Norwegian Escape Cruise Reviews - Reviews

I felt safer on the cruise than I do at the grocery store.

First cruise since Dec 2019, really enjoyed it after my solemn burial of a close travel buddy. Staff made it a memorable and revelant time. Could not have asked for a return to cruising, cruise.

Bartender told us we were about 1,500-1,600 passengers onboard. Plenty of room on the ship, no wait for deck chairs, elevators, dinners, and at times no one in sight in corridors. That never happens! Grateful we got to make all of our ports too!

A life well cruises for a week even though we didn’t stop at all ports NCL made sure guest still felt being on vacation complimentary laundry, extra stop in DR and plenty of other onboard freebies.

Weather was poor, some rain and high winds made for some rocky days and nights. Unable to stop at three islands two because of COVID and one because the weather was to rough. They find another stop for us at the Sugar port of La Rome in the DR.

Pesimo !!! Increíble NOS trajeron en diferentes Puertos Son bajarnos. Desde antes de Iniciar viaje les dijimos q era complicado por q países estaban en cuarentena y NO quisieron Cancelar ni regresar boletos. Y sucedio que solo miramos mar y mar, y mar!!! Mal x NCL, y al final aunque Reclamamos NO dieron ni las gracias 😡😡😡.

Lovely ship, great staff, specialty dining was fabulous, plenty of walking space, drinks were flowing.

After 4 days into our trip, and just 15 minutes before we were scheduled to get off the ship for Great Stirrup Cay island, the island excursion was canceled, due to travel restrictions. Here’s how the cruise went: -ropes course, closed -mini golf, closed -basketball court, closed -theater and all theatrical shows, closed -Most restaurants with any outside seating were closed. Apparently they had to paint the handrails -The ship was maybe at 25% capacity and there were still not enough lounge chairs on the decks Apparently they take the opportunity when capacity is low to perform maintenance on a bunch of stuff that customers would, surprisingly, still like to use. Would they do this at high capacity? Of course not, too many people would complain, but since they weren’t making as much money, I guess we had to be okay with it. Do you know what was NEVER closed for maintenance? Not even for a minute? Everywhere they could make extra money from you: The spa The gift shop ALL of the jewelry shops The bake shop The gelato shop The bars The several-times-daily art auctions And when I got on the ship I felt almost assaulted by how hard they tried to sell acupuncture to me in the spa. They even get you in a room alone with one of their “consultants” for a free consultation, and then say a 4-session treatment is what I need, at $170 per session, without even examining me. And they don’t let up or offer to leave the room until you’ve discussed it for a few minutes. Used car sales people have nothing on the people in that racket. Overall the cruise was enjoyable. Almost every staff member was polite, genuinely happy we were there (going so far as to say their livelihood depends on us and that’s why they’re so happy we decided to cruise). Everything was clean, very clean. It’s just like a nicely appointed hotel, but on the water which is very cool. Views were wonderful from our balcony, and the food in the buffet was better than most buffets! (Except the top tier in Vegas) The onboard entertainment of nightly game shows was also really fun. I did want to point out all the good stuff because I want to be taken seriously when I mentioned the negatives at the beginning of the post. There are some things they can’t control, like the island, but please don’t treat us like second class citizens in regards to which facilities are open because the capacity is low. If you’re going to use social distancing as an excuse to close things down, then please DO NOT OFFER AUCTIONS AND FREE THINGS IN A SMALL, ENCLOSED SPACE LIKE A JEWELRY STORE AT AN EXACT TIME. There were 50+ people crowded there, which was orchestrated that way to have as many people at once for the sales pitch. And Dueling Pianos was standing room only with nobody wearing masks!! What in the actual…. Anyway, very nice ship, clean, polite and friendly cleaning and buffet staff, very funny and fun cruise director / entertainment staff (Romeo by himself could keep you laughing and smiling all night). Mediocre food at non-complimentary restaurants, but good service. High pressure sales, avoid the spa unless you’ve got $1,000 or more that you’re okay with letting go of. I can’t see the island being open anytime soon. If you’re going in the next 6 months, I’d try to get a cruise credit or even refund (good luck with that) for when the island will be open. It’s the big attraction on the cruise and it was pulled from under us at the end. Of all the things my wife wanted to do, that was the reason we went with NCL - their island. Disappointed but understand that at least a FEW things can’t be helped because they were following protocol. Just wish they’d follow the same protocols for the bars, jewelry shops, art auctions, acupuncture, or anywhere else they make money on the ship itself.

This was a great welcome back to cruising. But I do not count this as a normal cruise. It was at or less then 50% capacity and obviously a little different bc of covid. The service was amazing - hands down the best we have ever had. Never had to wait for anything...not even elevators! Lots of hand washing and hand sanitizer. Wasn't the greatest weather but we made the best of it.

We were able to view the other side of the ship by moving ahead of the crowds...

I had an absolute blast I will definitely be cruising again with Norwegian!! I would absolutely do this ship again. Lots of great crew and people that I met. Cruising is now my new thing. I had no issues cruising solo and will do that again as well. Thank you Norwegian for making my first cruise GREAT!!

Over the last 10 years, my husband and I have taken cruises on five different cruise lines. We started with about six or eight cruises on Carnival. We then wanted to try out Royal Caribbean. In our most recent, pre-covid cruises, we cruised on Disney, Princess and Celebrity cruise lines. With the exception of the food, we were pleased with Carnival but after about five different cruises with Carnival, decided to step up so we booked and cruised on Royal Caribbean. We found this was a big mistake that we have not repeated. We were both extremely impressed with Disney, Princess and Celebrity and did not feel any other cruise line (outside of Viking) could compare with these three cruise lines. This is our first vacation on Norwegian. On this trip, we selected Norwegian for the convenience embarking and debarking location. Port Canaveral is within a little more than an hour’s drive from us. Previously, we had always avoided Norwegian as we did not feel the atmosphere would be what we are looking for, but, as it turns out, we were absolutely incorrect! Both my husband and I thus far have not only found ourselves beyond pleased with Norwegian, we both agree that this is the best experience we’ve ever had on any cruise ship. Although the decor and food on Disney, Princess and Celebrity are all competitive with Norwegian, Norwegian, by far exceeds in their customer service and staff and customer relations. Not only are the staff extremely friendly and polite, but they also all ask their customers questions regarding their likes or dislikes concerning their cruises. All staff acknowledge their customers in such a pleasant and welcoming manner. Staff either state “Hello and usually accompany it with a “How is your day going” or “How is your cruise going?” About 90% of the staff that we have come into close proximity of, always give us a genuine smile versus a polite smile or nod. We have never experienced this level of customer service whether it was on a cruise, vacationing on land, or interacting in our daily lives with staff employed in various customer services industries. We find the services and environment on Norwegian outshines any of the above listed cruise lines. Moving forward, Norwegian will always be our first choice. For those of you out there reading this review, if you have not tried Norwegian, please, treat yourselves and do so soon. Again, thank you to the staff of Norwegian cruise line.

7 day Caribbean cruise, Dominican was pulled from the itinerary, never did hear why. Tortola was nice surprise, take the short boat trip to Virgin Gordy and swim and explore the baths, it’s a beautiful beach but does require a bit of a hike.

Overall the cruise and ship was fantastic I would definitely cruise again I would like to try a different ship not cause I didnt like this one but to compare it to others in their fleet

Considering all, this Norwegian Cruise is my first and last with them. I will stick with Princess and RC.

I found the ship very crowded, we waited for elevators a lot! It was very hard to find a quiet comfortable area outside of our balcony to relax in and it was impossible to get in to see any of the shows unless you went very late at night. There was very little to nothing that I enjoyed about this cruise!

Worst cruise ever and will not be on this ship never! Will try another cruise line soon, NCL has gone as low is it gets, trash.

Nice cruise with NCL. Fab service as always. Hope to get back to cruising as soon as this lockdown is over. Keep cruising!

I feel any cruise is a great cruise, and I did enjoy my week aboard the Escape. My biggest complaint is, to me, the ship did not have enough public space for 4000+ passengers. Maybe I am not a mega ship person, but I always felt like a was part of a herd cattle round up. I was also not a fan of the anytime dining or having to make dinner/show reservations. I feel if you are a "traditional" type cruiser you will not like the Escape. However, if you like the freedom of not having set activities or schedules, you will love it. Another plus for the Escape was the solo cabins. My friend loved them and the fact they had what seemed like their own private club. They met every evening together to have dinner, and had the opportunity to mingle with other single passengers.

Spring break crowd, amazing experience. Lots to do, great party’s. Also plenty of peace can be found. Every single bar and restaurant I went to exceeded my expectations. This ship is phenomenal. Spice H20 is incredibly peaceful during the day, and the party spot between 10-12 pm. Skyline club is so much better then the Social on the bliss it’s not even funny. The Escape knows how to do everything and caters to everyone. Great for peace and quiet, great for fun. NCL Escape is the epitome of what NCL is all about and reinforces with every fiber of why we love cruising and why we choose NcL. They are the best and the Escape and it’s staff are second to none.