Escape "LISTING" cruise 3-3-19

[dexddd]

15 hours ago, graphicguy said:

Sorry @dexdd!  I thought it was you who was docked on the Sky when we were there.  I did the MSC Divina a couple of years, ago.  Great ship.  Will look for your adventures on the Seaside, as I'm curious about it.

No problem.  We sailed Divinia back in August 2017.   Expecting Seaside to be even better.  Stay tuned.

[graphicguy]

For good or ill, I don’t have much more to show for NASSAU.  As mentioned previously, I’ve been there often and have done most of the excursions.  It’s pretty, no doubt.  The down town area, where all the shops are located cover about a 3 block area.  They’re typical....Diamonds International, a host of other jewelry stores.  Athena is my my favorite restaurant to grab lunch while there (http://www.athenacafenassau.com/).  It has a jewelry store on the lower level and the restaurant is on the 2nd level.....all family owned, always happy to see returning customers, and good greek food that they won’t gouge you by being near the cruise terminal.

 

Walk a little further past the main shopping areas, and the neighborhoods get a little sketchier.  I’ve never had an issue.  But, I have been approached on the street in these areas by folks looking to sell me everything from pot to hookers.

 

The other interesting place that might be worth your while to visit (also on most tours) is the local Rum Factory (http://www.johnwatlings.com/).

[graphicguy]

The (LARGE) chickens roaming the grounds at the Rum factory, and a tasting flight (I got the small one, there were larger ones).  I’m not a rum drinker, per se.  So, I have no idea whether it’s good rum, or not.  I will say that I liked the “pale rum” better than any other rum I’ve ever tasted. It’s the only one I might consider drinking again.

Edited March 20, 2019 by graphicguy

[graphicguy]

There’s a stop off point before going back to the dock.  I found this a great area to hang out with the locals.  I hit up the shops the first day we were docked, and did the tour (actually opted out of the ride to the ships to hang out at the little bar in the pic) the 2nd day.  I was probably at this little bar for a couple of hours listening to the locals tell stories about tourists......immensely entertaining.  

 

I had their local beer, too....quite good.  Finished up with a coconut concoction.  Between the rum factory tour, the beers and the coconut drinks, even though you can see our ship was within walking distance, I actually took a 5 minute taxi ride back to the ship, as I was in “good spirits”.

 

 

Edited March 20, 2019 by graphicguy

[graphicguy]

Always a welcome sight as you walk up to the ship after being out all day......

[dexddd]

3 hours ago, graphicguy said:

There’s a stop off point before going back to the dock.  I found this a great area to hang out with the locals.  I hit up the shops the first day we were docked, and did the tour (actually opted out of the ride to the ships to hang out at the little bar in the pic) the 2nd day.  I was probably at this little bar for a couple of hours listening to the locals tell stories about tourists......immensely entertaining.  

 

I had their local beer, too....quite good.  Finished up with a coconut concoction.  Between the rum factory tour, the beers and the coconut drinks, even though you can see our ship was within walking distance, I actually took a 5 minute taxi ride back to the ship, as I was in “good spirits”.

 

 

 

Looks like Junkanoo Beach.

[graphicguy]

32 minutes ago, dexddd said:

 

Looks like Junkanoo Beach.

It is.

 

Great afternoon.  Made new friends.  Laughed until I literally had tears.

Edited March 20, 2019 by graphicguy

[DJHamma514]

Does anyone else think the guy in the green Aruba shirt looks like Rex Ryan (Former NFL coach and current analyst)? 

[graphicguy]

16 minutes ago, DJHamma514 said:

Does anyone else think the guy in the green Aruba shirt looks like Rex Ryan (Former NFL coach and current analyst)? 

Know what?  You’re right.  Never thought about that until you mentioned it.  I wonder?  I was there for a couple of hours.  That family was there for about 20 minutes.  While I shouldn’t bring this up, they had a heck of a time getting that electric scooter out of the sand.

[graphicguy]

With the one (and only) port I left the ship for (Canaveral was cold and we couldn’t tender GSC) now nearly over, there were just a few more pics of the two days we spent there....

 

 

 

 

[graphicguy]

At this juncture, I really needed to eat something as up until this point on the 2nd day in Nassau, I only had a plate of fruit, coffee and juice for breakfast.  Doing the rum tasting and hanging out at Junkanoo Beach to drink with the locals, I needed food (and a shower).  The pic below I think were what I ordered from Food Republic as it was on my way to the cabin (I think....memory is a little foggy by this time).

 

After the food and shower, I ended up on the Waterfront for one of the few days it was warm enough to just sit and relax in comfort.  Grabbed a drink and did just that.

 

 

[zencruisers]

The Waterfront is a great place to hang out and relax. I am enjoying your review and pictures. Thank you.

 

[graphicguy]

Need to amend the post above about eating in the Food Republic.  The dish shown was from there, but it was from the next night (as I’m looking at the dates on my photos).  It’s coming back to me now....I grabbed some food from the Garden Cafe after returning to the ship from Junkanoo Beach.  

 

I think it was a burger and some salads.  IIRC, I liked the burger quite a bit.  Then again, my taste buds were relatively numb at that juncture.

 

Told you I was foggy.

[www3traveler]

Thank you for sharing your wonderful adventure.

 

I had family on board your cruise.  They said they had a great time.  They are ready to go cruising again.

[graphicguy]

Thanks for following.  I hope the tour and information proves helpful.

 

After finally leaving NASSAU, grabbing a late lunch, taking a shower (and feeling a whole lot better than I had any right to), I went looking for some entertainment.  First stop, Tobacco Road to meet up with some friends I had made onboard, then to the Atrium, and finally as the night wore on, the Casino...(picked up a couple of hundred playing craps, so all-in-all a good day/night......

[graphicguy]

I haven’t said much about the Garden Cafe.  It ranged from good, to very good.  I didn’t eat dinner there, but would catch a quick breakfast and/or lunch.  Given we were on the ship....a lot....given we skipped GSC and I didn’t get off the ship for Canaveral, I stopped by the Garden Cafe daily.

 

For breakfast, my routine was to stop at the Starbucks coffee shop (near Customer Service) to get a large hot water.  While not a panacea for a good cup of coffee, I do use those Starbucks packets you can get from Costco.  They sure beat the coffee in the Garden Cafe.  Plus, the Starbucks coffee shop was always willing and kind enough to provide me a large water to mix the packets with.  Much easier than trying to get hot water in the Garden Cafe.  Breakfast would consist of my “home brew” and a plate of fruit to start my day.

 

I didn’t take any pics in the Garden Cafe.  If you’ve seen one buffet, it’s a good bet you’ve seen them all.

 

When I went to the Garden Cafe for lunch, I would make a salad, usually with chicken.  Everything was always fresh and tasty.

 

I had a burger once and sort of prepared myself for it to be dried out because it was under a “hot lamp”.  They must move a lot of them as it was quite good, not dried out, and had enough of a char on it to make it very tasty.  I was pleasantly surprised.

 

Suffice to say, I was never disappointed with anything I ate in the Garden Cafe.  If you don’t like something at one station, move along to the next and you’re more than likely to find something you like.

 

For the uninitiated, the Garden Cafe on the Escape has 2-3 hand washing stations, in addition to the sanitizer at each entrance/exit.  Yet, I still saw people go out of their way and around the NCL greeters at each entrance so they DID NOT wash or sanitize their hands.  Seriously, is it really that difficult to wash your hands for safety’s sake?

[Laszlo]

2 hours ago, graphicguy said:

Yet, I still saw people go out of their way and around the NCL greeters at each entrance so they DID NOT wash or sanitize their hands.  Seriously, is it really that difficult to wash your hands for safety’s sake?

 

Those greeters need to slap people who don't sanitize their hands! Lol.

 

 

[mking8288]

When we had cases of viral gastroenteritis on the Escape in January, crew stationed at the buffet were 99.5% vigilent enforcing the washy, washy rules - stopping all guests from entering until they wash up at the sink stations and then spraying the hands before allowing entry into the cafe ... unless someone insisted that they are just passing thru to/from the pool area - for second half of our 15 days onboard, which apparently continued on the following 14 days sailing as well.  

 

The measures could NOT be enforced at the MDR, Specialty or O'Sheehan's, etc. but the portable hand sanitizers were out, everwhere and by the elevator banks - of course, we saw plenty of people skipping it  & then hitting elevator buttons.  

 

[graphicguy]

I know a lot of solo cruisers look forward to solo gatherings.  I love meeting new people.  More often than not, I’m fortunate enough where I make friends along the way, and not necessarily going with the “solo throngs.”  Nothing wrong with that.  I just don’t limit myself to just hanging with solos.

 

I’m just not a big plan maker while on any vacation.  I just show up and see what happens.

 

Our little group that pretty much “hung out” consisted of two couples, two solos (both female, which I thoroughly enjoyed) and myself.  One of the solos (who shared my Junkanoo Beach adventure with) was from Tel Aviv but transplanted to NYC.  You can barely see her standing at the bar.....

[graphicguy]

The other solo was from NJ and was on the cruise as a solo because, like me, she just had some time off and was looking for something to do.  She hated having her picture taken so sorting through, all I had were blurs of her.

 

The two couples were from the NY area and were on their first cruise.  Being the veteran, I sort of took them through the paces (;

 

We usually ate together.  We drank together.  We saw shows together.  

 

We’ve all are now friends, albeit remote from each other.  We’re already trying to plan another cruise where we’re all together again.

[Von & John]

3 hours ago, mking8288 said:

. but the portable hand sanitizers were out, everwhere and by the elevator banks - of course, we saw plenty of people skipping it  & then hitting elevator buttons.  

 

 

 

Good Point  --  I don't always see hand sanitizers by the elevator (different ships) & use my knuckle to hit the buttons.  I wonder if the sanitizer by the elevators is a ship by ship decision...

[Sand and Seas]

2 hours ago, Von & John said:

 

Good Point  --  I don't always see hand sanitizers by the elevator (different ships) & use my knuckle to hit the buttons.  I wonder if the sanitizer by the elevators is a ship by ship decision...

I'm pretty good hitting elevator buttons with my elbow

[graphicguy]

Having no more excursions, and coming to the end of the cruise, I decided to explore a little more.  With some warm weather, I did, finally, get to use the VIBE.  Again, with the price it is now ($209/pp), that will be the first, and the last time I’ll buy access to the VIBE.  There are just too many other really nice areas for adults to hang out (Spice H2O...The WaterFront)....

 

 

[graphicguy]

The always entertaining mad dash for cheap scarves, watches, t-shirts, etc by the end of the cruise......

[graphicguy]

Having the Dining Package, a Specialty Dinner from AMEX Platinum and two Specialty Dinners from NCL by being Latitudes Platinum, I really didn’t have to eat in any of the MDRs (did once at the beginning of the cruise, however).  I know some fret about getting a dining slot at the Specialty Restaurants, but if we couldn’t get into one restaurant at the time we wanted, we just found another that would eventually find a slot for us.  We really didn’t plan anything.

 

We ate at Cagney’s (2X).  It was excellent both times.  I had a filet and prime rib.  Both were cooked perfectly (medium rare) and tasted great.  Ate at Moderno once.  The Salad Bar is the star.  I had some sausage and grilled chicken as my mains.  They were good, but I was already stuffed from the salad bar to really appreciate them.  Ate at LaCucina once....probably the best experience for Italian food on any cruise ship (including NCL’s other ships as well as RCCL ships), with the exception of MSC (EATALY on their ships is fantastic).

 

While not really disappointing, I was “meh” about Le Bistro.  I had ordered Scallops that were over cooked and too salty.  They fell all over themselves to get me to try a different dish and were very apologetic.  They didn’t count it on my Dining Package as a result.  Didn’t really matter because I had so many Specialty Dining credits available to me.

 

LOVED FOOD REPUBLIC (see pic....beef short ribs).  Ate there twice. It’s not included on the SDP, but I didn’t mind as it was close to my cabin and I loved their food.......

 

Generally speaking, regardless of where we dined, the food was great (save LeBistro), the service was outstanding, and we enjoyed all of them.  My company at my first dinner in Savor was a little quirky, but the waitstaff and food were great.

Edited March 23, 2019 by graphicguy