Best included meals are at the Garden Cafe Buffet.
Bars everywhere. (to use my unlimited drink package)
Cigar Lounge and Humidor.
Cons:
Included food was poor.
Specialty restaurants were average. Not Fantastic.
The main pool turns into a "foot pool" because of too many people.
Service was average with forced friendliness (another downfall of pre-paid gratuities)
Housekeeping missed cleaning the balcony one day and never returned our pool towels the last two days.
As everyone says cruising is what you make of it. We enjoyed it to a point but most likely would not return to the escape and am on the fence for Norwegian line due to the lack of quality food.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
1 out of 5
The included food was sub-par. I had at least 3 bad meals including lunch and dinner. I started ordering two appetizers and entrees to increase the chance of having a good meal. I expected more for a newer ship. I fear they made the food quality lower so you would be forced to pay an up charge to eat at one of the specialty restaurants.
Onboard Activities
5 out of 5
Excellent. The free style daily had activities planned every 15 minutes from dusk till dawn from game shows, how to make towel animals to dance parties.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
This is one this that this ship exceeds with. Musicals, Shows, Dinner shows, comedy clubs, musicians and live bands etc. The one complaint I heard from a cruiser is that you had to make reservations for most good shows or do a "stand-by" line. She liked the old way of "first come, first serve".
Children's Programs
5 out of 5
Great programs for children of all ages. A daycare with watch your child for 2 hours so you can have some time to regroup. The "entourage" teen club " (13-17) is a great place for your teen to hang out and meet other teens. You just have to check them in there at the start of the cruise so they have a contact in case of emergency.
Service and Staff
3 out of 5
Average service and staff. Servers were slow and not overly friendly. I feel this will only get worse as they keep increasing the price of prepaid gratuities. House keeping took our pool towels which we never say again for the last two days.
Ship Quality
3 out of 5
Massive ship. Clean, organized public spaces and rest rooms. I felt more listing then I expected for a newer ship even though I was staying mid ship and mid decks (11). A crew member said that he felt any ship over 14 decks had more roll when traversing the seas no mater how good the stabilizers. Oh and two words "BIGGER POOLS"!
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
I always enjoy my mid ship, mid deck Balcony room. Soft Bed and pillows. A/C worked great and was quiet. Lots of storage for Stateroom. You will still get some roll when the ship is at top speed in mid ocean.
Ship tip
Use the floor of the closet that is close to the rear side of the sofa for a "dirty clothes" drop off. It is hard to access anyways and it keeps the dirty clothes out of way.
If you're worried about food quality, then do not go Carnival. That's one main reason why we left Carnival and chose NCL. The food on NCL was way better to us than Carnival.
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