Our Amazing ESCAPE on the NORWEGIAN ESCAPE!

[aquarianne11]

Thank you so much for taking the time to do this review and post the fabulous pictures from your cruise.

 

I had a question about Splash Academy I was hoping you could answer, if you don't mind.

 

A few years ago we took our daughters on the Epic and although they should have been in two different groups, they were together for the most part, as the Splash Academy area was open and there weren't a lot of kids on our particular cruise.

 

We are going on the Escape in December with our sons, who will be 5 and 6 and I see from your pictures that they will be in two "different" age groups. Did you notice if the age groups were segregated or was it more open? I'm hoping they will be able to spend some time together.

 

Thanks and looking forward to the rest of your review!

 

Jill

 

Hi! Thank you so much for reading and for the kind words!

 

I just checked with my daughter who is in the 6-9 group (Seals), she said the activities were separate. She said she did not see the 3-5 group so they were probably in a different area of Splash Academy. She mostly attended the evening activities from 7PM- 10:30PM.

 

We saw a lot of kids during our cruise, so they probably mix them if they don't have a lot of kids.

 

I can see in the schedule that they have Freestyle Free Play (friends and siblings play together). Looks like age mixing is only allowed during those hours.

[aquarianne11]

We bought a 3 day meal plan can u eat free at jimmy buffets with that or do u have to have udp?

 

Love the review!!

 

Thank you for the compliment!

 

We have the UDP since we booked last February 2015.

 

I think you will use 1 day from your SDP if you do that so I think it is better to use the 3 SDP in some other restaurants that are more expensive.

Edited January 13, 2016 by aquarianne11

[Loonbeam]

Yes, but it counts as one of your 3 credits (note its not a 3-day plan, its a 3 MEAL plan)

 

We bought a 3 day meal plan can u eat free at jimmy buffets with that or do u have to have udp?

 

Love the review!!

[JillK]

Hi! Thank you so much for reading and for the kind words!

 

I just checked with my daughter who is in the 6-9 group (Seals), she said the activities were separate. She said she did not see the 3-5 group so they were probably in a different area of Splash Academy. She mostly attended the evening activities from 7PM- 10:30PM.

 

We saw a lot of kids during our cruise, so they probably mix them if they don't have a lot of kids.

 

I can see in the schedule that they have Freestyle Free Play (friends and siblings play together). Looks like age mixing is only allowed during those hours.

 

Many thanks for your reply. The boys were in separate groups on our Celebrity cruise and didn't seem to mind, so they will be fine either way I'm sure. Looking forward to seeing more pictures and tips!

 

Jill

[aquarianne11]

Yes, but it counts as one of your 3 credits (note its not a 3-day plan, its a 3 MEAL plan)

 

I'm not 100% familiar with the details of the SDP so thanks for helping out and replying.

[aquarianne11]

Many thanks for your reply. The boys were in separate groups on our Celebrity cruise and didn't seem to mind, so they will be fine either way I'm sure. Looking forward to seeing more pictures and tips!

 

Jill

 

My pleasure. I'm sure they are going to have a lot of fun! More to come tomorrow.

[aquarianne11]

Specialty Dining

 

I feel that our cruise on the Escape was "less freestyle" compared to our other previous cruises on Norwegian. We definitely have to plan a little bit more. However, we actually feel that having the dining package enhanced our enjoyment of the cruise.

 

We are currently looking into booking Norwegian Sun for Summer 2017 (Alaska) and we will be getting the SDP as our choice perk. We are also thinking of purchasing the SDP for our daughter since she really enjoyed dining at different restaurants almost every night. She will also be 10 years old by that time so she will probably not order from the Kids' Menu.

 

For our Escape cruise, we were able to book shows and dinner reservations 90 days before the cruise, but we were able to change our schedule while we were on the ship without any problem.

 

For specialty restaurant reservations, I think they do hold more reservations after the initial pre-cruise reservation spots are gone. Just do it immediately once you board the ship especially for bigger parties or very popular restaurants.

 

 

Before I continue, here is the Kids' Menu. It is the same menu for the Main Dining Rooms and the Specialty Restaurants.

 

KIDS' MENU

 

 

Other dining information and dress code:

Resort casual and shorts are allowed in all dining venues except Bayamo and Le Bistro after 5PM. Shoes and shirt must be worn.

 

Edited January 14, 2016 by aquarianne11

[aquarianne11]

Moderno

 

Our first dinner of the cruise was at Moderno, a Brazilian-style steakhouse. We had a dinner reservation at 6:30 but our daughter was already hungry so we went there around 6PM and we were seated immediately.

 

We started dinner with the Brazilian cheese bread! I was so good, I forgot to take a picture.

 

The hot and cold salad bar is massive and has a lot of selections. Some of the meats weren't actually that great, but we enjoyed the experience. DH doesn’t eat beef so we don’t really go to steakhouses on land. We also haven’t been to a Brazilian-style steakhouse before. Aside from beef, Moderno has some chicken, pork and lamb options too.

 

Here are a few photos at Moderno.

 

 



 



 



 



 



 

 

[ilovetotravel1977]

Would you be able to post the Dailies for days 5-7?

[cruise47]

Thanks for sharing your amazing review.

[aquarianne11]

Would you be able to post the Dailies for days 5-7?

 

I have the dailies in the link below. I apologize for the bad quality, I had to take pictures of them before we left Florida. We had to remove them (and a lot of other things) from our bags to avoid going over the 50 lb weight limit.

 

FREESTYLE DAILIES - NORWEGIAN ESCAPE - 12/12-19/2015

[aquarianne11]

Thanks for sharing your amazing review.

 

My pleasure. Thank you for the kind words! :)

[aquarianne11]

More photos at Moderno Churrascaria.

 

 



 

 

 

I think the desserts are a little limited at Moderno but we really liked the Traditional Flan.

 

DESSERTS

 

Traditional Flan

[aquarianne11]

Teppanyaki

 

Our daughter’s favorite restaurant is Teppanyaki. It is a dinner plus a show. We have been to local hibachi places before, so we knew what to expect. After our first dinner here (Day 2), our daughter requested to come back for another dinner so we ate here twice during the cruise.

 

Teppanyaki opens at 5PM every night so we ate here when we had a 7PM comedy show to catch at Headliners.

 

 

 

The meal starts with Miso Soup and Seaweed Salad. Everything was delicious except for the Seaweed Salad, mine was too cold and still frosty.

 

 

More photos at Teppanyaki

 

 

 



 

Edited January 14, 2016 by aquarianne11

[aquarianne11]

Teppanyaki

 

For the first night, we ordered: Asuka for me (Surf and Turf), Seafood for DH (lobster, scallops and calamari) and Chicken Yakiudon for our daughter.

 

They ordered the same things for the second dinner here but I tried Kamakura (filet mignon and chicken) for a change. Everyone really loved their selections! We had so much fun here! The chefs are good and our table mates were very fun and lively.

 

Here are some videos at Teppanyaki:

[YOUTUBE]QgFLVmQFTaU[/YOUTUBE]

 

[YOUTUBE]2LvnLK9TX7A[/YOUTUBE]

 

More photos at Teppanyaki

 



 



 

[ilovetotravel1977]

Can you confirm if there was a chocolate night at the Buffet? I thought I had read that in one of the earlier dailies...

[Kdiamond55]

Yum! I do love that green tea ice cream and cake. I don't think you can get it anywhere else on board except for Teppenyaki! The flan at Moderno is sooooo good too.

 

Ok now I am craving something sweet.

Edited January 14, 2016 by Kdiamond55

[aquarianne11]

Cagney's Steakhouse

 

Cagney's Steakhouse on the Escape is an a ala carte restaurant but the UDP and SDP are still valid. This was reported by several people here on CC so we already knew that before our cruise.

 

With the UDP, we were able to order multiple appetizers, one entree and multiple sides for each person. We can also order multiple desserts but we were just too full so DH and I shared one dessert. Our daughter had Raspberry Creme Brulee all for herself and she loved it!

 

Before I continue, here's the menu:

 

[aquarianne11]

Can you confirm if there was a chocolate night at the Buffet? I thought I had read that in one of the earlier dailies...

 

Sorry, I can't remember seeing anything about the chocolate night at the Buffet.

[aquarianne11]

Yum! I do love that green tea ice cream and cake. I don't think you can get it anywhere else on board except for Teppenyaki! The flan at Moderno is sooooo good too.

 

Ok now I am craving something sweet.

 

Yes, I'm craving for desserts as I'm doing this!

 

I actually hate the taste of green tea but loved the green tea ice cream and cake at Teppanyaki.

[aquarianne11]

Cagney's Steakhouse

 

Cagney's Steakhouse is fantastic! I really regret giving up our second dinner here in favor of Teppanyaki. I love Teppanyaki but Cagney's is way better. Service was a little slow in the beginning but we received our starters/appetizers very quickly.

 

Here are a few photos at Cagney's.

 



 



 

Edited January 14, 2016 by aquarianne11

[aquarianne11]

More photos at Cagney's.

 

DH can't eat beef but he was extremely happy with the menu at Cagney's. They have a lot of seafood options for starters and the main course.

 

Steamed Whole Cold Water Lobster

 

Surf and Turf (Lobster Tail and Filet Mignon 5oz)



 

Filet Mignon (5oz)



 



 

Seven Layer Cake



 

Raspberry Creme Brulee



 

[msdurk]

Thank you so much for the compliments! We are really happy that we pre-purchased our spa passes. The thermal suite really enhanced our enjoyment of the cruise.

 

The Thalasso Therapy Pool is about 4 feet. They have 15-20 heated loungers, I did not really count but they are very popular.

 

If you can't find a heated lounger and some are empty but occupied by a towel you can inform one of the staff. Someone told me that they saw the staff removing towels from the heated loungers so people can actually use them.

 

I hope this helps.

 

Very helpful!! I want to be able to use everything in the Spa, but i am only 5'1 and can't swim, I especially want to use the water feature in the middle of the Thalasso Therapy pool. Don't want to use the snow room---we see enough of that!

 

Your daughter is a natural when you take pictures of her---she is so cute.

 

Did you happen to get to Atlantis in Nassau, we are hoping to take a taxi over just to see it.

Wish your review wouldn't end, love reading and seeing everything. Great job

Edited January 14, 2016 by msdurk

[aquarianne11]

Very helpful!! I want to be able to use everything in the Spa, but i am only 5'1 and can't swim, I especially want to use the water feature in the middle of the Thalasso Therapy pool. Don't want to use the snow room---we see enough of that!

 

Your daughter is a natural when you take pictures of her---she is so cute.

 

Did you happen to get to Atlantis in Nassau, we are hoping to take a taxi over just to see it.

Wish your review wouldn't end, love reading and seeing everything. Great job

 

Thank you so much for the compliments, very encouraging since this is my first time trying a detailed review. I learned so much from here so I'm happy that I can return the favor.

 

The Thalasso Therapy pool is the best part of the spa/thermal suite in my opinion. It is only around 4 feet so no worries.

 

We did that last Dec 2014 (we were on the Norwegian Sky). We just took the taxi from the port and they dropped us off Atlantis. We walked around took pictures at the casino and the big throne.

 

From Atlantis, Cabbage Beach (free public beach) is very near so we walked there and spent some time at the beach. Taxis are available at beach as well so after that we went back to the ship.

 

I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any more questions.

Edited January 14, 2016 by aquarianne11

[msdurk]

I have the dailies in the link below. I apologize for the bad quality, I had to take pictures of them before we left Florida. We had to remove them (and a lot of other things) from our bags to avoid going over the 50 lb weight limit.

 

FREESTYLE DAILIES - NORWEGIAN ESCAPE - 12/12-19/2015

 

Maybe it is just me----how do you get the Dailies open? Nothing shows up when i click on it.