Just of the Escape yesterday 3/17/19

[Laszlo]

22 hours ago, Paphillyguy said:

Yes, it fit the lounger with no issue and still had the original 2 chairs and table with room to move.  

My mistake, I was thinking of the Breakaway

[tomservo]

4 minutes ago, barb65 said:

 

If you go online, in your search type in NCL Escape Bayamo menu and it will show you the 2019 menu for Bayamo and all the other specialty restaurants on the Escape.

 

 

If you mean the one from BeyondShips, I think the one on there is older, even though it says 2019. It still has crispy calamari, which I heard was replaced by sauteed calamari and a few other changes. I was looking for the newer menu which apparently came out pretty recently.

[Paphillyguy]

Sorry,  I took a few menu pics but I forgot to do Bayamo.  

[01Sweetpea]

I just booked my first NCL cruise for the Escape in May.  I have questions about reservations for the choir of man show, Is it a dinner show? How hard was it to get reservations? And do I need to make reservations  as soon as I board the ship?

[barb65]

8 hours ago, tomservo said:

 

If you mean the one from BeyondShips, I think the one on there is older, even though it says 2019. It still has crispy calamari, which I heard was replaced by sauteed calamari and a few other changes. I was looking for the newer menu which apparently came out pretty recently.

Thank you. Yes, that was the menu I was looking at since it said 2019.

[HowardK]

On 3/18/2019 at 2:11 PM, Paphillyguy said:

The Left Hand Milk Stout.  I really wanted to taste it.  I had the Maduro Brown Ale instead and it was really good.  

 

I agree- I liked the Maudro and 4 of them one night and have purchased them back here in NJ. I'm no expert but it seemed a little similar to the Milk Stout but not as thick.

[gizfish]

4 hours ago, 01Sweetpea said:

I just booked my first NCL cruise for the Escape in May.  I have questions about reservations for the choir of man show, Is it a dinner show? How hard was it to get reservations? And do I need to make reservations  as soon as I board the ship?

 Choir of men recently was moved to the main theatre and is no longer a dinner show.  So far no one has been able to book it before boarding.

[david_sobe]

16 hours ago, RedwingHockeyFan said:

 

Back when the epic was brand new they had the Blue Man Group and it was fantastic.  I was severely disappointed when I booked my 2018 Epic cruise and they no longer had it.

The entertainment on Epic that first year will never be duplicated by any cruise line ever including NCL.  Those were the days when NCL spent a fortune on things that Sheehan came in to cut back.   Besides Blue Man Group; Legends in Concert, the most dramatic Cirque Dreams ever seen andFat Cats Blues where they hired top notch Blues Bands (not paid cruise line employees).

[RedwingHockeyFan]

1 hour ago, david_sobe said:

The entertainment on Epic that first year will never be duplicated by any cruise line ever including NCL.  Those were the days when NCL spent a fortune on things that Sheehan came in to cut back.   Besides Blue Man Group; Legends in Concert, the most dramatic Cirque Dreams ever seen andFat Cats Blues where they hired top notch Blues Bands (not paid cruise line employees).

 

Yes!  Legends was the other one that I couldn't think of.  The particular one I saw had Steven Tyler, Lady Gaga and Elvis.  The guy seriously had his face altered to look like Steven Tyler though I am sure he was nearly a foot too tall.  The voices for all were spot on.

[rainmakerjjo]

Great review!  Who were the bartenders in the Haven?  Thanks

[rwf1]

Thanks for the quick review!

 

Glad to know that you found Haven embarkation efficient.  Did you happen to use the Haven security line?  If so, was it easy to find?  Leaving from NYC in June, and I keep hearing conflicting info about whether or not there is a special line for Haven security. I know there is one for check-in.

[Paphillyguy]

Yes, there was a special line for the Haven.  It was all the way to the right.  Also, make sure you tell the porters you are in the Haven.  Our Porter immediately took us in to check our bag because he saw the priority tags.  He then directed us to the Haven security only line. 

[rwf1]

Thanks for such a fast reply!

 

I will mention it to the porters.  Thanks for the tip!

[tumblew467]

5 hours ago, Paphillyguy said:

Yes, there was a special line for the Haven.  It was all the way to the right.  Also, make sure you tell the porters you are in the Haven.  Our Porter immediately took us in to check our bag because he saw the priority tags.  He then directed us to the Haven security only line. 

was this at the new york port?

[Paphillyguy]

Yes NYC

Edited March 22, 2019 by Paphillyguy

[Paphillyguy]

One other thing I wanted to add is that whoever decided that a great place for the smoking area in the Haven would be at the front of the Sun Deck was out of their mind.  This at times causes the whole Sun Deck to smell of smoke.  

[rbird]

Just off the Escape too.   Branko was bartending in the Haven but he was leaving for a holiday today.    Disappointed in Bayamo as well.  The menu on the in room TV's is NOT the updated menu.   I understood the 12$ pp up charge per a message left the day of the ressie.  Once we arrived at this restaurant, we were informed of the limits with an app, entree,  and 2 sides.   The menu presented was different than the TV ( assume it was the outdated menu)  Now there were upcharges for shrimp cocktail and others...  It had surf & turf as well as fish and chips.  We could get surf and turf, sea bass and shrimp cocktail in the Haven.  And fish and chips, really?  Long story short - I felt like a bait and switch, nickel and dime with the upcharges and surcharges for this venue.  I really hope NCL does something different there in the future.  

Apparently giving a healthy tip to the porter does not insure that they will take you to some special security line.  We waited with everyone for the initial security screen which wasn't a big deal since it was early.   

We were happy with the Haven services.  The concierge and butler never responded with a "no" to any of our requests.   Only disappointment were the amount of young children in both hot tubs.   Otherwise it was an enjoyable spring break cruise secluded in the nest.  aka HAVEN;)