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


firstmickey
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Because I learned so much from reading other reviews, I thought I'd also try writing one. Plus our trip was so amazing, that I don't want it to be over!

 

Who: Me (Donna), DH (Dan), and DS (Kevin age 20). My daughter didn't come with us on this vacation because she has a big girl job out in the real world now with limited vacation. She chose to go to an island with her boyfriend two weeks before our vacation. Since she wasn't going - we decided to take a cruise. She gets horribly seasick so we haven't been able to cruise as a family for several years. We've been on RCCL twice, Carnival twice, and Disney twice. Disney has been my favorite so far but we've only cruised on smaller ships on the other lines so I'd be willing to give RCCL a try again.

 

What: my birthday vacation. A little background - last year....we went to Aruba to celebrate my 50th birthday with extended family. The short version is...it was a disaster. We got robbed, had to move the places we stayed three times and I spent my birthday on a pullout couch. :) I wanted a do-over! Kevin found this cruise and I was a little skeptical of a big ship with a ton of people so Dan said we could splurge and book the Haven. We had started looking at Disney cruises also but the Haven cruise on the Escape was a little less than a verandah cabin on Disney. We booked an aft penthouse room 12306 with huge balcony and got all 4 upgrades (UPB, 3 Dining, Wifi, and off shore excursions). Seemed like a good deal to us.

 

Where: We left Pittsburgh airport Friday morning and stayed overnight in Miami the night before the cruise. When you are in PIT airport, you always wanna see Franco's butt not his face.....

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Because that means you are going somewhere fun - not coming back!! Sent this to my daughter via text because she chose vacation without mom this year...she was at work. :cool:

 

I wanted some beach time so we booked the Savoy in Miami South beach area. We didn't rent a car so we wanted somewhere we could walk around and get dinner. It was a beautiful throwback to glam 50's hotel. We really liked it there and the beach was wonderful.

 

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We called UBER for drive to the port the next morning. We arrived about 11:30am and walked right onto the ship and into the first Haven lounge waiting area where they took our pictures and our credit card and we moved right along to boarding. No time to even grab a cookie! (Kevin may have grabbed one). ;)

 

Geez, my pictures are so big. I'm loading them from Shutterfly. I'll have to find a way to make them smaller. Does it make them smaller from your phone on the app? I just type really fast on computer so I'd rather use that. Are they too annoying when they are that big?

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We boarded with our escort...

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and headed to the Haven lounge on Deck 17. They announced that we were welcome to eat at Margaritaville for free that day for lunch and we would receive 50% off Food Republic for dinner that night so we decided not to pass up either of those opportunities. They also said our rooms were ready so we headed aft to the port side to our cabin - 12306. It was the complete opposite side of the ship so I was happy to be able to get my steps in every day!

 

Our room and balcony were incredible. The bathroom was huge!

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After the room oohing and ahhing and sending the "you hate me, don't you" pictures to everyone I know... we headed to Margaritaville for lunch where I found my favorite drink..Tranquil Water. You can only get it there or the Five O'Clock Somewhere bar. We had also signed the waiver for Kevin to drink beer/wine once we hit open sea. We weren't there yet...so he might have had a sip or two or three of ours. Not that my innocent underage baby drinks when he's away at college or anything...right?

 

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I should also explain that we read all the LIVE trip reports plus reviews before going. Dan's screen name is PittPantherDan but he's never posted. He just reads the reviews and the boards. I've been a member since my earlier cruises but just haven't been on here since we haven't cruised in a while. We spent hours on our patio at night this summer laughing along with Doug, Yorkvillain, Rick, CamaCama, ShadowMeBoy and all of you who have written reports. We learned a lot and it made us so excited for our own NCL cruise!

 

After lunch, we explored around the ship a little....

 

SpiceH20 (Kev called it spice water)

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One of our new favorite places...The Grotto (Thanks Yorkvillain)

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Back to Explore the Haven Decks...

 

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It was pretty quiet in the Haven at this time. Dan had to go make a work phone call so Kev and I decided to take the Spa tour. Dan said he would buy me a thermal suite pass for my birthday so we wanted to check it out first.

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We toured the Spa and they really pour on the big sell for everything which really turns me off. I just wanted to see it all. It's a beautiful facility but I just didn't know if I would use it with everything else the boat had to offer. I decided to pass. Kevin and I were hysterical at the Snow room however....

 

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I can't imagine any circumstance in this world to make me go in that room. Live in Pittsburgh - snow all the time Dec-April. lol On vacation - no thanks!

 

Headed off to find Dan for Sailaway.

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Headed to main pool area for Sailaway with Tyler and the Gang. I've heard people make negative comments about Tyler but we loved him and Jackie and JoJo. (Note: JoJo's wife just had a baby so he was headed off the ship when we docked on the 12th for a vacation to go see his new baby).

 

 

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Didn't seem overly crowded to me...

 

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That night we went to dinner at Food Republic. The food was delicious and we loved it. Wanted to go back later in the cruise but we never made it.

 

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Ahi tuna but the best part of this was the tomatoes and sauce under it...I could have eaten two bowls of that alone:

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Before we went back to the room...Dan wanted to visit Doug's place! Kevin discovered Angry Orchard Hard Cider here. I don't remember what Dan had.....I had...I need to find my bed soon because I'm tired...

 

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The view when we got back:

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Our backyard:

 

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Embarkation day over....Steps walked today........16,712!

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Day 2 - Day at Sea....Meet and Greet.....Birthday Day!

 

Day 2 started with a nice arrival for me!

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Kevin was still sleeping so we headed to the Haven for breakfast. They have a really nice covered outside part of the restaurant where we ate breakfast most days.

 

Started with Mimosas

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The food and service were outstanding. They have a buffet area set up every morning inside with fresh fruit, little parfaits, yogurt, cheeses, lox, and every kind of pastry. It's self serve then you order off the menu. The omelets were really good and the Tahitian Vanilla French toast was awesome!

 

Our meet and greet was at 12 so we went to the Haven Sun Deck on 19 for a little bit.

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I liked the comfy big padded loungers but it would get really hot up there. It has a hot tub and an outdoor shower. It is right next to the Vibe so I'm not sure I'd ever get a Vibe pass if I had Haven. There weren't ever kids up top on the sun deck.

As many others have said...they are usually in the pool. I think the acoustics in the enclosed sun deck area (even when the roof is open) is part of the problem of why so many people complain about kids being there. Even if there are two kids - it's pretty loud. There would be kids in the pool but I didn't see any of the rude behaviors that I've seen in complaints on various threads. Honestly, most of the rude behavior I saw was the adults complaining about mundane things or without any situational awareness of who they were asking for something. People would stop the deck hands who were cleaning or setting up towels and ask them for drinks because they couldn't wait a few minutes for the waiter to come around. I always felt badly for the staff who would have to stop what they were doing to go get someone to put a little more vodka in some guy's drink. :rolleyes:

 

Sorry..back to the report...

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There would be kids in the pool but I didn't see any of the rude behaviors that I've seen in complaints on various threads.

What you saw (and didn't see) is the norm for the Haven and children. There are exceptions but most of the time, Haven kids are well behaved.

 

 

Who was you butler and room steward? (We had the same suite last year).

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Our meet and greet was in the District Brewhouse at 12pm. Thanks to Karen and Bryan for organizing. We had a pretty large turnout and many of the officers and staff attended. They served all of the different beers and the hard cider plus mini appetizers. Tyler greeted us and thanked us all for coming and participating in the boards. He said - not only are you all experts but also great writers.

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The Escape Hotel Director, Deepak Punia. He was an extremely nice guy and we had fun talking to him. I'd see him everywhere and he told me I was in charge of the weather and making it nice. He sent us chocolate covered strawberries after the Meet and Greet also.

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Our Executive Chef

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It was so nice to meet our fellow roll callers! We then had our slot pull which was very fun. We all lost a dollar and no big winnings but we had a great time.

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What you saw (and didn't see) is the norm for the Haven and children. There are exceptions but most of the time, Haven kids are well behaved.

 

 

Who was you butler and room steward? (We had the same suite last year).

 

Our room steward was Dennis - very nice guy and kept our room really clean. We didn't see much of him.

 

Our butler was officially Totteram but we later found out he was on medical so we had some rotating ones I think . Kevin met him once the day we arrived but Dan and I never met him. We went to dinner later in the week and when the people come around asking how everything was and how our butler was treating us...we said...we've not met him. He left us snacks but other than that - I couldn't tell you what he did. Well apparently, this got him in trouble (we didn't mean to!). It was an innocent comment but they went and called Leah, the concierge, who came running down to Cagneys to talk to us and told us that she called him out on it. We tried to tell her we weren't upset about it..we just hadn't seen him. The next morning, he missed us again so he came up to the Haven where we were having breakfast to meet us. I think this was Thursday. Well, I met him. Dan had left the table and missed him again. So the joke was that Dan didn't believe we had a butler. He was a nice guy and always left us snacks and treats. One day we left him a note with requests and he sent the snacks we requested. We just weren't in the room the times he was around. Still left him a tip, weren't unhappy with the service, just not sure what all he was supposed to do. I think it would have helped to meet him the first day so we could even get a tour of how to use the coffee maker, etc. (It was complicated) lol

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Forgot to say earlier that we originally had La Cuchina for dinner that night. Since we booked our cruise late, there wasn't alot of options when I went to choose dinners. We liked the Haven breakfast so much that we decided to eat dinner in the Haven that evening - plus there was a Captain's Cocktail party at 7pm that night in the Haven courtyard. I didn't know that Dan spoke to Maria, the maitre'd at the Haven, (LOVE HER) and told her we were coming back for dinner and it was my birthday.

 

We didn't stay long at the Captain's Cocktail party - they had champagne flutes and little appetizers. I loved listening to him speak in his Italian accent. Kev asked him who was driving the ship and he replied ...The Chef!

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Onto the Haven for dinner....it's beautiful. All done in shades of blues with gorgeous light fixtures...

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The Haven food and staff is amazing. We met our absolute favorite waiter, Paolo, this night and he took care of us every other time we came in. I can't say enough good things about him and about Maria. They literally helped make our cruise such a wonderful experience. Paolo's wife works in housekeeping on deck 12 and we went and met her one night also. They are leaving in Sept to go home to the Philippines then going on the Breakway in November. He told us to come find him there!

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Maria had a cake made for me and they all came and sang....

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They boxed it up and had our butler bring it to our stateroom and we ate it all week. The raspberry macaroon was yummy. I had to go buy a few more in Dolce during the week.

Edited by firstmickey
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Dan and I went to see the show, After Midnight. I thought the costumes and dancing were really good but was not a big fan of the show in general. I think I was just tired. Kev bailed on us to go explore around a little. He said he met a few people but I think it's difficult for kids 18-20 to meet people on the ship. They are in that too old for the kid club but not into the adult bar scene yet. He liked SpiceH2O during the day and met some people in the grotto.

 

 

Our friend greeted us when we returned...

 

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It was a great birthday at sea! Number of steps today: 10,102!

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Day 3 - Roatan.

 

Weather a little iffy as we go into port - a light rain.

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Began to clear up...

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Today's plan was a private tour with Rony's tour. Kevin found it on Trip Adviser as soon as we booked our cruise and of course, I checked it out here with all my CC friends and helpers! We knew we wanted to zipline and maybe snorkel but then decided to visit the monkeys and sloths after reading several reviews on here. Our guide was Sonia and she was fantastic! We felt very comfortable with her. When I booked the tour, Rony had asked me if we would mind bringing some school supplies for the kids in his town. He said the tour guide would take us to a school or orphanage to deliver them during the tour. We packed an old suitcase with notebooks, pens, and pencils. I also found some canvas drawstring bags in bright colors from Oriental Trading and some smiley face sqishy balls to add to the bags. We were able to make about 24 nice bags.

 

Tip for anyone planning to bring things like this off the ship - you have to go in the morning to guest services and fill out an off boarding form for the customs people. Then you need to go meet with the customs people (we met in LeBistro) and tell them/show them what you brought and where it was going. It's not difficult but luckily I asked in Guest Services early that morning. It was relatively painless and we then went back to the Haven to be escorted off the ship in the big elevator. I have to say..this was the one Haven perk that I enjoyed.

 

We were off the ship, met up with Sonia - a short walk from the pier and we were on our way. Thanks to the Roatan board and other reviews, we said we wanted to go to Daniel Johnsons then zipline on the other shore.

 

She drove us through Coxen Hole and showed us around the island. She was very knowledgeable.

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