Good cruise but very crowded and the layout of the ship was horrible

Item: Norwegian Escape
Rating: 3.8
Author: mmruiz

Norwegian Escape Cruise Review

mmruiz

Contributor Level: Second Mate

14 Days Till Next Cruise

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Reviews: 6

Helpful Votes: 48

Overall rating:

3.8 out of 5

7 Night Western Caribbean (Port Canaveral Roundtrip)

Sail date: March 23, 2024

Ship: Norwegian Escape

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 1 month ago

Review summary

Our first cruise with NCL. Nice cruise with friendly staff but poor ship design.

Embarkation

5 out of 5

We got there around 10:30 and were on board within 30 to 45 minutes. Once boarded we went to our tender station and had our cards swiped. Muster drill complete! Room was ready around 2pm

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5

Food was very good. Always hot and flavorful. Only a couple of subpar meals in the main dining room due to over cooking. Didn't eat at the buffet but once. Preferred O'Sheehans. Drinks were weak and bars tended to be crowded.

Moderno Churrascaria

5 out of 5

Meat on a stick that just keeps coming and coming and coming until you cry uncle! We rolled out of there.

Teppanyaki

5 out of 5

The food was fabulous and it's always fun to watch them cook in front of you while putting on a show.

American Diner

5 out of 5

Burgers were awesome.

O'Sheehan's Bar and Grill

5 out of 5

Our favorite venue for breakfast and lunch. Great food and service. Especially loved the appetizers.

Cagney's Steakhouse

5 out of 5

Food was fabulous. Perfect steak cooked brilliantly. Sides were all excellent. Service a bit slow but not too bad.

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

Didn't care for most of the onboard activities offered during the day. Pool was insanely crowded so get there by 7 if you want a chair. The water slides were fun and did try the rope course which was terrifying 😬

Entertainment

4 out of 5

I know we're in the minority and will probably receive hate mail but we didn't care for the choir of men. Venues are extremely small so you have to get there 1 plus hours before a show if you want a seat. The band in Syd Norman's Pour House was over the top phenomenal. They did a tribute to Fleetwood Mac (rumors album) which was stupendous. We also saw them for rock night and 80's prom night. Well worth the hour plus wait. We also liked dueling pianos although there's no dueling, just song requests but nonetheless a lot of fun. We also enjoyed the 70's and 80's parties at h20. Not so much the glow party.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

All staff we engaged with were excellent and friendly. Service was excellent most of the time. Getting a drink was sometimes difficult due to long lines and over crowding (not staff's fault).

Ship Quality

2 out of 5

No issue with cleanliness as staff was always working to make ship as clean as possible. Our toilet didn't always work on the first try but eventually it would flush (almost overflowed once). Design of the ship in our opinion is horrible. Venues too small with narrow walkways always made the ship feel more crowded than it was. We were just on the Odyssey (similar size ship with roughly same amount of passengers) and never felt crowded. The flow in their promenade and space allocated to the pools makes it feel much less crowded. On this ship, there's only one adult pool and sundeck around the pool was too small for this size ship. I suppose space dedicated to the haven is the culprit for a lot of this. Also, the walking track was a joke. We like to walk around the entire perimeter which is not possible on this ship.

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5

We had an inside cabin. Small but that's to be expected. Toilet would not always flush on the first try.