Norwegian Escape Cruise Reviews - Reviews

We had an awesome time on the Norwegian Escape.  The food and entertainment were great.  The service was also very good.  My husband is on a no-salt diet and they accommodated us very well for that.  

 

The only negative was that smoking was allowed in the casino area.   Because the casino area was located near all the onboard shops, the photo gallery, the art auction area, and some of the specialty restaurants, it smelled really bad just walking through there.  The smoke permeated at least 3 levels in that area.   It prevented us from taking advantage of all the amenities in that area.  We were very disappointed in that.  

Norwegian Escape does a fantastic job providing enough activities for kids.  Ropes course, multiple slides, arcade etc.  

 

The ship is large but not overwhelming.  Food is fantastic and the many options allow crowds to dissipate so it doesn't seem crowded anywhere (except pool deck on at sea days).  

 

Overall, a super experience.

Loved the cruise.  The boat was beautiful.  Kids loved the slide and ropes coarse. However when given the 3 free specialty dining meals, making reservations for these meals was very hard.  With 4,900 people on the boat and limited space in these small spaces is very tricky.  We had 1 reservation as of day 1 and it was pulling teeth to get in the other 2 times.  We ended up waiting at the door for almost an hour watching empty tables for the entire time, yet they waited 45 minutes to find us a table.  Also silly that the adults only pool is where they showed the kids movies and the kids aren't allowed to be there.  Minions is surely not an adult movie.  The kids watched it from the bridge area standing beside the jogging track.  I just thought that was silly.  Other that that I had a wonderful time.

The ship is beautiful and kept so clean. It has an abundance of choice's for dining from grab something quick in the to white linen dining! We tried several and I cant say which was best because they all were excellent!  The pool area is rather small for a ship that carries 6,000 guest but we did so many off shore excursions that we did not spend that much time at the pool.

Paid extra for 5 mid-ship cabins. But you have to walk all the way to the front or all the way to the back to get to any where. But it's a fun trip for the family get together. Same thing with Garden Café. The booths blocked access to seating area. You have to walk all the way front or back to get to seating area. DJ's don't know dance music, and staff taught wrong dance steps.

This was my first time on the Escape. I always do the Haven with NCL and this was my honeymoon. I though a new ship would be better but I was somewhat disappointed. Didn't meet my butler until later in the day, told "no" for things requested.  I have always had a good experience on the Breakaway Haven which I have been on twice. The ship was nice and I enjoyed the ports. I was REALLY disappointed with the Food Republic and pleasantly surprised by the good food in Bayamo. The drinks were great and the highlight was the Haven Concierge who did everything to help accommodate us. I LOVED the comedy show! 

Better room. More announcements made louder. They were hard to hear when being annoudue to the loud all of the time. Wish we could have had a larger room. The Vibe package we purchased was top notch and we hope Norwegian cruise line's keeps the package. The Vibe crew members of the bar were fabulous and top notch.  They get the highest ratings for our excellent service. Please keep Rommel G,  Rommel and Michael for the future due to the excellent service and care of pleasing us. We were always taken care of 100 percent of our time while in the Vibe. The massage was too high pressure on trying to sell me products and that was not a comfortable feeling and made me feel extremely pressured. I didn't like that part.

We loved our mini suite with balcony on deck 15. Food and drinks were great. Staff was very friendly. Would definitely go again! Only criticism is having unlimited drinks, but couldnt get a bottle of water. Also the internet was flakey and expensive.But overall a great experience.

This was a cruise of firsts for us. We generally don't do suites, we don't go to many onboard entertainment/shows, we usually do hang on the main deck quite a bit and we are generally not the most brand loyal cruisers (we've been split pretty evenly between Carnival, RCCL and now NCL). Well, that all changed on this trip. I read that the NCL entertainment is pretty good - it isn't... it is amazing. We saw 4 different music shows and they were all really, really good. The caliber of entertainment was top notch. Staying in the Haven, we were treated to front table seating at the dinner shows and preferred locations for the theatre shows. We had a package which included drinks and 3 specialty dinners... but honestly, the food in the Haven was fantastic - could have stayed there the entire trip without leaving. The Haven lounges (with terry cloth/towel covers) were a huge step up, the public areas were never overly crowded (nor did you see people "reserving" spots at early hours for the day). There were kids but they were good and certainly didn't detract at all from the More experience. We got the chance to meet up with some folks from the roll call on an online message board and it was very nice - we did a meet and greet, a pub crawl (well, 6-7 of the more stalwart drinkers did anyway!) and had a huge turnout for a slot pull event on the 2nd sea day. The only complaint I could remotely even come up with is the Jimmy Buffett bars weren't open long enough for me to get a Hot!Hot!Hot! (jalapeno) margarita when I wanted a couple of times. The Escape (Haven) was our favorite cruise experience yet - no real complaints about the ship, thought it was lovely. I am not sure I want to leave anything to chance again and cruise on any ship/class other than the Escape/Haven. This is the first time ever we felt an affinity towards a cruise line and a ship - we have always loved the cruise experience but this was something else entirely.  I can't wait to do it again... other cruises were primarily about where we went and the excurions... the standout on this cruise was the cruise itself and NCL's Haven.  Amazing.

the many activities made it enjoyable for our adult grandchildren.  There was something for everyone on the NCL Escape.  Staff was very friendly and courteous.  Really enjoyed the food in the specialty restaurants.  The only complaint I have is they charge extra for too many things:  bakery, Starbucks coffee, real ice cream and gelato, water, etc.  gets a little pricey.

The Escape is an awesome ship with very cool amenities and was extremely well ran by the crew for the week we were on the ship.  The spa is certainly worth the additional cost and I would highly recommend it for anyone looking for some relaxation time.  I read a ton of reviews about different cruise lines and the overall consensus was that you choose Norwegian because of the food - they were right.  The food was at best OK - not horrible - but just OK.

 

Our overall experience on this Norwegian Escape was very good and we really enjoyed our trip

We were very impressed with the cruise and are looking forward to our next one! From the restaurants to the Crew, everything was very good.  We learned a lot and will use this knowledge for our next one. 

This was my 2nd time sailing on the Norwegian Escape and my first time traveling solo.  Amazing adventure.  I highly recommend doing shore excursions in port.  I got to kayak, paddle board, horseback ride, and float in a inter tube through the rainforest of Belize!!  I will definitely be cruising again!

We had a great vacation. Weather was perfect, each Port was a unique experience. We really enjoyed the waterfront dining every night (by sunset). Food and service were excellent and worth the extra fee. The only down size for us was the upper deck had only one small pool. When you were out to sea all day, it was very crowded, few umbrellas were available with little relief from the sun. The front portion of the ship was closed off for members only. The Vibe Club was sold out on the first day (we tried to join) so the remaining passengers only had the back 2/3rds of the ship. We still enjoyed our trip but may consider a larger ship with better accessibility on the upper deck.

I am now back home from my fabulous (7) day Western Caribbean cruise on the Norwegian Escape.  No complaints.  This was my first cruise and I must admit it will not be my last.  This cruise was exciting, and jumping, right out the gate.  The cruise director had everyone engaged from start to finish.  It was a party atmosphere for young and old up in the H20 area.  I had a spa package so if you have some extra funds saved up be sure to make use of the spa because you will no doubt be so relaxed and rejuvenated.  Food was excellent.  I could not be on a diet during this time.  I ate at least (3) times a day.  (Lol)  I know I must have put on seven pounds.  Also, the excursions were excellent.  During this cruise we stopped at (4) ports.  Honduras, Harvest Caye, Belize,

Costa Maya, Mexico, & Cozumel, Mexico.  If I was to pick two favorites it would have to be Harvest Caye, Belize & Costa Maya, Mexico.  The reason being because Belize is the port of the private island and it was so beautiful and many things to do on the island such as zip lining, swimming in one of the largest swimming pools, laying on the beach, taking a deep in the sea, and many more activities that I did not even explore.  Costa Maya is my second Fav.  I loved the excursion and I chose the Mayan Kingdom zip line park.  The slides are out of this world.  So much fun on the water slides.  They also have a lazy river which is relaxing for the young and old.  Over all all the excursions are great!  Hard to choose.  So much to do and so much fun.  Sad to get home but, already getting ready to book my next cruise for the fall.

Over all I would have to say it was good . For me I want to go on a vacation that I can rate excellent but not in this case . Here are a few things we had issues with . Since Norwegian has what they call anytime dining it made it difficult for us to get feed in a timely manner . We ate at the Manhattan 4 out of the 7 nights and it took hours to get our food which made us miss shows . The last night we were trying to get in as much as we could but because it took 3 hours to get our food our last night was wasted . We did have a large party so I expect some wait but not a 3 hour wait . They set us at 3 different tables side by side and each table received there food at different times , about an hour apart , when we asked what was taking so long the waiter said  "long line big ship" . We laughed about it but didn't expect an answer like that . Another bad experience was my parents wanted a family group picture and since we had over 10 people they charged a $69.00 sitting fee which included 3 photos , the photographer only took 4 photos and when we went to look at them later there was not one we could pick because they were all bad . Some of us had closed eyes , looking the other way and the worst of it most of us had bad shadows across our faces . When we pointed out this they said we still had to pay for them even if there wasn't one we could use . Another thing that happened was we played bingo mid week , we bought the $69.00 package which was 27 cards for 3 games plus some pull off's . The first bingo paid out $200.00 , the second $250.00 and the last game was a black out for $1000.00 but what they failed to tell you before you paid was that if no one had a bingo within 47 numbers called you didn't win . So I recommend playing the last day , jackpots are a little bigger . The worst of it all was my dad missed out on $1000.00 bingo because they were calling out the numbers too fast . Even though I'm still young , the younger crowed there kept telling them to call the numbers faster not taking in consideration for some that had 9 cards to work with and the elderly , you would think Norwegian would have electronic cards so no one misses out ! Customer service was not friendly and our state room bathroom smelt like pee which lingered into the room area .                       

The Mayan temples and ruins were not as impressive as the ones in Tikkal, Guatemala and Mexico.

out of the 4 stops only Cozumel was an interesting port.

the cruise was at best "Fair". The ectertainment facilities were to small and few for the very large number of guests. We were able to see skowsfor only2 of 7 nights. We could not get reservation in speciality restaurants.

The ship, amenities and most staff. 

 

The Atrium buffet food was cold. The internet café staff was terrible.  No personality or customer service skills to solve an issue. Basically blew my wife off when she asked for assistance.  Internet service was horrible.  Purchased two unlimited packages.  Was worthless.  Never again.   Ship ran out of some drink mixes a couple days before cruise ended.   NCL should look at who they sell their excursions through.  Transportation buses/taxis were death traps. If same transportation taxi/bus showed up for may return trip to ship, I would have taken a cab.  Had a snorkel equipment problem and only one of two could go snorkeling.  Tour provider could care less.  Although they wanted a high rating on Trip Advisor.  NCL did provide some remedy.   Purchased 4 CruiseNext Deposits.  Not sure if going to get a refund at this point.  NCL was not so outstanding that I would not look at other cruise lines. For the reasons above, this is why I rated it only very good, 4 stars.   Mark

This was the first Norwegian Cruise that I have been on. In the past, I have cruised with Carnival Cruise Lines 4 times but my family of five decided to try something new for a change. For three older children and two parents, this cruise was definitely an adventure with the perks of freestyling. If you are one who does not enjoy schedules and wants to 'cruise at your own pace', then the freestyle cruising is for you! The amenities where great with the adult only zone, ultimate beverage package and a lot of complimentary dining options to choose from. If you are up for a party, there are plenty of nightlife options including Latin infused dance parties, the casino, a GLOW party, decade themed dances, as well as comedians, shows and games to participate or watch. The cruise itself was very clean and the rooms were quiet and had a good layout. I recommend sailing the Norwegian Escape and plan to research cruising with NCL again. 

While we had a great vacation, as everything worked, beds were made all the time, rooms and common areas were cleaned, there a few items to consider:

1) The Margaritaville Restaurant does not live up to its name.  Is just the Open Bar of before, rebranded.

2) The Ship is spinning image of the Getaway.  No difference noticeable.

3) Breakfast, oh breakfast.  I know we are on vacation and on "Island Time" but for Taste and Savor, on both the Escape and the Getaway, I cannot fathom why it takes an eternity and a half to whip some eggs.  We are talking over 30 minutes for eggs, french toast, etc.  And they were not that busy.  Trust me, we are early risers.  

 

With that said, the Rope Course is improved over the Getaway and the Water slides are great.  Except  for the yellow, poor, poor design causes you (ANYONE) to stop half way down have to push yourself with your hands.  

 

Bottom line:  I'd recommend it to others but I would like to try other ships paying close attention to amenities and offerings on board.