My View: Escape 'The Storm' with us! (Semi-Live)

[L1211]

13 minutes ago, slavetoabunny said:

If you travel a lot, look into an annual policy. We got an annual policy with Alliance for not much more than an individual trip policy.

Oh that’s an interesting idea- will price that option! 

[debenson0723]

27 minutes ago, slavetoabunny said:

If you travel a lot, look into an annual policy. We got an annual policy with Alliance for not much more than an individual trip policy.

I do this also...purchase in January and then don't have to think about it the rest of the year. Covers land vacations too, big or small. 

[mking8288]

12 hours ago, APDMOM said:

After more ... lunch at O'Sheehan's again ... enjoy some of the towel folding demo fun in the atrium ... Another Sea Turtle 🙂 

Thanks for sharing those pictures, I see one of our favorite HD is back from his Fall vacation ... if you get a chance & have time, please kindly see if you can take pictures of the HDTV display **** of the ship's senior officers, bridge & operations, usually on one of the monitors near Guest Services/Main Theater ... post here,  Mandy loves to compile them & post on the "Where Are They" running thread, a new one to start soon for 2024.  TIA.  The team onboard has earned a good reputation for being one of the best, if not the best, ship within the fleet for services. 

 

I see they have the junior officer doing the towel animal demo, perhaps ... head of housekeeping ?? usually delegated to the senior stewards or maybe asst for the department.  Impressed that s/he has time.  Have another wonderful day onboard.  

 

**** Speed reading/scanning SD's other live trip report, not sure if they've posted the names, titles of some of the officers (which is typically given out at the CC Meet & Greet) - we & others sometimes can obtain them or request it via ship's Access Officer (also in charge of Group/Special Events) onboard. 

Edited December 20, 2023 by mking8288

[APDMOM]

24 minutes ago, mking8288 said:

Thanks for sharing those pictures, I see one of our favorite HD is back from his Fall vacation ... if you get a chance & have time, please kindly see if you can take pictures of the HDTV display **** of the ship's senior officers, bridge & operations, usually on one of the monitors near Guest Services/Main Theater ... post here,  Mandy loves to compile them & post on the "Where Are They" running thread, a new one to start soon for 2024.  TIA.  The team onboard has earned a good reputation for being one of the best, if not the best, ship within the fleet for services. 

 

I see they have the junior officer doing the towel animal demo, perhaps ... head of housekeeping ?? usually delegated to the senior stewards or maybe asst for the department.  Impressed that s/he has time.  Have another wonderful day onboard.  

 

**** Speed reading/scanning SD's other live trip report, not sure if they've posted the names, titles of some of the officers (which is typically given out at the CC Meet & Greet) - we & others sometimes can obtain them or request it via ship's Access Officer (also in charge of Group/Special Events) onboard. 

Yes, we received this at the Meet and Mingle. I blacked out the phone numbers - just in case it should not be posted here. Not sure if this is something special they only share with CC.

 

[mking8288]

@APDMOM  Bravo & excellent, passing on to @www3traveler and many of the regular CC is going to find this helpful, much obliged.   It's fine to post their extension #'s here, we've been including those and sharing them here on a regular & routine basis, no problems at all and they are well aware of the "public" info on this forum.  The candybar phone extension follow a sequence & extension assigned, I am pretty sure, that the CD is always Ext. 2210x (whereas the numbers are just I randomly "used" as example) as used internally, not sure if you can even dial them outside / off the ship unless it's "patched" via the 00 ship operator into the internal VOIP phone system.  

 

This list (posted direct link) was a little different back in September when Kivanc (just left the ship as we boarded in NY) took vacation ... along with his secretary/assistant and several others - Yusuf became HD in charge, and now he's #2 in that chain of command.  Over the years, they come across tens of thousands of NCL passengers and not possible to expect them to remember us ... a few of them do, it's just nice that sometimes, they actually do and to be able to say hi (they can easily find & locate our cruise history & # of times on a given ship, etc.) 

 

Glad to hear that 2 nearly left behind ship pax made it back just in time ... a matter of habits, double check the all abroad time at the gangway before stepping off the ship, check the watches & smartphone/iPhone time clock and take a quick phone to save to the mobile device of the ship's port agent's contact info, email - "ships" do happen, unexpectedly.  

[www3traveler]

45 minutes ago, APDMOM said:

Yes, we received this at the Meet and Mingle. I blacked out the phone numbers - just in case it should not be posted here. Not sure if this is something special they only share with CC.

 

THANK YOU  I will get it posted.

[APDMOM]

Mojito Sunset:

I am not usually fond af a mojito, but decided to try this one that looked good - Brugal Ginger Mojito.  I loved it!  

 

 

 

 

[APDMOM]

Random Drinks Package Statement (before I forget):

I love that NCL has the beverage package included in the specials for booking.  At first, we thought it would not be worth the price increase, since DH does not drink any sugary drinks.  He will occasionally take a sip of mine, but it is never worth buying a whole drinks package.  

 

However, the beverage package gratuities came out to less that $43 per day - so 3-4 drinks would basically cover that. That is why I like using this opportunity to try new drinks - if I don't like it, nothing is lost.  

 

Something else we love:

You don't have to juggle your cutlery in the buffet (or go look for it if you forget to pick it up).  It is already wrapped up at the tables:

Edited December 20, 2023 by APDMOM
clarify

[APDMOM]

Sunset on the balcony:

 

 

[APDMOM]

Howling at the Moon:

Our very first dueling pianos experience was on Escape in 2016.  Again, that set the bar so high for THE BEST dueling pianos show, that this one was a bit disappointing.  However, it is still fun to see the crowd get involved.  We stayed for about 1 hour - it was definitely enjoyable but we missed the back and forth kidding between the two panists, as well as playing the same song while taking turns to 'duel it out' on the piano.  Last night was more of a turn taking- "I play a song, you play a song".  No real interaction, joking and ad lib like we had experienced in the past. 

 

TIP: Show up at least 15-30 minutes early.  We got there about 7 minutes before they were scheduled to start and we only found 'back row' seats. 

 

Edited December 20, 2023 by APDMOM
photo spacing

[www3traveler]

4 hours ago, APDMOM said:

Yes, we received this at the Meet and Mingle. I blacked out the phone numbers - just in case it should not be posted here. Not sure if this is something special they only share with CC.

 

Got it posted.  Thank You   Have you met your Captain?  Very very sweet man.

[APDMOM]

My View: End of Day 4 - At Sea (that cancelled Grand Cayman Day)

[APDMOM]

Just now, www3traveler said:

Got it posted.  Thank You   Have you met your Captain?  Very very sweet man.

We have not had the opportunity to meet him yet.  I think he has been very busy with the weather and itinerary changes.  I can tell from the announcements that he is a very good leader.  He seems to truly care about both passengers and his staff & crew.  🙂

[APDMOM]

The Freestyle Daily - Day 4 (The Im Promptu Sea Day)

 

Download PDF:

Day 4.pdf

[www3traveler]

4 minutes ago, APDMOM said:

We have not had the opportunity to meet him yet.  I think he has been very busy with the weather and itinerary changes.  I can tell from the announcements that he is a very good leader.  He seems to truly care about both passengers and his staff & crew.  🙂

He is a very huge man-- very close to 7 FEET.  He would make a great NFL linebacker.

[APDMOM]

My View: Day 5 - Ocho Rios, Jamaica

[APDMOM]

We arrived much earlier than anticipated to Ocho Rios due to a medical emergency.  Thankful for our captain who values life.  To that family, if you are reading this, we have been praying off and on all day for you. ❤️

 

Some views of the port area in the early morning:

 

 

[APDMOM]

Our Quick Walk:

There are some great spots for tropical views of the ship:

 

 

 

Norwegian Epic in port with us - though docked in an industrial area:

 

The pier is beautiful and fenced so it is safer for kids - also a great place to look for sealife:

 

 

TIP: There is a straw market right outside the port area.  The vendors are fairly aggressive to sell their items and everyone has pretty much the same items for sale.  

 

[APDMOM]

Our Recommendations for Ocho Rios:

Since this is an area known for bad traffic and incidents, we highly recommend sticking to a ship excursion or walking to one of the nearby beaches.  In the past, we walked to the beach when you turn left out of the port.  It is a very short walk and easy to access.  You have to pay a fee to enter, but it is worth the peace of mind to be close to the ship.  Even tonight, some excursions buses were very late and returned after 'all aboard'.  If this happens during official excursions, you don't want to be on your own 'excursion' and get left behind.

 

 The beach in the background behind this harbor is where we went in the past:

 

This beach to the right may also be a good option - it may be worth a search.  It looks like you leave the port, turn right to cross a small bridge, and arrive at this area.  All very close walking distance from the port: PS:  I Googled and this is Margaritaville.

 

 

Edited December 21, 2023 by APDMOM
add PS

[APDMOM]

The two areas that are worth exploring on foot, if you don't book an excursion:

[APDMOM]

A Little Comic Break - The Weather:

 

1. What the weatherman says (real time):

 

The reality (real time):  Nothing 'mostly sunny' about that... not even 'partly cloudy'. Try Mostly Cloudy 

😄

[APDMOM]

Views from our Balcony:

We loved watching all the port action from our balcony.  If I were not returning to a beach vacation in Florida, I would have been on one of those beaches.  Since it was cloudy, we enjoyed watching all the activity in the bay.  I may have danced the "Macarena" on the balcony with that Cool Cool Runnings crowd on that Catamaran. 😉

 

 

 

Swim with the dolphins, s seen from the ship:

 

We watched this boy work so hard to succeed!  

 

[APDMOM]

I will close out day 5 tomorrow...

 

If you have requests, please let me know - tomorrow is a sea day and I will have time to hunt down more answers.  

 

Thank you for following along with our adventure!

[APDMOM]

Good morning from a very windy Escape!  Glad we booked a more sheltered angled balcony!🙂. More details about that later…

 

It is not looking good for Great Stirrup Cay tomorrow, but maybe the weatherman is wrong. Time will tell - either way, we will enjoy our last 2 days on Escape. 

[slavetoabunny]

11 minutes ago, APDMOM said:

Good morning from a very windy Escape!  Glad we booked a more sheltered angled balcony!🙂. More details about that later…

 

It is not looking good for Great Stirrup Cay tomorrow, but maybe the weatherman is wrong. Time will tell - either way, we will enjoy our last 2 days on Escape. 

We have a "PrivaSea" balcony, which does a really good job sheltering you from the wind.  I've been sitting out there often reading and watching TBE sea go by.