Norwegian Escape Cruise Reviews - Reviews

Again your cruise is what you make. We go on vacation with the intent of being happy and enjoying our break from reality. And that’s exactly what we do. We make friends and make sure we stay away from unhappy people.

Overall just ok. Kids loved it (13,14) for the freedom of the ship and meeting friends. Nothing impressed me for the cost. Learned a lot, after the fact. Was most disappointed with service or lack of. We are used to all inclusive resorts where service was extraordinary. We had difficult time getting any assistance or anyone being accommodating. We thought our cruise might be last and we caught staff on tail end of their work schedule but that was not the case. Staff was just unhelpful and provided bare minimum of service.

I cruised on the Norwegian Escape on December 16, 2023. Although this was not my first cruise on Norwegian, it will be my last! I was disappointed with so many aspects of the service provided, that I'm sure I'll forget to mention something. 1. The guest-to-crew ratio was not conducive to great service. I had a party of 7 and meals in the main dining room were at least 2 hours for each meal. We only had one attendant servicing our table. Therefore, there were very long lag times between courses, water was not replenished often and drinks from the bar were slow. 2. As part of our Free at Sea, we received WiFi. That was a joke! The WiFi package only allowed you 150 minutes. However, those minutes were used up quickly because NO instructions were telling you to turn off the WiFi when not using it so that the minutes would not continue to accumulate. I ended up having to purchase another package. 3. I purchased a spa treatment that was a special on board. It was for a 1 1/2-hour massage/facial. A couple of others in my group also purchased the same package. I and one of my travel mates had an appointment at 4:30pm. We were sent to the wait area for our technician to come get us. My travel mate's technician came shortly after we got to the room. A short time later I was told my technician was running late and would be there shortly. Two others in my group who had a 5pm appointment joined me in the waiting room as they waited for their technician. Finally, at approximately 4:50 pm, my technician came to get me. She took me to the treatment area discussed my services and left me to get undressed for my massage. When I last looked at my watch before taking it off, it was 4:59pm. The technician came in and performed my massage. When she said my time had ended, she left me to get dressed. I looked at my watch and saw that it was 6:01pm. I didn't think anything of it then, but realized when I got dressed and left, that I was short 30 minutes of my treatment! I guess the technician was making up the time for HER BEING LATE? The next day I went to the spa to discuss this problem and was begrudgingly offered a day pass to the thermal room. However, because it was an at-sea day, I was told I would only be able to access it during off-peak hours. 8am - 11am and then 8pm - 10pm. These may not be the exact times, but close enough. I did not go because the times did not suit my schedule. 4. The excursion in Jamaica was TERRIBLE!!! We purchased the Dunn's River Falls/Bamboo Beach VIP trip ($149). The trip was to include time at Dunn's River Falls followed by time at Bamboo Beach which included drinks and meals. The excursion was to begin at 9:30am. We were instructed to meet in one of the theaters on the ship. This was the meeting point for most excursions and, therefore very crowded. We were called slowly by excursion to leave to go outside to meet the transportation. We did not get called until after 10am. At that time we were sent outside where numerous people waiting for other excursions were all standing around. It was exceptionally unorganized once outside when trying to determine what line was for your particular excursion. Everyone was counting on the people around them to figure out what line to stand in. After standing at close quarters with everyone around me in an enclosed waiting area, I felt claustrophobic and waited outside. It was not approximately 10:45am. When I asked why the a long delay to get going, I was told they were waiting for the bus which was stuck in heavy traffic. I would have thought the bus would have been waiting at the pier at the departure time. Frustrated, I found a Norwegian staff member to ask how to cancel the excursion and get a refund. He didn't have a definitive answer and somewhat indicated that we would not get a refund at this point. I explained our frustration and gave the names of all in my party (which he wrote down) so that I could address the issue with Guest Services once back on board. The bus finally arrived, and we were on our way AFTER 11am! This delayed departure meant we had already lost over 1 1/2 hours of beach time. We got to Dunn's River Falls and were only able to spend 45 minutes there. Once back on the bus and the long ride to Bamboo Beach, we found it once again unorganized. We waited outside the entry for our guide to get admissions for our group. We were ushered to the section of the beach where our chairs were set up. The food was served by 2 individuals carrying out plates to where we sat in our chairs. Again, with no organization to the pecking order for service. Not sure if we even got all the courses that came out. The watered-down cocktails were also served, which resulted in you spending money to get a REAL drink, not the fruit punch with MAYBE a DROP of alcohol in it. My group finally got their meals 20 minutes before it was time to get back on the bus to return to the ship. By the way, we were late getting back to the ship that was waiting for our group to depart from Jamaica. I say this because we only got to spend a little over an hour at the beach. No need to get in the water when you had to choose between waiting in your seat for food or missing eating because you were in the water. We were served the desert on the bus on our way back to the pier. Once back on board, I spoke with Margaret in Shore Excursions to complain about our experience. Several other people who were on this excursion were in line to voice their complaints also. Margaret was only able to offer a 10% refund which was coming from Jamaican Tourism. She explained Norwegian was also adding a 5% refund. I assured Margaret that this was not acceptable. Her response was that was all that was being offered and that I could take my grievance up with Guest Experience once back home. (Sorry Margaret, not trying to shoot the messenger) Norwegian gets a kickback for this excursion. It costs $99 if you book directly with Jamaican tourism. Norwegian could have AT MINIMUM refunded the difference back to the passengers. 5. Due to the weather, we were not able to go to the Grand Cayman Island, instead we received a $50 ship credit for our additional at-sea day. I wish there was enough entertainment on the ship to give you something to do for the extra sea day. The pools and hot tubs were overly crowded and not many shows, or entertainment to occupy your time. 6. Debarkation. At this point, I don't know why I expected anything better. Once again, completely unorganized! Extremely long lines, waiting to get through customs. I paid for a porter to get me to the front of the lines. I didn't know there were cruise lines that didn't use biometric screening to get guests through customs and out of the terminal quickly. My list can go on and on. The moral of the story, is goodbye Norwegian! Royal Caribbean, I'm sorry I strayed! You can best believe, Norwegian will not see me aboard another of their ships! User's recommendation: Be cautious when booking a cruise with Norwegian. The "free perks" may look good when booking, but you do not always get the bang for your buck. Try Royal Caribbean instead! Even Carnival has better service!

We took our first ever cruise the week of 12/16-12/23/2023 on the Norwegian Escape. This was a terrible first cruising experience. So much so that by the end of the week, my husband had a timer on his phone counting down the minutes til we could leave! We should've not spent eight days and over $5,000 to come home more stressed and miserable than we were before we left. I venture to say that I would've rather been at work all week than on that ship! We all know weather cannot be controlled, but many things can be done either right or wrong. Here are some of both: The "Rights": Choir of Man (amazing), Wheel of Fortune (fun), Howl at the Moon (more fun), our cruise director, Jack (energetic & fun). That's about it. Not much else brought us joy that week. The "Wrongs": Communication - from captain/crew, especially pertaining to weather, excursions, etc. It would've been nice to know well ahead of time to expect 75mph winds the first night, or that the forecast for Grand Cayman was windy and rainy, NOT addressing the issue after the fact or shortly beforehand. Cabin - our door was so difficult to open, we sometimes felt "trapped" in our room; It took two days and multiple requests to get hypoallergenic pillows for my husband with severe down allergies; We never met our room steward, let alone knew their name; Worst of all, we had NO idea that our "upgraded" Ocean View cabin at the very front of the ship would lead to seven sleepless nights filled with rocking, banging, clanging, and slamming, among other things. Food - bland, cold, lack of variety. Food "freshly" put on buffet already room temperature. Ordered a filet at Cagneys and it was cold. Not just room temp, but cold. Their solution was to butterfly it and overcook it to the point I had to chew each bite for at least a minute before I could swallow it. Excursions - I could go into a lengthy diatribe on this one, but suffice it to say that each port was chaotic and disorganized. Cozumel was the worst. We went from a weather-cancelled private island all-inclusive catamaran to Passion Beach day excursion to a subpar, dumpy, NOT resort-like Playa Mia where we ended up having to pay $84 extra for food/drink at the smallest and nastiest buffet you could imagine. Our next port, Grand Cayman, was cancelled due to winds making tendering unsafe. Totally understand this decision; however, NCL could've done better than the paltry concession of $50 onboard credit to make up for our troubles. Jamaica wasn't any better. The chaotic craziness inside the excursion meeting tent made us feel like cattle being led to slaughter. While the dolphin swim was an awesome experience, it only lasted about 30 minutes, the rest of the time being spent wandering aimlessly around the park. Plus, the town of Ocho Rios was obviously so unsafe that our tour guide only let us stop at a regulated shopping area and watched us like a hawk. Nassau was a joke of an afterthought to avoid having to refund for another port cancellation (Great Stirrup Cay). It was basically a souvenir-buying tourist trap stop that lasted five hours. Crowd control - one word: Elevators. I can't count how many rides we passed up because they were packed like sardines. Definitely got my exercise, but I feel for those who couldn't do stairs. Another word: Lines. Everywhere. Just the line for crepes at the buffet was enough to grind my gears. And a lot of people were just flat out rude! Groups with no consideration for those around them. I realize cruise ships hold thousands of people, and this particular sailing was completely booked, but there has to be a better way. Miscellaneous - smoke in the casino, cigar smoke outside Tobacco Road, rotten seafood smell outside Bayamo, sewage smell in back of Escape Theater. Toilets in multiple staterooms not flushing. Toilet paper that was more like sandpaper. Not to mention the constant money-grab for every little thing onboard. I understand that this is supposedly where cruise lines make their money, but when a game of Bingo costs as much as $80, it feels a little greedy. I could go on, but you get the idea. Needless to say, this experience completely put us off the notion of being cruisers. While I understand things like weather being uncontrollable, all of the other things that could've been done to make up for that were either not done at all, or done at the bare minimum. Even if we were to chance another cruise, it would NOT be with Norwegian!

Relaxing trip and we left feeling spoiled and refreshed.

I had fun. Except for my pics not being ready I missed my flight home due to having to wait 40 min for pics to be printed

Overall it was a good cruise- unfortunately the weather was awful the last 2 days and we couldn’t make the stop at Great Stirrup Cay

The seas were a bit rough but were still able relax and had a great time.

The Choir of Man, food, drinks and ports were great

This is a Great Ship with lots to do especially with the water slides and ropes course plus lots of entertainment nightly. Bingo is always a good thing to do if you haven't decided on something else. Art Auction is a lot of fun for those that don't collect art it's nice to look at all the different artist work on board and sometimes even pick up something unique.

We had a great time! Would do it again. Next cruise in April 24.

Had a wonderful time but I was definitely annoyed by the marauding groups of children and the overindulgent parents. The cruise staff was amazing. The food was amazing. The entertainment was amazing. The ports of call were just OK. The crowdedness does not bother me as much being a solo traveler because there is usually room for just one more either in the elevator or poolside or at the bar or show. Cannot say enough good things about the crew. They work really hard and mostly keep a very positive attitude.

Great experience, liked the port and 2 sea days. Really enjoyed the spa pass. Too many kids and unruly teenagers for my taste so will stay away from Holiday cruises.

Service was not so great with staff at a minimum level. Poolside bar service was almost not there, and the same in the casinos. Shows and entertainment were mediocre except for a few good ones. Heard a few whining staff about the job and gratuities that are not distributed.

I enjoyed everything even the casino and I’m not a gambler was floored when I saw a whole pig at buffet food was-exceptional everywhere no complaints.

The downsides: the food and complete lack of beverage service while playing in the casino. They also ran out of stuff to make my pistachio martini after 1 day. Lots of venues didn't open until 2 or 5pm (Mixx Bar, The District, etc) which was disappointing. Lots of things cost extra. The thermal spa (one item well worth the money) was amazing as always.

A great ship and a great destination either plenty to see and do. Big ship that never really felt crowded and line ups were never an issue as long as you figured out the right time to go to things. With only one port and being docked there for nearly three days made this cruise feel even more freestyle than usual for NCL and there was never any need to rush to get on or off the ship.

As always we loved being on this cruise! Everytime we go we have different experiences. Really enjoyed our time and the other people who were on the Escape. The ship was clean food was delicious the crew were so friendly and I enjoyed finding ducks. The Captain really made sure we got to Bermuda safely so we could enjoy our selves. Can hardly wait till the next cruise!🛳️⚓️🦩😊

As I transition from a party animal cruiser into a mellow laid back foodie cruiser in my older age.. I have experienced a learning curve in my cruising style. That being said, the Escape is still a spectacular experience. The specialty dining is absolutely out of this world good. Bayamo was in a league of its own, providing exceptional service and delightful foods. Moderno was absolutely delightful along with Cagneys and LaCucina as well. The level of service in these specialty restaurants was 5 stars and in my opinion the food was spectacular. The main dining room experiences were also great, though a step down from the specialty dining experiences still spectacular. I chose the $20 upcharge filet mignon option at the main dining restaurant and it was worth it. I recommend opting for premium plus as you are treated extra special, receive seemless Wi-Fi, bottled water and the “Starbucks” on board is spectacular with amazing coffee and lattes. The hot chocolate is really good there also. The ship is very clean and everything is in immaculate condition just like the day this ship started sailing 8 years ago. The bars were all wonderful and the service at These bars very good. The on board entertainment was something I struggled with a bit, but managed just fine. The rock and roll group at syd Norman’s was very good. The cruise director Jeff was really cool and I liked him. Going back to the food, the garden buffet was really exceptional as well. The breakfast and lunch were outstanding. The deserts and treat’s absolutely delightful. The staff in this buffet were amazing and they even provided some drink service at times. The morning table side coffee service was especially nice. Ice cream machines were open and performing at an elite level

We like sailing out of NYC since we can take Amtrak to get there. Enjoy the two overnight stays in Bermuda. Have sailed on Escape before, really like the ship, but have to say that with 4300 cruisers it got a big overwhelming with noise and crowds. Some of this of course was due to the cooler weather that you expect at this time of year.