sports court by the time we got there so up we went to Deck 18 and got her all signed in. Pickup was 11:45 for Sienna back at splash academy and 12:30 for Mila.

 

They did give me this at Guppies in case they needed to contact me. They would call me directly on it and I could speak right into it, never actually used it though so I'm not sure how it sounded.

 

 

We only had about an hour kid-free but I got a bloody mary in!

 

 

[CamaCama]

Sooooooooooooo did Mila like Guppies? Did she go back again? The verdict is in.................

 

She liked it BUT never wanted to go back and would start to cry if we mentioned dropping her off. So, that was it for Mila. One and done. haha

 

Now that I had my girls back with us we were ready to have some fun on the pool deck.

 

 

Well, some of us... Mila took a much needed nap. Sienna wanted to play in the pool and aqua park for a little so we did that first.

 

 

 

 

 

[CamaCama]

 

 

 

Over to the hot tub for a little while the Miss Escape contest was going on.

 

She drew me a happy face.

 

 

There were big crowds while some young girls shook their stuff in front of the male judges...

 

 

[CamaCama]

We finally decided to try out the slides!! Sienna was too scared at first, she wasn't sure she wanted to.

 

 

 

 

None of us are really thrill seekers, but mom and I tried it out first while Sienna watched from below (see her in the bright pink bathing suit waving??)

 

 

We got a double adult tube which was blue (there was also double kids - yellow, single kids - yellow and single adult - blue). There was a big area to house them but they were never in there, they were always up a few stairs where the slide ends and the NCL employee was there handing them out as people came down.

 

[CamaCama]

The views were awesome up there...

 

 

 

 

 

[CamaCama]

It was really fun! I hope the videos below work! (Ignore my feet and my mom screaming :D)

 

VIDEO OF TUBE SLIDE - NCL ESCAPE

 

We told Sienna how fun it was and she agreed to go with Daddy. Up they went!

 

 

They went more than once, she LOVED it!!!

 

 

Another video...

 

SIENNA AND LEN - END OF TUBE SLIDE

Edited December 7, 2015 by CamaCama

[Caligirl33]

The slides look like SO much fun! What type of waterproof camera were you filming with?

[gambee]

On breakaway they sent me back because I had the camera with me.

 

 

About how long was the wait in line for that water slide?