Escape Review - Haven and Western Itinerary Cruise - Aug 5-12, 2017

[marmirdc]

Enjoying the review, it's like reliving the cruise again. Thanks for taking the time and we always enjoyed talking with you.

[firstmickey]

Cagneys for dinner on Day 4. We decided this was our favorite of the specialty restaurants. The service and atmosphere were both excellent. I had the filet and shrimp (surf and turf) and the boys both had the huge porterhouse which they said was good but Dan had filet envy. My steak was outstanding!

 

 

The ship's photographer comes around to the specialty restaurants but we didn't buy any of the professional photos at all. In this age of cell phones and selfies...I just can't see spending the money on them. There was a really good photo of Kevin on the ropes course hanging off the ship that I thought about buying and am kind of sorry I didn't. Other than that..the rest of them were all so so.

 

At Cagneys this night, there were crew members going around asking how your cruise was overall. This is the night we mentioned not seeing our butler and Leah, the Haven concierge came down to talk to us right away. (I told this story eariler in the review). It was a pretty excellent customer service response on NCL's part. I think their service overall is better than every other cruise I've been on.

 

For dessert....

 

 

all were very good with the creme brulee probably winning as the favorite that night.

[firstmickey]

After dinner, we walked around the shops and the atrium a little. When reading about the ship before we left, I couldn't understand how all of these events take place in the atrium like trivia, game shows, etc. The Atrium on the Escape (maybe all NCL ships) is different from the atrium on other cruises. There is seating on the guest services floor, plus seats around the upper circle (O'Sheehans). I thought this was a pretty cool place to hang out and to bring some of the ship together. Kevin wanted to go see Celebrity Dance Off at 10:15 so we found some chairs on deck 6 to have a few drinks and wait for the show.

 

Have to have a picture of this...

 

Then it was time for...

 

 

 

This is not an exaggeration...this was one of the funniest things I've ever seen in a show/game show or silly antics. If any of my fellow cruisers read this and were there...they can verify. For those who don't know, they pair a ship crew member up with an audience volunteer. One of the crew members (the fist bump guy in recreation - can't remember his name) told Kevin to come watch this show so he really wanted to see it.

One of the guests, Susan H, was paired up with Jo Jo and I have to say...they won as soon as they both stepped on the floor. She had all this attitude and the two of them played off of each other and it was hysterical. Then Jacky would interview the losers who were voted out in a behind the scenes. The whole place was dying laughing and it was so much fun. As Kevin says...he feels sorry for people who never go to experience Susan H. because there's no explaining how funny she was.

 

We tried to watch a few other type things there but nothing came close to being this entertaining. Not sure if it's always this way but the people we had were hilarious.

 

We all went back to the room at a fairly decent hour this night because we had an early Costa Maya morning the next day.

 

10030 steps today but there were probably a lot more due to being in the water alot and not wearing fit bit on HC.

Edited August 18, 2017 by firstmickey
Step count!

[firstmickey]

Day 5 - Costa Maya

 

 

Had breakfast in the Haven this AM and we were so full from last night, we were just going to do the little buffet with the yogurts, fruits and pastries but Paolo, our waiter, seemed sad that we weren't getting hot food that Kevin caved and had the Belgian waffle with berries. It was really good.

 

We had a tour booked with Native Choice to see the Chaccoben ruins and then have a meal with a Mayan Family. I wanted the one that had a beach part to it and got outvoted and I am EXTREMELY happy that I did because this one of my favorite excursions that I've ever done! When you leave the ship, you have to walk through the port to get to the outside and then walk about 4 blocks to the Native Choice office. It was not overly sunny but so HUMID. It's easy to find after you get out of the port area. If you ask in the port area how to get out, I think they lie and take you the long way to make you go past the shops. I had printed directions from a thread on the Costa Maya board but we got detoured. We made it in plenty of time to the office.

They have several different tours and they separate you by wrist bands. You all go together on the bus to the ruins, then we'd leave there by van to go to whatever other tour you did. There were about 20 people in our Mayan meal tour. The buses and vans were clean and we had two tour guides with us. We had Lorenzo for the ruins tour then Maria was added when we went to the family house. Both were extremely knowledgeable and spoke English well.

 

I found the ruins part fascinating. I didn't think I would enjoy it as much as I did. I became a geek somewhere in there and took some notes on my phone. I didn't want to forget!

 

Some fun (but probably useless) facts from the bus ride:

Chacchoben means red corn.

Tomato means "belly button" fruit.

Chicle and chewing gum came from the Mayans.

Coyote is an Aztec word. All of those "ote" words are from the Aztecs

Avocado derives from a word meaning testicle - due to the shape. Tip for storing avocado - leave the seed in if you only use half and it prevents it from getting brown.

Mestizo is a combo of Maya and Spanish

Peter Harrison is credited with discovering the ruins even though everyone who lived there knew they were there.

 

I have about 1000 ruins pictures but leave you with a few...

 

Temple of the Bright Star - Venus.

 

Part of the temple of the Moon:

 

Originally, all of the temples were painted red with this stucco, but they've worn away. This is why there is a cover on the Moon temple to protect this from the weather. See the red color...

 

Temple of the Sun:

 

 

Drawing by Lorenzo about the structure in the east and one in west and the sun in the corners makes a triangle and represents the solstice and the equinox. There are five days represented just for worshipping at the temple.

 

 

Tips for visiting the ruins....lots of bug spray and spray your entire foot and shoe. One of the little girls on our tour had flip flops on and she was standing in fire ants at one point. It was painful for her.

Thankfully, it was overcast for this part of the day because it was extremely humid and would have been worse with the sun beating on us too.

 

You could buy souvenirs and water from the shop but the tour company had cold water for us also.

In the vans for the Mayan meal...

[firstmickey]

On the bus on the way to the meal, they explained about the Mayan culture and dress. Mayan women who are married typically wear a shawl but wouldn't be wearing them today because they had too much cooking to do. The home had many back and front doors so that bad spirits could go out.

 

We toured through a small village where the houses had very pretty artwork from a Mexican artist named Carmen who wanted to paint the homes for the families...

[firstmickey]

When we arrived at the house, our tour guide, Maria, toured us through the garden which showcased plants for food and for decoration. Flags hung above on the trellis and she told us they indicate a celebration like a birthday or anniversary.

 

 

 

 

The plant that they make brooms with...

 

 

Sour oranges...they use them instead of vinegar:

 

 

[firstmickey]

We were taught by the woman of the house (Mama) how to make a tortilla. She did it so fast....seemed easy but she had this way of flattening and crimping the sides at the same time..

 

 

 

 

Kevin speaks fluent Spanish and was talking to her. The two of them were laughing and having a good time. When he showed her his very misshapen bumpy tortilla, she laughed and redid his. The two of them had a good time together the whole day. I can understand Spanish but not think of the words to speak it myself so I could pick out words. He's fluent from several years of it and because he lived in a dorm with several Spanish speaking kids last year. I can't believe how much that helped him become fluent.

 

 

My attempt...not too bad...

 

 

After making the tortilla, you take it to one of the daughters to put on the hot fire...

 

 

Then you spread this salsa made with pumpkin, onions, and I'm not sure what else....,It was amazing! I would have bought a gallon of it if they sold it...

 

[firstmickey]

The pot where they are cooking the chickens they caught today...

 

 

 

The outdoor eating area and rest of the kitchen area....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had chicken, rice, steamed veggies, fresh corn tortillas, beans and hibiscus iced tea or water. Delicious food! They had a hot sauce you could use also if you wanted it. Plenty of food and you could get seconds.

[firstmickey]

Mama brought Kevin more hot fresh tortillas and the two of them were talking away. lol

For dessert, homemade flan (best I've ever had) plus fresh fruit..

 

Mama and her daughters..

 

 

 

They had a few handsewn souvenirs and some painted bowls...I got a small bowl as a keepsake.

 

 

An amazing experience and I'm so glad we did it. I highly recommend as an excursion.

 

Van ride back and they drop you off right at the port so you don't have that long walk. We were so hot and sweaty, I couldn't wait to get back and shower or hit the pool.

 

Shower and nap won! lol

[firstmickey]

A few more Costa Maya pics...

 

 

 

 

 

Loved this pic of the ship that morning when we left:

 

[firstmickey]

I originally had Teppanyaki booked for Friday but we wanted to eat in the Haven our last night so I asked the conciege, Leah, if we could switch to Teppy tonight. She told me to go see the maitre'd at the front desk right at 6:15p. The boys were moving a little slow so I went down to see if we could move it to later and she told me to come at the 7:30 seating. I had a few drinks in the Haven while I waited for them to get ready and talked to Miro (his favorite drink to make: ice water) :')

Then Jonathan (Bong) came on duty and kept giving me all of these bar snacks. Please..stop putting that in front of me. I have to go eat again!!

 

We were seated at Teppanyaki with another really large party and another couple. The large party was one we had seen several times on the ship and in the Haven. They were the most unfriendly people I've ever seen. They were so disengaged from the experience - not paying any attention to the Chefs that they basically did the very basic interaction with us after a while. The food was good, the chefs were good but I think the interaction at the other tables were so much more because the guests were more interactive. (I checked my pic here before posting to make sure no one from other party was identifiable).

 

I got the lychee drink on the recommendation of someone from my Mayan tour...but it had a lot of orange juice in it so I didn't care for it as much but the lychee fruit was good...

 

 

 

Overall, the food was good and the chefs were very good but we didn't have a good interactive table. I'd like to try again with a fun group! We had the green tea cake but didn't care for it much. It was a little dry. Kevin's fruit was better.

[firstmickey]

Kevin left a little early to go get us seats for the comedian, Frank, in Headliners. He was pretty funny and we liked him al ot. He was a guest judge in the celebrity dance off also and was very funny there also. We went to the Waterfront and hung out for a little bit after...full moon there!

 

On the phone...

 

Look at the moon (you can see him in the reflection on his phone...lol)

 

[firstmickey]

Dan decided he was done at that point but Kevin really wanted to go see the late night comedian, Andy, so I said I'd go with him.

The warm up guy for both comedy shows was not very good. I know the late night show is an adult show but I have to say....the warm up guy (don't remember his name) was beyond X rated. Granted, I was a little uncomfortable because I was with my 20 year old but still...he was over the top raunchy and gross. Luckily, Andy was R rated and funny. Not over the top like the warm up guy. I think his problem was..he's not very funny so he decided to go raunchy. I'm not a prude but it was too much. Just my opinion - I know it was an adult show but there was a clear difference between the two comedians.

 

Happy to go back to bed...

 

Steps walked today...18,340!!! No wonder I'm exhausted.

[WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot]

North Hills, represent lol!

 

Looking forward to more, thinking about this itinerary in the spring.

[OceansOfTravels]

I am enjoying your review! I have wanted to try NCL for years, just waiting for a good price. Your pictures are amazing!

[firstmickey]

Day 6.- Thursday..Cozumel and a Glow Party.

 

Anyone ever notice once you hit Wednesday on your vacation, it begins to fly?

 

Today, no planned excursions for us which turned out to be a good thing because we were running a little later. We kind of chilled on the balcony for a while with some coffee and watched Cozumel appear...

 

 

 

 

This is the first port of the trip where it actually looked like a city/town. When you walk through the port area, they make you go up and downstairs past all of the shops to get outside to get to a taxi. No problem getting a taxi and they have signs with the fees out front.

 

 

 

We wanted to take a taxi to Paradise Beach. We had been there twice previously but not since 2008. I just remembered the food and drinks were so good and the beach was beautiful. To go there, you have to pay $3 for a wristband and agree to purchase $10 worth of food/drinks. (not a problem - send me the margaritas!). You get an umbrella, a small side table, and chairs on the beach and can use their amazing new pool. There is also a lot of shade from all of the palm trees and you don't feel like you are on top of people like at Harvest Caye.

 

For another $15-18 per person (I can't remember which - sorry), you get a wristband to use all the water toys...paddle boards, kayaks, floating mats, snorkel equipment, and the jumpy blow up things in the water. You don't have to purchase that wristband if you don't want it.

 

I could see that one of the Carnival ships was almost docked so I made everyone step it up a little to get to the beach before the crowds. After a quick Garden cafe breakfast, (washy washy) we walked off, found a taxi and were on our way to Paradise. I believe the taxi cost $16 to get there plus tip. Kevin sat in front and talked to the driver in Spanish and she told him to be sure to leave there by 3:30pm due to the traffic on the way back to the port.

 

We checked in, met our waiters, Saul and his cousin (didn't get his name), who took us to the beach and got us setup with chairs, umbrella, etc. We had our Yeti cups for water so he brought us bottled waters and some ice. It was only 9:30am so I was waiting a while for drinks. There were probably about 10 other people there at this time.

 

See the yellow flag in the picture above where the people are wading? That's the place where you should enter the beach to avoid the rocks. It's quite rocky before the flag and people were falling as they walked in...they weren't really great about telling people to go in by the flag..so that's my PSA for you!

 

 

[firstmickey]

Dan and Kevin went to try paddle boarding. I'm not that graceful so I was the photographer...

 

 

Here are some of the jumpy blowup things...

 

 

They have two trampolines also and this little hut is where you walk out and go snorkeling...

 

 

 

Saul told me the water was a little murky because there had been a storm that early morning. I heard our ship was chasing Tropical Storm Frankie around that time. I'm glad we missed it and we never had rough seas due to it. Once you got further out in the water, there wasn't any seaweed and the water was beautiful. There was a crew going along the beach raking all of the seaweed and debris up for part of the morning.

[firstmickey]

On our first cruise (Disney), Kevin was 10 and we went to Paradise Beach...I remember him jumping on the trampoline laughing his head off and he shouted - This doesn't suck! It's literally one of my best vacation memories of him - the joy he had in jumping. lol When he got on it this time, he spent his time laughing at me because I could barely stand on it let alone jump. That's me laughing and not jumping. It's very fun though. He eventually went over on the other one and I managed to stand and jump a few times without injuring myself.

 

 

This is more my speed......

 

 

 

We were also highly entertained because older kids were jumping off of the big pyrmids and sending the smaller kids flying into the air and ocean (on purpose - not maliciously)....the whole place was watching and cheering. This one kid kept flying really high.....The flying kid would sit on the green part below and the older kid would jump off the slide thing onto the yellow part (see his feet sticking up in the picture below) and then this would happen...

 

[firstmickey]

Time for food and drinks....

 

Dan had a bucket of beer, margaritas please for me, and Kevin had a ChiChi (kind of a pina colada/daquiri mix).

 

 

 

The guac was as good as I remember...

 

[firstmickey]

Now they have a fish taco truck also. They still bring it to you and they were delicious.

 

 

Fish tacos - a little spice to them...

 

Chicken tacos..

 

 

Garlic shrimp

 

 

 

The people in front of us got the burritos and said they were amazing too. The food was as good as I remember. I think it's reasonable also. One note- gratuity is included in the final food bill. We didn't realize and left him a nice tip and he came back to us and said..>"Sir, I'm honest. The tip is included." I thought that was so nice of him. We told him to keep it anyways. They really hustle to take care of you there.

[firstmickey]

Various pictures....

 

 

Up by the pool area:

 

 

I thought their pool was one of the nicest resort pools....It had different levels of ledges for sitting and chairs actually in the water so you could be wet. They also have very nice bathroom facilities behind this hut with the bar/restaurant.

 

 

 

 

Looking back from the little pier hut

 

 

[firstmickey]

All too soon, it was time to head back to the ship - plenty of taxis out front. Went back and showered, took a little nap and had probably more snacks.

 

Here's leaving Cozumel..

 

Dan's cloud picture...he thinks it looks like George Washington!

 

 

 

This was the last picture he took with the good camera. I think he was just done carrying it around!!!

[firstmickey]

That night we had dinner at La Cuchina. We originally had it scheduled for my birthday and were able to move it to Thursday without any difficulties. Even without Haven- there were alot of cancellations at the specialty restaurants every day so if you didn't get a reservation or time that you wanted - check in with the hostess at the first seating to see if she could get you in if there is a cancellation. We sat outside on the Waterfront because it was a beautiful night and the sun was about to set - a light breeze.

 

 

 

Don't want you to miss the sky...

 

 

I'm sure they won't appreciate me posting the awkward picture of them but I wanted you to see how nice it was sitting outside here...

 

[firstmickey]

Overall, the food here was ok. The service was very good. I ordered a pasta with seafood and said it had a white Pinot grigio sauce with tomatoes so I thought it would be lighter. When it came, it was seafood pasta in tomato sauce. They took it back and remade it but still not a light dish. I was sorry I didn't get something else. I was looking forward to getting panna cotta for dessert and Dan wanted the tiramisu but they brought me this instead...

 

 

and sang to me... I guess it was noted as my birthday on the first reservation and when the reservation got changed..the note was still on there. So I had birthday week! It was really good cake.

 

We wandered around the waterfront for a while then the atrium then back to our room...found this friend and some chocolates..

 

[firstmickey]

Went to the Adult Glow party which really was not adult. Plenty of kids everywhere of all ages. It was in SpiceH20 and they had it all decorated.

 

 

 

 

 

Here's JoJo waiting for his cue....