This was my 7th cruise with NCL and the Escape has by far been my favorite ship. There is always something to do around every corner. I loved this itinerary as well. The food was amazing and there was so much to do. I got a club balcony suite, but never really spent much time in my stateroom. There were only a few times that I stepped foot on my balcony, to be honest. My room was also very quiet and peaceful. I got plenty of relaxation on my cruise and didn't feel overly tired when I returned home. It was a perfect trip for my family of three.
Embarkation
4 out of 5
Quick embarkation at 11:00 AM (before expected time). We did have priority boarding, but really didn't need it to get on early. We arrived at the port at 9:30 and would have been in one of the first boarding groups without priority boarding.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
The buffet was excellent at lunch with many varied choices. I love that they have Indian selections daily. Breakfast was tasty, but the temperature was always a little off. The food could have been warmer on the buffet in the morning. The main dining room food was excellent. Service was a bit slow in the MDR's, but if you told them you had a show, they would be a bit quicker to serve you. The food in both Cagney's and Moderno (the specialty restaurants) was delicious, but the service in Cagney's was not the best. It took us over 2 hours to eat an early dinner. We had the earliest reservations and did not leave until after 8:00. O'Sheehan's food was good, but not as good as I remember. We only ate lunch there once.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
Golf, ropes course, hot tubs, pools, slides-all great
Get up early on a port day and use these while everyone is off the ship or get back on before everyone does and enjoy them instead of trying to utilize them on a Sea Day
Entertainment
5 out of 5
Choir of Man was awesome and so were the comedians
Service and Staff
4 out of 5
Everyone was so nice with the exception of Guest Services and the Onboard Credit Desk. I had the displeasure of dealing with them twice and they are always grumpy.
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
The cabin was immaculate and I love the bathroom including the spa shower
Ship tip
Make sure you go to the District Brewhouse. It's the coolest place on the ship.
We did not enjoy our excursion at this port. We did the Castaway Shipwreck Sail and Snorkel. There were no fish to be seen on the snorkel and the the seas were very rough on the sail. The crew just begged for money and weren't very personable. It was too expensive for a rather uneventful trip. I think they were all drinking the entire time. We felt like it wasted our time in port and we didn't get to see what we wanted to of beautiful St. Thomas.
The port itself wasn't that thrilling with very little shopping. We did the Virgin Gorda Baths snorkel and it was amazing. We would love to come back here.
We had priority disembarkation and got off very early, but they had us stand in a hallway for about 30 minutes instead of sitting in the theater because there was a breakdown in communication. Some guy yelled at another crew member and she cried the entire time.
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