First Time on NCL - my thoughts

[NotACruiserYet]

So I don't have a ton of cruising experience like some of you do but I'll give my thoughts on my recent cruise on NCL Escape.

 

The ship was huge but I never felt like I was one in 4000. There are MANY small places to hide out if you so choose. One of my favorites was the Waterfront on Deck 8. Comfy seating with a view of the ocean. Very quiet and depending on which side of the ship you chose you could have full sun or full shade.

 

Also was a fan of having a third dining option - without paying extra. With my past cruise experiences, I was accustomed to either having to choose the buffet or formal dining. O'Sheehans on this ship was a wonderful in-between. The menu is not extensive but it was enough to choose from. Had an Applebees type feel to it. Informal, family dining. Though I am not a huge fam of buffets in general, this one was good I thought. I really missed having the quick service stations by the pool that Princess offered. You could grab a burger and fries or ice cream etc without having to run through the buffet. Not the case on the Escape and I was surprised that I found myself wishing they had one. Especially since the buffet is so close to the pool.

 

I was a little irritated by what felt like a "lockdown" on pool towels. One pool towel per person was in your cabin when you arrived. If you wanted more, you had to exchange yours or sign out a new towel like a library book. WTH?! On Celebrity (who has much nicer towels, btw) this was not a problem. You took one if you needed it, left your wet one when you wanted. I chalk this up to being a ship geared toward families/children. I suppose kids could potentially use 10 a day if nobody monitored it. Still annoying.

 

I was surprised to find that the "adults only" Spice H2O was NOT adults only in the evenings. Seems strange. As well as the "adults only" pool/hot tub was open to all after 5pm. Not a problem for me, just curious that I didn't know this until aboard the ship.

 

I'm from the Midwest and am VERY accustomed to taking care of myself and am NOT that fussy, but I found the service to be lacking on this ship. Nobody (with the exception of the people singing about washing your hands in the buffet) appeared to be excited or happy to see you. And that singing in the buffet - seriously? Annoying as all get out. The room steward didn't introduce himself, ducked us when we WERE around and in general didn't make an effort.

 

One thing I found relating to the rooms that was really cool were the lights visible from outside the room indicating if you were "home" or if you wanted your room made up or another for do not disturb. Very cool idea.

 

Would I cruise NCL again? Absolutely, if I were bringing my kids. Not a chance if I wasn't. Again, I understand that this ship in particular was geared toward kids, and I brought mine, but I think I'm cut out for adult vacations. ;)

[Derrick1224]

What are your thoughts on kids activities? I'm set to sail in September of next year and I wanted some some idea of what it would be like. My girls will be 7 and 5 at the time of sailing.

 

 

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[Eleteace]

I haven't been on the escape so this is an interesting read. Thank you for posting :)

 

I've been on the getaway and breakaway and a lot of things which you have said seem common to them :)

 

 

 

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[NotACruiserYet]

What are your thoughts on kids activities? I'm set to sail in September of next year and I wanted some some idea of what it would be like. My girls will be 7 and 5 at the time of sailing.

 

 

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We never used the kids clubs. I have a teenager who is not fond of going off on his own to make new friends in the teen club. Imagine that... ;) And my daughter turned 11 on the cruise and hung out with her almost 8 year old cousin. The two of them would have been in two different clubs with nearly no interaction. And my 11 year old couldn't sign herself out unless I had left her there for 2 hours. Seems strange. So no, we didn't use the kids stuff AT ALL/ Plenty of people did and I didn't overhear complaints. Also, they seem to do stuff with the little kids... witnessed them dressed up like pirates and paraded through the buffet singing. ?!?! :D

[dshefter]

Great stuff. We sail on the Escape next November with our daughter, who will be 14.

 

Did your kids use the water slides and/or ropes course?

 

Their thoughts, if they did.

[NotACruiserYet]

Great stuff. We sail on the Escape next November with our daughter, who will be 14.

 

Did your kids use the water slides and/or ropes course?

 

Their thoughts, if they did.

 

The kids did use the slides and ropes course. They really liked them. Lines weren't too crazy. Remember to pack closed toe shoes or you can't participate in the ropes course. And some days it's closed due to wind.

 

The pool area is LOUD as you can imagine, but then - we were there for a family vacation as others were.

 

Your 14 year old may really enjoy the teen club. If you can convince her to go in once, she'll come out with some friends. Ours did, but it was hell getting him in there!

[BostonGal35]

im 39 and ive done the slides on Getaway, Breakaway and Epic. They are AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!! Tried the ropes course 3 times on breakaway but i couldnt do it (fear of heights). im mad at myself because it looks so fun! fiance did it for hours (he's 48). saw lots of kids and teens doing both.

[LrgPizza]

FYI - everyone always says you need closed-toed shoes for the ropes course, but in reality you need entirely closed shoes. If the heel is open, you will not be let on.

 

 

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[dshefter]

My guess is water shoes would be ok

[sanger727]

For me the checking out of towels is more related to reducing chair hogging... if you can go up and grab 2-3 towels you can hog chairs in the sun, shade, and extras for family, but you really only need 1 towels at a time for use.

 

Does it work, I don't know, but I have certainly seen more chair hogging threads on the celebrity board than the NCL board.

 

 

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Edited December 22, 2016 by sanger727

[NotACruiserYet]

Ok... want to hear something funny? I am organizing a group booking "2018 Adults Only Cruise"... and we're going on NCL again! [emoji23] I think the complimentary dining options were enough to sway us from Princess or Celebrity. We like OSheehans and the Getaway has a noodle bar! And the Getaway will be more of a party type ship than anything on those other lines. So I guess I was wrong with my initial review. We WILL be going back!

 

Side note: if you have 8+cabins do yourself a favor and get a group booking. Lots of different perks than usual and they apply to inside rooms as well!

 

 

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