MacCruising the Escape; Jan 20-27 review

[MacCruising2018]

Excited for your great review! We sail on the Escape in March and would love to see this drink spreadsheet you referred to!

 

Hope this link works. The list is in that thread near the last few pages....

 

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2173108&page=34

[MacCruising2018]

DAY 3 – JAMAICA

 

We finally have sunshine!! Warm and sunny! We had breakfast on our balcony as we watched our approach to Falmouth. One of the benefits of going to bed early with your kid is waking up in time to see the sunrise. DD was off to Splash for a bit but we promised her an afternoon of pool/slides. *Hubby and I wandered and even slipped off the boat for a quick visit to Margaritaville to suck up some of their free wifi.

 

 

 

 

After picking up DD we headed up to the pool deck. Wasn't busy at all so we went down the aqua loop a bunch of times and the family slide a few times too.

 

 

After that we decided to have a late lunch. This is when we realized none of the main dining rooms were open while we were in port. That left the buffet or O’Sheehans. Majority won and we headed to the buffet.

 

Lunch with a view:

 

We got back to our cabin just in time for dessert to be delivered.* A lovely tray of chocolate covered strawberries from the Hotel Director, Kivanc Ucar. Score!

 

 

And then it was nap time…for me anyways. Hubby took DD up to the arcade and O’Sheehans for some bowling.

 

 

 

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[MacCruising2018]

We watched the sun set and our sail away from Jamaica before we headed to Food Republic for supper. We didn’t have a reservation, but I’ve read numerous times that it’s not difficult to get a seat and it wasn’t. Only 1 other table seated when we got there and still not busy by the time we left. Food was ok, boiled bay scallops were amazing. UDP is accepted here so I ordered the Ciao Venezia (aperol/pineapple juice/fresh lemon juice, rosemary and sparkling water). It was good, but not a favorite. Because we had an early dinner there was still a bit of time for DD to go back to Splash for a bit. When we finally got back to our room, we had our first pitcher of water from Jay there.

 

Sunset selfie.

 

 

 

Food republic;

 

 

Ordering via iPad;

 

Tonight was hubby’s night out and he had signed up for a Johnny Walker taste testing. I went back to the cabin with DD.

Had tried earlier in the day to book a tender via iconcierge with no luck so did it this evening though our tv. We were booked tender #10 for tomorrow's Grand Cayman adventures - we actually headed on an excursion!

 

 

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[ClarkBHM]

Did you not find Jamaica to be interesting? You seem to have only gotten off for a short while.

[Oceanwench]

Enjoying your review! We also were on this cruise.

Fourth time on Escape for me, third for one of my daughters and her family, and second for other daughter and family.

We had a 6-month-old along too, for her first cruise!

[MacCruising2018]

Did you not find Jamaica to be interesting? You seem to have only gotten off for a short while.

 

Jamaica is wonderful - in fact our last vacation as a couple was in Montego Bay. It was our first cruise with our daughter so we decided to limit our excursions and stay near the ship.

[MacCruising2018]

Day 4 – Grand Cayman.

 

 

Breakfast on our patio again as we watched the tenders came to escort the crew/guests to Grand Cayman. We were in group 10 so had a bit of time to get ready. Tender process was easy. We went to the Theater when our tender was called and pretty much walked right on.

 

 

 

Once on the island we grabbed a $20 tour/each (plus tip) that took us to some historic places including the official residence of the Governor of the Cayman Islands, located in Seven Mile Beach and the Cayman Turtle Center. We only had 30 minutes at the turtle farm so had to hurry. It was fun and not only did we get to hold and feed the turtles, we saw some iguanas too. After that we got dropped off at the royal palms. Great beach and beautiful water/sand. Hung out on the beach for a bit before heading up to the pool area for some eats and cool off in the pool. Our guide failed to mention that the pool was licenced only so we couldn’t actually swim in it. We decided then to grab a cab and head back to the ship for lunch.

 

 

 

 

Beach at Royal Palms:

 

 

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Edited February 5, 2018 by MacCruising2018

[MacCruising2018]

More Royal Palms:

 

 

Patio area:

 

5 ships in port on our day there:

 

 

DD and I changed and went to the buffet, hubby napped. We wandered around the ship and eventually decided on the ropes course. We lined up about 15 minutes before it opened and was 3rd in line. DD did her course 4x and only when she was finally getting off (only so I could go do the big course) did we see another little one coming to try it. She loved it. Now it was my turn. I’m not a fan of heights but I really wanted to push through and do this. So proud of myself for completing it...even the zip lines and gangway. Was disappointed that the official pictures from the ropes course didn’t turn out very well.

 

 

 

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[MacCruising2018]

Supper was at Savour tonight and it didn't disappoint. Hubby had steak and I had shrimp...DD had corn chowder. Oh and dessert! I had the no sugar added Coconut cake and it was delicious; ice cream for the little one.

 

 

 

 

Loving the towel animals, tonight was Arlo the dinosaur.

 

Tonight was my evening out and I went to see Howl at the Moon – excellent show. I stayed for nearly 3 hours and enjoyed lots of bevvies too – Bahama mama, rebellious fish, mango meltdown, pina colada…

 

 

 

 

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[ClarkBHM]

Love the pictures! Thanks for sharing.

[rbschultz]

 

Hey thats me! :)

[MacCruising2018]

Hey thats me! :)

It appears we were sitting next to each other at the m&g. Hi rbschultz!

 

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[jcCruiserNYC]

Hmmmm, I hope your review continues ... am enjoying it! Will be on the Escape in June. :)

[MacCruising2018]

I've been struggling with the app... it's not letting me upload pictures. Will have to remove it and try and download it again and see if that works. Stay tuned!

 

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[agm2pc]

I've been struggling with the app... it's not letting me upload pictures. Will have to remove it and try and download it again and see if that works. Stay tuned!

 

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You could try uploading them on the actual site as opposed to using the app?

 

I am also looking forward to the rest of the review, I’ll be on the Escape in 12 days!

 

 

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[tryingsomethingnew]

You could try uploading them on the actual site as opposed to using the app?

 

I am also looking forward to the rest of the review, I’ll be on the Escape in 12 days!

 

 

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I will be on the same cruise! Have you joined the roll call for this cruise on cc? https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2428870

[agm2pc]

I will be on the same cruise! Have you joined the roll call for this cruise on cc? https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2428870

 

 

 

Yes I have, it will be my first cruise as well!

 

 

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[MacCruising2018]

You could try uploading them on the actual site as opposed to using the app?

 

I am also looking forward to the rest of the review, I’ll be on the Escape in 12 days!

 

 

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I'd have to put all my pics on a 3rd party website in order to upload to actual site. Easier to send to my phone and upload from there.

 

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[MacCruising2018]

Day 5 Costa Maya – Wednesday Jan 24th

 

Another beautiful day. The Pearl was already docked as we watched our arrival in from our balcony.

 

 

 

Convinced hubby we should get off boat, for a little bit at least and walk around the cruise ship area. So glad we did as the place was beautiful! So much to see and do.* I really wish I had planned this port out before we got there. There’s an opportunity to swim with the dolphins, walk suspension bridges around the facility stopping at bird feeding areas, a large licensed pool (kids allowed but we didn't bring our swim suits), sandy area with lounge chairs, restaurants….if you’ve been there you know how nice this place is.* It turned out to be my favorite port we stopped at.* We had lunch; seafood salsa mix with nacho chips that we all shared. *Hubby decided to head back to the ship not long after lunch with DD; I stayed to shop for a bit.

 

 

 

 

For dinner, we dropped DD off at Splash and headed to the Manhattan Rooom where we had yet another great meal.* To top it off we all headed to Dolce Gelato after for a treat and enjoyed it on the waterfront area before calling it a night.*

 

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[kattlinx13]

Thanks. I Love your review and posts. I will be on the Escape for the 1st time in May for my honeymoon. Did you experience the boat rocking a lot? We are in a balcony- 13th deck more aft than mid. I’m getting nervous.

 

 

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[MacCruising2018]

Thanks kattlinx13. Glad to know someone is reading along. 😄

As for rocking of the boat, you will see in my next post there was a lot of rocking, however, this was due to nasty weather and not the norm. You'll be fine and if you are worried about nausea, get sea bands and ginger.

 

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[kattlinx13]

Thanks kattlinx13. Glad to know someone is reading along. [emoji1]

As for rocking of the boat, you will see in my next post there was a lot of rocking, however, this was due to nasty weather and not the norm. You'll be fine and if you are worried about nausea, get sea bands and ginger.

 

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Thanks for the response. Yeah we do wear sea bands but have always been mid ship.

Can’t wait to read more of your post. :)

Kathy

 

 

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[MacCruising2018]

Thursday Jan 25th DAY 6 - Cozumel (what was to be a sea day and then Nassau, got changed due to inclement weather to Cozumel and then sea day)

 

The day started off hazy and overcast but when the sun did pop out it was hot. I had fallen asleep with DD so early the night before that I didn't get a chance to fill out our room service breakfast card. Hubby woke with a lot of pressure and pain in his ear so DD and I went to the buffet for breakfast. After having my usual egg benny we went to the make a t-shirt for the glow party (little did I realize we were getting set up for a disappoint when they cancelled the family portion of the glow party).

 

 

 

 

Afterwards DD went to the splash academy while hubby and I jumped ship for an hour and went to get some meds from Cozumel for hubby…and maybe suck up a little free wifi too.

 

 

 

 

Back on board we grabbed DD and headed to O'Sheehans for lunch. I had fish and chips, hubby the corn beef sandwich and DD had a pb&j sandwich. Apparently O'Sheenans doesn't do the kids meals but would make an exception this time. To this point, we’ve done well with DD’s meals. Most times, we order off the main menu for her and no one has bat an eye at this. I’m glad as there’s not much for healthy options on the kids menu.

 

 

Edit to add: sorry about the sideways pictures. Will have to work on fixing that before my next post.

 

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[MacCruising2018]

Can't get the photo's to come out straight. Will try again later...

 

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[Sand and Seas]

Very good review and we really love the pictures. Thanks for posting:D