Escape Cruise 2/29-3/7

[cincicruisers]

Back home from our fantastic cruise on the Escape.  There are so many threads on the virus I thought I would share something positive.  I am not doing a full review but I will share our experience on our vacation.  It was me sailing with DH, we are mid 50’s.  These are just our thoughts, yours might be different.

 

Getting there..We had a direct flight from Nashville to Miami.  We flew first class which made for a pleasant trip.  Stayed at the Kimpton Epic hotel.  I got a great deal from Priceline.  The hotel was nice but I would not pay full price. We had dinner at The Lokal.  Great burgers and the best key lime pie I have ever had!  Breakfast is not included and no coffee in room.  We got Uber to the port for $14 plus tip.

 

We got to the port around 10:30/11:00 and it was a zoo.  Lots of folks getting off ship.  Many people trying to get checked in.  I travel with my walker so we were guided to check in.  We then were put in a waiting room for boarding.  They started boarding us around 11:30.  The elevators were not available until noon.  Side note—some people waited hours to get on board.  Our Muster Drill was supposed to be at 4:30 but did not start until around 5.  There were several people with all their luggage at Muster.  We were supposed to sail at 5 but it was closer to six.  I never did find out what the issue was with the delays.

 

 

We reserved our comedy shows and had lunch at O’Sheehans.  Had thia chicken wings and salad.  DH had wings and Ruben.  Both were very good.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[cincicruisers]

Our cabin-  We had cabin 14906.  ADA cabin middle of aft.  The cabin was ok.  I wish the cabins had a couch or arm chair.  You only have the chair for desk.  Other person has to sit on bed.  There were cabins above us but we could still hear the music from above.  It did not bother us.  The balcony was large with 2 lounge chairs, 2 regular chairs, and a small table. We are happy to report no smokers on the balconies near us.   I thought the distance walking would be hard but it really wasn’t bad.
 

Our Seward-  He was ok but not outgoing or friendly as others.  He kept the room clean and met our requests for ice 2x daily, coffee packets, and extra towels.

[cincicruisers]

Dinner at Food Republic.  My DH loved the food.  It was presented well and the portions were larger than I anticipated.  Our waitress told us we could order 4 items and save the other 4 for another trip there.  I was surprised they were able to do this.  We had the ramen, corn, beef kabob, and dumplings.  I am a picky eater and didn’t care for food.  My DH enjoyed it.  We then went to buffet so I could get a salad.

 

Went to the Welcome Aboard show and then to the Casino.

[cincicruisers]

We slept in and missed breakfast.  We had lunch in the dining room.  Had fish sandwich, tuna sandwich, and shared chicken nachos.  It was all good.

 

We got our books and headed to the Waterfront.  Such a great place to enjoy the ocean and have comfy chairs to sit on.  For the first part of the cruise it wasn’t crowded at all.  By the last sea day it was crowded.  We only had one day were we had to sit at table and chairs.  
 

Dinner at Bayamo- Service was horrible, food was good.  Sea Bass and Fisherman plate.  Not once did anyone smile or interact with us.  We had scheduled two dinners here and we were going to go somewhere else but we decided to keep other reservation because we wanted to try other food.  
 

Newlywed game- Always a good time.  The oldest couple was married for 64 years.  They were a hoot!

 

Choir of Man- The show was great.  We really enjoyed it.

 

Off to the casino

Back at Room late night.  Ordered room service.  Supreme Pizza, Turkey sandwich, and chocolate chip cookies. Last year room service was 7.95, latest reviews said 9.95,  but it’s now 11.95.  Food was yummy and we enjoyed our snacks on the balcony.

Put out card for coffee/muffin for delivery in morning.  Funny because we are not morning people,  DH got the door for the delivery and promptly got back in bed to sleep. I never heard a thing.

 

 

[cincicruisers]

Roatan.

 

DH went to the port to check out cigars.  I stayed onboard and enjoyed my book (book 2).  
 

Teppanyaki- When we got to our table there were 4 kids at the table.  We were concerned about how the meal would go.  They were the best behaved kids I have seen. They ordered off kids menu, but they also gave them rice and some meat/seafood.  The food was very good and the “show” was fun.  My favorite drink is in this restaurant—Wasabi.  It’s sweet and delicious.  
 

After Midnight Show-  Not our cup of tea.  I wasn’t sure if we would like it so we sat in the back.  We didn’t stay long.

 

Howl at Moon- get there early (7:45). We has 12 people in front of us.  By showtime it’s packed to the gills.  If you have not been before there are 3 singers/piano/drums.  They take requests for songs (tips appreciated).  It’s audience participation and lots of fun.  They also have a bar in the venue which is great.

[cincicruisers]

Harvest Caye

 

We ordered coffee/muffins for breakfast.  I had secured us Tender #1 going to the island.  I reserved a clamshell on the beach.  (We were told we could not use our $50 shore excursion credit for the clamshell.  Looking at my statement they credited the $39 charge)

 

It was hot and sunny.  We went into the water and it was the perfect temperature and very refreshing.  The lifeguard was warning everyone to stay to the right side of him.  There were jellyfish in the area.  Luckily they didn’t come by us.  We spent a few hours here before heading back.  They had a golf cart back to tender area which was great because I was hot and tired.  bottle of water was $7
 

We had a light lunch at O’Sheehans of wings and nachos to share.

 

We relaxed in the afternoon until our dinner reservation 

 

Dinner at Le Bistro-  Le Bistro has always been a favorite of mine.  We ordered a bottle of nice wine. (20%off with drink package). I had French onion soup and filet.  DH had soup and sea bass.  We had the cream puffs and chocolate fondue.  Everything was delicious!  The service was spot on and we got to speak with the captain who was greeting passengers in the restaurant.

 

off to the casino

 

 

[marktwothousand]

Thanks for the update. Now having done Epic x2, Bliss x2, Joy, Encore and Excape, Excape remains one of my fav ships and I’m looking for an opportunity to sail her again. RN, the Saturday departures are a bit of a turn-off, as it means an extra day off work to get there early enough from Canada, but if she ever moves to a non-Saturday embark, I’ll be keeping my eyes open. And Prices are generally good on the excape these days!

[cincicruisers]

Costa Maya

 

Had reservation at Maya Chan.  Unfortunately the captain made an announcement that it was too windy to dock.  I wondered if he made that decision because of the incident when he hit the dock in Harvest Caye.  
 

We went back to sleep because there was no reason to get up early.

 

Several times we listened to music, karaoke, game shows, and other entertainment.  Nothing stood out like Siglo on the Bliss.  The casino bar was great with live music and plenty of dancers.  I have to say that this cruise had more ‘beyond tipsy’ passengers.  It was funny to watch them dance.  During the cruise we saw 2 girls that security came to escort them to their rooms.  There was one guy, we called him Shiny Pants (his pants were shiny like aluminum foil) that danced everywhere.  He was always dancing not just moving with the music but getting down dancing.  Everyone was watching him dancing in the atrium instead of the band singing.  He had a loyal following. 

[cincicruisers]

Cozumel 

 

We had an excursion planned for Cozumel.  It was Salsa Salsa.  
 

We met at end of dock and were taken to waiting cabs.  I forgot to write down the name of the place we went.  They set you up with all the ingredients to make 3 different salsas.  You are greeting with Margaritas.  You also make some cocktails.  It was fun.  We made the salsas and were given some chips, quesadillas, and tortillas to eat with your salsas.  The last one was a desert salsa.  After that the room is cleared so the dancing could start.  It was a great time and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.

 

We walked along the port and picked up a few gifts for friends and cigars for DH.

 

We ate lunch in the buffet.  It was ok but not great.  The ‘salad station’ did not have cheese or croutons which I thought was strange.

 

Dinner at Bayamo-  Diner was so much better tonight.  Service was good and food was delish.  DH had the grouper and I had Fish and Chips.  Both were good.  I had the key lime tart and DH had cheesecake in jar.

 

late night room service 

[cincicruisers]

We did a whole lot of nothing today.  Reading, eating, listening to music, shopping, napping, etc.

 

Cagney’s. We love Cagney’s.   I had shrimp cocktail, we’d salad, and filet.  DH had crab, French onion soup, and porterhouse.  Everything was cooked properly.  DH had the chocolate cake.  I skipped desert.  Was a great last meal on ship.  We always do Cagneys the last night.  Gives us something to look forward to at the end of cruise.

 

We went to the casino and then to bed. 

 

Up next..final thoughts

[cincicruisers]

Final thoughts

 

I found a DUCK!  In all my years of cruising I have never found one.  I was excited like a kid in a candy store.

 

We selected Pink luggage tags.  We waited in room for our tag to be called.  Was supposed to be called at 8:30, called at 8:15.

 

There was only two times the whole cruise I had to wait for elevator (Aft elevators).  I still can’t believe that there was no waiting.  I use a walker and folks would move over so I could get in.  Very polite and no issues at all with elevators.

 

Our buffet was self serve during the cruise.  I was hoping it would have changed to employees serving.

 

We wiped everything down with hospital grade wipes we got from friend who is nurse.  It still drives me nuts that folks don’t wash hands in restrooms.  We would re-clean our hands after touching serving utensils.  
 

We had a great time and would recommend the Escape.  

 

Edited March 10, 2020 by cincicruisers

[cincicruisers]

Kind of a bummer that I took the time to post review on our cruise and no one responded.  Guess the corona virus is taking over the boards. 😞

[MJSailors]

Good that you enjoyed the cruise on the Encore. It seems that you had a relaxing vacation.

Did you think it was a full ship or that a good number of people decided to cancel ?

[akenned]

I enjoyed reading your review. I'm hoping to sail on the Escape in October for a transatlantic voyage.

[cabincop]

Thank you for your review. Sounds like a perfect cruise

[cincicruisers]

26 minutes ago, MJSailors said:

Good that you enjoyed the cruise on the Encore. It seems that you had a relaxing vacation.

Did you think it was a full ship or that a good number of people decided to cancel ?

We were on the Escape.  Didn’t notice less people on ship.

[cincicruisers]

30 minutes ago, akenned said:

I enjoyed reading your review. I'm hoping to sail on the Escape in October for a transatlantic voyage.

You will enjoy the Escape!  

[Kclovesken]

I will be on the Bliss and I really hope I enjoy it as much as it sounded like you did. 🙂 when you said you found a Duck what did you mean haha. Dont judge me I'm a newbie 🤣

 

Thank you so much for the review. I enjoyed reading 😉

[Cruisepaq]

Thank you for posting your cruise. We love the Escape as she was our first ship to start our cruising career. Our cruise is scheduled for March 22, so next Sunday. We are not canceling, however we are worried as we still have 10 days left and things are changing every hour. 

[sunkey1]

Went on the Escape last October and so far one of our favorite ships!! Glad you had a good cruise!

[JamieLogical]

Escape is still my favorite ship. I love reading reviews about her and seeing other people get to love her. I am not sure when I will be sailing the Escape again since it's moving to the Baltics, but I hope it's back in North America in the next year or two.

[NLH Arizona]

Your review was great, thanks for taking the time to write it.

[ggTexasGal]

I enjoy reading your posts!  So for all the times I didn't say it, "Thank you"!!!

[Sheshefran]

Thanks for the review.  Was on her in January and will be back on her next January!  Love that ship.

 

[cincicruisers]

9 hours ago, Kclovesken said:

I will be on the Bliss and I really hope I enjoy it as much as it sounded like you did. 🙂 when you said you found a Duck what did you mean haha. Dont judge me I'm a newbie 🤣

 

Thank you so much for the review. I enjoyed reading 😉

People hide small rubber ducks  around the ship.  If you find a duck post picture on website and hide the duck for the next person to find.