My Escape Review from a Royal Loyalist

[Trekker954]

EMBARKATION: What a nightmare that is. The ship spans two terminals, which is why you need to check you e-docs again right before you board. We spanned in Miami, Terminal B & C. Keep in mind parking is at Terminal C. Knowing which terminal to go to wasn’t clear to everyone, the lines were long (noon) and the hot was beating down. While there was a desk with a NCL rep, he said nothing. The baggage handlers were directing traffic, and it took me a while to actually find a handler who would take my bag and I was waving a $5 bill to get someone’s attention just to place it on the cart I was standing right next to. Once we make it into the terminal, another long, long line. There is a priority room, I guess for NCL Elite and another line for Latitude members. But all lines were moving extremely slow. MUSTER: no one had to stand outside and we did not need to listen to multiple languages, although we did wait a long time for everyone to show up. This specific cruise had a very high urban composition.

 

SHIP: Of course it is shiny and new but there was clearly a lack of air conditioner, especially in the elevators. There are two sets of elevators but they are the smallest elevators I’ve ever seen on ship, so I would give the elevators a D. Very hard to get an empty one going in your directions. NCL seems to include a free package of your choice for a while now for balconies and above. So it seems like the entire ship had the Ultimate Beverage Package that the bartenders could not keep up with. Getting a drink was extremely difficult. The multiple lines streaming out of each bar seemed to be 5 to 10 deep. It was horrible, but they didn’t seem to mind giving you multiple drinks at once. The price fix for a UBP Drink is now $15.00. Don’t forget if you start ordering drinks as soon as you board you pay the tax until you on your way out to sea. For simple questions, the staff never seemed to know the answers.

 

ROOM: We booked a mini-suite spa a long time ago, included was the ultimate beverage package and the thermal spa. The mini suite was way smaller than I expected, the photo makes it look way bigger. The bathroom however, was huge, double faucet sink, walk in double door spa shower (numerous jets including overhead shower). Great water pressure and hot, hot, hot water. Shower gel and a combo shampoo conditioner in on wall dispenser. Lotion and more shampoo on sink counter. We had three in the room, they separated the bed into two singles and the couch was made into a bed at the beginning of the cruise. It was a very hard couch, so we requested and received the second night a thin egg crate, which helped. The refrigerator was filled up with mini bar items.

 

The flat screen TV had few stations and although you would assume the remote was new, it was very difficult to change the channels. Press, press, press and nothing would happen, then all of a sudden it would skip 5 channels. What I really liked, they had the push button for make up the room or do not disturb. These must be connected to the stateroom attendants, because you do not see them lingering in the hallways at all.

 

POOL: None of the hot tubs are hot. Those using seemed to enjoy the slides. Some hottubs were clearly marked Adults, but children were in them and the staff standing right there, did not ask them to leave. We even asked that deckhand where the adult hot tubs were and he didn’t know to tell us about h20 spice, the adult only exclusive area.

 

FITNESS & SPA: The fitness center was nice, smaller than I’ve seen on other ships, you must walk through to get to the salon and spa. Thermal spa was included with our suite (or you can pay $40 per day). The warm tile lounges lined a large window, so passengers were treating them like regular lounges and “hogging” them with towels/shoes, etc. These lounges are part of the spa treatment, and “were” to be used by passengers only if you were lying on them. Because they were mostly being used by a pair of shoes, or magazine, I found that extremely annoying. The staff kept telling us, that there was a sign, stating these rules, plus you were to limit use to 30 minutes. I never found that sign, nor did I see “housekeeping, removing left items as the staff said they were expected to do. So good luck on that one. Also we were in the spa women’s locker room, also ceiling to floor windows and sure enough, along comes a window washer (MALE) on his slider. Two women were completely naked drying off. Someone reports it to the front check in, and the staff come running in to pull the shade down.

 

FOOD : I would say the food is better on NCL than RCI. I really do like the concept of separate complimentary dining venues (even though I thought it odd they all have the same menu). We always went around 5:30 and got a window seat. It sort of felt like you were in a specialty restaurant atmosphere. The typical MDR experience on other ships I find to be so loud and chaotic so I did like this. Sometimes we had to rush to get to a 7 pm show and just returned later for our dessert. The Garden Café buffet was nice as well, many choices and the food was decent. I didn’t care for their breakfast, so would opt for the Taste or Savor where there were cooked to order options. We wanted to try and book the Italian specialty but it was sold out the whole time. Of course we saw plenty of empty seats whenever we passed by.

 

ENTERTAINMENT: Me 60, DD 32. Before even leaving I was leery of the entertainment onboard. And mind you, my DD and I go to Broadway plays on a regular basis and love the theater. We wished one of the shows, had more currently music and themes. Both complimentary shows were set in the 30s, 40s, 50s, and 60s. And if you want something more recent like the 80s you can pay for the Brat Pack. UGH. With such high caliber shows on Royal, we were disappointment with the selection on NCL. Let me say, these folks were very talented. Some of the best singing I’ve ever heard from cruise singers and dancers. But the music just wasn’t our type. There are so many musicals to choose from, I have no idea why NCL chose these three shows with old decades old music to have on the same ship.

 

We did purchase and really enjoy the Wine Lovers Musical in the Supper Club. Again, very talented singers, fun, upbeat, and you get to drink wine. We saw two comedians plus the host in the comedy theater, BOOK THESE quickly as they sell out and the venue is small. The host was my favorite Gina Brillon. The other two Frank Townsend and Landry were eh.

 

ATTRIUM: I felt the need to point out that the atrium was the center for much entertainment. Trivia and other cruise director games and such; dancing, music and of all things this is where they played their daily MOVIE. It was nice having the trivia questions up on the screen in case you didn’t understand the accent of the staff asking the questions. The down side of this location, was this is also the location of guest services (by the way this line never let up and was lengthy always), but the noise level was crazy and you couldn’t even be heard by guest services when speaking with them due to the activity.

 

DISEMBARKATION: Aside from it being pouring in Miami when we disembarked, it went way better than embarkation. As odd as I thought that the attendant did not distribute luggage tags the last day, I realized how great it was that we went to select our own luggage tags. I want to choose what time I disembark, I hate most lines, select that for you.

[Lily815]

We had no problems at all with embarkation. Literally walked right in and right through security at 11am. I saw several warnings on the roll call to reprint the cruise docs as the terminal was missing. I guess you must have missed those posts.

 

We did not notice any issues with the a/c, and the elevators appeared to me the same size as every other ship I've been on. We loved the shows - Million Dollar Quartet was amazing. We also enjoyed After Midnight.

[Trekker954]

I was at my correct Terminal B, which seemed to have a lot of folks that needed to be at Terminal C. Again, the boarding notification said boarding would start at noon. That is when we arrived.

 

Lily - may I ask what age.

[Lily815]

I was at my correct Terminal B, which seemed to have a lot of folks that needed to be at Terminal C. Again, the boarding notification said boarding would start at noon. That is when we arrived.

 

Lily - may I ask what age.

 

Us? We are in our 40's.

[punkincc]

"This specific cruise had a very high urban composition". What on earth does that mean and how did it impact your cruise?

 

Just curious what type of Broadway show you would have felt to be more appropriate? Many of the recent Broadway shows have been set in the 60s and 80s, I believe. Two of them have been on RCCL, both Hairspray and Mama Mia. Other NCL ships have had Blue Man Group and Rock of Ages as well as Cirque type dinner shows. Some of the current Escape shows are now touring, or recently on Broadway, so you can't get much more current than that. The Cotton Club covers music of the 30s, For the Record the 80s, and Million Dollar Quartet the 60s. Pitbull is the Godfather of the Escape and I am sure his music and other current music was at all the parties. I was born in the 40s, but I love music from every decade including the current one. The King and I, now THAT would not have been current;).

[Lily815]

"This specific cruise had a very high urban composition". What on earth does that mean and how did it impact your cruise?

 

Just curious what type of Broadway show you would have felt to be more appropriate? Many of the recent Broadway shows have been set in the 60s and 80s, I believe. Two of them have been on RCCL, both Hairspray and Mama Mia. Other NCL ships have had Blue Man Group and Rock of Ages as well as Cirque type dinner shows. Some of the current Escape shows are now touring, or recently on Broadway, so you can't get much more current than that. The Cotton Club covers music of the 30s, For the Record the 80s, and Million Dollar Quartet the 60s. Pitbull is the Godfather of the Escape and I am sure his music and other current music was at all the parties. I was born in the 40s, but I love music from every decade including the current one. The King and I, now THAT would not have been current;).

 

We have seen hundreds of Broadway shows, so I was also confused by that comment. Both shows on the ship were very good. I actually preferred them to the Brat Pack show are the Supper Club.

[Highseez]

Just got off today as well..no problem with with embarkation or debarkation but can see problem if most people boarded thru terminal B which is the first one you come across with. I got the message and reprinted travel docs and went to C.

Ship is very similar to the Getaway, same layout. I thought both shows were very good. Million Dollar Quartet was better. The problem with the bars was that the ship was short staffed. They were over 200 crew members short. The Bars and cleaning suffered. Garden Cafe left dirty one night.

Overall experience was good! Nice Ship!

[Lily815]

Just got off today as well..no problem with with embarkation or debarkation but can see problem if most people boarded thru terminal B which is the first one you come across with. I got the message and reprinted travel docs and went to C.

Ship is very similar to the Getaway, same layout. I thought both shows were very good. Million Dollar Quartet was better. The problem with the bars was that the ship was short staffed. They were over 200 crew members short. The Bars and cleaning suffered. Garden Cafe left dirty one night.

Overall experience was good! Nice Ship!

 

I was wondering if they were short staffed. There was a lot of complaints and grumbles heard around the ship on Friday.

[Shawnino]

Lots of useful information here.

Thanks very much for taking the time to post.

The little details combine for a solid overall picture.

[punkincc]

Just got off today as well..no problem with with embarkation or debarkation but can see problem if most people boarded thru terminal B which is the first one you come across with. I got the message and reprinted travel docs and went to C.

Ship is very similar to the Getaway, same layout. I thought both shows were very good. Million Dollar Quartet was better. The problem with the bars was that the ship was short staffed. They were over 200 crew members short. The Bars and cleaning suffered. Garden Cafe left dirty one night.

Overall experience was good! Nice Ship!

 

Where does this info come from that they were short staffed by 200? What is the reason?

[punkincc]

Lots of useful information here.

Thanks very much for taking the time to post.

The little details combine for a solid overall picture.

 

She lost me with the "high urban composition" comment.

[perditax]

She lost me with the "high urban composition" comment.

 

 

And the implication being that they were late to muster because they were so urban. Le sigh.

[ncklhaus]

She lost me with the "high urban composition" comment.

 

Same here.

I won't be reading any further than that comment. Sad.

[Sunset Lover 1971]

She lost me with the "high urban composition" comment.

 

Ditto...

[triptolemus]

She lost me with the "high urban composition" comment.

 

Indeed.

 

And now everyone gets to point out just how far they are above that type of comment. Bravo!

[Highseez]

Short staffed info came directly from the staff, cabin steward mentioned it and so did the waitress at La Cucina. They both said over 200 additional crew members would be boarding the ship today, 11-14, once it docked. I have been on many NCL cruises and have NEVER seen the Garden Cafe left uncleaned after any meal. The bartender @ Tobacco Road also said most bars were "one man show" for this cruise (his words). I still enjoyed the cruise but did notice the lack for details. They also had glitches they were working on. On deck 8 they had to bring a humidifier to take care of a fowl

smell in the hallway.

[KiwiFunCruiser]

It is sad really, when loose comments are made.

[Lily815]

Short staffed info came directly from the staff, cabin steward mentioned it and so did the waitress at La Cucina. They both said over 200 additional crew members would be boarding the ship today, 11-14, once it docked. I have been on many NCL cruises and have NEVER seen the Garden Cafe left uncleaned after any meal. The bartender @ Tobacco Road also said most bars were "one man show" for this cruise (his words). I still enjoyed the cruise but did notice the lack for details. They also had glitches they were working on. On deck 8 they had to bring a humidifier to take care of a fowl

smell in the hallway.

 

You could tell they were understaffed. We have been on many NCL cruises, and never had service issues like we did on this one. The crew were overwhelmed. You could see it.

[perditax]

Indeed.

 

 

 

And now everyone gets to point out just how far they are above that type of comment. Bravo!

 

 

Better than silent agreement in my book.

[AdGuyMG]

We had no problems at all with embarkation. Literally walked right in and right through security at 11am. I saw several warnings on the roll call to reprint the cruise docs as the terminal was missing. I guess you must have missed those posts.

 

We did not notice any issues with the a/c, and the elevators appeared to me the same size as every other ship I've been on. We loved the shows - Million Dollar Quartet was amazing. We also enjoyed After Midnight.

 

This was our experience also. One of the fastest embarkations ever.

 

Also had no wait at the Guest Service desk for the 1 time I used it which happened to be during the Deal Or No Deal game and there was no problem communicating my issue.

 

I had no difficulty getting a drink at the bars. I did notice some crowding at the Adult Pool Bar mid afternoon on Friday's sea day (like most other ships) and at the Spice H2O bar during the Glow Party (like any other cruise line's deck party nights) but no way were any lines 5 to 10 deep. Norwegian even had extra temporary bars set up just inside Spice near the Grotto and just upstairs from the Adult pool at the Waves Bars during these times. Never saw big bar lines for OSheehans, The Atrium Bar, Vibe, the bars outside Savor/Taste, The Mojito Bar, The 5 O'clock Somewhere, The Brew Pub or Casino Bars.

 

And with the exception of right after the muster drill, we never encountered any long waits or crowding with the elevators at any time day or night.

[Lily815]

We never made it back to Spice. That is the one place I swore I'd be for the entire cruise, too.

[CocoCandy]

I was also on the cruise and agree with how short staffed the ship was.

 

It was a beautiful ship, but the lack of staff and long wait times were very frustrating.

 

We ate in the Manhattan dining room the 1st night and it was not a very good experience. It took our table over 25 mins to even get water poured in our cups and another 15 minutes after that to have our orders taken. None of the wait staff seemed to know what they were doing.

 

I wanted to get up and leave, but other family members urged me to give it a chance. They quickly changed their tune when the ceviche came out as just plain cut up raw (warm) fish, without any citrus juices or seasoning ( made it inedible), and the shrimp risotto came out as just plain risotto with 1 tiny shrimp laying on top ( popcorn shrimp size tiny).

 

Hopefully the ship will work out any kinks and future sailings will have smoother service in the dining rooms and bars.

 

We ate in the buffet every evening after that and found the food to be very good there.

Edited November 15, 2015 by CocoCandy

[kneught77]

I was also on the cruise and agree with how short staffed the ship was.

 

It was a beautiful ship, but the lack of staff and long wait times were very frustrating.

 

We ate in the Manhattan dining room the 1st night and it was not a very good experience. It took our table over 25 mins to even get water poured in our cups and another 15 minutes after that to have our orders taken. None of the wait staff seemed to know what they were doing.

 

I wanted to get up and leave, but other family members urged me to give it a chance. They quickly changed their tune when the ceviche came out as just plain cut up raw (warm) fish, without any citrus juices or seasoning ( made it inedible), and the shrimp risotto came out as just plain risotto with 1 tiny shrimp laying on top ( popcorn shrimp size tiny).

 

Hopefully the ship will work out any kinks and future sailings will have smoother service in the dining rooms and bars.

 

We ate in the buffet every evening after that and found the food to be very good there.

 

Are you sure it wasn't the worst trip of your life? OP is pretty adamant that even the carpet was ugly and the washrooms had hour long waits. :confused:

 

Too "Urban"

Edited November 15, 2015 by kneught77

[legion3]

Sounds about what I would expect on a new ship.

 

NCL Escape might need to be a pass until the understaffed crew gets it together. If they ever do.

 

Phooey on NCL for making cruising complicated and difficult.

[legion3]

Are you sure it wasn't the worst trip of your life? OP is pretty adamant that even the carpet was ugly and the washrooms had hour long waits. :confused:

 

Too "Urban"

 

Sounds like legitimate complaints about the service and food.