3rd Time's the Charm on Escape

[CruzinMel]

On 1/7/2024 at 6:50 PM, kittymamma said:

OK, one more.....😊. Is there a way to know if the bed will be located next to the balcony or the bathroom ? Ours just has the triangle symbol which tells how many the cabin holds.

You know, I have no clue on this one - but keep looking on CC - other folks have cracked the code.  Sorry!

[CruzinMel]

Excursions, or, Things We Did:

As I said before, I was very, very lazy with my excursions.  Usually I've scrounged through the Dailies and reviews, and I know what I want to do down to the minute.  I could not be bothered this time; life was hard enough without overplanning (for once.  I usually love overplanning.)

• Cozumel:  Well. . . this is an important tip that in 8-odd cruises, I never got.  LOOK AT THE MEETING TIME ON YOUR TICKETS.  Don't look in the app, and don't "eyeball" it.  Otherwise, you too will wake up the day after NYE, expecting to go cook and eat fun food, and show up 30 minutes late for your excursion and MISS IT ENTIRELY.  (This is after, mind you, I groveled for it on embarkation day.)  I was stupid.  The app said the meeting time was 9:30; the tickets said 9:15.  We showed up at 9:45.  Also, remember that it takes a while to get off the ship and walk down most piers.  I forgot that Cozumel has a long pier, and since I partied a little too hearty the night before, I could not bestir myself to leave earlier or walk faster.  I was very disappointed, but it was my own dang fault and there was no one else to blame.
• Important note on money:  We didn't get a refund, and we couldn't just go to the resort and join the excursion (I asked) because they did the head count on the bus, and we weren't on it, so we didn't get counted for the tour.  I asked if we could get a refund, and the tour manager told me it depended on what he ended up having to pay the tour operator at the end of the day - ?  Whatevs.  I paid about $179 for both of us, and we got a $100 credit back, and that was that.  We ended up ahead because we got a $60/each credit when the ship missed GSC, but such was the peril of missing the excursion.  Norwegian generally says that you need to cancel excursions 24 hours before departure to get a refund, so I was happy with my credit.
• Cayman Islands:  Well, after *that* debacle, DH took over our time management.  We did "Discover Cayman", and it was a very enjoyable trip.  GeorgeTown is a tender port, and one of the reasons I wanted to book an excursion was to avoid struggling for a tender time.  This excursion is one of the shortest, at 2.5 hours, which I felt left plenty of time to explore or Uber over to 7 Mile Beach if we wanted to afterward.  Our ticket time had us down in the Manhattan Room with a bunch of other passengers waiting for excursion tenders; they called us by groups, we loaded up, and marched out.  (They call tour #'s based on the last couple of digits printed on your ticket; this wasn't obvious to me at first.) There was LOTS of marching, once off the tenders, which surprised me, but the port area is rather large and we had to get out to a parking lot where we boarded very comfortable, air-conditioned buses (none of St Thomas' open-air jalopies here.) Our driver, Blake, was a charming, well-informed and personable gentleman - we enjoyed chatting with him.  He took us for a 15 minute stop in Hell, where I mailed postcards back home ("How the hell are ya?  Oh, you need postage?  Where the hell are you mailing this?")  Then there was a 15 minute stop at (gasp!) a rum distillery with a rocky beach and surf spray behind it - beautiful! - and then a good 45 minutes at the Turtle Farm, which was just enough if you didn't lallygag.  The rest was a driving tour around the 7 Mile Road, with narration - it was a nice taste of the island.  Back at the port, Someone didn't want to chance missing the tenders back to the ship, so we were back early and spent the last couple of hours sitting out on the Waterfront, enjoying the views and (me) reading.
• Ocho Rios, Jamaica:  GSC is always a crap shoot, although it's a fantastic beach day if you make it.  Escape had not made it to GSC since Thanksgiving, and I was taking no chances on missing a beach day, so I booked Bamboo Beach VIP for this port.  The tour is advertised as a 45 minute bus ride, then rum drinks, shots, and food served to you on a comfy lounger on a beach, with entertainment and music.  The bus ride there was more like an hour, but the seats were comfortable and our guide, Kerian, kept us amused with information about Jamaica.  The beach was short, but long and lovely - it's protected by a reef (with lifeguards to protect the reef from the visitors) and has really soft sand, but I enjoyed it.  Some of us walked on the rocks in the water, but I really think this beach needs water shoes.  The VIP guests get fed, although other guests do not, and the food is appetizers (fried shrimp, mahi mahi) and a Jamaican barbeque (jerk chicken, fried fish, rice, beets, cole slaw, fritter).  My favorite part is that before we arrived, Kerian asked everybody about dietary issues, and my meal was adjusted so that I got nothing fried or cooked with flour.  I'm told I missed out on some really good fish and bread pudding for dessert, but frankly, I was stuffed.  I never left my chair - Kerian or one of the other servers brought everything to us and cleaned up afterward.  I skipped the shot making, although it sounded fun, and the dancing reminded me of being at the Texas Roadhouse (the servers all lined up and danced to 3 or 4 songs), but we would do this one again.
• On the way back, the trip was much longer - Jamaican traffic is no joke - and much funnier (see:  rum drinks).  We stopped at a shopping area, and then got back to the port.  (That part is blurry, because:  rum drinks.)  Once on board, our balcony neighbor told us he was on the same tour, but his bus got stuck in traffic so bad that they ended up with a police escort back to the pier - Escape did, indeed, leave a little bit late but it was all eirie.
• Great Stirrup Cay:  at 7 am, our formerly unused in-room speakers came on so that the Captain could apologize because the operations folks would not let us go to GSC.  Those rats!  It would be a sea day instead and we'd all be getting new Dailies.  We ended up getting a credit as well.  I wasn't surprised, exactly, but a little bummed, and there's nothing like being awoken by an authoritative and pleasant Nordic accent booming out just above your right ear.  By that point, DH had exhausted his enthusiasm for Crown Royal (shocking!) and I had exhausted my enthusiasm for crowds, so we spent the day on the balcony and I finished book #2.  We packed up, bought our photos, picked up a new t shirt for me because I under packed (who DOES that?), and rested up for the sad ride home.

Activities?  Well, . . . 

• I love Choir of Man.  The end.
• Magician TJ Tana was enjoyable, although we only caught 1 show.
• The Levity comedians were big fun and we laughed like loons (although there was a Code Alpha called in the middle of it, which was a first - the performer initially didn't know what to do, and then wove it into his act, so we laughed about it while feeling guilty because someone was hurt, but he was funny. . . well, comedy.)
• Supper Club - I kept forgetting, and our meals were booked.  You don't have to eat the meal to see the show, though.
• Although I promised myself we'd do Howl and play game shows and Bamboozled, and I'd drag DH to the Prom (no need to do the Rumours show, because we saw that last year and I'm not THAT much into Fleetwood Mac). . . except for NYE we could not keep our eyes open much past 9:30 and we missed most of the late night fun.  Sigh.
• Football watching and Hockey watching at the bar outside O'Sheehan's is fun.
• Gambling - DH never felt drawn much to the tables, but I blew $40 on that dang thing you put the coins in and try to get other coins to fall out of so you have more coins. . . after losing $100 in 25 seconds to a slot machine, I am no longer allowed to gamble with real money and I am ok with that.
• Trivia - I suck at trivia, and it's still fun.  There's also sudoku in the mornings, which I also suck at.  I apologize to the ladies I met aft and convinced that the Movie Trivia on the last night was the funniest thing they would ever see - it was funny, but not that funny, and I can only claim I was hammered last  year and that made it funnier.  This was also Assistant Cruise Director Jeff's last one, because he's getting his own ship, but he does the best striptease ever.

A cruise is what you make it, y'all.  I'm not quite sure why two sets of random strangers chose to tell us how horrible their cruise was, how cold the food was, how terrible Norwegian was, etc.  That wasn't our experience, and I can't wait to do it again!!  Fair seas and safe winds to you all!

[CruisingSince1982]

On 1/7/2024 at 1:41 PM, CruzinMel said:

Picking up where I left off - here's every possible detail about the cabin:  #8720, Club Balcony Suite, Deck 8 Forward. 

 

•   There is a smoking area somewhere near this balcony.  

 

I thought the smoking section was port side? 

[CruzinMel]

3 hours ago, CruisingSince1982 said:

 

I thought the smoking section was port side? 

One of the other posters told us - it was probably from a crew lounge at the forward part of the ship.  It was never terrible - I just noticed it.  

[CruzinMel]

A few pics, and then I'm done!  

[Seas2mountains]

Thank you for your review!  I loved reading your past live reviews. Sorry about your missed excursion.  Sounds like you had a wonderful time! 

[CruzinMel]

16 hours ago, Seas2mountains said:

Thank you for your review!  I loved reading your past live reviews. Sorry about your missed excursion.  Sounds like you had a wonderful time! 

We did, and thank you!!  I'm looking forward to learning a new ship - I love Escape, but I think 3 trips on her are enough.  She really has the best crew, though.

[CruzinMel]

I forgot to mention. . . 

 

. . . one thing that I won't do again is the Wine tasting that you pay for.  (Thanks to very good planning and a little luck, we got triple Latitudes points on this one and made Platinum, so Wines Around the World, here we come!)

 

I've been wanting to do one of the wine tastings (I don't like whisky enough for those), and for some reason, I never could figure out HOW.  Well, here's how:  make the reservation in Headliners when you go to get your dining sorted out.  There was a crew member with a table at the back of Headliners, where you could reserve a spot at the experiences.  There is a small chance that you can show up and get in, but at the one we attended, no luck - it was full.

We did wine and cheese, and . . . meh.  Our card wasn't charged until we actually got there, so that was good.  The Cellar was packed full, and each setting had 4 glasses with maybe a swallow or two of wine, and 4 tiny bites of cheese.  Now, I'm here to tell you, a Pouilly-Fuisse with a bite of Gruyere was indeed a revelation, and unlike some of the other folks, I enjoyed the Ice wine (they thought it was like drinking sugar.)  An actual sommelier led the experience, and he started out a wee bit snooty but warmed up as it went on. . . but it was over in 20 minutes.  Maybe it lasted 22 minutes, so we paid $1 a minute for 4 swallows of wine and 2 bites of cheese.  For me, not worth it.  YMMV.

What was big fun was my first ever Bachata dance lesson.  Yeah, I looked stupid, and no, DH refused to participate, so I ended up partnered with a truly lovely lady (really - she had the most gorgeous blue eyes and white hair, and a sweet spirit to match.)  But it was fun (if hot) and I would totally do it again.  I just wish I'd looked like the couple next to me, who were clearly born to bachata.

I also forgot to tell you about Disembarkation.  After surviving the gauntlet of the parking deck in our very large truck, DH was determined that we would get out early.  How early?  HE WOKE ME UP AT 5 AM.  We were in the buffet when it opened at 6 (limited menu, but the omelet/egg station is hopping), and back in the room by 7, rolling our suitcases out to O'Sheehan's on Deck 7, where all the tables had been pushed back against the walls and rope lines set up for the exit.  
 

Honestly?  It was as easy as a Haven exit - we were on the interstate at 7:45, headed back to Georgia, and we were home by 2.  Folks I spoke with who left later got stuck in traffic jams getting out of the parking deck/terminal area, so despite it being a Very Long Day, DH made a good choice.

[cincicruisers]

On 1/9/2024 at 4:38 PM, eileeshb said:

I saw a salsa & salsa excursion listed for next week that also mentioned margaritas in the description. 

We did this excursion and it was fun.  You make several salsas and then everyone gets a lesson on doing the salsa.  After a few drinks everyone’s dancing got better.  

[CruzinMel]

On 1/12/2024 at 1:38 PM, cincicruisers said:

We did this excursion and it was fun.  You make several salsas and then everyone gets a lesson on doing the salsa.  After a few drinks everyone’s dancing got better.  

Ok, now I have to do that one!  Thanks°°

[FLcruisergrl]

On 1/7/2024 at 2:26 PM, CruzinMel said:

Dining, or, Things We Ate:

 

Norwegian does an amazing job for folks with celiac/gluten issues.  My card was already flagged because I did the Guest Special Needs form pre-cruise, but I was asked at every meal and the dining manager left me a message on embarkation day.  It's not their fault I got spoiled by Siva in the Haven last time and couldn't be bothered to reach out to him.  I visited the specialty restaurants and Manhattan room the night before we were to eat there, and I pre-ordered my meals.  (Siva did all that for me last year. . . sigh.)  I think I glutened myself once in the buffet, but that was my fault for eating breakfast sausage - everything I ate was great and I didn't have any issues. (I had no muesli this trip - sigh.  I love muesli.  Siva made me GF muesli last year, because the buffet muesli isn't GF. . . probably if I had eaten breakfast in Taste/Savor, I could have gotten it, but I was too lazy.)

 

We tend to have breakfast/lunch in the buffet unless I insist, and I wasn't in the mood to insist.  If we were on a longer cruise, I'd have gotten bored by the buffet eventually, but everything I had was tasty.

 

• The cream of cauliflower soup is an amazing, rich, velvety thing, and it's gluten free - I asked.  🙂
• The breakfast omelet line:  ugh.  That said, those are some good omelets!
• DH ate a hamburger patty at almost every meal.  The fries were always hot and tasty.  Norwegian always has an offering of Indian food at varying temperature levels, along with Chinese, sandwich makings, cheeses and fruits.  The breakfast potatoes are delish.
• There is prime rib in the buffet on embarkation night.  Coffee in the buffet is VERY STRONG and very hot.
• There is a dedicated gluten free toaster on one side, toward the back (I never remember port and starboard, but if you ask the crew they'll tell you.)  They have GF bread, english muffins and bagels.
• For the love of all that's holy, people, USE THE TONGS.  I saw one man nearly burn off his fingerprints by putting his toast in the toaster with his hands.  He thought it was funny.  It made me glad they keep the GF toaster behind the counter.

Dinners are usually in the specialty restaurants, unless we are in the Haven because that's the best specialty of all.  I like the MDRs fine, though - I've never had a bad meal on a cruise ship.  We never go to Teppanyaki - we can have that at home any time we like, and we don't like the noise at the chef's tables anyway.  So I can't tell you anything about Teppanyaki!  Same with Le Bistro - we've just never had stellar experiences there, probably because DH just orders steak everywhere he goes, and I'd already decided where we'd eat based on things we loved and things we'd never done.  They do amazing lamb, though, and I love their scallops in cauliflower veloute.

• Moderno - we love Moderno.  We think Moderno does a better job than Fogo de Chao, the Brazilian steakhouse chain near where we live.  The salad bar was huge and varied, the meat was flavorful and not overly salted, and Lord knows there was plenty of it.  I particularly was grateful for the gaucho who told me that the sausage is not GF, because I was about to chow down, and that made me quit eating sausage in the buffet, which made my stomach happier.  Similarly, our server made sure I knew which items on the buffet were not GF, so I could be safe.  We skipped dessert and had extra pineapple.
• Bayamo - we had never eaten at Bayamo before, so I booked that for NYE and I didn't pre-order because I already knew I wanted sea bass and the preparation didn't involve a sauce.  Sadly, it was our least favorite meal.  For apps, we had shrimp cocktail and delicious scallops on pork belly (I forgot to ask if the sauce was GF, so I stepped out in faith on that one and nothing happened.)  We skipped the salad/soup course.  My sea bass was the most perfect, delicious, tasty piece of fish I've had in my entire life.  I think DH had a filet?  The sides were unremarkable, except that the carrots were waved in the direction of the stove but spent no time on it.  We skipped dessert and had some cheese in the buffet, and that's all we will say about Bayamo.
• La Cucina - I pre-ordered this one, and had pasta e fagioli soup, and fettucine (or, GF spaghetti) alfredo con funghi (mushrooms) and my favorite simple dessert of all time, pannacotta.  DH had a filet and cheesecake.  I used to joke that La Cucina is Olive Garden at sea, but I'm wrong - it's delicious and was one of our favorite meals.  DH regretted not ordering a pizza.  Tip - last year, I asked if I could have the cheese bread from Moderno rather than the standard GF toast we get every time for meals.  I forgot to do that this year, but it's a good idea.
• Cagney's - we skipped it this time, because we were going to eat at the Manhattan Room and DH would order a Cagney's steak there, and also because I was determined to use our dining credit at. . .
• Food Republic - holy cow.  If you use your specialty dining credit there, each diner can order 4 items.  We only managed 7 between us, and were so stuffed that we couldn't finish all of those, either.  Plentiful, tasty, delicious food, and not crowded either.  There's sushi, but we aren't sushi lovers, so we stuck with meat on sticks (beef, chicken) and lamb lollipops (DH didn't like, I loved), then shrimp pad thai (gently spiced), a salad with ramen and steak (DH devoured), chicken in lettuce cups, and . . . I forgot the 7th, because it was something I couldn't eat.  Oops.  (OH - shrimp firecracker rolls - fried and wrapped in egg roll skins, so not for me.)  We skipped dessert because we were too full!  Each entree ranges from $15 to $21, so if we hadn't had the dining package it would have been a splurge.
• Manhattan Room - better than Bayamo, but probably because we had such good service.  Rather than pre-order, I stuck to the items marked GF on the menu, so I had a salad and pork loin on top of sweet potato mash with 3 asparagus spears.  It was ok - I make a mean pork loin myself, so I should have done something else.  There's no sense in eating things on vacation that you can do just as well at home - why go on vacation, otherwise?  DH had a ribeye from Cagney's with (of all things) fries, so steak frites?  The only MDR GF dessert was sorbet, which was good but not exciting.  I enjoyed dinner with music - that is a very nice touch.
• O'Sheehan's - we had O'Sheehan's twice, actually - once while watching football at the bar, we ordered apps, and then ate there the last night because I was camped out in the Atrium.  DH had a burger with fries (duh) and I had the Cuban pork bowl (their GF offering), and then the most marvelous dining manager ever, Siva Kamatchi, remembered us from last year and sent us a flourless chocolate cake to share for dessert.  (He is managing there - I didn't get a chance to ask why, but he is just as amazing as ever.)

Thanks to Norwegian, I gained 5 pounds, and DH gained 7.  I regret nothing.

Siva is an angel! He took such good care of us last year (my daughter has celiac), including visiting us at our specialty restaurants when we weren’t eating in the Haven. He has spoiled us for all others!