Our Fabulous "Escape" review w/lots of pics, information & dailies 12/12/15

[CruisinwithZ]

Thank you for your detailed review... We are sailing on escape at the end of March...all the prior negative reviews had me worried....your review alone is making me excited...!

[VegasChic]

Thanks for the great review and pictures. The food at Pinchos looks amazing! I wonder why it doesn't seem more popular. Do you think that the "small plate" concept at Food Republic overshadows it maybe?

 

Hi!! Thank you for the compliment and reading along! This is actually small plate also and I ate at food republic (which was always packed) but I actually liked Pincho better. On the last night of the cruise I ate at Pincho again and there was a lot more people eating there and we even saw one of the performers of After Midnight dining there as well so we spoke with him for a bit.

[VegasChic]

Pincho! Wow. That food looks amazing. I wasn't even considering this place until your review. Now I definitely have to go there.

 

Thanks for the great photos and review.

 

I'm glad I'm able to bring some love to Pincho it is well deserved. I would love to see it on more ships. I hope you enjoy it too:)!!

[VegasChic]

Enjoying your review and the pictures are great. Can't wait till my next cruise.

 

Awe thank you!! Most of the pictures are taken with my cell phone (Samsung Note Edge).

[VegasChic]

Thank you so much for your detailed review. Feb 6 will be my Family's first NCL cruise. We have previously sailed on Disney & Princess. My kids are 6, 8 & 10, so I appreciate hearing about the kids stuff! Your pictures are great!

 

Thanks for following along!! I've never tried Princess but have been tempted I just keep thinking I'll be bored. There are plenty family activities on-board and hopefully your family will have a great time!

[Warm-Water Diver]

Thank you for your detailed review... We are sailing on escape at the end of March...all the prior negative reviews had me worried....your review alone is making me excited...!

 

I just came off the same exact sailing. You will LOVE it. No worries at all:)

 

So many things to do and good places to eat.

 

Entertainment was awesome as well. One of our favorite NCL cruises

Edited January 3, 2016 by Warm-Water Diver

[VegasChic]

St. Thomas - Coki Beach How did u get there? Cost? Was it nice?

Tortola: Cane Garden Bay Beach (Beautiful!!!!) How did u get there? Details Please! We sail Feb 6th

 

St. Thomas - We took a taxi $9 pp and Yes it was nice but it was also very crowded! Will be getting to this tomorrow.

 

Tortola - We took a taxi bus $8 pp and it was gorgeous!!! Details coming:)....

[VegasChic]

Thanks so much for your Review!

 

Thanks for reading:)

[VegasChic]

Pincho looks amazing!! is it open on embarkation day for lunch?

 

thanks for your review, you are getting me really excited for my cruise on the escape.

 

Hi, it is not open for lunch on embarkation day only for dinner from 5:30-10:00pm.

 

Thank you for following, I hope you have a great cruise!!

[VegasChic]

Thank you for the wonderful review so far. I have 2 months to go before my Escape! So a few days waiting for more not gonna hurt. Haha

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

Thank you for your patience and following along:)

[SNJCruisers]

Great review so far....we are thinking of cruising with NCL for the first time on the Escape next January and your review is a nice counterbalance to many of the negative reviews that are online.

 

On post 83, you had a great picture of al fresco dining at La Cucina. Do any of the other specialty restaurants offer this?

 

Also, on your first dailies posting, it was mentioned that the Mandara Spa is 219 pp for the week, so it looks like your 394 for the two of you had a 10% discount. It's a shame you did not get more use out of it.

[VegasChic]

 

 

 

 

 

[VegasChic]

Day 4 was here and we were ready to have a fun day at the beach!! The weather was perfection and this is the view from our balcony....

 

 

We got dressed and packed up our beach bag with camera, sunscreen, bose portable speaker, book, towels, inflatable beach pillow, goggles and photo ID.

 

Grabbed a quick breakfast at the buffet and a few snacks and off the ship we went. We did a little shopping in the port area. Purchased some sun hats and Christmas ornaments. We've been to St. Thomas several times and decided to go somewhere we haven't been before so we grabbed a cab and headed to Coki Beach $9 pp each way. I think the ride was 15 minutes but we first stopped at Sapphire Beach to drop people off.

 

When we arrived I took a look and wanted to get back in the cab and go elsewhere which is what another couple did. I just decided to rough it out, it was very crowded more than I like for a relaxing day at the beach but the water was gorgeous! We got 3 loungers $5 each and had to put our flip flops and all our belongings on one of the loungers or the water would have dragged it all away.

 

 

 

We got a bucket of red stripes and I had some bbq wings (very yummy) and my hubby had conch fritters.

 

 

 

[R6bbie]

That was a good read so far, thanks!

25 days.....then my turn :)

 

Can't wait for the Tortola review.

[Jenjer]

Your review is fantastic your pictures are beautiful. Its so nice to have some positive info on Escape.

 

I had never really thought about Pichos until I read your review and saw the pictures of the food...Yum The Manchego ? cheese and apples looks so good

 

Thank You for taking your time and energy to share your cruise with us.

[VegasChic]

Fun at Coki Beach......

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We left around 3pm got back to the port walked around a little for some reason my data plan was not working (so upsetting!!) so I walked into a store behind my husband and they had free wifi I think it's called carnival bazaar. That worked great checked and replied to email and went back on the ship!

[LuCruise]

What great photos. Looks like you had a great day at Coki beach.

That is where we are considering going. Did you like it there? Was it too busy or was it manageable? And do you think it's still good if you are not snorkelling? (which it doesn't look like you did either). From the pictures I've seen, the waves seem perfect (slight wave but not strong) and it looks sooo beautiful. So would love to hear your thoughts.

[VegasChic]

Meant to post this picture not the double picture of my husband and daughter.....

 

 

We left around 3pm and got back to the port, walked around a little for some reason my data plan was not working (so upsetting!!) I get free data, roaming and calling in St. Thomas. So I walked into a store behind my husband and they had a sig advertising free wifi I think it's called carnival bazaar. Connected to it and it worked great!! Checked and replied to email and went back on the ship!

 

 

Forgot to mention that when we got off the cab at the port and started walking away, I heard an altercation between a cab driver and an elderly lady. He demanded that the woman pay him the cab fare and she just kept yelling "leave me alone" she threatened to hit him with her cane but he kept standing in front of her not letting her pass saying "pay me my money" then she started yelling "help, help." We finally left and not sure what the final outcome was but I was wondering who this woman was with and why was she alone handling this problem.

 

 

By the time I got back on the ship, it was like 5ish and our dinner reservations at Cagneys was at 6:15 the only time I could get. I knew it would be impossible to get there on time so I called and said we would be late. Part of the reason why I was late was because we were sitting on the balcony listening to my cruise playlist which includes songs from: Cobie Caillat, Steely Dan, The Rolling Stones, John Mayer, The Eagles, Natasha Bedingfield, Jason Mraz, Stevie Nicks, Maroon 5, Bruno Mars, The Doobie Brothers, Bob Marley, The Weekend, Ingrid Michaelson, The Lumineers, George Ezra, Norah Jones, Jack Johnson, Ambrosia and the list goes on and on.... we totally lost track of time with this gorgeous view and wine in hand!

 

 

We had a whole conversation about this Woman in the little boat.... where was she going??? Home after work? a dinner party? visiting a friend? going to see her lover?

 

[sunset785]

I think I need to book an Escape trip! Coki looks wonderful and we are actually headed there in July. How was the ride to Coki? How many ships were in port that day to be so crowded? Easy to catch a cab back?

[Kdiamond55]

Great review so far! I loved Pincho and Food Republic as well (how cool is it to order on an iPad?). I was on the Escape for a 3-day quickie in November with hubby (living in So Fla has its perks as you know!) and we're taking the kids in March for spring break.

 

Did you see Bong at the Sugarcane bar next to Pincho?

 

We also spent so much time in District Brew House and The Cellars. Both were great and barely ever had any people in them. Weird?

 

My son is turning 13 on the cruise so he has the option of staying in the last group of kids' club with his friends who are 12 or moving up to the teen club. I don't know what we'll do but it's good to know SA was good on the Escape.

 

Look forward to reading more!

[VegasChic]

We arrived at Cagney's at 6:45pm and it was fine they seated us right away. I love Cagney's it's my favorite restaurant of any of the cruise ship specialty restaurants we've been to.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The service was excellent and so was the food. We had a dining package of 4 restaurants and had already used up one at The Supper Club. With the dining plan we were able to order multiple appetizers, one entree and multiple sides plus dessert.

[VegasChic]

My daughter ordered the chicken tenders from the MDR kids menu (she loved it).

 

I ordered the most DELICIOUS slow-roasted pork belly with apple cider marinade and honey soy sauce. I was nice and shared with my husband.

 

 

Then, I indulged in this clever Beet and Goat Cheese Napoleon with truffle viniagrette (I wanted seconds, mmmmm soooo gooooood!!)

 

 

Up next, the lobster bisque....

 

 

My hubby ordered the chilled colossal shrimp trio with jack daniels sauce.....

 

 

He also got the beefsteak tomato salad...

 

 

Finally, the 18oz bone-in ribeye.....

 

 

[VegasChic]

Sides, truffle mashed potatoes, sauteed asparagus, roasted mushrooms and sauteed spinach....

 

 

seafood ready to be served, not ours ...

 

 

Dessert,

 

 

me - rasberry creme brulee .....

 

 

hubby - warm apple cardamon crisp...

 

 

expresso....

 

 

[VegasChic]

One more Cabernet please!! The Bar at Cagney's

 

 

 

Yes we made up for the day we didn't have dinner and it was worth the food coma! LOL!! After dinner, we walked around a little checkin out all the nightly action. The husband disappeared to the casino and my daughter and I decided to jump in on a game of Deal or No Deal the number of the contestant called to play was the ticket right before ours!! (so close!!)

 

 

After the game I got the hubby and we went to check out the 80's party, it was boring we were there only 5 minutes and left. I cannot remember if we did anything else but I don't think so!!

 

 

Day 4 is a wrap and now it's going by too quickly!

[VegasChic]

Day 4 Freestyle Daily....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Coming up on day 5:

 

Tortola - Cane Garden Bay

Lunch at O'Sheehans

The Cellar's Review with pictures

Dinner at Moderno

Casino - Craps & Poker