Norwegian Escape (October 2016)

Norwegian Escape

7-Eastern Caribbean
10/01/2016: Miami, Florida (PortMiami)
10/02/2016: Sea Day
10/03/2016: Sea Day
10/04/2016: St Thomas, USVI

10/05/2016: Tortola, British Virgin Islands
10/06/2016: Sea Day
10/07/2016: Nassau, Bahamas (Changed to Sea Day due to Hurricane Matthew)
10/08/2016: Miami, Florida (PortMiami)



"Truly an Escape on the Escape!"



One of the best, wait this was maybe the best cruise we've ever taken out of the 25 so far! So much to talk about from this amazing cruise, after a few weeks we are still having our PCD....Post Cruise Depression!

Let's go back, way back a few weeks to when and why we decided to take this trip. Well for starters we wanted something around this time-frame but we really didn't know what. We booked Disney World for a few days, but ended up cancelling after a few weeks. We added up that along with a road trip to New England or Colorado which would have been great again to see. Also priced out a few cruises between a few from Carnival along with Oasis of the Seas and Escape. 

After watching all of the airfare and cruise prices one day a few weeks before the cruise we happened to check out NCL.com and saw a price that we could not refuse. It was almost a steal, hundreds less than anything else we looked at doing. Not that we look to be cheap but for this trip we wanted too just incase we pop out another trip or two towards the end of the year. Also we have some big milestone birthday's next year and not sure what we are doing yet for those. So finally we booked on Norwegian Escape.

Escape I honestly didn't think we would love. We figured it would just be another cruise. After having an great time a few weeks prior on Conquest we really excepted something normal and not too memorable. We went back to our Getaway review and tried to get an idea of what we didn't care for on that trip, we really couldn't find anything that stood out to us. We thought it wasn't a great cruise, but we were wrong, it must of been one of the surround trips which were Divina (2nd time) and Valor (2nd time) that were not too great the 2nd time around.

Throughout the point of looking to book and getting to the upcoming days of the trip we looked at tours and videos along with daily guides just to get a feel for the ship, like we normally do on every trip we take. We also read on a few pointers which I have below.

Day of the cruise....Well before we left we were tracking a storm (which later became Hurricane Matthew) and at that point we had not idea on if it was going to hit us and how bad it would be nor when it would be. This was before it even made a turn to the north. So we debated even going on this trip which would have been a total loss, but one we knew of and were fine with. So before we headed to the port my wife and I did everything we could just in case the worst had happened and we came home to broken windows and things like that. We left our home ok with what we did to prepare as we would on any other day. 

Off we went to PortMiami. The terminal was very quick to get us through and to the waiting area, got on board in no time at all. We didn't go on and into the main atrium area, we went a little more in the back which was fine, no big deal. Every time we turned around a crew member had a huge smile on their face and saying "hi" to us. First stop was the buffet. Now I always say that the buffet will always have the best options on the first day of the cruise, yes it does! The buffet on Escape really wasn't too bad at all, much better than the dining rooms. Here you could piece together things and make them great. Smart move was putting the fried chicken next to the sausage gravy! Every time I go to Cracker Barrel that's my go-to meal. Thank you Escape for giving me that at least once, for that I love you!

Our room was ready between 1-1:30pm, somewhere around there. Got lost a bit at first then I figured out where we were, a trick for us was no matter the elevator we got off at we would go through the hallway and cut through to the next interior hallway and that was our room, in addition to the fish always swimming to the front of the ship. Up until the last morning I messed with my wife with where things were on the ship getting her lost all the time. What are husbands for! She should know better than to take directions from me!

Our room was not too big at all, yea it was an interior but more on the smaller side. Closet was a joke! It did end up breaking the first night and had to call maintenance to fix it for us. They came and I helped him out fixing it. Our room stewards were both amazing! Such nice girls, they even made me a cake out of towels which was a big thing that didn't go noticed to me. They took great care of my wife and I the entire trip.

On to the food, now we went to two of the specialty restaurants which was Moderno and the other was Teppanyaki, both were absolutely stunning! Food was great and service was superb. The main dining room for dinner we were not really impressed with, felt that they needed more of a variety on the menus, taste also was not there much at all. Lunch we had in the MDR as well one of the days and that along with breakfast there was more eye appealing that tasty. We honestly can say after being on several cruises and talking to many other people that cruise lines want you to go to specialty restaurants to spend money and not eat in the dining rooms. Here we felt it was not difference. The buffet was better at times to eat at than the MDR. Don't get us wrong the food was cooked great for the most part just no variety and not much flavor on certain things, which I will go into detail below. O'Sheehan's was great as always, especially with our server Norman, he was just the nicest guy around! We asked for him by name when we went! We were a bit upset with the room service menu and having to pay for it, was not happy about that. Also with the specialty restaurants, NCL offers dining packages which range from a couple nights up to the entire week, for this ship. Check it out on the first day, we felt the food was better and we should have went with it for a few.

Entertainment, wow! We saw several shows throughout the cruise, which we can say all were very different from one another and the music selection is the same. Everyone will love at least of the shows. The one that we saw twice and should have went more was For the Record: The Brat Pack which takes you back to Shermer High School and plays from there with many classics from John Hughes films. It is more than another production show it really is a story that is happening in front of your eyes. We felt like the movie was playing out right in front of us. The interaction between the cast and guests were unlike any other show, they were impressive. Other entertainment around the ship was constantly happening everywhere. Day or night there was plenty of things to see and do all over the ship. Lots of fun activities.

The ship again just offered so much it was hard to get everything done in a week. I made it a mission to get on the ropes course and slides. We did hit up the pools and hot tubs at the beginning of the cruise on our sea days. Speaking of sea days, I usually hate them, but this ship they were very enjoyable!

We only went to two ports, St Thomas and Tortola, which we ended up doing tours and some other things at both ports. Nassau we skipped due to the hurricane that I was talking about earlier. During the cruise it was hard to find the weather since our lack of channels only had BBC and three election coverage channels, so the hurricane coverage was very minimum. A day or so before they kicked on the weather channel so we can better track the hurricane. We had no idea what it would hit us in South Florida as, we were expecting the worst and praying for the best. Long story short, we got home and everything was fine and we missed a lot of the storm. The Captain avoided the storm the best he could and our waters were very calm. Wished they would have updated us more throughout the cruise, but that's another issue. Our CD Scott did come out the night before Nassau and told us the port would be cancelled then the Captain the following morning, but really nothing else.

Our last morning we woke up and got ready to leave. We headed to the atrium to get off, but headed shortly after to O'Shehann's which wraps around towards the bowling alley which is where you will depart around 7-7:30am.

Overall like we said we had a trip of a life time, so much better than we expected. The crew took amazing care of us from start to finish. We loved cruising like Norwegians! Can't wait to come back to NCL in the future, even though I'm not a fan of doing ships twice I would go back on Escape again and again and again! On to the review of the Norwegian Escape......enjoy!



Pros
- Staff went above and beyond the entire cruise. Honestly some of the best we've ever had on any cruise. Seemed very happy, not even putting on a fake smile either. All truly happy people, never had that before. 
- The ship was very clean throughout. We've been on new ships and were not half as clean as this ship was.
- The buffet did have decent options. Was able to put together some good combinations of things. Also a first was chicken fried chicken next to some sausage gravy, to me you won my heart with that!!
- We ate at Moderno & Teppanyaki, both were amazing. The service and food were both great. Highly recommend going to them. If we had the package we would have gone to at least one if not both numerous times. We also recommend getting the dining package as well.
- The 80s Party was maybe one of the best we've been to. They had a lot of dancing and fun, for us we sat down in the chairs and for about 2 to 3 hours just sat and watch either the people or the screen which has music videos from the 80s. Now my wife growing up on these videos when they played for the first time and this being my first time seeing some of these videos I was scratching my head at some of them. Had a great time!
- For the Record: The Brat Pack is currently our number one favorite show that we've ever seen! I will go into more detail below. But we suggest book it!
- Plenty of seating in the Escape Theater. Tickets did sell out from show-to-show but usually always let people in closer to the start.
- The ship offered a ton of things to do all day and night, sea days and port days. No matter the time of day or night you can always find something to do.
- On our first two sea days we hit up the pools and hot tubs, never had an issue getting space to relax. We did go early, however even later in the day there was still plenty of room. Perfect temperatures as well! Make sure to hit up the grotto!
- Loved the big blue tube slide, that was a lot of fun. I went down the first time and turned back around and went again!
- The ropes course was easier compared to Carnival Breeze. Also much funnier! No I didn't do the plank nor the zip line. That's my goal next time!
- We did a tour of the spa on the first day, which I wanted to do after seeing the snow room. They tour you around and let you hang out there for a while, truly was a very relaxing start to our cruise!
- The atrium did offer daily snacks that the crew came around with from time-to-time. It was a very nice gesture.
- Enjoyed the game shows in the atrium.
- The District Brew House was a really good hangout spot for us on a few nights. They did offer on the menu a small selection of beer flights, which with tip are around $9 each which are 4 small beer samples.
- We were invited to a cocktail party in the Haven which was really fun. Never saw the captain though.
- The buffet everyday had this really nice man who would sing a "washy, washy" song all day long with his teammate. It was cute, but 5am you're in the con list! Either way people will remember him!
- The comedy a few times was in the Escape Theater which did get close to filled up. Proves my point of having it there on all ships!
- Norman at O'Sheehan's was great! Such a nice guy! Always happy and we asked for him by name everytime!
- A hint, the kids pool early in the AM is out of the sun and usually empty, great place for the early swimmers to hang out!
- Moderno was so good this time! We paced ourselves and really enjoyed everything! Had a great view of the ocean and they gave me a birthday cake! Also the bread-cheese balls were insanely good! Also with the white rice!
- I loved O'Sheehan's for so many reasons. One was their Chicago dog, which was my first time ever having one and I could have had maybe 20 more!!
- The port does take any drinks (no matter if it's water or soda), however vending machines are available if you want to stock up a bit.
- Miami is still a simple and easy port for us to navigate around in. Going home was nice, took the turnpike and no tolls! Home in no time!
- Taste and Savor in addition to the Manhattan Room were the dining rooms that were available everyday for breakfast (lunch on sea days) and dinner. Those are the main three, however I always say four because of O'Sheehan's.
- I'm a BIG foodie! So having waffle fries for lunch is a plus! Can we make it mandatory throughout the ship? How about instead of a potato bar lets go with a waffle fry bar?!? Come on, you know I'm on to something here!
- The Grotto at Spice H20 was really cool to walk around in, wish it had seats and was bigger, still really cool!
 - We went to Coral World and a Butterfly Garden in St Thomas, both were really fun. We wanted to at least do a few excursions while at port and it was also a nice ride around the area as well. If you're looking to just do the Butterfly Garden it's right across from where we docked, not too far at all.
- Our stateroom steward was super nice! Anything we wanted she got. I felt bad cause some days she would be cleaning our room and kept coming out to apologize on making us wait, we told her don't worry about us, take her time. Such a sweet person.
- No shower curtain was also very nice! Nothing sticking to me when I'm trying to shower!
- Our stateroom stewards also made me a towel cake for my birthday and decorated our cabin. I have to say it was those little things for this trip that made a world of difference to us! That cake was so cool-looking!
- Teppanyaki we did the first night of the cruise, had so much fun there. Food was really good! Get the package!
- The Bake Shop does offer samples of their icecream flavors.
- I'm not a duck person but in the MDR towards the end of the cruise had it on their menu, it was really good, defiantly try it out! 
- We never usually go out to the port and just book at random, this time we did in Tortola with a man named Reese (details below), we were supposed to be only for 3 hours, we were gone for almost 4. He took his time and explained the island and culture to us and stopped at many parts for us to take pictures also at the beach we were at for an hour. Really nice guy, again more information below.
- Our Cruise Director was Scott, we saw him around the ship a good amount of the time. He hosted the events really well and was very nice. Never got a chance to meet him, next time.
- Maybe the best cruise we've ever taken!



Cons
- We booked an interior stateroom, my lord the closet was small! Also broke when I put up clothes, after complaining to guest services twice they sent a gentleman to fix it for us and we were back in shape!
- Also NCL needs to work on getting some more TV stations. The entire time we wanted to track Hurricane Matthew and barely had any coverage until they added the channel a day before impact on Florida, luckily we were fine where we lived and had nothing.
- The dining room menus were very limited. Only had maybe one entree each night and lucky if we stayed for dessert. We were not impressed with the food selection at all.
- Also with the dining room we did not like that they charged extra for better steaks and lobster, we are seeing this more and more on cruising and it will stay a con for us until its fixed!
- Room service was a $7.95 charge, that is insane!! 
- Did not really care for the cooking demos in the atrium. On Getaway they had more guest participation then on Escape, if they changed that then it would be a lot better.
- We were at the Haven for a party. Honestly we expected it to be nicer, don't get me wrong it was still a nice area, but the courtyard was not impressive at all. Pictures make the pool so much larger than it is.
- The comedy club had more art auctions then comedy. My opinion is to make a room dedicated to the art, instead of wasting time on each and every cruise moving artwork all over the place to the same room all the time. A room by itself would save money! Okay that was my $0.02!
- The 5 O'Clock Somewhere Bar was not too interesting at all. Suggestion would be to combine this area and Margaritaville into one location, that would have made more sense to me.
- We did have burgers from the buffet and from O'Sheehan's, not too impressed at all with either. The meat was overdone and the bread was hard. Which brings me to Margaritaville and their burgers, we did not feel after having burgers throughout other areas to pay extra for a decent burger that we did not know if it would be better or not. Make food good that is also free.
- Mini golf could have been bigger, too small and not really a interesting course at all. Would love to see an indoor one, that would be awesome! We have near our home, that was a lot of fun!
- Cheese sauce is not good on anything! Not on chips and not on cheesesteak!!! Well for me it's not! 
- We thought lunch was severed in Savor & Taste everyday, not just sea days. We did go one of the days, not impressed at all with the food. Looked much better than it tasted. Same goes with the dining rooms at night.
- We looked forward to the Beef Wellington (which is day 6 of the cruise) the entire time. We had doubts since the food in the MDR was not too great already so we ordered other meals as well. Well it came out and we did not like it at all. The pastry was not cooked nearly enough to where it was still gummy. The meat was cooked perfect, but cold and no flavor. It may have been that night or whatever, we will get it again.
- Steaks were not too good in the MDR at all either, not impressed.
- So sad we had to leave. Such an amazing cruise!




5 O'Clock Somewhere Bar
We did not spend any time here at all. Did host a lot of social events and karaoke. Our thought for this location was to combine it with Margaritaville and make it one spot. To us it makes more sense. Restaurant by day/evening and bar at night that still serves bites. Just a thought. 

Atrium (Bar & Cafe)
The atrium was one of the hot spots on the ship that held host to a ton of things. We came a lot for the cooking demos which we felt were much better on Getaway. We like to have more guest interaction on ships, for the cooking demos on Escape it just was not there. It was good, but we've seen better. Our couples game show was also here which we saw on the TV and looked fun, also dancing competitions, just a large amount of things here all the time. I will get the Freestyle Daily (Daily Guide) up soon so you know exactly what I'm talking about. 

(Main atrium area, plenty of seating all over the place.)

(This is the atrium bar and cafe area off the atrium. Bar servers were good, attentive even at busy times.)

(Great selection of cupcakes and other desserts, prices were not too bad at all.)

(They offered a large variety of dance classes, which we never seen this many on any cruise, that was a plus for us. Not that we dance but still fun for everyone else.)

(These two lovely ladies always were around the atrium with desserts. We managed to always catch them by the elevators!)

(This was the cupcake demo. Again wish we could have had guest participation like we did on Norwegian Getaway.)

(Jeopardy was one of the games in the atrium. It was very basic like the show, questions did range. Seemed like the women that were on there had harder times with the easier questions. They pick names out of a hat for this so good luck!)

(Behind the Curtain gives you a chance to meet some of the cast of the different shows that are offered on board. Hosted by our Assistant Cruise Director. The three guys were from each of the shows, After Midnight, For the Record: The Brat Pack & Oh What A Night! It was a Q&A and they were all really nice and it was a very informative event.)



Bayamo Restaurant (Pincho Tapas Bar & Sugarcane Mojito Bar)
We never really looked at the menus here at all, just stopped by for a few pictures. Bayamo is and Pinchos Tapas Bar were both A la Carte. 

Cagney's Steakhouse (& Waterfront Dining)

Here are some pictures from Cagney's Steakhouse. We did contemplate going here, but we can get steak anywhere (just not anything good anywhere else on the ship), so we headed next door to Moderno. Cagney's had a A la Carte menu. Not sure how the dining plan worked here, you may want to check it out.

(On deck 8 all the way in the back is Moderno & Cagney's, both two separate large restaurants.)

(The Prime Meridian Bar separates Cagney's and Moderno.)

(Waterfront dining at Cagney's.)



District Brew House
This was what we felt a hidden gem on the ship. It offers about 24 draft beers on tap and roughly 50 bottled beers. We came here one night and they had a flight of beer which is four small beers (a few ounces each), that was with tip around $9. It is adults only, and for us never got too busy. We were invited to a VIP party one of the days where were got unlimited beer and they came around with some awesome apps. Also some of the top crew managers were coming table-to-table and asking how our cruise was going so far. So 30 minutes later we were feeling, realllllly good! This was a really nice relaxing place though to just get away from it all.   

(The beers on tap.)

(Nightly entertainment here, it wasn't packed the night we came, making it so much nicer.)

(Our flight of beer along with mini pong table and menu.)

(Another shot of our beer flight, good size. I think it was the Florida selection, didn't know we had a good beer selection here.)

(Just a few of the amazing apps that they passed around for the VIP party. Wings were out of this world! Everything was so good!)

(Some more! They kept coming back with food and beer, ugh were we feeling good!)




Escape Casino
Welcome to our muster/assembly station! The smell of smoke was slightly present, not nearly as much as Getaway.

(Very-well spread out casino as you can see.)

(Some snacks that they put out.)




Escape Theater
Welcome to the Escape Theater! This place played host to a lot of movies and production shows throughout the week. A few movies were in 3D like Jurassic World, wish it played more often also at better times, the shows were late at night for the movies. Also they had an crew talent show, which we did not go for. We went to After Midnight which celebrates Duke Ellinton's years at the Harlem's famed Cotton Club using his original arrangements. If you're into jazz music this is for you. We are not usually fans of jazz music but the show was worth seeing. We went twice only cause we left halfway the first showing since we were just exhausted, but we came the next night to finish watching it. Really good show. Another show was Oh What A Night! Tribute to Frankie Valli & 4 Seasons. This show was a musical straight from Broadway. Usually a smaller scale show is available in the Supper Club, however they offered a show in the Escape Theater. We saw a good portion of this show. Now on to the best show at sea! For the Record: The Brat Pack. This is more than just another production show that you seen on every ship. This show takes you back to some of John Hughes best films which include, the Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, Weird Science, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Sixteen Candles & Some Kind of Wonderful just to name a few. If you're a fan of any of these movies then you need to be here! We really felt like we were watching all of these movies live right in front of us! They did it so well with the interaction between the cast and us in the audience. The cast did have an unfortunate accident when we were watching the first show. One of the performers got an ankle injury during the performance. At first we saw it but didn't know it for sure until the next night when we went back to watch the show again and the CD came out and told us that one of the main singers was sick and their understudy was injured but would be in the show which would be now as a sort of concert. After seeing both shows and the cast being able to pull an entire show from the bottom up was truly incredible! Again this was the best show that we've ever seen and would book again and see it every playing! Also the box office is available outside the theater where you can book your shows. A hint, you can either book prior to sailing, or at any of the large kiosks throughout the ship. Remember shows book up very quick so do this early! We did not get a chance to book comedy until we were on board but still got into a few shows. Also if you did not book don't worry they have lines on the side that you wait and they let you in a few moments prior to the show starting. There is plenty of seats and seating anywhere in the theater is a perfect view. Up front was good too!
  

(Another hint, if you need a print out of your shows you can come here or at guest services. Do it as often as you want!)

(The stage is set for the Brat Pack!)




Food Republic
This place had a unique menu selection, where you were also able to order via iPad. We did want to come here for a snack but never got around to it.

Garden Cafe Buffet
The buffet was not too bad at all. I still say the buffet on any ship is the best on the first day. I did like being able to find things that I normally don't on cruise ships. One trick I have is come here about 15 minutes before they open to scoop out what they have for lunch and see what you can piece together for an awesome meal, also getting there early you can grab some stuff of the breakfast selection. A few of the days I really needed a few slices of bacon! A real hit for us that we found was the Asian station, always really tasty chicken and other meats. It did get a little bit overwhelmed with people at times but seats are always around.

(A bar in a buffet, okay that works!)

(I'm not a breakfast person nor do I really like eggs that much, this is my usual go-to meal. It is a croissant with a tomato slice, bacon, swiss, ham and a hashbrown.)

(This was the awesome Asian station! Food was really good here, better than Chinese food at home.)




Headliners Comedy Club
Never seen so many art auctions held here, that is what it should have been mainly for and left the comedy in the Escape Theater. We did manage to get to one of the shows which was pretty good, the comedian was pretty funny.

(Also Howl at the Moon they had on a few nights if you're looking for something different.)




Internet Cafe & CruiseNext Desk
Internet and Future Cruise area.

Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville at Sea
What was the hype about this place? Burgers were not that great around the ship so I wasn't ready to buy one here. It got busy here slightly but nothing too crazy, never really saw any actual food, just drinks. It's really just tucked away from everything else. Wish it was still free to eat.

La Cucina Italian Restaurant
Some images of the Italian Restaurant on board.

Le Bistro French Restaurant
I somewhat regret not eating here. Once we got home I saw someone post an amazing looking lobster meal that they had here and all I want is a nice lobster. Next time for sure!

Main Pool Deck & Water Slides
Pools and slides were great! We did the pools on the first two sea days and they were perfect. Even hit up the kids pool early morning when no one was there. The slides I did the big blue one twice, so much fun going down in the tube. Let me straighten this out when I say the big blue slide I mean the one below on the right side, not the death-fall one! I had a hard enough time doing the ropes course, did you really want me to do that too?

(Take a tube and head on up!)

(This is the kids pool, which is usually empty at night and early morning. Also away from the adults pool, so less crowded.)

(This is the adults main pool. Did get a bit crowded with the chair hogs! Another tip to get rid of the chair hogs, take their chair and simply move it in place of a empty chair. Then take that empty chair and put it in the spot that their chair was in. So when they come yelling that their stuff was on that chair that you're in you can just tell them, "no, your chair with your stuff is over there!".)

Mini Golf & Ropes Course (Sports Complex)
Didn't care for the mini golf, not too interesting. Also kids really don't care who is front of them, the entire time my wife and I were trying to play and this kid kept playing and hitting the ball into ours until he finally moved. Luckily I didn't.....okay I will stop!! The ropes course I had a mission to get to before even booking. Let's go back to Carnival Breeze when I got suited up and headed on it, within a few minutes I was crying to my wife to get me down. So since that lovely moment in my life I've been wanting to battle it again! I saw that they had a plank along with the zip line and I was going to try and do them. Well I did go on the ropes course and it didn't really bother me this time at all, also the kids on here don't help they just don't know when to stop going and let others finish first. So I got up to the plank and looked over and thought it looked nice and kept going over to the zip line. I tried to go forward and just kept stopping, I did it a few times. I think my issue was I couldn't get comfortable enough to feel my weight on the harness so in my head I wasn't safe. So I went around to a few more obstacles and came down. I'm really proud of myself for actually doing as much as I did without an issue. Next time I will try more!

(Mini golf area.)

(More of the mini golf area.)

(The plank!)

Moderno Churrascaria (& Waterfront Dining)
We went here on Getaway and I think we just rushed through it too quickly. This time we took our time and really enjoyed it. The buffet part was great and so were the meats that they came around with. Would have done this again if we had the plan.

(These little bites are so damn good!)

(The above picture and a few below images are from the buffet that they had for dinner.)

(Round one!)

(Costeleta De Cordeiro - Lamb Chops)

(File Com Bacon - Bacon-Wrapped Filet Mignon)

(Lombo De Porco - Parmesan-Crusted Pork Loin)

(Pineapple w/ brown sugar.)

(Frango Com Bacon - Bacon-Wrapped Chicken)

(I'm in love with the white rice! The fried yucca was okay so were the mushrooms. Didn't care for the mashed potatoes. Did I mention that the rice was awesome!?)

(Chocolate-Coconut Tres Leches Cake, it was good.)

(Waterfront dining.)




O'Sheehan's Neighborhood Bar & Grill
I miss this place every time I see it! I tried a Chicago Dog for the first time here, woah! Also plenty of other great food! Also make sure to say hi to Norman! Nicest guy ever! The thing I really like about this place is that they are open 24 hrs a day. Breakfast also, which is pretty good. Plenty of seating in the actual restaurant along with around the bar area and game area that wraps around the atrium.

(Chicago Dog, which was a Nathan's Dog. So I guess Chicago meets New York? What where's that deep dish thin crust white pizza?)

(I am not a fan of anything liquid cheese!)

(The burger was decent, buns were a bit on the harder side for us. Okay flavor, not bad. Fries were good too!)

(We tried all of the different wing flavors, buffalo is our favorite. Also the blue cheese is so good! This is the second favorite for us, the first being from a local place called Roosters which has the best blue cheese which is a yogurt-based. Wings are great too!)

(Chicken sandwich, I wanted something different. Not bad!)

(Didn't like the spinach dip much at all.)

(Ice cream menu for an extra charge.)

(Also shakes and floats! Next time we need to pay more attention to the menus!)

(Strawberry cake, pretty good!)

(Chocolate Brownie Cheesecake, not a fan of the caramel sauce.)

(Bowling to the left and arcade games to the right.)


(Around the bar area.)

(Inside the restaurant.)

(Pool table, which is an additional cost.)

Photo Gallery
On your room card you will see a number that is for your photo album. We took a few pictures and like always didn't care for them at all. Over priced!

PortMiami (Homeport)
Welcome to Miami! In and out very easy, no problems at all!

(Look at that sexy girl!)

Savor & Taste Restaurant (& Mixx Bar) (Main Dining Rooms)
We came to the restaurants for breakfast, lunch and dinner throughout the cruise. Nothing really stood out to us as being good. Everything looked so much better than it tasted. Lunch is open on sea days. The menus for Taste, Savor and the Manhattan Room are all the same across all the restaurants each nights but the menus do change nightly. 

(Fish sandwich, yea no!)

(Philly cheesesteak, not good at all!)

(Waffle fries, oh how I love you!)

(See looks good, doesn't taste too good!)




Skyline Bar
This was a very neat-looking bar. Kinda reminded us of a similar bar on Disney Dream. We hung out here a few nights. Loved the screens in the middle of the band playing, pretty cool!)

Spa Center
Once the ship was originally being built NCL mentioned that they would have a snow room on board. So I always remembered that and wanted to see if we could try and check it out on the first day. So we went over on our first day on and we got a tour. Little did we know several people also were getting tours around the spa as well. The staff will give a small group of people around the spa to show them everything along with giving you time to sit and relax for a while without pestering you to get the spa package. It was really a great relaxing way to start off our cruise. The snow room was also really cool (no pun intended)!

(On the tour on the first day you can hang out on one of these warming loungers for a bit to help relax you and start off an amazing cruise!)

(Inside the Salt Room.)

(Cold!!!)

Spice H20
This is the location of the Grotto, sucks you can really sit in it, but still pretty awesome on a ship to have! This is also where a lot of the parties are throughout the cruise along with its nightclub. We came for the 80s party. We found a couple of chairs to sit in a few minutes before the start of the party. The party was basically a lot of dancing and fun. On the big screen they played all of the videos from the 80s which was a lot of fun to just watch that. My wife grew up in that era watching a lot of these when they came out on MTV for the first time. Me on the other hand I was just a little one who is seeing some of these videos for the first time in my life. Woah! Little bit scary at times, couldn't tell who was who and what was what! Overall just an awesome and fun night, only crappy part was the people who just would stand in front of the people sitting there trying to watch the videos. We were there for almost three hours. Our CD Scott, have to give the guy credit, he went non-stop with dancing song after song. His team also did a great job hosting! I really wanted to put on a pair of leg warmers and start dancing!

(During the day time a great place to sit and hang out.)

(The Grotto!)

(Name this movie!!)

(A Bahama Mama station on tap, what!!!)

(It's was THRILLING!)

(We even saw Bon Jovi and a few others!)




St Thomas, USVI
Here we are in our first port of call, welcome to St Thomas. We decided when we booked to do some excursions because we really regretted not doing them on our last cruise on Conquest. We did a trip to Coral World, which we booked on board, it stuck out. So we took a nice drive through St Thomas and got to our location, it was something to see. Not a horrible place, we would suggest reading more about the excursions here since they do a ton more water activities such as swimming with turtles and diving. We just held a starfish and saw some underwater observation areas which were all still really cool. After this the other stop on our excursion was at a butterfly farm. Kinda funny when we docked in the morning we saw this place and were joking that its where we would go. Well yea, it was. It was actually a lot of fun. Christine made a lot of butterfly friends. They stuck to her like white on rice. Me, I just took pictures, I'm not one for things crawling on me. We also live in the same city as the butterfly capital of the world, but this was a much cheaper trip!

(Yes I am, oh wait you're only open at night, well that's not going to do me any good at all!)

(Welcome to Coral World!)

(Hey buddy, what are you up to? Also these guys run wild so watch your step.)

(Yum....I mean, hi guys!)

(You looking at me?)

(Someone is smiling for the camera!)

(Strike a pose!)

Stateroom 14647 (Interior Stateroom)
Welcome to our home for these amazing 7 nights. The closet was the worst! So damn small! The room was a bit smaller than normal interiors. Also since I'm on the con list, how about getting some more channels on your tv. One movie channel and 3 channels of the election coverage. I wanted to getaway from that for a few days! Luckily with the storm a day before it hit Florida they added on the weather channel. On the pros, our stateroom stewards were the best we've had in a while. Such sweet girls! They also made me a towel cake for my birthday, that was the best!

(Remember, fish always head to the front of the ship!)

(Remember this has to be put to what you want. At home means that the card in your light slot is on. Above that is the do not disturb and make up room switches. Make sure you put what you want or they will not enter to clean your cabin.)

(This isn't really part of the room, but wanted to stick it somewhere. These are all over the ship when you want to go outside or other places. Green means it is open, or will open. Red is closed.

(Our stateroom, it did have good storage for our luggage under our bed.)

(Softest robes we've ever touched, those were about to be coming home with us! This was our closet, which did hang a decent amount of clothes. The shelves were on the left side that held very little also on top, so if you're a person like me that wants things organized, then throw that thought out the window when you get here!)

(Bathroom wasn't too bad. The door wasn't a curtain so something disgusting touching me was really nice to have!)

(Wifey forgot to take home my shower pouf!)

(Happy birthday to me!)

(That cake was about 65% frosting, well I'm not complaining! Also there is that amazing towel cake, that was pretty big!)

(Yum!)

(Something so little like this gave me so much joy!)

(Here we have Big Head Doodle and Snickerdoodle getting into trouble with their new towel friend. Yes we are crazy we do travel with stuffed animals. These are our form of children and that giraffe on the right has been on about 24 cruises himself. He was the start of our addiction.)

(Thank you Sean!)




Teppanyaki
We wanted to come here for dinner but didn't have an idea what day. So we talked for a bit and decided to check it out on our first night. We were the first table to be seated. It was a lot of fun for the show. It was our first time here and would have gone more. The food was really good. Will come back again next time!

(Feed me!!!)

(This chicken was so, so good! Best thing they had. Wifey doesn't care for chicken but she ate a good amount of this!)

(Shrimp me!!)

(Filet Mignon, it was good but the chicken was so much better. Still the steak was really good!)




The Bake Shop (& Dolce Gelato)
Here are some images of the ice cream shop on board. You can also get ice cream at the buffet for free or at O'Sheehan's, some for a charge. Also the MDR's. Here you can get free samples as well if you see something you want to try out.

The Cellars Wine Bar
Here are some pictures from the wine bar.

The Haven (Lounge & Courtyard)
We were invited here for a captains cocktail party. We always wanted to check out the Haven. Finally we got an invite, I was so excited! This is also the largest on in the Norwegian fleet. Walking in however and seeing the pool we really were not impressed much. It was really nice but expected it to be much bigger. The rest of the Haven was fun. They came around with different drinks, which you could also get other types if you wanted. The bartender in there was the best we had for the cruise, great guy. Forgot his name though, but sharp and funny!

(Haven lounge.)

(Haven bar, that is the awesome bartender to the right.)




The Manhattan Room (Main Dining Room)
Food here was decent at best, again not impressed at all at the selection nor flavor. Not a lot of variety at all, only got one entree every night and it was just for food at some points. They did have nightly music most nights, which got to be very loud for dinner music. The dining room is very beautiful.

(The dance floor in the middle was used quite a bit.)

(I do!)

(The beef wellington is served on the 6th night of the cruise, a lot of people were wondering. As you can also tell from the picture that the cruise looks very light in color, well it was and also gummy, not fully cooked. The meat was fair, nothing great. After a few nights here we didn't expect this dish to be a hit.)

(These were the scallops. They were one of the better dishes that we've had on the ship. Good flavor.)

(A plain NY Strip steak....ehhh)

(This was the winner for the best dinner meal. It was on one of the last nights of the cruise. This was the duck, I'm not a duck person but this was cooked perfect!)




The Supper Club
The Supper Club did have the 4 Seasons show also Brenda Kaye who was a hypnotist. We saw her show which was a lot of fun to check out. They offer it for free a few nights of the cruise. Also other shows here, just check the daily guide as well as the touch-screens around the ship. They have a stand-by line that will open moments before the start of the show. The room does have a lot of seating.

(Here is Brenda Kaye. You can either be called up if you want to participate or try it from your seat.)

Tobacco Road Liquor Bar (& The Humidor)
Here are some photos from Tobacco Road Liquor Bar also a smoking lounge called the Humidor which is located in the back of this area.

Tortola, BVI
Here in Tortola for our second and last port on our cruise. Last time we were here we had a horrible time, this time however was the complete opposite. We did not have an excursion planned out, we decided to see what we would find and go from there. We're not ones to just book off on the dock, but this time they were talking us into a couple of different tours so we picked a 3 hour tour with an hour at the beach. We lucked out, our guide Reese gave us an amazing, very informative tour for a few hours before taking us to the beach for an hour. The entire drive was an adventure in itself. We were supposed to be gone for about 3 hours, but we were gone for close to 4 or so. Which was fine, Reese took great care of us. He would often stop while driving and explained things as well allow us to take pictures and waited so we all could before rushing away. He truly loved what he does. Back at the port we did notice that they did build up a bit since last time and opened several stores. No longer a hated port!

(Here is Reese our guide, if you're looking for a fun tour make sure to find him off the pier. Really nice guy!)

(Our transportation!)

(We stopped at this beach for an hour. Also had to pay $5pp if you wanted chairs.)

(This mural wall stretched for a while and showed the history and culture of Tortola. Reese took his time to explain it in detail.)

Tradewinds Shops
Ship model was $50. They had a good selection in the stores. Upset no ship name shot glass. Seems like less and less ships do this now.

(Scott and his Assistant CD filming the morning show.)




Vibe Beach Club
For an additional cost you can hang out here. Or go across to the other side for a less-private form of this relaxing area.

Waves Pool Bar
This is the Waves Pool Bar.

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