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Great Destination, Not So Great Experience

Norwegian Escape Cruise Review to Bermuda

Cruises: 4-6 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 10

Overall rating:

3.8 out of 5
Verified Review
Norwegian Escape

7 Night Bermuda (New York Roundtrip)

Sail date: April 14, 2019

Ship: Norwegian Escape

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 9764

Traveled as: Family (older children)

Reviewed: 5 years ago

Review summary

An unmitigated disaster, ship was 60 minutes late and everyone choose to get off at the same time. Stairs, hallways, common areas were flooded with people growing increasingly frustrated (an opportunity to learn how other cultures deal with frustration). No real organization from the crew and took 2 1/2 hours to get off the ship and pass through customs. Given a choice book a late (late) flight and stay on the ship until the last possible minute to avoid the unpleasantness.

Embarkation

5 out of 5
Departed from NYC and onboarding was smooth, show your pre-printed sailing tickets + passports, take a pic and receive room keys

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5
Large ship, tons of space, activities and food options

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5
Fitness center was crowded Day 1 and then opened up over the remaining days

Entertainment

3 out of 5

Children's Programs

2 out of 5
12 yr olds were not thrilled to be included in age group starting at 3 yrs old. Small kids (3-12) are in one group with teenagers in another.

Service and Staff

2 out of 5
Adequate but nothing special

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5
Shower clogged up once and required maintenance to fix - cabin was small but very efficient

Ship tip

Don't fall for the intro price, service charges, mandatory gratuities, specialty dining, photos, drink packages, wifi, ship chat app, excursions/tours, etc... The add-on fees just keep on coming, all can be found somewhere on the website but marketing carefully hides many in the shadows.

Thumbs up

Ports of call

New York, New York

5 out of 5

Royal Naval Dockyard, West End, Bermuda

5 out of 5

Disembarkation

1 out of 5
An unmitigated disaster, ship was 60 minutes late and everyone choose to get off at the same time. Stairs, hallways, common areas were flooded with people growing increasingly frustrated (an opportunity to learn how other cultures deal with frustration). No real organization from the crew and took 2 1/2 hours to get off the ship and pass through customs. Given a choice book a late (late) flight and stay on the ship until the last possible minute to avoid the unpleasantness.
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3 Comments

Cruisers4Lyfe     5 months ago

Thanks for sharing
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afahey    5 years ago

Every cruise line charges for drink packages, shore excursions, WiFi and photos. This isn’t exclusive to NCL and is pretty common knowledge. A little research on your part would have gone a long way. The charges for everything are very well outlined on their web site. The cruise line isn’t trying to hide anything. Each of these items is optional and no one forced you to purchase anything. As for the gratuity, they have to charge minimums otherwise people like you wouldn’t tip the staff who work VERY hard, 7 days a week, to make your vacation enjoyable. The cost is minimal for the service they provide. It’s no different than going to a bar or restaurant back at home!!!
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robyn1013    5 years ago

Always tip. The statement "don't fall for mandatory tipping" is ludicrous. If you can't afford to tip staff, DON'T GO...
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