Keith.W Posted October 29, 2015 #101 Share Posted October 29, 2015 Great review, look forward to the big review :) really enjoyed meeting you guys :) Just home today and already looking at the escape for late May early June Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kikki21 Posted October 29, 2015 Author #102 Share Posted October 29, 2015 Great review, look forward to the big review :) really enjoyed meeting you guys :) Just home today and already looking at the escape for late May early June Hehe Keith you addict! I dont blame you though - we really enjoyed the Escape - we are going to stick with our booking for Celebrity's Reflection for Miami in April next year but it gives us an option to go for the Escape in the future as I LOVE Miami!!! :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare fabnfortysomething Posted October 29, 2015 #103 Share Posted October 29, 2015 Hi loved meeting up with you 2 got off Escape this morning and a torturous 5 hour train journey home will be doing our own review soon to relive our really fun cruise Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kikki21 Posted October 29, 2015 Author #104 Share Posted October 29, 2015 Hi loved meeting up with you 2 got off Escape this morning and a torturous 5 hour train journey home will be doing our own review soon to relive our really fun cruise Aww loved meeting you both as well! :) Our train journey home took about 3 and a bit hours so don't envy you those extra hours but at least you had another day and night on the Escape to make up for it!!! :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare aubreyc1988 Posted October 29, 2015 #105 Share Posted October 29, 2015 Did you get a chance to tour the Vibe? Thoughts? Do you remember the hours of operation? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kikki21 Posted October 29, 2015 Author #106 Share Posted October 29, 2015 (edited) The first part of the review always takes a long while to set up as a/ I am editing my photos then b/ I add them to my personal Facebook page and then c/ I add them to Photobucket to share them onto here - which is why it takes so long! We had to get up at an ungodly hour for me - 3.20AM - so that we could taxi to the airport for 4.30am - we wanted to be there early so that we could shop a bit for toiletries after the fiasco of last time where I ended up throwing away quite a few toiletries as they refused to accept a slightly larger see through bag for them! I now aim to get them at the airport - however RANT ALERT! The Superdrug store at East Midlands Airport has really tiny aisles that everyone wants to get down with their carry on luggage and can't because they are TOO small and this is a newly designed area of the airport - maybe it was designed for extra small people but it's just basically not good!!! The Duty Free area has large aisles - hmmmmm!!!! Yeah I got some items from there too - and with that we were almost ready to board our flight to Berlin. East Midlands Airport now has extra gates added = 17 to 23 and yes we were at gate 23, the furthest away, up at stupid o clock and already walking a marathon!!! We always use priority boarding on Ryanair and reserve our seats - handy travel tip! And with that, we were off and after a pleasant flight, we were soon descending over the cities of Brandenburg and Potsdam.... Pretty lakeland living near Berlin.... Final approach to Schonefeld Airport in Berlin Edited October 29, 2015 by kikki21 Photo format Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kikki21 Posted October 29, 2015 Author #107 Share Posted October 29, 2015 As we wanted to maximise our time in Berlin, we decided to take a taxi from the airport - it cost 38 Euros to get into Berlin City Centre - the airport at Schonefeld is about 40 mins away and there was quite a bit of traffic on the roads plus roadworks - the taxi driver drove fast!!!;) I had booked a hotel near enough in the centre of Berlin in the Potsdammer Platz area as it was central to all the sights we could see in 1 day and by a happy accident, the hotel has a 2 star Michelin hotel right inside it - oh dear -we would just have to try it out! We like all sorts of different foods and we do like all sorts of different restaurants, they don't have to have a Michelin star but if they do then we will treat ourselves! More on that later! I totally recommend the Mandala Hotel in Berlin - the service was excellent! We couldn't check in as it was 10.15am as it was a bit early but they took Martin's phone number and said they would ring when our room was ready, in the meantime, they would store our bags and we could start our visit! The hotel is just across the road from the Sony Center which we didn't get to see! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kikki21 Posted October 29, 2015 Author #108 Share Posted October 29, 2015 By doing my research, I discovered that there was a viewing platform very near to our hotel - it was actually near enough on the doorstep! We like stuff like this and it's even better on a lovely, sunny day - the attraction is called Panorama Punkt and it claims to have the fastest lift in Europe to take you up 24 floors to the top - where there is a 2 storey viewing platform and a cafe. The building itself seems to have copied design ideas from the Rockefeller Centre in New York, the look inside and out was very similar. The green area to the right of the photo is the Tiergarten, some of which contains the famous Berlin Zoo. The Holocaust Memorial The iconic Brandenburg Gate Views of East Berlin and the TV Tower Part of the Berlin Wall Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kikki21 Posted October 29, 2015 Author #109 Share Posted October 29, 2015 Did you get a chance to tour the Vibe? Thoughts? Do you remember the hours of operation? Thanks The Vibe area was still being finished off in Southampton and furniture put into place when we toured round. I do have some photos of that area. There seems to be a lot of places to enjoy the sun onboard the Escape although it looked a nice area, the conditions in the cold of Southampton meant that no-one was using that area but it looked good to chill out in the Caribbean. Can't remember the hours of operation! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kikki21 Posted October 29, 2015 Author #110 Share Posted October 29, 2015 Love locks attached to the wall. Panorama Punkt selfie! West Berlin views Modern buildings and greenery together! The long glass building in the middle of the photo is the Arkaden shopping mall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mianmike Posted October 30, 2015 #111 Share Posted October 30, 2015 Great review. Love the photos! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kikki21 Posted October 30, 2015 Author #112 Share Posted October 30, 2015 Great review. Love the photos! Thank you! [emoji4] there's a lot more to come! I was falling asleep editing/writing last night so had to call it a night!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kikki21 Posted October 30, 2015 Author #113 Share Posted October 30, 2015 Probably one of the most iconic buildings in Berlin is the TV Tower in East Berlin - we wouldn't have the time to visit on this occasion but it's lined up for next time! There is a restaurant at the top which revolves 360 - we love stuff like that! Love this photo! We decided to go into the cafe and have a bite to eat - we'd not really had time for breakfast and we shared a panini on the fight to Berlin, we needed our energy for all the walking round we would do today - we actually ended up walking over 7 miles today! :eek: Well once I had spied the Black Forest Gateau in the cafe - that was it - I was cut a monster slice lol! It looked heavy but in actual fact, it was very light and very tasty! Hubby had the roast vegetable quiche - which he enjoyed - we ended up sharing the quiche and the cake! This place is lovely for an early morning viewing or at sunset and they also serve alcohol too! After our early brunch and drinks, we decided to move on and explore more of Berlin. The brown office block is the building for Panorama Punkt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kikki21 Posted October 30, 2015 Author #114 Share Posted October 30, 2015 Great buildings all around Potsdammer Platz. We headed off in the direction for the Brandenburg Gate - admiring lots of buildings along the way. We had bought some souvenirs in a lovely gift shop - we collect mugs and fridge magnets of our travels when Martin got a phone call to say our room was ready! We decided to go back there & then, have a freshen up and continue our travels. I had booked the least expensive room type at the hotel, a City Studio! When we got to the hotel, they told us that they had already sent up our luggage to the room which was a nice touch - we also checked out that our reservation at Facil was ok for this evening and yes all in order! The bed part of the studio. Office area complete with iPad and dvd player, huge luggage store area, a kitchenette and a huge bathroom! Wow - we were impressed by the room! It was time to explore again, this time we decided to go across Leipzig St to get to Checkpoint Charlie, up Friedrich St, to Unter den Linden, then to the Brandenburg Gate and back down to our hotel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kikki21 Posted October 30, 2015 Author #115 Share Posted October 30, 2015 There were many impressive buildings plus museums and shops on this street. Another big shopping mall! We finally got to Checkpoint Charlie - we had been told there's not a lot there to see but it is of course a very historic place, there is a museum and exhibitions close by - we just wanted to see the actual spot. The actual Checkpoint Charlie with a McDonalds right behind it!!! We then walked back up Friedrich St which has a lot of the high end fashion shops on it plus a Galeries Lafeyette - we didn't go in there ( another next time!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kikki21 Posted October 30, 2015 Author #116 Share Posted October 30, 2015 Unter den Linden is another famous street in Berlin - it's a wide boulevard and there are cafes to one side of it.Plus some fancy cars! The Hotel Adlon is also very famous as a lot of Hollywood's A listers come to stay here when they are in Berlin - it is also the scene of the Michael Jackdon baby dangling incident. The Brandenburg Gate - a symbol of freedom when the Berlin Wall came down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kikki21 Posted October 30, 2015 Author #117 Share Posted October 30, 2015 We then visited the close by Holocaust Memorial - it is basically constructed of stones of all different heights and the ground is also at different levels to create a sense of the unknown. The TV tower again. Amazing structure! And with that - we walked back to our hotel to have a bit of rest and to get ready for our special dinner tonight at Facil! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NMLady Posted October 30, 2015 #118 Share Posted October 30, 2015 ... We had to get up at an ungodly hour for me - 3.20AM - so that we could taxi to the airport for 4.30am - we wanted to be there early so that we could shop a bit for toiletries after the fiasco of last time where I ended up throwing away quite a few toiletries as they refused to accept a slightly larger see through bag for them! I now aim to get them at the airport - ... The TSA is often really adamant about 3-1-1 which stands for 3 oz sizes or less in a ONE quart ziplock, one bag per person. I go online to http://www.minimus.biz and order from their travel size items. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kikki21 Posted October 30, 2015 Author #119 Share Posted October 30, 2015 The TSA is often really adamant about 3-1-1 which stands for 3 oz sizes or less in a ONE quart ziplock, one bag per person. I go online to http://www.minimus.biz and order from their travel size items. Flying from the UK you have to have liquids under 100ml - they have never been that tight in how much you can pack in the bag but the last time, they were so I took the bare minimum that I can get away with & I think with our next holiday will just buy them when we get there!!! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kikki21 Posted October 30, 2015 Author #120 Share Posted October 30, 2015 We do like our food & we are fortunate to eat out a few times a year at Michelin starred restaurants - to date we hadn't found a rival to our favourite Michelin starred restaurant - Nottingham's Sat Bains, so we were going to see what this chef, Michael Kempf could do! :) We could choose from either an a la carte or a tasting menu - we chose the tasting menu and we could choose either 4,5,6,7 or the full 8 courses - we went for 6! You don't have to have the same course so a bit of mixing goes on! :) We were also given a few complimentary dishes to start and then one of the best tasting dishes I've ever had arrived - the Caesar Salad was just amazing! I also had an unusual spicy curried pumpkin dish with some sweet elements, really enjoyed it! I wasn't a big fan of the beef dish - it tasted good but I just wasn't wowed by it, however the venison dish was excellent! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kikki21 Posted October 30, 2015 Author #121 Share Posted October 30, 2015 Dessert was also soooo delicious, flavours of carrot, blackberry and vanilla! The complimentary petit fois were all sooo tasty - we even got a cake which we couldn't eat so they got a box for it and we could take it back to the room. We put it in the fridge........ And yep, we forgot all about it the next morning and it stayed in the fridge, hope someone ate it. Gutted!!! We concluded that it was an excellent meal - despite not being wowed by the beef dish, everything else along with the service was top notch AND that the chef was a match for Sat Bains! It was a very long meal - we were booked in for 7.30pm and I don't think we left till 10.30pm or so! It had been a very long but great day - we were ready to sleep and get another day closer to the Escape! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kikki21 Posted October 30, 2015 Author #122 Share Posted October 30, 2015 We woke up relatively early on the Saturday morning, got ourselves all packed and ready (minus the chocolate cake - sob! :mad:) and met up with my cousin Renata and her little daughter Jordin, nearly 3 who came to our hotel - it turned out that she only lives 10 minutes drive away from the hotel so that was handy. We decided to have breakfast at the one of the many cafes in the Arkaden shopping centre. My cousin also very kindly agreed to drive us to the main train station as it was close by and on her way home too! Result! She's lived in Berlin for 13 years now and she was very happy to have met up with us! The train was a little bit late (we thought everything ran on time in Germany!) but my cousin told us this was definitely an urban myth! She waited with us till we got on the train - it was a bit confusing which carriage we were in initially but we managed to find our seats and off to Hamburg we went - the journey took an hour and a half through pleasant countryside and wooded areas. We caught a taxi at the train station and it was a relatively short journey to our hotel in the St Pauli area - the Hotel East. It was also great that we were staying there as it was a short walk to the Hotel Hafen, which was the scene of our Cruise Critic pre cruise meeting! Back to the Hotel East - wow what a quirky hotel! I booked the standard room category! Huge bath/shower combo in the room! We decided to get ready and head out early and do a minor bit of exploring before meeting for drinks at the Tower Bat for 6pm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kikki21 Posted October 30, 2015 Author #123 Share Posted October 30, 2015 We decided to have a drink at the hotel first - they had a good choice of cocktails - I had a raspberry mojito! The hotel used to be a factory building - really converted stylishly into what it is now! This is the restaurant. Cheers! Part of the bar area - the place was packed when we returned from our meal later on - it was also quite noisy - we could hear some noise in our room! We walked across the Reeperbahn streets and came to the harbour front. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kikki21 Posted October 30, 2015 Author #124 Share Posted October 30, 2015 It really was a short walk to the Hafen Hotel - which actually was a huge building with lots of different places to eat and drink - it was a good job we decided to get to the Tower Bar early as it didn't open up till 6pm and there were people already queueing up the stairs! I'm not sure how many people in the Roll Call actually made it up there - there was lots of reserved seating and not too many staff serving! We managed to find another roll call member Coffee Goddess and settled down to drink a cocktail in the chaos! We spied a few more stunning bulldings while waiting around for the var to open - this one is the Concert House in Hamburg. More harbour front area We spied the dry dock area where the Escape had some final work done to her under the waterline. We managed to drink 1 cocktail and decided to get out of the Tower Bar as it was getting busier & noisier and find the Port restaurant and had an extremely pleasant/rowdy evening with our fellow Roll Callers - thank you so much for all of you who planned/organised this evening and all the other events - you all did a FANTASTIC job!!! :D For some reason, probably because I was talking too much ( I blame my husband for this as we shared a bottle of wine!) I just took pictures of the food - I'm not quite sure what we had - but it all tasted good! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kikki21 Posted October 30, 2015 Author #125 Share Posted October 30, 2015 I know this was steak and it tasted really good! The chef basically did a set menu and tailored it as to whether you wanted meat/fish or a vegetarian option! We were among the last people to leave the restaurant (too busy talking again!) and then we took a walk along the Reeperbahn spying some interesting places and an advert for our ship - yay nearly there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now