Escape From Miami - Kinda, Sorta "Live From" - October 7-14, 2017

[POA1]

Teppanyaki, the Japanese teppan grill restaurant.

 

http://www.evernote.com/l/AFgQhUPFmnxP3Ihyl5lpL-hXZK2JqXcEVLg/

[Nclcruise1415]

Fantastic review. Thank you very much!

 

 

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[mkmaj]

Great thread, thanks so much!

 

Are you able to access the restaurants on the waterfront from the outside to grab drinks and appetizers or just at Margaritaville?

[Coreysgrl06]

This review has been wonderful. Thank you for the dailies and menus.

[POA1]

Update on the Le Bistro menu - The copy they gave me to scan still includes the Cote De Boeuf 32-oz Certified Angus Beef RibeyevSteak for Two, Carved Tableside.

 

It is NOT on the real menu. I know this because my wife and AlexandNessa were planning to order it, but it wasn't there.

[MacCruising2018]

Lunch menu doesn’t change and savor and taste only open for lunch on sea days.

 

 

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Thank you. I thought I had read that Taste and Savor were open on embarkation day as well. Anyone know if this is true? Plan is to try it on our first day.

[sjnyc323]

Thank you. I thought I had read that Taste and Savor were open on embarkation day as well. Anyone know if this is true? Plan is to try it on our first day.

 

 

 

Yes they are both open on embarkation day for lunch on deck 6

 

 

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[POA1]

Another menu modification from what was on the provided copies...

 

This one was from Pincho y Tapas:

 

There's a Waygu Beef Tenderloin Skewer which was twp pieces of Waygu tenderloin tip with a small piece of potato between the two pieces of meat. I'm pretty sure we have a photo somewhere because it was just DW and me and we were outside of the food photo ban zone. ;)

[POA1]

The Department of Digging Out Paper Menus That Fell Down In a Suitcase Pocket managed to locate an actual copy of the Pinchos menu.

 

It's quite a bit different from the one we received on the ship. We need to press out the wrinkles from the paper copy and replace it on Evernote. If you pulled a copy of the tapas menu, check back tomorrow for a revised version.

[POA1]

So...

 

I guess it's time to begin the actual review part of the report. I would have started earlier, but I caught a nasty cold. My wife says that's what I get for waking up early and being all perky. She swears that I wouldn't be sick if I had only slept in like "a normal person on vacation."

 

We chose the earliest boarding time slot and arrived at the pier early enough to be part of the first boarding group. My DFIL decided that he wanted to meet the nice security people, so he packed an iron. "Just a small one." His little side trip killed around 12 minutes - not that I was timing it - and we wound up in Boarding Group 3. That put us behind the special needs, Haven and high level loyalty plan guests as well as groups one and two.

 

After checking in and providing our passports and credit card to the gate agent, who was very friendly, we proceeded to the waiting area. After a relatively short wait, our group number was called and we boarded the ship. We had been texting my brother-in-law and agreed to meet him and AlexandNessa at Margaritaville. We were seated and we ordered our beverages: Uptown Top Shelf Margaritas for my wife and me, a Perfect Margarita for DSIL and a Coors Light for DBIL. My wife's dad had beer. I wanna say Corona.

 

DSIL and DBIL were in the Haven, so lunch at Margaritaville was comped for them. Our table wound up with Volcano Nachos, pretzel bread sticks, and three chicken quesadillas. (Not exactly what we ordered, but pretty close.)

 

For our second round of drinks, DSIL, DW, and DBIL repeated their orders. I decided to switch to bourbon on the rocks because I can't handle a lot of sour mix. Our waitress brought me another Margarita. I inquired about my bourbon choices and got a three mile stare in return. I ordered a Tito's vodka and soda with lime. The ladies split my "spare" Margarita. Our drinks were covered by the beverage package, so the errant Margarita really had no impact.

 

Our food was good, your typical Margaritaville fare. The bar did have bourbon. I made a mental note to try to sit at the bar going forward.

 

After lunch, our rooms were ready, so we headed "back to the house" to unpack. Despite our best efforts to pick a room next door to my father-in-law so we would have the same muster station, our rooms had a fire break between them and we had different muster points. (That's on us. We picked the rooms.)

[Krazy Kruizers]

This sounds like it is going to be an interesting review.

Love your way of writing.

Hope you get over your cold soon. Have you gotten your Flu shot?

[POA1]

This sounds like it is going to be an interesting review.

Love your way of writing.

Hope you get over your cold soon. Have you gotten your Flu shot?

Thanks. I don't usually get my flu shot until November. Our doctor in Maine made the case for waiting until then because the effectiveness tapers off and the flu doesn't usually show up this early. We'll get ours the second week in November.

 

This is just a head and chest cold. Hopefully it will go away now that we're home and back to our usual clean-living ways.

[POA1]

The muster drill was pretty uneventful. It's held at various indoor stations. Ours was in the casino. It takes about a half hour. Your room card is scanned in, announcements are made. You learn how to don your life vest

 

If you look back at the daily programs, you will see that the ship held additional make up life boat drills on subsequent days. I'm not sure if that's for late arriving passengers or if it's for folks who were trying to squeeze value out of the beverage package the minute they boarded the ship.

 

After the muster drill you will notice the most common complaint we heard for the week: elevator capacity. The Escape has two banks of elevators, one forward and one aft. Each bank has a gang of 8 cars. Depending on the deck you are on, the call buttons either call four elevators or they call all eight. The call pattern is either four starboard, four port, four forward (two starboard, two port) or four aft. If you are on an all call floor, all 8 elevators are called.

 

As a researcher, I am trained to to pay attention to the most random crap.

 

Our building at home is a high rise, so we are used to a certain amount of elevator decorum. You wait for people to get out before you get in. When you are in the front of the car and it stops, ask if this deck is anyone's stop. If so, hold the door and let them out. If you are in the front of a half full car, move back to let new people in.

 

I thought people might get the hang of it after a few days. I'm sure some did. Just not enough to fix the problem. I think the only solution is to give electric cattle prods to guests whose home is in a building of more than four stories. There's always a risk that the "power of the prod" would go to people's heads, so they (the prods) would have to be set to work only near the elevators. ;)

[POA1]

Remember how I told you we were in Boarding Group 3? Here is photographic evidence that I cannot be trusted. If there is anything I write with which you disagree, simply say, "The guy couldn't even get his boarding number right. There's no reason to trust anything he writes."

 

[POA1]

After muster, we walked up to the District Brew House to grab some drinks for sail away. DW had Cigar City Maduro. I had (Surprise!) bourbon on the rocks. DFIL sat out this round. We put the drinks into our 30 ounce Yetis. Or more accurately, Huskerchick put two beers into hers and I put three drinks into mine. We were still in the realm of the measured pour, so I kind of had one regular drink. You could probably fit half a bottle of liquor and the requisite amount of ice into the cup. That would not be responsible though, and we're all about safety.

 

 

By this time, the elevator situation had cleared considerably. We headed up to deck 17 so that DSIL could let us into the Haven. AlexandNessa and DBIL were in the forward starboard H3 suite and their friends were in the H2 next door. That made for quite a bit of balcony space for sail away, which is good because it was well attended.

[psac]

Food Republic (Gastro pub) by Pubbelly:

 

http://www.evernote.com/l/AFiH-8YL6s5Ig4qB2Q-jrXaiJQOVpL4jXos/

 

A tip: I'm not sure if they have hard copies of the menus available or not, so you may want to print this one out for guidance. Your main ordering interface is a specialized tablet. That's not a problem for some people, particularly if you are a geek like me. It was more of a challenge for my 80 year old father-in-law. More to follow in the actual restaurant review, but you might benefit from a paper copy.

 

Thanks for all your posts and info! For ordering through the tablet, are you able to give special requests? Specifically, my wife is allergic to sesame seeds, which is always a fun one when it comes to sushi. Thanks!

[POA1]

Thanks for all your posts and info! For ordering through the tablet, are you able to give special requests? Specifically, my wife is allergic to sesame seeds, which is always a fun one when it comes to sushi. Thanks!

Yes, you can make special requests. You put them in the Name field. Super intuitive! You tap the Name field as you order a dish. Then type in the instructions, like "Medium Rare" or "Sauce on the Side." We did not have 100% success with this, so I'd write a food allergy down on some good old paper. If I recall correctly, they did ask about allergies up front. Still, it always pays to be cautious.

[psac]

Yes, you can make special requests. You put them in the Name field. Super intuitive! You tap the Name field as you order a dish. Then type in the instructions, like "Medium Rare" or "Sauce on the Side." We did not have 100% success with this, so I'd write a food allergy down on some good old paper. If I recall correctly, they did ask about allergies up front. Still, it always pays to be cautious.

Thanks!

[Jshanleypt]

Thanks!

Can items from the menus at Pinchos or Food Republic be ordered from one of the bats? I recall reading that the the wine bar offered food selections from Pinchos.

 

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[Jshanleypt]

Can items from the menus at Pinchos or Food Republic be ordered from one of the bats? I recall reading that the the wine bar offered food selections from Pinchos.

 

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Make that "bars!"

 

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[PTC DAWG]

Great review..sailed on the Getaway last March, the Bride and I are headed out on the Escape April 7th (UBP and UDP)...We could party with you guys. BOURBON is the Wife's go to...me, I can drink anything....along with Coors Light for hydration. :)

 

 

 

Cheers!!

[POA1]

Can items from the menus at Pinchos or Food Republic be ordered from one of the bats? I recall reading that the the wine bar offered food selections from Pinchos.

 

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There are four food items on the list at the Cellars Wine Bar. I'm pretty sure that they're from the Pinchos list. There are four food items on the list at The District Brew House. Those are from Food Republic.

[cruisedd]

Thanks! My email address is poa1 - at - instituteofcheer.com

 

I really appreciate it!

I finally was able to send you those images of the Brewhouse menu. I had to get off the ship and find a decent WiFi connection. (@ Little French Key). Also had to use a VPN so I could upload to Dropbox. Let me know if you got the link.

 

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/wz3vfl9qkt5by42/AADf7BubW3IfbTcOen_DN7pka?dl=0

 

 

As a side note. Our cruise critic meet and mingle at the Brewhouse was very good. The perfect spot!!

 

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[POA1]

I finally was able to send you those images of the Brewhouse menu. I had to get off the ship and find a decent WiFi connection. (@ Little French Key). Also had to use a VPN so I could upload to Dropbox. Let me know if you got the link.

 

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/wz3vfl9qkt5by42/AADf7BubW3IfbTcOen_DN7pka?dl=0

 

 

As a side note. Our cruise critic meet and mingle at the Brewhouse was very good. The perfect spot!!

 

Sent from my ONEPLUS A5000 using Tapatalk

You're the best! Thanks.

[POA1]

Files have been sucked into my Dropbox folders. You have been promoted to "Researcher Most Excellent" and a patch for the lapel of your lab coat is in the mail.