Escape review march 4 sailing - Disney family with older teens

[Grumpy'sGurl]

After much consideration we booked our first non-dcl cruiseon the Escape. The price was right, hubby was encouraged by the Districtbrewhouse and DS17 by the all-night wing availability. We were determined to goin with open minds. We LOVE dcl, but the price is so prohibitive, the onlyquestion to ask was…are we cruisers or are we Disney cruisers?

My first contact with NCL was through their centralreservation centre. I have to say, that while the reps were very friendly andcourteous. I didn’t “trust” them afterawhile. I had a situation that required the agent to rebook us, which they saidthey did. I called back a month later, they had not. I then asked a bunch ofquestions about booking the day spa pass. I knew from Cruise Critic that theonly day I could purchase was a port day and only if available, but the resagent said that was incorrect, and I could go to headliners as soon as we boardto do that….ummmmm…ok…maybe that’s a policy change ( the liquid carry on policychanged for us between booking and embarkation) We were boarding group 3 , wentto headliners, nope go to Guest services, get to guest services, nope, go tothe spa, at this point I feel like No one knows what they are doing, so I gaveup. Also we needed to book our comedy stuff since we couldn’t access the app inthe terminal. We tried that atheadliners too, nope go to the Box Office. We tell the guy we want to book everything that requires a reservation (we already booked the 2 main shows online prior) He writes it down on a pieceof scrap paper and assures us he will take care of it when the system isavailable…ummmmm ok?

As many of you have, no doubt, heard, the weather was notthe best for us. We had rough seas ,rain and high winds for a few days. I feel like most company’sperform well when things go as expected but the real test of a company’s mettleis when things go sideways and how it is handled. I have to say my biggest issue with NCL islack of communication. When the weatherturned and the shows got cancelled there was no way to know the trickle downaffect it had on every other show and venue. At one point we went to see acomedian and after lining up were told that the show had been reschedualed(trickle down effect, I guess) Even the NCL staff person there didn’t know – hewas asking us. With the app and interactive screens, surely there must be a wayto flash that on a screen somewhere. Ok,so that’s my beef about communication.

The Ship – Escape is huge (4266 passenger capacity vs DCLFantasy at 4000) We sailed the Fantasy while she was full and this cruise theEscape was full too. The rooms are way smaller. I knew this going in but theplacement of the closet combined with the couch never being put back into acouch made for very cramped quarters. Also if you ask for your mini bar to be emptied, they store the items inyour cupboard..we didn’t know this. The bathroom was nice. Our room steward wasvery kind and always said hello.

The pools – I knew they were small. I knew they were goingto be packed. I knew they were adult only. I did not know they were notheated!! Our first crappy day, I was not discouraged one bit. We’ve had weatheron DCL and just hung in the adult pool…it was great. On the Escape we went tothe pool area and I couldn’t believe how cold the water was. I struggled tofind a spot in any hot tub on the ship and when I did it was luke warm. It wasas if they were using the hot tubs as little pools. I had to wonder if this wasa money saving strategy. On the one nice sea day the atmosphere at theadult pool was fun and loud and partyish. Tyler , the cruise director, kickedoff the event by pulling an 11 year old up to dance…ummm adult pool? Not somuch. It was too loud anyway, so we went to Spice H2O. The grotto was nice(water was cool, but tolerable since we weren’t immersed) But my one beef hereis to get to the bar you had to wade through the smoke. Ok we are outside but it was still ugly. I guess I didn’t realize how important thepool / adult area was to us until we didn’t have it.

The food – It was ok. We always found something…it may have been the same most nights, butnobody starved. Food was usually a lot cooler than I like. I found out the servershave to carry your meals up a flight of stairs – that’s crazy! We stayed in themanhatten most nights. The first nightwe didn’t get bread service, weren’t sure if they even had it. I guess it wasjust a busy server. The meals were ok.The service was ok. I really missed the personal connection you make with yourservers on DCL. We pretty much ate at the same time each night anyway, sowhatever “freestyle” is doesn’t appeal to us. The one night was had attentive service wasthe night after we complained to the maitr’d about table placement. We wereright at the door and it was so loud, there just shouldn’t have been a tablethere. The maitre’d that sat us insistedthere were no other tables – the empty ones we pointed to were reserved.Alrighty then…eventually we were moved and that night and the next we weresubject to excellent service. The third night – we were back to the normalstandard. The buffet area is too crowded. The breakfast was the same every day.On DCL ships there is an ice cream station on the pool deck, there’s a drink stationoutside too and snack places all over the pool deck. On the Escape everythingis at the buffet so even at 3pm it seems crowded as they funnel everyone inthere. O’sheehan’s – meh. I was really looking forward to the spinach andartichoke dip, but sadly, it wasn’t what I expected. The wings were hit or miss.Sometimes cold, twice they were fresh and really good.

THE UBP – I thought I was a drinker. I am not. While I enjoywine with dinner and a few frozen concoctions around the pool, it is not asimportant to me as it is to some other folks. My DH enjoyed a few beers hereand there but really with DCL’s carry on policy, the UBP is of no benefit tous.

The teen club – our 17yr old was bitter about not doing DCL.He loved entourage! He had a great time. I knew he would. It had nothing to dowith the staff. He met some wonderful friends. He loved the party atmosphere,he loved the freedom. He is 17. He told us that the staff were there but notreally interacting – almost like babysitting. He was good with it. He also saidthat he was able to loosen up his vocabulary a lot more than on DCL. In factthe youth workers themselves dropped a few f-bombs. While I wasn’t there, andwe are more liberal than some Disney cruisers, I mention this to inform thoseof you who are more conservative and concerned about these things.

The entertainment – Loved the adult comedian! We also didHowl at the moon and those guys are so talented! Amazing and the best thing onthe ship! I was nodding off during after midnight and didn’t bother with theother big show. It was such a mess withthe scheduling that we just sort of gave up. We managed to see the magician-comedyact and I am so sorry… oh my gosh – I felt bad for the guy. It wasn’t ahighlight.

Public areas – we loved the waterfront – sipped a fewglasses of wine out there. With the winds and rain the first few days it wasclosed. As was the ropes course and allupper decks. I grew up with a chain smoking dad and my grandparents weresmokers too. I was disgusted by the smoke. The fact that they channel peoplethrough that open chimney area…deck 6-7-8 with the staircase was disgusting (useful tip – Do NOT go down that staircase in a short skirt). It smelled likemy grandmother’s apartment. So to the people who ask about the smell of smokeand is it bothersome….I would say that yes, if you are used to a non smoking environmentyou will smell it.

In summary, I am glad we tried a new line. It really was alearning experience. I am not opposed to sailing another line again. I justthink I am older than what I really am in my cruise style (yes, I get theIroney that DCL is considered a kids cruise) But they really go out of theirway to make the adult areas special and relaxing, which is why we cruise. At one point I turned to my friend and saidNCL is Carnival’s drunk uncle. They are trying really hard to be all grown upbut then the drinks flow and the lamp shade goes on the head. We were trying really hard to like the cruiseas much as we liked the price, but the bottom line is you get what you payfor. We missed the little touches butmostly the big things that should be standard like hot food and personableservice. Disney is worth the premium.

[Sotermarler]

Thanks for the review. If your not going to need your lamp shad any more please pass it my way because i don't see DCL in my future ! [emoji3]

 

 

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[Jim The Lizard]

Very good review. Different strokes for different folks. We love NCL, but we either Haven or Vibe away from some of the issues you spoke of. In fact, three Escape cruises....haven't set a foot in the pool. And, I'm a sun guy. We like the price point of NCL and don't use the casino or the Waves bar. We enjoy the food, but only have RCCL and Carnival to compare against. We also always dine after 9 pm, so we have had zero issues with service, due to lighter crowds at that point.

 

 

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[drneal]

Disney is in a class of it's own.

My 11 yo keeps asking to go back on Disney.

It's not comparing apples to apples.

1 cabin for 4 on Disney is $7,500

2 Cabins with 2 is $2,900/each on NCL

The shows/dining on Disney are #1

but NCL has great live music and the

slides/ropes course are as good as disney.

 

It's good to mix it up sometimes. It doesn't always have to be one or the other.

[easyboy]

Thank you for your assessment. Appreciate the feedback.

[LrgPizza]

Just an FYI - You mentioned DCL's carry on policy for alcohol. In case you didn't know, they discontinued that. In our opinion, that helped offset the costs of DCL, but it no longer does.

[MellyMel612]

Just an FYI - You mentioned DCL's carry on policy for alcohol. In case you didn't know, they discontinued that. In our opinion, that helped offset the costs of DCL, but it no longer does.

 

They have limited the amounts but it has not been discontinued.

 

"Bringing wine or Champagne onboard: Passengers (21 years of age and older) may bring onboard two bottles of unopened wine or Champagne (no larger than 750 ml) or six beers (no larger than 12 ounces) on embarkation day and in each port of call. The alcohol must be hand-carried in a day bag and/or carry-on luggage."