Escape From Miami - Kinda, Sorta "Live From" - October 7-14, 2017

[cruisedd]

I'm not worthy. But I will wear it with pride!!

 

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[POA1]

Some sail away photos. For as much as I like to sail out of Port Everglades, the sail-out from Miami is better. It's quite a bit longer, and the location of Port Miami's turning basin makes it a tad more panoramic. (You rotate 90 degrees leaving Port Everglades. You do close to a full rotation out of Miami.)

 

[POA1]

Our pre-dinner cocktails were in the Prime Meridian Bar, located between Cagney's and Moderno. This is a very nice bar, with an upscale feel and decor. The bartenders are quite good and remember your name. The Prime Meridian wound up being one of DW's and my favorite lounges. We're more of a cocktail and conversation type of people, so some might not necessarily like that this venue as much as we do.

[POA1]

Great review..sailed on the Getaway last March, the Bride and I are headed out on the Escape April 7th (UBP and UDP)...We could party with you guys. BOURBON is the Wife's go to...me, I can drink anything....along with Coors Light for hydration. :)

 

 

 

Cheers!!

You are a lucky man to have a bourbon loving wife. (Hi, honey. Love ya! Vodka and soda is awesome, too.)

[Jshanleypt]

Thanks!

There are four food items on the list at the Cellars Wine Bar. I'm pretty sure that they're from the Pinchos list. There are four food items on the list at The District Brew House. Those are from Food Republic.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Catching up with your latest posts.

Our doctor the last 3 years has insisted that we get the flu shot about the 2nd week of September since I usually come down with Bronchitis by the end of September. I think his idea is working for me as I have not come down with Bronchitis -- yet.

Love the sail-away pictures.

[sjnyc323]

Great pictures

 

 

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[POA1]

My apologies for the short break. This cold has wiped me out. Today, Huskerchick went down with it too.

[luvcruzing]

Hope you both feel better soon. Maybe time for some chicken noodle soup.

[frey357]

Is there a Department of Comparative Cruises analysis that dares to look at the differences between lines while not upsetting the delicate nature of those that troll the boards awaiting a chance to pounce?

 

DW & I have sailed on Cleb, NCL, RC, Dis, Hol, and we always try to use the Rose colored glasses of cruise objectivity when thinking back on previous cruises...... it mostly works.

[POA1]

Our first evening's dinner was in Cagney's Steakhouse. AlexandNessa made all our reservations because she was in the Haven and could make them earlier than those of us who weren't. She and my brother-in-law normally try to dine around 6:30 PM, but that wasn't an option for a party of 5. We wound up with mostly 7:30s and 7:45s. Cagney's was a 7:45 PM reservation.

 

We were seated promptly and everyone ordered their drinks. Huskerchick and I ordered Negronis, which is the signature cocktail for Cagney's.

 

 

 

 

DW wasn't wild about the drink, but it was important research and it had to be done.

 

We ordered our appetizers and entrees. Huskerchick ordered the Beet & Goat Cheese Napoleon, followed by the Iceberg Wedge - done in the traditional steakhouse style with blue cheese and bacon. I ordered the Lump Crab Cake to start, followed by the Lobster Bisque.

 

After a while, my sister-in-law got a semi-exasperated look on her face when she realized that it had been 45 minutes since we ordered. (It was really 47 minutes according to the stopwatch timer I set when the last person ordered. I find that it's best to know the actual times rather than saying, "It took forever.") At about the 49 minute mark, the first course dropped on the table.

 

On the plus side, we did have ample opportunity to sample the bread, which was quite good.

 

DW and I enjoyed our appetizers.

 

For entrees, my wife had the Ribeye and I had the 8 ounce Filet Mignon. We ordered our steaks medium rare and they were cooked properly to temp. I ordered Bearnaise sauce for my beef. DW, being a purist, went sauceless. If I had to to do it again, I'd probably order the Strip Steak. The filet was a bit of an unbalanced tail cut, and I'm more of a center cut guy. That said, there was nothing wrong with the flavor or the quality of the beef.

 

For desserts, I ordered the Raspberry Creme Brulee and Huskerchick ordered the Seven Layer Chocolate Cake. She had been looking forward to the dessert course ever since she saw photos in other people's reviews. The blow torch puddin' was the better of the two desserts. My wife didn't finish her cake. (If you know her and you know her love of chocolate, you can draw your own conclusion.)

 

I had the Sandeman Founders Reserve port and Huskerchick finished with coffee.

 

Dinner clocked in at just over two and a half hours.

 

The menu copy from the restaurant manager can be found here.

 

http://www.evernote.com/l/AFi4CkLIQHxBtptsuU_mDmdQ4uhCB-lKreA/

[POA1]

Sunday, our second day of the cruise, was a sea day. Around 10:30 AM, we set out on the fool's errand of trying to find three or four chairs together to grab some sun. We tried the pool areas, Spice H2O, and various other public decks. We were not successful.

 

The pool deck was packed. Spice H2O was jammed and smoky. The kids' play area in the Grotto was chock-full of happy splashing children and teens.

 

You'll probably want to get up early if you want to get chairs in the sun. Since we have both a pool and a beach at home, we decided to hit the Waterfront and try the 5 O'Clock Somewhere Bar. Thanks to our impeccable timing, we were a half hour too early. We made it ourselves at home on some of the comfy couches and waited for it to be opening time. Once five o'clock rolled around - or as they call it on the Escape, Noon - we found a table not too far from the bar and got a round of drinks.

 

 

Clarense, the Chocolate Cowboy.

 

 

A photo op drink.

[Mainah]

The pool deck was packed. Spice H2O was jammed and smoky. The kids' play area in the Grotto was chock-full of happy splashing children and teens.

 

Isn't Spice H2O (which includes the Grotto) adults only during the day? If so I assume NCL didn't enforce it during your sailing or they just opened it up to all during your cruise. We are sailing Escape for the first time in Feb. so am just curious.

[AlexandNessa]

Well, to be totally honest, we're a 7-7:30 team normally, so the timing actually worked our great for the two of us. I will say that the times available will vary based on your dining table size. We were a party of 5, but sometimes I had to book a party of 6 or a party of 4 with a request to shoreside to indicate a party of 5 onboard.

 

Also note that some of our 7:30 confirmations turned into 7:45 once aboard, so check your times.

 

Once our itinerary changed, I did have to scramble a bit to rearrange two dining reservations. One was the group dinner, which was easily accommodated through group events. The other was Le Bistro that wasn't available online for the day we wanted.

 

I called shoreside concierge, made the request, she submitted to the onboard team for the time, day, table size I wanted, and it was confirmed as soon as I was able to talk to Adrian (onboard concierge).

 

So the takeaway is if you are Haven and something isn't available, call concierge shoreside, have them reach out to onboard, and there shouldn't be a problem.

 

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[POA1]

Isn't Spice H2O (which includes the Grotto) adults only during the day? If so I assume NCL didn't enforce it during your sailing or they just opened it up to all during your cruise. We are sailing Escape for the first time in Feb. so am just curious.

Yes, it's SUPPOSED to be adults only. There's a sign on the way into Spice H2O that says something to that effect.

 

I went past the Grotto three times, not counting before the Glow party. There were kids all three times. They may have been enforcement and I just happened to be through right before the Grotto became adults only again.

[SunCruiseFunSail]

Loving your review! We sailed the week prior, and I can honestly say I never saw any kids in the H2O area or in the adult pool during the restricted hours. I was a little surprised because I have seen several reviews where kids were present during restricted adult only hours. There was not a lot of kids on the cruise. Unfortunately I think it is an issue on some of the sailing where you get a small group of parents that don't feel those rules apply to them?

 

Looking forward to the rest of your review!!!

[POA1]

Well, to be totally honest, we're a 7-7:30 team normally, so the timing actually worked our great for the two of us.

 

A man holding a Coors Light told DW and me that you preferred the earlier time since it gave you more time to go out at night.

 

 

We are a late seating people ourselves, so the times you were able to secure were perfect for us. On cruises, we usually eat at 8:00 PM. In the real world, it's 8:30 PM. (I realize that I posted about us having pizza at 5:00 PM on Saturday after we got home, but we hadn't eaten since breakfast and Anthony's gets on a serious wait after six on a Saturday.)

[POA1]

Loving your review! We sailed the week prior, and I can honestly say I never saw any kids in the H2O area or in the adult pool during the restricted hours. I was a little surprised because I have seen several reviews where kids were present during restricted adult only hours. There was not a lot of kids on the cruise. Unfortunately I think it is an issue on some of the sailing where you get a small group of parents that don't feel those rules apply to them?

 

Looking forward to the rest of your review!!!

 

It's possible that I wandered by at an inopportune time and just happened to catch the Grottlings. It's also possible that they were messing with me and yelled, "Release the little people!" the minute I entered the tunnel. :D

[POA1]

It's possible that I wandered by at an inopportune time and just happened to catch the Grottlings. It's also possible that they were messing with me and yelled, "Release the little people!" the minute I entered the tunnel. :D

 

I should add that I didn't see any kids in Spice other than in the Grotto. They weren't in the sunny areas. Maybe it was a Goonies reenactment or something.

[AlexandNessa]

A man holding a Coors Light told DW and me that you preferred the earlier time since it gave you more time to go out at night.

 

 

We are a late seating people ourselves, so the times you were able to secure were perfect for us. On cruises, we usually eat at 8:00 PM. In the real world, it's 8:30 PM. (I realize that I posted about us having pizza at 5:00 PM on Saturday after we got home, but we hadn't eaten since breakfast and Anthony's gets on a serious wait after six on a Saturday.)

LOL, we do 6:45 at home, but he's drinking from a cup of the crazy because I've never booked us prior to 7 on a ship, with the preference to 7:30 if it's available. Don't listen to Batman.

 

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[POA1]

I know that there are a few people who have been waiting for the beer list from The District Brew House. We would like to extend a special warm, heartfelt thank you to CruiseCritic user cruisedd - who is now on (unpaid) staff at the Institute. Follow the link to get a copy of the full District beers list -- including the back pages. That earns an "A" for dedication!

 

http://www.evernote.com/l/AFh5cwUtTFFPSLMTuZADW9AKRzLPiGyjTRk/

[Mycykfamilytime]

What part of Maine

 

 

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[Mycykfamilytime]

Oops. Sent too soon!! What part of Maine were you from? Once again, loved your review!

 

 

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[POA1]

Oops. Sent too soon!! What part of Maine were you from? Once again, loved your review!

 

 

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Kennebunk

[POA1]

We have a reader question from Sarah Soda, a fellow Floridian from the Gulf Coast.

 

Sarah inquires,

 

"I noticed that the so-called 'reader questions' stopped since you returned from the trip. Is this because your alleged reader inquiries are just a cheap literary device?"

 

Excellent question, Sarah!

 

Let me assure you that the reader questions come from people who are (a) real as far as you can tell, and (b) live in honest-to-goodness actual places. That's why we provided Google Maps links to the location for every one of our reader questioners' locations. I was born and raised in Pennsylvania, home to many, many excellent - yet seemingly made-up towns. We had Blue Ball, Intercourse, Bird-In-Hand, and Shickshinny.*

 

So, while these references may "seem" to be cheap literary devices, I can pledge that they weren't cheap. Some had an actual cost, not just in coins, but in what we geezers call folding money.

 

*- We had a lot of books in my family growing up. Most of it was intellectual fare, like Little Golden Books, and the comics from Bazooka Joe Bubble Gum. The publishing powerhouse that was Little Golden Books had an imprint called "Whitman Tell-A-Tale." The imprint had a title named, "The Boy from Shickshinny." What I'm trying to get to here, in the most roundabout way possible, is that you should discourage reading in your children. Buy them some stickers. Or an 8 pack of Crayola crayons.