Excellent cruise! Was more than I expected. Highly recommend NCL Escape.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Completely flawless, escorted.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
5 out of 5
Food was excellent!!! Haven restaurant was always a pleaser and a must. Speciality restaurants were impeccably delicious. Moderno was just okay though; would skip it next time around. Ate at Main Dining and O’Sheehan’s one time each and both did not disappoint. Never ate at buffet, so can’t say. The ONLY “bad” food was a preset menu served at the Supper Club show, but the magic show was fun to watch. ***In summary, food will not disappoint you on this cruise. Above par***
Teppanyaki
5 out of 5
A “Benihana’s”-type restaurant with very entertaining chefs and the food was exquisite! A lot of fun for all ages.
Cagney's Steakhouse
5 out of 5
Cagney’s was the BEST! A MUST. Although wear what you want, this was a bit more elegant and I recommend dressing up from nice casual on up. More of an adult atmosphere, but all ages are fine.
Skyline Bar
5 out of 5
Fun, open style bar near the casino; great for late night dancing!!! Had lots of fun here.
Onboard Activities
5 out of 5
Don’t skip the Activities! Your cruise experience is only as good as what YOU make it! Think out of the box! Activities are there and plentiful, but you just have to do them.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
HANDS DOWN, Choir of Man is a MUST SEE!!! Saw After Midnight and loved this show as well!!! Both shows had AMAZING talent! These people work so hard and you truly feel they give it their all.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Aside from our butler, EVERYONE gave excellent service with heart and a smile. We’ve never been more pampered and spoiled by the concierge, steward, servers, casino, cruise director, etc. Our butler didn’t ruin our trip by any means, but he just seemed burned out.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
Easy to find your way around, electronic poster-size boards throughout that offer maps, guidance, show activities, dining, and more. CLEAN is an understatement (and I’m a FREAK about cleanliness).
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
Cabin was aft corner. We also had the opposite corner 12906. About 5 mini suites between the two. Not enough words to describe how perfect these penthouse cabins were.
Ship tip
If you can get a great deal on a Haven cabin, I promise it’s worth it.
Our 2nd favorite port! Lovely, pleasant, clean, great boardwalk. Lots of walking with beautiful sites. Honestly not sure if the Maritime Museum was worth the visit... not much there to see about the Titanic.
Did not take an excursion. I read Peggy’s Cove was a must, but was told by 2 cruisers (who took an excursion) that it was a long drive and, although it was a quant little town, it wasn’t worth 6 hours of their day round trip.
Didn’t seem like any excursions were worth considering, but simple little town. Not even sure this makes a great port to stop at, but easy on/off ship so it was fine just walking around. Don’t expect much and you won’t be disappointed. Had a good lunch here with amazing Bloody Mary’s, but wouldn’t necessarily recommend it.
SAVE ALL YOUR GIFT SHOPPING FOR BAR HARBOR! Cheap!
Loved this port! Took the Ollie Trolly (just a quick left after you disembark) and it was was plentiful. Beautiful, quaint town with lovely people.
SHOPPING here was unbelievably inexpensive! Wish I had done all my gift buying at this one port.
BEST LOBSTER ROLL on the entire cruise was at “The Stadium” restaurant! Drizzle melted butter over it and you’ll be in heaven. Tell the female owner “the 5 sisters” sent you!
If you can, definitely stay a day or two in Times Square area BEFORE the cruise. Lots to do on foot without booking any excursions of sorts. If you plan to spend some time in NYC after the cruise, be aware that you may experience motion sickness on land for a day or two or more which could ruin any post cruise vacation plans.
Almost perfect, but honestly nothing to complain about. Just be patient, lots of people leaving. They really do have a great system to get people off in a controlled fashion.
Left the ship on a Sunday around 9:45am after a stress-free and amazing breakfast in the Haven restaurant; crossed the street from pier 88 (where cab drivers will FLOCK to you; fierce competition) and we went with a full size limo that took our group of 7 for $30/pp (yes, you can and should haggle). Had a flight to catch at 1pm out of Newark (EWR) and we were on the road at 10:30, got to EWR at 11:00.
I honestly didn’t feel like it was much of a city, but on the flip side, I knew there had to be more but just didn’t see it! Well, I hope someone posts some good pointers about Portland (even restaurant picks would’ve been nice to know in advance) so it helps the next person.
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