Escape Review 3/4-3/11

[irishcruisinfamily]

I really appreciated all I learned from Cruise Critic before our Escape cruise, so thought I'd write a quick review of the cruise. Our group consisted of myself, husband, 2 boys (13 & 14) and 4 other couples (50's-60's). We were all new to NCL after cruising with Royal Caribbean in the past.

 

Embarkation was quick and easy. But, we were all having problems logging on to iConcierge to reserve our shows. A quick trip to the internet café and I learned that every 30 min the manifest gets updated and we need our names on that to connect and reserve shows. All was well and we were able to reserve everything we wanted. Had lunch at Taste/Savor and it was great! Got into our rooms at 1:30-we had a mini-suite on deck 10. Plenty of room for all 4 of us and our stuff! Met Romel our room steward who was amazing-my boys loved him and were so happy to see him everyday. After the muster drill, we headed to deck 19 forward for sailaway, but it was way too windy. Went to 5 o'clock somewhere bar and enjoyed the sailaway from there.

 

Dining-We ate at Manhattan, Taste/Savor, Food Republic, O'Sheehans, Margaritaville, and La Cucina. Pros-food was good everywhere, but really enjoyed La Cucina. Cons-Attempted dinner at Manhattan and Taste with our whole group of 12 and it took way too long. (2 /1/2 hours) After those 2 attempts, we ate as smaller groups and dinner was about an hour. Missed being able to eat as a group, but didn't want to sit so long.

 

Entertainment-Loved "Oh What a Night" in the Supper Club and Howl at the Moon. Didn't care for the 2 comedy shows we saw, and we love comedy.

 

Activities-Enjoyed the water slides and ropes course (although 1 time on the Aqua Drop was enough for me!) Participated in selfie scavenger hunt-that was fun!

 

Ship Layout-Didn't have any problems with the elevators, although if it we were just going up/down 2 decks, we used the stairs. Never waited more than a minute to get an elevator when needed. Loved the waterfront! The big comfy chairs were a great place to hang out. We knew going in that the pool area would be crowded, so we just planned other places to be.

 

Bars-Hit just about every bar and made great use of the UBP. Loved District Brewhouse (Ravi there was great!) and the Cellars outside bar. Although we tipped for each drink, noticed most passengers not tipping. The staff really seemed thankful when we tipped.

 

Service-Service everywhere was amazing. The officers were constantly walking around and stopping to chat with guests. We saw Jovo, the Hotel Director, almost every day. Our room steward was great, bartenders were great, constant interaction with all staff. We rode the elevator with the Head Chef and had a great interaction with him as well.

 

Ports:

St. Thomas-planned on Sapphire Beach, but the weather wasn't good. Ended up hopping on an Island Tour ($25/person) and we were the only ones on the bus! Enjoyed many stops on the way to Mountain Top and the weather was decent to get some pictures until we got to Mountain Top. Way too windy and rainy. Made the best of a bad weather day.

Tortula-Booked the Jost Van Dyke tour and were really looking forward to it. Received a letter the night before informing us due to weather, the tour was now going to Norman Island. We were offered the opportunity to cancel, but decided to still go. Best day ever! Norman Island was uncrowded, and had a nice bar/restaurant there (a bit expensive, though.) The crew of the Rebel Yell was amazing and we would definitely book with them again.

Nassau-stayed on the ship and enjoyed a mostly deserted ship. Ping pong, water slides, ropes course, lounging by the pool, etc.

 

Attended the Meet and Greet-thank you to Pat for organizing! Almost every officer stopped and chatted with our group. Our location was changed to the Brewhouse, so we enjoyed samplings of beer and many yummy appetizers.

 

Although everything wasn't perfect, we really enjoyed our cruise on the Escape. If you are thinking about booking this ship, go for it!

[Arzeena]

Thanks for posting. I enjoyed reading the review.

[billg72340]

Thanks for the review. Did your boys spend much time in the teen club?

 

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[irishcruisinfamily]

Thanks for the review. Did your boys spend much time in the teen club?

 

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No, not at all. I registered them on the first day, but with rough seas the first couple days, no one wanted to go up to the higher decks. When registering, I noticed most of the kids at that time were 16-17, and my younger son was just turning 13 on the cruise. They enjoyed themselves without the teen club anyways.

[white-1]

No, not at all. I registered them on the first day, but with rough seas the first couple days, no one wanted to go up to the higher decks. When registering, I noticed most of the kids at that time were 16-17, and my younger son was just turning 13 on the cruise. They enjoyed themselves without the teen club anyways.

 

 

 

Did you have any experience with the onboard wifi?

 

 

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[kaftigr]

Enjoyed reading your review and glad you enjoyed the Escape. I cruise Royal and NCL alot and I'm thinking about booking the Escape again this week.

[Clarea]

Appreciate the feedback.

[easyboy]

Thanks for the review.

[FamilyBoatTrip]

Thanks for the review!

 

 

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[irishcruisinfamily]

Did you have any experience with the onboard wifi?

 

 

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No, we did not use the wifi, but stopped by the Internet cafe twice and heard others having issues. We did use the texting feature on iConcierge and it worked great for us.

[js]

Thanks for your review!

 

 

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[clskinsfan]

Thanks for your review. Would you be willing to talk a little bit about the comparison with RCI? I am going on my first NCL cruise this fall and was wondering what you found different/better/worse?

[s.schultz]

Any tips or tricks to know while onboard. First time cruising with NCL and will be on the Escape, April 8th.

[MDFlyer]

Nice review. Going this weekend. Basically booked the same cruise as the one we took last April. Really a nice trip and have been looking forward to this week for almost a year. Thanks for posting. I get tired of reading the negative reviews. Some people are just too fussy!

[irishcruisinfamily]

Thanks for your review. Would you be willing to talk a little bit about the comparison with RCI? I am going on my first NCL cruise this fall and was wondering what you found different/better/worse?

 

We thought the service was much better. The only issue was dinner with a large group. We missed traditional dining and having the same server every night. Although, it was nice eating whenever we were hungry.

 

I thought we would miss dressing up for dinner, but again, it was nice to be a bit more casual.

 

The food was good, with the specialty restaurant being really good. We would plan on having more dinners in specialty restaurants next time.

 

I realized on this cruise that I definitely prefer being outside. So, although I enjoyed having the expansive indoor areas on RC in the past, nothing beat sitting in the comfy chairs along the waterfront with a glass of wine and book.

 

We ran into a group after our cruise that just got offa Royal Caribbean cruise. While comparing notes, it seemed NCL was definitely the better choice. And, this was 2 groups that had both just disembarked.

 

Hope this helps!

[irishcruisinfamily]

Any tips or tricks to know while onboard. First time cruising with NCL and will be on the Escape, April 8th.

 

Waterfront, waterfront, waterfront! So relaxing!

 

Loved the District Brewhouse.

 

If drinking, tip early and often. The level of service goes up that much more as you are definitely recognized immediately.

 

Understand the pool deck is crazy. If it's important to you, get there before 8. We just decided to spend our time elsewhere.

 

We stayed on the ship in Nassau and really enjoyed our day. We had lunch in an almost empty Margaritaville, played mini-golf and ping-pong with no one else around, rode the slides many times and enjoyed the live music around the pool with less than 50 other people on all decks. So, if this is something you'd consider, go for it!

 

Make sure you make any/all reservations for shows that you want the first day. They will be gone by the second day. I feel it's better to overbook, then cancel if you decide to change plans.

 

If you don't have dinner reservations, we were able to get into Taste/Savor at any time with no wait for our family of 4. We also walked up to La Cucina at 6:30 on the last night and got into immediately with no reservations.

 

Let me know if you have any other questions!

[irishcruisinfamily]

Nice review. Going this weekend. Basically booked the same cruise as the one we took last April. Really a nice trip and have been looking forward to this week for almost a year. Thanks for posting. I get tired of reading the negative reviews. Some people are just too fussy!

 

Thank you! I agree. We didn't have the best weather and all my plans for St. Thomas and Tortola were messed up, but we still had a great time. It's all about perspective.

[easyboy]

Waterfront, waterfront, waterfront! So relaxing!

 

Loved the District Brewhouse.

 

If drinking, tip early and often. The level of service goes up that much more as you are definitely recognized immediately.

Fully agree. I guess it is really a normal reaction anywhere and in any ship.

[BirdTravels]

Thanks for taking the time to write the review!

[Tiggertastic]

What did you think of margaritaville on the ship, what price range was good in there

 

 

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[irishcruisinfamily]

What did you think of margaritaville on the ship, what price range was good in there

 

 

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Price range was good and so was the food. We went when it wasn't crowded while the ship was docked in Nassau. I would recommend eating there once during the cruise.

[Tiggertastic]

Thank you

 

 

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[skipper3]

Thanks for the great information and positive review! ! !

[abisha]

Thanks for your review. I am going on her end of May. I hadn't booked The Supper Club. Can you tell me about it? What is Oh What a Night exactly, and how much is it?

 

Thanks!