gambee

Fresh coconuts.

Prices are reasonable for a beach.

I went for a short walk as I always do.

That is Coral World Aquarium. I wish I made it there, but this day was super busy as it was. The people there seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Like I said, it is much smaller than Magens.

The chair rentals are average, I want to say $5 or $8. Can't remember exactly, I was too excited running around.

I love Coki beach, unlike my time in Mageens. Sure, it is smaller and it can get quite busy, but I love the fact that there are multiple vendors. Snorkeling is great, and the chairs get setup for you, there are no need for lines, or deposits and such. Plus there is no cost to enter the beach. You can also buy weed if you want, mom insisted she saw some people rolling one when she was getting food. I kept telling her it was most likely tobacco, she insisted otherwise :D. Not that I am endorsing that, my poison is gin, well at the moment. I move aorund.

Overall, the beach has a better feeling and more food options.

The beach was fabulous!

This is Sapphire beach, I think I will be going there next time. It looked really nice.

The really funny thing is that when we were arriving to sapphire, we saw our group leaving on an open air bus. They also stopped at Sapphire to drop people off. I am not sure what took them so long, because the entire wallet situation took like 20 minutes, and our driver drove quite slow.

This is in Coki.

That is actually our gang going up the stairs :D

We just kept swimming... Oh wait, I meant walking! LoL. Have I mentioned how excited I am to see the upcoming Dori movie? :D

And walked we did.

They loaded us onto a closed bus. This port is calm, and so much better than Nassau and other ports.

The bus was going to first stop at Sapphire beach, and then onto Coki beach. I was a bit upset that they did not put us on a direct bus, and we were already late as it was. But all that was for nothing, lol. The ride took 37 minutes from the port to coki, dropping people off at sapphire. And it costs $9 per person each way.

I was walking fast to make up for the time lost.

On the way there my mom said that she could not believe how calm I had stayed during the entire situation. I can have erratic moods at times, but in this situation, nothing would be fixed by getting mad. All I was thinking was to cancel all the cards, and move on with our vacation. Plus, there is no way I was going to ruin my mothers' vacation over some plastic, paper and leather. Yes, even the leather "Wallet" had emotional value to me (albeit not as much as grannies dollars), but that is another story. Life is too short to allow little inconveniences to destroy the short moments of happiness with our loved ones.

I will say one thing, it is a very long walk to the taxi area!

I love the art on this ship! I really do. Then again, it might be related to my adoration of anything related to the ocean. I think this is the first ship that NCL has actually nailed with the hull design. Thank you Harvey!

Although, I will say that I kind of also like Getaway, although not love.

I actually have some stingray sheet metal art in my bedroom. Got it from a fabulous sheet metal artist in Texas.

As we were all leaving to head out, I asked my mom “Where is my wallet?”. She just looked at me and said “I don’t know”. Here is the thing, she packed all her stuff for that day and my naturalization certificate. But I was the last one to take her iPad out of the safe, and when I did so, I did not see the wallet there. The safe was empty, so I left it open.

Mom said we have to go back, so we told the group that we would meet them in Coki. On the way there I was calm, but actively thinking about everything that I had in there to make sure I cancel everything if it was confirmed that the wallet was indeed missing. I told my mom, no worries, if it is lost, it is lost. There is nothing that we can do about it. It won’t ruin the vacation, we will still get off the ship and I will cancel everything from the beach.

When we got to the room, I looked at the safe and deep in the back corner was my wallet. Crisis averted!

I will be honest and say that the one thing that had me nearly in tears, was the fact that I always have two $2 bills that my grandmother gave me. I could replace everything on that wallet, but those bills I could not. Now I am going to take one out and keep it safely at home. Those bills are precious to me, they guarantee me that my grandmother is always close to me.

With the wallet in hand, we set out to find a taxi.

We met in the atrium.

Once we were all there we left the ship. This the very first time that I joined a group for a shore trip :)

I was quite excited about it. You all know me by now, and socializing is a constant struggle for me. But one that I am proud to be working on :)

I also took care of my pinky injury, and packed the medicine to bring with us. The last thing I wanted was to get it infected.

Mom once again went to get me some food from the buffet. Mom for the win!

Nice and healthy, I heard bacon is good for clearing arteries :D

We packed everything and we headed out to meet with the group. This time around we brought the iPad because it has At&t service and usually works on the island. We both have metro on our phones and the service is basically limited to phone calls. Last time we were here we did not bring the iPad and mom was going crazy without internet at the beach, LoL.

We met in the Atrium. Also Will was kind enough to get Paradise point tickets for all of us. It was so very nice of him. The one thing that I did not know was that he was planning to propose up there, I found that out much later, and I missed it :(

Looks like a nice sailboat, I wonder if they ever use it.

We just enjoyed the views for a little while. This was the first time we docked at havensight.

Are those ruins of a fort?

I took some of my stomach medicine to even it out a little bit.

That morning I decided to download iConcierge app. And it was perfect because the internet was much faster now that we had docked in St. Thomas. I really recommend this app to communicate with your group. The cost is $10 per device and it works like a charm. I basically got it to stay connected with the rest of the group, kind of wish that I had bought it earlier.

You can also check your schedule, and your account. Although your account might give you some erroneous information on the app. I recommend you stick to the one on the TV.

I guess this is also a good time to talk about our cabin steward. His name was John and he was very efficient and friendly. He might might have been a bit shy, but I can totally understand that. I also found out that they each have 14 rooms to take care off, that is a ridiculous amount of rooms! I can only imagine doing that work day and day out for 8 months.

Anyway, we went to the balcony and it immediately smelled like ganja. I am sure it was just a few balconies down, because the smell was pungent!

I tried looking for the culprit, but with no luck :D

If this place had access to the beach, I would be all over it! The just does not do it for me.

People lining up for their shore excursions.

Day 4

I'm obviously not the amazing Gambee but I can answer a few of the recent questions.

 

Mitsugirly, as far as the Waterfall Grotto, I see that it says children need supervision. But really, the only way to get there is to go into Spice H20, and Spice H20 is supposed to be kid free.

 

Ropes course, the only way you can bring a camera there is if you use a Go Pro. They won't allow phones, and sometimes if they notice a bulge in your pocket they will pat it down and ask if you have a phone or camera. They seem fairly strict. I brought a paperback book for reading while waiting in the long line. It was in the pocket of my cargo shorts. They said I had to give it to someone else.

 

As far as using the headband or chestband... I'm not sure how they work either. But I definitely saw a lady go onto the course with the go pro attached to her head. However, as soon as she got up to the platform, she detached it and was holding it in her hand. I'm not sure if the attendants who stand at the zip line said anything to her or not, I didn't stick around long enough to find out.

 

Tripleboom, that's where the ping pong tables are. They're not inside, they are technically outside in the open air on the deck. But that part of the deck is covered since it is near an entrance to the inside. The tables are not pushed side by side together like that during the day, they are separated. I imagine this picture was taken either early morning or late at night and the deck crew just push them together to make cleaning the floors easier.

Thank you for offering your point of view, additional information is always welcomed :)

Gambee thank you very much for taking the time to write such an amazing review and post all of your beautiful photos! My family was on the Escape for Spring Break in the beginning of April and absolutely loved it! This is bringing back all of the fun memories. :) Have you cruised the Getaway? We are considering if for next year and was curious how it compares to the Escape.

Glad I am helping you re-live your great vacation aboard the Escape. No, I have not been on the Getaway yet. But I definitely have it on my radar after this great experience.

My wife and I have an ongoing battle on the cruises that we take at the ping pong tables. I see these are inside right next to one another, but are they normally out on the deck during the day? Where are they typically located?

 

BTW, series is tied 1-1. I'm bringing my own paddle next time. :D

The tables are always there. I just noticed how close they are to each other, I wonder if you can spread them apart.

Gambee. I have been keeping up with your review on your blog (much easier without the comments :D) and have a few questions/comments.

 

On the first day you had said that you were back at H20 and noticed there were kids back there and they probably just wasn't monitoring it yet. The part with the waterfalls and the caves. Then you had posted a picture of the "rules" and on that it said that kids under 16 must be supervised and no children with diapers. So that would tell me that children are allowed back there?

 

The next thing I wanted to know about was how you managed to get the water slides shot. I know you said they allowed you to take your go-pro attached to your head. But I seen a picture of you on the water slide where you had your selfie stick? Did they allow those this time? What about just a camera? I know that they were pretty strict about the water slides on the Getaway and Breakaway...well especially on the drop slide: no cameras, no rings, no earrings, no breathing...well, just kidding about the last item, but they were terrible with these things. Is it different on the Escape?

 

 

 

You said they allowed you to take it on the ropes course too. Once again, the other ships wouldn't allow this (even on Carnival Breeze). So, just wondering if things had changed with the rules or is it only because you had it attached to your head? I don't own a go-pro (might have to invest in one), so I'm not sure how they work. Did you video record everything and then just use portions of that for your pictures? Or does it have a setting that will take a picture every so often? Or did you have to reach up to click it to take a picture (which somehow I doubt it since it showed both of your hands in some of the pictures).

 

 

I have to say, this is the COOLEST picture ever! I will have to try this some time.

 

 

I have a few more things I wanted to ask about, but I have to go to work. :p

 

Thanks for such a detailed and wonderful review...as always.

I really only noticed kids there on the first day, I think they are really strict about the area and keep under control. My wild guess is that they made a universal for all the ship and that is the one they placed over there. Sorry, I am sure you had hopes of bringing your little one back there. Plu, I think that is too shallow for her mermaid tail ;)

The drop slides are extremely strict, you can't have anything at all anywhere! Just your bathing suit and that is all. On the tube slide I had the GoPro with the monopod, it was no problem using on that one. I also saw some kids with a water resistant cell phone as well. I think the rules on that one are pretty lenient. I am not sure about the yellow slide, I never went on it.

For the rope course the camera has to be attached to your body, either by the chest harness or the head harness. I used the head harness as it has a better view since you can turn the head. No hand held cameras allowed. I never ever use the GoPro for video. I use my GoPro in a mode that takes a picture every 2 seconds, then i chose the ones that I like more. Granted, they are not A6000 quality, but they are very good as long as there is good sunlight.

If you liked that picture, just wait an see the pictures that I got at Coki Beach while snorkeling!

Whenever you have time ask away :)

Gambee, this is the first of your reviews which I have read and it is absolutely fantastic! Thanks so much for putting in the time and effort to make this happen. Sailing on Escape in August and your review has already proven to be a wealth of information.

 

Thanks again.

You're very welcome, I hope you continue to gather much more information as the cruise develops. Have a great time on your cruise and thank you for following and commenting :)

Your writing style is excellent! It is good to see different perspectives within the same sailing. I don't have to say that we were not impressed with Cagney's either, those oysters....

Can't wait to see how your cruise evolves. I have a feeling that at one point you crossed our very loud group :D

Your review is like my crack--I need more and can't get enough! You have definitely convinced me to get a Vibe pass. It looks heavenly! I could look back and find the answer, but I'm feeling muy perezoso. What time did you arrive at the port? I remember you met a friend who got you to the front.;) Any idea how early I should get there to be in the first group? Can't wait to hear about the ports. I have no idea what to do in any of the ports!

I got lucky. To be honest with you I would say get there around 9:30, that might do the trick.

What great decorations. On two different occasions we bought the birthday package where NCL decorates your cabin. NCL didn't do half of what they did for free in your cabin. Congratulations!

I actually thought of buying the package before the cruise, but the pictures did not look as promising. She was so happy with it, towel animals is one of the reasons why she enjoyed cruising so much :)

Thanks gambee for the quick reply but what shutter speed and ISO are you using.

I usually shoot on auto intelligent mode, I take on average 500 pics a day. At night the ISO ranges from 600 to 3200, but hovers the most around 800-1200 range. The shutter speed is almost always 1/60.

I am writing on my wife's screen name and enjoy your blog and especially your photos. I have a cannon EOS 7D and have a host of lenses that I use. One is an 18 - 55mm. The question that I have is that your restaurant photos to me look as if you did not use a flash so what settings did you use. Thanks in advance for your feed back.

 

Ben "The Magic Man."

At night I switch to a fixed 24mm F 1.8. Most of the food pictures are taken with the flash facing to the ceiling. That way they don't look washed out, but I still get the burst of light that I need to get a decent shot.

For drink pictures at night I use the same thing, flash facing to the roof. It is a really good thing that the flash of the A6000 is a popup flash and you can pretty much face it where ever you want it to. It also works wonders for portraits.

The ones from when I am just walking around at night are with no flash. Most of the time the lens just dips to around f 2, to absorb the most light as possible.

Hope that answers your question :)

Loving your review!! Can't wait til it's my turn in July :)

 

I actually have one of those paintings in my game room, they are really cool!

 

Very nice, I am sure I won't be able to afford an actual work of him. But I am looking into getting one of his prints :)

Have a great cruise!

Wow! You sure do know how to get folks excited! This review is making my trip seem all that further away!!

Glad you're enjoying it so far, much more coming your way :)

Gambee,

Sure hope the super service you've been touting holds up. You may have mentioned somewhere in the past 28 pages, but have you had a chance to talk with an NCL officer about how they are creating this new service model and quality?

David

I had the chance to chat with them at the Haven party, but that is just my kind of thing. I rather go and enjoy myself and the ship. I am sure it has to do with all the incentives that some of the crew was talking about.