Not the trip of a lifetime, but a good solid relaxing vacation.
Norwegian Escape Cruise Review to Caribbean - Bahamas
Contributor Level:
Purser
Cruises: 4-6 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 47
7 Night Bahamas & Florida (New York Roundtrip)
Sail date: March 24, 2019
Ship: Norwegian Escape
Cabin type: Oceanview
Cabin number: 12653
Traveled as: Singles/Friends
Reviewed: 5 years ago
Review summary
The cruise was fun. This was my first solo cruise, so I was a little apprehensive about traveling alone. But I never felt alone. There was always somewhere that I could be around people when I wanted, or somewhere I could find a quiet corner when I did not. I will admit this was not my favorite itinerary. My skin is too fair to be a beach babe. But I have done cold water cruises and wanted to try something a little different. This was a nice cruise...not spectacular, but fun and relaxing.Embarkation
Embarkation was fast and easy. A lot of walking, but it is a big ship and a big dock. I was dropped off across the street from Pier 88 at 10am. Luggage dropped off and through security (and first pics posted online) by 10:15. Checked in and sitting in the waiting area within 10 minutes. Short wait while they cleared the stragglers from the last cruise off the ship. There are little popup stores with lanyards, sunglasses and such to keep you entertained. Then onto the ship about 11 am. Curb to ship in about an hour. Hint...there was a cruise line free refreshment station just past the pay snack stand.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
The food was very good. I ate most breakfasts and dinners at Taste since they almost always had a single table readily available. I had one wait during the whole cruise and it was maybe 5 minutes. The pastries were the best that I ever had on a cruise. I would book this cruise again just to get the croissants. Only disappointing item in the main dining room/buffet was the scrambled eggs. They were a bit runny and tasteless, but that is not necessarily a bad thing when dealing with so many diverse diets. I will say I was not happy with O'Sheehans. I had a breakfast and a late night snack there. Both times, the service was just as good as the rest of the ship, but the food was not quite up to NCL standards (overcooked burger).
Onboard Activities
I admit I did not spend much time on the pool deck. It was crowded and noisy when I did go there. Kids were always in the hot tubs, and the pool itself is very very small. Hint...there are other hot tubs and lounge chairs upstairs on deck 19 (only front 1 elevator goes there) or in Spice H2O on 17 aft.
The spa pass was worth it to me. It was a nice relaxing area and there was never a crowd. Loved having access to uncrowded pools of water. To get to the spa, you walk through the gym. And while I mostly did just walk through, the gym is well equipped and expansive with more capabilities than expected. They have a good variety of classes available and a very friendly staff.
Entertainment
There is music everywhere. There are bars and clubs scattered around the ship where there are a few different groups playing. Most of it was quite enjoyable. The 80s and 90s parties were fun, but Glow was seriously overrated. I spent a lot of time listening to JR play piano in the Brewhouse, but sorry...he is leaving Escape later this month to go to Getaway.
There is always something going on in the Atrium. That is the center of ship life. All of the information desks are there, along with the big screen. Sometimes it was games shows; sometimes it was trivia; and sometimes it was music. This is also where there were late night movies. It can fill up, but there were only a couple of times when I saw more people than seats.
The shows were good and bad, but mostly good. Choir of Man was really good. Recognizable songs done in a slightly different way with fun audience interaction. I admit I was one of the people who walked out of After Midnight. While the concept was good and the performers were great, it was not cohesive enough and not my kind of thing. I went to the Supper club for both Uptown and The Rocketman Experience. The shows were fabulous. The food was OK. Plan on having to go find a snack since you get no choice of food. There were a lot of comedians. I mean a lot of comedians. They had them in the comedy club; they had them in the main theater; they were everywhere. I do not like comedians, so this was not a good thing. Howl at the Mood dueling pianos was fun (I do like music), but there was way too much emphasis on stand up comedy.
Children's Programs
I did not sail with any children
Service and Staff
Staff were all friendly, helpful and patient. They are all willing to go that extra mile to make your vacation special. I had a particularly good experience with one waiter in the Brewhouse. I ordered one drink on Sunday night. And even with all of the people in and out of the bar all week, he remembered me and my drink choice when I returned Friday. The only service issue during the trip was in the casino. It is very difficult to get a drink while playing. The dealers in the casino are very good and Simba is a great pit boss, but the waitstaff were practically invisible.
Ship Quality
The ship is large, and it feels it. It took me a few days before I realized there was an entire public deck that I had missed when touring. It was easy to navigate and rarely seemed as crowded as it was. The only time it really showed was after muster and during embarkation/debarkation. That is when the elevators would get extremely crowded. But the layout was good. The main walkway passes by just about everything and that gives it an open feeling and keeps you from having to walk through bar areas to get to other parts of the ship.
Cabin / Stateroom
The room was small. I expected that, but the layout did not work as well as it could have. There are no drawers anywhere in the room. That would be fine if there were alternatives, but it was not designed that way. There are shelves on one side of the closet, but they are too shallow. I could not even fit my smaller packing cubes on them. Luckily there were plenty of hangers and a single large shelf at the top of the closet. That gave me space for my clothing, but I was traveling solo. There is also a small cabinet under the desk and a couple cubbies in the wall, but they are small and odd shaped. There were 3 plugs over the desk (with no access from the bed) and you could tell I was not the only one that had problems plugging things in. The plates were scratched up. The bed area would have been fine with separated beds against the walls, but it was a little difficult walking around with a single large bed.
The bathroom made up for any issues in the main room. There is plenty of shelving there. Lots and lots of shelf space. Hooks on the door and multiple towel racks. So there was plenty of space for toiletries and drying clothes. The shower stall was large enough for my extra fluffy form to take a shower and even shave my legs.
They room is beautiful, and I can see what they were trying to do. But maybe they should have sacrificed some of the aesthetics for function.
Ship tip
Only some of the elevators go to the top decks (17-19). This is noted on the wall above the elevator door. Only one goes to 19, but it is worth figuring that out as that is where the private hot tubs are.
Thumbs up
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Ports of call
NYC is my home port. I live about an hour outside the city so I did not go on an excursion, but it is really easy to get to this port. A couple days in NYC at the beginning or end of your trip can be quite entertaining. Note...if you can get picked up away from the pier, your ride will thank you. If you have to meet right there, your ride will be directed to the lower level at Pier 88 luggage drop off. There is nowhere for them to stop and wait.
I did the airboats in FL, and it was fun but a little too much time at the preserve. We saw lots of gators from the airboat. That was fun. Then we went to a little roadside preserve/zoo/historical center. There was not much history (recreated artifacts), lots of gators, and some animals in small cages. We got to hold a small alligator and watch the big ones get fed. But we could easily have done all that in half the time we spent there.
Great Stirrup Cay (Cruise Line Private Island), Bahamas
This was easily my favorite stop on this itinerary. Great Stirrup Cay was really nice. A perfect beach day compressed into one locale. I did the eco boat tour where they brought up sea life for us to see and hold (conch, starfish, sea sludge, etc). Then I did a little shopping at the small market. I still had time to play in the waves a bit, though the water was too murky for real snorkeling.
There were bars where you could get drinks with your keycard or fill a water bottle. The buffet was limited but very good. They had a grill station set up closer to the beach and a taco bar. They even come around with popsicles and drinks while you are waiting for the tender back to the ship. (I admit that was a tedious process as many people tried to leave at once when there was a tropical shower.)
It would be wonderful if they built a dock on this island so they did not have to tender, but the tender process was not that bad. It was easy to get between the tender and the ship. It was really rocking when we went over, but the tender crew took good care of us all.
Nassau was fun. It is a tourist trap and makes no bones about it. I did the land and sea tour. The host on the boat made that part fun. It was a nice way to see the area. The land portion was not as good. We stopped at the fort and saw the Queen's steps (which have been paved so they are just a set of outside stairs) and ended at Atlantis for a quick casino/mall trip. You could either meet the driver back at the doors to Atlantis exactly on time or they would assume you wanted to stay there and leave without you. I am glad I did the tour since it gave me a nice overview of the area, but one of the other tours I have seen might have been more interesting on land.
As to the "pushy, aggressive, rude" vendors. I did not see any of that. I was approached by a couple of vendors while at the fort, but I just smiled and walked on. I actually had more issues with the other ship passengers when trying to get through the port market than with the vendors. They were the ones blocking the way and pushing. (You need to walk through the market to get to the port gates and it seemed like no one wanted to get back to their ships.)
Disembarkation
Leaving the ship was sad, but really easy. We started to disembark an hour early. I walked off with my bags and it was simple. All ramps except one escalator. Customs was simple. Half an hour from boat to curb. Port personnel were really good about directing everyone and there were no issues as long as you paid attention. I would suggest you arrange to be picked up away from the port if you can. While it is really easy for us walking off, it is a bit difficult for those driving in. If you need to get picked up at the port by a private car, expect to be directed to the lower level at pier 88 baggage drop off. That is where they have an area set up for quick pickups. But there is nowhere for someone to stop and wait for you.