Bermuda is an amazing vacation destination. Do yourself a favor and DO NOT spoil your vacation with this ship! It is crowded, extremely hard to navigate. If you can not walk up and down the stairs, then do not get on this ship! There are only 2 groups of elevators, one mid ship, and one aft. This causes them to be very overcrowded all the time. Look for a ship with 3 elevators. There are no good decks to see the ocean, so don't expect it unless you book a balcony. Pay for the best room you can get, besides for the shows, there is no were else on this ship to be besides for in the room. Better yet, just buy a different ship!
Embarkation
1 out of 5
We found our bags, half way down the hall!
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
2 out of 5
poorly served, tired of same choices every night.
Onboard Activities
1 out of 5
On-board activities were just not there. And the activities that were available the crew running them were rude or nasty or just did not let us enjoy them at all. They always wanted to run off as if there was something better for them to do. The pool we avoided due to trash floating in it. The rope course was usually closed, or we were not allowed to participate, for unknown reasons. The mini golf closed, even the jogging track had only certain hours of operation. The water slides closed due to a 10 second drizzle! We were very confused by this as we stood in the sun at the locked gate waiting for the crew to come back. The sun deck was always closed with a sign saying closed due to inclement weather. It was always calm and sunny, and this made no sense. The deck chairs were always, always stacked in piles, and we had to jump up on a stack or unstack them ourselves to enjoy them.
Entertainment
3 out of 5
Service and Staff
1 out of 5
Security was extremely nasty and yelled at us our first shore day because we returned to the ship wearing our sun hats. Apparently removing them when asked to do so was not good enough and the security lady had to yell and lecture us for a long time. So much that the fun enjoying our vacation feeling was replaced by sadness and anger. The head of security used the excuse that he had 5 new employees not yet trained on the proper treatment of passengers. This made us even more angry as not trained personnel should not be the first person to great and yell at returning guests! Our last sea day a rope course worker forcefully pushed my sister off the ropes course despite 20 other people being left to there own paths of enjoyment. The rope course supervisor said his employee said he was simply helping to guide her along! He was informed his employee was lying to him. He did not care and blew us off along with guest services who gave the feeling we were not important as would be gone in a day.
Ship Quality
1 out of 5
There is no such thing as cleanliness on this ship. There were bottles and cups floating in the pool, and spills up and down the deck. 4 spills one night and no crew cleaning in sight. The ship design is terrible, there is no were inside that is quite as all music activities are in the open at huge bust your eardrum levels. there is smoking all over, the smoke drifts everywhere, and can not be escaped. The public spaces are often closed causing the ones that are open to be over crowded. And there is no promenade deck or anywhere else to have a nice look at the ocean. The ships decor is dark , very very dark and depressing. The elevators are always crowded as there are only 2. One aft, and one mid deck.
Cabin / Stateroom
1 out of 5
Ship tip
DON'T!!!! If you have a choice find a nicer ship, one with at least 3 sets of elevators. If you like overcrowded areas, no chance at getting a spot in the pool, dirty decks, rude crew then go ahead. Do not get a room in the front of the ship, as there are only an aft and mid deck elevator. You will have to walk all the way mid ship to reach the first elevators and they are overcrowded and you will often have to wait very long for one with room to come.If you would like to enjoy your ship days - smoke free, and clean and uncrowded, do yourself a favor and look for another ship.
The reviewer has the right to his opinion i myself thought the ship sucked this was the first ship ive been on that you had to walk sideways down hallway to let others go bye rooms so small no place to put your clothes wind up putting suitcases under bed and always had to dig them out to change clothes could never find a chair bye the pool could not walk bye pool without tripping over someone nichole and dime me at everything I'm had it with Norwegian there's to many other cruise lines I'd rather spend my hard earned money on
Wow! Turn your hearing aid down man!! If u can't have a nice dinner in Savor or Taste, I don't know what to tell u. Manhattan is much noisier and maybe not for you. Also Cagney's was a nice atmosphere, as was LeBistro. The upper decks are where u go for guiet and less crowds. So what you have to go down the same steps u came up on. That's your beef? Wow! You def sound like you belong up in the Haven....and stay there where everything is done for you. Actually, just go back to the other line where they tell you when to eat and when you can see the shows. Maybe that's your speed anyway. Good luck finding happiness.
Hi, I wrote the original comment everyone is responding to. First off, I am not elderly You silly THEBRAZ, and even if i was why would that make my comments any less credible? Just because someone is elderly would not make them lazy boring or not fun!!!!!!! Let me state it this way so everyone is clear about the experience to expect on this ship. If your idea of fun is standing 2 feet from your friend screaming at them and they still can't hear you so you have to resort to hand signals, then this is your ship. Everywhere, let me repeat everywhere from the back spice h2o to the pool to the interior atrium by guest services and the shore excursion desk is playing music at this level. We had to yell just to book shore excursions. Not fun. Bring your earplugs if you plan on eating at the after hours pub- you will need them. Don't expect to have any nice diner conversations on this ship! ( Just f.y.i. for anyone who doesn't know- if you have to yell to be heard 3 ft away ,- that decibel level can cause permanent hearing damage in 15 minutes of exposure) Thought those of you thinking it should be louder should know and have your hearing checked.
You could enjoy looking at the water -sun sets, sun rises from deck 8, if you don't mind looking threw life boats! Also the sun deck would be a good spot to enjoy ocean views if it was ever open!
Just for the record this is not B.S. It all happened as described, and was a horrible experience, WE BOOKED THIS CRUISE FOLLOWING ANOTHER CRUISE WITH A DIFFERENT CRUISE-LINE THAT WAS THE MOST WONDERFUL AND EXACT OPPOSITE OF THIS CRUISE.
There are only 2 sets of elevators that guest can use. Blondy must be looking at plans that show the crew only elevators. There is only a mid ship and an aft set for guests to use. If you are capable of running stairs great! God bless you - enjoy. As for those who can not and must use the elevators save yourself the frustration and find a better ship. They were always always full and crowded and it took a very long time for an available one with space to come. This was made even worse as after a few days of this people began to become so impatient they would stand at the front of the elevator blocking anyone else from getting on as not to have to stop at anymore floors than necessary. They also began hitting the door closed button before people could get on or we could get off at our floor... Lots of frustrating fun. If you want to subject yourself to this go ahead. Be warned, I Highly suggest you do not book this ship! I find it interesting some brush this stuff off as small set backs. These were not small set backs everything collectively- made this ship horrible. Our last cruise the complaints were the photo booth was in a way broken for viewing and getting our photos, and the pools and hot tubs closed 2 and a half hours earlier than scheduled the last night! Now those are small minor set backs. That cruise was awesome! What a night and day difference!
Its amazing to me the insinuations of me being elderly, and getting lost! This is not true and not at all what was written, read again silly silly gooses. The ship is poorly designed, hard to navigate, most places end in dead ends causing back tracking to be necessary. The upper decks especially all dead end with only one set of stairs, causing a salmon swimming upstream effect as you try to back track down the one and only very crowded staircase to navigate anywhere. This ship has no flow to it. No were designed to relax and enjoy the water views. If you all have the good fortune of cruising on a ship designed for this, with traffic flow in mind and glass observation bump out, and viewing deck- You will know what I mean. Unfortunately I think many people are commenting in a way threw blinders, simply have not been fortunate enough to know or experience a nice cruise ship. If you have never cruised before- do not make this your first cruise. Had i done so and cruised on this ship as my first cruise I would never cruise again, saying to myself that cruising must not be for me. I had the good fortune to cruise on a nice ship my first time and am now hooked, I know there are good fun ships out there, and will seek them out. NCL- NEVER AGAIN...
Love the Escape. Not hard to navigate at all. The Elevators can be a pain. We were on her in May and going again in August. Boat was always clean. I don't know how you could have missed seeing the water, it is all around the ship. Deck 8 the Waterfront is a nice peaceful place to see it. Please research the ship before you go. You would have known to booked the shows and restaurants in advanced, now it is at 120 days
Also I ask what is hard to navigate Everything is in the same place if you want to do things outside it’s the top of the shop all the restaurants and bars on 678 and you can see the water from there lol it’s only 100’ wide if you got lost going port to starboard then you probably shouldn’t be anywhere alone
I agree was just on her and loved it not dirty either I’m assuming you are older and don’t like fun honestly the spice h20 was too quiet for me and always had something going on at the pool I never had an elevator issue because the steps are not bad I think you should look into a smaller ship with less people who are all elderly so you can experience the boring silence together
I had a very different experience! Very clean and lots to do. Food was great and service incredible. Could use another set of elevators. Other than that everything is great and will be sailing on her for 3rd time in August
I am glad I read everyone else’s reviews because I am going on the Escape in October.I went on the Breakaway and yes the elevator’s were always busy but I actually liked using the stairs to work off all the delicious food I ate.I assume the Escape is like the Breakaway and the Breakaway staff was cleaning all hours.
last year on the Breakaway my husband and I both needed scootets and found guests very accommodating when it came to getting on the elevators...everyone was definitely in vacation mode!! Going on Escape in August and so looking forward to it
Never experienced anything of what you mentioned. We are going on the Escape for a second time (last year was the first) because we enjoyed it so much! The 5’Oclock Somewhere bar is fantastic and on the waterfront. Never smelled smoke except where it was allowed. Had the best time by the pool and even found a quiet place to read and play cards! If you want nothing but quiet and to be alone, try booking a resort next time. All the fun people cruise! Looking forward to another great time on the Escape!! 🌊🌴🍹🐠🌸🛳⚓️
Of course you can see the ocean. You are on a ship! If you can’t find the ocean on a ship there is something wrong. Waterfront was very relaxing. I don’t know why I even bothered reading this review.
Wow, I had a completely different experience. I was just on the Escape in May. I don't have one thing to complain about. I had a fantastic time. Service was wonderful, staff was amazing, food was great and wonderful views of the ocean. 😎
I must have been on the wrong ship. I was on the Escape last week. Had a great cruise. The staff including security was great. As for seeing the ocean try the Waterfront (deck 8) and the entire upper decks.
@viven... you are correct,.. i have been on many ncl ships including escape and gem....its all about attitude, if you leave home with a fun tude, then you will have yourself a ball....cannot sweat small stuff...i have always had a great time...
Sorry that you had so many complaints skubis...
Wow, you had some bad experiences and had to complain to everyone about them! Some people are looking foreword to going on this ship!!! And did you check out the layout on this ship there are more then two elevators and as of cleanliness well did you help and we never had any problems with security on or getting off!!! Soooo sorry this isn’t a good cruise for you.🤷🏼♀️🤷🏼♀️🤷🏼♀️🤷🏼♀️🤷🏼♀️🤷🏼♀️🤷🏼♀️🤷🏼♀️
Hmm....we had pretty much the exact opposite experience and booked another cruise right away because of our experience.
This kind of stuff annoys me, because I know that it's almost all b s and ruins people's excitement for their upcoming cruise.
Yes there is the waterfront everyone has their own opinions of the larger ships I was on the Escape in May and totally enjoyed it To compare it to the smaller ships like the Gem, it is 2 very different experiences. I prefer the smaller but have no problem going back on the Escape which we are in November. On any cruise it’s your vacation to enjoy or let small setbacks like having to wait for an elevator ruin it.
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