Escape Review - Haven and Western Itinerary Cruise - Aug 5-12, 2017

We arrived at Daniel Johnson's and what's not to love about this sign??? :D

Honestly, this was one of my favorite things we did. The monkeys were hilarious...this one...bit Dan's ear! At one point, he had two of them on him

I was dying when this one reached down, opened the velcro on Kev's shorts and was digging around in there...

Beautiful macaws

and of course the sloths... this was granny

Kev's not too sure about this...

I think this one is making eyes at my honey...

Even a Steelers boat!

For some reason, I think Sonia misunderstood me about ziplining and we drove all the way over to Victor Bodden's zipline. He also has monkeys and birds but I didn't think he has sloths. (He does now someone there said). I'm glad we did ziplining there. The guys there were great. They were so fun and so funny. I was terrified. I hate heights. But I was taking one for the boys on excursions this day. (I'd be on a beach every day if I had my choice). They were all about adventure. It was packed but we didn't have to wait too long. There were about 12 different lines. I thought there would be three and done...uh no...it took a while. I loved it... I even did upside down. It was terrifying...lol.

Kev upside down:

Very fun...not sure I would do it again but am glad I did it once! There is a lot of tipping of all the guides when you are done and they also take your picture and will sell it to you for $20.00. We actually needed quite a bit of cash for this whole Roatan day. Most places only wanted cash plus tips everywhere.

Next, we were starving so Sonia took us for lunch to the West End.

Can't remember the name of the place but it was on the water and decent food. I had coconut shrimp.

We really didn't have time at that point to snorkel or hit the beach because we still wanted to drop off our school supplies.

Sonia asked us if we minded going to an area called Bay Flowers to deliver the supplies to the school kids there. She said that someone had recently brought items to Rony's town and this other school never really received anything. Of course we said yes.

Along the way...some houses

The school...

Sonia went in to talk to the teachers in the school and we first visited a class of younger kids. Kevin and I handed out the bags. Because we had more bags than kids, another teacher brought in some older kids. I have to say..this was an extremely rewarding experience for us. The teacher kept shaking my hand and he kept saying...come back any time. This means so much to us.

I'll let the pictures speak for themselves...

Sonia asked us if we were giving the suitcase away too and we gave it to her. Apparently, she has 8 kids and several grandkids and raised them all on her own. We also had an extra bag to give to her granddaughter.

Overall, we didn't see the pretty beachy resort side of Roatan but we felt like we got a feel for the people and the culture there. I don't know that we would have had that aspect of it without the private tour so I'm really glad we did it.

Heading back to the ship...

Saying good bye to Sonia...

Back in our suite...some yummy snacks awaited...

Good bye to Roatan...

Loving your review!!!

Dinner that night was in the Haven again....where I met one of the best things I ever ate...shrimp porcini risotto...an appetizer...could have been a meal...I'm not kidding..I may have swooned when eating it. Risotto cooked perfectly and finished with truffle oil. Yum!

Dessert was my second favorite thing here...warm pear ginger crumble...with lemon sorbet and honey...I got this several times over the week.

Kev's chocolate cake:

That night..I had too much adventure and headed to bed. Dan and Kevin went to Howl at the Moon and to O'Sheehans to play darts. Apparently they also had wings there. I have no idea how they could eat one more bite of food.

Back in our cabin...

and dear God...more snacks!!!!

Total steps today....14,052!!!

Loving your review!!!

Thanks! :)

I'd like to do more but we are two episodes of Game of Thrones behind and I'm being called now to go watch one. :')

I am glad that the GOT season will be over before we cruise in September. Winter is coming.

Thanks! :)

 

I'd like to do more but we are two episodes of Game of Thrones behind and I'm being called now to go watch one. :')

I'm loving your review. Can't wait for the next installment. We're on her next week (But not in the Haven), and this gives us a great preview. Keep it coming!

BTW - do you have to have your pix on an external storage site in order to imbed them in your review like you are? I've never quite been able to figure that out.

Donna, loving your review so far. We are also from the ‘Burg (only 5 mins from the airport) and will be sailing the Escape in 31 days to celebrate our 16th Anniversary. We can wait. We are in 12908 which is also an aft balcony cabin just not Haven.

As many times as we’ve seen Franco’s statue, I’ve never thought about his butt making us happy but you are so right!! Lol

Last time we were in Roatan we also did Rony’s tour. His mom was our guide and it was fabulous.

Looking forward to the rest of the review! Thanks again for taking the time to write it! Happy belated birthday, too!

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I am glad that the GOT season will be over before we cruise in September. Winter is coming.

Love GOT and this season!! Donna- I'm in education and think you are so amazing to donate those school supplies. What a wonderful thing to do! God bless you.

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I'm loving your review. Can't wait for the next installment. We're on her next week (But not in the Haven), and this gives us a great preview. Keep it coming!

BTW - do you have to have your pix on an external storage site in order to imbed them in your review like you are? I've never quite been able to figure that out.

I use Shutterfly. I like it because I make a lot of photo albums. I found a thread in the general information board about how to load pictures. Basically, you open it, right click and paste. Very easy.

Donna, loving your review so far. We are also from the ‘Burg (only 5 mins from the airport) and will be sailing the Escape in 31 days to celebrate our 16th Anniversary. We can wait. We are in 12908 which is also an aft balcony cabin just not Haven.

 

As many times as we’ve seen Franco’s statue, I’ve never thought about his butt making us happy but you are so right!! Lol

 

Last time we were in Roatan we also did Rony’s tour. His mom was our guide and it was fabulous.

 

Looking forward to the rest of the review! Thanks again for taking the time to write it! Happy belated birthday, too!

 

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Thank you! I work near the airport and we live north of Pittsburgh. Happy Anniversary! My 25th anniversary is in September and I tried to get Dan to switch to another cruise...lol but we have a small Disney trip planned (my first vacation love).

I hope you have a wonderful cruise!

Love GOT and this season!! Donna- I'm in education and think you are so amazing to donate those school supplies. What a wonderful thing to do! God bless you.

 

 

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Thank you. What a nice thing to say. To be honest, I had tremendous guilt getting back to our cabin and seeing the snacks and being in Haven. It changes your perspective to see how others live and realize how fortunate you are just by your birth location alone. I was glad my son had the opportunity to see and appreciate how lucky he is.

Thanks for the review. Enjoying it!

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Love this review. So informative! We are splurging on a Haven Suite on the same floor , just forward vs aft next Summer. Did you find 12th floor to be out of the way or too far of a distance from Haven area? Will travel with DH and DS (16) and they will be happy about the steps as they are avid counters. Also, how did your son find sleeping on the couch/bed in the living room? That is where mine will end up too.

Keep the great writing coming!

I'm loving your review! My first love is Disney too, and we'll be going on our first NCL cruise in November. We cruised 3 times when our kids were younger (now they are in their early 20's and I'm a grandmother to 1!). This one will be a big family trip on the Escape, so I'm learning lots from all the reviews! Thank you for sharing!!

Love this review. So informative! We are splurging on a Haven Suite on the same floor , just forward vs aft next Summer. Did you find 12th floor to be out of the way or too far of a distance from Haven area? Will travel with DH and DS (16) and they will be happy about the steps as they are avid counters. Also, how did your son find sleeping on the couch/bed in the living room? That is where mine will end up too.

 

Keep the great writing coming!

On 12 aft, it was pretty far from the Haven but we didn't mind. With you being in the forward, you can just take the forward elevators or stairs right up to 17. My son thought the bed was comfy but he wished it would stay made up because he likes go back and take a nap. :rolleyes:

The ship is so big that there are always a lot of steps. My count doesn't include the times I was in water so I'm sure it was higher. I started Weight Watchers in early spring and I gave up trying to stick to the food plan but only gained 2 lbs due to all the steps and exercise every day! It's also hard to not have internet (we had limited) to count everything.

I'm loving your review! My first love is Disney too, and we'll be going on our first NCL cruise in November. We cruised 3 times when our kids were younger (now they are in their early 20's and I'm a grandmother to 1!). This one will be a big family trip on the Escape, so I'm learning lots from all the reviews! Thank you for sharing!!

I think this would be a great ship for a big family event! Have a wonderful time. :)

Day 4 - Good Morning Fake Belize!

I'm an early riser....so here are some morning balcony pictures..

I loved watching the wake...

When we were first looking for a cruise, I had one on RCCL picked out leaving San Juan and doing the Eastern Itinerary. We've done Western and Cozumel, Nassau, etc...several times and I wanted the other one. Kevin pushed hard to go on the Escape because he liked the ship activities. The one thing that won me over to this cruise was Belize on the itinerary. Belize was (and still is) on my bucket list. It wasn't until weeks AFTER we booked that I found out that Harves Caye was the NCL private island. It's probably a good thing I didn't know that before because I wouldn't have experienced the Escape then. lol I read all of the reviews and thought - Ok, really? How bad can it be? A walkoff island with beach and pool. At the very least, you can have a nice pool day. I've also been to Labadee and to Castaway Cay. I understand people being upset about not having drink and food included but we went with that expectation and our Yeti cups.

Real Belize in the distance...

Dan had some things going on at work causing him a great deal of distress so he had to make some phone calls and be on email this morning and Kevin was asleep so I headed up to Garden Cafe to grab something to eat and walked onto the island myself. They said they would find me. I walked off about 8:20am and at that time there were plenty of chairs everywhere. I heard people hurrying to rent a beach clamshell and I went to look at those. They were all the way at the back of the beach with rows and rows and rows of chairs in front. The chairs were SOOOO close together that I decided to grab a spot near the pool.

I just don't like feeling closed in and this was too much togetherness for me! This spot was to the right of the pool by the swim up bar and right at the entrance to the beach. Close to the restrooms and food also.

My view:

You can see..at 8:30 it was still pretty empty. An hour later...a much different story! The boys finally found me around 9:45 so I had a nice hour reading and enjoying some peace and quiet. By the time they got to the island, the beach and pool were packed. Every single chair gone. People started asking if they could put their stuff behind our chairs which I didn't mind but if you're looking for quiet and relaxation..this probably wasn't the place. The pool was beautiful and had a nice ledge around it to sit but eventually you couldn't find a place to sit or stand. It was sooooo crowded. It became a people watching activity! lol

Overall, it was a beautiful place - just too many people. We went back to the ship at 12:30 for lunch and to try the slides.

Some pics.....

Early morning beach..

Fake Belize...

Honestly, I didn't think the walk back was that long and they have a tram so if you wanted to go back to the ship to each lunch and then return to the island, I don't think it would be bad. I just don't know if you'd get a chair or spot when you returned.

Final thoughts on Harvest Caye....beautiful place. The beach was a little rocky and the water wasn't very clear but that might have been the storm that passed through the night before we arrived. Go early to claim your spot and swim. Try to choose an out of the way spot. If you go late, find a place to put your stuff and head to the pool to claim a space. If you have the money for a pool cabana, that might be a nice option. One of our fellow cruisers wrote about her experience with the cabana and it sounded nice. It was hot once the sun came out and finding some water to cool off was tricky around noon. I tried really hard not to compare it to Castway Cay but well.....that's the definition of paradise to me so it was difficult. Last time I sailed on Disney, we weren't able to dock on CC due to weather (and I'm still BITTER..and need a do-over..lol).

Back on the ship, we went to the outside deck of the Haven for lunch which was yummy but other than the amazing carrot cake - I can't remember what we ate. Dan had to go check on some work things so Kevin and I did the slides. Found a chair no problem at the main pool and enjoyed the empty ship. I loved the tube slide but when I heard the other slide did a countdown 3-2-1 then the floor fell out...I was like...uh no. The terror I would experience when they said 3 would not be worth the fun. I liked the tube slide! Dan found us and they did the drop slides a few times. The two of them did the ropes course and I read by the pool and chatted with a few people. I found people to be so friendly on the ship especially at the main pool. I met a lot of people and then would see them all over. We also frequently saw our meet and greet people (hi Mark and Marian).

Next up...Cagney's for dinner.

Your family sounds a lot like mine! I'm up about 2 hrs before the other 2 usually. I get some great sunrise pic from the decks. I will relax and read until they get up then its family time!