Escape Jan 23-30: A First time review from a Carnival Cruiser

[saskcruiser]

So take it easy on me, this is my first review ever, but I’ll be happy to share my experience and answer any questions.

So to start off I’ll tell you a bit about myself so you can see where the review is coming from. I’m 33 years old, Canadian, have cruised with and without my two kids, and I started cruising in 2010. I have been on six prior cruises and they were all with Carnival on four different ships: Glory x 2, Breeze, Liberty x 2, and Inspiration. I have travelled with just my spouse and various sizes and groups.

 

We loved Carnival, and there was no reason to leave, other than we just wanted to try something different. To be honest, a big game changer was the promotions NCL was offering. When we booked we received the drinking and the dining package, when the same room on Carnival was about the same, with no promotion. We like to have a few cocktails on the ship, nothing crazy, but it did add up to a few hundred dollars by the end of the week. This is why I included Canadian in my description, because as you know, a few hundred US dollars multiplied by 1.46 (with the crappy Canadian currency right now) adds up to quite a sum. So the appeal of not having a huge bill at the end of the cruise was really appealing.

 

My review will not have anything on the weather or ports, as let’s be honest, most people care about the ship and the weather changes day to day!

[saskcruiser]

Embarkation: We found this to take longer than usual, but nothing to ruin your day. We arrived at the terminal at 1100am and were on the ship at 12pm. They had not started boarding anyone, other than the priority. We wondered how so many people could be “priority”, but a quick look at the latitudes program shows anyone who is a return cruiser gets priority boarding. They had coffee, water, and we were about to go on a cruise….nothing to sweat at all.

 

The Ship: We were blown away by the ship. It was sparkling new, clean, and beautiful. I would describe it like the Cruise Director did over a cocktail with me…NCL was going for a tasteful and modern Vegas feel. Which is funny because there were many times I said to my wife, “You would think you were walking in the miracle mile in vegas.”. I mean this as a compliment, not a neon gaudy Vegas, but the high end modern Vegas.

 

We did find the layout to be a bit “choppy” compared to the Carnival ships we were on, but with that being said there were huge touch screen maps everywhere. You could use them to guide you to the restaurant or bar you were heading to, make reservations, or see what was happening. It was great! The ship is huge, there are around 4000 guests, but it never really felt any busier than other ships we were on.

[saskcruiser]

The food and lines: I was wondering how bad it could be if you didn’t have a reservation or at the buffet after reading some negative reviews. We were a little concerned because we booked last minute and not many specialty dining restaurants were available on line. Well let me tell you, the NCL app, made this a non-concern. We easily booked three of our four specialty dining when we got on the ship using the App. Now on Thursday, we didn’t have a reservation, which was an amateur mistake as all the specialty dining was now booked. We tried to go to Teppanyaki and were turned away, but we walked 50 feet to Le Bistro and were seated in ten minutes. We were a group of 4.

 

The Manhattan Room (included): Ate dinner here twice. Service was fast and food was good, very comparable to Carnival. The second night we were right by the dance floor, which initially we were excited about, but then realized the band was very loud which made it impossible to talk. The band was very good though.

 

Taste: Had lunch and dinner here. Both times we had good food, but not spectacular. Service was just ok.

 

Cagney’s: Would compare it to some better land based steakhouses. Very fast and efficient service and the steak was very very good.

 

Teppanyaki: Waited a half hour before our chef arrived, but we were entertained by the chef at the next table. We were seated at the same time. We had a blast, but it was mainly watching other tables. The food was great, but part of this type of restaurant is the entertainment. As we watched other tables chef’s amaze them with tricks, we watched our guy drop four eggs trying to do one lol. Actually it was quite hilarious as it was clear he was having an off night. Like I said though he did make great food and we still had a great time.

 

Le Bistro: We were seated last minute with no reservation on the “patio”. We LOVED the food, but our waiter was absolutely horrible. Took 30 min for bread and 45min for our wine, I’m not a complainer and this is the first time on land or sea I actually asked to speak to someone. One thing I will say is make sure you sit inside if you are not a smoker. This is directly below the Casino and the smoke was really thick. Great food, and probably a one off on service.

 

Moderno: One of our favorite meals at sea ever. Great service, great food, and my only complaint is I ate waaaayyyy too much.

 

Garden Buffett and the LINES: Lines, what lines??? I never saw them. One of the reasons I wrote this review was because I was so shocked after reading reviews. We went for lunch and breakfast at peak times and I was never behind more than one or two people and always found a table with a view. The “action stations” for pasta or omelettes were maybe a couple to five minute wait. This destroys the twenty minute waits at the Carnival Woks. The buffet, probably because such a huge ship, had such a big variety. We enjoyed it very much.

 

The “after a night out” eats: After waiting FOREVER for pizza on carnival, NCL also scored big with late night fare. The 24hr O’Sheehans pub offers many options at sit down service, which was the quickest on the ship.

[saskcruiser]

Stateroom midship on deck 9: Very modern and loved the shower with the glass surround. The room had convenient USB chargers in the lamps on both sides of the beds and three plugins on the desk. We found the room smaller than Carnival and the website confirms it. When the bed is put together there is barely any room between the bed and the incredible closet. The balcony from this specific room has a convenient sliding door, which makes up for the smaller width. I wasn’t crazy about the view, but I’m not sure any deck would have changed it. Deck 9 is right above the waterfront, so there is a white roof which sticks out about five to six feet. On the other side of the white roof is the roofs of the 200 to 300 passenger lifeboats. Like I said though, unless you are getting an aft balcony, no other balcony can look straight down to the water.

 

The Shows: Found the two shows amazing, but After Midnight dragged a bit at the end. We did go at 10pm and the show ran well past 11pm. We probably watched over a hundred people leave. Not because it wasn’t good, but ran long.

 

The Million Dollar quarter, I have paid tons of money for shows of far less quality in Vegas, it was awesome.

 

 

General Nightlife: As a couple who are night owls and love nightlife, this is where NCL really surprised us. On the six other Carnival Ships we have been on, if you aren’t at the Casino, there isn’t much to do after Midnight and the ship is almost a Ghost ship after ten on a night before a port. Not the case on this ship. We were up later on this cruise than any other. I don’t think we hit the sheets before one any night.

 

The District: Great pub with great live bands or piano until 1am

The comedy club: Comedy until midnight and “Howl at the Moon” until 1 am on other nights. Best dueling piano’s I have seen, and always a packed house.

 

The “themed 80’s and glow party”, attended until the wee hours by hundreds

I guess what I’m saying is, if you like going out and meeting people or having fun….the Escape has it, or at least had it last week.

Edited February 1, 2016 by saskcruiser
grammar lol

[saskcruiser]

Service: The crew in general was on par with the six cruises I have been on. They were very friendly and were working hard. We did notice a difference with not eating at the same place for dinner. We felt the dinner service with Carnival was better, but probably because they were set dining times and all tables would be getting their bread, entrée, etc at the same time making things easier.

 

The biggest thing we noticed was the lack of service when not bellying up to the bar. I’m not sure if it is because of the Ultimate Beverage Program not auto tipping 15%, but it was just so different than Carnival. When sitting poolside or at a lounge, it was odd on Carnival to not have someone come by asking if you would like a drink. On the Escape it was odd to get served at your chair or seat, it did happen, but rarely. I probably walked up to the bar for a drink 10% of the time on Carnival, on the Escape it was close to 90%.

 

This didn’t ruin my vacation, lol, but it was noticed. Now that being said, at the District, we had great service….man I miss that place.

 

Our cabin steward was friendly and kept the room great….he was awesome.

[saskcruiser]

Finally at the end.....

 

We loved our cruise. We loved the customer service. My wife had an expensive swim suit and my board shorts destroyed by the chlorine in one of the hot tubs. We notified the desk so they could adjust the levels and they immediately wanted to make things right, not asked but greatly appreciated.

 

We loved the nightlife, the food, and all of the things to do on the ship. Yes we experienced some slow service, but overall it was minor in a great vacation.

 

The added value of the beverage package and dining package with a great experience led me to buy two future cruise deposits on the ship.

 

Maybe it is just the honeymoon phase, but we had a great time and will be returning soon....on the same ship in November.

[Keith1010]

Thank you for your review.

 

Keith

[beerman2]

Very honest and fair review!

[Trumpster]

Finally at the end.....

 

We loved our cruise. We loved the customer service. My wife had an expensive swim suit and my board shorts destroyed by the chlorine in one of the hot tubs. We notified the desk so they could adjust the levels and they immediately wanted to make things right, not asked but greatly appreciated.

 

We loved the nightlife, the food, and all of the things to do on the ship. Yes we experienced some slow service, but overall it was minor in a great vacation.

 

The added value of the beverage package and dining package with a great experience led me to buy two future cruise deposits on the ship.

 

Maybe it is just the honeymoon phase, but we had a great time and will be returning soon....on the same ship in November.

 

Would you go again if these packages weren't available?

 

Very even review, thanks.

[saskcruiser]

Would you go again if these packages weren't available?

 

Very even review, thanks.

Yes, I would for sure. I should have explained better. I went down to get the cruise next promotion, with the open booking for the next four years, but with the added bonus of including the packages, we decided to book right away.

 

Even if they were not offered, we would go. I do think though, if you do not care about late nightlife and do not eat at the specialty dining, the two lines are very close in value.

[helen haywood]

I was on this cruise as well, coming from the perspective of a regular Celebrity cruiser. I, too, loved the promo/perks and we had a great cruise. We ate 5 of our dinners in Taste and really enjoyed the food. The desserts were much better than Celebrity! We started out having pre-dinner drinks at the Atrium bar where we always tipped a few dollars. Then when we sat in chairs we found a roving bartender always kept an eye on us...even showing up at one point with refills we hadn't ordered (but forced ourselves out of politeness to drink...)

 

We, too, thought Million Dollar Quartet was fantastic; we saw it twice!

[ChickonRules]

Very good and fair review! I'm also from Canada and the crappy dollar really sucks :(.

[dolita22]

We were also on this cruise and had a great time. Thanks for your review!

 

We sailed the Escape in November on a 3 day to check it out and saw Million Dollar Quartet then. We enjoyed it so much we saw it again on this cruise. It was excellent both times!

 

Regarding NCL people walking around and asking if you wanted to order beverages while on deck, that seems to have declined greatly with the UBP offering. I think the bartenders are just too busy and overwhelmed, and bars often seemed a bit understaffed on both of our Escape cruises (especially the one last November, but it was was the first public US sailing and 3 days, so people were fully using the UBP!). There were a couple NCL guys walking around in Spice H20 asking if people wanted drinks, and when we were back there, they were prompt with them. On other decks, we rarely saw anyone.

 

Glad you had a fun time!

[Seatbelt_Bag_LOVE]

Thank you for the review! We were on this cruise, and enjoyed it very much as well. We hung out a lot in the District Brewhouse, and loved the entertainer Beau Tahana that performed there most nights. My husband actually won a bar set and growler from there, which is a really cool memento.

 

Unfortunately, we missed the Million Dollar Quartet, and we are really regretting it now! I agree the ship had a lot more action later at night, which was wonderful for night owls like us. I was also very surprised by the lack of lines in the buffet, and how easy it was to find a place to sit.

 

The only negative for us was that we felt the motion of the ship more than other ships we have sailed on. It didn't cause sickness for us, but our friend got motion sickness, which was a bummer.

 

Overall, it was an awesome cruise, and I wish I could go back! Glad you had a great time as well. What NCL ship did you book?

[BlueHonu]

Great review. We too r trying NCL for the 1st time after 8 Carnival cruises. 12 more days until we check it out. District looks pretty sweet.

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk

[evanAction]

First time NCL cruisers on the Escape this coming Saturday. We too have been very happy with CCL, but we are cruising for the incentives and the new ship this time around!

 

Excited to be on a new ship, I'm sure we'll have a blast! I'm not so worried about the bad reviews of beverage service etc, just know what to expect ahead of time courtesy of reviews like yours on cruise critic.

 

Thank you so much for your review!

[saskcruiser]

Thank you for the review! We were on this cruise, and enjoyed it very much as well. We hung out a lot in the District Brewhouse, and loved the entertainer Beau Tahana that performed there most nights. My husband actually won a bar set and growler from there, which is a really cool memento.

 

Unfortunately, we missed the Million Dollar Quartet, and we are really regretting it now! I agree the ship had a lot more action later at night, which was wonderful for night owls like us. I was also very surprised by the lack of lines in the buffet, and how easy it was to find a place to sit.

 

The only negative for us was that we felt the motion of the ship more than other ships we have sailed on. It didn't cause sickness for us, but our friend got motion sickness, which was a bummer.

 

Overall, it was an awesome cruise, and I wish I could go back! Glad you had a great time as well. What NCL ship did you book?

 

You probably saw us there! We went I think three nights and watched him play. We rebooked the Escape for November for a friend's birthday, but might think of checking out a different ship just for variety.

[saskcruiser]

First time NCL cruisers on the Escape this coming Saturday. We too have been very happy with CCL, but we are cruising for the incentives and the new ship this time around!

 

Excited to be on a new ship, I'm sure we'll have a blast! I'm not so worried about the bad reviews of beverage service etc, just know what to expect ahead of time courtesy of reviews like yours on cruise critic.

 

Thank you so much for your review!

 

Believe me any negatives were me trying to find something lol. All in all it was a great cruise and we loved it.

 

The beverage service could not have been too bad as I never went thirsty lol, but just noticed a difference.

 

One tip I thought of for late night eats, if you don't feel like sitting down at O'Sheehans for a bite, if you go to the casino in a alcove which would be against the wall opposite O'Sheehan's bar, there is a mini buffet!