Escape 4/8 -4/15

[tampacruiser]

Back from our 7 day eastern on the Escape

 

10th cruise, but first with NCL (previously Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Princess, Holland America, Carnival)

I have read these boards and the reviews on CC for every one of my 10 cruises and honestly if I gave too much weight to this site I would have never cruised again!

So here is my take on the Escape

 

LOVED IT!

 

Check in a breeze. Got to port at 9:30am, waited about 15 minutes for the security checkpoint to open, through in a minute, on to check in which literally took another minute, up the escalator and had a seat. Ship boarded at 11:15. The Vibe folks acted like children and pushed and shoved their way to the front and when they said go.....They ran like someone was after them to kill them!!

Ate in the Garden Café, took a tour of the ship, and at 1:30 the rooms were ready

 

So here is where I will talk about the misinformation that is spread by Cruise Critic in my opinion. Sometimes I think posts and reviews are placed by competitors, or by people who let one little thing ruin their week because they are so far from the truth

Some background...spring break cruise, most kids on board so far this season for this particular cruise

 

Garden Café. People say crowded no seats. Yes at peak time crowded but never had to wait more than 2 or 3 minutes for a seat, most time found one immediately....food was actually better than most lido buffets I have experienced

 

Pool: Yes it's small, that is a downside but again avoid the peak times if you can. Chair hogs were abundant as they are on every cruise, but again...previous posters made it sound like you will never get a chair. Yes you might not get one 3 feet from the pool, however there were 3 levels of sun decks and PLENTY of chairs, didn't do the slides or ropes course so I cant comment there.

 

Dining Room: Food in the MDR was ok, not great but what I read on here is you cant get a seat and the service is slow and in the Manhattan Dining Room with the live band it was too loud, etc etc....Never waited for a seat, Service was prompt and attentive and actually most dinners took less time than I have experienced in the past. In regards to the volume in the Manhattan Dining Room, it wasn't bad....unless I guess if you were sitting 3 feet from the band. We were about half way back in the room and the volume of the music was just fine for dinner.

 

Specialty Dining: We did Tepenyaki, Bayamo, Le Bistro and La Cucina. They were all very good and the service great. Next time I would skip Teppanyaki...People on CC rave about it....the "show" is typical and never changes....the food, large quantities of rice, some meet and veg....somewhat mediocre......if your a quantity over quality type of person this may be for you!

 

Waterfront: Best place on the ship.....outdoor dining, outdoor bars and plenty of comfortable seating. Many posts claimed this area to be underutilized....odd....we actually found it full most days and noticed a new breed of cruiser forming...the waterfront chair hog! This deck is a great place to sit outside or walk outside, it's quiet and I think its a huge plus for NCL that they have added this space on their new builds.

 

Margaritaville at Sea: Again previous posters claim this place to be empty and a waste of space. It was full every day for lunch! Food there was great. Huge burgers....the upcharge is not bad considering you'd pay close to triple that at a landside Margaritaville like the one at Universal Orlando.

 

Food Republic: By far the BEST food on the ship. Sushi and small Asian inspired shareable dishes.....get about 3 or 4 things for 2 share them...you order everything on an I-Pad and they bring it out. Ate their twice for lunch and it was phenomenal and well worth the additional fee

 

Entertainment: 2 major shows. After Midnight and For the Record, The Brat Pack were very good. Singers and dancers were top quality. The small ensembles that played around the ships in the bars and night clubs were terrible. ( I will qualify this that I am a musician and have actually booked and promoted concerts in my past life) I think NCL could do some work there. Howl at the Moon dueling pianos was fun and always packed. Comedy is provided by Levity Entertainment. There were 2 comedians on board, I saw one he was ok, Never made it back to see the other ..too much to do. There was a dinner theater that was free with a vocal group called the Company Men. They were not good. also the free meal that came along with it was not good either. There was a supper club with the lead of After Midnight, she is a Tony Award wining singer, that one I heard was way better, with a way better meal, but I believe it was 35 bucks a head to go to that one. One tip, make your show reservation online before you leave home, or book on the ship as soon as the box office opens at 11:30....shows do sell out fast

 

Ship: Easy layout, never felt crowded. I have read numerous complaints about the elevators. Yes very crowded on day 1 (embarking passengers) and day 7 (debarking passengers) and occasionally if a big show lets out near an elevator....but other than that they were not a problem at all. The ship was also spotlessly clean

 

Bars: I think I read a million reviews and posts complaining about the bars. Since so many folks were offered the Unlimited Bev Package with their booking the bars were swamped, no one walked around the pool, or atrium, theater taking drink orders. Everyone had to go to the bar and wait sometimes 30 minutes? Wow so not true. I could walk up to the bar and get a drink in 2 minutes. There were MANY servers working the pool deck, the atrium, the theaters, Spice H2O...getting a drink was NOT an issue at all

 

Crew: I again read the crew is tired and unfriendly and rude, etc etc.....again my 10th cruise and I can honestly say customer service is taken seriously. EVERYONE was friendly, we saw more officers talking to people and making sure they were happy. They were always visible and always ready to make things right. I talked to a few officers throughout the week, nothing bad, also did the CC meet and greet. I think we received 5 plates of chocolate covered strawberries, a bottle of sparkling wine and then a 2nd bottle of wine. No matter who you talked to, they wrote your cabin number down and later you had a note and a gift. We had one minor complaint with our room steward and I wont even get it to it because its not anything that would change my review....The officer in charge was amazing, fixed the issue and life went on.....Customer Service was paramount on this ship!

 

Debarkation: Best ever. one thing we noticed is that NCL doesn't talk about it being the last day very much like other lines do. When you wake up that last day it's no different than any other day. They don't rush you off the ship. You pick when you want to get off and grab luggage tags at guest services that are colored according to the time you want to get off....They also offer self debark if you can carry your own bags. We chose that...you could walk off with the first group, until 8:45am....we left right about 8:45 carried our bags, got through customs in literally 1 minute, got a cab and we were back at MIA by 9:30

 

Great cruise....Adding NCL to our list of favorites. Again don't believe everything you read on here.....Even what I have written, you may not agree with me and that is OK! .get out there and make your own opinions and enjoy your cruise!!!

[NLH Arizona]

Thanks, I really enjoyed reading your review.

[destiny217]

Thanks for posting. We sail in August. Can't wait.:cool:

[jrzurel]

Great review

 

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[RedRover96]

THANK YOU, a great honest review! The new group "new breed of cruiser forming...the waterfront chair hog!" does concern me, maybe it is just cruise to cruise! Gut feeling if everyone would enjoy a chair pool side or waterfront just when they need it this BB would be pretty boring :)

Edited April 18, 2017 by RedRover96

[rehm]

Thanks for the review. Sailing on 4/29 and was worried about the chair hogs. On vacation I'm not planning on waking up at 7am to get a lounger.

 

 

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[Still Dreaming]

Love this!!

[beblessed413]

Awesome honest review! Thanks! 208 days to go

 

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[Clarea]

Nice review, thanks.:)

[quaker77]

Was also on this cruise and It's was a great cruise.

 

I will add my rope course and slides experience.

 

At first big thanks to the great team for these 2 activities. Big thumbs up to Sherwin had great laughs with him.

 

 

The rope course is really nice and challenge you a lot [emoji51] [emoji12]

 

For the slides the we did the aqua racers so many times because the kids are not allowed . And for the tube one, great slides, loved the ( open to see ) section

 

We did use the spice section a lot and there is only complaint for it.

 

Sometimes you can be affected by exhaust coming from the cheminees. It depends how the wind is coming and how strong. You need to look for that and choose the best spot

[FLSteve11]

I was also on this cruise, and agree it was an excellent cruise. This was my 8th (I believe) NCL cruise, and thought the crew really did a wonderful job. They were friendly, helpful, eager to please. We also received a bunch of plates of chocolate covered strawberries through the trip and a bottle of wine (plus the sparkling wine for Latitudes). I had no complaints with the crew at all, they really were great. As mentioned, they would go around the ship and talk to you and write your room number down and we would get a note and something in the room afterwards.

 

It was crowded on the pool decks, and in the garden café, but manageable most of the time. One time we did give up in the buffet and just brought our food to our rooms, but otherwise if we walked around during lunch/breakfast we would find a table. The food itself was fine. The MDR was about par with the other mass market lines. We did Teppanyaki, Cagney's and Moderno with our included SDP package. I've done Teppanyaki on NCL in the past, and thought this was the weakest of the ones we've done. The food was just ok (my medium rare filet ended up medium well), it was better on other ships. Moderno and Cagney's were great though.

 

I never went in the pool, but my DD did with another girl she made friends with on the ship (and did the ropes, slides). It was crowded but you could get in. Hot tubs were generally crowded as well. Of course, it was prime spring break week with 1800 kids onboard, so that's to be expected. Didn't have anyone causing issues though (outside of the last night where we had people in the cabin next to us have a loud, extended, drunken argument at 2:30am). You could use the pool and hot tubs, just were generally crowded. The atrium would be mobbed for popular events, but you could still get to see it.

 

Embarkation/Disembarkation also easy for us as well. And we did get to sit on the Waterfront during the day, but it is certainly catching on. Great place to sit and relax. I didn't see it used as much for dinner, as it was too breezy, but for sitting and reading for a bit it's very comfortable.

 

Like the OP, we had a great cruise. Might be my favorite out of the NCL cruises I've done overall.

[FLSteve11]

Thanks for the review. Sailing on 4/29 and was worried about the chair hogs. On vacation I'm not planning on waking up at 7am to get a lounger.

 

 

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You couldn't get a lounger anywhere near the pool, at least not on sea days. But they have them on multiple levels and areas around the ship. If you go up two decks and towards the front there were always some available. If you HAVE to be near the pool, it might be trouble, but otherwise you'll be fine. This was a heavy spring break time cruise too (1800 kids), so by 4/29 it shouldn't be nearly as bad.

[wdsted]

Thanks for your trip report!

 

 

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[quaker77]

And I saw red sticker at work on the pool deck on sea day

 

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[Coreysgrl06]

Thanks for your review. I've learned to not pay attention to every Escape complaint posted here. I think some people just like to avoid researching the boat in advance so they can complain later. It's nice to read an honest balanced review. I'm glad you enjoyed your trip

[Arizona204]

Thanks--my family is on Escape May 13th, and a great review is awesome to read:D. I like to think that the negative reviews are probably written by negative people. Lol

[dshefter]

Great review. It is the same on every ship in regards to chairs at the pool. You can usually find them one deck above the main pool area. What is the cost for sushi? Just curious what the upcharge is. Thanks.

[Buttwig]

Thanks - great review! We are on the Escape next month and can't wait. Everything I've read negative comments about on the boards has been addressed by you and I'm sure we'll have a wonderful time as we always do on cruises.

[quaker77]

Thanks - great review! We are on the Escape next month and can't wait. Everything I've read negative comments about on the boards has been addressed by you and I'm sure we'll have a wonderful time as we always do on cruises.

You will for sure we had so much fun last week on the Escape.

[Kenns10]

Sounds like a solid cruise for you both. What did you do for excursions on the port days? This is what I am thinking of doing:

 

St. Thomas: head over to St. John (on our own) and go to Cinnamon Bay/Trunk Bay/other? then browse the town by the ferry

 

Tortola: take the NCL excursion to Jost Van Dyke - any other ideas?

 

Nassau: been here several times, not sure what to do this time?

 

thanks!

[rilco33647]

Yes! This was a fabulous trip! I should know! I am your wife! :hearteyes:

 

BTW--Best excursion EVER---Jost Van Dyke!! 45 minutes beautiful boat ride there and back! White powder sand beach, lots of yachts to drool over, total of 5 kids (I love kids! I'm a teacher! Nice to get a break every now and then!). Sandy Dollar Bar--home of the original painkiller! YUM!

 

Amazing cruise! Loved it!

[PhillyTravelBug]

Appreciate your candid and honest review for your first NCL vacation. It helps solidify my confidence with selecting NCL as my go to cruise line.

[Faulkh]

Thank you, going on the Escape in Aug and only me 3rd cruise. I appreciate the honest feedback. I always wondered why people keep going back if it is so horrible. I am worried about the amount of people and finding some alone time but the ship looks huge and I am sure I can find a quiet space or two. Lounge hogs are at resorts also with towels on chairs starting at 6 in the morning. Seems silly to me.

[quaker77]

Thank you, going on the Escape in Aug and only me 3rd cruise. I appreciate the honest feedback. I always wondered why people keep going back if it is so horrible. I am worried about the amount of people and finding some alone time but the ship looks huge and I am sure I can find a quiet space or two. Lounge hogs are at resorts also with towels on chairs starting at 6 in the morning. Seems silly to me.

So right and will love this ship