Escape-Live/Solo-"The Redemption"-12/02-09/2017...

[cocod08]

I think I’ll be adding Escape to the list of ships I want to check out

 

 

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[Jentilben]

Thanks for the review. Have done just one solo trip before on Princess so looking forward to hearing about your experience on NCL.

 

 

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[Arayasky]

LOL at the "subway window" pic im miami. Where are the fish?

[sid_9169]

My experience in Jamaica yesterday was definitely not as fruitful as I had anticipated... My only real plan was to go outside the gates into Falmouth and find some genuine Jamaican jerk chicken... I had my handy, hand drawn paper map, and made my way to Peppers jerk center, which came highly recommend by the locals...

 

Let's just say that it was the least good, and least authentic jerk chicken I have ever had... I will add a picture, and just leave you with the advice of never wasting your time with this one...

 

 

The red stripe beer was good, at least...

 

 

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[sid_9169]

Afterwards, I made my way back through Falmouth, sad about the poor dining choice I had made...

 

FYI, if you're looking for any of the "devil's lettuce" aka, wacky tabbacy, aka mary jane, you will have no problem finding it here. And every local on every block will try to "hook you up"

 

 

 

 

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[sid_9169]

After my less than enjoyable foray into Jamaica, I headed back to the Escape to enjoy some drinks at Vibe...

 

A couple of random Escape pics...

 

 

 

Next I'll cover the best dining experience of the week so far, Bayamo...

 

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[sid_9169]

While I have good reception here in Grand Cayman, I'll go ahead and cover last night's dinner, which was the highlight of my cruise so far...

 

I didn't write down the names of these dishes, so for now I will just have to let the pictures do the talking...

 

The first appetizer featured crab and lobster... It was excellent.

 

 

Next was a seafood soup... Equally, if not better than the first course.

 

 

Now, for the masterpiece of the evening, wagu sirloin medium rare. I could have eaten three helpings of this. It was so good.

 

 

A closer look...

 

 

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[sid_9169]

They brought the dessert menu, however I'm not exactly a sweets lover, so I asked if I could do one more appetizer as my dessert... The waiter had to go ask his manager, but they said it would be no problem...

 

I went with the tuna ceviche, and I was blown away. It was excellent...

 

 

Bayamo was great, and well worth using one of my SDP credits with the $15 up charge.

 

 

 

 

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[Yorkvillain]

Great photos.

 

I’m hating myself right now for not trying Bayamo when I was on the Escape. I blame it on my picky significant other.

[Travelbug69]

Great review so far Sid, I will have to try Bayamo when I am cruising from NYC in April.

 

 

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[sid_9169]

I'm going to go ahead and knock out another segment before heading back to the tender in Grand Cayman... Where were we? Oh yeah, after Bayamo, I went back to the cabin to change back into shorts and a t-shirt, as they require long pants... The absolute last thing I want on vacation is to have to wear pants, but it was worth it. (Truth is, that I'll be recycling those same pants tonight at Least Bistro...

 

Unencumbered by all of the extra clothing, I headed down to Tobacco Road to have a Don Julio reposado with 3 ice cubes... While I was there, Kivanc, the F&B manager walked by and asked if I would like another drink on him. Anything I wanted, so another Don Julio 1942 was in order. (No ice cubes this time)

 

I headed over to Headliners to pay a visit to Bong, and have another shot before Howl at the Moon. I stayed till about 10:00 when all of the tequila started to catch up to me. Bed time came soon afterward, as I had a long hot day in Grand Cayman to rest up for...

 

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[sid_9169]

Up today at 7:00 and they announced that tenders were ready about 20 minutes later. (Our arrival time was 8:00 am, but I guess we were running early)

 

I took my time getting ready. Had an omelette and some coffee at the buffet before showering. Went down and immediately caught the next tender, and soon I was walking towards the Georgetown bus terminal, with my handy self-drawn map.

 

 

 

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[sid_9169]

This is my third time in GC, and I had never been to "Hell" before, so I figured that a $2.50 bus ride wouldn't be totally wasted if it turned out to suck. Plus, my mother said that I'm probably going there one day anyway, so I may as well get acclimated...

 

 

 

 

 

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[sid_9169]

This was probably the scariest thing about hell. Spiders!

 

 

By the way, the bathrooms in hell are the cleanest I've seen in the whole Caribbean, so it can't be all that bad...

 

 

The road to hell...

 

 

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[sid_9169]

Anyway, went there, bought the T-shirt, sent a post card, yada yada yada...

 

Afterwards, I walked from there to the West Bay Diner and had probably the second best meal of the trip. Lemon butter fish with rice and peas. Excellent.

 

 

 

From there, I walked about a half mile down the beach to Cemetery Beach. I went swimming in the ocean for awhile, and enjoyed the clear blue water. From there I caught the bus down to the public section of 7 mile beach and started walking South for what seemed like forever. You can see the cruise ships in the distance, and it doesn't look far, but it is. I cut through (trespassed) across one of the hotel properties back to the main road, and found Casa 43, a Mexican restaurant I had read about. Two of their signature margaritas with herradura reposado and a rock shrimp taco, and soon it was time to catch the bus back to the terminal. I'm going to have to try and catch the last tender now. Until then, a couple of pics from Casa 43 and 7 mile beach...

 

 

 

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[sid_9169]

 

 

 

 

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[MaryBethV]

Loving your review - beautiful photos! Glad you are having gorgeous weather. :)

[OceanBlueWaters]

So far, so good! It looks like the weather has been quite nice!

 

I am thinking about recruiting my "dream team" to plan my next cruise for me. I need you to plan out my drinks, and "off the beaten path" sites at Ports which are not to be missed. Maps included. Love it!

 

I need TwoWheelsOnly to pick out my cabin. I would trust him with my life for cabin selection.

 

I can handle the onboard entertainment on my own. Bar + show + Bar + eat somewhere + where was the Mojito Bar? LOL!

 

You guys are great! Love following and hearing about everyone's adventures :)

[LuCruise]

Following along. So sorry about your bad luck on your last cruise. This one seems much better already.

 

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[JC Booze Cruise]

Enjoying your report. On the same ship/itinerary March 3rd. You are a tequila champ.

 

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[Mellylucy]

Nice pics and ports info.

[akmcgill19]

I love Cemetery beach! So jealous you got to enjoy it this week!

[Twinzma]

Enjoying your posts. However I am cringing over the Miami photos. UGH I would rather walk over a bed of hot coal than to drive through that cluster. I am driving there Sunday, now I am starting to regret offering to drive!

[kba1988]

Fabulous review so far. Really enjoying your posts, your photos, and all your detail. Thanks for doing this.:)

[eileeshb]

I just got off today 12/2. Brat pack was supposedly a new cast just starting my week. After midnight (I didn’t see), fly boys (just started this week. I only saw them in howl), and some comedy acts.

 

Sid - did I miss anything?

The Brat Pack show had a new cast when I was on the Escape at the end of May, they had a few tumbles on the first show, hope the new cast didn't have quite such a problematic debut.