NCL Escape/Getaway vs Disney Fantasy

My family and I (2 adt/2 chd 9 & 7) are looking at trying Norwegian. We have found some great deals on both the Getaway Western itinerary and Escape Eastern itinerary. The kids have only ever been on a Disney Cruise and we all loved it. We're a little nervous to deviate from what we know we like. The Disney ship was clean, didn't feel overcrowded, never had to wait for meals and the staff was so attentive. Do you think we'll be disappointed trying NCL? I'm sure both ships are great for kids. Which would you recommend based on ship/itinerary. Thanks!

My family and I (2 adt/2 chd 9 & 7) are looking at trying Norwegian. We have found some great deals on both the Getaway Western itinerary and Escape Eastern itinerary. The kids have only ever been on a Disney Cruise and we all loved it. We're a little nervous to deviate from what we know we like. The Disney ship was clean, didn't feel overcrowded, never had to wait for meals and the staff was so attentive. Do you think we'll be disappointed trying NCL? I'm sure both ships are great for kids. Which would you recommend based on ship/itinerary. Thanks!

Both ships are great for kids. Any chance you'll sail in the Haven? That would be your best chance to have white glove service like on Disney. Having said that, I think both ships are very clean and staff are great. If you make reservations in advance and/or eat early, you shouldn't have to wait to eat too long. I did Getaway Western with my kids recently in the Haven and had an amazing time! The water was unreal -- so gorgeous. We swam with Rays in Cozumel and went to LittleFrench Key in Roatan and went to Blue Kay in Costa Maya. All were fabulous. In Belize, we didn't get off the ship and had the Haven pool area all to ourselves. It was our best trip yet. We are traveling on the Escape next June and have read great things! Enjoy!

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I feel your pain! We are jumping ship for the first time this March and we are scared we won't like it as much. But the motto of our trip is "there's a drink for that"! Our kids are teenagers so the more thrilling waterslides and ropes course appeal. Also an Eastern priced out about double on DCL. I am not expecting the same as DCL and I am warning my family to try and not compare - when all else fails - There's a drink for that! I guess I can't really give much advice since we haven't sailed NCL yet but I seem to have read a few reviews with comparisons (I only read Escape reviews, since that's the ship we are booked on). Good luck!

I feel your pain! We are jumping ship for the first time this March and we are scared we won't like it as much. But the motto of our trip is "there's a drink for that"! Our kids are teenagers so the more thrilling waterslides and ropes course appeal. Also an Eastern priced out about double on DCL. I am not expecting the same as DCL and I am warning my family to try and not compare - when all else fails - There's a drink for that! I guess I can't really give much advice since we haven't sailed NCL yet but I seem to have read a few reviews with comparisons (I only read Escape reviews' date=' since that's the ship we are booked on). Good luck![/quote']

 

LOVE THE MOTTO!!! Now I feel like I can book it and enjoy

My younger kids are the same age as yours. We did our first NCL cruise last year after doing only Disney. Dh has also done Princess and Royal and Celebrity with his older kids.

NCL is much more piecemeal. I do love love love the specialty restaurants over Disney and adore the suite amenities. For the price on an inside room on Disney I can get a suite on NCL.

Part of it is they have aged out of the Disney characters. If they want that we do a Disney trip instead. They also very much enjoyed the kids club - it's not the drop off all day experience, but is still a lot of fun.

Oh, I found suite service above that of standard DCL service.

Oh, I found suite service above that of standard DCL service.

When you say suite service, do you mean the Haven? Or just the suite categories on some of the ships? The Haven looks great and is comparably priced to a verandah on Disney. But I don't want to pay for a verandah on Disney, that's why I'm looking at NCL lol!

When you say suite service, do you mean the Haven? Or just the suite categories on some of the ships? The Haven looks great and is comparably priced to a verandah on Disney. But I don't want to pay for a verandah on Disney, that's why I'm looking at NCL lol!

We just sailed on the Fantasy this last February. I'm also a little nervous about going from DCL to NCL. We stayed concierge on the Fantasy and are staying in the Haven for our upcoming cruise.

I will say that staying in a 2 bedroom suite with 5 of us on the Escape is cheaper than our concierge DCL cruise for just 3 of us.

We've tried to set expectations such as the kids club just isn't going to be the same and balance it with things like 'woowooo, Haven pool'. Different vacations rather than a point by point compare.

Plus, as someone else said, there's a drink for that :) UBP is definitely going to help ease some of our worries once we are onboard.

This summer we were in the same place you are now....

Background we have sailed on Disney twice and had great times. Food was good, service was great, Ship is very clean, our girls loved ship board activities and had a good time in Kids camp. We also love Castaway Cay.

However, This year they are 9 and 13 and pretty much over the mouse fascination. We went with the Escape, and feel it was well worth it. From the kids view, they loved the specialty restaurants and did not feel smothered by the wait staff. Our older girl liked the teen camp, and the younger liked kids camp the same if not more than Disney. Added bonuses are the faster slides, and the ropes course. They both wanted to go back for thanksgiving.

From the parent point of view we got two rooms, for less than all of us cramming in an single Disney room. For the parents out there let me repeat... we got our own room!!!! :D (connected to the kids). That plus the beverage package were the deciding factor. Service on the Escape was very good, and nearly comparable to Disney. The wife felt the food was better on the Escape. It is a new ship, still super clean and has the best staff NCL has to offer.

If you do end up on the Escape... go see the Chocolate Cowboy, Awesome dude.

Service on the Escape was very good, and nearly comparable to Disney.

This is good to hear. Disney's level of service is SO good.

We sailed Escape with 3 adult couples and loved it. I don't think these ships are very friendly to young children. But of course this is just my opinion. Here's part of my review - you can search and read the entire review if you want.

"Pool Decks and Children

Ugh. So much work to come home to. But I’m back and will try to wrap this up in a few more posts. What everyone says about the pool decks is true. There is not enough room, there are chair hogs, the music is too loud, and there is no open space around the kids’ pool. When we docked in Tortola the Disney Magic was next to us. If you want a comparison, stand on Escape’s pool deck and look down at the much smaller Magic’s layout. IMO the DCL deck layout is far superior and they can cover up one of the pools to create a huge party space.

If you get energy from being hip-to-hip with other people with the music blasting you’ll be happy. And there were chairs available on the upper decks. I was happy to spend time on my balcony reading with an occasional foray up to the Vibe bar.

We didn’t check out Spice H20 on at-sea days. But we went there for a while on Nassau day and there were plenty of seats both in the sun and under umbrellas. It’s a great space.

About kids in general, here’s my take. I think you would need to spend a lot of time minding non-independent children. For older children you will let go to the clubs, hang with other kids, or just go off by themselves while you are all on deck, they should be fine. The ropes course, slides, etc. are fun. There’s not much in the way of entertainment that would appeal to them and in-room movies cost $19 (ouch!). Keep that in mind when you pack or budget a lot for video games.

With younger children, there is not a place for you to sit and watch them swim. There were family activities but for me (the non-creative analytical), if I had to make napkin animals, or hats, or paint t-shirts with my kids, well, just shoot me. Not my idea of a vacation. I did not go into a kids club and did not have a child on this trip. These were just observations. Hands down and unequivocally, if you want an awesome vacation for you and your younger children, pay for DCL. The family time there is designed around shows, meals, decks and cabins - not going to a 1-hour activity every day. Plus the kids’ club is open all day so you get your free time while they have play time.

Deck food. There is none. I’ll compare again – sorry if this is getting old but I think this is the same on many lines! On DCL there is an outside grill serving burgers, the omnipresent chicken strips, salads, etc. There is also an outdoor beverage station as they have free soft drinks for all. Add to that a multitude of outdoor tables around the pools. That means even a 5-year old can be empowered to go get a snack. And it’s just more fun than donning shoes and cover-up to go into the buffet en famille for a snack. We ended up spending daylight hours in O’Sheehans with the casual eats.

Final analysis – kids and steerage passengers pay the deck experience price for the space that is carved out for the Haven. Again and IMO, the higher price at DCL would be better than a Haven suite with younger children. For me, I'm thinking butlers may be in our future!"

My family and I (2 adt/2 chd 9 & 7) are looking at trying Norwegian. We have found some great deals on both the Getaway Western itinerary and Escape Eastern itinerary. The kids have only ever been on a Disney Cruise and we all loved it. We're a little nervous to deviate from what we know we like. The Disney ship was clean, didn't feel overcrowded, never had to wait for meals and the staff was so attentive. Do you think we'll be disappointed trying NCL? I'm sure both ships are great for kids. Which would you recommend based on ship/itinerary. Thanks!

We've done several DCL and been on BA (similar to GA and a bit smaller than Escape). Don't try to compare the two IMO. Look at what NCL has to offer and see if it would be of interest and ask questions about things on NCL that might be a concern to you.

DCL does do most things very well but we've had good times on NCL as well. One positive for NCL is you don't have the set dining times.

I would agree with most of the responses above. My kids are 8 and 4yrs old. We have done 3 Disney cruises prior to our cruise on the Escape. I couldn't help but compare every detail of our NCL Escape cruise to the DCL cruises.

I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of service on the Escape and in my opinion it compared closely with the attentiveness and friendliness of the DCL staff. My kids loved the food options (I actually preferred the Garden Cafe to Cabanas!) and there was soft serve ice cream daily in the Garden Cafe like Disney has so my 4 year old was just fine :-)

The kids club was lacking in style (hours it was open and quality of programming) but my oldest daughter had a total blast and said she thought it was as much fun as Disney. My younger daughter feels overwhelmed with the open and free concept of the Oceaneer Club/Lab and she felt similarly in Splash Academy on the Escape. To some extent I think the kids club enjoyment is subject to your children and their personalities.

The one area that was lacking for me was the evening entertainment and family friendly atmosphere in general on the Escape and I totally expected that so I wasn't surprised. I knew that the Escape is programmed to attract a different clientele when I booked it.

The pool deck area was very loud and not designed well in my opinion but my girls actually liked the water slides and aqua park on the Escape more than Disney! And we've been on the Magic, Dream and Fantasy so they've experienced the older and newer ships.

I would totally sail the Escape or Getaway again because the price we paid for a balcony was less than a third of what we pay for a verandah on Disney. I felt our time on Escape was very enjoyable for what we paid.