Overall disappointed. Great food, selection, and service, but nothing exceptional. Nothing special about room make-up, was expecting animals made of towels and little chocolates. Disembarkation to Dominican and St Thomas was chaotic and dangerous.

Item: Norwegian Escape
Rating: 3.4
Author: mikekesselman1

Norwegian Escape Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern

mikekesselman1

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Reviews: 4

Helpful Votes: 105

Overall rating:

3.4 out of 5

Verified Review

7 Night Caribbean: Great Stirrup Cay & Dominican Republic (Port Canaveral Roundtrip)

Sail date: March 25, 2023

Ship: Norwegian Escape

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 15822

Traveled as: Family (older children)

Reviewed: 1 year ago

Review summary

Great disappointment for a Norwegian cruise. Previous Norwegian cruises were far superior in entertainment, port disembarkations, and food. Out of our cruises with Norwegian, Royal Caribbean, Carnival, Celebrity, and Princess, this cruise rated 14th out of our 14 cruises. We definitely will not sail on the Escape again and have to rethink any future cruises with Norwegian.

Embarkation

4 out of 5

Embarkation was very orderly and wonderful.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5

Main dining rooms and buffets were very good but nothing exceptional, i.e. no lox, no filet mignon and/or lobster. Had to pay $49 or more for specialty restaurants which, in the past, was included without having to pay extra. No salmon for dinner at any of the main dining rooms. Out of the 14 cruises we've taken, the overall food was at best mediocre.

Onboard Activities

2 out of 5

Average, nothing exceptional. Why was there allowance for LQBTQ meetings and nothing for Christians or religious groups? Art auctions very good.

Entertainment

1 out of 5

Only good shows were magician/comedy and men's choir. Why did you show repeat movies on the outdoor screen? Batman, rated PG-13, was 1 of the movies shown outside. My family left near the beginning because it had offensive language. Why would you show an outdoor movie at 7PM when parents were bringing their kids under 13? Also, 7PM comedy show rated G was offensive. Talking about "1000 little Jesuses" is not a G rating. We've been on 14 cruises from various companies. Our 3rd Norwegian cruise. This was the worst entertainment of all 14 cruises. We expected better from Norwegian.

Service and Staff

4 out of 5

Service and staff very good. Room steward only average. Otherwise, I would have given a 5 star rating.

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Excellent layout and design. Our stateroom was right below the buffet!

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

Very comfortable, good size, very clean.

Ship tip

Don't go on the Escape if you're expecting exotic food, great entertainment, and orderly disembarkation to various ports. We will never go on the Escape again.

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic

3 out of 5

Very nice port but disembarkation was chaotic, disorderly, and could have resulted in serious accidents since 3000 people were crammed on steps and into small areas.

Thumbs Up 0

Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas

3 out of 5

Had to pay $95 extra for taxi since missed excursion because disembarkation was also chaotic, disorderly, and dangerous with 3000 people crammed into small areas and steps.

Thumbs Up 1

Tortola, British Virgin Islands

3 out of 5

Nice but nothing exceptional about Tortola. Orderly disembarkation.

Thumbs Up 0

Great Stirrup Cay (Cruise Line Private Island), Bahamas Did not visit port

Cancelled because of weather. Disappointed.

Thumbs Up 0

Disembarkation

4 out of 5

Orderly.

9 Comments

CruiselineAdmin 1 year ago

@mikekesselman1 Thanks for sharing your review with the Cruiseline.com Community. If you wish to share this with Norwegian, here is contact info: Phone: 866-234-7350 Website: ncl.com Email: https://www.ncl.com/case-submission/pre-cruise

Thumbs Up 0

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nclcruzr 1 year ago

NCL did away with chocolates and towel animals a few years ago. Furthermore, everything has changed since covid. Restaurants on land are struggling to make it. I've been on several NCL cruises and have always tried to find positive things on my cruises. Maybe cruising isn't for you, I'm sure the other cruise lines are going through struggles also.

Thumbs Up 1

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Ship2Shora 1 year ago

So sorry! NCL, are you listening?

Thumbs Up 0

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javawoody 1 year ago

Appreciate your view

Thumbs Up 0

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Wanderer4life 1 year ago

Thanks for the feedback, and sorry you were disappointed. Did you book the excursions privately or through the shore excursion desk?

Thumbs Up 1

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AuntPinkie 1 year ago

Appreciate your detailed and informative review. Sorry you were so disappointed.

Thumbs Up 0

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cruisersrandd 1 year ago

Cruising is not what it was before covid. The cruise lines are facing the same issues with help that every business is. Just like everywhere else, prices are up. We cruised on NCL in September in the haven. It was flawless. If you want that experience, you need to pay for it.

Thumbs Up 3

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Gwbigdog 1 year ago

Oops sorry 😞 thanks

Thumbs Up 1

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BiddySue711 1 year ago

We were on the same ship, same date I haven’t given my review yet but was disappointed as well with the specialty restaurants were overpriced and we didn’t eat there. Food at the other restaurants was excellent though disappointed as there wasn’t any lobster. Thanks for the review though

Thumbs Up 1

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