Norwegian Escape - March 4 to March 11 (live) - with kids - previous cruise was Oasis

[usckatieh]

Over 48 for big ropes course and under 48 for small one.

 

Over 40 for yellow and tube slides.

 

As a side note, many kids who were around 46-47 simply went up on their toes to reach 48 and they allowed it.

 

 

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Thanks so much for taking the time to share! We're really enjoying the review!

[alpineapa]

 

 

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[alpineapa]

We went for dinner at Food Republic (we had lunch there earlier this week). Food was great again, but service was pretty terrible. When we were there earlier this week, waiter mentioned that for the kids, they could get anything from the Irish pub (i.e. Hot Dog and fries) so we went there with that in mind. When we sat down, we asked our waiter for the hot dogs and fries and her response was 'hmmm not sure we can do that, let me go ask"....she then comes back and said ok but it will be an extremely long time since no one available to go get it.....I then offered to go get it as I really didn't mind (i.e. Not far) but to just let them know since they don't offer takeout, she then said not to worry about it and it eventually came out fast so that was great.

 

The issue was more with my wife's order....everyone's food came out fairly fast except hers....everyone were done and I had even left since my son asked to go to bed but her food was still not out so she asked about it and response was "oh, we assumed you were done since everyone else was done"....they then went and got her order but they missed the "no avocado"....they then went back with it and came back 30 seconds after with the avocado "scrapped off"...no apologize, no offer to take it off the bill, nothing.....seemed like this was just a normal everyday thing for NCL. Any restaurant would have taken this off the bill or offered something.....my wife didn't ask but no one should need to ask....anyways, small little things that should not happen in the customer service industry.

 

 

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[easyboy]

Very nice photos.

[DesertRose01]

Enjoying the review! I'm disheartened to hear that the smoke smell is so bad on the Escape. The stink is something that bothers my entire family, and I'm considering whether to ditch this cruise or not. On a scale of 1-10, how bad is the smoke situation on decks 6-7-8, and how often to you find yourself having to go through there? If I can avoid smokers, I'll do it; but if it's a constant walk through a disgusting area, no way.

Hi AliceIn, we just came back from our week on the Escape. you can't smell the smoke (or barely) on decks 6 and 8. However, you do smell it on deck 7. Since our rooms were forward, to go to the MDR, we would take the stairs or elevator to deck 8, cross to the aft of the boat, then take the stairs one floor down, avoiding the Casino. When we did cross it, it was the smell (and not the smoke) that was bothersome - although I imagine it depends of the hour.

[DesertRose01]

Cane Garden Beach.....we grabbed a taxi...8 per person, maybe 15-20 'adventures' drive. Beach Chairs are 5 and 5 for umbrella. As you can see from pictures very busy so not a place to sit back and relax but great place for kids. Water is rough today given the bad weather recently but kids enjoy jumping the waves. Happy with our decision to come here. Lots of taxis available to go back and little shops for souvenirs

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Cane Garden Beach was great! I think it was so busy because many were sent there. We were scheduled to go on the Baths excursion, but it was cancelled. We then asked for a taxi to Brewer's Bay, but a cop, seeing we had children (9 and 12) told us not to go there because the waves were too high, due to the weather. They recommended Cane Garden Beach.

[mjh2w1]

I asked my wife as she really gets bothered by this and she said that on decks 6 and 8 maybe 5 out of 10 and on deck 7, maybe 8 out of 10. You need go to through these decks often....several times of day. I did ask her if it would prevent her from booking the ship again and she said no so it's not a deal breaker, but really unfortunate NCL didn't plan this better.

 

Keep in mind that you can walk around all of this on Deck 8 outside On The Waterfront. This is also a great area for a quiet drink later in the evening. Comfortable chairs and couches. We would get drinks at Prime Meridian or Tobacco Road and sit outside. Very relaxing. Not many people Very few out there after 10PM.

[dacsmom]

Thank you for your comparison to the Oasis class. I love the Allure and booked the Escape for Feb.

[canadadreamer]

Lots of interesting info. Thanks for taking the time to write.

[SSMcruises]

" Our plan is to go to Atlantis. We used Marriott points (35,000 points) and booked a room which will give us 4 bracelets. "

 

That sounds like a great deal - to confirm (since my husband does not believe me!!), 35,000 points was for the room and the 4 bracelets??? Plus the $67 resort few - was that total or per person?

 

How did you book this? Through Mariott or a rewards platform?

 

Greatly appreciate your help! Hope you vacation was awesome!

[alpineapa]

35,000 + $67 was the total for all 4 people. Essentially this gets you the room, but the room automatically comes with bracelets for all guests (up to 4)

 

You just book it on the marriott site like any other Marriott point reservation.

 

It is a GREAT use of points

 

 

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[FAH1301]

Wait - why don't they allow takeout from osheehan's?

 

We took a cab to Atlantis......$4 per person....approx. 15 minutes. We had booked a room using Marriott points. We went straight to the check in counter which is where the taxi drops you off and had our room keys within 5 minutes. They give you vouchers for bottles of water. We never actually went to the room, we simply went straight to the water park. We went to a towel hut to grab towels and our bracelets. It's a bit of a walk so I would say we got off the boat at around 12h30 and didn't get settled in until around 1h15. We did a good 3 hours of water park, walked around a bit, saw the aquariums and then took a cab back. Shopped a little and then back on the boat. For sure this would not have been worth it if we would have paid cruise ship excursion but since we used Marriott points it only cost us $67 resort fee so it was VERY worth it as the kids had an amazing time. When we got on the boat, we went straight to margaritaville as we wanted a pre-dinner nacho/beer, but we were very disappointed that it had closed at 5pm. Then we went to the room with the hopes of ordering nachos via room service, but none on the menu so I went down to O'sheehan's to grab wings and nachos BUT learned that they don't allow take out (I wanted to bring them back to wife and kids to end on balcony/relax). So out of luck for pre-diner snack.

 

 

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[riclop]

Thanks for your thoughts.

[Need_2_Vacation]

I've never cruised on Norwegian. I've only been on Royal Caribbean and Carnival. But I've never had to pay for nachos. Do they charge for all kinds of snack items throughout the ship?

Also very disappointed their supposed $79 + gratuity Ultimate Drink Package doesn't include any coffee drinks. I specifically asked the NCL rep if it covered specialty coffee drinks and he said of course. He said it included all juices, which I just read doesn't apply to fresh squeezed. I've done drink packages on both Royal Caribbean and Carnival and both lines drink packages included specialty coffee and fresh squeezed and was cheaper. Anyways... I won't let all that bother me I just hate being lied to and nickel and dimed over so much. It's not like my rate was cheap, in fact it was one of the highest I've paid. Not sure why I'll have to pay for nachos.

 

Forgot to mention, on the first day in the late afternoon, we went to Margaritaville for a few beers and a snack. We had the Nachos. I believe they were around $6. Very good and very big.

 

At the brewhouse, they do have 4 items on the menu (pub sliders, lobster roll, korean chicken wings and ??) but there is a fee. They do give you complimentary bar nuts.

[sooper]

Nice review. I was on the same cruise and the Getaway the week after, and the casino smoke was so stinky that I think we will stick to X after our next NCL cruise. Even if we're invited by the casino again!

 

I've never cruised on Norwegian. I've only been on Royal Caribbean and Carnival. But I've never had to pay for nachos. Do they charge for all kinds of snack items throughout the ship?

O'Sheehan's got great snacks including nachos, hot dogs, wings, and burgers for no charge.