Semi-live from the Escape | NYC to Bermuda and back again | October 29-November 5, 2023

[D_And_K_gocruising]

14 hours ago, OrcaGirl said:

 

 

I got birthday email offers from Princess and Celebrity today, but nothing from NCL. 🤔 

 

 

They knew you were on a cruise and did not want to bother you with a silly email!!! 😄

 

[skittl1321]

I LOVE the Barbie and Ken costumes!!!  Captain Barbie looks incredible.  Was his job Ship? 

[OrcaGirl]

56 minutes ago, TYTY said:

OMG....where do they sell Reese's Peanut Butter Cups with potato chips inside?  That sounds amazing!!!

We get them in grocery stores in Canada. I’ve also seen them at CVS in Los Angeles. They are very good.

 

 

[OrcaGirl]

52 minutes ago, bluesea777 said:

@OrcaGirl What time is the sail away today?

 

 

4pm according to the revised itinerary. The Freestyle Daily listed all aboard as 3:30pm but the sign on the dock said 3pm. 
 

[OrcaGirl]

49 minutes ago, D_And_K_gocruising said:

They knew you were on a cruise and did not want to bother you with a silly email!!! 😄

 

Ha! Actually the NCL birthday email came in this morning, a day late and a good offer short.

At least Celebrity gave me a birthday code for $100 off my next balcony cabin if I book this month.

[bluesea777]

5 minutes ago, OrcaGirl said:

4pm according to the revised itinerary. The Freestyle Daily listed all aboard as 3:30pm but the sign on the dock said 3pm. 
 

 

Thanks.

 

 

[wolft927]

Group of Us are on the Escape On January 6th out of Port Canaveral. Thanks again for a great review. Will also be doing a live review starting with our trip from Charlotte NC to Port Canaveral. 

[OrcaGirl]

I woke up around 8am, went for coffee and — lo, the sun was out and the weather was… pretty darn nice. (Again, for a Canadian.)

 

 

Sat out on the balcony for a bit watching the Disney Dream cruise in. (I would love to take a Disney Cruise someday except they’re sooooo expensive and I really dislike children in large quantities and for extended periods of time.) 🤷‍♀️

 

 

Breakfast time. Up to the buffet we went. Still no hash browns. 😢

 

 

 

But a nice view…

 

 

Apres breakfast, we headed out to explore more of the Dockyard. (We didn’t feel comfortable taking the ferry to St. George’s given the schedule.)

 

We went to the Bermuda Museum and walked all around. Very neat. But watch out for sheep poop. It’s everywhere.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After we were done touring, we stopped in at the Bone Fish for lunch (one fish sandwich shared between us) and drinks (a couple of Blue Hawaiians, pina coladas with blue curaçao). The drinks were good, and the fish sandwich was tasty enough (though on a future Bermuda trip I’d like to try it at a more local spot). 

 

 

 

Back onto the ship we went, to relax in the thermal spa until it’s time for sailaway. The steam room is once again super-eucalyptusy after being just regular steamy for the past two days. 🐨 

 

 

Random observations:

 

Wifi was pretty 💩 this morning.

 

Lots of hacking coughs on board, and very poor coughing etiquette. I’m very glad the husband and I were both able to get the updated COVID vax shot last week before the trip.

 

I’m surprised they don’t post the ferry schedule to St. George’s so guests can just take a photo, but no, you have to pick up a physical copy at Guest Services.

 

I’ve been having a much harder time falling to sleep these last couple of days, and I think it’s that we’re not at sea. I need the motion of the ocean. 🌊 

 

The NCL app continues to annoy me. Most other cruise lines manage to have the nightly MDR menus on their apps, why can’t NCL figure it out?

 

Playing “My Heart Will Go On” on a cruise ship is a little weird, non?

 

If you forget your ID, the Bermuda port security will accept a digital scan of your passport. (And then you should buy your wife a treat for having digital versions of your passport in her Dropbox.)

[TYTY]

2 hours ago, OrcaGirl said:

We get them in grocery stores in Canada. I’ve also seen them at CVS in Los Angeles. They are very good.

 

 

I'm in Connecticut, I'll have to search for them.  Thanks!

[Coolwhip82]

We were just on the Escape in August and the Cruise Director was Jack. Who is JEFF? And WHERE IS JACK!!!??? 

Edited November 2, 2023 by Coolwhip82

[OrcaGirl]

35 minutes ago, Coolwhip82 said:

We were just on the Escape in August and the Cruise Director was Jack. Who is JEFF? And WHERE IS JACK!!!??? 

Even cruise staff get vacations occasionally?
 

[OrcaGirl]

Day 5 Freestyle Daily:

 

escape-day5.pdf

[OrcaGirl]

We headed back to our cabin by way of the pool deck bar for a BBC.

 

Lots of people were out on their balconies watching for pier runners. My view was obstructed but based on the hooting and hollering, I’d say there were at least three groups that made it by the skin of their teeth. All aboard was 3pm, sailaway was 4pm, and this was around 3:50pm. 😬

 

 

Waters and skies are calm. Beautiful day.

 

 

We took a little rest listening to the waves, then got ready for the evening. First up, a stop at the Prime Meridian bar for cocktails.

 

I first learned about the pistachio martini from a CC poster who was on the Escape last week, and yeah… it’s as good as they said it was. 
 

 

(It was around this time that the calm seas turned to more rocking and rolling. Wheeeeeeee!!!!)

 

We took a quick lap on the Waterfront before heading to dinner.

 

 

Dinner tonight was in the Manhattan Room. There was a nice musical duo performing a set as we were seated but they left a few songs after we were seated and there was no music after that.

 

 

We ordered the Caesar salad (him) and the stuffed mushroom caps (me); the salad was good and very creamy, the mushrooms were lacklustre compared to my memories of past sailings.

 

 

For our main, we each ordered the short rib ragu, which was just as good as I remembered if not better. The only issue is that the portion was huge. Next time we eat in a main dining room we might ask for half portions.

 

 

We shared a Black Forest something or other for dessert. Pretty good. 

 

 

One highlight of dinner was our waiter, Erick. I spoke a few words of bahasa Indonesia to him, and that spurred a whole conversation about where he’s from, recommendations for scuba diving, his experience as a free diver, etc. He’s been on the Escape for just three weeks and I was the first passenger to speak Indonesian with him.

 

After dinner, we caught just a few minutes of the speed trivia in the Atrium (intense!) on the way to the Pour House for “family friendly” karaoke. It was… okay. Too loud. But I was impressed that it wasn’t just the old standards. Billie Eilish and Olivia Rodrigo are a nice change of pace from hearing yet another rendition of My Way or Fools Rush In. (Is Taylor Swift the new Frank Sinatra? Three songs by Tay-Tay in the 40 minutes we were in there.)

 

We headed down to the theatre to grab seats for Wheel of Fortune.

 

(It was around this time that we noticed the rain had started and the Waterfront was closed.)

 

 

It was a pay-to-play game: 

 

 

We crossed our fingers that the husband didn’t get called up on stage; he’s not awesome under pressure or in front of an audience. 🤣

 

The instructions for the audience participants were long and complicated. They really need to streamline that part.

 

The three selected contestants play four rounds. The audience participants earn points each round, cumulative by card (?), based on if the wheel lands on a matching dollar amount (2) and if the puzzle contains matching consonants (2) and vowels (1) (or was it if the contestants called those letters? Again, it was confusing.)

 

 

Audiences could also win ‘their own Wheel of Fortune’ for the fastest solve on their phone.

 

 

 

The husband declared it ‘fun’; I thought it was painful and have no desire to play again.

 

Neither of us felt like returning to karaoke (especially since

my Just Ken refused to sing ‘Push’ for his Captain Barbie…) so we headed back to the cabin for bed.

 

(It was around this time that we noticed the howling wind and creaking walls. Weirdly, I love this and will probably sleep like a baby tonight.)

 

Random observations:

 

If I can see the dude blatantly smoking on his balcony, why can’t NCL personnel? Not cool, dude.

 

The cruise director kept asking for ‘continents’ instead of ‘consonants’ and it was driving me crazy.

[Coastalbreezes]

12 hours ago, Coolwhip82 said:

We were just on the Escape in August and the Cruise Director was Jack. Who is JEFF? And WHERE IS JACK!!!??? 

Jack is on vacation and will return for Escape's first sailing from Port Canaveral November 18th. Jeff was his assistant CD and is also very good with lots of energy.

[OrcaGirl]

Good morning from the Saragossa Sea.

 

 

The skies cleared overnight but the swells continue (I slept like an over-excited toddler at Disneyland) and we’re cruising at a snail’s pace (if snails ever cruised 🐌) on our way back to NYC.

 

I popped down to the Atrium Cafe intending to get just one iced Americano but alas the staff are just too good at their jobs and already know my name and usual morning order so they had two Americanos being made before I even made it up to the till. ☕️ 

 

So I popped back to the cabin to drop off the other Americano for Sleeping Beauty who requested a sleep-in today, and then up to the buffet for a quick breakfast.

 

 

Still no hash browns. There’s a Q&A with staff in the Atrium this morning; dare I ask where have all the hash browns gone?

 

I returned quickly and quietly to the cabin to change into my swimsuit and then up to the thermal spa. Any bets on what time the husband will join me?

 

 

The water in the thermal spa pool is shifting back and forth, up and down. 🌊 The differential goes from ‘my belly button is exposed’ to ‘going up on my tip-toes to avoid getting water in my nose…’ 🤣

 

Random observations:

 

Picked up our luggage tags this morning. 😢 Which means I’m getting the ‘must start planning my next cruise’ twitchies. (Except my next cruise is already booked — Bliss to Mexican Riviera with my mom in February 2024 — so I guess it’s actually the next-next cruise twitchies.)

 

The buffet staff were really pushing the poorly-named “Oriental Dinner” during breakfast service.

 

The adult pool was closed this morning but the hot tubs were open.

 

[MarKay525]

Hi. Really enjoying your writing style and photos.

 

We're on this cruise as well and spoke to you on Halloween (along with hundreds of others who admired your fantastic costume.) Yes, the venue for the Costume party was just uncomfortable! We had a far more pleasant Halloween on the Dawn several years ago.

 

Enjoy this beautiful sea day.

Kay & Mark

(AKA the pumpkin and the bearded Hogwarts graduate)

[cruiseny4life]

For all of us planning cruises, please ask about the hash browns! I promise I'll ask on Pr1ma later this month. I already emailed a bunch of screenshots to my PCC when she requested them regarding people missing hash browns. Fried, shredded potatoes. Yum! You should find the Cruise Radio guy who's on your cruise and tell him to report all about it!

 

Hope the seas settle and you enjoy the trip back to NY.

[OrcaGirl]

31 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

For all of us planning cruises, please ask about the hash browns! I promise I'll ask on Pr1ma later this month. I already emailed a bunch of screenshots to my PCC when she requested them regarding people missing hash browns. Fried, shredded potatoes. Yum! You should find the Cruise Radio guy who's on your cruise and tell him to report all about it!

 

Hope the seas settle and you enjoy the trip back to NY.

Dang, I missed it… it was at 10:30 to 11 according to the Freestyle Daily, but it wasn’t included in the What’s Happening section of the app, so I spaaaaah’d right through it.

[cruiseny4life]

10 minutes ago, OrcaGirl said:

Dang, I missed it… it was at 10:30 to 11 according to the Freestyle Daily, but it wasn’t included in the What’s Happening section of the app, so I spaaaaah’d right through it.

The thermal spa is an excuse for missing anything! Ahhh I can't wait to just lay on me stone lounger for an hour or five every day!

[OrcaGirl]

I spaaaaaaaaahed until just before noon; Sleeping Beauty waltzed into the spa just as I was leaving, so we headed back to the cabin for me to get dressed and then off to the buffet.

 

The pineapple glazed ham was good, but otherwise I thought the lunch choices were pretty lacklustre.

 

 

(And tuna salad on pizza is a crime against nature.)

 

 

After lunch, we headed to the Atrium for a cocktail and the Future Cruise presentation ‘cause I’m a sucker like that. They briefly mentioned the Aqua but didn’t mention where it’s going to be sailing so I guess I need to do some Googling later.

 

Then it was to the fitness centre for a quick workout (for him) and walk on a treadmill (for me). Want to have a big appetite for Cagney’s tonight.

 

 

Random observations:

 

Not sure if it was due to the waves or a problem with the filters, but the thermal spa pool was weirdly dirty this morning. Several clumps of black gunk floating around, and one Lifesaver (the candy, not the floatation device). 

 

Don’t step directly on the plastic grate around the hot tub. One dude broke it. 

 

I went to grab an unoccupied stone lounger (it just had a rolled up towel pillow as they often do in the morning) only to have a guy two loungers down shoo me away. Apparently his nowhere-in-sight daughters were using them. I explained the whole ‘staff said no saving stone loungers’ but he was adamant and I’m a good Canadian who doesn’t like a confrontation so he got to keep his three unoccupied loungers in a row. Super fun how I get to feel like a passive-aggressive b*#%* for the rest of the morning, and they get prime loungers when they eventually show up. 🤣

 

The Norwegian Aqua looks amazing.

 

My husband won’t discuss our anniversary trip plans for 2024 until we’re back home, but there are two NCL itineraries on my shortlist: a 14-day Star cruise in South America or a 7-day Caribbean itinerary on the Viva out of San Juan. 

[dmms]

Currently booked on the Caribbean 7 day Viva out of San Juan - it was originally on my short list also - right up until we booked it!

Itinerary looks great😎

[brookie848]

We're booked for the Viva in February of 2024 and February of 2025. We really hope we like the ship!

 

Both of these sailings have zero sea days, so we're curious how that's going to work out with things like tastings and other events. On the 2025 cruise the port times aren't that great, so there will be time for those things. For the 2024 sailing the port times are what I consider to be pretty stellar, so I'll looking forward to how that all plays out.

Edited November 3, 2023 by brookie848

[OrcaGirl]

25 minutes ago, dmms said:

Currently booked on the Caribbean 7 day Viva out of San Juan - it was originally on my short list also - right up until we booked it!

Itinerary looks great😎

If we book that one, it’ll be purely for the ship. We’ve done that itinerary sooooo many times. 
 

[OrcaGirl]

Day 6 Freestyle Daily:

 

escape-day6.pdf

[OrcaGirl]

Catching up on last night…

 

After our ‘workouts,’ we headed back to the thermal spa. We walked in, saw that half the stone loungers were occupied by people and the other half were occupied by books and/or towels (which have no squatting rights) so I did a heel-turn back to the spa desk to request that someone address it.

 

I know, I know, snitches get stitches, but they also get time on stone loungers in the thermal spa that they too paid $$$ for… (Seriously, though, would people feel as comfortable reserving space in the steam room or sauna so no one else can use it?)

 

A few rounds of pool/steam room/lounger later, we were getting peckish and decided to dry off and get ready for dinner.

 

But first: drinks in the Atrium and ‘Music Mania’… I love seeing a couple of preteens absolutely destroy a jerky mix-20s dude who keep flaunting the rules. 

 

 

Then to the Prime Meridan bar for another cocktail and to see if we could request a seat on the Waterfront for our Cagney’s reservation.

 

 

We were seated and the husband promptly spotted a cruise duck, despite knowing nothing of the tradition.

 

 

 

It was another beautiful sunset and the temperature outside was just perfect.

 

 

Alas, service was not. No blame to be placed on our waiter, I think the kitchen was in the weeds. Cagney’s was as busy as I’d seen in since before the pandemic; we laughed when the wine guy told the table behind us that it was a quiet night.

 

For our appetizers, the husband got (surprise, surprise) another Caesar salad, and I had the ahi tuna tartare. Am I mistaken or did it used to be served with avocado? It was fine, and I liked how they incorporated the ginger right in the dish, but I was missing the balance of the avocado.

 

 

 

And then we waited. And waited. And waited for our entrees. It was a looooong gap between courses. (We were seated at 6:29, our appetizers arrived at 7:11, and our entrees arrived at 7:49.)

 

When they did finally arrive, my medium-rare petite filet mignon was perfectly cooked, delicious and tender. And the truffle mashed potatoes were as tasty as always.

 

 

The poor husband was less satisfied with his striploin; he said it was cooked medium-rare as requested, but didn’t have the Chicago char he’d asked for and wasn’t particularly flavourful. It was also a good ten minute gap between his baked potato arriving and the toppings being brought out, so it chilled quickly.

 

For dessert, we shared one OMG cheesecake which was very good per usual.

 

 

We found a new place to tuck the duck on our way back to the cabin.

 

I was beat and retired for the evening. The husband headed up to the spa for an hour or so. He noted that both the ambient temperature and the water jets were cooler than usual.

 

Random observations:

 

Next cruise, I need to invest in a nice pair of noise-cancelling headphones for the thermal spa.

 

You know what I would gladly pay extra for? A mini 10-20 minute scalp and/or foot massage while in one of the heated stone loungers.

 

 

One gentleman several tables away from us at dinner embodied the old adage “if you meet an a****** in the morning, you met an a*******; if you meet a*******s all day long, you’re the a*******.” Every single one of his stories (and there were a lot) was about some jerk or some b**** who done him wrong… Maybe his dining companions found him endearing; we did not (again, we were several tables away but I know who owes him money and who gave him COVID and who sent their steak back three times.) 🤷‍♀️