Freestyle concept is good IF YOU RESERVE EVERYTHING before you go

Item: Norwegian Escape
Rating: 5
Author: MasonFamily

Norwegian Escape Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern

MasonFamily

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 2-3 cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 10

Overall rating:

5 out of 5

Verified Review

7 Night Eastern Caribbean (Miami Roundtrip)

Sail date: February 27, 2016

Ship: Norwegian Escape

Cabin type: Oceanview

Cabin number: 5160

Traveled as: Family (young children)

Reviewed: 8 years ago

Review summary

I loved this cruise, with the exception that you had to make reservations for most dining restaurants and shows. These reservations also need to be made BEFORE you cruise or you will most likely be on a waiting list or a late time. I find that the freestyle dining is a great concept, but I actually prefer the older cruising style where you met new people at your dinner table every night and could see shows as you choose. I have enjoyed building relationships with fellow vacationers on past ships, but with this set up and because of how large the Escape is you are lucky to see the same person twice!

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5

Entertainment

5 out of 5

Children's Programs

5 out of 5

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

We had a family ocean view room and it was just what we needed! This room also came with a BIG bathroom!

Ship tip

Make your reservations to the fine dining restaurants as soon as you book your vacation. If not, the Garden Buffet was always stocked with tons of amazing food, but in a low key atmosphere.

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Miami, Florida

5 out of 5

Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas

5 out of 5

Tortola, British Virgin Islands

5 out of 5

Nassau, Bahamas

5 out of 5

5 Comments

kwitty 8 years ago

We never made a reservation for the 3 main dining rooms and at most had a,10 min wait when we had 8 people.

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massicae 8 years ago

disagree as well, agree with @cruisingluvcouple.. you have many opportunities to make your reservations, and that's the best part of freestyle dining with Norwegian. you probably chose the wrong line.

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enjoyurdaysmile 8 years ago

Majesty

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enjoyurdaysmile 8 years ago

We made reservations for the main shows on the Breakaway over 2 yrs ago. It was Burn the Floor and Rock of Ages. We ate in the main dining room with only the 2 of us because we like it that way. As for seeing the shows again, there are monitors on the walls around the ship. We looked at it and it was good for us to go again. We've cruised with Norwegian 14 times on 9 ships and 3 are no longer with Norwegian. We sailed on the Southward in 1989, the Crown 2007 and Majisty 2008.

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cruisincouple06 8 years ago

Disagree with some of this....we were on the escape a month ago and which we did indeed make reservations prior to sailing but we also made reservations for shows and restaurants right from the TV in our cabin and also used the ones located around the ship

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