Vibe Onboard Escape and NCL in General

[Tennant]

What is the vibe on board an NCL ship like? We have only cruised celebrity, princess, HAL and Disney and are considering a cruise with our young kids on the Escape. Is it a laid back atmosphere or is it loud/party focused everywhere?

[Bartfast]

NCL is rather laid back in my opinion, but it is Covid times.

[marktwothousand]

I haven’t been on those lines but I consider NCL informal and party-oriented. You don’t have to “partayke” in the party atmosphere if you don’t want to but the cruise line makes a good effort to involve people and make sure there are coordinated events going on. I might be a little bored if I was a kid. If you want your kids go be occupied, have fun, be busy and in awe of the atmosphere, take ‘em on the symphony of the seas. There is way more to do for kids and I think it’d be an experience I’d never forget as a child 

[Lionkingrichard]

1 hour ago, Tennant said:

What is the vibe on board an NCL ship like? We have only cruised celebrity, princess, HAL and Disney and are considering a cruise with our young kids on the Escape. Is it a laid back atmosphere or is it loud/party focused everywhere?

Our daughter was 9 when we switched from Disney(loved the cruises, not the prices) and she loves NCL.

 

Had to talk the wife into NCL first cruise, but she loves it also.

 

We do miss the service and shows and seeing the same wait staff every night but not enough to pay double!

[Tennant]

1 hour ago, Lionkingrichard said:

Our daughter was 9 when we switched from Disney(loved the cruises, not the prices) and she loves NCL.

 

Had to talk the wife into NCL first cruise, but she loves it also.

 

We do miss the service and shows and seeing the same wait staff every night but not enough to pay double!

Our kids would be 3.5 and 5.5 at sailing. We have loved Disney but the price is just getting way too steep. Have you found the service, food, etc. acceptable on NCL? We really aren’t that picky, don’t need special orders or special attention but do expect attentive friendly service: would we be OK on NCL?

[Tennant]

2 hours ago, marktwothousand said:

I haven’t been on those lines but I consider NCL informal and party-oriented. You don’t have to “partayke” in the party atmosphere if you don’t want to but the cruise line makes a good effort to involve people and make sure there are coordinated events going on. I might be a little bored if I was a kid. If you want your kids go be occupied, have fun, be busy and in awe of the atmosphere, take ‘em on the symphony of the seas. There is way more to do for kids and I think it’d be an experience I’d never forget as a child 

What does SOTS seas have for little kids that NCL doesn’t? 

[hallux]

Ya know - I read this originally thinking they were talking about the for-fee 'beach club on the upper deck and was thinking the kids wouldn't be allowed in there.

 

NCL is very relaxed, but not quite the party ship that Carnival is.  Very much like Royal Caribbean, not accounting for specific features of certain ships.

[Cscomedygrl]

@hallux I thought same thing as you! 😁

[beerman2]

Have friends on the Escape right now ( we’ve been on 4 NCL cruises with them) and service is great. Sailing at 50% capacity. Right now they said it’s 

1-1 ratio pax to crew.

[Fun4Us2013]

I have been on the Escape and bought the Vibe passes. It’s an area set aside for about 75 people. There’s a mister for hot days, a hot tub, bathrooms and bar as well as plenty of loungers. Albeit a little pricey if you are a sun person or someone who enjoys a little peace and quiet it’s a great fun place. There are no kids there and the best thing is you don’t have to rush there in the morning to get a chair. The staff do a  great job at taking care of you.

[BirdTravels]

14 hours ago, Tennant said:

What is the vibe on board an NCL ship like? We have only cruised celebrity, princess, HAL and Disney and are considering a cruise with our young kids on the Escape. Is it a laid back atmosphere or is it loud/party focused everywhere?

NCL embraces the idea of freestyle cruising (painted on the hull of every ship). You are on vacation, be on vacation and not constrained by “old fashion” rules. We have cruises for decades and NCL is now our cruise line of choice. 

 

Eat when You are hungry or it meets your schedule (no set dining). See shows when you want. Lots of complimentary and specialty dining.
 

“Dress Up or Not” for the evening. Shorts are appropriate in all restaurants for all meals except two restaurants (French Specialty and one other depending on ship) where gents are asked to wear long pants (e.g., jeans or dockers are fine). 
 

 

[hallux]

1 hour ago, Fun4Us2013 said:

Vibe passes

You made the same mistake a couple others of us did originally.

[Lionkingrichard]

14 hours ago, Tennant said:

Our kids would be 3.5 and 5.5 at sailing. We have loved Disney but the price is just getting way too steep. Have you found the service, food, etc. acceptable on NCL? We really aren’t that picky, don’t need special orders or special attention but do expect attentive friendly service: would we be OK on NCL?

So we leave in a couple days for our 4th NCL and it would have been our 5th if last years was not canceled from Covid!

 

I hope that answers your question.

 

Just be aware that the kids clubs are closed right now, but maybe not much longer.

 

 

[jstewartgt]

1 hour ago, Lionkingrichard said:

Just be aware that the kids clubs are closed right now, but maybe not much longer.

 

Are all of the kids clubs closed for all ages?

[rnfulk]

I think NCL is the best of both worlds. The main sun deck is usually full of fun, music, and energy. I’ve also never had a problem finding more laid back areas when I wanted to relax. I’m not one to look for the party atmosphere so that has never been my experience onboard (by party atmosphere I mean obnoxious, drunk adults everywhere) and the ships are very family friendly. 

[Lionkingrichard]

1 hour ago, jstewartgt said:

 

Are all of the kids clubs closed for all ages?

So I heard the teen club is open(I hope), but they can come and go as they please so not really the same thing as locking the kids in.

Edited February 17, 2022 by Lionkingrichard

[awsullivan]

BEWARE NO KIDS CLUBS! NOT FULLY TRANSPARENT

We enjoyed it with our kids when they had Splash Academy--our kids loved the camp and made friends. BUT NOW SPLASH ACADEMY IS CLOSED INDEFINIETLY and I wish I had known that before I booked us and got our cousins to book. I would NOT recommend NCL since they did not tell us at the time of booking knowing I was interested in it and still will not answer when and if SA will reopen. They also switched a port day to an at sea day right after the balance was due. I will be too busy entertaining my children to spend money in their casinos, upscale restaurants, and the SPA (which I always book). Their strategy is sneaky for me..be transparent! I will switch cruise lines for my future vacations because I do not mind paying a tad more if it means I know what I am getting and especially if it might give me a better shot at peace of mind on a family vaca.

[hallux]

16 minutes ago, awsullivan said:

I would NOT recommend NCL since they did not tell us at the time of booking knowing I was interested in it and still will not answer when and if SA will reopen.

The thing is... They don't know WHEN they might open.  It could be decided tomorrow that the SA opens for sailings starting on Saturday.  Then, all the people that cancelled just before final payment for those cruises because they didn't know if it would be open for their kids will be upset that they could have gone anyway if they had known it would be open.

[Bartfast]

Things are up in the air because of Covid, differing customer expectations, differing port and country requirements, and probably uncertainties in who is booked and who is going to cancel. Port and day-at-sea changes are a thing, probably for a while. Unfortunately.

[jstewartgt]

3 hours ago, awsullivan said:

BEWARE NO KIDS CLUBS! NOT FULLY TRANSPARENT

We enjoyed it with our kids when they had Splash Academy--our kids loved the camp and made friends. BUT NOW SPLASH ACADEMY IS CLOSED INDEFINIETLY and I wish I had known that before I booked us and got our cousins to book. I would NOT recommend NCL since they did not tell us at the time of booking knowing I was interested in it and still will not answer when and if SA will reopen. They also switched a port day to an at sea day right after the balance was due. I will be too busy entertaining my children to spend money in their casinos, upscale restaurants, and the SPA (which I always book). Their strategy is sneaky for me..be transparent! I will switch cruise lines for my future vacations because I do not mind paying a tad more if it means I know what I am getting and especially if it might give me a better shot at peace of mind on a family vaca.

 

Totally agree with what you are saying.  I do feel like this information has not been adequately relayed in hopes you'll pay before you know.  I'm not sure it would have changed my decision, but I don't like feeling like things are being hidden.  Hoping they will change their mind before our cruise, but if they don't it will likely only push me to try a different line in the future.  Just won't start things on a good foot.

 

At this point they should be able to say when it's opening, but I got a similar response when I reached out earlier today that there is no timeline.

[johnlat]

6 hours ago, jstewartgt said:

 

Are all of the kids clubs closed for all ages?

the teen clubs are open but not the clubs for the younger set.