Escaping Insanity: A Cruising Trip Report from the NCL Escape June 17-24 2017

[TXNewlyweds]

We're taking our first NCL cruise in December -- Escape, same itinerary. Really enjoying your review and looking forward to the rest. Almost time to make our final payment and start planning excursions, dinners and most important -- first drinks!

[Intricatejewel]

Great review so far. Following!

[cyndi_at_home]

I'm really enjoying your review. It was so hard to get off that ship on 6/24!! This is taking me back.

[kirkleyv]

I'm reliving our cruise through this post! Thanks for sharing - looking forward to more!

 

 

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[canadadreamer]

Laughing out loud at your son's antics. I too have 2 teenage sons so I can relate.

[Newbea11]

Following

[cemushr]

I'm going to preface this entry by saying that there aren't many pictures in here, due to the constraint of 6 images per post. To check out all the pictures, the full post can be seen at this site.

We were behind Waves just a bit, and, being a smoking area, we caught a couple of wafts of cigarette smoke, though it wasn’t too bad at all where we were. We started moving within a few minutes, and we could hear the Sail Away party starting in full-force one deck below. Across the A1A highway, we saw a guy attempting to use a flyboard (and failing miserably). A few minutes later, we met the car ferry arriving at the Miami Beach terminal. The water was really clear, and we saw a huge ray swimming by (no picture…sorry). Soon after that, the Miami Beach marina came into view, with some REALLY nice boats docked in it. Quite a few were heading out for some Friday evening boating. You can see quite a bit of this in the video posted in the first installment for this day. I'll link it again here.

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Eventually, South Beach came into view, and I instinctively sucked in my gut and made sure my hair was perfect. Sure enough…I saw her. Just across the pier, on the other side of the rocks, a mere 100-200 yards off the beach was this heavenly being, floating in the water. Wearing nothing but what God had given her at birth, she was truly a sight to behold.

Yep…it was a wild manatee floating just off the shore!!

Kewl!

Soon after, we were in open ocean, with the pilot boat cruising alongside us. We watched the

Pilot hop on his boat to help another ship head out. After the pilot left, we headed back to our room and noticed that we had 4 more bags waiting for us.

Wait a minute…we brought 5 bags…and two were already in the stateroom. The last time I checked, 5 – 2 = 3. Our bags are breeding! We noticed one that wasn’t ours…it was 12888’s bag. I took it down and set it with the rest of their bags in the hallway. I walked back to our room, and Sheri pointed to MORE STRAWBERRIES!!!

She then told me to read the card.

11272.

Uh oh…dilemma…we have someone else’s strawberries. It’s kind of weird to give someone else food, but it was easy to tell that the berries had not been touched. Do I walk down and give it to them, hoping that they don’t think we’re complete freaks? Do we just eat them? Do we contact guest services and tell them of the issue?

Decisions, decisions...

I made the executive decision to take them down to 11272. I knocked on the door, and, as luck would have it, the guy answering it stood about 6’4” and could have played onside alongside the security guard we saw at the terminal for the Miami Dolphins. I told him what happened and said that he had my solemn word that we didn’t touch them. He seemed appreciative of them!

In a five-minute span, I delivered luggage and strawberries. I wondered if I could get a 7-day contract for the cruise.

Sheri was going to town on unpacking, while I was taking down the GoPro from the balcony. I could see what I was pretty sure was Royal Caribbean’s Harmony of the Seas in the distance, having just left Fort Lauderdale on its Western Caribbean itinerary. I came back in, and Sheri didn't look too happy.

“The Packing Cubes Don’t Fit.”

My first reaction? “Whew…I didn’t do anything wrong.”

Okay - I'm going to take just a minute here and step aside from the report. As you read this, it might seem that, based on my writing style, you'd think that I'm married to a nag and have two spoiled brats for kids. This is as far from the truth as it could possibly be, and, for those who know the Mushfam, they get the jokes. Sheri is, without a doubt, the best thing to happen to me, and the boys are both intelligent and courteous to others...they all have to have the patience of saints in order to deal with me, right? Anything that might indicate otherwise is simply my attempt at humor using the stereotypical family roles. I think that most everyone realizes that it's all done in fun, but I wanted to make sure, just in case. Okay...back to the report...

The dimensions of the cubes we got matched what we had read in other cruise reports on the same ship, but they simply were not going to fit in the closet. We put one near the bed to serve as a hamper. I helped get the shoe rack put up in the closet and started maneuvering the suitcases under the bed for storage. FYI: we fit 3 large suitcases and two smaller ones under the bed with plenty of room to fit more!

It was getting to be around 5:00, so we got ready for dinner at the Manhattan Room and showed up promptly at 5:15. There was a larger party working on trying to get seats, and we were waved around to another check-in. I told the maître d’ that we had reservations for later but were hoping to squeeze in. “No Problem!”she said.

She then reminded us of the dress code of “no tank tops” in dining rooms, which we completely forgot about. We had two boys currently wearing tank tops on their torsos and shocked looks on their faces. I wish our travel planner had told us about that #ohwait.

Oops.

The crew member was extremely professional about it, with a kind demeanor. I have to admit that, early on, I was wholly impressed with the staff onboard!!

The boys went back to the room to change shirts, while Sheri and I were seated. After about ten minutes without seeing the boys, I texted them to see if they fell overboard, and they said they weren’t able to get back in. I went to the front and found them – they were lying in a corner, curled up in fetal positions, worried that they would not be able to eat (despite the fact that there were at least 4 other free options for them to go to). I think they went to the wrong desk, and the hostess there didn’t recognize them.

Once they were seated in the room, they started breathing again, and smiles crossed their faces as they looked at the menu. They were even happier to hear they got more than just an entrée. Being in the aft of the ship, we were starting to feel a little movement, though I think it may have been more the wind than the seas. Sheri was getting a bit green, but she was tolerating it. I was watching the boys, too. Eric was like me – it’s part of the ride! Aaron, however, was taking after his mother and not feeling the greatest with the motion.

I went for the clam chowder. Eric gravitated towards the chicken drums, while Aaron (the foodie) wanted to try the crab cake. Sheri decided she was done kissing me for the day and ordered the french onion soup. Again, pictures can be found on the full blog post in the above link.

All the appetizers ranked in the "average" range...okay, but nothing to write home about. No worries, though, because we had the entrees up next.

Whenever Aaron or I see prime rib on a menu, it immediately grabs our attention; however, the price on the menu usually has us choosing something else. NOT THIS TIME, THOUGH! We both requested that item, cooked medium rare. It came out exactly as we expected. For a large-scale restaurant, there were no complaints at all about the rib.

Sheri prefers her beef cooked to what I like to call "shoe-leather" texture (we've gotten her up to medium well, but it's still too done for me). She went for the New York Strip (medium well), and it came out a bit more like a well-done temperature. Cooking temperature aside, she said it had really good flavor on it.

Eric tends to gravitate to lasagna like Aaron I do to prime rib. He has never met a lasagna he didn't like, and this was no exception.

Dessert was up next!

All of us enjoyed our desserts. Aaron didn't taste a lot of pistachio in the creme brulee, but it was still good. Sheri's cheese plate was remarkably good! That was my first-ever lava cake, so I have nothing to compare it to; it was awesome, though!

After dinner, we headed towards the forward area of the ship towards the atrium. As we reached the atrium, we noticed that they were in the middle of a “Minute to Win It” contest. I took the opportunity to head to guest services to see about the distilled water for the CPAP machine. While waiting, I gained a new appreciation for the people working behind the Guest Services desk as I heard them dealing with some odd issues with excellent professionalism. When it came to my turn (after a couple of others tried walking up in front others and being told (kindly) where the line was), I inquired, and the woman I was working with initially thought I was talking about bottled water. I ended up bringing up the email from the ship’s Access Coordinator and letting her read it. A phone call later, and all was set.

Again – excellent customer service!

As happened the last time I hopped in line for Guest Services, the others headed for a seat and ordered a drink.

Oh no...nope…she was already up one drink on me. I glanced over the menu and ordered a new selection for me…a Rebellious Fish! We stayed there for a few minutes, since Sheri and Aaron noticed less motion in the atrium (Deck 6 mid-forward). Since our next planned event was the Variety Show in the Theatre, we just hung out and waited, doing a little people-watching in the process. The boys were initially planning on heading to their respective age-specific areas, but they were also starting to show some signs of wear and tear. We arrived to the Escape Theater around 7:45 and found some seats near the back so some of us could sneak out quietly. Aaron could check himself in and out of Entourage, but an adult had to drop off Eric at Splash Academy, though he could check himself out after 2 hours. Both of them were to meet their counselors at 8 and then have events afterwards.

The show started with the cast of For the Record: The Brat Pack doing a piece from their show.

The boys decided to stay after that and head to their areas afterward.

We saw Tyler (Cruise Director) for the first time, and we got to see many of the acts onboard. All of us took note of Company Men, and we made mental notes to figure out when their acts were. After Midnight had a lot of energy, but we could tell that the boys were not that into the genre.

After the show ended, we immediately went to Splash Academy to drop off Eric and realized that it was being held at the other end of the ship, as far away as it could be – the sports court. We decided to drop off Aaron at Entourage on our way, since it was on the way. After Aaron headed in, we headed up to the court and found something that we were a bit concerned about – Eric was definitely one of the oldest ones there, both physically and socially. He towered above all the others (including some of the counselors) except for one other young man. We decided to stay and watch the interaction for a few minutes. Eventually, the mix/mingle turned into a dodgeball frenzy, and we knew that he would be fine. Once dodgeball was over, they headed back to the Academy. We caught his eye and gauged if he was okay. He wanted to give it a try, so we left as they made their way back.

It took a few minutes for Sheri and I to realize that we were alone.

HOT DAMN!!

Okay…closest bar…closest bar…Spice H2O! We found two seats at the bar and looked at the menu for a bit. There was some movement, but Sheri seemed to be doing okay. We were both a bit warm, so we ordered appropriately. Sheri got a mudslide, and I ordered another new one…a Bushwacker. As we watched him make the drinks, we realized we truly han artist behind the bar.

We immediately grabbed our cameras and took pictures of our drinks.

 

 

 

The guy next to me was so impressed (and perhaps inebriated) that he also took pictures of the top of the Bushwacker.

We tipped the bartender and enjoyed our (relative) solitude for a few minutes before heading back to the room. As we emerged from the elevator, I noticed a girl walking around…probably around the boys’ age. When we opened the door, I saw the distilled water waiting for us. Sheri went back to unpacking, and I decided that it would be safer for me to be on the balcony. About 30 seconds after I stepped out, I saw a Celebrity Solstice-class ship passing us on her way back to the states.

At 10:20, I headed out to get Eric from Splash. It seemed to go fairly well, though the highlight was his “dominance” at dodgeball (in his defense, he was doing really well out there). I dropped him off at the room and then decided to head up to Entourage to see how Aaron was handling the “Battle of the Genders”. It was still going on, so I peeked into Spice H2O, which had their Welcome Aboard Dance Party in full-swing. Andre, the Assistant Cruise Director, was keeping the energy up on the dance floor:

Around 11:15, Aaron came strolling out. It went well, though he gave me the “What happens in Entourage STAYS in Entourage” line. I just smiled. He’s growing up. We peeked our heads into Spice H2O again to check out the dancing before heading to the room. When we got off the elevator, I noticed that same girl from about 45 minutes before still walking around. I asked her if she needed help, and she said that she couldn’t find her friend’s room (a lot of her stuff was in that room). She was looking for stateroom 12665, which, in her defense, was NOT easy to find. That stateroom is an inside room just in front of the elevators. All of the Oceanside rooms are even-numbered, which drove her crazy, since she was looking for one of only a small number of odd-numbered rooms in the area. She said that she had been trying to find that room for about an hour and a half, even after asking crew members for help. She thanked us, and we headed to our room.

As we all wound down for the night, I was expecting a major argument from the boys on the sleeping arrangements. Luckily, Eric chose the bottom and was fine with staying down there; this was a good thing, because Aaron wanted the Pullman bed on top. We all changed and prepped for bed.

Around midnight, we were all out cold!

[Suna]

OMG ... seriously you have me laughing out loud at your report!

 

 

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[pooksma]

Great update! Your description of your sons waiting to get in for dinner made me laugh. I can see my son and his friend being that way..total fetal position:D

[POA1]

Thanks for the great information!

 

What size packing cubes were too large?

[tiger belle]

patiently waiting for more : )

[cemushr]

Just about ready to drop the next blog entry. Here is the Freestyle Daily for Day 2 as well as the video for Days 2 and 3 (both were sea days). I'm also adding the Entourage and Splash Academy Schedules for the Dolphins (ages 10-12).

 

Freestyle Daily, Day 2

Entourage Schedule

Splash Academy Schedule

 

Video for the day:

 

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[cemushr]

Thanks for the great information!

 

What size packing cubes were too large?

 

We based our purchase on JW and Jerome's cruise report from last year (they were in a mini-suite), but I don't think the closet heights shouldn't have mattered. We got the same dimensions that they had - 12X12. Perhaps the dimensions among the companies differ just enough to make a difference. We got ours at WalMart. They were really close, and, perhaps if we laid them in the closet and then opened them up, they might have had a small chance of fitting.

[POA1]

We based our purchase on JW and Jerome's cruise report from last year (they were in a mini-suite), but I don't think the closet heights shouldn't have mattered. We got the same dimensions that they had - 12X12. Perhaps the dimensions among the companies differ just enough to make a difference. We got ours at WalMart. They were really close, and, perhaps if we laid them in the closet and then opened them up, they might have had a small chance of fitting.

Thanks. We got 12x12s from Amazon, so I guess we'll have to hope for the best. Appreciate the info.

[Pandot]

Thank you so much for the great report! Getting back to cruising after a long (though not wanted) haitus. Haven't cruised NCL since the early 2000s. Really enjoying your review!

[cemushr]

Day 2 - Chillin' at Sea!

Yep…slept good. The CPAP didn’t strangle me; the rocking just lulled me to sleep; nice and quiet; BUT I WAS STILL UP AT 6:45 IN THE !#@$$(*&$% MORNING!!!!

I just don’t know how to vacation, I guess.

Not wanting to wake up anyone, I laid in bed for about 30 minutes before quietly getting up and working on the journal that would ultimately become this trip report. Sheri woke up at 7:50, about five minutes after Eric arose. Aaron, hearing everyone else and worried that he’d miss something, also woke up. I started uploading the previous day’s GoPro captures – there was a LOT on there, and it was going to take a while to get it on the laptop.

While we were getting ready, I turned on the TV and found the Tyler and Jacky show, which I had heard from previous reports is pretty good.

That’s an understatement. “Jacky” is Jacky Tang, who is a member of the Cruise Director’s Staff. I don’t want to spoil too much, but this guy is downright hilarious, and he works really well with Tyler. I can see him moving into an Assistant Cruise Director role very soon, especially as the Norwegian Bliss and Norwegian Joy are coming online soon. I saw Jacky on embarkation day (I think he was leading a ship tour), but I didn’t get the chance to meet him yet. His character on the Tyler and Jackie Show…especially when you know his background and talk to him...is an absolute riot! All four of us watched the show at least twice.

We decided on Taste for breakfast – as we opened the door, Joseph, our cabin steward, walked by. He stopped and introduced himself. We chatted for a few minutes; he was on his last cruise before the end of his contract, so he was excited to get home to see his family. He was really upbeat and seemed to enjoy what he was doing!

We said our “so long!” and headed up to Taste. Sheri ordered a mimosa – I had never had one before, so I took one for the team and tried one.

Not bad!

We all opted for the French toast breakfast. No pics on that…sorry…we were hungry!

After that, we headed forward to the Box Office to sign up for the “Escape the Big Top” escape room. While there, we decided to also reserve a table at the supper to watch “Company Men”. Once that was done, we headed to Deck 7 and grabbed a seat to see what was going on. They were just finishing up trivia, and, had we played, we would have gotten 2nd place. We all made a mental note to look for the next trivia contests onboard. Not that the Mushfam is competitive or anything, but…

After trivia, we decided to do a round of Cricket on the dartboard (we’re raising our kids properly!).

Since I had the drink package, I decided to try my first-ever Bloody Mary. Nope…not for me…that one would most likely be my last Bloody Mary. At least I gave it the old college try.

Aaron won that game; Sheri blamed her score on the movement of the ship.

After Darts, we headed aft and up to Deck 8 to see what the shops had for us. We perused around for a little before heading out for our first encounter with the Waterfront. For those who don’t know, the Waterfront is a promenade deck with comfortable couches/chairs and outdoor seating for a number of dining venues on that deck. It typically is quiet for the first couple of days as many people don’t know about it. We all commented on how much we liked it. We found a place to sit for a few minutes to watch the ocean go by.

 

 

 

 

 

I then excused myself and ran back up to the room to check on the status of the GoPro. Everything had (FINALLY) downloaded, so I reformatted the card and took it with me to head out. When I made it back onto the Waterfront, it had clouded up and was just about to start raining a bit. We met up and headed inside towards the District Brew House for the Cruise Critic meetup at noon. The boys hit the restroom while Sheri and I walked up to one of the more well-known members of the crew. Rowan, welcomed us and asked if we were part of the meet-up. We smiled and nodded and talked with him for a minute or two while waiting for the boys. When they arrived, without thinking, we put our hands out for some of the sanitizer he was holding, and he instinctively started doing the ever-popular “Washy Washy…good for you…good for me…good for us (to the tune of London Bridge is Falling Down…just search for “Washy Washy Norwegian” on YouTube and you’ll understand). We laughed and shook his hand; on top of the medley that he does at Garden Café most mornings, he probably gets asked to sing that by people 50-75 times a day, and we wanted to cut him a break so he wouldn’t have to sing it. Though you couldn’t tell by his demeanor (all smiles), he has to absolutely hate that song LOL!

We headed to the check-in table, and Host Michell (I’ll use their online names, though you could probably figure out her name) was there to greet us. We grabbed nametags and talked for a brief second with her before heading to a table near the window. Oh, and I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that the roll call had surged to well over 100 names, with many/most expressing interest in the Meet and Greet! Within a couple of minutes, people starting bringing sample flights of several beers on tap at the District. Immediately after the beer came, we were offered several hors d’oeuvres. We headed up to the bar to get the boys something to drink and then started meeting some of the other families at the meet-up. I recognized a few from the boards who had posted pictures, but, again, being a bit of a lurker on the boards, there were a lot of introductions and “getting-to-know-you” talk. Sheri usually prefers that I do more of the talking at events such as this, but she was getting into it a little bit, too, as we talked with the groups.

More beer…and more hors d’oeuvres…

 

I don’t think we’ll have to worry about grabbing lunch anywhere!

 

 

The senior crew then entered and started mingling around. We got to meet the Hotel Director and the Executive Chef during meet-up. Most other senior officers were also in attendance, which again impressed the heck out of me!

Then Tyler came over to our table. I felt like I was meeting a celebrity (wait...wrong cruise line…badum bum ching!)

As he walked up, I asked him if there were 50 clones of him running around the ship because he was everywhere. He spent a good 4-5 minutes with us (he’s from Tennessee but went to school in Chicago). He mingled just a bit more and then took on an emcee role as he introduced many of the staff in attendance. After he was done, he turned the microphone over to Michell who introduced the Cruise Critic members in charge of the cabin crawl and gift exchange (kirkelyv) and the slot pull (Cyndi_at_home and Mike_at_sea). Eric won a CruiseCritic lanyard in a drawing, and he immediately swapped everything out of the lanyard he had to his new one. I think Aaron was just a bit envious LOL.

 

I walked up to introduce myself to Cyndi and Mike and got signed up for the slot pull. I also got to meet some of kirkleyv’s family, including danddgrandma, who, along with Michell, we ran into several more times during the cruise.

[Tminish]

We headed to the check-in table, and Host Michell (I’ll use their online names, though you could probably figure out her name) was there to greet us. We grabbed nametags and talked for a brief second with her before heading to a table near the window. Oh, and I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that the roll call had surged to well over 100 names, with many/most expressing interest in the Meet and Greet! Within a couple of minutes, people starting bringing sample flights of several beers on tap at the District. Immediately after the beer came, we were offered several hors d’oeuvres. We headed up to the bar to get the boys something to drink and then started meeting some of the other families at the meet-up. I recognized a few from the boards who had posted pictures, but, again, being a bit of a lurker on the boards, there were a lot of introductions and “getting-to-know-you” talk. Sheri usually prefers that I do more of the talking at events such as this, but she was getting into it a little bit, too, as we talked with the groups.

 

 

As he walked up, I asked him if there were 50 clones of him running around the ship because he was everywhere. He spent a good 4-5 minutes with us (he’s from Tennessee but went to school in Chicago). He mingled just a bit more and then took on an emcee role as he introduced many of the staff in attendance. After he was done, he turned the microphone over to Michell who introduced the Cruise Critic members in charge of the cabin crawl and gift exchange (kirkelyv) and the slot pull (Cyndi_at_home and Mike_at_sea). Eric won a CruiseCritic lanyard in a drawing, and he immediately swapped everything out of the lanyard he had to his new one. I think Aaron was just a bit envious LOL.

 

I walked up to introduce myself to Cyndi and Mike and got signed up for the slot pull. I also got to meet some of kirkleyv’s family, including danddgrandma, who, along with Michell, we ran into several more times during the cruise.

 

Just curious as to how Eric won something. What type of drawing or did you guys play a game? I am in charge of our meet and greet and I'm just trying to get some ideas as this will be my first time doing it. Any tips or recommendations would be appreciated.

I'm loving your review!

[cemushr]

Just curious as to how Eric won something. What type of drawing or did you guys play a game? I am in charge of our meet and greet and I'm just trying to get some ideas as this will be my first time doing it. Any tips or recommendations would be appreciated.

I'm loving your review!

 

 

I wasn't a coordinator, nor have I yet been for a cruise, so I can't really speak directly on this. There was a thread a couple of months ago that talked about this, though, that might give you some ideas.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2467771 is the link to that thread.

 

EDITED TO ADD: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1300907 is a sticky on top of this forum with more information.

 

For any prizes handed out at our M&M, we all received a raffle ticket when we arrived, and it was a continuous drawing for the prizes.

 

Hope that helps!

Edited August 7, 2017 by cemushr

[cruzqueen518]

"so I reformatted the card"

Do you always reformat your cards? even for you still cameras??

[cruzqueen518]

BTW, really enjoying your review, pics and videos!! keep'em comin.

[Stace894]

REALLY enjoying this review... I have a son the same age as your oldest so I was happy to hear he enjoyed Entourage at least early in the Cruise. Keep the great writing coming. Hope to hear more about the ship as next June will be our first time on her or any Mega-Type ship! Had one quick question? Was the Dart board a "real" board or Electric. My husband and I are dart players and will bring our own sets if it is an actual dartboard, but would be surprised as electric would be safer with moving ship and crowds!

[jarhead565]

Great review so far!

 

Sent from my ONEPLUS A5000 using Tapatalk

[cemushr]

"so I reformatted the card"

Do you always reformat your cards? even for you still cameras??

 

 

Just for the GoPro - it's a quick way of deleting all the old files.

 

This link comes from the GoPro site.

[cemushr]

Had one quick question? Was the Dart board a "real" board or Electric. My husband and I are dart players and will bring our own sets if it is an actual dartboard, but would be surprised as electric would be safer with moving ship and crowds!

 

 

Electric...they had two boards there, but, as you'd probably expect, some of the darts had tips broken off. We have brought our own soft-tip darts to bars in the past, and, unfortunately, most of the time, they aren't too compatible.

 

Not just for safety...I'd hate to imagine how quickly the background would be ruined with regular darts.

[cemushr]

Since the Brew House was scheduled to open at 1, we all started dispersing around 12:45-12:50. Sheri and the boys were going to chill (interpretation: they were probably ordering a drink or two LOL) at the Atrium while I did the group slot pull and the cabin crawl. I talked to Michell a bit while we made our way to the casino for the slot pull. I think we had around 25 people take part, and, when all was said and done, we each only had a net loss of $10. We had a lot of interest, with that size of a group all watching a single machine!

Once that was done, many said their goodbyes, while the group of us doing the cabin crawl huddled together to hear the logistics and the route that kirkleyv had set up for us. The first stateroom was a studio.

These first pictures are of the Lounge set up for those staying in the Studios.

Entrance to Studio Lounge