!!! NORWEGIAN ESCAPE !!! ^_^ The Ultimate Review and Complete Pictorial Guide

[mabones]

Who was the Entertainer in the Pub? It looks like Matt Yee who was on the Navigator in 2003.

[LrgPizza]

Who was the Entertainer in the Pub? It looks like Matt Yee who was on the Navigator in 2003.

 

His name is Beau Tahana.

[Ally2725]

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

[LarissaRose]

 

Like I said, they have really cool art.

 

 

 

 

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!

 

[SS Exeter]

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."

[gambee]

It's good to see Beau is still in the brew house. I can't believe he's still on board. Happy about it though. We're back on June 11th. Keeping our fingers crossed he's still there. Glad to see the Clarence back at 5 o'clock somewhere bar, outside. Are Curly and Yum still there too?

 

Great review, as always!

 

I am not really sure, maybe others in my sailing can shine in. I mostly stayed in Vibe, and with clarence at 5 o'clock.

[gambee]

Gambee, I have a few Michael Goddard prints at home. I met him on the Caribbean Princess in January of 2005 when I was cruising with my daughter. He was on board with his wife & entourage. He was the Resident Artist on that cruise. He was even working on a Picture that was bought for almost $10k (I think).

 

Always enjoy your Reviews. We are going on the Escape in December.

 

Thank you, now I have his name. Although at 10k I think he is a bit out of my reach. I might buy some prints though, I saw some nice ones on amazon :)

 

Have a nice cruise :)

[gambee]

Phew!!!!! Made it all the way to page 28 and it took only 3 days of lunch breaks at work and maybe a few extended peeks while my "files were copying"...... Great review so far!!!!

 

Thank you :)

 

Continue to enjoy the review :)

[gambee]

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.

[gambee]

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]

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!

[gambee]

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 :)

[SS Exeter]

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 :)

 

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

[gambee]

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.

[mianmike]

When we got to the room we had a big surprise. Actually, when I opened the door, I thought I was in the wrong room. Now it is unclear who actually send this to us, mainly because we had a card from Sean and Ro. Ro told us that she informed her manager and that is how it started. And that makes sense, because she was actually the only one who knew it was my mom’s bday. Then again, NCL does have her birth date.

 

Either way, she was so happy about it, and I was grateful that they did that for her. It was a really nice of them.

 

 

 

 

 

And please do not forget about John, our cabin steward. Who was most likely the one who had to this.

 

 

 

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!

[natefish95]

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!

[gambee]

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 :)

[gambee]

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.

[Lupush]

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.

[mitsugirly]

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.

[tripleboom]

 

 

 

 

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

[Hawks LOB]

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.

[blackwing]

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.

[gambee]

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 :)

[gambee]

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 :)