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

[sjbdtz]

I absolutely hate Pony malta, but is a very popular drink down there. If you fell in love with Colombia in Bogota you're my hero. I was born there and lived there for a while, but quite honestly, I don't care for the city at all. If you liked Bogota, you will adore the rest of the country, people are more genuine :)

 

I just found out I'll be spending a few days in Medellin in early July. It will be my first time in Colombia.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ok, so let's address the elephant in the room. You all know that my reviews are honest and I remain impartial. As I will do this on this one as well. But for that I need to disclose some information. Apparently the Hotel Director knew me somehow, not personally, but I guess through one of my reviews. My wild guess is that he knew me from the Breakaway review. He found out I was on board through one of my FB friends.

 

I actually never met him on board the escape, but he did manifest himself with some treats and invitations. So did we receive some kind of special treatment? Yes, but it was only things like invitations to events that you all know I dislike. And some food to the room that I will post as the review goes on. I also dealt with his assistant Pamela, who moved a few reservations for us for 2 nights.

 

But I am honest to say that was it. I still paid for all my expenses on this cruise, just like any other cruise.

 

Did it improve the experience? Well, I would lie if I would say no. Of course it did, who would not enjoy strawberries at night stuff like that. I am, after all, human.

 

 

 

I reached out to Sean when I heard you would be on board. Not for him to try to change your opinion, but exactly what he ended up doing.... a plate of strawberries is a nice little extra. And it got you photos in the Haven too, so I'm glad to see that.

 

Sorry if that made you uncomfortable, it wasn't my intent either. I knew you would be impartial, even while enjoying some small VIP treatments.

 

 

Stephen

 

 

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[currdog777]

Thanks for your great review. I was really nervous seeing so much negative, but seeing the positive in the form of great pictures has really made me excited for our cruise on the Escape. Thanks for taking time to do this.

[mianmike]

I reached out to Sean when I heard you would be on board. Not for him to try to change your opinion, but exactly what he ended up doing.... a plate of strawberries is a nice little extra. And it got you photos in the Haven too, so I'm glad to see that.

 

Sorry if that made you uncomfortable, it wasn't my intent either. I knew you would be impartial, even while enjoying some small VIP treatments.

 

 

Stephen

 

 

.

 

How nice of you! Could you let Sean know we're cruising May 28th? We'd love the VIP treatment! :D I promise to post the details.

[micmacmissy]

Gambee, Gambee, Gambee!

 

Your pictures are always awesome...but the slide and ropes course photos are AMAZING!!!!!

 

All day looked forward to coming home and catching up... :D

[cml4958]

I reached out to Sean when I heard you would be on board.

 

How nice of you to do that!

 

Could you let Sean know we're cruising May 28th? We'd love the VIP treatment! :D I promise to post the details.

 

Too funny!

 

 

 

Gambee - I've totally enjoyed the review. I'll be on her in December and love the detail that you've shown thus far and I'm sure will continue to show. It gives me an idea of what to expect! Thank you for taking the time to do this detailed review!

 

Carrie

[keeponcruising]

Hi Gambee, I love your review of the Escape. It was fun reliving my week back in November. I cruise with my 91 year old mother and I hope you have equally that much time with your mother and more as I do too. Isn't it the best?

 

I was bored waiting for your Escape updates, so I went back and read your Lady O review! As much as I appreciate it and what it has to offer, right now NCL is the right for me (of course the UBP has a lot to do with it).

 

I see you also went on the Bimini Superfast. I can't believe it is gone now. For a quick cruise fix down in South Florida, take the Bahamas Grand Celebration out of the Port of Palm Beach. I know a travel agent who can book it for $75 per person total that includes taxes, but you have to gamble. Although I have not booked that way with her, family members have.

 

Ellen

[keeponcruising]

Hi Gambee, I love your review of the Escape. It was fun reliving my week back in November. I cruise with my 91 year old mother and I hope you have equally that much time with your mother and more as I do too. Isn't it the best?

 

I was bored waiting for your Escape updates, so I went back and read your Lady O review! As much as I appreciate it and what it has to offer, right now NCL is the right for me (of course the UBP has a lot to do with it).

 

I see you also went on the Bimini Superfast. I can't believe it is gone now. For a quick cruise fix down in South Florida, take the Bahamas Grand Celebration out of the Port of Palm Beach. I know a travel agent who can book it for $75 per person total that includes taxes, but you have to gamble. Although I have not booked that way with her, family members have.

 

Ellen

 

I just re-read my post and I might not have worded things the correct way. I was not bored, I was just anxious for more of your review, so I went back to read a recent review of yours.

[gambee]

Love it Gambee I should tell you about the time we first met Susan in Barcelona and our Damm beer night:D:D:p:o

 

Susan is an absolute blast, and she dances like a rock star! We had a great time together :)

[gambee]

Was the boring looking Haven party the Captains reception?

 

You are more of cruise rock star than anyone at that party. They would have been honored to meet you.

 

You know, I have no idea. In the card it said something like you have been invited to a special reception at Haven. It might have been, there were a lot of officers in there. :confused:

[gambee]

Following and loving it. We are going on the Escape in Nov and can't wait.

 

 

Thank you for following and posting :)

[gambee]

Such a cool shot! Loved that slide!!

 

Yeah, it came out really good, I really love the gopro for things like that.

[gambee]

I am cracking up at your talk about the Haven party. On the TA, my husband and I were invited to 2 Captain's receptions there. We have no idea why, as we are no one and we know nobody. We went to both of them The guys who were the pool monitors (in the yellow shirts by the main pool) during the day were the same guys who served us wine and hors-d'oeuvres in tuxedos that night. It was funny. My visit in there sealed the deal that I absolutely would never want to stay in there. (We also were given the strawberries, chocolates in our room, and even priority disembarkation and taken down a private elevator to leave the cruise. We have no idea why!)

 

I am also loving your pictures of Clarence "The Chocolate Cowboy". I sure hope he is still on board next week, although I think he might be due for vacation.

 

I completely forgot about the chocolate cowboy, lol. Thank you for bringing it up. BTW, we were also given the priority disembarkation but did not use it. I wanted to be what it would be like to report on it.

[gambee]

Hey Gambee - Are kids allowed in O’Sheehan’s.

 

Yup they are :). That entire area is a bit confusing, they mix too many different groups in a very versatile area. I will post on it later.

[gambee]

What time did you arrive to port to get a Vibe pass?

 

I was checked in at 10:30, but got lucky and went into another group. I believe I posted about it already.

[gambee]

Hi Gambee

 

Thanks again for yet another great review When the cruise ends, would appreciate you asking your mom to post a brief review from her perspective Being her contemporary, want to know overall how this cruise compares to the others. Also thus far which she would recommend .

 

Hmmmmm, my reviews usually have a lot of her opinion built into them. I would dare to say that they are more of a combined review than a Gambee review. Usually every morning when I wake up on the cruise I will ask her what she did what she liked and such.

 

Are you talking about which ship she liked best overall?

[gambee]

Loving your review and pics gambee! We still have just over 10 months, but I am already excited! I am also super glad we got a large balcony mini suite, as I know we won't be there early enough to get vibe, and I am looking forward to having a quiet lounger whenever I want one :) and we are very close to both "home" and the mojito bar...

 

 

I hope you have a great time. I am sure you will enjoy the balcony, I was actually surprised the one we had was much larger than the on BA.

[gambee]

Loving the review! I am going on Escape this summer as a solo and I am so excited. This is actually my first review of yours that I have read (I only seem to use CC when I am planning a trip). I'm close in age with you so it is good to see such an in depth review. Good luck in grad school. i just finished last week and boy was it exhausting!

 

Yeah, I have heard that grad school is something else. But I am looking forward for a drastic change in my life. Congratulations on your graduation!

 

Have a great time on your cruise. They have a bunch of solo gatherings to meet people and have fun.

[gambee]

Gambee, loving yet another stunning review! Thank-you so much for all the time and energy you put in to do these :)!

 

You're very welcome, I hope you continue to enjoy :)

[gambee]

This is a great review! I like how you take pictures of the different areas with people in them. Gives you a good sense how empty/crowded places are. Looking forward to the rest!

 

I think that is the best way to really get to know the ship/crowds. It gives you the a good idea of what your cruise might be like. Thank you for following :)

[gambee]

I take it that applies to the brewhouse too? That's the main area of the ship for me haha!

 

Yeah, it also applies. I tried a couple of beers before deciding on the one I wanted.

[gambee]

LOL! I was hungover pretty bad the next day.

 

I think we all were, I rolled in bed all morning. It is beyond me how you were up and running so early :D

[gambee]

We were on the Breakaway and the only way I would ever consider NCL again is in the Haven. You have no idea how much better the venue is. The ship in general is very, very crowded and lacks enough public space for even sunbathing. I vote for the Haven! Also if not get to the terminal and be the first one on line and book the Vibe for the week. Worth every penny!

 

We all enjoy cruising for different reasons. I talked to a lot of people who had neither and were having an amazing cruise. I appreciated getting vibe, but if I didn't I am sure that I would had enjoyed the cruise as well :)

[gambee]

8 dollars for a spicy tuna roll seems super steep to me! :eek::eek:

 

A question about food republic : When ordering on the tablet is there an option to write in "special requests" such as "no cilantro please :)"? I'm a fairly picky eater and often need to ask for things to be left off. I've been to land restaurants that use the tablet method and they usually have this option but thought I'd still ask! ty!

 

It is all relative, that seems to be the average price here in South Florida. Then again we already paid for the basic food.

 

I remember reading somewhere that they do have the option on the ipad, but I did not personally used it. Either way the server goes around checking on you every so often. You also have to keep in mind that not all the ingredients are listed there. So it might be hard telling if there are ingredients you dont like just from the picture.

[gambee]

I'm only on page 16 so I don't know if this has been answered yet, but I compared your pics to ones that came out on the first couple sailings. The only price that's different is the Dragon Roll. It's $7 instead of $5. All other prices stayed the same.

 

 

Thank for the input, for some reason I thought it was cheaper.

[gambee]

Loving your review. I have a question in the last few weeks I've noticed in the reviews people talking about how loud music in different venues such as Manhattan Room and Spice H2O has been. How did you find it?

 

Well the Manhattan room has the dancing in the middle, and while I never ate there I would imagine it might be loud. But you can always go to sabor and taste and they are nice and quite. H2O, to be honest during the day seemed quiet to me. But late at night like 11pm, yes the music is very very loud, their parties are amazing. The one that is really loud during the day is the "main" pool area. Either they have contests, activities, live music and more, and it is really loud.

 

You also find loud venues, but they are designed to be loud, Brew house, headliners, skyline bar, etc.