Escape Trip Report Jan 13-20 (from the perspective of a loyal Celebrity Cruiser)

Hello Everyone,

This was our first time trying Norwegian after 3 cruises in Aqua class on Celebrity over the last few years. Our previous trips have all been with friends. This time we traveled with my parents, my sister & her husband, and all of our kids. We each had mini-suites on deck 11. Ours was 11204. This is my first review on here so bear with me. I will try and follow the format I've seen others use.

Embarkation: This is one area I expected to be much more time consuming than our experiences with Celebrity, but I was very pleasantly surprised!! We arrived at Terminal B around 11am and waited in line no more than 15 minutes. The lady that helped us with our sea passes was very friendly and helpful. Getting everything squared away only took another 10 minutes or so. They gave us a group number to be called, and this is where I really expected the wait to be. I was wrong again, as they called our group within 5 minutes. So in total from arriving to getting on the ship, only took around 30 minutes or so!

Stateroom: I was very impressed with the mini-suites! The bathrooms are amazing! Better than our Celebrity Cabins in Aqua Class. We had our two sons (18, and 15) with us in the room. I wasn't sure how the bedding arrangements would work, but the bunk type bed worked out perfectly! Loved having the coffee maker in the room as well!

The weather was perfect in Miami for Sail Away!

Gorgeous!

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Nice photos!

Love this review so far! Thank you for taking the time to do it. Looking forward to more !!

I am enjoying your report/review.

Keith

Following. For some reason I can't see the pictures.

Following. For some reason I can't see the pictures.

I think there's a problem with the links on the first few. I'll try and fix them in a bit.

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Sea Day: We started the day with the Cruise Critic meet and greet at the District Brewhouse. This was a great event! We got to meet a lot of the ships crew. The brewhouse served beer flights and appetizers for our group. I would highly recommend finding your roll call for your trip and find out what activities they have planned! We spent the rest of the day checking out the ship. We came across a cool little rain cloud and rainbow!! O'Sheehans ended up being a go to for good wings and burgers. Just be prepared to wait for your food, as it always tended to be busy when we went. We enjoyed using the pool tables and dart boards there as well. We had dinner in the Manhattan Room which had a nice vibe to it. The live music was cool. The food was good. Not great. This is where I noticed the most difference between Celebrity and Norwegian. To be fair though, we have never dined in the main dining rooms on Celebrity. We have only eaten in Blu and some of the specialty restaurants. Norwegian may be as good or better than Celebrity in terms of main dining food, I just don't have experience to compare.

Thank you for posting but I still cannot see the photos.

Thank you for posting but I still cannot see the photos.

Sorry about that. I'm not sure where the problem lies. I've tried using Photobucket and Google photos. The pictures tend to appear fine on the PC, but in the mobile they don't all show. Anyone have any guidance for a more reliable platform to share the photos from?

I can only see the last photo you posted of O'sheehan's. But enjoying your review so far.

I am enjoying this, our last two cruises were on Celebrity Reflection and we leave on the Escape on Saturday. I am trying to be optimistic but I'm worried :D

I am enjoying this, our last two cruises were on Celebrity Reflection and we leave on the Escape on Saturday. I am trying to be optimistic but I'm worried :D

You have nothing to be worried about...the Escape is an incredible ship!!

Great start! I see the rainbow and the o’sheehans.

I can only see the last photo you posted of O'sheehan's. But enjoying your review so far.

Same for me. I'm on a PC (not mobile) using Google Chrome.

OK, I think I will just post a link to the photos seperately. I will continue with the review when I get a chance. Any problems viewing the photos let me know

https://photos.app.goo.gl/H4BgE0fKJyqnjDOx1

Monday morning we arrived in Falmouth to dark skies. We had arranged for Bamboo Beach Club through Norwegian. My wife and I had been there 4 years ago and we really enjoyed it. We were given the option to cancel due to the weather, but decided to just make the best of it. It's a long bus ride (1 hour 15 minutes) to the beach, so be aware of this. That's the problem with Falmouth. There's not much close by. And now with the travel warning in Montego Bay your options are limited. It rained on us the first 15 minutes at the beach club, but then it cleared up a little. The surf was a little rough, so you couldn't enjoy that clear water that we are used to. The beach club was still fun, but I don't think I would return in the future. It felt much more commercialized since the last trip. It's hard to compare fairly though as our last visit had perfect weather. The port shopping was very nice and the bus driver even said it was cheaper than anything outside. So you may just want to do some shopping right in the port if nothing looks exciting to try. Overall this is one of my least favorite stops in the Caribbean

I am enjoying this, our last two cruises were on Celebrity Reflection and we leave on the Escape on Saturday. I am trying to be optimistic but I'm worried :D

There is a lot to like with the Escape. I think you will enjoy it. Make sure to take advantage of the specialty restaurants, as they provide a similar experience to Celebrity Dining. The ship also has a lot of similar design touches that I really liked! What type of cabin are you staying in?

Very much enjoying your review! Thanks for sharing with us:cool:

There is a lot to like with the Escape. I think you will enjoy it. Make sure to take advantage of the specialty restaurants, as they provide a similar experience to Celebrity Dining. The ship also has a lot of similar design touches that I really liked! What type of cabin are you staying in?

Thanks! We're staying in a standard balcony midship deck 10. We also stayed on standard balconies on the Reflection.

We are planning on hitting up five of the restaurants!

On a side note:

The Ultimate Beverage Package: We took this as one of our perks and we really enjoyed it. We have always had the premium package on Celebrity (perk, never paid for directly) The beer and liquor options were good. The wine by the glass was very limited compared to Celebrity. At least on any of the menus I looked at. One thing that was lacking compared to Celebrity was the specialty coffees. We enjoy having an espresso or cappuccino after dinner and these are not included in Norwegians package. I almost forgot... Bottled water is not included either. We ended up purchasing a case of 24 on board. I think it was around $50. Much cheaper than buying individually.

Great review!