Great ship & excursions, crowded pool area

Norwegian Escape

This ship is just plain huge. The height shows off all the staterooms (many, many people), as well as the pool and sports decks. But until you’re next to it you can’t really tell how big it really is. Walking around inside, it doesn’t feel quite so large.

Stateroom

We were placed in an accessible room (it was the only one left in our guaranteed category) so it was likely larger than most. The room was nicely appointed with plenty of closet space and a couple of drawers on the desk. The beds were not super comfortable. We had an interior room so I don’t know if the beds get nicer the more expensive the room or not. My bed was hard and I woke a couple of nights in pain. The berth/pull-down bed was fine. However there was a large gap at the head of the bed and my daughter’s pillow landed on my head in the middle of the night. The bathroom was nice and spacious. We always had plenty of towels and supplies.

Pool

The pools are very small for the number of people on the cruise. During sea days the pools were both crowded with adults sitting nearly shoulder to shoulder with their feet in the pool. One pool is adults only until 5, which is about when the waterpark closes (usually at 6). The waterslides were a lot of fun. I think the yellow slide is more for children because I saw many adults get stuck (there’s just not enough water pressure to push an adult along). The blue tube slide was awesome but always had a long line. The staircases are not situated well for long lines and it often got frustrating and confusing. The two drop slides, the Aqua Loops, looked fun but you can’t have any jewelry on and I didn’t want to take my engagement rings off. The one time I did, and left them with my fiancé, they were closed for lunch! It must also depend on who is working because my fiancé didn’t have to take his ring off. The last couple of days the children's pool was closed, which made for upset kids and crowded adult pool after 5!

Pool Deck

Good luck finding a chair! If you do not stake a claim on chairs by 8 AM you will be lucky to find one later in the day. If you want to be in the sun you MUST get a chair by 8. Chairs were “held” by towels all day long and most of the time you’d never see anyone even use the chair. I wish there was a better way to work the deck chairs. People setting their stuff (or normally just a towel) on a chair and then leaving to enjoy their day wherever on the ship got really, really annoying. If you are lucky to find a chair later in the day, you won’t find two together.  There was a sun deck one level up and it seemed to be full all day too. However, I needed to be near the pool for my child. Pool towels you were also responsible for. If you checked out three towels you had to return three. The system was very bad and often when I went to return they didn’t have the sheet I’d signed them out on! Thankfully we didn’t get charged for any. I’m sure people steal them but if they’re going to make you responsible for them they need a better system.

Splash Academy

My daughter found the Splash Academy to be boring. She said there was nothing to do. She did enjoy the couple of late nights that we brought her. The events must’ve been more to her liking.

Drinks

Getting drinks and service around the pool was difficult. There was one bar that was always packed and you needed to go to the bar even for soda. Pool deck service was hit or miss but mostly miss. There were 2-3 servers that you might see occasionally but it was rare. I found I had to go to the bar to get drinks throughout the day (the Garden Café was close too if you wanted to go inside to get drinks). We got the ultimate drinks package and it seemed that nearly everyone had it. That was our “free” item that we chose when we booked the cruise. There was a good variety of drink specialties and drinks of the day.

Shows

The shows were really good. We saw the Variety show on our first night that gave us a little sampler of the onboard entertainment. It was good and quite enjoyable- a good overview and a nice way to start the cruise. The show I was most excited for was the Brat Pack. However the ship was moving/swaying so much on our show day that we only got a “concert” version of the show so I don’t know what it was really like. After Midnight was good and high energy too. The last night there was a crew talent show that was really good. It was especially nice to see crew members doing performances that were based on their cultures’ traditional dances and songs.

Games & Activities

We played Bingo and Deal or No Deal. Both were fun but cost extra. We played Bingo on kids play free day but adult Bingo packets started at $39 and went up from there. Deal or No Deal was $20 per card. We played twice, two cards each time, so it added up quickly. They were fun and took up a good amount of time. It was just pricey. One free thing they offered was glow t-shirt painting. You had to paint with a straw / wrapper, so that was difficult and by the time we got it figured out it was over. The downside was that it was a short event and I felt we needed another half hour or so to really do the event justice.

Atrium

We took part in a few of the atrium events like trivia (Star Wars, Harry Potter, Big, Bang Theory), towel animal folding and cupcake demonstrating. There always seemed to be something going on there. Most of it was all-ages but some were more geared toward adults. There was a café in the atrium that sold coffees, teas and cupcakes. Prices were decent (better than Starbucks and GiGIs Cupcakes) but it was an extra cost.

Spa

The spa had an open house on the first day but before you could book anything we needed to take a tour of the whole facility. This was ridiculous for us because we couldn’t afford the thermal suite with all its special amenities available only to thermal suite customers. It would probably be nice if you were with a travel party of singles, a couple or all adults. However, with a child we wouldn’t have had enough time in it to justify the cost. I want to say it was $50 on the day you had a treatment or $200 for the week, but I could be wrong. I really just wanted a massage. On the first day they had a raffle and at the end they offered a Manager’s Special for $139. I got that because it was a good deal. The downside was you had to book for that day or the next. I’d wanted to wait a little into the cruise but couldn’t pass up the deal. Prices are extremely expensive especially after they add the 18% gratuity to it. They also try to sell you a bunch of products but after I said I wasn’t interested she wrapped up quickly. They also offered a 10/20/30% discount if you booked three signature treatments. My fiancé did that and got two shaves and a massage.

Dining

We stuck to the free dining options. Taste and Savor were both really good. The atmosphere is fancier (candlelight and table cloths) and I felt odd going in in pants or jean shorts and a t-shirt. But there was only so many times you can eat at the buffet! The food and dessert options were good and the meals were plentiful and always tasted good. The Garden Café (buffet) always offered decent food, a multitude of choices and the most widespread hours. There were two full buffets most of the time and they were really long, going on quite a ways. The first day we thought they stopped at the beverage station, which was really only halfway down the buffet. Due to the layout, the lines themselves were disorganized and crowded. If you had the time and patience to wait through every line you’d find a plethora of food options.

Bars

There are plenty of bars throughout the ship. We didn’t visit many but Sugarcane, the Mojito Bar, was exceptional. Not only were the drinks great the bartender was amazing. I’d recommend it!

Laundry

There was a fill-a-bag day on Tuesday (day 4 of our trip) and I had my clothes back the next day (even though it is advertised as 2 day service). It was $25. Had I known that there would be a fill a bag day I wouldn’t have brought so many clothes! J