NCL ESCAPE - FEBRUARY 11-18 - LIVE REVIEW

[devinelaw]

7 DAY COUNTDOWN…..Going to attempt to do a live or at least semi-live review of our first cruise since the Covid-19 pandemic.  My DW and I went on our first cruise in 1999 for our 10 year anniversary.  This will be our 12^th cruise.    We have been on the Carnival Pride, Paradise, Glory and Breeze, Royal Caribbean Navigator, Disney Magic (x2), Caribbean Princess, Holland America Westerdam, Norwegian Escape and Getaway, and this cruise will be our second on the Escape.  

During this cruise we will have the Super Bowl LVII (Go CHIEFS!!), Valentine’s Day and celebrate the 35^th  Anniversary of my proposal (married 33 years) to my DW. 

 

We were last on the Escape February 2020 as Covid-19 was just spreading from Asia to other parts of the world and was tracking the news of outbreaks in places other than the United States while onboard in the Western Caribbean.  Once back in the U.S. the first cases were hitting the news from Washington State.

 

We are originally from the Midwest (Indiana) and moved to Florida seven years ago.  We will be driving up to Port Canaveral from our home in South Florida the day before we embark and sail out.  Our itinerary will be Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, St. Thomas, USVI, Tortola, BVI and GSC in the Bahamas.

 

We have booked an Aft Balcony Cabin on Deck 15.  We upgraded to FAS Plus giving us two extra specialty dining meals, unlimited Wi-Fi, $50 excursion credits per port per person and premium plus beverage package.  We have scheduled Cagney’s Steakhouse, Moderno Churrascaria, Le Bistro and La Cucina for our specialty dining choices.  We have Savor and the Manhattan Room scheduled for MDR meals and plan on going to O’Sheehans, the American Diner and Food Republic.

 

We have booked passes for the week for the Vibe Beach Club (have done this on all NCL cruises)  and the Thermal Suite (first time).  This cruise we were able to book the Vibe Beach Club online which was really nice!!  Previously we got to the port early to get on the ship and snag the passes before they sold out.  

 

We have two shore excursions scheduled, the Champagne Harbor Cruise in St. Thomas and Escape to Jost Van Dyke in the BVI.  Our plans are to experience the Taino Bay cruise port and visit Paseo De Dona Blanca and Umbrella Street and the sights of Downtown Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic, shop at Havensight Mall and the Harbor Cruise in St.Thomas, visit Jost Van Dyke and the Soggy Dollar in BVI and enjoy staying on the ship at GSC.  
 

Have fun following along, we will post our thoughts, opinions, the dailies and lots of pictures while I have fun seeing what the camera on my new iPhone 14 Pro Max can do.  We will post pre-cruise packing and travel suggestions this week, embarkation day details and cruise week activities and photos as we can.  

[Lupush]

Will be following. Excited for you!

[Cruiseingbug]

Looking forward to your observations and hopefully any Dailies you can to share. I am taking a group 2 weeks after you are down. Have a great cruise.

[sns1009]

Excited to follow along. We'll be on March 4th

[SunshineGal2022]

Happy to follow along.  We have the same itinerary in June.  We are almost to the point of booking our reservations! 😁

[zzdoug]

Enjoy. You are welcome to celebrate the 20th anniversary of my wife and myself on February 16 in the unlikely event that you have nothing better to do. We will celebrate belatedly aboard the Escape in the first week of May. 

 

Thanks in advance for your offer to post dailies. I'm obsessed. 

[disneylover89]

Following along!😎

[catgags]

Hi! 

I'll be following along! When you get off the ship I'll be getting on!! It's my 5th Escape cruise! Also have Vibe passes! We were always first on and walked real fast to get passes!!! LOL!! Worked every cruise 10x!

I'll be getting on the Prima 2/26! I did upgrade FAS plus for this cruise!! I was lucky enough to bid and won a balcony cabin!

 

Enjoy your Escape cruise and Happy Anniversary!!!

Cat

[coscab]

If you can could you please note what deck you boarded on, thanks in advance, have a wonderful joy filled cruise!

[devinelaw]

UPDATE 2/5/2023:

 

All packed & ready to go……

 

Packing List:

 

Clothing: t-shirts, shorts, long pants, jeans, long sleeve shirts, swimsuits, swim shirts, underwear and bras, light sweater, belt, pajamas, workout clothes, boat shoes, tennis shoes, water shoes, poncho, socks.

Cabin/Deck items: small usb fan, plug adapters, multi plug strip, magnetic hooks, towel bands, iPads (movies downloaded), iPod, Bluetooth speaker, kindle, travel games, post it notes, pens, plug and cords in organizer, quick charger for cell phones, first aid kit (Covid based items included (tests, thermometer & masks)), suntan lotions, after sun lotion, Clorox wipes, Lysol spray, pop up clothes hamper, in room snacks, flavor packets for water bottles.

Travel and Excursion items: AirTags, backpack, waterproof bag, lanyards, plastic cruise luggage tag holders, go pro and accessories, waterproof phone case

Personal items: boarding documents, passports, cash, credit cards, Covid-19 vaccination cards, prescription medications, Tylenol, Advil, contacts, glasses, glass cleaning wipes, hand wipes, toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, mouthwash, deodorant, q-tips, makeup, volumizer hair dryer brush, shampoo and conditioner, hand sanitizer, hand lotion, body lotion, eye drops, razor, shaving cream, after shave balm, fingernail clippers, tide stick, wrinkle release spray, eucalyptus shower beads, silicone wedding bands, apple watch, cellphones, AirPods, sunglasses, reading glasses.
 

[zzdoug]

That is some industrial strength itemization.

[catgags]

Great list!!! I always pack extra reading & sun glasses. 

I bring a baseball hat for the windy days up in Vibe. 

 

You guys are very organized!! I love it!!

Cat

[cruisingcasinos]

19 hours ago, devinelaw said:

 

7 DAY COUNTDOWN…..Going to attempt to do a live or at least semi-live review of our first cruise since the Covid-19 pandemic.  My DW and I went on our first cruise in 1999 for our 10 year anniversary.  This will be our 12^th cruise.    We have been on the Carnival Pride, Paradise, Glory and Breeze, Royal Caribbean Navigator, Disney Magic (x2), Caribbean Princess, Holland America Westerdam, Norwegian Escape and Getaway, and this cruise will be our second on the Escape.  

During this cruise we will have the Super Bowl LVII (Go CHIEFS!!), Valentine’s Day and celebrate the 35^th  Anniversary of my proposal (married 33 years) to my DW. 

 

We were last on the Escape February 2020 as Covid-19 was just spreading from Asia to other parts of the world and was tracking the news of outbreaks in places other than the United States while onboard in the Western Caribbean.  Once back in the U.S. the first cases were hitting the news from Washington State.

 

We are originally from the Midwest (Indiana) and moved to Florida seven years ago.  We will be driving up to Port Canaveral from our home in South Florida the day before we embark and sail out.  Our itinerary will be Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, St. Thomas, USVI, Tortola, BVI and GSC in the Bahamas.

 

We have booked an Aft Balcony Cabin on Deck 15.  We upgraded to FAS Plus giving us two extra specialty dining meals, unlimited Wi-Fi, $50 excursion credits per port per person and premium plus beverage package.  We have scheduled Cagney’s Steakhouse, Moderno Churrascaria, Le Bistro and La Cucina for our specialty dining choices.  We have Savor and the Manhattan Room scheduled for MDR meals and plan on going to O’Sheehans, the American Diner and Food Republic.

 

We have booked passes for the week for the Vibe Beach Club (have done this on all NCL cruises)  and the Thermal Suite (first time).  This cruise we were able to book the Vibe Beach Club online which was really nice!!  Previously we got to the port early to get on the ship and snag the passes before they sold out.  

 

We have two shore excursions scheduled, the Champagne Harbor Cruise in St. Thomas and Escape to Jost Van Dyke in the BVI.  Our plans are to experience the Taino Bay cruise port and visit Paseo De Dona Blanca and Umbrella Street and the sights of Downtown Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic, shop at Havensight Mall and the Harbor Cruise in St.Thomas, visit Jost Van Dyke and the Soggy Dollar in BVI and enjoy staying on the ship at GSC.  
 

Have fun following along, we will post our thoughts, opinions, the dailies and lots of pictures while I have fun seeing what the camera on my new iPhone 14 Pro Max can do.  We will post pre-cruise packing and travel suggestions this week, embarkation day details and cruise week activities and photos as we can.  

have a great time! we love the escape!!!

[eileeshb]

My first cruise was on Escape and I had such a good time I’d booked my next within a week of getting home. Have fun! I hope to sail on her again sometime in the future. 

[mslayer_99]

Have a good trip! We're heading out on the Escape in April.  I would appreciate to hear how the Premium Plus wine offerings will work out for you (bottles available in MDR, wines available at The Cellars, etc)

And that packing inventory is definitely being shared with my packing-obsessed partner 😛

[sue402001]

I'm looking forward to reading your live blog. I'll be boarding the Escape the 25th.

[BenDover]

If you like wine at all, make sure you go to Cellars and meet Dragisha, the Cellar Master. You will not find anybody on land or at sea that knows more about wine then he does. Also, if you have a chance to attend some of the wine classes - the best at sea!

Tell him Michael sent you and you will get the best wine service of your life 😎

[ellenw]

1 hour ago, BenDover said:

If you like wine at all, make sure you go to Cellars and meet Dragisha, the Cellar Master. You will not find anybody on land or at sea that knows more about wine then he does. Also, if you have a chance to attend some of the wine classes - the best at sea!

Tell him Michael sent you and you will get the best wine service of your life 😎

Agreed! Met him on the TA in November. And Edison is also knowledgeable and a delight!

[slavetoabunny]

I'll be on the Escape in December - first post-covid cruise!  Since we haven't cruised in such a long time, I went all out and booked a Haven suite.

[BenDover]

3 hours ago, ellenw said:

Agreed! Met him on the TA in November. And Edison is also knowledgeable and a delight!

Edison is the Man!!!!

[disneylover89]

Curious to see if your fan makes it on.  I use one every night and cannot sleep without it, but I heard a lot of people get theirs taken away, even the USB kind so I was going to leave mine home.

[Panhandle Couple]

Thanks!

Also leaving on 4 March Escape so I will follow along.

We have done aft balconies on the Bliss twice, and love the extra outdoor space.

 

[jcollin]

March 18th for us, waiting to hear your review

[Green4me]

We sail March 11th so will be reading along,  thanks for doing this, 🙂 

[devinelaw]

6 hours ago, disneylover89 said:

Curious to see if your fan makes it on.  I use one every night and cannot sleep without it, but I heard a lot of people get theirs taken away, even the USB kind so I was going to leave mine home.

Interesting, I’ll let you know!