Norwegian Escape Cruise Reviews - Reviews

Always is relaxing and enjoyable time. Cruising is great for mom, since child care is provided for kids older than 3. This way mom gets to enjoy herself and have some quiet time. No cleaning, no cooking - can't think of a better way to vacation!

We upgraded this time to a mini-suite and it was well worth it. Love the roomy bathrooms. The design of the ship was beautiful and easy to get around. Attention to detail was given as if you looked at the carpet in the hall on your way to your stateroom the fish design was swimming forward to let you know you were  going forward or aft!

This was my 8th cruise overall and 2nd with norwegian. The escape is a wonderful ship as you probably have read about. It is pretty much the same as the getaway just different restaurants. i recommend all of the complimentary restaurants as well as margaritaville and the brazillian steakhouse. both were very good! for cruisers who have ever wondered if cruiselines water down there alcohol well i know for sure that norwegian does as i was walking into a bar one night and saw the bartender poor water and tequila(mixed) back into a tequila bottle. i wasnt sure what to think about that so i never said anything. as far as the ports.. i think tortola is better then st. thomas because it is less populated and just as beautiful. all of the shows on the boat were very good. let me know if anyone has any questions. i will cruise with norwegian again

I liked the layout of the ship.  easy to get around and find your way.  

lots to do and the ship was clean.

entertainment was good but not the best I have seen.

did not like that specialty coffee and bottled water was not included in the drink package.  

really liked the big movie screens on the ship and the super bowl party was fun.

first time on a cruise that we did not get lobster complimentary.  you had to pay extra.

the delay in getting food in the manhattan room was not good.  it took over 2 hours for our food and we left before dessert because it was taking too long.

my daughter had her hair done in the salon for her wedding at St. Thomas and the girl who did her hair was rude to her and seemed rushed so she could leave and do some site seeing.  my daughter's hair (up do) fell out before the reception and we had to go to the salon and get bobby pins to fix her hair.  She went to customer service and they did nothing for her.  

I might cruise again on your ship but it would have to be a super good price.

also we had asked to be on the same floor as the wedding couple.  that did not happen either.  

Dave and Sue Pasewald  

the ship was too large with too many people. the mattress was terrible!!!!! woke up with a backache every morning. you couldn't get reservation for dinner unless you wanted to eat at bed time. Most of the crew were very sweet, especially our maid.

Coney. We had to wait forever to get an elevator

 And the rooms were entirely too small.

This was our first timer cruising on one of the largest ships. It was just like brand new. I really don't know how they keep it so clean. The service in all of the restaurants was excellent. The whole process of getting on board and off went very seamlessly. I like the layout of the ship with the (2) elevator areas it was very easy to learn the ship in a matter of a few hours. I would highly recommend booking you room close to the elevator areas. Ours was a balcony a few cabins from the forward elevator.

Now for a few improvements or just things we saw different on this cruise. The last cruise we did was in 2015 and was the Western Caribbean on a smaller ship. Much to our surprise was a $13.50 gratuity charge per person per day for service people. That should be shared right up front. I thought that the cabin personal might be under staffed. Just seemed from past cruises we were taken care of better. Might again be size of ship. I have always taken care of these people when they do us a great job. 

Been on around 6 NCL cruises & always trying the new ones that set sail but was disappointed with The Escape , food was cold , never tasted one hot meal in 7 days ,Evening Entertainment was dreadful & pool area so small & crammed , was on the Getaway last year & loved it ! Plus never got to visit St Maarten & went to Tortola instead which was rubbish .

WE love the entertainment on crusies, often seeing the same show twice.

NCL"s ESCAPE provided one such show with its AFTER MIDNITE production show set in the Harlem Cotton Club which featured fantastic singing & dancing.

The band INNOVATION performed nearly each night in the atrium & provided great dancing music.

Additional music was featured in the main dining room, aptly called THE MANHATTAN CLUB, where one could also dance in between courses. That venue was the site of a cabaret event featuring singers from the After Midnite show. Two individual performers from that show headlined a special cabaret show which included dancing & singing in the SUPPER CLUB.

In addition, the Jersey Boys singers also performed in the Supper Club where the meal was included.

The Superbowl was shown in many venues on huge screens & captured the excitement of the game for many fans.

The places to eat were numerous with several of them being complimentary.

Two specialty restaurants we enjoyed were Cagneys where we had delicious filet mignon & the Brazilian restaurant with its unique "salad" bar followed by generous helpings of various meat offerings capped by a tasty Brazilian dessert.

The itinerary, the food and the facilities were excellent. If I must mention something to be improved, I would add a little more variation to the menu of the restaurants included in the price prepaid (except for the buffet, which was extraordinary).

Overall the cruise was great.  The staff are sincerely friendly and officers are visible and speak with passengers.  Wheelchairs need to be available in the parking lot to take clients thru the embarkation. We took my elderly parents with us. We had been told there are wheelchairs at the entrance but you have to stand in line then go thru security before you can acess a wheelchair. the one we rented could only be delivered to the cabin. There needs to be modified rooms that have wider doors to allow walkers. The accessible cabins have lower toilets and sinks but these do not work well for partially mobile clients. It would be better to have an acessible doorway and accessible bathroom with an elevated toilet. The ship is extremely clean. Adherence to adult only area age limits needs to be enforced. Cagney's steakhouse is terrific and worth the upgrade. Other passengers raved about the other upgraded restaurants. We were disppointed with the Bistro as the lobster option was not available. The bakeshop is too out of the way and after a big meal, not many want a cupcake or gelato. The entertainment was very good and had a variety of choices. The cruise director is fabulous. The outside sitting areas are comfortable but some of the the cub chairs are very deep. I would definitely sail again on the Escape.

The dining and drink options were always fantastic as was the staff who really went all the way to insure you had a fantastic time. You always got eye contact and a smile from every crew member you happened upon. A real happy ship! Everything on the ship was sparkling clean and nothing looked worn or old.The ship is only a couple of years old but with all the service it's been through I'm sure it takes a lot of work to keep it looking brand new.

The cruise was wonderful. BJ,S travel usually very efficient but we had to call because we only received partial credit on gift card upon return. We also didn't receive any credit for referrals that booked after us. We will not be booking or referring in the future. Many travel agents willing to book you a trip. We were told today after several calls the trip was not coded correctly, so now waiting for additional gift cards, another 2 weeks. 

Perfect for family that have kids top restaurant and bars kids club al for family.

if you want to party this is not the one for you thay have party but the people are old and they dont have disco.

Love the Escape and its crew...I have sailed on Escape a few times now...

I can say I feel like part of the Norwegian Family!!!....I feel likes its going home to visit family rather than being a guest .

I find if you introduce yopurself to the crew  ,they remember you...Also THANK YOU goes a long way.....

The check in process was the WORST of any cruise I have ever taken - slow, disorganized, and disruptive. Rest of the cruise was fine. My XBOX music with 20 albums on my tablet did not work at all and yet it worked fine on the GETAWAY ship.It was blocked by the ship and required no internet access but did not work.

I would only take the GETAWAY in the future.

We loved the luxurious feel of this ship, the food and dining options, the amenities and programs.   The beverage package was WELL worth the cost.  Go immediately to the ticket office and get tickets to all the shows you want to see.    Skip the "BRAT Pack" (tasteless and boring) but be sure to see the "WINE SHOW" ; it was great.   If you want a spot by the pool get out there early and claim a space - it is VERY crowded around the pool area.   The  transport from ship to Miami airport ($16) was awful; long lines, time consuming and dropped us off FAR away from our check in.   Take a taxi.    

Overall experience on the Escape was great. 

The Good:

The ship is beautiful and well laid out. Navigating the decks was easy and there were plenty of elevators to get to the higher decks.  They really have the buffet logistics figure out. Plenty of food stations and seating.  Never had to wait in any lines at the buffet and the food/choices were top notch.

Getting a chair near the pool can be difficult unless you get up early.  But there are plenty of spots if you don't need to be near the pool area which is crazy busy anyway.  We did notice that the worker are trying to keep an eye out for people that put stuff on chairs and disappear for hours.  They would put stickers on the chairs with times and if the people didn't come back in a set time then they would remove their stuff.

The drink package option was great and at most bars the workers really hustled to get you your drinks.  There was a lot of waiting for drinks but now most people on the ship have the same drink package.  I will say an extra buck or two cash tip goes a long way to get better service here.

The entertainment on this ship was ridiculously good! Enough said!

The not so good:

The service in the main dining rooms was poor.  My impression is that there are to few wait staff for the number of tables they manage so you don't get good personalized service.  For example, the first night we ate in the Taste dining room, we were only able to get one glass of wine in over 1.5 hours of dining time.  The next night when we ate there again I would get up and walk out of the restaurant to the bar and get my drinks there and bring them back to the table.

The biggest negative on the ship is that they allow smoking in the casino which is in-between several common area decks.  The smell is almost unbearable throughout this entire connected space.  The thing I noticed is that only a very small percentage of gamblers were smoking (less than 10%) but this is a huge inconvenience for all the rest that can't stand the smell.

Over all the experience on the Escape was very positive and would highly recommend it.

The food was great!  A big improvement would be to hire more help.  The workers worked their butts off and seemed overwhelmed.  There were to many people on the ship for the number of staff hired.  The bartenders did a great job but there was not enough of them behind the counter.  I would have given this review 5 stars had there been more help. The staff seemed to be working long hard days, understaffed.  The help in the restraunats and bars didn't seem happy, they looked worn out.

The entertainment by the pool could be better.  Not enough dance space and pool is to small for the number of people that your trying to cram in that space.  Very crowded pool and decks.

We were surprised to see how many kids were on the ship.  The reason the pool area is so small is because so much space was devoted to the kids water area, slides, golf course, etc.  I will make sure when taking another cruise to look for a ship that has more than 1 small pool and dance area.  

Good times with a great group of people 10 of us sailing together!

Too many changes that really disappointed us. Too many dining areas that you now have to pay extra. All dining that is supposed to be included never should have anything on menus that are being an additional charge. SCAM! especially when we cannot see so well... Service is not even close to what it use to be! The dining waiters don't act or pay attention to pretty much anything you ask for or order. They don't care and act as if you are a nuisance. prepaid gratuities or auto gratuity is also bad. It use to be after the cruise we would do the tipping directly that way you definitely get the service. We never even seen our cabin Stewart one time! everyday I had to leave a note asking for something seriously everyday ,coffee new cups,blanket, even NO and I mean NO towels were being put in our balcony cabin seriously ridiculous these ships are getting way too big and obviously working the crew so much they don't give a rip thinking their getting tipped anyways. I wish we Never went what a waste and we never should  have recommended the 4 other couples Norweign we should have went with carnival again! VERY DISAPPOINTED  

This was our 20th cruise with our dear friends.  We always go with the intention of having a great time and not letting anything get in our way of having a good time. Yes, the ship and pool area is crowded, but that's to be expected. Yes, the food has been better for us on previous cruises, but it was plentiful and not terrible. We don't do excursions anymore, so I can't comment on those. Overall, the cruise was fantastic, the weather was fantastic and the entire cruise experience was beyond fantastic.