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

[gambee]

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

 

 

The tables are always there. I just noticed how close they are to each other, I wonder if you can spread them apart.

[gambee]

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.

 

Glad I am helping you re-live your great vacation aboard the Escape. No, I have not been on the Getaway yet. But I definitely have it on my radar after this great experience.

[gambee]

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.

 

Thank you for offering your point of view, additional information is always welcomed :)

[gambee]

Day 4

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[gambee]

That morning I decided to download iConcierge app. And it was perfect because the internet was much faster now that we had docked in St. Thomas. I really recommend this app to communicate with your group. The cost is $10 per device and it works like a charm. I basically got it to stay connected with the rest of the group, kind of wish that I had bought it earlier.

 

You can also check your schedule, and your account. Although your account might give you some erroneous information on the app. I recommend you stick to the one on the TV.

 

 

I guess this is also a good time to talk about our cabin steward. His name was John and he was very efficient and friendly. He might might have been a bit shy, but I can totally understand that. I also found out that they each have 14 rooms to take care off, that is a ridiculous amount of rooms! I can only imagine doing that work day and day out for 8 months.

 

Anyway, we went to the balcony and it immediately smelled like ganja. I am sure it was just a few balconies down, because the smell was pungent!

 

I tried looking for the culprit, but with no luck :D

 

 

If this place had access to the beach, I would be all over it! The just does not do it for me.

 

 

People lining up for their shore excursions.

 

 

 

[CamaCama]

The tables are always there. I just noticed how close they are to each other, I wonder if you can spread them apart.

 

They can be moved apart... this is how it was for one of the ping pong tournaments (that my hubby won :D), plenty of room in between.

 

[gambee]

Looks like a nice sailboat, I wonder if they ever use it.

 

 

We just enjoyed the views for a little while. This was the first time we docked at havensight.

 

 

Are those ruins of a fort?

 

 

I took some of my stomach medicine to even it out a little bit.

 

 

 

 

[gambee]

 

I also took care of my pinky injury, and packed the medicine to bring with us. The last thing I wanted was to get it infected.

 

 

Mom once again went to get me some food from the buffet. Mom for the win!

 

Nice and healthy, I heard bacon is good for clearing arteries :D

 

 

We packed everything and we headed out to meet with the group. This time around we brought the iPad because it has At&t service and usually works on the island. We both have metro on our phones and the service is basically limited to phone calls. Last time we were here we did not bring the iPad and mom was going crazy without internet at the beach, LoL.

 

 

We met in the Atrium. Also Will was kind enough to get Paradise point tickets for all of us. It was so very nice of him. The one thing that I did not know was that he was planning to propose up there, I found that out much later, and I missed it :(

 

 

[gambee]

We met in the atrium.

 

 

Once we were all there we left the ship. This the very first time that I joined a group for a shore trip :)

 

I was quite excited about it. You all know me by now, and socializing is a constant struggle for me. But one that I am proud to be working on :)

 

 

 

[gambee]

I love the art on this ship! I really do. Then again, it might be related to my adoration of anything related to the ocean. I think this is the first ship that NCL has actually nailed with the hull design. Thank you Harvey!

 

Although, I will say that I kind of also like Getaway, although not love.

 

 

 

I actually have some stingray sheet metal art in my bedroom. Got it from a fabulous sheet metal artist in Texas.

 

 

 

As we were all leaving to head out, I asked my mom “Where is my wallet?”. She just looked at me and said “I don’t know”. Here is the thing, she packed all her stuff for that day and my naturalization certificate. But I was the last one to take her iPad out of the safe, and when I did so, I did not see the wallet there. The safe was empty, so I left it open.

 

Mom said we have to go back, so we told the group that we would meet them in Coki. On the way there I was calm, but actively thinking about everything that I had in there to make sure I cancel everything if it was confirmed that the wallet was indeed missing. I told my mom, no worries, if it is lost, it is lost. There is nothing that we can do about it. It won’t ruin the vacation, we will still get off the ship and I will cancel everything from the beach.

 

When we got to the room, I looked at the safe and deep in the back corner was my wallet. Crisis averted!

 

I will be honest and say that the one thing that had me nearly in tears, was the fact that I always have two $2 bills that my grandmother gave me. I could replace everything on that wallet, but those bills I could not. Now I am going to take one out and keep it safely at home. Those bills are precious to me, they guarantee me that my grandmother is always close to me.

 

 

With the wallet in hand, we set out to find a taxi.

 

 

[gambee]

I was walking fast to make up for the time lost.

 

 

On the way there my mom said that she could not believe how calm I had stayed during the entire situation. I can have erratic moods at times, but in this situation, nothing would be fixed by getting mad. All I was thinking was to cancel all the cards, and move on with our vacation. Plus, there is no way I was going to ruin my mothers' vacation over some plastic, paper and leather. Yes, even the leather "Wallet" had emotional value to me (albeit not as much as grannies dollars), but that is another story. Life is too short to allow little inconveniences to destroy the short moments of happiness with our loved ones.

 

 

I will say one thing, it is a very long walk to the taxi area!

 

 

 

 

[gambee]

We just kept swimming... Oh wait, I meant walking! LoL. Have I mentioned how excited I am to see the upcoming Dori movie? :D

 

 

 

 

And walked we did.

 

 

They loaded us onto a closed bus. This port is calm, and so much better than Nassau and other ports.

 

The bus was going to first stop at Sapphire beach, and then onto Coki beach. I was a bit upset that they did not put us on a direct bus, and we were already late as it was. But all that was for nothing, lol. The ride took 37 minutes from the port to coki, dropping people off at sapphire. And it costs $9 per person each way.

 

 

[gambee]

This is Sapphire beach, I think I will be going there next time. It looked really nice.

 

 

 

The really funny thing is that when we were arriving to sapphire, we saw our group leaving on an open air bus. They also stopped at Sapphire to drop people off. I am not sure what took them so long, because the entire wallet situation took like 20 minutes, and our driver drove quite slow.

 

 

 

This is in Coki.

 

That is actually our gang going up the stairs :D

 

 

[gambee]

 

I love Coki beach, unlike my time in Mageens. Sure, it is smaller and it can get quite busy, but I love the fact that there are multiple vendors. Snorkeling is great, and the chairs get setup for you, there are no need for lines, or deposits and such. Plus there is no cost to enter the beach. You can also buy weed if you want, mom insisted she saw some people rolling one when she was getting food. I kept telling her it was most likely tobacco, she insisted otherwise :D. Not that I am endorsing that, my poison is gin, well at the moment. I move aorund.

 

Overall, the beach has a better feeling and more food options.

 

 

 

The beach was fabulous!

 

 

 

 

[gambee]

I went for a short walk as I always do.

 

 

 

That is Coral World Aquarium. I wish I made it there, but this day was super busy as it was. The people there seemed to be enjoying themselves.

 

 

Like I said, it is much smaller than Magens.

 

 

The chair rentals are average, I want to say $5 or $8. Can't remember exactly, I was too excited running around.

 

 

[gambee]

 

 

 

Fresh coconuts.

 

 

 

Prices are reasonable for a beach.

 

 

 

[gambee]

 

If you come to this side of the beach it is much quieter than we we were at. But the snorkeling is much better by the other side.

 

 

Plenty of restaurants here as well.

 

 

 

 

 

[gambee]

 

 

 

Mom and I got two chairs under the tree, behind our group.

 

It was not the best location, mom usually likes being by the water. But by the time we made it there all the water ones were taken. And did not want to go to the other end of the beach far from the group, it just seemed like an antisocial thing to do. But she was happy, she had her shade and internet on her iPad. So all was good =)

 

 

OMG the lifeguard :D, good luck to you if you're drowning, LoL

 

 

 

[LuCruise]

Hi Gambee,

 

Love your review and pictures. We went to Coki beach too. We loved it there. So beautiful. So great to see your experience too.

[gambee]

 

At one point I went snorkeling. This underwater Gambee edition, I hope you enjoy. I had a great time snorkeling there.

 

Highly recommended, I offered to share my equipment with the group, but no one wanted it to.

 

I still have my cross from the Vatican City :)

 

 

 

Is that a barracuda? I thought it was, but now that I look at it, I think the mouth should be shorter. Either way when I saw it, I froze. I respect them as much as I sharks.

 

 

There was a bunch of fish, but I have no clue which is what. Although I am sure Mitsugirly knows them all, LoL.

 

 

At one point I surfaced to get some pics of the birds and the beach.

 

 

[gambee]

 

 

I was really enjoying myself :)

 

 

Tons of fish!

 

 

A school of fish and completely surrounded me!

 

 

[gambee]

I love this set, I hope everyone enjoys it as much I did that day!

 

Then I had an idea. It was about 15-20 feet deep there. I wanted to have the GoPro take pictures of me from the bottom. So first I tried to go all the way down to make sure I could rescue the camera later on. After I found that out, I dropped the camera, but the problem was that it landed on the wrong position. What made me think that she would land just the way I wanted it??? Hopeful wishing?

 

 

Nope, that won't work. Cool picture though!

 

 

So I went down, fixed her up and these are the pics I got. It was deep enough that I had to equalize my ears multiple times.

 

 

And back up I go.

 

 

Some recovery was in order. This drains the hell out of you! Not sure why...

 

 

Yup, she is still there. You never know when a mermaid will come and take your stuff away!

 

 

 

[gambee]

 

 

This one is my favorite one! The fish was posing =)

 

 

I relaxed for a few seconds, and allowed her to get a few shots.

 

 

Two people came near and saw the camera down there. They asked me if it was mine. Yup! I guess they thought they scored. Either way, I am not sure if they could make it down there. I actually thought that I would not be able to at first. That was why I did the test run.

 

 

[TOMMYCRUISER]

Here's one for you sir in the lower corner

 

[gambee]

 

And here I am going back down to rescue her. HOW COOL IS THIS SHOT!?

 

Look at all the fish swimming away and forming an arch around me!

 

 

And this one? Really? Just look at that photo!?!?!

 

Equalize Gambee, Equalize!

 

 

This one is pretty cool as well.

 

 

And back up we go!

 

 

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, THE OCEAN!!!! IS THERE ANYTHING BETTER? WELL, MAYBE THE SNOW... It is a hard one for me, I am a multi season kind of fellow!