Escape Inaugural, Hamburg to S-Hampton, photos, menus, & stuff, part 1&2

[Carnac767]

One thing we noticed at the outdoor venues on the Waterfront is the incredible number of ashtrays. It seemed the entire outdoor area of Deck 8 had been designated as smoking. This must have been only while we in German waters because the next day most of the ashtrays had disappeared. For a while, though, there was a lot of smoke, causing DW to demand that we move inside.

 

 

Interior part of Cagney's. Again, we didn't eat here but our Canadian friends did and pronounced it quite good.

 

 

She's looking good

 

 

Moderno's

[Carnac767]

Carnac, thank you, thank you, thank you for taking the time to review the Escape and post all of these luscious pictures!

You're welcome

[Carnac767]

 

Everybody needs a little Gelato

 

 

By now it was time for the 4:30 Life Boat drill. Our muster station was in the theater on Deck Seven forward. Anyone who has cruised knows this routine. The obligatory Safety of Life at Sea announcements are made, the ear-splitting safety alarm is sounded, and then a couple of crew members don a life jacket. Easy peasey. No life boat is involved, actually. We were done in plenty of time for the Roll Call Beer Drinking Drill and Sail Away Party at the Five O'Clock Somewhere Bar.

[Carnac767]

It's Five O'Clock in Hamburg and what better place to be than at Five O'Clock Somewhere on Deck 8, starboard side opposite La Cincina. Actually, I forgot that our Roll Call Party took place Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville on Deck 17. But we had to do a little more exploring on the way there.

 

Yes, it is

 

Another highly-anticipated restaurant on Escape. I'll be posting a picture of the menu board later on.

 

A peek inside Food Republic

 

Tobacco Road, starboard side, just aft of Five O'Clock Somewhere

 

[boopsahoy]

Great pictures! Thanks for posting:)

 

I have a question if you don't mind. In the Haven pictures, from the angle they were shot at it looked like just 12 loungers in the Haven-That's not correct is it?:eek:

[Carnac767]

Great pictures! Thanks for posting:)

 

I have a question if you don't mind. In the Haven pictures, from the angle they were shot at it looked like just 12 loungers in the Haven-That's not correct is it?:eek:

 

That's all there are around the pool (plus the four in the water) but keep in mind there will be many more up on the Haven Sun Deck. They just hadn't broken them out yet.

[mianmike]

Great stuff! Loving your review! Thanks for taking the time to do this.

[Carnac767]

Great stuff! Loving your review! Thanks for taking the time to do this.

 

 

Thanks. It might take me a while to finish, but I'll keep plugging away. The yard work will have wait.

[Carnac767]

The atrium, with its color shifting chandelier, as viewed from Deck 8

 

 

That's the entrance the Le Bistro on the left

 

Cellars Wine Bar interior. We had a Roll Call function here later in the cruise. Nice place.

 

 

Whoa, a mojito bar! We might just be fashionably late for the Sail Away gathering. Love me some mojitos.

 

 

 

Sugarcane's mojito menu. Decisions, decisons. Might just have to try everything. DW decided to start with the classic, while I chose the spicy passion.

[Carnac767]

Our newest Escape BFF

 

Mmmm, sweet, beautiful perfection

 

Yes, we truly are on vacation

[willise]

We pretty well lived at the mojito bar on the Getaway for two weeks with Clarence, the bartender :D

 

I hope they have the Pacific Ocean mojito - my wife fell in love with that one.

[Carnac767]

 

Good, all nice to confirm we are on the right ship

 

Gretel on cruise. We got her in Warnemunde on our NCL Dream cruise in 2007 and she's been our cruise companion ever since. She's happy to be back in her home country.

 

Pointing out the obvious

 

NCL after dark

 

Though I didn't take many photos, our Sail Away get-together was a lot of fun. We weren't actually sailing away, yet. That wasn't scheduled until 7:30. We had reservations for the ten o'clock production of "After Midnight," so after a few drinks with the Roll Call gang, we wandered about the ship just a bit more and headed back to our cabin to get ready for supper

[Carnac767]

 

 

Yes, there were people in the pool.

 

 

 

Notice the traffic signs in the lower left. On a ship this size, you need this. The ship is well marked and it's pretty easy to to navigate your way around

[Carnac767]

17126 is a handicap H5 cabin, two door down from ours. It was also vacant and left open, so we nipped in for a peek. The biggest difference between it and a regular H5 is the width of the cabin. It's easily twice as wide.

 

 

 

Large dining area, door to balcony on the right

 

 

[Carnac767]

There are multiple dining venues on the ship, and if we'd been on a longer cruise, we would tried as many as we could, but for just three days, we didn't see the need to venture any further than the Haven Restaurant. If the food is better at any other restaurant, it must be really, really good.

 

The starters, and to those of you who were worried about the shrimp cocktail, never fear. It's on the evening menu.

 

DW went with the shrimp cocktail, butter lettuce and pancetta salad, and sea bass. I chose the bouillabaisse and surf and turf. This was the same menu used every evening in the Haven restaurant.

 

Shrimp Cocktail. One shrimp has already been devoured. DW couldn't wait.

 

Bouillabaisse--delicious

 

Sea bass. Sarah says it some of the best she's ever had

 

Surf and turf. I can't find enough superlatives to describe how good this was. ON a few occasions on NCL, I've had lobster that was a bit tough. Not so tonight, it was done to perfection, tender and juicy. Likewise my filet was done perfectly, precisely seasoned, and tender enough to cut with a butter knife. Outstanding performance by the chefs this evening.

[Carnac767]

It's a cruise ship. Of course, there's dessert, and of course, I forgot to get pictures of the dessert menu. We didn't forget to order dessert, fortunately.

This was mine. I can't remember the exact name, maybe chocolate brownie bar, but whatever it was called, it was freaking awesome. Adrien, our server, offered to bring me another one because I raved so much about it. I was sorely tempted but decided not to be a glutton . . . yet.

 

DW's new favorite NCL dessert, a chocolate mousse concoction. She loved, loved, loved it.

[caseythegr]

Loving this review! Thank you for taking the time to do this. Does the * on the dinner menu mean it's an upcharge?

Laurie

[boopsahoy]

That's all there are around the pool (plus the four in the water) but keep in mind there will be many more up on the Haven Sun Deck. They just hadn't broken them out yet.

 

That makes much more sense! Thanks for answering :)

[Carnac767]

The ship had finally gotten underway as we were eating dessert. One might have thought there'd be some sort of celebration to commemorate Escape leaving on her first journey, but there was zip, nada, nil. The previous night the ship had done an overnight, taking out some travel agents and press flacks. There were fireworks for that but nothing for the paying customers. There were a lot of people lining the shore and some were firing off their own fireworks. A lot of folks on the shore had turned on the flashlight function of their smart phone and were waving that at us. When hundreds are doing it, it's a unique effect.

 

We met our cabin steward when we returned to the room after supper. He kept our cabin spotless, and of course, I can't remember his name. Not to worry, I'm sure DW wrote it down. She always does. Aha, she did. His name is Miller. Very personable and helpful. He also told us we were the first to ever stay in our particular cabin, so we have that going for us, which is good.

 

A babysitter for Gretel

 

 

I know some CCers love to see the FSDs.

 

 

Randomly out of place photo. This is a photo of some of the taps at the District Brewhouse. I meant to post it earlier, just to give the beer fans a idea of some of the featured beers. The bartender there told me they would be taking on a variety of different beers at each port call.

 

Oh, another catch-up item: The maitre 'd in the Haven Restaurant is Edgar. He's doing a fantastic job.

 

A few things we learned this evening were that we would be turning the clocks back, which I've already mentioned. You're always notified about time changes via a card left on your bed by your steward. We were also told that we had to meet at the concierge desk the following morning at eight to be escorted to the MDR to be processed through UK customs. What? Eight? That's about two hours before I'd planned to be up. We're still severely jet lagged. Well, we'll sleep when we get home. We also needed to get checked in for our one-nighter from Southampton. I checked with the Concierge Desk in the Haven and was told they'd take care of it the next night, but there was a notice in the Free Style Daily that said it needed to be done by noon the next day. The night concierge seemed confused, so I just went down to Guest Services on Desk 6 and they took care of it right away. We were issued new Haven key cards good through October 28th.

 

The entertainment this evening was a 1930s-era jazz production titled "After Midnight." First of all, a bit about the theater itself. It's on Deck Seven, forward. It's similar to the theaters on the Jewel Class, with a bar at the back, and two aisles. It's a bit bigger, obviously, and one thing that is missing are the balconies. That means there is no reserved balcony seating for the Haven guests. Instead, a few rows on the left side are roped off, manned by some of the concierge staff. Quite frankly, the balcony seats on the Jewels weren't great, but they did make it easy to sneak out of a show if you wanted. So here's Tip One for the Escape Theater: if you're not sure you'll like the show, get to the theater very early and pick a seat in the back along the aisle. Otherwise you'll be inconveniencing a whole bunch of people as you squash their feet forcing your way back to the aisle in the middle of a show. Definitely not cool.

 

Tip Two: There is bar service at your seat, but don't order a drink with less than ten minutes to show time. You'll never get it. Once the lights are dimmed, they are really dimmed, and the servers stop delivering your drinks. I had to retrieve my key card after the show because our drinks never arrived.

 

On to the show. The acoustics in the theater are excellent and the band for this performance was really talented, as were the performers. The theme was the Harlem's Cotton Club in the early 1930s and featured classic jazz from that era, as well as lots of dancing, mostly tap. That being said, I'm not much of a jazz fan. I was really missing that balcony, because I would have liked to sneak away. We stuck it out to the end. As I've said, the cast and their jazz band are great. The show was just too long for me. It lasted about an hour and twenty minutes. If you love jazz, you'll love this show.

 

We had to curtail our night-owl plans following the show, since we now had to get up early for customs. So we'll put Day One of this review to bed. To be continued.

[Carnac767]

Loving this review! Thank you for taking the time to do this. Does the * on the dinner menu mean it's an upcharge?

Laurie

There's no upcharge for anything in the Haven Restaurant. And I don't know if it's because they had a lot of food, but our servers kept offering us more and more food. When I said that the surf and turf was some of the best I'd ever had, I was asked, "would you like another one?"

[Carnac767]

Oh yeah, those asterisks on the menu don't refer to an upcharge. It's linked to a nanny-state warning about eating undercooked food, the standard thing required in all U.S. restaurants.

[OceanDreaming2]

 

I see this question come up all the time on the boards, so here's what you get in the Haven for shampoo, conditioner, and lotion.

 

 

Thank you for the review!

 

Is Bulgari the new Elemis? We were told on our last cruise, NCL would be switching brands.

[Sestar]

thank you for the awesome review. Great pics too.

[happy cruzin]

Walking the plank on the ropes course

Jimmy Buffett-themed restaurant on Deck 17 aft, starboard side, just prior to Spice H2O. I didn't eat here, so I can't review it. Well, I ate every meal but one in the Haven Restaurant.

 

Amen

 

 

 

I can't see the photos! :( Saw all of them on the first and third page - but now this is all I get for page 2. Are they available on photobucket??

Edited November 8, 2015 by happy cruzin

[happy cruzin]

Love your photos and the info you have provided! Do you happen to have a picture of the Haven breakfast menu??