Norwegian Escape Cruise Reviews - Reviews

The ship is very crowded. With the capacity the activities lack as they will calzone person for the thousands participating. The internet is not even functional and very expensive. The free style choices make it impossible to get any type of speciality dining reservation unless you stalk the restaurants. The lunch menu never changes and gets old fast. The kids club was boring to my kids. They also only take them 2 or 3 hours at most unpaid. They page you ever 5 minutes as well. 

The rooms were nice and large. The gym and Spa are nice. The pool is overcrowded. The food was good. I found the ship to be boring honestly

The ship is beautiful and the crew and staff on it are fantastic. We have been used to cruising other lines and this was our first experience with "Freestyle Cruising", and as they say "change is bad". We missed the large dining rooms with different menus each night, we also missed the specific times to eat, which to us made it easier to plan your ship time. We had the dining package which does not work. We tried to make our dining reservations on the first day on the ship and we were told that every restaurant was already booked for each night of the cruise, and had been for months............  We were told we could go on a wait list. We ended up talking to other people on the ship which also had the dining package and it was extremely frustrating to everyone.

It appears that when the ship does not sell out, then the marketing office starts offering the drink and dining packages as incentive to sell cruises and they all know that the dining package cannot be utilized which is maddening ..

The casino was advertised as non smoking as I recall, but people were smoking at the tables. The cabins were smaller than what we have experienced on other lines, but very well done. The bathrooms were very nice and the glass door on the shower is nice.

We enjoy the music in the atrium area and sitting at the bar each night on the 6th deck before dinner. The open atrium to the 7th floor allows very LOUD noises from games right overhead to ruin the music and entertainment going on in the atrium on the 6th floor. We also felt that many of the larger game shows etc should be held in the theater not in the atrium were there was not enough room for everyone to see. The acoustics in the area is awful as I mentioned before from all the talking and game noise from the 7th deck.

The theater shows, especially the Christmas special and the Million Dollar Quartet were excellent.

We really enjoyed the Spice H2O area for quiet time in the sun without kids running around. We are both non smokers and wish they would not allow smoking even on the one side of the ship as the wind blows the smoke everywhere.

The Margaritaville restaurant is a dismal failure, and we are "Parrotheads" The additional surcharge is an outrage and we did not see more than 5 people there at any one time and we checked everyday.........  

Overall we felt the menus and food in the three main dining rooms were not very good at all.

We are booked on the same ship, same itinerary in April with a large group of over 500 people and we are really concerned now about the dining packages

I cruised with family and friends, in total 11 people and 4 cabins ranging from Studio, Inside, and Balcony. We all had the same complaint--cabins were smaller than expected. The NCL department heads who approved the design of the cabins should have lived in a prototype for a week, showering in the confines of the shower stall, and maneuvering around in the small space.  

The children enjoyed the aqua park and the ropes course. I'm not exactly sure what the adults enjoyed as far as activities.

It was pretty impossible to speak to anyone from Restaurant Reservations. Calls kept rolling to Guest Services. The crew seemed understaffed. 

I was so excited about cruising on this new ship, and it is beautiful from the outside to the inside, but disappointing in other areas. This was my 4th Norwegian cruise and probably my last.

Service was top notch on this new ship.  The shows After Midnight & Million Dollar Quartet had quite the singers and dancers. My wife & I found the restaurant options all served meals that were well prepared & very tasty.  The restaurants that didn't have service charges had excellent choices each night.

The "new" ship was my reason for booking however certain features left me disappointed. The main pool ( whee all the activities take place) is way too small for the number of people on this ship. There are so many lounge chairs pushed together around the main pool that you need to literally fall onto the chairs. The mini suite I booked was smaller than any balcony room I have booked. Many adults I spoke to had the same sentiments and while I like NCL I won't be returning to this ship.

The cruise was awesome.  Lots of activities and things to do.  And lots of time to relax.  I did find the ship to large and spent too much time wandering.  The only complaints I have is that the bathrooms in the cabin had inadequate ventilation..  Water was very hot and showers tended to leave room very steamy.  The adult pool had no stairs, just the ladder which can be an issue for some people.  And the hot tub/jacuzzi constantly had kids filling it.  Food was good and lots of it. 

All in all I had a great time as well as my family did. 

The ship itself is very nice, however a few of the crew members were not so nice. In addition, the food was ok, but not what I expected.  I have been on several cruises and I realize that the food in the dining room at dinner time is usually fine dining, but it was not tasty at all.  This ship does not have a captains night so there isn't a night where lobster is served but you can purchase lobster any night for 19.99.  Its not a bad price but I am so use to other cruise lines offering it in their menu. 

My 11 year old son use his room card spending US$590 at Video Arcade without  parent's permission . When the 5th day's morning on the cruise we received the 10 pages long invoice with all the one dollar sorts spending we are totally shocked.  How could a child play at the Casino managed Video Arcade without inform his parent. Even the fifth floor's Kid's club needs parent sign him in and out everyday. I only open one stateroom for three of us (Son and the parents), the Norwegian cruise line connect all three persons' spending to my credit card without provide me with warning or suggestion to close my son's account in regards to this kind of unexpected high spending. It's our family's first cruise experience and we fly from New Zealand to try this new cruise expect to enjoy the journey,  Unfortunately, it become a totally learning lecture for us to know how the cruise attracts and encourages everyone on board to over spend , even provide Child chance to get into Casino controlled Video Arcade without adult's supervision. Feel so sorry for Norwegian Cruise Line. Every parent should be informed these potential spending risks on their children. 

We traveled a several years ago on a Norwegian ship, the experience was average at best. The food left a lot to be desired, and the boat and most of the people just seemed to be "old". We really liked the new Escape ship, but it was really BIG. We felt like there were places and people we didn't really see - like the Cruise Director, Julie. There were fun activities for the kids, water slides, rope courses and miniature golf.  The food was poor. Very banquet. Even the restaurants were just okay. And we had to buy water on the ship - we could not get water in our room! The shows were good (we saw 3), enjoyed the talent!

I enjoyed the cruise ship.  For the most part the staff was nice, the food was good, and the ambiance was wonderful.  I was most disappointed with the automatic charges for gratuities which left me unable to use my $50 onboard credit.  The cruise line required me to pay those charges upfront each day.  It basically left me without the onboard credit until the very last day of the cruise where I complained so much until they finally removed the charges.  However, my card remained frozen most of the trip because I didn't want to pay the $95 in gratuities.  I did not like that policy at all.  I always leave tips for my room stewards and that's the way I wanted it to remain.  The automatic gratuities each day should be optional for passengers and not a requirement!!! 

I absolutely loved the ropes, slides and pool parties. We really enjoyed the specials at Osheeans and dinner at the Manhattan with the live Trio. We were disappointed that we had to pay for some of the shows. We have cruised before and attended many of the shows and really enjoyed them when they were free. We attempted to watch the comedy show on this one but was so packed we walked out. Nite out & Glow parties were alot of fun. We were planning on going to the latin night but were too tired from being out on the port. Wish it would have been a sea day. We are Silver latitudes members and didn't receive an invitation to special gathering with the officers. We enjoyed Bingo and the beverage package. The ship was really clean and the staff was very friendly and accomadating. Can't wait for the next one. We also would have liked more variety in the buffet. Nite at Howl at the moon was great!

One of the best cruises I've been on yet. Ship was beautiful and clean. Service was fantastic. Food was top notch. So many choices of places to eat. The slides and ripe course we're amazing as well. We had a mid ship balcony and loved it. The bed was so comfortable. Loved everything about this ship. No complaints at all. 

The new NCL Escape would be fine for families with children, not older adults. They missed the boat here. Service was"do it yourself or it won't get done". The food was second class, unless you want to pay for it and then was just ok. NCL freestyle sailing is totally not for me or my family. I personally will not sail with this cruise line again, I want my vacation to be just that, a vacation.

meals were fantastic, staff was professional and friendly. Our only complaints were related to the limited capacity of the adult only pool and the allowance of children to take over hot tubs. The show after midnight is horrible. At least a quarter of the audience was sleeping. Very talented artists, but the theme of the show was just bad. Too many young children, under the age of 12 running around the ship unattended by their parents. Tortola was a disaster! Horrible shopping, under construction and very dirty. The limited shopping available is pricey.  Other than these minor irritants....the cruise was wonderful! 

The Escape is a beautiful ship,  VERY big, lots of walking.  Not enough to do for people in their late 50's and 60's.  to many days at sea, far to many young children for us,  smoking areas VERY limited,  need more smoking areas.  Most of the food was excellent and the service was beyond reproach.  the bartenders at the 5:00 somewhere outside bar went above and beyond to ensure everyone was having a good time (particularly Rudolph, Clarence and Yocuesa (sp?) I think they deserve a raise and a giant kudos for the excellent service provided by them.  There are not enough stars to give them.  

Food and the beverage is awesome, best trip I have ever take. Many activities onboard. They are all fantastic. Hope to take norwegian cruise next time.

I would highly recommend this ship to anyone looking to experience luxury at a bargain.   The staff was very attentive, the food superb, entertainment non-stop and guest/crew interaction endearing.  I have cruised with various lines, and I taught the ALLURE of the SEAS was the best, but the ESCAPE is comparable.

The Atrium can be a little more like the Promenade bustling with activities and shops, but it was a different experience.  The balcony cabin and bathroom are very spacious, modern,high-tech and energy efficient.  BETTER THAN ANY OTHER CRUISE LINE.  

The negative:  The service charge is exorbitant and the speciality restaurants are very expensive.

TOO  MANY DAYS ON SEA AND THE ITINERARY VERY BORING.  THE SEVEN DAY CRUISE SHOULD INCLUDE A 4TH island.   ST THOMAS IS A DUMP,  TORTOLA IS REFRESHING AND BAHAMAS IS ALL ABOUT RIPPING OFF TOURIST WITH STUPID STUFF.   THERE SHOULD BE MUSIC AS SOON AS YOU GET OF THE SHIP, NOT PEOPLE TRYING TO SELL YOU DUMB THINGS.  

The Escape is Beautiful! Over 4000 people and never felt crowded. Never a wait in all of the three dining rooms. Lots of great entertainment, loved the show "After Midnight" it was a Broadway caliber show that was 1st class.

I don't think we could have had a better experience.  I had been reading reviews prior to our departure and I think the negative reviews were sour grapes.  

All of the staff were very friendly and helpful.  There are probably some bugs to work out.  We had seen something about a $10 jewelry sale but didn't know the details.  We asked one staff member about it and she didn't know what we were talking about.  She made a call to someone for us and told us that no one knew anything about it.  We stumbled upon what was a pretty big event for the $10 sale.  It turns out it was going on in that area all day until 11:00 PM.

There is never a dull moment aboard ship.  There is so much going on that it is impossible to see everything.  We attended the Million Dollar Quartet and the Brat Pack.  The Brat Pack group was so full of energy and their talent is unrivaled.  Those are a must see in our opinion.  But there is so much more entertainment that was great also.

Chona was our favorite bartender.  She takes care of a small bar on one of the side decks.  It gets a little busy there and she is alone but she handles it well. That bar could have used a waiter to assist.  She had a fun personality and we enjoyed visiting with her too.

The assortment and presentation of food couldn't have been better.

Our cabin steward, Richard, introduced himself on the first day and whenever we ran into him after that he greeted us by name.  That's impressive.

We never had any problem getting tickets or seating for anything we wanted to experience.  We also enjoyed the different decor and artwork throughout the ship.

It is a big ship and there a lot of people everywhere but I would recommend this ship to anyone.

I had read 104 reviews about NCL's newest ship Escape from it's first sailing out of England to Miami,Florida And my sailing was Dec 12-19. Most of the reviews were very nagitive and I have been on 9 NCL ships over the last nine years and was taken by surprise that this brand new ship had such issues.So my spouse and I board the ship and made a vow that we would NOT take any of these reviews to heart.Getting off and on was a breeze we had a balcony cabin 12900 our room steward was TOP notch we wanted for nothing and we got towel animals every night every staff member treated us with kindness and attention.The food in main dinning rooms were ok,garden cafe which we ate lunch everyday was great we order breakfast every

 morning in our cabin on time with politeness.Now I have to discuss dinners I have to have a low sodium diet for dinner time as being on many cruises I had discovered a few cruises back that they cook with much salt and my body reacts so now I order low sodium for dinner which means you must deal with another person on the boat the Head Maite'D I explain my situation to Ms.Sandra Brown who took care of me from day one you order dinner each night for the next evening they bring the next evenings menus you choose they have your cabin #and they prepare your meal,you can eat in any of the three main dinning rooms just tell you're sever that you have a special order and they take care of the rest.Now I would like to talk about the three main dinning rooms we ate in Savor one night and the Manhattan Room the rest of the time they have a nice band and people like to dance from the first night we ate there we were taken under the wing of Edgar who is one of Ms.Browns Asst Matre'D  he made sure that all of our needs were meet and by the second night my unsalted butter came out with the bread basket I have to say the attention we received made us feel like So this is what it feels like to be rich.My spouse joined the Spa Loved it.We did not eat in any speciality restaurants as we have done that on all other NCL cruises and didn't feel the need this time.Now I would like to address the other staff members bartenders got a really bad rap on the reviews we had the UBP packaged we never ever had rudeness nor had to wait for a drink no matter which bar we went to we also found the bartenders to be polite and accommodating.Now I will discuss the entertainment the shows in the theater were great after midnight was the best,the other ones were find.I now must tell you a little about me I am not an easy person and when I travel I get quite  cranky with things don't go my way but I really had no complaints about this cruise please don't base your're thoughts on others reviews.