Overall, we had a great experience on the Escape and would highly recommend it! The ship had many amazing features, the entertainment was outstanding, and the bars and food we found to be above average!
Embarkation
5 out of 5
NCL has this down. We were given times to arrive at the port and we were ushered through the check-in process. We arrived at 10am and were in the departure lounge by 10:30. We boarded by 11:30am. It was a very smooth process.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
5 out of 5
Excellent bars and restaurants. Usually food in the complimentary restaurants is generally average. However, on several nights we had special fish dishes that were excellent. We had 3 speciality restaurants (Teppanyaki, Carney’s, and Le Bistro) and all were excellent.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
There is a lot to do on this ship. I will say that the pool areas don’t really seem to adequately handle the number of people for this large of a ship. If you want a good location go out early as people stake their claim to them quickly. We had some people back home who we had to stay in contact with. We purchased the $125 internet package. We found it very slow compared to Royal Caribbean. Additionally, if you don’t purposely sign out after each use the meter keeps ticking until you run out of time remaining. We like to do slots on the ship. However, I am terribly effected by cigarette smoke and with people lighting up on both sides of me, I had to leave the area. I don’t say that to be a prude, merely to warn those first timers of this issue. Additionally, if you are trying to go the length of the floor on this deck it is impossible to do without coming in contact with second hand smoke. Again, we knew the issue ahead of time and were prepared for it.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
We found the entertainment this time around to be the best of any ship we had been on. The entertainers were switched around to different venues so you got to see them in different settings. Special recognition goes to Orly Penate who was an amazing guitarist! We followed him at most every venue he played at.
Children's Programs
We were traveling as two couples with no kids.
Service and Staff
4 out of 5
Unlike on other cruises where we have always found some rude staff, We were quite surprised to find how friendly, helpful, and courteous most were. We only had one issue and that was with our request for an ironing board and iron. The first request took several phone calls before one was delivered. On two other occasions we were told one would be sent up and it never arrived. We are okay with someone saying they are all out and you may not get one. We don’t understand saying one is available and we’ll send it up and then never following through on that request. However, this is about the only issue we had all week. Our Cruise Director was amazing and we saw him multiple times per day throughout the cruise.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
We liked the design and cleanliness of the ship. If there is one draw back it is there are not enough elevators to handle the crowds on peak nights. Be prepared to wait as elevators full of people pass you by until the crowds thin out. Again, this was not all the time but during peak event times.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
Excellent layout with a bigger bathroom and nice sized balcony. The space between the bed and the closet was a little tight though. There were 3, 3 prong electrical plugs by the vanity mirror. We brought 2 extension cords and ran one to one side of our bed and the other under the bed to the other side. It was more than enough to power what we needed. There were also USB power plugs on both sides of the bed, which was a nice touch.
Ship tip
Be patient! There are a ton of people on this ship and sometimes you won’t get taken care of as quickly as you might like. The idea is to relax and let life slow down. We love music so much and found that by going to different venues and listening to music it just slowed us down. The other thought we would share is that on prior cruises we have had 3 ports separated by days at sea. On this cruise there are 4 ports in 4 days. We found that we were having to shower and change clothes several times per day. This taxed the small waredrobe we brought. We would recommend you may want to reconsider what you pack. Also, with us going so hard four days in a roll, it seemed we were more fatigued than on other cruises where there is a sea break day between ports. We probably didn’t pace ourselves so that is something to consider in how you plan your days at port. Again, this is not a complaint as we had a great time, rather just something to consider.
We caught this port on a day when two other cruise ships were also there. There is a ton of shopping there but it was very crowded. It was also a terribly hot and humid day. We found more shop clerks out of their stores being a bit pushy trying to sell you things. This was not at every location but a number of them.
Plenty of shopping near the port. We also wanted to go to the International port to shop and it was only a $10 cab ride over with tip. This is a nice clean port. However, the further you go away from the main port the crowds are smaller and the more pushy shopkeepers became. I think we felt less safe the farther out we went. However, that was only our perception and may not be yours.
I don’t rate this quite as high as embarkation. The process for assigning color coded bag times for departure from the ship is good. However, once you actually depart and go to the area where your bags are it we found it to be very confusing. Our bags were spread out over a very large area and they were hard to find. Other people were having the same issue and it seemed to be more chaotic. Once we found our bags, the process through Customs went smoothly and quickly.
Thanks for taking the time to provide this detailed review. We have cruised many times but this will be our first time on NCL, sailing out 12/2. Very helpful, thanks again.
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