Norwegian Escape Cruise Reviews - Reviews

Room 9808 is HORRIBLE, don't waste your money on this family mini suite. Travel on this ship in May 2018 and had a great time so traveled again in November 2018 with 5 other cabins. Both times we paid for the family mini suite because we are traveling with 2 small kids. On our first cruise our family mini suite was great, the bathtub was super helpful with 2 small kids so we booked it again this trip. This time we got room 9808 which is located directly above a lounge and the speakers are directly under cabin 9808. All you hear is music and base all night till about midnight. Needless to say, DON'T book this cabin unless you don't want your kids to sleep till midnight.

Would go for 2.5 stars. There are lots of positives about the Escape. It's relatively modern, clean with lots of facilities. I thought the food was good if a bit repeated. But this cruise also had a few bad points that I'm sure a lot will disagree with. In no particular order. Smoking. Cigarette smoke was evident from the casino in other parts of the ship including the atrium. Atrium. Not a good venue. Too many people required fold up chairs. Noise. TOO LOUD. All venues seemed to suffer from this. Whilst some lapped it up. I walked out of several venues because of the din. Perhaps something smaller and less popular next time.

The overall Cruise was wonderful the islands were awesome especially Great Stirrup Cay. The service going out to Bahamas on the ship was wonderful. Coming home not so much one day out at Sea all signs were lit up goodbye we still had 3 days left. The service got increasingly worse the closer we got to New York. Staff was no longer friendly I am not the only one that saw this as most people I talked to agreed. Smoking is very limited on the ship but still has allowed. It was a great trip people on the islands were wonderful not much in Port cape Canaveral

Cruise was great however disappointed In food choices, and services. Dining rooms

Jack our cabin steward was awesome. He went above and beyond to make us happy. He always was so kind and polite. He was great ........................

We had a family cruise with 11 family members. NCL made dinner reservations so easy. Our servers were wonderful. The weather was perfect.

I was pleasantly surprised that, despite the super large ship, I had a wonderfully relaxing trip. If you don't like the maddening crowds and a ton of kids, like me, the upper deck for sunning, reading and hot tub is great! If you are a smoker, be aware that there are limited places to smoke and the smoking room in Tobacco road can kill you with the thick smoke. Stick to the outdoors upper wave pool or quit. Overall, I think the best place to hang on Norwegian ships is The Waterfront.

Embarkation in new york City was an absolute disorganized disaster. Once upon the ship the prime reason I continue to sail with Norwegian came into immediate view; beautiful and clean ship, and a pleasant and delightful crew willing to assist in all your needs. The Royal Naval Dockyard in Bermuda is a fantastic port which is easily navigated on foot. The island of Bermuda has a very different vibe than the Caribbean islands in that the population is extremely mellow and relaxed, which sets the tone of the island and all it has to offer.

We had a great time! The food, entertainment, and crew was just terrific.

Can't wait to plan our next Cruise!! We had so much fun! Gained a few pounds but so worth it!!

Wonderful cruise on top ship and excellent crew. Would go again in a second.

We had a very nice time. I like Norwegian. This is my third cruise with them. Been doing 1 a year.

Let me start by saying that we knew the risks of planning a cruise during hurricane season, so we weren't really that bothered by our itinerary changing. What followed is the reason for this review. We were sent to Port Canaveral, Great Stirrup Cay, and Nassau. At Port Canaveral, there's not really anything to do besides the space center, which you really need more time for. So we didn't bother getting off the ship. At Great Stirrup Cay, they don't have a dock for a cruise ship, so you have to get carried to shore and back by tender boats. This process is so time consuming that you only get about 4 hours on the island. 2 hours into it, they shut down all the food stands and bars. Also, the swimming area is incredibly crowded - even worse than the pools on the ship. You are literally standing shoulder to shoulder. Then, the captain skipped our last stop (the main attraction) at Nassau. Now, I understand that we had to go out to sea farther to avoid the hurricane on the way home. What pissed me off is that instead of skipping their stupid private island and going to Nassau, we skipped Nassau. I am pretty confident this was done because it saved them money since they own Great Stirrup Cay. They saved on port fees by not going to Nassau. It's clear they don't care about the happiness of their guests. At this point, I would have expected them to offer SOME type of compensation or incentive for another cruise - ANYTHING. Especially when you consider that our new itinerary was exactly the same as one of their normal cruises, which is CHEAPER than the Bermuda cruise we booked. At the very least, a partial reimbursement for the price difference would have been the ethical thing to do. The other cruise lines that had to change course offered all their guests some type of compensation. Not NCL though. Next, let's talk about the actual ship. A member of our group has been on several Norwegian cruises (and will never go on another one after this). The other ships are apparently laid out the same, except the Escape added 2 floors of guest rooms and holds like 2000 more passengers. So there aren't really any more attractions, but there are way more people to fill up those attractions. That was a MAJOR problem during our cruise. Almost every single event/show/etc on the ship requires a reservation. By the 2nd or 3rd day, they were all booked. ALL OF THEM - not an exaggeration. We decided to try the stand-by line for one of the comedy shows. We showed up 45 minutes early and there were already about 70 people in the stand by line (and the comedy club isn't all that big). We didn't even bother. You basically have to plan your entire trip and everything you want to do by the 2nd day. You can't be spontaneous at all. There are 2 tiny pools they are ridiculously crowded at all times. I guess if you're into the frat party lifestyle where you're constantly grinding against other people all day you would really like this. For everyone else, it's miserable. Seriously, if you put both pools together, they would be about the size of a typical inground pool at a normal house in the suburbs. If that wasn't bad enough, they close all the pools and hot tubs around 10pm. Not for maintenance or anything - they just close them. By 11pm, pretty much everything except one restaurant/bar is closed. We are adults looking to stay out late and have fun on vacation, but that is apparently not on the menu with NCL. The one thing I actually enjoyed, the speed slides, were shut down for HOURS every day. The mini golf course has holes/dips under the green that you can't see until you step on them and almost fall, not to mention the frustration of a great putt randomly changing direction or totally stopping. The Bocce Ball court was tapered downhill from the center on both sides, which rendered it all but useless. I realize nobody takes a cruise to play Bocce Ball, but it's just one more thing on the list. They advertise the zip line that swings out over the side of the ship as a big attraction. What they don't tell you is that IT DOESN'T EVER WORK!!! In fact, 50% of the entire ropes course is permanently shut down. An employee told us that it's shut down because they have no way to work on it and maintain it. So this course probably only worked for the first year of the ship's life and will probably never work again. If you're not familiar with NCL ships, they have an Atrium in the center that is open for 3 floors, with the casino surrounding it on the center floor. They allow smoking in the casino. By the 3rd day of the trip, the smoke has traveled throughout the entire atrium - all 3 floors. This is really fantastic when your wife is pregnant and trying to avoid second hand smoke. We got the "ultimate" beverage package, which includes drinks up to $15. What they don't tell you is that they jack up the prices of everything so that the good stuff is just barely too expensive to get. You can get most mixed drinks and pretty much all beers, but if you're into sipping bourbon or scotch, you're only getting the middle shelf stuff. After all that, NCL wouldn't offer us anything at all. Not even 10% off a future cruise. Not even the difference in price for the cruise we got vs the one we paid for. I have been on Carnival cruises and had a much better time. I hear Royal Caribbean is great as well. I can say that I will never go on another NCL cruise in my life. Neither will any of the 25 other people in my group. That's how bad it was. In fact, I never even write negative reviews on anything, but this was so bad I felt like it was my duty to make sure others don't have the same experience.

Our one and only original port of call in Bermuda was canceled due to Hurricane Florence. The itinerary was swapped for a Florida/Bahamas trip. My friends and I were disappointed but willing to accept the change as we understand it’s part of cruising. Then, our call at Nassau was also canceled. At that point, I thought maybe NCL would shoot us even a small OBC, but they didn’t. The overall impression we got was “eh, too bad.” A large part of the issue was a lack of communication and honesty. Based on the forecasts before the trip even began, it seemed the stop at Nassau was unlikely from the start. Guests could have been advised of that fact. That information would have allowed us to properly plan. For example, we could have purchased souvenirs and not waited to shop at Nassau, or we may have chosen to be more active on the other port days. This was my third NCL cruise, and it left somewhat of a bad taste in my mouth. That being said, we girls did have fun because we always do. 😝

Can’t wait to return!!!!! Nothing to complain about this ship. Solo cruised for the first time, i was nervous, but the ship itself was so welcoming. I was never bored. I found my own fun. Solo lounge was always empty but yet so welcoming with the treats and fully stocked coffee and tea bar. Not to mention the wine on tap! Solo room was amazzzzing. So comfortable. Awesome to get ready alone. Lol. Thermal suite is to die for. Worth every penny and then some. Families on board were awesome. Everyone was on vacation for real! Latin Duo entertainment on ship made my night!!! I got my salsa on!! Next one in one month! Cant freakin wait! This time with the hubby. ❤️❤️

Never a bad time, rain or shine. The escape is a great “escape” for families and couples and Bermuda just adds to the enjoyment.

Best cruise I have ever been on, the food was fantastic and the staff was amazing. You were never bored with the endless opportunities in front of you, and the fact that there was something for everyone really was a plus

Fantastic time great weather food and drinks cannot wait until the next cruise

Love cruising, had to talk my man into it and now he's in love. We couldn't of had a better time. Bermuda was perfect for his first time.

We had awesome time really enjoyed the ship and the port..