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

[cemushr]

Hey, folks - I whole-heartedly apologize for letting this sit for a while...real world got in the way. The hurricanes led to quite a bit of work with clients, and then my other job went into insanity mode, which kept me treading water until now. I'm guessing that most have lost interest already, but I wanted to continue posting for those who may see it in a search later on.

 

The next installment has too many pictures to include here. I'm going to have to direct you to the post on the blog. I'll get posts with pics in here with the last couple of days, though!

 

Finishing up Day 5....HERE'S THE LINK!

 

Thanks all!

[kirkleyv]

So glad you posted - perfect timing! We loved the brat pack as much as you did! You were right - lots of 80s Nostalgia! Growing up watching those movies I knew every word!

 

When/where is your next cruise? We leave June 3 for St. Maarten, San Juan and Labadee on the Oasis of the Seas - tried to get NCL again, but Dylan chose as it’s her graduation gift! Will be neat to compare the ships! Hope you all are doing well! Vicki

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[DavyJoneses]

Enjoyed the photos.

[kba1988]

absolutely FABULOUS review. We will be sailing ESCAPE for the first time, and this helps alot! Thanks for taking the time to share with us all.:)

[Bklynjo]

Just finished reading your review. It was amazing, as well as, all those beautiful photos. I will be sailing on the Escape in August from New York. We have enjoyed the Breakaway (been on her 4 times), can't wait to experience the Escape.

[Victorious8]

Keep it coming! I just saw it when you posted the other day and I have been LOVING it and want to know what happens next!

[kattlinx13]

Following

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[kirkleyv]

Just finished reading your review. It was amazing, as well as, all those beautiful photos. I will be sailing on the Escape in August from New York. We have enjoyed the Breakaway (been on her 4 times), can't wait to experience the Escape.

 

 

 

The Escape is AMAZING!!! The pictures don’t do it justice! We will definitely sail on her again. Our favorite hang out (even my moms who doesn’t drink), was the Mojito bar. Great people watching location, great drinks (even the non alcoholic ones). The bar tenders were fabulous! Phil’s the best!

 

You’ll love the ship! Enjoy!!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Bella O]

Thanks for coming back to finish your review; life gets in the way, but this is so helpful to those of us researching ships for future cruises!

[MsJersey84]

Loved the review...

[masterwinning]

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

 

Well then why don't you get back on in December for the 12 day? Sorry I saw you guys mentioned in this one as I was reading it and it brought back fond memories of our trip on the Dawn.

[cemushr]

Hey...only 5 months later LOL! I'm making an effort to finish this report up once and for all, so here's the first part of Day 6. It has 20 pictures in here, so it's another one of those that works better with just the link to the blog instead of copying over everything here (the 4-picture limit per post doesn't work too well with this one as the Ropes course has twelve pictures alone.

 

I think I might be able to post the rest of this day as well as the last full day over here as they aren't too photo-intensive.

 

Here's the link !

[cemushr]

After eating, we did a little more exploring around the ship and stumbled upon the Dolce Gelato store when it was open. For research purposes, we all had to get one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[cemushr]

The other three decided that a nap sounded good. Me? Nope! First, I called the box office to cancel our reservation for that night’s 7:30 showing of The Brat Pack; I would have definitely seen it again, but I think everyone was a little tired and wanted a down day.

 

 

 

I think that this may be a place to stick a pin for future reference…the other three decided on a nap, but I kept on going…just like I did the previous day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Folks…this is known as “foreshadowing”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I headed to the casino and was looking for either a craps table or a blackjack table with $5 minimums. Unfortunately, it appeared that $10 was the lowest min on any table that I saw, so I opted to head into the Skyline and have a drink or two while I did a little video poker. I decided early on that $40 was the max I would play with, and I actually only played $20…I made it last about 45 minutes before it was gone.

 

 

 

 

I headed back to the room around 5:00 to see who was up. I think Aaron was the only one awake, so we watched a little TV while the others slept. A little while later, the other two arose, and we decided on the Manhattan Room for supper. Being that it was nearing 7 pm, we were hoping there wouldn’t be too long of a wait, and we were seated within 5 minutes of arriving #yesssss

 

 

 

 

 

 

Geronimo was our server…he was awesomely insane!!! He had a huge smile and a wit that just comes naturally to some people. The entrees were a bit more hit-or-miss with this particular meal, but it was still a great experience with the waitstaff.

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 



 

 



 

 

[cemushr]

We asked to see if he would be able to take a family picture for us, and I jokingly said that he needed to be in the picture...the result?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Afterward, we headed outside to the aft to watch the wake…well…we tried to, but I think Sheri was getting a little vertigo from watching the wake fly behind us though the motion was the opposite direction. We didn’t stay in that area too terribly long.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[cemushr]

 

We still had a little bit of time before the Glow Party was slated to start. We walked around the shops a bit and checked out the photos that had been taken; Sheri and I were both noting which ones we were planning to purchase. We checked out the art for a bit, too. Eventually, we worked our way back to the stateroom and put on our now (just about) dry Glow Shirts. Aaron decided that he didn’t want to go, despite prodding from me (teenagers…). Around 10:30, Sheri, Eric, and I made our way back to Spice H2O, where the Family Glow party had just wrapped up. I wanted to get some video of the party to post, so I wanted to get a couple of different locations over time. We first started out near the front, just a little left of center. This ended up being what I think was a perfect location to experience the party. I’ll let the video speak for itself here.

 

 

[YOUTUBE]J66i-TQzE9M[/YOUTUBE]

 

 

 

(I cut out a bunch of pictures to save some space/time)

 

 

 

 

We then headed up a deck to get an overhead(ish) view of the party...yep...still insane!

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

After about a half-hour of footage, we all decided that we had received our fill of techno music, so we meandered around a bit and checked in on the Chocolate Cowboy, who had his regulars at the bar. Sheri and I ordered a draft, while Eric got his usual cherry soda.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

…and then…

 

 

 

 

 

 

…it hit me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yeah, I probably should have paced myself over the past several days. Exhaustion came over me, and I just wanted to crawl into bed and sleep for about ten hours. I dragged myself up to the room, and I collapsed. As I (quickly) fell asleep, I hoped that I’d be back to 100% for the last full day of the cruise.

 

 

 

 

Yeah, right.

 

 

 

[BigNance]

I just found your thread. I really want to book on the Escape and your reports only confirm that! Thanks for all the hard work. Your fam were great sports to put up with it

[kirkleyv]

Just got off a Royal Caribbean Oasis of the Seas cruise. Missed so much from the Escape. Kids club, small touches, room steward, teen clubs...NCL ... were loyal guests! Sorry we strayed!!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[styme123]

Loved the review!!!!

[cemushr]

On 6/19/2018 at 9:44 PM, kirkleyv said:

Just got off a Royal Caribbean Oasis of the Seas cruise. Missed so much from the Escape. Kids club, small touches, room steward, teen clubs...NCL ... were loyal guests! Sorry we strayed!!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

We're going to try Allure in April...fingers are crossed!