This is our fourth cruise, our first on Norwegian, so I compared this cruise with my previous three, all on Carnival. We won't cruise on one of the larger ships again. We are not giving up on NCL though. We have already booked the Pride of America Hawaiian Cruise for 2022!
Embarkation
3 out of 5
My wife uses a wheelchair and I use a cane. On our previous cruises, we were met upon arrival at the terminal. I was asked if I wanted to walk or ride and two out of three times I walked. On all three previous cruises, an attendant was provided to push my wife's wheelchair. There was no help provided in this fashion. In all cases, including the Norwegian cruise, we were expedited to a special assistance line so we didn't have to stand in line. After check in, Norwegian placed us in a separate waiting area, separating us from other members in our party. When embarkation began, we had to walk up the long, inclined gangway with my daughter pushing my wife. On our previous cruises the provided attendant took us down to a "street level" gangway and pushed my wife's wheelchair all the way to our cabin. I should note that one of our previous cruises also embarked from the same (Manhattan) cruise terminal.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
The Garden Cafe buffet is huge, with what appears to be multiple lines containing the same offerings. In actuality, this is not the case. For example, on Taco night only one line was serving tacos with the other (3?) lines serving other items. This was the nightly special and should have been available at multiple locations.
We dined in all three main dining rooms. We found the service and food very good. Our only complaint was the live entertainment in the Manhattan Room. It was so loud you could not hold a conversation between ourselves or with the wait staff.
We had the Ultimate Dining Package and had dinner at Cagney's, Tepenyaki, and Moderno. All were excellent and well worth the upcharge. We were celebrating my daughter's birthday and would have liked one of the roving photographers to record the event, but there were none to be found.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
A lot of the activities take place in the Atrium. It was difficult finding seats in this venue, difficult to navigate with a wheelchair bound guest. The Atrium utilizes a huge projection screen that was difficult from rear seats because of the overhang of the deck above (O'Sheehan's).
Entertainment
4 out of 5
The Choir of Man is an excellent show. It is probably the best show I have seen on a cruise ship. After attending the first showing, I tried to make reservations to see it again later on the cruise. We were told we could not make confirmed reservation again because we had already seen it! Only stand-by reservations were available. Not sure how I feel about this.
After Midnight was another good show. Unfortunately,it was marred by rude guests leaving throughout the show because it was not their cup of tea. The show is a recreation of a Cotton Club floor show and I guess many of our guests were not familiar with the genre of entertainment presented there.
One of biggest disappointments for my wife was not being able to play BINGO for the whole cruise. There was something wrong with the software, there was no backup copy, and no one could figure out how to do it manually.
Children's Programs
Our children are now in their 30's!
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
With the exception of the steward mentioned below in Ship Design, we have nothing but the highest praise for all of the crew members we came in contact with..
A BIG THANK YOU to our room steward(ess), Katerina. Our requests for extra pillows and towels were promptly handled. We spent several mornings and afternoons in bed and she accommodated our schedule and still managed to keep our room clean, our ice bucket filled and our towel animal collection ever-growing! And she always had a beautiful smile whenever we saw her!
Ship Quality
3 out of 5
The passageways on the Escape seem to be significantly narrower than others that we encountered. Once the luggage began arriving, it became impossible to navigate with a wheelchair. My wife frequently had to fold the wheelchair and use the wheelchair like a walker. This was also the case throughout the cruise at random times during the day and evening when the stewards had their service carts in the passageways. In most cases they would roll the carts out of the way; however, one of the stewards told us we were in the wrong hallway (we weren't - our cabin was located between two parallel hallways.)!
The Escape has two banks of eight elevators each, one forward and one aft. I have been on smaller ships with more elevators. This is a design flaw that cannot be rectified, so be prepared to wait 5 to 10 minutes for an elevator. If you are physically able (we weren't) use the steps!
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
Our room and the entire ship were always kept clean. Our cabin could comfortably accommodate 3 or 4 guests with the semi-private extra room. More than enough outlets ,USB ports, drawers and closet space.
Ship tip
Be ready to do a lot of walking! From the buffet (aft - deck 16) to the main theater (forward - deck 7) is a more than leisurely 10 minute stroll!
We live in Philadelphia and are frequent visitors to NYC, so we didn't do any sightseeing before or after the cruise. We drove to Trenton and paid only around $100 to park for the week. We rode NJT to Penn Station in New York and took taxis to the terminal for $25 including the tip.
While this was not our favorite cruise to date, it was still quite enjoyable. We took a full day bus tour with special wheelchair accessibility. George, the owner of the company, was our driver/tour guide and provided an entertaining and informative banter throughout the tour. We booked directly through NCL, however his website is www.uniquevacations.bm if you would like to contact him directly. Tell him Charlotte and Mike sent you.
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