Norwegian Escape Feb 18th - Good time had by all

Norwegian Escape Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern

Cruises: 7+ cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 12

Overall rating:

4 out of 5
Verified Review
Norwegian Escape

7 Night Eastern Caribbean (Miami Roundtrip)

Sail date: February 18, 2017

Ship: Norwegian Escape

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 13776

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 7 years ago

Review summary

Successfully "upgraded" to a Haven suite and was thrilled with the results. The service was generally outstanding. The arrival process was smooth and we were welcomed by the Haven staff from the moment we arrived at the port. My only feedback for improvement would be the departure. We were told we would given priority escort off the ship by the Haven staff. We were, but that only included an escort to the line to have our keys scanned off the ship. From that point on we were on our own. I found that odd given that our arrival had been handled from the point we arrived at the port. It felt like our "priority" clearly had ended as we were shuffled off the ship - there was no priority line to access to get through the Customs line or anything like that. In my humble opinion the Haven experience should have included a priority line and a full "escort" out of the port - just like our arrival was handled. But otherwise all was good. 

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5

Entertainment

5 out of 5

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5
Moved to cabin 16102 via the Norwegian Bid on Upgrade program. LOVED our in-room hot tub overlooking the balcony and our king size bed!!! In room movies on demand were free and had daily snacks and goodies waiting when we got back from the pool.
Was this review helpful? 12

14 Comments

Aggie903    7 years ago

Could you give any hint of what it cost you to upgrade to the Haven (% increase perhaps?)

polarbev66    7 years ago

I upgraded from a Balcony to a Mini suite for $125 I think that is pretty good considering it said my chances were "poor" I wanted the bigger bathroom and shower and the Balcony is a bit larger

psilvia    7 years ago

Hi Everyone! The bidding program is new. You will get an email from NCL before your cruise date that offers you the option to bid PER CATEGORY OF CABIN. They will give you a starting bid and you can scale it from there. You can bid on as many different categories of cabin as you want. As you scale up your bid you will see a little meter that moves from "poor" to "excellent" - which is saying that your bid has a poor, fair, good, etc chance of being accepted BASED ON PAST SUCCESSFUL BIDS by other cruisers. I upgraded from a B9 (mid ship balcony) to a Spa Haven Suite (H9). My category of bid was on the line between "fair" and "good". You commit to the price for the first two people in the cabin. If you have 4 people in the cabin (you and your kids for instance) then the upgraded cost is only for the first two - not all four of you. If you bump up to a category that would have had all of the Free At Sea stuff ... you only still get whatever you originally booked with. So we kept our Beverage and Dining packages but did not get the other packages even though we were now in Haven and had we booked Haven from the get go we would have gotten all of them. Hope that helps! Oh - we got notified on the Wednesday before our Saturday cruise that our bid was accepted. 

msmindy72    7 years ago

What room did you originally have? How high did you bid to get the upgrade?

summerincayman    7 years ago

kj1213 - I believe it's per person for the first two people

kokomom    7 years ago

what did it take to win the bid? i just bid on the haven spa room at 755

Brandyjade    7 years ago

Psilvia, when you bid on an ungraded, Is the price you bid per person per night or just per night? Thanks!

kj1213    7 years ago

Oh that sounds awesome, so do you call and inquire or is there somewhere online to do this?

psilvia    7 years ago

kj1213 - NCL launched a new program where you can "bid" on upgrades at least two cabin categories higher than what you booked. You basically commit to an extra amount per person (for first two people in cabin) that you would be willing to spend to upgrade - and you can select the cabin categories you would be willing to upgrade to. We were notified three days before departure that my bid was accepted and it upgraded us to a Haven Spa Suite. And it was indeed SAH-WEET!! (sorry - couldn't resist). It did NOT change the "Free at Sea" perks though - it stayed with what was based on our originally booked cabin. 

psilvia    7 years ago

Not blaming NCL for Customs at all ... simply made a recommendation for how to handle the departing PORT activities and lines - not the actual Customs clearance itself. 

Yashu    7 years ago

Customs has nothing to do with NCL and don't care what level cabin you stayed in. I think it is unfair that you blame the staff or cruise company for something that is not in their control.

kj1213    7 years ago

How were you upgraded?

picalo    7 years ago

agreed. also the haven is on my bucket list. got to save up

asnemmers    7 years ago

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