Disappointed
Norwegian Escape Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern
7 Night Eastern Caribbean (Miami Roundtrip)
Sail date: March 12, 2016
Ship: Norwegian Escape
Cabin type: Inside
Cabin number: 5713
Traveled as: Family (older children)
Reviewed: 8 years ago
Review summary
I booked this for my family's vacation for spring break. I have been on a cruise but my son had not. It has been my past experience you pay your fare that includes your room and all food on board. I understand I have to pay taxes and port fees that was charged the day I purchases our tickets. The room itself was fine except the hard bed and the ship was nice, but that being said I have many complaints. I read Nowegian's website before I booked this and thought I was prepared for all costs. I knew there were some restaurants that had surcharges, alcohol and sodas cost extra. I even knew the cost of parking at the port. We start the cruise to find out of the 28 restaurants on board only 5 were included with my fare. If you wanted steak or lobster in the complimentary restaurants you had to pay an additional $20- $25. The menus seemed limited and the buffet served a lot of the same items everyday. Also the service in the restaurant was terrible, I always had to refills for my water sometimes to the point that I had finished eating before I got a refill. Only 4 of the shows were complimentary the rest you had to pay extra. I do not have endless pockets to pay all of the extra fees. I feel that I did not receive what I paid for. We were even charged a daily fee $13.50 per person per day for what I was told for housekeeping when Norwegian's website states a gratuity is not required. I felt I was nickel and dimed to death. Also there was a medical emergency on board and as a result we skipped our last port, I am understanding of the emergency but I paid for 3 ports but only received 2 and feel that I should receive a partial refund. The port taxes were collected for Nassau but were not given back even though we did not port there. Some of the contests were funny and Silas did a great job hosting the shows. The four days at sea was beyond boring, the 3rd day I was ready to jump off the ship and swim back. You can only swim so much and most of the events on board was Norwegian trying to sell me something. I would never cruise with Norwegian or would I ever recommend it to anyone.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Onboard Activities
Entertainment
Children's Programs
Service and Staff
Ship Quality
Cabin / Stateroom
Ship tip
Bring a lot of money if you plan on doing all the ship has to offer since a small portion is included in your fare.
Ports of call
Tortola, British Virgin Islands
Nassau, Bahamas Did not visit port
22 Comments
Ejan 8 years ago
Celebrity is a really nice option. The shows are inclusive, don't require a reservation and there is never a wait. The food is much better quality and the only surcharge is if you want to go to a specialty restaurant. The food is prepared on board; Norwegian is frozen and re-heated. I don't know how this cruise line would be for your son, though.
LadiesCruisin30 8 years ago
LadiesCruisin30 8 years ago
Garyfisher1 8 years ago
stephenroth 8 years ago
lisasilk 8 years ago
rramos2283 8 years ago
rramos2283 8 years ago