Norwegian Escape Cruise Reviews - Reviews

It was a very good trip.  If we hadn't stayed in the Haven suite, I think I would have given it a few less stars.  The pool chairs were taken by 9 am and people kept them the entire day leaving empty chairs for hours with sunscreen and magazines.  It says your belongings will be moved if chair not used for 30 min. that never happened.  Staying in the Haven, we had our private area, so that wasn't an issue.  The food was very good, loved the Haven Restaurant Lillybeth was wonderful.  This was our 2nd time on NCL and I have to say we all prefer Royal Caribbean we have taken 8 times.

Everything is so perfect on this Cruise. The food are excellent! From steak to seafoods and an assortment of all other choices that are just so delicious.

The cruise Director and his staff are so energetic, funny and full of life in all there activities. The entertainment is excellent and the recreation aboard are amazing! Particularly the ropes course which is enjoyed by the young and the young alike:) Most of the staffs are accommodating, kind and helpful.Highly recommended! 😀

We love Norwegian's food and beverage quality and service  - made all the better if you get the free drink and specialty restaurant packages. Th exceptions to this are Bayamo and the Public House - the food does not live up to the menu descriptions. The ship is huge and you can always find somwhere uncrowded despite the number of passengers - unless you want to sit by the pool on a sunny day. We are not sunbathers, so no problem for us, but this seems to be the most common complaint. The entertainment was abundant, but nothing really good- this is an area that should be improved. The ship is spectacular - a desitnation unto itself.

does not meet expectations for all member of family; it is not a boat for standard working family;  It is not a boat for people who expect a Latin atmosphere.

This was our second cruise with Norwegian, and it was delightful again. Food was amazing and staff was attentive. The only small complaints I have are that the shows were not as good this time, and the sun-deck chairs get "reserved" quickly and run out quickly. Other than that, great experience. 

Norwegian escape is a ripoff for fullpaying customers. Over half the boat was from Florida and they got rock bottom prices so they could pack the boat. Sea days are so crowded that at lunch we couldnt find a table and forget getting a lounge chair on the sun decks, everything packed with people with reduced fares they sell at the last week to pack the boat. Compare royal carribean 5000 passenger boat and no comparison. they both hold 5000 people but Royal Carribbean is 20-25% more tonnage. My last cruise on Norwegian.

#1 - Unfortunately, we unknowingly scheduled our vacation during Florida's spring break (we are from KY) and we learned that Floridians cruise for spring break.  We love children and have 5 of our own, but this was an adult only trip so being surrounded by kids was not in our agenda.  Parents seem to think since they are on a cruise that they do not have to monitor their kids at all and NCL did not seem to want to take care of the disruption that was being caused by unmonitored kids.  It was our fault for not checking the dates but it will never happen again.  

#2 - NCL is selling more promotions than they can fulfill.   If you purchased a NCL cruise with the dining package promotion, it is very difficult to get reservations into the restaurants because the packages have been oversold.  There are only so many seats in each specialty restaurants and there is not enough room for everyone who had the dining packages.   This seem to be a common problem for most of the cruisers.  I felt sorry for the restaurant managers because they were being treated awful by passengers who could not get a reservation into their restaurant, but it is not their fault.  

#3 - We loved the Levity Comedy Group but found that a lot of the same material was being used multiple nights in the shows.  I would think that they should have different material for every night they are scheduled to perform which on average is 3-4 nights out of the 7.  They were really funny but just needed more material.  

#4 - We purchased an Aft Cabin this time (this is our 3rd NCL cruise) and absolutely loved it.  We were on deck 9 Aft and the balcony was huge and completely private.  There is also less wind and much less noise in the aft.

#5 - The ropes course is really fun, even for adults!  I am assuming the water slides were great too, but there were so many kids that the waits were for almost 2 hours and there is no way I am waiting that long for a water slide.  

#6 - If you are trying to decide between the Getaway and Escape, I would choose the Getaway.  We cruised the Getaway last year and had very few problems compared to the Escape.  

The trip was great.  Everything you would expect was taken care of.  We had a few minor incidents during the cruise, however guest services fixed them.  I highly recommend the Manhattan room for dinner nightly.  Asked to be seated on the dance floor for a better view of the live band.  The Mini-Suite was just the right size.  Enough room to move around.  Booked one week out and the rate from was much lower than booking directly with NCL.  Taxes and Gratuity were expected, but still a large percentage of the overall trip.  

The people that work at the ship all have a bad attitude 

they were always mad.  Terrible service, I fell and no one ran to help me. 

I will never go on Norwegian again. 

The only issue was that the big ship had a ton of people during spring break. 99% of the staff deserve a 5 star rating but some of the staff were overwhelmed and it showed. A ton of dining choices with some not being a bit difficult to work with. Overall great food and service. Plan ahead. Only NCL issue I did not like was that you could not upgrade specialty restaurant or internet packages.  

It does not meet the expectations of a trip to the Caribbean; small portion is included in your fare; boring music or not music everywhere; just sport at the pool tv; the activities for kid finished at 6pm, after that they did NOTHING, not included TV program for kid at the cabin, boring kid club house and the arcade was usually unattended.

Definitely the ESCAPE is not the option for any family vacation.

The Norwegian Escape is a beautiful ship, but just too big for us.  With 5000 passengers - 2000 of which were unsupervised children - it was overly crowded and unfortunately not a very good experience.  We were constantly waiting for an elevator (with 19 stories, climbing steps was not generally an option), and we were never able to get anywhere close to the pool, let alone in it.  I will say that our stateroom was beautiful, and the bathroom was the largest we have ever had on a ship.  The food was very good, and we did enjoy having a choice of restaurants.  The staff, for the most part, were very nice and helpful, but we did find it difficult to communicate with some staff members particularly in the restaurants.  We purchased the Spa package, but again did not really enjoy those facilities as they were generally very crowded which did not promote a relaxing atmosphere.  We definitely would not take this cruise again.  

As the title states, we sailed each ship during it's inaugural season, and enjoyed each one to differing degrees. Norwegian is renewing it's fleet, which is great, but there appears to be a slight shift in their policies as well, so this review will highlight the ones we noticed. GETAWAY 2015: We sailed in February, the best month in our eyes, weather-wise and fellow-cruiser-wise. The Dining package was open ended, no set amount of meals. We made reservations most times, but also found that we were accommodated, and quickly, when we did not have one. Great! The restaurants were not swamped, and the experience was great. Food great, service great. The cruisers seemed to be an average age of 40 or 50 years old, very well-behaved, no sloppy dressing seen, very nice! No real mayhem on the ship other than the central pool area every day, which we avoid like the plague! Spice H2O was a blessing, but still it was quite packed to capacity every day, and we sadly had to eventually play the "save a chair" game every day. Our steward Marcel from St. Lucia was fabulous, and we became friends. All in all, our best cruise ever, having sailed three different lines. ESCAPE 2016: The first complaint here came right out of the gate - we are Bronze Latitude members, and were supposed to have priority boarding, which, I took that to mean just that, "we board first." We sailed specifically WITH Norwegian because we enjoyed all the things mentioned above, and wanted to start building points up WITH them. I was then notified that Norwegian now does set boarding "appointments", 11:30 to 12:30, 12:30 to 1:30,etc., and the earliest I could board was 1:30. NOT cool. When arriving at the terminal, I asked where the Bronze Priority line was and was guided to one. It was the same line as everyone else! So we board and then discover that march is NEVER a good time to cruise unless you have children. The ship was swamped. Mistake noted, "NEVER sail later than February 28." To be fair, the following conditions probably apply to ALL cruise lines during this time of year, but I will note them just the same, as ship policy should be adjusted/monitored a bit better. There were children running, in the buffet, in the halls, late at night and during the day. There was door slamming galore, late at night as well, as the Teen Club curfewed at 1 a.m. I believe. There were french fries on the elevator floors, popcorn scattered on the atrium floor, kids pushing all the elevator buttons, kids were roaming in Spice H2O and playing in the water grotto, which is SUPPOSED to be adults-only....you get the picture. NOT a Norwegian only problem, again, and they did issue a written page of suggested conduct with our first daily papers, but it did no good. The problem now was "how quickly do these things get cleaned up/cleared up?" Also, the adult clientele seemed to be much younger, less disciplined. (We had a group of obviously drunk patrons yell-singing a Jimmy Buffett song roaming through the ship.) So the adult crowd during THIS particular week seemed to have "missed their Carnival cruise." Next, the Dining package rules have changed. it is no longer open-ended. You buy each meal separately, and the Flamingo Cafe, which we LOVED on the Getaway, was replaced by a Margaritaville, which was pay-to-play, which made NO sense. Who wants to pay $15 for a cheeseburger? The place did not appear to be doing well. Also, there is no longer free room service, it is now $8.50 plus 18%. Some people refer to this as nickel-and-dimeing, and I was hesitant to believe it, but now I do. The percentage of pay restaurants seems to have risen, they have a limit to number of meals now, they did not in 2015, and the rules governing what you can order has gone that way as well, sadly. Moving on, the entertainment on the Escape has lowered from the Getaway. Some shows had apparently just been changed, and one we saw with "Vocal Overdrive" in the theater was atrocious! "After Midnight" and "The Brat Pack" were very good, though the meal in the Supper Club was a bit sub-par.  And also new to The Escape, you must BOOK to go to the Comedy Club, BOOK to go to the theater, etc., and everything seemed over-booked from Day 1.  it took us 3 days to get into Cagney's.  These things cast a pall on "Vacation mode" - you do NOT go on vacation to have to stress over appointment times every single day.  It all felt like the staff was overwhelmed in general.  Synopsis? "Over 50?" Never sail during Spring Break. "Norwegian in general?" Slipped, in general, in my mind. I know you have to pay for these new ships, but...? We are re-evaluating going ON Norwegian again and trying to build points with them. I was SO Norwegian gung-ho after last year, but now, it looks like Celebrity or Royal will get our biz next time. A great ship, don't get me wrong, but the Getaway cruise got a 10, and the Escape, for the reasons above, garnered a 5.

NCL made some unexpected changes that was very disappointing,such as only allowing Gold and Platinum members priority boarding as well as having us wait after check in to be called by groups to board. It also seemed to me that the overall friendliness and courteousness of the staff was lacking to me and my family. Whoever was behind or in front of us was always appreciated more so than we were. My expectations were high because of my two prior experiences, but sadly I'm really rethinking who my future cruise line will be with.

We love Norwegian.  Freestyle cruising is the ONLY way to go.  Norwegian does a wonderful job making sure that your whole family has a great time.  There's something for everyone at any moment.  Food is out of this world--as good as any five star restaurant.  Entertainment is top-notch (many from Broadway or off-Broadway shows).  Thanks for a great time, Norwegian Escape!

Loved the dance floor/club on the back of the boat on the deck.  Great sound system and some great parties.    The amount of entertainment on the ship was unbelievable, there was something for everyone all the time. 

As a bonus for getting a balcony, we got the ultimate dining package - fabcy restaurants for the 7 nights of the cruise.  That was good.  The ship was new and so was very well decorated. O'Sheehans cafe was also a good thing.  Great food and not a lot of people used it.  Now the bad.  The hallways were very narrow - barely enough room to squeeze by the cabin steward's carts.  Our door would not close on its own.  I suppose that if I complained and engineer could have adjusted it.  IMHO the cabin steward should have reported it.  I got the unlimited internet package.  With 4 sea days I felt it was a good deal.  My wife and I play a Facebook game.  We were unable to get it to load do we could play it.  Different browsers, different OS's.  When I went to the Internet cafe   I was informed that the ship will block certain type of internet content including games.  I then requested my package be cancelled.  Good thing - it was cancelled and I was not charged at all.  Here is the worst thing that happened.  There are some water slides on the ship.  It is 6 flights of steps to get to the top.  On my first trip up, I was informed at the top no jewellery was allowed.  Ok I figured that necklaces , chains and watches were what they meant.  Back down and removed my chain.  Back up and was informed this time that no rings were allowed either.  Not even wedding rings.  I have had my wedding ring on so long and had gained enough weight that my ring would not come off  - my finger had swollen around my ring.  I was denied access to the slide. 

This is a large and beautiful ship.  Its design not elegant but very functional.

We chose the Ultimate Dining Package.  Due to the number of guest on board

(5,045) it was difficult to make reservations.  We got lucky and that a F&B manager went the extra step to get us reservations or we were not going to get in.

A major complaint is that they charged extra for some entertainment.  The supper club with meal is ok but the others had a cover.

NCL still charges for internet which is expensive.  They need to add this to the cost of doing business and not to make a profit.

For the young at heart the water slides, tow line and rope course are unbelievable.

They offer a lot for kids.

I do suggest when booking look into non spring break or vacation times as there was bug family presence.  

Entertainment was very good.  Consistent with NCL being very good in this area.

THERE WER TWO MEDICAL EMERGENCIES ON THE SHIP AND DUE TO THE SECOND ONE THE CAPTAIN HAD TO DEVIATE AND WE WERENT ABLE TO GO TO OUR LAST PORT. MANY OF THE PSET SINCE THEY ALL HAD PLANS FOR NASSAU. WE ALL THOUGHT THAT IF HE WOULD OF SPEED UP LIKE HE DID FOR THE FIRST EMERGENCY WE WOULD HAVE BEEN ABLE TO MAKE IT TO NASSAU. I WAS REALLY LOOKING FORWARD FOR THIS CRUISE AND WAS REALLY DISAPOINTED. WE HAD FOUR DAYS AT SEE IN A BOAT THAT REALLY DIDNT HAVE MUCH TO DO, I FEEL I SHOULD BE COMPENSATED FOR NOT BEING ABLE TO GO TO ALL THE PORTS. I HAD PLANS THAT I WAS NOT ABLE TO FULLFILL. I WILL AMERCIAN EXPRESS SINCE I BOOKED THRU CRUISEONLY WHICH IS AN AGENT OF AMERICAN EXPRESS AND ALSO I WILL CALL NCL AND TELL THEM HOW I FEEL. I ALWAYS CRUISE ROYAL CARRIBBEAN AND DECIDED TO TRY NCL CAUSE OF THE NEW SHIPS BUT I THINK I WILL NOT DO NCL AGAIN. THE ONLY THING I LIKED ABOUT NCL WAS THE FREESTYLE CRUISING.

this is a lovely ship, but our experience was not.  the service was generally (especially at the expensive specialty dining, which was frustrating).  with the exception of the desserts, the food simply wasn't very good (why is your seafood tasteless??).  we had multiple alarms go off in our room, and the staff was very dismissive, seemed poorly informed.  We briefly diverted for an emergency (~1.5 hours off course), so they cancelled our stop in the Bahamas - which was supposed to be 12 hours.  Our only compensation was the $18 port fee. 

when I talked to management, they put us in a different room and refunded the specialty meal, which I really appreciate; however, that just wasn't enough to undo how poorly most of the cruise went.