Escape Review - 7/22-7/29 - Bermuda

[mrsmagoo1]

Bingo

We played the last day for the 'Jackpot'. We didn't win but the kids had fun. It is amazing how much money the ship makes off of Bingo - this is a huge moneymaker. The theater was full and the line to buy tickets was long!

 

Do you recall the prices for the different bingo packages?

[Maraprince]

Did they offer different types of buffets (Mexican, Asian, etc.) in Moderno's on sea days for lunch as does the Breakaway?

 

 

MARAPRINCE

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[anthonyg1996]

We are back from an awesome week on the Escape from NY to Bermuda! Here are our thoughts on the cruise...I have a feeling it's going to be long - I apologize in advance! I'm going to break it into a couple of posts to make it easier...

 

Cruising were myself (44), DH (47), DS (14) and DD (11). This was our 9th cruise, 6th on NCL. We have done the Dawn, Jewel twice and Breakaway twice. We are from Long Island so we took Uber too and from the ship. We had UBP and 3UDP.

 

Travel (and especially dining), is very subjective however, as with most things, I think attitude has a lot to do with overall experience. You can choose to go into things with a negative attitude and you will find things to complain about. Or you can just enjoy being on vacation and not let the little things bother you. I will say that there were very few things to complain about - here is our story!

 

Embarkation

We arrived at 10:00, went through security and Haven check-in and were escorted onto the ship at 11:00. After a brief Haven talk by the Concierge, we checked out the Haven area and went to Margaritaville for lunch. Very smooth embarkation!

 

Service

Generally service on this ship is very, very good. Employees are friendly and nice. Most staff we saw in the hallways greeted us. Some didn't. All the employees we engaged with were very courteous and happy to talk about their families and their ship experience.

 

We had Nadia for our Room Steward who was awesome! She was never intrusive and our room was always spotless. Even though we woke at different times in the morning, she managed to come in and do her thing both morning and evening. She is always smiling and very pleasant - really brightened our day!

 

Samir was our butler. Not at all warm and fuzzy like our last few butlers, but he was good. Took care of 2 room service orders for us and delivered snacks daily. My kids were bummed because the first day when he introduced himself, he asked if they like candy and he told them there would be M&Ms and gummy bears in the room and we could call for a refill. We never got them. I could've called to remind him but I felt bad and trust me, we were not starving, but a minor annoyance.

 

Concierge was Patrick. He never introduced himself to us and I think I spoke to him once. I spoke to one of the assistants to book the Escape the Big Top and Canvas by U and that was it.

 

Stateroom

We were in Cabin 11706, a Forward Facing Penthouse Suite. The cabin is not in the Haven, but a short walk to the Forward elevators and up to 17, and we were easily in the Haven. The stateroom is beautiful. Separate bedroom with king size bed, and a sofa in the living room that comfortably slept both my kids. Balcony is small but adequate. We didn't spend much time on the balcony because the Haven area is so spacious we hung out there a lot. The cabin has a LOT of storage - closets and drawers. We are not light packers and still had a few drawers we didn't use even after we all unpacked.

 

Bathroom is huge. One difference from the Breakaway is that the bathroom does not have windows to outside - I loved that in our Breakaway suite - huge windows.

 

The room was great - it allowed us to spread out in the room and not be on top of eachother (although more than a couple times it was the 4 of us all piled in bed watching a movie!). We spent time in the room each afternoon - there was some movie watching and some napping which was great!

 

Dining

We had the 3UDP for DH and myself and paid for the kids in the specialty restaurants we did. We ate most breakfasts in the Haven restaurant and a couple at the buffet. Lunch was Margaritaville, buffet, room service and once in the Haven restaurant, Dinner was Haven restaurant, Moderno and Teppanyaki. If you can't find something to eat on this ship with all the options available, I'm not sure where you will be happy.

 

Margaritaville

We took advantage of the embarkation day special which waives the fee for suite guests. We split the nachos and conch fritters - both were good. We had burgers and salads. All were good - exactly what you get at any Margaritaville restaurant. We planned to go back another day for lunch but didn't make it.

 

Moderno

We go to Churrascaria restaurants on Long Island and Moderno did not disappoint. I have read bad reviews but I'm not sure where the issue is. The salad bar has so many options - salads, cheeses, sushi, soup, bread - it was really good. The meats were very good - we didn't try anything that was bad. The best is the bacon wrapped chicken and bacon wrapped filet. We probably should have skipped lunch that day because we called it quits earlier than we thought we would. We did save room for the grilled pineapple which is as good as everyone says. Really delicious! We didn't have dessert at Moderno.

 

Teppanyaki

We always love Teppanyaki on NCL ships. It's fun to watch the chef and the food is usually great. In this case the chef was a lot of fun - they really everyone going and the kids had a blast. The rice, steak and shrimp were so good. But the chicken was not cooked. I bit into the first piece and couldn't eat it. I tried on more piece just to make sure and then told my kids not to eat it. Not a big deal because there was more than enough food but disappointing. Dessert in Teppanyaki is never good. My kids tried the green tea cake because every time we go they convince themselves they will like it - they didn't.

 

Buffet

The buffet was great for quick breakfast and lunch. There are so many options and the food is good. Is it gourmet, no, but at a buffet we are looking for quick. And it delivers. They really do have so many options - if you don't find something you like, try something else. They always have pizza, burgers and a salad station. It's also a great place to grab cookies or ice cream when dinner was early and you find yourself needing a snack at 10:00.

 

O'Sheehans

We went to O'Sheehans once for late night snacks. It is a place for a quick snack - not gourmet dining, not spectacular quality food. Just easy, quick food. As on the Breakaway, it wasn't great, but it filled us up. I like the previous menu better, but this one is fine. It gets very crowded after midnight - a couple of nights I went by and there was a line of people waiting to get in.

 

Haven Restaurant

The service in the Haven restaurant is really impeccable. The hostess and maitre'd were so pleasant and the waitstaff was really great. Cristian in particular made our week so special - he was always happy to see us and just a genuinely nice person. My son asked for mashed potatoes with his steak and when dinner was served Cristian apologized for it being late bc he had to run to O'Sheehans for mashed potatoes. I told him he should have just said no mashed potatoes. They really do go beyond to make everyone happy. We ate outdoors a few times which was really nice. At see there is a breeze and is so nice to be outside to eat. If you time it right you can be there during the sunset and it is gorgeous.

 

Breakfast is so good regardless of what menu item you choose, and the mini buffet has some great offerings.

Lunch we did one time but took so long we decided not to go back for lunch.

Dinner was very good. We didn't have one bad thing - we ate there 4 nights and loved every meal. A couple of night we were so full, Cristian sent the desserts to our room which was great for a late snack.

 

Room Service

We ordered room service twice (burgers, pizza, sandwiches). The food is ok. Burgers were very undercooked and inedible. Pizza was good one day, not great the next time. Cobb Salad, BLT were good.

 

Who was the captain?