Live on the Escape Nov 25-Dec 2

[CAKEisgood]

Today is Day 3 and we are in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic Freestyle Daily 

[CAKEisgood]

18 hours ago, Stealthdog said:

 

Are the freestyle dailys being delivered to your cabin the night before, or do you have to request them or get them at guest services? 

 

Hello. The Freestyle Daily is placed on top of our cabin number each evening. It arrives around 7 pm. It is also located at guest services.
 

Also at Guest Services is a spot to make restaurant reservations and to review the menus from all the different restaurants. We did not have dinner reservations at La Cucina last night, but I walked up to the hostess around 7pm and asked for an 8pm seating with no problem. MDRs don’t require reservations. Cagney’s and Le Bistro might be more difficult to get a reservation same day. 

[D_And_K_gocruising]

Any clue how full your sailing is?  Ours is looking pretty full this Saturday.. 

[CAKEisgood]

Good evening. It’s a full Beaver moon and the seas are calm 

picture from our cabin balcony of the moon. Gorgeous night. We have had perfect weather 

[CAKEisgood]

Dinner at Cagney’s steakhouse.  I enjoyed the bone in pork chop that had a nice peppery/ Smokey rub with sweet potatoes that were diced and seasoned with maple syrup. My husband had the shrimp cocktail to start and the filet mignon with creamed spinach for main course. Filet was perfect medium rare. 
we were so full that we had no dessert 

[CAKEisgood]

Cocktail after dinner we went to Tobacco Road and enjoyed rusty nail with Woodford Reserve bourbon and Drambui. 
 

Before dinner cocktail was a mojito at the Sugarcane bar. 

 

Drinks were amazing.

PS I don’t know why the pic of my rusty nail cocktail is upside down. On my phone it’s right side up 😝
 

Good night 💤😴 

 

Edited November 28, 2023 by CAKEisgood

[Cruise_Anne]

11 minutes ago, CAKEisgood said:

Cocktail after dinner we went to Tobacco Road and enjoyed rusty nail with Woodford Reserve bourbon and Drambui. 
 

Before dinner cocktail was a mojito at the Sugarcane bar. 

 

Drinks were amazing. 
 

Good night 💤😴 

Sounds like a perfect ending to a perfect day!

[CAKEisgood]

Good morning. Day 4 and welcome to St Thomas, US Virgin Islands. This port is a picturesque scene from a Caribbean movie. I recommend being outside on your balcony or the waterfront or one of the top decks as the ship docks. You will be impressed 

[CAKEisgood]

We are enjoying breakfast at the Garden Cafe. The Garden Cafe opens for full breakfast at different times each day, so check the Daily the night before (it’s delivered to your room and at Guest Services)

 

a few pics of garden cafe and a pic from my seat.

 

we are here early. The crowds show up around 8:30. Highly recommend getting to breakfast early. Same for lunch. Arrive just as they open for service. There is always food out, but full service for each meal is listed in the Daily. On Page 4 of the Daily it lists “Today’s Dining Options” with hours of when the restaurants are open and which complimentary restaurants are open for morning, afternoon and dinner. 

[CAKEisgood]

On 11/19/2023 at 8:25 PM, DublinFC said:

If you are able to could you mention how many regular outlets, not USB, are by/near the bed area?

There is a USB outlet on the light on one side of the bed and there is one outlet on the other side of the bed. I bring an anker power strip to plug in all my gadgets on the desk. No problems with that. There are no outlets in the bathroom. Blow dryer is supplied in the room underneath the desk in a holster. 

[CAKEisgood]

On 11/20/2023 at 5:39 PM, cat shepard said:

Am very interested in your wine experiences. 

We have the premium beverage package which allows unlimited drinks that are $15 or less. In the past there was a broad selection of wines by the glass that we enjoyed within our beverage class. However, we will buy a glass of good wine (or 2 🤩) that is more than $15 and pay the difference. On this trip there aren’t as many wines offered by the glass and the quality of wines by the glass in the premium package are more like an economy package.  that great. We are selecting our wines, mostly from the premium plus package list and paying the difference. 
 

The Som in the Wine Cellar told us that NCL contracts with wineries to provide enough wine for a full year. If the vineyard can’t supply enough wine by the glass for the whole year, then they might only offer it by the bottle. Wines by the bottle don’t go as fast as wines by the glass (makes sense). 
 

My opinion, the up charge for the premium plus wines and bourbon, for us, doesn’t come any where near the full cost to buy the premium plus beverage package. We are averaging about $10/day for beverage up charges (~$70 for the whole trip) and that is not anywhere near the $500 price for us to purchase the premium beverage package.

 

Tip: There are a lot of excellent cocktails in the premium package ($15 or less) and if you enjoy mai tais, margaritas, mojitos, and any other fun cocktail, then the premium beverage package should be fine. You can splurge on a good glass of wine or bourbon in the evening (which is what we do). 

[prince319]

On 11/25/2023 at 11:45 AM, CAKEisgood said:

FYI Construction going on at the parking area 

Since we were last at Port Canaveral they have torn up the area where we used to drop off our luggage. They are building a new parking garage. 

 

Following along as we sail in December!

 

Question though....with the construction at the parking garage is it a major hassle to just drop off luggage?  We have a large group traveling and was thinking about just dropping off luggage first and then parking (off-site, nearby lot) but if that area is completely under construction we might be better off parking at our off-site lot and letting the shuttle take us and our luggage over.

 

Thanks!

[CAKEisgood]

13 hours ago, prince319 said:

 

Question though....with the construction at the parking garage is it a major hassle to just drop off luggage? 

Hello. It’s hard to tell. It looked

like it was easy to get to the area to drop off luggage, but coming out you would be dealing with the traffic (and it looked bad) of those coming off the ship. Sorry, I wish I had more info. You might just have to be flexible when you arrive. It’s possible the traffic won’t be as awful. Good luck! 

[CAKEisgood]

Dinner last night was at Le Bistro last night. It was amazing. We have dined at Le Bistro on all of our Norwegian sailings and this was by far the best. The Chef came out often to check on guests to make sure they were enjoying the food. The Som was very attentive and recommended a nice Rose from Sixth Sense winery to pair with the coq au vin. The coq au vin was fabulous. I also had the onion soup and endive salad paired with the 66 Prosecco. Delicious. 
Dessert was a custard with meringue and raspberry on top. Sooooo goood. 

[CAKEisgood]

We walked around Charlotte Amalya and got to look at all the bling. I did splurge on some bling. It was a fun walk from the ship to the town, about 30 minutes, and the weather was perfect. 

[CAKEisgood]

Day 5 Tortuga BVI. I was able to post this as a saved PDF from the NCL app. I have found the paper Daily more reliable because the NCL loads the daily really slow at times and I just gave up. Today we are in Port and the internet speed is better. Posting the pics, too for those that prefer that option 

 

Day 5 Tortuga .pdf

Edited November 29, 2023 by CAKEisgood

[CAKEisgood]

On 11/25/2023 at 12:54 PM, www3traveler said:

 

When you can, could you please post a list of the current Officers?

Hello. I have seen the pictures you mention on a board on my previous cruises, but the Escape has the officers pictures posted as a slide show on a screen near the theatre. The officers are listed individually and it wasn’t practical for me to stand there and take a pic of each slide as it scrolled. 
 

the day 2 daily lists some of the officers. I hope that helps. 

[wolft927]

Thanks so much for the review, we will be one the escape on January 6th. Looking over the dailies for show times and such so this helps me plan! 

[CAKEisgood]

We have unlimited thermal suite access and my observations of the spa, so far. 
The days we are in Port the spa is empty until about an hour the ship embarks. They offer one day passes (I think) for port days only and the spa really fills up after people get back from excursions. That’s about the time we leave and go enjoy other parts of the ship.
 

on sea days the spa has many people, but not nearly the number on port days. We can easily find a spot to relax, read and watch the ocean.  
 

We might go back late evening for one last turn in the sauna, salt room and snow room. 
 

The staff are very attentive at keeping the spa clean, the water and tea freshened and towels available. 
 

my only minor complaint is that it can get loud in the spa when many people are in the whirlpool and are talking above the sounds of the water fall and jets. But I do t fault them. It’s a big room and sound carries. 
 

I love the spa and will be back! 

[CAKEisgood]

7 minutes ago, wolft927 said:

Looking over the dailies for show times and such so this helps me plan! 

We walked passed the Pour House last night when Rumours was playing and it was not nearly as packed as we have seen in the past. The female singer has a beautiful voice. 
 

Enjoy your cruise!

[CAKEisgood]

We have been to Spice H20 on embarkation days and it was fun and the weather was cool. We ventured over to Spice H20 to check it out and relax for the afternoon before we leave Tortola.  It is located aft on deck 17 (above the Garden Cafe). It has a nice bar with fun waterfall/ caves to cool off. The deck has a gazillion lounge chairs and about 4 or 5 shade umbrellas. There is very little shade, and so we left after a few minutes.

Spice H20 looks like a fun spot for those that can endure spending hours in the sun. I’m not one of them. Believe me, I’ve had my fair share of sun bathing, but that’s not for me anymore. I’m fair skinned, freckles and red hair so I sun burn easily  

[firstimer2009]

4 hours ago, CAKEisgood said:

Dinner last night was at Le Bistro last night. It was amazing. We have dined at Le Bistro on all of our Norwegian sailings and this was by far the best. The Chef came out often to check on guests to make sure they were enjoying the food. The Som was very attentive and recommended a nice Rose from Sixth Sense winery to pair with the coq au vin. The coq au vin was fabulous. I also had the onion soup and endive salad paired with the 66 Prosecco. Delicious. 
Dessert was a custard with meringue and raspberry on top. Sooooo goood. 

Do you know the name of the Som?  In 2019 we had one on our ship named Michael.  He was a winemaker in South Africa and such an interesting person.  I wondered what happened with him during Covid and if he went back to work on the cruise ships.

[cat shepard]

Have you ever visited the Salt room? I was thinking that might a good activity on a port day, when fewer folk were on the ship.

 

My app does not show the charge to visit it. I could not find it listed on the Dailies. Any clue?

[trurocruiser]

Thank you for your detailed review. We will be on the Escape sailing 12/23-12/30 and just had our upgrade bid for the Spa Haven accepted, so I am especially interested in the Thermal Spa since it is included. I am so excited.

[zqvol]

3 hours ago, cat shepard said:

Have you ever visited the Salt room? I was thinking that might a good activity on a port day, when fewer folk were on the ship.

 

My app does not show the charge to visit it. I could not find it listed on the Dailies. Any clue?

It is part of the thermal suite, no additional charge but does require thermal suite access.