Just got off ESCAPE (3/26 - 4/2)!!!!

[blackwing]

Sitting in airport awaiting the departure of our delayed flight, so I thought I'd put down some thoughts.

 

CABIN:We were a family of 6. Myself, wife, son (9), daughter (7), in-laws. We had cabins on 15 aft, they were not connecting but the cabin steward pretty much immediately offered to open the balcony divider, which worked out great for the week. Our cabins were the two closest to the stairwell and aft elevator bay on the starboard side. Fantastic location. One floor below the garden cafe, so convenient for getting food and water. Never heard any noise from the elevators or stairwells. We did hear a lot of noise through the wall from the hooligans next door. I think it was a family of four or five with connecting cabins, and the cabin next to us appeared to have become teenage hangout central for large groups of teens. Unfortunate, but what can you do.

 

MOTION: I realise it is subjective, but I hardly felt the motion that many past Escapers have mentioned. A few times there was a shuddering, but most times I didn't even notice I was on a ship. Usually on a ship when I am standing in the bathroom brushing my teeth I definitely feel the swaying sensation, and when I get off the ship in port my body still compensates and I still feel "the sways". Never happened to me at all this time.

 

CRUISE STAFF: Silas Cook is an amazing cruise director. Perhaps the best I have seen on my (few) cruises. So energetic and friendly. I think he must have a dance or entertainment background, because he was always leading the dances, whether at the sail away, Glow, 80s party, etc. I talked to him multiple times throughout the cruise and even though he must meet thousands of people each week that he will almost never see again, he always remembered me and made me feel like he was very invested in making sure I was having fun. His staff are great as well.

 

FOOD: I am not a fan of how Norwegian sets up its buffets. Long narrow submarine corridor with stations repeated multiple times. It's always very chaotic. Lots of people going this way and that, people "cutting" in lines that they aren't even aware exist. I've only been on one semi-recent RC cruise, but I much preferred their island-station setup. We always ate breakfast and lunch at the buffet. Food was always great, and I already miss it!

 

We mostly ate dinner in Savor. My son has food allergies so we always pre-ordered his food the night before, and it was easier if we could get the same Assistant Maitre D and some of the same waiters each night. The AMD Leanora Bernard was amazing. So friendly and accomodating. Food was fantastic. My favourites from the week were the Rack of Lamb, the Wiener Schnitzel, and the Duck L'orange.

 

Wife and I had one night out just the two of us. We ate at Le Bistro. I think I was vastly disappointed, my Le Bistro experience on Getaway two years ago was impeccable. I think maybe switching to a la carte and/or giving UDP away to just about everyone may have affected it. Food was fine, it just didn't seem worth the added cost. I had Duck Parmentier (shredded duck topped with mashed potatoes) and I think my duck experience in Savor was far superior.

 

SHOWS: A bit disappointing. I was the only one out of the six of us who made it all the way through After Midnight. I loved the singing and especially the tap dancing. Kids didn't appreciate either and in-laws didn't like the music. All of us skipped Vocal Overdrive. We were thoroughly unimpressed with their five minutes at the welcome show, I can't imagine sitting through an hour of that. Too bad they didn't replace it with another Broadway Style show once Million Dollar Quartet left. I realise they are transitioning and moving things between ships, but to go from MDQ to the awfulness of Vocal Overdrive was really disappointing. They could have offered everyone $10 credit or something. Wife and I did go to Wine Lovers. Really loved it. The singing was great, the wine was great. Laughed out loud when the guy made fun of "White Zinfandel, White Zinfandel!" Wish I remembered the words. It was especially funny because three of the ladies at the table in front of us had ordered two glasses each of the pink fruity liquid. I guess they didn't like the whites or reds included with the price of the lunch!

 

OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES: Ropes course was fantastic. Three stories, which was an improvement from Getaway, although at the expense of the rock wall, spider climb and bungee trampoline. The third level was always closed while at sea, as were the planks. I guess it was too windy. One of the planks and the third level was open while in port. We loved the course, very very fun. The zip line over the edge was a fantastic and thrilling experience.

 

My kids enjoyed the mini golf course, although they commented that the one on Getaway seemed to be more elaborate and had more "cool" stuff.

 

WATER ACTIVITIES: Kids had lots of fun at the kids water park. Lots of water features and obstacles and a slide at the end. The kids pool was bigger than on Getaway and they loved it. Not so keen on the waterslides. The yellow (easy) slide was so slow... many adults would go down it at turtle pace or even get stuck. The blue slide which allowed a double tube or two single tubes was fun, but there were usually long lines for such a short ride. I didn't try the free fall slides, I did it on Getaway and did not enjoy the disorienting feeling.

 

PORTS: We have been to St Thomas before, we were going to go to Magen's Bay Beach but the kids woke up late and we didn't make it over there. Ended up walking around and found free wifi in a little alley. Tortola was a new port for us, seemed very uncommercialised. We did the dolphin discovery on out own. Highlight of the trip, the foot push and dorsal pull were amazing. In Nassau we used our excursion credit and did a relaxing glass bottomed boat tour.

 

OVERALL: Being a Spring Break week, there were a LOT of people on the ship. I heard over 5000, with 1900 being kids. I'm sure that's not entirely accurate and probably differs depending on who you talk to. That said, I never felt like the ship was overcrowded. I expected lines for water slides and the ropes course, and from the start told myself and the kids that standing in line on the Escape was far more preferable than sitting at a desk at work or school! Every cruise I have been on has had the multiple roving packs of teens, and this one was no exception. The only time I found it to be an issue was on the last night when they all seemed to congregate on 17 aft near the teen club and in Spice H20 and run around the hallways screaming and shouting. Throughout the week, I did notice many older people who were visibly annoyed at the number of children. Not sure what they expected on Spring Break.

 

All in all, a fantastic cruise. Would definitely choose Escape again.

Edited April 2, 2016 by blackwing

[anniev3]

Thanks for sharing your review! 2 weeks away from boarding the Escape ourselves!

[NLH Arizona]

Thanks for your well balanced review.

[Clarea]

Very nice review, thanks!

[Cruzinbabe06]

Thanks for posting your review.:)

[Keith1010]

I greatly enjoyed your review.

 

Keith

[KirkNC]

Thanks for your report.

[deladypilot]

Thank you for taking the time to review your cruise. It is so much appreciated

[cot427]

Thanks for sharing! I still have a few months to go.

 

Anyone else know if they open the top level of the ropes course and the planks during sea days when it's not windy? On Getaway, I did the ropes course and plank during a sea day.

[iceman2a]

Thank You for your review!

[klr6773]

Thanks for the Spring Break review! We are sailing this same week next year and the countdown is on in my mind! (which is funny, because we're doing Universal and WDW this coming July and I'm not really counting down for that one!)

 

Our daughters will be 14 and 10 at the time. Even with that many kids on board, I'm still more excited at the thought of a week away than I am the thought of another boring stay at home Spring Break in rainy, gray Oregon March!

 

I weighed upgrading to the Haven for a bit, but it's literally double right now. Will watch for drops and hope for that glorious upsell email like we got last year. Not sure if it will drop much during that time frame, as no doubt the ship will fill on it's own. That simply got me thinking "Hmmm...one Spring Break or start looking at 2018 as well?!"

[Jim The Lizard]

Great review, great observations!. Thx!

[blackwing]

Thanks for the feedback!

 

Wanted to add a few more things:

 

GYM: Layout is great. Very open feel, unlike what was on Getaway. Dumbbells and machines on one side, treadmills and ellipticals and bikes on the other. The first sea day I went at what was probably considered a peak time (7:30 AM) and all three of the benches for dumbbells were occupied, and every single treadmill was used. There was a line of people waiting for a treadmill. The next few days I went slightly earlier, and it was either the slightly earlier time, or the dropoff from people who got their one workout in early in the week, but it wasn't as crowded.

 

I do wish they would have a free steam room and showers like on many other ships, but oh well.

 

THE SMOKE: Many have commented about the smoke in the casino. I am fairly sensitive to smoke and from previous reviews, I was expecting this haze of smoke that you couldn't see through. I hardly noticed any smoke at all. There were people smoking, but it certainly wasn't the smell that permeates all the way to the chandelier and up to 8 and down to 6.

 

EASTER: Easter Sunday was our first sea day. There was a nondenominational service in the theater. There were decorations all throughout the ship restaurants and bars... pastel paper streamers and eggs, etc. In the kids club, they didn't have an egg hunt, but there was some kind of hunt where they had to find prizes. It seemed like they had a special Easter menu with a few additional items, there were items marked as Easter soup or something like that. Or they just renamed one of their regular soups and slapped "Easter" on it haha... you all probably know what I mean, the same beef broth used throughout the week with additional and varied stuff thrown into it and called something else. The Easter Soup tasted not-so-surprisingly like the Petite Henry IV Soup which tasted not-so-surprisingly like the Beef Consomme.

 

MUSIC: Beau Tahana in the District Brew House is simply the best musical entertainer on the ship. Don't miss him! He is a great singer and performer and he is really funny! I also liked Air Band, well, I liked looking at the female singer of Air Band! I found Latin Soul (man on piano on female singer, sometimes played saxophone) to be fairly boring. I also liked Juan, singer/piano.

 

TIPS FOR NEW ESCAPERS OR THOSE NEW TO NCL:

- Push the elevator buttons on both sides of the elevator bank, they are on separate systems. That's why when you are in an elevator and it stops on a floor, no one gets on, because they likely got one on the other side.

 

- If you want an omelette in the morning, always go to the station that is more aft. The one closer to the pool always has longer lines, and people don't seem to know there is another one farther down the corridor.

 

- The oranges and grapefruit (the fresh ones, not canned) are some of the sweetest I've had in a long time.

 

- If you are a tea drinker and find a tea you like, you could take a few extra bags and save them for later in the week. The tea selection is never consistent, it seems like they just put out whatever they want from whatever they have. I didn't see any green tea the first few days. I found Camomile only one one day midweek, there was Darjeeling from about day 2 to 4, and the Earl Grey completely disappeared towards the end of the week. The brand they have is called Fields and Selects and they also have the standard Lipton Black tea.

[blackwing]

Thanks for sharing! I still have a few months to go.

 

Anyone else know if they open the top level of the ropes course and the planks during sea days when it's not windy? On Getaway, I did the ropes course and plank during a sea day.

I'm not sure if there is a such a thing as "not windy" on sea days. I think the fact that the ship is so tall and you are so high up and that there is nothing blocking the wind makes even the slightest movement of the ship a bit windy. We got back to the ship early on the Tortola day. The Ropes course opened about an hour before sailaway, so the top level was open. We were on the top level as we were sailing away, and even with the slow movement of sail away, it was really really windy up on the top level, and even the regular level. They went up to close the top level just as we got off it.

[j603]

Thanks for the review!!! I am SO ready to check this ship out myself!!!! I wish I was on it today instead of snowy New England. Stupid snow is making me feel like 2 months got tacked onto my countdown.

[ts2wart]

Good review, thanks! I'm cruising this ship on April 23 and cannot wait!

[Kierste]

Thanks for the review! We are doing that exact week next year. But since Easter will be back where it belongs in April, I am hoping for a little less spring break craziness, even though it is spring break for us :D

[heckp]

Thanks for the review! Going soon :)

[NCteacherlovescruising]

Do you recall what wines they served during Wine Livers the Musical? We are considering book my this.

[blackwing]

Do you recall what wines they served during Wine Livers the Musical? We are considering book my this.

There were six wines.... a Estancia Pinot Grigio, a Nobilo Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand, a Chardonnay (sorry, can't remember the vineyard), Beringer Founder's Pinot Noir, Norwegian's proprietary North and South red blend, and a Prosecco (also cannot remember where it was from, sorry).

 

The pours were fairly random and varied from seat to seat, it was almost as if a waiter went around with a bottle and just filled however much he wanted for each glass. My wife got very shorted on her #5 (the North and South) but she likes white better so didn't care. They were fairly generous pours overall. I was expecting like a dixie cup of each, but I'd say in total it was the equivalent of somewhere between two to three glasses. Definitely a pretty good deal, considering (if you don't have UBP) you'd pay about $20 for the cost of 2 glasses of wine at the bar, and here you got a very funny show along with it.

 

The food was

1) Peking Duck Salad (had the same salad at dinner one evening, it was delicious so I was happy to see it again)

 

2) Sirloin with Breaded Cajun Shrimp. Had a mushroom sauce.

 

3) Some kind of Mochacchino cake, with banana caramel sauce.