Norwegian Escape Cruise Reviews - Reviews

They made the ship bigger, accommodates more people in smaller places , elevator are small and dark  , garden cafe area has more tables  less walk space not easy to walk around if you are big or on a wc not easy to move around with out. Bumping to someone or some one chair.   dinning area longer wait and they always send you to the Manhattan room  bigger space. If you want to participate in anything you either have to get up early or go 1/2 early to showers , restaurant   In order to get a sit. Pool area no lounge chair they all taken with towels hours before with no one sitting on it. 

The room are small the have a pole right in front  of my room making it hard to get in and out. And I am not a big person . 

Show are like high school  showers 

Had an ok time but would not go out off my way to take this ncl escape again 

Overall, this was a very, very good week.  This is a very large ship with LOTS of people.  However, only a few times did that really have an impact.  The adult pool is small compared to the population and getting chairs on deck was difficult.  Using the small track after 9 am was frustrating due to the number of people that were coming and going from the buffet.  The ropes course was cool but not for those with fear of heights.  Service across the boat was good. 

The six passengers who traveled on this cruise had the same thing to say about the ship. The elevator wait was at least ten minutes and then we decided to take the stairs most of the time. The food was horrible basicaaly in the garden cafe. there wasn't any space to walk in the cabin. The cruise director mixed up some of the times of the shows. The on board credit should be spent the way you want to spend it, not the the way the cruise ship wants to spend it. The blue Lagoon shore excursion left at 12:15 didn't get there until almost 2:00 and we had to take the boat back at 5:30. Very little time for us to enjoy the island.Tortola port was being renovated.

I have to say this was a perfect cruise. ship was clean and well run. staff was friendly, informative, and hard working. food was very good and especially good in the specialty restaurants. beverage package included most of the top shelf liquors.

shows were very entertaining and always something going on day and night. embarking and disembarking again was well run and not nearly as stressful as anticipated. the only 2 complaints I have are kind of petty all things considered. the art auctions which I look forward too had way too much talking by the auctioneer and prices were higher than if you just went to a local dealer. you would think NCL would make sure there were some deals available. also the bingo was prices very high compared to the small payouts, this should not be a profit maker for NCL. other than that I'm looking forward to taking my next cruise with NCL.  

The only thing was our hallway smelled like sewer and we made complaints and all they did was put moth balls to take away the smell, it only lasted a day or 2 and the smell was back. Complained about it quite a few times they gave us a bottle of wine and chocolate covered strawberries, you think after spending all that money they would do something else after all it's a brand new ship they shouldn't have plumming problems and do nothing about it.                     

The ship was gorgeous - however I felt more like a herd of cattle.  I think the ship is too big and the service is totally affected. We waited for over a half an hour just for someone to clean the table we were sat at. 😑

This was our first Norwegian cruise and I have to say that we all enjoyed the more relaxed atmosphere.  Overall, the service was very good.  We ate dinner in the Manhattan Room every night and did notice a difference in service depending on the side of the room we were seated.  The only complaint I would have to say was the size of the pool being small and not being able to get a lounge chair at the pool/hot tub areas.

food and entertainment were mediocre, two restaurants we couldn't eat the meat so tough, we are loyal platinum NCL people this ship was a dissapointment

Excellent customer service, fantastic resturants, and beautiful rooms. Very pleased with the organization from luggage, communication to organizing shows. Also very clean! Day time entertainment was great, good mix of company on ship.

The only down fall was the amount of people on the ship to top deck chairs for tanning. A system for the chairs needs to be in place. Also not much space for chilling in the pool, but patience gives you a chance.

Wow headed out of the Port of Miami, to the Caribbean, 5,000 people onboard the NCL ESCAPE just a bit over booked?????  It started out waiting in lines, unable to book the speciality dining already completely booked?  But months prior to our departure date of 12/26/15, NCL customer service, explained that they already booked 30% of reservations for dining and at this time which was in August we would book on the ship????  WRONG!!!!!  Completely books on the ship!!!!! and we had the specialty dining package, hahaha....

So we try to relax by the pool????? Wrong, the 5,000, people on board had the same idea!, but to our surprise there was only ONE ADULT POOL and ONE CHILDREN'S POOL!!!!!!!!!  SERIOUSLY, we thought this could not be, so we toured the whole ship, POOLS where at a SHORTAGE.....Tons of chairs to sit on , NOT!!!!!!!! No place to put them, they had stacks of chairs, still stacked, NO ROOM TO UNSTACK THEM.... You would of thought a ship this large would have better planning with the pools?  The pool I have in my backyard is bigger!  CRAZY, good thing the weather was a bit breezy and not to hot....The crew did have plenty of cold towels to pass around, just in case when you were standing you might feel HOT????

In all very disappointed with the DESIGN of the new ship.....Why only 2 POOLS, who would design this with 5,000 people max in mind ?  Some one not from a warm climate or does not like swimming or pools??????

One of the best cruises we have ever traveled on.  Great service, excellent food, clean ship, and the free style dining made this a fantastic cruise.  If not for the excessive smoke emitting out from the casino on deck seven, this would have been a 10 star cruise!!!!.

Pros: excellent food 

half of the staff really tried to provide excellent service

Cons: where to start? If you didn't make restaurant or show reservations prior to the cruise, good luck. You were forced to eat at the buffet. We made show reservations prior to the cruise and our reservations for one show was cancelled prior to the cruise and the other complimentary show was completely cancelled half way thru the cruise. Layout of the new ship is POOR.  Tiny inside and balcony staterooms and small common meeting areas. Did I mention two tiny complimentary pools exist for 5000 people? Forget about securing a lounger or even a chair.

Watch for fine print because what you think you paid for on this cruise will be different when you receive the invoice at the end of the cruise. We purchased the unlimited beverage package. We inquired about the additional port charges for beverages consumed while awaiting departure in Miami. We received three different answers from Guest services. Sure enough, port charges apply to beverages consumed while on US ports. So read the fine print and monitor your onboard charges carefully!

We waited 2 1/2 hours for dining in Manhatten room two times. We went to the bar ourselves because the waitstaff was so slow to deliver our drinks.

Our group was comprised of experienced cruisers and more than half have cruised with NCL. All seventeen of us will never cruise with NCL again after this experience.

I found the additional charges ridiculous!!!  Took away from enjoying the cruise.  The ship was nice.  The entertainment left much to be desired.  Not too sure I will cruise with NCL again.

Good =

1. Food quality and options

2.  Excellent and friendly cruise staff with games, entertaining pool games...

3.  Clean Ship  

4.  Fun ropes course, arcade 

5.  Great Kid program  

6.  Tons of fun bars with good top shelf liquor and wine.

Bad =

1.  Didn't seem to have enough staff for dining - sometimes the waits were very long to get meals served.  Also many of the dining options which required reservations were book up prior to the cruise beginning.  If you had purchased an Ultimate Dining Package this was a problem because you couldn't use it.  I was lucky and made reservations for 4 nights.  During those evenings I did see plenty of empty tables and people were being turned away from the place and were told they were booked up.  Not sure why they were turned away.  The food was very good overall and the dining package was great to have since I did have reservations.  If I had not made reservations prior to leaving for the cruise I would have wasted the money.

2.  The shows were also booked up very early.  Last time I cruised you could just go to the comedy club without reservations and I was not aware that they were needed for this cruise.  I was never able to see any shows for this reason in the comedy club and the other shows which have always required reservations were always booked.

3.  Lack of pool chair and holding procedures.  This is my biggest complaint and why I will not cruise NCL again.  On the first day I got up around 8 am to head to the pool and deck area and there were almost no chairs available.  We had only 3 in our group and I had great difficulty finding 3 chairs that were not being held by towels.  Almost every chair on ALL levels were being held by towels.  This occurred every day at sea which is when most people are getting some sun. The next day I got up earlier at 7:30 and didn't have much better luck,  On vacation I would like to relax and sleep in and not worry about getting a freaking deck chair.   When I did find some seats on the first day I paid attention to those held chairs near me and most of the chairs went unoccupied until after 11.  It was ridiculous how many were held - sometimes 10 in a row by a shoe or just a towel.  Some people were bolder than me and were throw off the towel and when those who originally held the chair came back hours later they seemed shocked there stuff was moved and arguments began.  I really just wanted to relax and not worry about getting a chair. 

3.  Drink Service near the pool and surrounding areas was not existent.  I was never once approached by a waiter or waitress trying to sell me a drink.  A trip to the bar was the only way I could get a drink.  This may be because most people on the ship had the free drink package which was being promoted prior to the sailing. 

enjoyed it food was excellent but highly recommend booking specialty restaurants in advance.  we ate at specialty restaurants every night and booked in advance that it what made this trip better then our last.  pool was to small and never could get a chair.  the 18 and older pool was much better and could get a chair at times.

THE CRUISE WAS GREAT, THE FOOD IN THE SPECIALTY RESTAURANTS WAS SUPERB, THE BALCONY AND MINI SUITE CABINS WERE UNDERSIZED.  TWO PEOPLE COULD NOT COMFORTABLY MOVE AROUND CABIN, ONE PERSON KEPT BUMPING INTO FURNITURE.  NEVER AGAIN!!

The ship is beautiful. Norwegian has outdone themselves with the style and grace of this vessel in the common areas. The room where I stayed had a weird beam right outside the entrance door which we were dangerously close to hitting upon entering and leaving our cabin. The service was excellent in all areas except housekeeping.  But that has been my experience on other Norwegian ships as well.  The freestyle dining has been taken too far. Now, if you don't have the dining package you can eat in the traditional buffet, O'Sheehan's or one of their three restaurants that all serve the same thing. Besides that, they oversold the dining package and those who didn't book their restaurant reservations before departure or the moment they got on board ended up not being able to use it at all.  I tried at 11:30 am on the first full day of the cruise and everything was completely booked. After a lot of standing in lines and back and forth, several days later, they were able to change our dining package to the beverage package though which was useful. I would recommend this ship but don't reserve the dining package unless you plan on booking all of your meals before you travel. Disembarkation was a nightmare. I have been on seven cruises prior to this one and this was by far the most disorganized longest and most tedious process I have ever experienced. It took fully two hours to get off the ship. Despite my gripes, I would still recommend both Norwegian and the Escape.

The casino is located on deck 7.  It is open to all three levels 6,7, and 8, so the cigarette smell is everywhere on those decks.  All inside activities occur on decks 6, 7, and 8, so there is no getting away from the smell, as well as the sound of the casino.  

All of the bars are very loud, and there is no place inside for families to gather together for discussions or meetings or playing games.  There are a couple outside areas on deck 8 for gatherings.  All through the ship, I saw people gather chairs and try to find an inside area to gather, as none were set up. This is contrary to other cruise chips I have been on. 

The Atrium is where most of events happen, it is on 6, open to all three decks, and very noisy and crowded, so our family avoided most of the entertainment events.  And you can smell the smoke from the casino when in the Atrium.

The excursions people were not very helpful, apparently they didn't know much about the islands they were going to.  They should do some of the excursions and at least have a map of the island to hand out to cruisers.

The Bahamas stop was a mess.  There was no one to guide you to the right excursion place, There was much confusion about where people were supposed to show up.  A few signs would have been nice.  Coming back from the excursions, thee was a long line of people all trying to get back to their ships (5 cruise ships in port - so I estimate about 20,000 folks all trying to get through a very small door at the same time.  It was a very scary situation.  I was afraid of a stampede.  Some people were ready to fight as other people cut in line. After an hour wait, we finally got back on our ship and went to report the problem and the excursion people said, "its always like that." There was no attempt to try and solve the problem.  So if you stop in Nassau, leave yourself an extra hour to get back on the ship, and God be with you.

Overall, I paid twice as much as I have paid for previous cruises, and I thought it was going to be a great experience, but I felt like like I did not get anywhere close to a good value.

Online account: Since we had 2 reservations, unlike Royal Caribbean, NCL made it a lot harder for me to make reservations online since they can't combine both reservations and I had to go back and forth between 2 accounts. That was a hassle.

Ship: Escape is a very beautiful, new ship. We loved it!

Dining: Food was exceptional!

Entertainment: Escape has really very talented entertainers from singers, dancers and comedians. However, we are not into 1930's or 1950's- themed broadway shows (Million Dollar Quartet, After Midnight) so it was just ok for us.

Brat Pack (1980's) was very good and so are the comedians, Gina, Landry and Scott.

Crew: Everybody was very nice and courteous.

Internet: VERY SLOW!...I must have just used a total of 45 good minutes out of 250!... I wish they were as good as Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas who offer fast speed internet for just $85 for a 7-day cruise! 

Overall, don't expect NCL to be similar to Royal Caribbean. It is very different when it comes to the layout of the ship. I may be biased to Royal Caribbean but I would still take NCL in the future.

We sailed over Christmas week and had a wonderful time.  The ship is emmaculate with an abundance of helpful staff.  The entertainment was outstanding, Million Dollar Quartet and The Brat Pack are must see shows.  The speciality restaurants, 3 main dining rooms, as well as the garden buffet were all excellent with a wide variety of choices.  We had no complaints with any aspect of the cruise.  Lots to do for all ages.😊 No reason for anyone to be bored!