very disappointed

Norwegian Escape Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern

yachtie

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 7

Overall rating:

2 out of 5

7 Night Eastern Caribbean (Miami Roundtrip)

Sail date: March 18, 2017

Ship: Norwegian Escape

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 7 years ago

Review summary

I have probably taken over well over 100 cruises including at least 25 transatlantic crossings on Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth, the SS United States etc. I have cruised virtually all of the lines from Carnival to Yachts of Seabourne but I have to say the cruise on the NCL escape was the least enjoyable. This ship has packed in more people per square foot than anything I have ever seen. To make it worse, there is NOWHERE that you can go to get peace and quiet. The noise level is beyond Chuck E Cheese everywhere. I was fortunate to get one of the 25 passes to the vibe. Otherwise I would not have been able to take it. The thing I continue to fail to understand is that people were literally running over me to get the vibe passes so that they could have a quiet place to go. People got into physical exchanges over the last few passes. If this is what everyone is willing to get crushed for, why not get rid of the EXTREMELY LOUD venues with the BLARING MUSIC and replace 3/4 of them with quiet venues? Noone wants to hear the crew constantlly yelling. "IS EVERYBODY HAVING A GREAT TIME????I I CAN'T HEAR YOU? STILL CAN'T HEAR YOU!!!! What is wrong with these cruise ships? Dont they get it????

I was also very upset about the drink package. I drink Chardonnay. I was told there were numerous chardonnays on the drink package. Nope. There is ONE. Thats right, ONE, and it was a horrible $7 a BOTTLE wine. There also was only ONE pinot grigio - thats right, on the whole drink package and it was terrible. Given the price of the drink package they could have at least given us a choice of at 2 Chardonnays or how about one that is a good enough quality that costs the cruise line more than $2 a glass. The food was just ok. Biggest problem was that it had WAY WAY WAY too much salt. I saw other cruisers complaining about this online so I dont know why NCL hasn't corrected it.

Ship experiences

Entertainment

5 out of 5

Entertainment was better than I experienced on other ships.

Service and Staff

3 out of 5

No problems generally with the service or staff.

Ship Quality

3 out of 5

too many people per square foot.

24 Comments

jody829 7 years ago

absolutely.. to each their own, right?! I don't mind the crowds *most of the time* lol and having my daughter with me, she enjoys playing with other kid's too. I guess the important thing, we all love cruising.. no matter which way we go! ðð

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cyclops32 7 years ago

In our case we are to busy to cruise that much. A lot of my vacation time is keeping up with things at home and in turn only really vacation 1 week out of the year. Plus, I like the large ships but not the crowds. So having the advantages of the Haven are worth it. When I was outside on the ship it was more on the huge aft balcony then up stairs fighting the chair hogs. Had meals or there as well. When we wanted pool time the Haven pool had maybe 3 people at the most in the water. Hot tubs were always empty so I could do what I wanted worth no lines. Each there own. I understand those who cruise a lot and like the crowds and that works for them but then there are people like me who like another way of cruising

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jody829 7 years ago

nice.. tho I have to say.. even if I could drop that amount of money on a vacation.. I doubt I would.. think I'd rather go on 6 'regular' cruises! ð

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cyclops32 7 years ago

More then you think. My Haven cruise a few weeks ago was right around 12k and my next is about 18k on the Bliss next year. A two income family both with good jobs can handle it without to much trouble. Save a thousand a month and you are there. When I was younger and lived paycheck to paycheck this would not be possible.

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mkzse 7 years ago

$12,000 for the Haven? Who has that kind of money.

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aprilt27 7 years ago

They do the I can't hear you thing to try to get everyone who's there for fun all riled up and more into the trip. Any ship we've ever been on does that.

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dbain 7 years ago

We spent our honeymoon on the Escape in Feb 2017. Our travel agent did say that the problem with the Escape was the overcrowding. We opted for a two bedroom family villa in the Haven. Yes, it was $12,000 for the week (valentines week). I have to say, it was well worth the money. I would have paid more for what we got.

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bickland4 7 years ago

I had an awesome cruise

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chrisdCHS 7 years ago

Remember the quote: "Believe half of what you read and none of what you hear." By Benjamin Franklin? Same applies here. Remember, there are people who are PAID to bash competitors and who most likely have never even sailed.

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weezer1957 7 years ago

i say if you can aford to go on a 100 cruises than you should by your on yacht that should make you happy

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DFromATX 7 years ago

LOL well I guess this answers my question... I was wondering which ship (Escape or Royal's Oasis) would be more FUN! Over on the Oasis ppl were complaining there were too many old people.

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jody829 7 years ago

I'm just curious why, if you've sailed that many times, on various lines.. why the Escape is the only sailing listed on your profile?? And why you are posting the very negative review so long after your sailing? hmmm....

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cruisesnresorts 7 years ago

There are plenty of quiet areas on the ship. As someone mentioned, the waterfront on deck 8 is very quiet... Also, there wasn't people constantly asking if people are having a good time. of course, people don't want constant quiet and at certain times, the crew wants to get passengers involved, but it's no way a constant thing. You can't please everyone. The cruise is what you make of it. Go and enjoy.

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bickland4 7 years ago

early as possible

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mhart7 7 years ago

what time did you board to get the vibe passes

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huntfam 7 years ago

We found plenty of quit spaces. If you want to sit and relax and read a book, check out the waterfront on deck 7. Plenty of sitting areas with no one around . Overall FANTASTIC experience!

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cmolivo 7 years ago

For those reading this and panicking... I was on this ship 5 months ago and do not agree. There was quieter space on 17, the back of 9, and on six I believe where I would often take an afternoon nap. The adult only club was also quiet enough for me. But if you are real concerned, the thermal spa is huge, has tons of heated loungers and is also as quiet as a library. I can't speak to the drinks, but I definitely didn't have quiet issues on this ship.

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feelosophy 7 years ago

I'm sorry the cruise selected was not a proper fit for you, and that you have been attacked for your opinions in the review. Thank you for the honesty from your point of view. Unfortunately, that's not always the case when unhappy reviews are posted. I'm certain others who identify with you will know to question their travel agent a bit more before booking.

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ColoradoKen 7 years ago

I was on the NCL SS Norway in the '80's and don't remember the crowds, but do recall it was a real hootenanny!

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cyclops32 7 years ago

When I read the OP went on queen Mary I could already tell what the review was going to be like. I looked at the Queen Mary however it seemed to stuck up just by viewing their website. I for one love things like the Haven but you will not see me in any thing dresser then nice jeans and a polo if that.

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juliadornick 7 years ago

My question to the original poster is after all of those cruise and so much time spent on luxury ships like seaborne why would you ever book a ship like the escape. You would like after 100+ cruises they would have an experienced travel agent or know how to research a ship. No one should rely on this review as an unbiased opinion before sailing the escape!

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mkzse 7 years ago

Oh boy! I hope that is not true.

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NicolE1622 7 years ago

I also went on the escape and the drink package was amazing. your cruise is what you make it and we had a great time on this boat and already booked to go on it again this December. can't waitð

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marinemom7070 7 years ago

Very interesting... Escape right? I got the drink package too, but now I'm def bringing my own PG on board ..

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