NCL Escape 3/19 - 3/26 with Elementary Kids

[Speasda]

I will not try and go through the ship room by room and day by day because I can not entertain or inform like Doug, York Villan, and Cama Cama. Here are my thoughts on the trip. Our group was 3 families (adults mid 40's and kids, 12, 10, 10, 10, 8, 3). For anyone on the cruise and did activities in the atrium, our group included KK and Shelby. We did not do the kids clubs if that is what you are looking for.

 

1. Pool Deck - I disliked this intensely. There is not enough room for chairs. Notice I said not enough room rather than not enough chairs. Chairs were completely reserved by 7:30 or so on pool deck and you could get a few on Deck 17 (just above). To get a chair after 8:00 you have to go to Deck 19 forward. My biggest frustration is why chairs were crammed into every walkway and entrance area. The space is already tight and I think they added more chairs and made it even tighter.

 

2. Just a rumor from other families with me - they had to bring on about 300 extra staff to service the guest load on this cruise. I can believe this was the largest guest count ever for Escape as it was a heavy spring break week with lots of kids filling 3rd and 4th bunks. I don't where they have bunks for 300 more crew (unless you hot bunk them) so I struggle to believe that, but decided to share.

 

3. Dinner Reservations - I witnessed a family of three try to get dinner reservations after having the 3-SDP. There only options were at 9:30 on a few nights. There some looked to be about 8 so that was not a real good answer for them. Our group bought the 3-SDP for 6 people once on board (maybe that is part of the problem). We did already have reservations for Cagney's and Teppanyaki before leaving. On the last night we were able to get 12 seated in 3 groups of 4 next to each other at La Cucina at 5:30. So if you can't get reservations when you want, try walking up and asking.

4. Buffet - Really good. The lines were there with all of the people, but NCL has a good setup as I think everything repeats 4 times. One night for dinner I enjoyed a nice prime rib and salmon off of the buffet. Breakfast became mundane, but there is only so much you can do for breakfast - there was a large selection daily so don't have much to rotate. Pizza here is very good also.

 

5. Unused Spaces - There are something like 17 bars on this boat (check me) and 8 restaurants. These places spend a lot of time (and space) going unused on a boat that is very crowded. I think NCL need to make better use of them and offer some more activity choices - besides the Atrium. Examples - move Wii Just Dance to 5 O'clock Somewhere (already has a screen), add a karaoke in the day there (so the night time can be left to adult performers); How about some dancing or movie or something to use the great space/dance floor in Manhattan Room. I think they needed on more space like the Spinnaker lounge on Jewel class boats.

 

6. Drink Lines - busy right before an Atrium show and on first day at pool, but perfectly reasonable. If you have the UBP, bring some cash to tip those taking care of you as they no longer have you sign receipt so no other chance to add.

 

7. Smoke in 678 Ocean Place - yep, it's bad. At least it's constant. We embarked through there and I immediately smelled it so it stuck in the carpet and fabric. It's not terribly bothersome, but very much there so depending on your level of sensitivity it could be bad.

 

8. Cruise Director - Silas and his team are great. Andre's Harry Potter trivia is a must see. Get there early as there are not enough seats in the atrium (if only there was a larger area with more seating)

 

9. Staff - Visit Lovely in the Atrium Bar, Samuel at 5 O'clock Somewhere (outside), and Melvin at Waves (Deck 17).

 

10. Disembarkation - we did not do as well as others here. It took us 50 minutes to get off and through customs. Customs was about 1 minute and the other 49 were getting off the ship. We did "Not So Easy" Walk-off at 8:05. When getting off go to the forward elevators. There appears to be a much shorter line you go through. I spent too much time outside in a packed crowd of people when it was humid and everyone was grumpy. I wish there were 2 ways off like there are 2 ways on.

 

At the end of the day I really wanted to LOVE the Escape as I love NCL, but this boat still needs work. Maybe it was due to the number of passengers, or pool deck layout, or what. We are debating between Carnival Magic and NCL Epic next spring or may jump back to the smaller NCL boats.

 

Thanks for reading. If you have questions let me know as we will be glad to answer and share our opinions. I have a few thoughts in the home port section as well.

[CdnArtyWife]

I agree with all of this!

 

We enjoyed Escape last week but I'll be hard-pressed to sail her again anytime soon. I debated all week if I was being unfair to the Escape by constantly comparing and preferring the Epic (because you never forget your first, right?) but the more I think about it, I think it is a very fair assessment.

 

I loved the Waterfront concept, but it was drastically underutilized. There were even some chairs along the waterfront that never had the cushions put on them so it was really off putting.

 

Anyway, I'll save the rest of my comments for my review which I will post within the next couple days.

 

 

 

 

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Edited March 27, 2016 by CdnArtyWife

[Speasda]

I agree with all of this!

 

We enjoyed Escape last week but I'll be hard-pressed to sail her again anytime soon. I debated all week if I was being unfair to the Escape by constantly comparing and preferring the Epic (because you never forget your first, right?) but the more I think about it, I think it is a very fair assessment.

 

I loved the Waterfront concept, but it was drastically underutilized. There were even some chairs along the waterfront that never had the cushions put on them so it was really off putting.

 

Anyway, I'll save the rest of my comments for my review which I will post within the next couple days.

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

Ok, so I thought perhaps I was just coming by at the wrong time and the cushions had been put away on the waterfront. I'm looking forward to your thoughts.

[CruisinHarvey]

Part of what you're pointing out is getting to be my biggest problem with NCL. For a while now they have been sporadically offering 3rd and 4th free. I'm surely not against kids, and NCL is a family cruise line. But, parents, understandably so, are taking advantage of these promo's throughout the entire year. For the price savings taking kids out of school doesn't seem to be an issue. I'd expect on spring break, it's much more of a mess, which is why we avoid cruising on NCL then. We're booked on another line next week.

 

Bottom line. Way too many people on NCL's big ships. It's constant on the Escape. We've been on her twice, and the smallest number of passengers was 4632(as posted on I 95 during our platinum tour). I know they can handle more than listed capacity. But, it's going to bulge at the seams a bit. That will eventually have a negative effect your experience.

[CP3o]

Did that kids sail free offer have to do with crowds? I wouldn't think it was offered spring break.

 

 

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[paulh84]

I totally agree about the under-utilized venues. With a ship so crowded they should be making use out of every bit of space available. There were constantly areas and venues completely empty during on week onboard. It seems like NCL bit off more than they could chew between the passenger capacity and the promos being offered. We had good time on our cruise on the Escape, but I can say that it isn't even on the radar for a return trip. We don't have kids or cruise with family so perhaps NCL was the wrong choice for us from the beginning. They try to do a lot of things but don't necessary do any particularly thing well.

[Clarea]

Thank-you, I appreciate the time you spent posting the report.