merleebird Posted April 2, 2016 #1 Share Posted April 2, 2016 Just got off the Escape and loved it. A few quick notes, mostly about food ;) Bong at Sugarcane is one of the best bartenders and people on that entire ship. If you're lucky enough to see him (he goes on vacation in 3 weeks) make sure to stop by! Food Republic was amazing food. Good price. Drinks not great. We were Haven but in an Aft Penthouse 11312. Aries, our butler, and Jeffrey were amazing. Absolutely zero complaints. Le Bistro was good. Not great, but good. Despite what others have said, we loved La Cucina. The spicy lobster meal was amazing. Cagney's was ok but the service was awful. The St. John's Champagne excursion was good but too short in my opinion. The Jost Van Dyke excursion was amazing and I love that beach. We swam with dolphins at Atlantis which was great but a warning to all that there is a good hour wait to get back on the boat through the port. Other notables: The Brat Pack show. The food was mortifying. And I don't mean that because we ate so well every other place that week. It was just awful. The show was ok but the crowd, just really didn't seem to get into it which was disappointing. The smoke factor of the casino, it was annoying but it wasn't overwhelming. My 10 year old daughter loved Splash Academy but my son hated it. The Thermal Spa was amazing and worth every penny! Complaints besides the food at Supper Club: The amount of kids (not teens, KIDS) running around the ship unsupervised. Constantly. I can understand the teens more but I just thought it was irresponsible and ridiculous. The picture people got really annoying. They would interrupt dinners to have you pose, then flashes when others did. It just really seemed unnecessary. The chair hogs in the Haven. Usually the same family every day. I feel like there should be a limit of 4 hours of use especially when there are so few chairs and half the time they weren't even using them. It was annoying. The port at Nassau. Really just ridiculous. A group of drunk college kids tried to cut the line after we'd been waiting over an hour and I'm pretty sure a riot was going to break out. We will be going back. Really loved it. Any questions! Fire away! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Keith1010 Posted April 2, 2016 #2 Share Posted April 2, 2016 Glad you had a nice experience. Thank you for the report/review. Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swingit069 Posted April 2, 2016 #3 Share Posted April 2, 2016 I saw your post about the aft haven penthouse on the Escape, and have a few questions. We are sailing on the Escape in June, and also have an aft haven penthouse. How was the balcony, and did the master bathroom face the deck, or was it inside (no ocean view)? Thanks ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare cml4958 Posted April 2, 2016 #4 Share Posted April 2, 2016 Thanks for the review! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merleebird Posted April 2, 2016 Author #5 Share Posted April 2, 2016 I saw your post about the aft haven penthouse on the Escape, and have a few questions. We are sailing on the Escape in June, and also have an aft haven penthouse. How was the balcony, and did the master bathroom face the deck, or was it inside (no ocean view)? Thanks ! Depends on the floor. 11 and I believe 14 have the bathtub and shower facing the ocean. The others have the master bedroom there. The balcony was amazing!! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sauer-kraut Posted April 2, 2016 #6 Share Posted April 2, 2016 Other notables: The Brat Pack show. The food was mortifying. And I don't mean that because we ate so well every other place that week. It was just awful. There are usually general complaints about the food for the dinner shows, easily remedied by going to dinner afterwards :) The Thermal Spa was amazing and worth every penny! Is a great place! The picture people got really annoying. They would interrupt dinners to have you pose, then flashes when others did. It just really seemed unnecessary. You'll find this on many other lines as well. We will be going back. Really loved it. Any questions! Glad you enjoyed your cruise Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kdj Posted April 2, 2016 #7 Share Posted April 2, 2016 Thank you for sharing your experience...my family of 4 will be staying in that exact room in 4 weeks. I'm so glad to hear you had a great experience with your butler (Arie, is it? )! Some people have excellent butler, others, aren't so lucky.... Did you have breakfast and dinner in your cabin very often? With the balcony, I think that is something we'd like to do.... Did you go to the comedy shows? I've heard that you don't have to have reservations or stand in the standby line if you're a Haven guest... Do you know if this is true? If so, do you just "march right up to the front door, show your card and they let you in?" Did you have chocolate covered strawberries brought to your room? Is there a charge for them? Any guidance you can give us on tipping the butler and conceirge? This is our first Haven experience and we want to do it "correctly"...thanks for your help Any tips/insights you can give me re: this room/ the butler, I'd be grateful for! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Two Wheels Only Posted April 2, 2016 #8 Share Posted April 2, 2016 (edited) I saw your post about the aft haven penthouse on the Escape, and have a few questions. We are sailing on the Escape in June, and also have an aft haven penthouse. How was the balcony, and did the master bathroom face the deck, or was it inside (no ocean view)?Thanks ! Decks 11 and 14 have the same configuration... [YOUTUBE]2lqepRe-XDc[/YOUTUBE] ...but the balcony on 11 is slightly larger than 14. (video is 14) Edited April 2, 2016 by Two Wheels Only Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CP3o Posted April 2, 2016 #9 Share Posted April 2, 2016 Thanks for your review. I'm new to NCL and had read brat pack free now so when signed up thought it was now just a show and not a dinner show so I'm confused. I've made reservations for it online but didn't notice food reference. How does brat pack show work? I'm hoping it's worth seeing. Thanks Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LrgPizza Posted April 2, 2016 #10 Share Posted April 2, 2016 Thanks for your review. I'm new to NCL and had read brat pack free now so when signed up thought it was now just a show and not a dinner show so I'm confused. I've made reservations for it online but didn't notice food reference. How does brat pack show work? I'm hoping it's worth seeing. Thanks No need to be confused. When the OP sailed it was still a dinner show. When you sail, it won't be. Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CP3o Posted April 2, 2016 #11 Share Posted April 2, 2016 Ok, thought it coincided with MDQ leaving and vocal drive there Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarea Posted April 3, 2016 #12 Share Posted April 3, 2016 Very glad you had a nice experience. Thanks for the feedback. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruzinbabe06 Posted April 3, 2016 #13 Share Posted April 3, 2016 Thank you for posting,:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IsanTom Posted April 3, 2016 #14 Share Posted April 3, 2016 Thanks for your review! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KirkNC Posted April 3, 2016 #15 Share Posted April 3, 2016 Thanks for your report. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CP3o Posted April 3, 2016 #16 Share Posted April 3, 2016 The St. John's Champagne excursion was good but too short in my opinion. Can you tell me more about the Champagne sail? Was it offered thru NCL? I see this as a popular NCL excursion but it's not listed in the shore excursions for me and I'm wondering if there are multiple "Champagne sail" snorkel tours. How long was your tour? When I didn't see it listed I found one offered NOT thru the ship (but seems to be part of other NCL ship offerings according to the website). Does this Champagne sail look anything like the one you took? https://stthomascruiseexcursions.com/SailingStThomas.htm https://stthomascruiseexcursions.com/CruiseShips.htm I thought I'd book independently but I'm concerned the excursion is a little long, 10-4pm. If it was thru NCL it would be great, I know I'd be back by all aboard......... but if the excursion runs late and need to take a taxi back... My St Thomas port day shows 8-6pm; was yours the same? Is all aboard at 5pm or maybe a little later? Thanks for any tips you might be able to provide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim The Lizard Posted April 4, 2016 #17 Share Posted April 4, 2016 Great review!. [emoji2] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CP3o Posted April 4, 2016 #18 Share Posted April 4, 2016 I wonder if the cruise ship excursion for champagne sail has changed. I called NCL to see if it would be offered and they said yes and while had him on the line I asked about length . He says it shows as 4.5 hours but when I had him dig deeper the times were 20 mins in open air "safari" to get to marina, 1 HR ride to Honeymoon beach, 80 mins snorkel time, 45 mins to ride back to marina. I think this totals 3 hrs and 45 mins. Past reviews of this cruise line excursion are very good but I'm wondering if they have shortened it and trying to get two groups out there. I think past reviews have mentioned two snorkel spots but it's confusing bc may be more than one "champagne sail" when looking for reviews. I just want a good excursion, could care less about alcohol being served, but the "champagne catamaran " got really good reviews until recently a few saying too short. Ironically, the cruise ship version seems too short and the independent option too long. Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeaIsleCityGirl Posted April 5, 2016 #19 Share Posted April 5, 2016 I also wanted to ask about an excursion -what Jost van dyke trip did you take? It's on our list of options but want to be sure we pick the right one :). Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merleebird Posted April 5, 2016 Author #20 Share Posted April 5, 2016 I took the escape to Jost van dyke on the rebel yell. It was great! As for the champagne thing, yes they do have two groups going. As soon as we got back they were bringing another group out there. Yes, we were 8-6 in St Thomas. For the post way above - yes Aries was our butler. We had breakfast brought to our room before excursions but we mostly ate at the Haven restaurant. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeaIsleCityGirl Posted April 6, 2016 #21 Share Posted April 6, 2016 I took the escape to Jost van dyke on the rebel yell. It was great! As for the champagne thing, yes they do have two groups going. As soon as we got back they were bringing another group out there. Yes, we were 8-6 in St Thomas. For the post way above - yes Aries was our butler. We had breakfast brought to our room before excursions but we mostly ate at the Haven restaurant. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Thank you - will look for JVD on the Rebel Yell! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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