Jump to content

Review Norwegian Escape January 27 (also comparison with Celebrity Reflection)


lizzy911
 Share

Recommended Posts

I have gained a lot from this board and from "the Internet" so to add a few contributions based on my cruise on the NCL Escape on January 27.

 

Background: My husband and I are in our mid 30s and we left our two young kids at home. This was my sixth cruise (2 Princess, 1 Carnival, 2 most recent on Celebrity Reflection). It was my husband's fifth cruise (he missed one of the Princess cruises). The cruise came highly recommended from a friend and was originally an Eastern Caribbean itinerary modified to Western based on hurricane damage.

 

Excellent

- Bar Service - consistently wonderful across the board throughout the week. We had the Ultimate Beverage Package Promo and never waited more than a few minutes to get served.

- Related, number of bars available and variety. The District's options were very good in particular. Wine bar could've used more by the glass options but it was still very nice.

- Dining options - we were able to get seated quickly at the main dining rooms even at prime times (like 7 PM), enjoyed that O'Sheehan's was open 24 hours a day, never had a hard time finding a buffet seat.

- Teppanyaki - one of the best specialty dining experiences I have had and I have been to MANY hibachi grills on land. The performance aspect was very good, as was the food.

- Thermal Suite - well worth the price for us, used daily. It did get crowded on sea days (we missed a port due to weather and it thus was crowded two days in a row). But still it was so relaxing to get away from the hustle and bustle!

- Options of fun things to do like mini golf and water slides that smaller / adult oriented ships do not have.

- Howl at the Moon - we LOVED this place and have been before at land based ones. Great energy in performers, good bar service, really fun.

- The Cruise Critic Meet and Greet was excellent, I have never seen one so well put together on any other line. Officers in attendance, music, appetizers, drinks.

- Great Stirrup Cay - Amazing place to relax. We got off on one of the first tenders and had a great time relaxing and spreading out from the crowds.

 

Fine

- Stateroom was a standard balcony. A bit smaller than on Celebrity but no issues. We were on a BC deck 10 mid-ship.

- The other two specialty restaurants we tried: La Cucina and Moderno. Not as good as land based Italian and Brazilian steakhouses. But, not bad.

- Ports were not my top choices and we missed Grand Cayman (but had no plans on getting off the ship anyway).

- We did the airboat excursion after the cruise and the site it was at was kind of 1970s (had some sort of lame "alligator show" and a creepy "museum" that was basically a few lizards in cages) and the excursion itself was not very long. But still, I had fun on the airboat.

 

Would improve

- It's been said again and again but the ship needs more pools / pool space. The Princess cruises I took had half the passengers and more pools.

- The two production shows were really bad in my opinion (Brat Pack and After Midnight). Both had talented performers but the material was of similar quality to my high school student produced play.

- For being "Freestyle" the reservations system was a pain. Lots of things (performances, specialty dining) instantly booked. We wanted to change our Moderno reservation to Le Bistro on the second day but Le Bistro was already booked solid until the final night at 9PM.

- Ropes course was basically never open even when we were at port.

 

Vs the Celebrity Reflection

- NCL had a lot more options for families traveling with children. We took our then four year old on Celebrity and I have no doubt NCL would've been a better option for her.

- The dining room food on Celebrity was better, but the service was slower (and not always for ambiance reasons).

- The buffet was better designed on NCL but the options were better on the Reflection.

- Celebrity ship much more relaxing but more subdued nightlife. We were regularly out until 1AM on NCL and rarely on the Reflection.

- Reflection seemed to have more / better options for dancing

- NCL had a better bar scene.

- Theater performances were better on Reflection.

- Ultimately we think we would do NCL again for a party or family trip but Celebrity for a romantic trip. Both lines are great though and the beverage promos cannot be beat!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

One thing I forgot. Our stateroom was routinely not cleaned until after 1PM. We would be out from 8:30 AM until getting back to lunch at 1PM and it was not cleaned. This was no huge deal for us but different than other lines. Our stateroom attendant seemed busy and hard working so this is in no way a knock on him just a surprise vs other experiences.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

One thing I forgot. Our stateroom was routinely not cleaned until after 1PM. We would be out from 8:30 AM until getting back to lunch at 1PM and it was not cleaned. This was no huge deal for us but different than other lines. Our stateroom attendant seemed busy and hard working so this is in no way a knock on him just a surprise vs other experiences.

 

That's probably just a function of where your room was on your room steward's schedule. He's got to start somewhere, so someone was always getting cleaned early. Kindof like we're some of the last houses on our postal carrier's route and we sometimes don't get mail until 7 PM. That's not indicative of a lazy mail carrier, rather just a busy one with an assigned route.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great review Lizzy...I was on the same cruise (and organized the meet and greet - done really well by NCL by the way..waayyy better than the muffins and coffee we had on EPIC and Getaway), but would disagree with you on your comments about After Midnight. My wife and I thought it was the best show that we have ever seen at sea (other than the full production shows on Disney Cruise Line), and we've seen a lot. It was a great variety of dancing and singing set in the cotton club era of the 20's and 30's. Performers were top notch! To tell you the truth I was sad that so many people were getting up and leaving. But I guess to each their own.

 

The other thing I was disappointed about was the fact that there was only one hot tub on the whole boat that kids were allowed in. Travelling with an 11 and 13 yr old there was very little opportunity for them to enjoy it. Even if the other main one was empty they would get kicked out of it.

 

I'd also like to add that Beau Tahana in the district was an awesome performer too. I liked him a bit better than the Howl at the Moon team. Had a hard time listening to them...they were great piano players, but IMHO they couldn't sing all that well.

 

Agreed that the "freestyle" is not really that free at all. I find it very rigid, with all the reservations that needed to be made. Luckily I made a lot ahead of time, and because I was the "group leader" for the meet and greet, I had access to Charry, the hotel directors secretary, that basically could get us what I had missed. She was awesome..always saying hi when we passed, and making sure that everything was going well!

 

Anyway, just thought that I would throw my two cents in....now wondering where to spend the 2 CruiseNext certificates I purchased on board...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The After Midnight performers were very good, I disliked the lack of any story line or unifying theme. But I enjoyed the singing itself if that makes sense. I am sure it did not help that I was unfamiliar with most of the songs. I can see if you knew them how it would've been better!

 

I heard Beau a few times and agree he was very good! I am sure my opinion of Howl at the Moon was influenced by my wine consumption :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Excellent

- Thermal Suite - well worth the price for us, used daily. It did get crowded on sea days (we missed a port due to weather and it thus was crowded two days in a row). But still it was so relaxing to get away from the hustle and bustle!

 

Would improve

- It's been said again and again but the ship needs more pools / pool space. The Princess cruises I took had half the passengers and more pools.

- Ropes course was basically never open even when we were at port

I was considering Themal Spa Passes, so this is good to hear. The Ropes Course concerns me, we are looking forward to the course.......men in our group said " If you (meaning me) do the Plank, we'll do it too", knowing my fear of heights.....I may need to have a beer or two....maybe 4 or 5, but I'm doing it:evilsmile:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Agree with most everything above except we really liked the Brat Pack and had seen it previously when it was offered at the Supper Club. Liked the larger venue much more though it went on too long - more than 1.5 hours.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was on the cruise also, my third time on the Escape. In my opinion the ropes course has limited hours but, was probably not open as often as it usually is due to the high winds. I've been on it once when a thunderstorm came up suddenly and the winds gusted, it was not fun trying to get off!

I've heard many people complain about After Midnight not having a storyline, per say. I rather enjoyed it myself but I am a good 25 years older than you so that may be it. Thanks for sharing your comparison with Celebrity.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...