Norwegian Escape Cruise Reviews - Reviews

this ship is so updated and amazing and beautiful great staff to help you with doing stuff and getting to where you need to go if they weren't there i would have gotten lost because it was such a huge ship!!

Fantastic!! As you can see from the photos, We had an Amazing time both on and off of the ship. We have not sailed on other lines and I am not sure we will. NCL has been so good to us. I can not say enough about how kind everyone was nor can I express how much fun we had. I am just happy that there is an outlet for people to share thier experinces. Thank you Cruiseline.com for the opportunity to share.

I've been on 15-20 cruises over the years, but this was my first with Norwegian since 1992. I will never cruise with Norwegian again.

Pros- The Norwegian Escape was new, so it was clean and pretty. The ropes course was really cool (but only 2 of our 6 were ever able to get on it.)  The crew was generally respectful and courteous, Virgin Gorda was an amazing port accessed by ferry easily by cruising into Tortola or (a much longer ferry) by cruising into St. Thomas. The food was better than adequate but fantastic in the specialty restaurants like Le Bistro and Moderno which had some of the best food I have ever eaten. 

Cons- This list is very long. I may have to do several paragraphs. First, the ship is overcrowded. I found myself standing in lines continuously. There were always lines for the elevators, the restaurants, excursions, to embark or disembark at ports, and to do any activity on the ship. The "atrium" was not grand at all. It was basically 2 floors with no glass elevator- very "blah." Since the ship has 20 floors, it's a short ship with only two sets of elevators instead of the normal three, which created nonstop lines and people scurrying to get on ahead of you. The buffet ran almost nonstop at Garden Café, but if you entered, it was wall-to-wall people waiting in lines at each station, and you could rarely find a seat. Several times, we had to go outside to eat where the humidity was so bad that we had to go back to the cabin for showers. Also, the free activities on the ship were EXTREMELY limited. Basically, you could do trivia, dance, (with a lot of drunk people) or watch movies on deck. Everything else was too crowded or cost extra. The ropes course was often closed, (due to the wind) so the lines were crazy when it finally opened. (The two people in our party who withstood the lines loved the ropes course which included two zip lines (but one was not working) and two planks over the side of the ship (but one was not working.) Of course, you had to stand in line in the middle of the ropes course to get to either of those two features. Everything on board the sports deck had lines from Dodgeball and Mini Golf to Ping Pong and even Shuffleboard. The whirlpools were always in use, and the pool situation was awful. Unless you paid extra for spa services, you could choose to use the AquaPark which was packed with kids or the main pool which was impossible to get into. We tried to go watch a couple of activities on the pool deck, but there were never any chairs available and the pool was literally 3-4 rows thick of people sitting around the edge of it, just trying to get their feet in. Because of Norwegian's special drink package, half of the people on the pool deck just stayed there all day in chairs they had claimed at the crack of dawn that they did not want to lose and literally tried to see how much they could drink in one day to "get their money's worth" on the "free" drink package that had cost them hundreds of dollars. Consequently, there were a lot of loud, drunk people on board. 

We did not do any of the ship's excursions because they were double the price of booking them on our own. In St. Thomas, we took a cab to one of the three best beaches (for snorkeling), Coki Beach.  (The other two are Sapphire Beach and Secret Harbor.) Coki Beach was gorgeous in the morning but very crowded in the afternoon when we left for an hour of shopping before getting on the ship. Magen's Bay is the prettiest beach overall, but the snorkeling there is not good. (Taking the ferry to St. John's is a great option, but we've already done that multiple times, and our time at each port was EXTREMELY limited by Norwegian.)

At Nassau, we've done Atlantis before which costs a fortune, even after you pay the park's very high admission price, and we've done Blue Lagoon (which is smaller, but really pretty and more economical), so we took the #10 Jitney bus (for $1.25 pp) from the main street (about a 10 minute walk from Festival Park where you dock) to Breezes All-Inclusive Resort where we bought a day pass for $80 pp. You must be at least 14 years old to go there, so it was nice to get away from the kids, the drunks, and the crowds. (Sandals is another all-inclusive with day passes for $120. It's 18+ and is even nicer, but we had a 16-year old with us.) Breezes was very relaxing. They had several pools, one with a swim-up bar, chairs in shallow pools, water and beach volleyball, a rock climbing wall, trapeze lessons on the beach, snorkeling, (and I believe they had a limited amount of non-motorized sports like kayaking and paddle boats; we never went over to that section of the beach. We had all of the alcohol we wanted. The price also included a buffet (which was average) and the grill which served hamburgers, etc. all day by the pool. It did storm after 2 hours, so we had to leave the water, but we didn't even care. The price had included (rather slow) Wifi. Since we hadn't used our phones in 6 days, we welcomed the chance to "catch up" with our technology. We even completed airport check-in for the next day. Despite the weather, this was a great excursion.

The excursion we chose in Tortola was the best. It is physically demanding because of the walking and bending, but we saw people overweight and people 60-70 years old who were handling it okay. We walked a short ways to Speedy's to take a $38 round-trip ferry that included a Safari bus to the Baths and the Caves at Virgin Gorda. Look these up on Youtube. These were amazing! Volcanic activity has created huge boulders all over the island with gorgeous "caves" with nooks and crannies where you can swim and explore. It's big enough that you can find your own private spot but small enough that you can't get lost. The only negative is that there's a line to get through the main route in the caves, but you are not required to stay in that line. My son’s a rock climber, and he scaled the top of the boulders in his sandals. There's also great snorkeling at the Baths Beach and at Devil's Bay which is at the end of the caves. We saw lots of coral and fish, even an eel and an octopus. The worst part was having to be back on the ship by 3:00. We could have easily stayed here all day. There was a little restaurant on the beach at the Baths and a bigger one up by the parking lot. That one even had a fresh-water pool you could use for free. Overall, the best part of the cruise was the excursions that we booked ourselves.

Back to the cons-  I have not yet addressed my three biggest concerns: money, the casino, and guest services. Let's start with money. Norwegian tries to make an extra buck whenever possible. You have to pay big bucks for things that should be included. We avoided the spa which charged for everything, even for just seeing their cool ice room. The two main activities throughout the cruise were Bingo and "Deal or No Deal." Bingo was very expensive. The first round is free to get you hooked. Then prices range from $29-$49 just to play, and if you win, you barely recover what you paid to play. They also make a lot of money on Instant Bingo, and there are very few winners. On other cruises, game shows have been free. On Norwegian, they play "Deal or No Deal," but you have to pay for a $20 card (or $40 or $60 for multiple cards) just to get a CHANCE at being selected to play. (The cards let you "play along" with the main contestant, but hardly anyone won anything at all by "playing along.") Plus, it's so crowded for these activities, your chance of winning anything is very small. Norwegian is making a FORTUNE on this. You also had to pay for things like bowling, (which only had two lanes and was always in use) pool tables, and arcade games. I was actually quite surprised that fees were not charged for Shuffleboard, Ping Pong, and Karaoke.

I'll try to be brief in regards to the casino. First, I swear that the slot machines were rigged. We never saw even one person win big on the slot machines the whole time we were there. Secondly, the tournaments were a sham. On other cruises, they have a tournament almost every day with the winner getting at least $500. Norwegian was purposefully vague about the rules until people had bought multiple entries the first day. It worked like this, the SINGLE (slot, Blackjack, or Poker) tournament ran the entire length of the cruise. On Days 1-5, if you won your round, your name went on the leaderboard. On the very last day of the cruise, only the top 6 names on the leaderboard were able to advance to the final round in which ONE person from the entire week won $500. The cruise ship made THOUSANDS on the tournament, only giving up $500. In addition, we had a card for free drinks in the casino. While there, it was often difficult to find a waiter, it often took him a long time to return with drinks, and the cruise line "accidentally" put drink charges on our account more than once which required standing in line to rectify the bill. Overall, the casino was a bad experience.

Finally, Norwegian's biggest problem was accounting. The first twenty-four hours onboard, I personally spent six hours standing in line at guest services trying to get an onboard credit that I had called to verify before we ever left home. I had to be passed from purser to purser and explain the story over and over.  While onboard, I had to call my travel company (who said the cruise line should have it) and wait on the phone with them 40 minutes. Only then would Norwegian fill out an "official" report and have someone research the problem. I eventually got the onboard credit, but it took a lot of work and a lot of time when I could have been relaxing on the cruise. In addition, I had to go back to stand in line at guest services almost every day for multiple problems that often resulted in other problems. After returning to guest services a couple of times when members of my party had "issues" with their card (which is essentially a room key and debit card), we figured out that no one from our group of six had the required credit cards attached to their accounts which was the reason for most of the individual problems. This could have been easily fixed if Norwegian had asked for our credit card when we checked in and attached it to our account. (Because they never asked for a credit card at check-in, we erroneously had thought that the cards we had used to pay for the cruise were attached to our account.) We had to go through several people declining our individual cards and then visiting guest services individually before we figured that everyone in our party had to visit guest services and fix this. In addition, I had to visit guest services for issues with our dining plan, for putting the wrong people’s charges on the wrong accounts, and for charging us for things we had not bought. VERY FRUSTRATING.

In conclusion, will I cruise again? Yes! Will I cruise again with Norwegian? Heck no! This is the first review I have ever written at any web site online, and I am writing it the day after I returned from the cruise. This should show you how disappointed I was with Norwegian's Escape as a whole. I have heard similar complaints about Carnival, and we've gradually backed away from using them. I've been on tons of cruises with Norwegian, MSC, Carnival, Celebrity, Royal Caribbean. Royal Caribbean was definitely the best, and I plan to return to them next time. (We've also heard that Princess is very good.) 

One final note, Norwegian has an elite area of the ship called the Haven which is only available to passengers who pay a lot more money for these "suites." The Haven has its own restaurant, pool, and club, and has complete access to all of the spa services. If money is not an issue for you, this might be a viable option, but, personally, I would choose another cruise line. We waited for months for this cruise because we just wanted to kick back and relax. With all of the anxiety we experienced, that was hard to do. Usually, I dread having to return to the “real world” after a cruise, but part of me was glad to escape the Escape. I hope this review helps others to make a smarter choice.

I WOULD DEFINITELY!! GO ON THIS CRUISE AGAIN. THE SHIP WAS BEAUTIFUL AND THE STAFF WAS VERY FRIENDLY THE FOOD WAS REALLY GOOD I HAD NO COMPLAINTS. MY FAVORITE PART OF THE CRUISE SEEING WASHY WASHY HAPPY HAPPY EVERY MORNING WITH A SMILE ON HIS FACE

The ship, the staff, the cleanliness, the activities are all top notch. Bars are very good, the beach vibe in particular.  The food leaves a lot to be desired. Cagney's was excellent. Food Republic was decent at best. Teppenyaki was not as good as any land based Japanese and Moderno just plan sucked. Didnt try any other specialty dining as they were all booked.  The free dining rooms were merely tolerable, neither good or bad.  Too bad I always read NCL had good food, I didnt experience it.  The beach vibe bar is the best thing going on the ship, Rommel and Roberto and Team are the BOMB, keep up the good work guys.  Overall a good experience if you can live on subpar food.

Just booked our May 20th cruise on the Escape. This is our third cruise on the Escape, love that it is sailing out of NYC. I love sailing into Boston and NYC early morning seeing all the lights of Broadway from a quiet , and peaceful balcony or listening to the bells of a buoy while looking at the gorgeous homes on the shores of suburban Boston. It is a nice way to end a wonderful vacation.

We have been on Disney and Carnival but NCL was by far the best for the kids (8 and 10).  They ran down the hallway to get to the kids area and always left sweating and tired (good for parents).  The councilors took an interest in the kids and both got tears in their eyes when it was time to leave.  Disney was good but it felt a little like a babysitting service while NCL was geared to getting to know the kids and getting them involved.  It was nice being on a new boat.

The Escape is a gorgeous ship, but it could feel crowded at times, especially since the pool deck is relatively small. Otherwise a great trip and wouldn’t hesitate to book a Breakaway class ship again, but only if there isn’t any Jewel class ships doing the itinerary

The ship was a nice ship. Not as fancy as other ships I've been on. It's a little plain on the inside. It's not wide but it is very tall. The pool area does not have enough room for many chairs on the area where kids are allowed. If you don't get up very early to save a chair you won't get one.  The pool area in the adult pool has plenty of chairs. They do stack up the chairs very early in the afternoon so if you are expecting to go relax by the pool after dinner that's not happening. The buffet food is ok the first two days then after that it's the same food over and over. They have nice pastries at the beginning of the cruise then the old pastries are kept going on the buffet. So expect very hard pastries after the second day. The biscuits they served at breakfast were so hard you can't eat them. The same breakfast is served every day. They do occasional make you a crepe at dinner. Those were very good. You just tell them what filling and they make it for you. They do have icecream on the buffet. If you want gelato be prepared to pay extra to eat from that shop. Also, they have a bakery shop that is extra. Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville is on this ship but costs extra. O'Sheeham's is a bar and grill that serves complimentary food. We ate here a lot. It was the best food on the ship. The buffalo wings were good up until the fourth day. Then they were very tiny and misfigured wings that were not as tasty. We bought an excursion for St. Thomas. It was called St. John Champagne Catermaran Sail & Snorkel. It was very nice but beware. If you think your going to get to snorkel a few hours you won't. The total time you have to snorkel or chill on the beach they take you to is only one little hour. It's very pricey for one hour of fun. When you go to Nassau don't listen to any of the drivers at the port area. They will try to get you to a beach of their choice and charge you crazy amounts when most of the beaches there are free. You just have to find a free beach and get a taxi on your own. We had a medical emergency onboard this ship. The captain decided to slow us down to a crawl for an entire day to wait on the US Coastguard. Then when it finally arrived in the late afternoon the ship completely stopped for several hours. So we were very late getting to the next port so we got a refund for our excursion we had booked.  Our cabin was nice but we had a very loud neighbor next to our cabin they would wake us up every morning at 1:00 am fighting and screaming. We couldn't wait to get home to sleep after seven days of that. Don't let them fool you when they say you can eat at the complimentary dining room as dressy or as casual as you want! We walked in and my husband had a sleeveless shirt and they said he'd have to change shirts before we could go in. I mean you have women walking around in whatever and he couldn't wear a sleeveless shirt. We just walked over to O'Sheehan's and had dinner there instead.  We went to one show and it was just ok. It wasn't kid friendly even though there was no rating on that particular show. So we didn't attempt to see the other show that was PG16. Overall this ship was terrible. We didn't enjoy it at all. 

I sail on Caribbean Escape on June 18,2016 out of Miami Florida. First I was told by Nicole Gomley booking agent that the service charges and gratuity fees could be waived or lessen. From the beginning lies; once I check in with Guest Services on the 6 floor they explain to me that the customers could no longer tip themselves but other words the amount of  service charges and gratuity would be charge to your on board account. For myself 13.50 per day and my son 13.50, daughter 13.50 which total  $40.50 a day which at the end of the cruise was $283.50 but my problem was in the Manhattan Restaurant on June 21,2016 waitress first name Cherie was very rude to my entire family my daughter order top sirloin steak well done it was broke out raw, then she asked for daughter do she want her to take it back to have the chef to put back on the grill to be cooked. We left the Restaurant because she was upset. The second incident was the water slide on the top deck which my daughter has numerous amount of piercing which she had to remove because of policy no problem with that the problem was with the water slide she is 6'2 130 pounds and she was in a slide which drops you so many feet down before you even slide. She got stuck in one of the tunnels and had to scream,beat, to get the slide attendant to notice her while tunnel is filling up with water. My daughter announces to me that the attendant was telling her that she must have been going through something with all of those piercing she had on. Now I thought this was very unprofessional. Next we all went down to the Oshennah Bar and Grill my daughter is an Lesbian which she dresses like a tom boy she had on a Tank top now this is the second visit to this restaurant the receptionist asked her to leave because she had on a Tank Top without asking were she a girl or a boy. So she leaves and change to come back in and she approached the receptionist squeeze her breast to indicate that she was all female and the receptionist apologize. The only good place to dine was the Garden buffet and Savor and Taste. My cabin was great the only person who really deserved the gratuity was my House keeper Emanuel if I could have tipped I would have gave him a $150.00 for his outstanding service cause he cleaned the state room 11214 like I clean my house super!!!! My cabin was also register to different person when I first got there and I had to clear that up also. This was the first and worst cruise I have ever been on. 

This was my tenth cruise, and I was blown away by the level of amazingness. Rarely I call anything "epic" anymore, but this vacation was truly epic.

So much fun it is giant the customer service was amazing.i would live there if i could everyone loved it the only down sude is the distances are really far, but it is a giant ship

First, you can go an inexpensive way with the Escape or invest a little money and have different exposures you would not normally experience.  The free part:  Dining - the food in the regular restaurants were very good.  We did the buffet a couple of times, dined for breakfast and lunch in the Savor and Taste several times, and spent one night in the Manhattan Room.  There was plenty of variety and taste in all the free places.  Entertainment - the shows were amazing.  I did not think I would like the show "After Midnight" but I was pleasantly surprised.  The dancing was amazing and the singing and choreograph was splendidly put together.  The "Brat Pack" was even better.  I grew up during this era so I knew I would be engaged in this show.  The performers were so passionate and had extraordinary talent.  I have seen several Broadway shows in New York and Chicago and this show measures up to that talent.  I suggest sitting near some of the platforms they have set up in the auditorium.  There will be three platforms set up about four or five rows from the front.  One to the left, another to the right and one in the middle.  Sit by one of these platforms and you will be able to experience the show in a more intimate setting.  I really did love it.  The Glow party is a must regardless of the age.  The music and lighting was invigorating.  I seen people from 8 to 80 dancing to the evening skies.  Everyone was having so much fun.  Check it out, even if it is only for a few minutes because that is what I thought and ended up staying much much longer.  The Pool - there is several complaints about seating by the pool and certainly I validate this as an issue.  However, I politely asked people with a smile if I could squeeze in and sit on one of the stools in the pool and was obliged both times.  Finding a chair, well that is a whole other issue where it was pretty packed during prime time afternoons.

The investment part:  One rather inexpensive option is the "Wine Lovers the Musical."  It is $20 per person and offered twice on your cruise.  The show is entertaining and extracts the talents from the "Brat Pack."  You are served a descent lunch but an extraordinary amount of wine.  I believe it was 4 or 5 glasses, perhaps not officially full glasses but pretty close.  The show was great and I definitely was feeling the wine as well, in a good way that is.  We had the ultimate dining package (UDP) for five of the nights.  The service and flavor in these restaurants were exemplary.  We did the Tappanyaki, Cagneys and LeBistro.  Treat yourself to it if you have the option.  There is enough reviews on this app about the speciality restaurants so I defer to those.  The spa was my favorite excursion on my entire trip.  The cost is about $200 and there is a Japanese pool, a salt room, steam room, two saunas and a snow room.  I would literally stay in the thermal suites (the other name for the spa) several hours of the day without any regrets.  There are heated chairs and two oversized couches you can cuddle with your sweetie.  I did post pictures of the spa on this app for your viewing.  If you are looking for a place to unwind, read or distress, then this is the place for you.  The first night of the cruise the spa offers a free tour of their thermal suites.  I think it was about 5pm, at the least check the tour out.

I really do love this ship.  There is so much to do.  You can get the party atmosphere at the pool and then unwind in the thermal suites.

I hope this review gives you some options to consider when you embark on the Escape.  Enjoy yourself!!

I like this brand new Norwegian Escape. It's a very nice ship with good food and great entertainment 😘 Inside interiors is very modern and up to date. Will definitely cruise with them again in the near future.

Don't let the tepid reviews scare you!  This is an amazing ship. Tyler the cruise director is fantastic and has so many good activities to do that you won't get bored.  3 adults in a balcony room and were not squeezed for space at all.  Had fun in the casino, won my first hand pay for $1304.  Bingo was a rip-off, too expensive and little kids can win hundreds of dollars with free cards.  Had the UBP and the UDP and loved it.  The specialty restaurants are really good and worth the money.  The smell of smoke was no different than any other casino.  

I loved St. Thomas and Magen's Bay was beautiful.  This was my second time in Nassau and it was over a holiday which made for a huge clusterf*ck with traffic.  We wasted so much time waiting to get our shuttle to Atlantis to go to the beach.  That excursion was overpriced and it was annoying having all the vendors selling stuff every two minutes. I'd stay on a ship next time I had the opportunity to do Nassau again.  Twice was enough.

Tortola was beautiful and the pier park is coming along but it rained that day so we just walked around the shops and that's it.  If you have any specific questions, please ask...I'm counting down to the next cruise!

This was one of my least favorite cruises with Norwegian. Overall the ship was beautiful. Massive in size, but in many ways poorly designed. On this particular cruise, the crew seemed exhausted, and somewhat moody. Something I had never experienced before onboard a Norwegian Cruise. Boarding was somewhat simple, however, the agent at the Port of Miami seemed very uninterested, and didn't provide any direction, and didn't even take my health questionnaire. The ship was very crowded, and at certain times it was difficult to move throughout the ship. Certain areas of the ship, such as the area near O'Sheehans Pub were usually always a traffic jam that would require additional care when moving around. Smoking areas were designated to two specific areas onboard, so guests were smoking on their balcony's against cruise line policy, and it made enjoying our balcony somewhat difficult when there is cigarette smoke blowing into our room. Speaking to Guest services seem to be a dead end on so many levels. Disembarkation also took two+ hours in Miami, after waiting in a line the wrapped the entire interior corridor of the ship. Additionally, the port couldn't handle the amount of people disembarking, they would temporarily suspend getting off, until they got caught up in customs, and therefore it made it very difficult to get our transportation to the airport arranged because of the delays.  I believe that these ships are becoming too big, and they are losing the attention to detail that smaller, intimate ships have naturally. Otherwise, I will continue to travel with Norwegian, I just hope they don't lose themselves under their new management and the seemingly increased push to cram as many passengers as they can into a ship with the same amount of crew and service.

The Escape is a fantastic ship for families with kids. We travelled with a 13 yr old son, a 18 yr old son and a 20 yr old girl.  They had so much to do and participate in.  The water park area is great for kids of all ages. The shows were really good. Food was excellent. I would recommend this ship.   The only thing I would change is for NCL to stop in their private island instead of Nassau, Bahamas.

I love this ship and all the staff. So much to do on board and great food places. I will definitely do the escape again!

We stayed in the haven. It was one of the best experiences. Our butler was amazing, brought us fresh yellow watermelon everyday. The entertainment on this ship was some of the best. The specialty dining package was well worth it.

We stayed in the haven. It was one of the best experiences. Our butler was amazing, brought us fresh yellow watermelon everyday. The entertainment on this ship was some of the best. The specialty dining package was well worth it.