Norwegian Escape Cruise Reviews - Reviews

Yes, I would recommend this cruise to others. We enjoyed relaxing on the ship when we were at sea. The music entertainment was great.  We also enjoyed the buffet for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The variety of food of the dining was good and it was nice to have the opportunity to go to a sit down place or pay a little extra and enjoy a "night" out.

Our favorite part of the cruise was being able to enjoy so many different restaurants and my husband  liked the fact that he didn't have to dress formally any day.  We could just relax and move about at our own pace.  It was very nice.  As I said we have been to St Thomas & Nassau many times in the past so we opted to skip those ports in lieu of enjoying time on the ship. "We met many nice people  from all over the world.  It was fun o conerse with them and get their opinions as well

This was a very last minute booking and I was worried about such a large ship. Was surprised that getting off and on would be a major delay but all in all things went pretty smooth. We only visited 3 ports-one more would have been nice as there were so many people that the venues could not accommodate the number of people wanting to see the various entertainment and game shows,especially on sea daYS. I DID NOT LIKE THE fact that you had to make reservations to see the shows and that you could only book one a night,but the entertainment was excellent. And having so many dining options(ccomplimentary) was unexpected!The food was really quite good and we never really had to wait to be seated. We splurged for a balcony and could not have picked a nicer stateroom as we were 2 decks below the buffet-prfect for breakfast and my husband is a smoker, so it was close to where he had to smoke.

     Our recent cruise on the NCL Escape was our 25th cruise (all different ships). We have attained Diamond status on Royal Caribbean because we like their big ships. The Escape is comparable to RCCL's Quantum class - the second largest class of cruise ships overall. Carnival, Princess, and Disney have nothing that comes close. We believe that "more is better"!

     We loved the ship, however, we have one major observation - there is not much easy food to be had anywhere other than in the Garden Café on the deck 16. O'Sheehan's on deck 7 is a sit-down restaurant. There is no pizza, paninis, pastries, self-serve coffee, or hot dogs to be had upon returning to the ship from a shore excursion or any other time, other than trekking to the Garden Cafe for all the above. I know that it's a competitive industry and that NCL chooses to offer free drink packages (very costly); unfortunately at the expense of the food offered onboard. Entrée portions are small (I know I could order another, but why?) and there was no lobster night in the free dining rooms - even the Carnival Magic in November offered free lobster.

     A ship this size could use another swimming pool. The Anthem of the Seas has 3+!

     The water slides and the ropes course are the "best at sea"!

The food was varied to suit all tastes and was very well prepared.

The "chaise lounge police" need to be present to stop towel parking for a full day without using the chairs.

The art dealers need to be more considerate and not suggest to a wife that she should be able to make her own decision on a $1,200 art purchase without her husband's input.

I was nervous that such a big ship would end up like a shopping mall at Christmas. But I was very surprised it was not like that at all. They handle a 4200 passengers as if there were only 2000 on board. Never had to what in long lines or denied access to anything because of demand for the same thing by other pasionsengers.

There is only 2 points that disappointed me. Did not care for the pool layout at all. Here it was always crowed, you are in a very tight location, and it is in a "pit" down in the ship. It  is basically located on 16th floor, but floors 17,18,19 surround and tower around it on all sides.

The other point, The Haven area is basically in the front 1/3 of the ship. If you don't have a Haven ticket you cannot get there. But Haven people can go everywhere. Didn't like the AUROA of class structure  of guests so obviously in your face.

Nice new ship. We were not impressed with the meals at dinner.  Most nights service was slow.  We had lipstick on our glasses in the dining room. Getting on and off the boat was easy and we got our luggage quickly. The food on Royal Caribbean is better other than the prime rib. We bought a soda package and it seemed as if the bar tenders didn't want to serve you because you we're getting soda. We paid extra to eat in the Brazilian steak house and I'm not sure that I would do that again. The food was not that great and it took us forever to get our drinks. My next cruise will be back with Royal. Was also not impressed with their shows.

Boat layout is nice.  Outdoor eating and sitting venues are a plus on deck 8.  Tapas restaurants were a disappointment but the other food establishments that were extra were very good.  Overall great cruise and pleasantly surprised by Tortola which was beautiful, clean and friendly.   Bahamas was okay but didn't expect much as we've been there multiple times.   Entertainment was overall good with many choices.  Would recommend this itinerary and boat.

The ship was amazing...having a balcony is the best!!  Loved seeing a new Island (Tortola) - the excursion "Rapid Ride Adventures" was awesome!  I would book another cruise on this boat in a heartbeat.  Thanks for a great vacation and wonderful memories!!

The boat is very large and the week we went on board, very crowded.  The saving grace was that we were Haven guests in one of the ships suites.  I cannot imagine doing a cruise without access to the Haven courtyard, sun deck and bar lounge.  The service personnel were outstanding and accommodated my family easily and expertly.  Highly recommended.

Overall, we loved the cruise.  The staff was amazing, the shows were great, and we loved 2 of the 3 islands we went to.  However, the ship was super, super crowded (yes, we went on a school holiday).  They added tons more rooms, but didn't add pools, or deck area.  I think that if you can go on a non-school holiday, it would be a perfect vacation.

This was the first time I'd been on one of the new massive ships and I was a little concerned I wasn't going to like traveling with that many people.  However ... it was wonderful!  Take advantage of EVERY early reservation opportunity you have for shows, dinners, excursions and plan your trip just a bit.  The Waterfront turned out to be our little paradise, with comfy couches and a close bar (5 O'Clock Somewhere - LOVE you, Clarense!!!) that was perfect for morning/early afternoon readings.  The new technology makes the ride smoother on rolling seas and it seems like every suggestion ever made for helping the crew be more efficient was incorporated.  Thumbs up, and would go again!

My favorite part about the cruise were the shows in the atrium and the late night parties at H2O and Skyline!  Check the itinerary before you leave home so you can pack the appropriate clothes for the parties at H2O.  For example...they had an 80's party and a Glow party where everybody dressed for the occasion.  I missed out on the part :( 

This is a BIG ship....  a lot to do, but do not book if you do not enjoy crowds.  There is limited pool area for such a crowd, and no pool area for teenagers (2 main pools are adults 18+ only).  Great entertainment, and ports were good.  Overall, a good cruise!

Extremely disappointed!!!

1.  My room had 2 twin beds in it - should have been 1 Queen.

2.  After the 1st day - kids were not allowed in the main pool until after 5:00 pm.

    Leaving only the tucked in the back with no seating kiddie pool.  We paid the

    same for every person that went on the cruise and were limited because of our

    kids.

3.  We paid for an excursion that did not show on Norwegian's ledger and therefore we were not able to go.  Even though we show a confirmation #.

This experience turned me completely against cruising....

Our room steward Clifford was great. This was our 1st time on  one of Norwegian's Large ships, and will also be our last. Over our many years with NCL cruising, we've grown accustomed to their "freestyle" cruising and this ship is way too big and way too crowded to pull that off. You have to reserve most of the evening shows that you'd like to see and then add in planning reservations for dinner. This is just WAY too much planning for vacation. There is only 1 small pool on this huge ship to accommodate all these people, most of the week you could not even see the pool let alone get even so much as a toe in it. This is pretty ridiculous for the mass of people trying to fit in this small pool and a pool chair.... forget it. They do have an adults only area called Spice H2O on the ship, though no pool there either, just 2 small hot tubs and also a neat "grotto" type structure to cool off in under the man made water falls. Oh and they must feel that all their guests are deaf, all the announcements and music were SO loud. If you weren't hard of hearing before, you probably will have effected your hearing by the time you leave. We are frequent cruisers and NCL is our main choice, but will be sticking to the med and smaller ship in the future. 

This was our first cruise and we were so apprehensive.  Norwegian Escape turned out to be a fabulous vacation for our family.  The service was impressively responsive and gracious at every turn, the restaurants (both those included in the price as well as the specialty) were outstanding, the entertainment was of the highest quality and such fun, and I don't know exactly what they did at that kids club, but every child I spoke with (including my own) went bananas over it, which in turn bought lots of personal time for my husband and I.  Thank you, Norwegian Escape!

The food was very good and the drinks were not watered down.  Plenty of activities to keep the kids busy and adults too.  Always had someplace to go to listen to live music.  Water was rough one or two days which made the kids a little seasick but that is to be expected.  Overall an awesome trip.. 

Escape has very nice cabins with improved storage.  Ship is beautiful, clean, efficient and well staffed.  Different from other cruise lines, you are not guaranteed a show before or after dinner.  There are several entertainment offerings each night, but you may still be shut out, leaving options of roaming around the ship with places to pop in and out.  One 9pm show we attended had standing room only, which was not expected or desired.  The two shows we attended we excellent.  Food and wine selections are fine and have plentiful choices.  Lots of places to sun  and in different locations so that you can be in the noise and action or in a quiet spot.  Very nice cruise.

The variety of entertainment was for everyone and every age group.

 The 1:1 service that the cruise staff provided. was wonderful .  The outline of the ship was great and easy to assess from elevators.

The food was excellent with so many options.  The shore excursions was great. Shopping in St Thomas was amazing.