Ask Your Escape Questions!

[HowardK]

What type of music is in The District and the Five O Clock Somewhere bar?

i.e. at Fat Cats I was able to get up and play keyboards on stage, will this exist for people in the 2 newer venues on The Escape (of course Howl at The Moon is there as well to play on)

[FreestyleNovice]

Five O' Clock has a small podium/place for a band.

[kimbomc6]

Starting October 27, we will have Cruise Critic editors onboard Norwegian Escape, with the opportunity to experience the ship and chat with execs.

 

We'd like to know: What Escape questions do you have? We'll do our best to pass them on and find some answers.

 

Happy Cruising!

 

~Brittany Chrusciel, Associate Editor, Cruise Critic

 

Hello- Wondering if you can tell me where I can find the smoking areas on the Escape? Carnival supplies maps for each ship with smoking areas but I can find nothing on NCL specific to each ship. Thank you!!!

[imdaring]

we are taking 5 walkie talkies for us and our 3 kids to us on the ship. my question is for boarding the plan I really don't want to pack it in my checked bag but will it look suspicious if I have 5 in my carry on bag??

[NoahtheRed]

we are taking 5 walkie talkies for us and our 3 kids to us on the ship. my question is for boarding the plan I really don't want to pack it in my checked bag but will it look suspicious if I have 5 in my carry on bag??

 

No. We always see lots of people with walkie talkies on the boat and it's not really the type of thing that'd raise suspicion.

[bulldogatl]

no separate steam room for men - unisex steam in the thermal area - must pay for entry .. the showers even in the mens changing room were not good - only two and they had a clear glass partition between them - everyone was complaining. I normally take my showers in the changing room but not this trip.

[kneught77]

I realize not many people care about the TV in the cabins. Just curious what kind of channels and movies were available?... are the movies you pay for decent?.. or older movies? And how much do they cost to purchase?

 

Any info would be appreciated! :D

[onefishtwofish]

We are not cruising for a while yet, but am reading some things that are surprisingly negative for a new ship! :( Now, we have cruised many times before and know full well to take everything with a grain of salt, but wanted to get some honest opinions........we are a very easy going family and most things people write about don't bother us, but......maybe some things can be changed/fixed before we sail since it's so far away.....

 

Is there really a bad smoke problem on board? Am reading many posts that there is a bad smoke smell all over the ship - not just next to the casino or smoking area.....:confused:

 

Creaking?? People have written they couldn't sleep or sit outside on their balcony because it was so loud....:confused:

 

May seem silly but just wondering - is there really not Jimmy Buffet music playing in "his" venues? Living in South Florida, get plenty of Jimmy, but just curious! :p

 

We have sailed both RCL's Allure and Oasis so the comments about how crowded it is doesn't bother us - but seems to be a big complaint....

 

We were choosing between Escape and Getaway - aren't things supposed to get better as you learn more as you go?????:p

[adweenal]

Which complimentary restaurant has the best food for a "foodie" who enjoys fresh, unique meals. anyone have sample menus? i want to make reservations, but i am not sure which one would suit our taste better.

[kneught77]

Which complimentary restaurant has the best food for a "foodie" who enjoys fresh, unique meals. anyone have sample menus? i want to make reservations, but i am not sure which one would suit our taste better.

 

None of the complimentary restaurants have "unique" options exactly. The 3 main dining rooms.. Savor, Taste and Manhattan all share the same menu. It has some really good items on it tho! For foodies... food republic would be a great choice.. alas.. it costs money.

 

So for complimentary options for reservations is only the 3 main dining rooms.. same menu... different venues. Manhattan is large.. wide open and has live musics most nights.. the other two are smaller.. low key and no entertainment.

 

http://www.beyondships2.com/

 

Has some great info including menus for Escape.

Edited January 4, 2016 by kneught77

[bcolli]

We are not cruising for a while yet, but am reading some things that are surprisingly negative for a new ship! :( Now, we have cruised many times before and know full well to take everything with a grain of salt, but wanted to get some honest opinions........we are a very easy going family and most things people write about don't bother us, but......maybe some things can be changed/fixed before we sail since it's so far away.....

 

 

 

Is there really a bad smoke problem on board? Am reading many posts that there is a bad smoke smell all over the ship - not just next to the casino or smoking area.....:confused:

 

 

 

Creaking?? People have written they couldn't sleep or sit outside on their balcony because it was so loud....:confused:

 

 

 

May seem silly but just wondering - is there really not Jimmy Buffet music playing in "his" venues? Living in South Florida, get plenty of Jimmy, but just curious! :p

 

 

 

We have sailed both RCL's Allure and Oasis so the comments about how crowded it is doesn't bother us - but seems to be a big complaint....

 

 

 

We were choosing between Escape and Getaway - aren't things supposed to get better as you learn more as you go?????:p

 

 

Been on Breakaway and Escape - yes, the smoke is strong around the casino area ... 6/7/8 ... Not the rest of the ships.

 

Didn't notice any creeking - stayed in aft balconies.

 

I think you will get what you make of it. If you want to complain you can. If you want to enjoy the best, you will.

[CruisinHarvey]

We are not cruising for a while yet, but am reading some things that are surprisingly negative for a new ship! :( Now, we have cruised many times before and know full well to take everything with a grain of salt, but wanted to get some honest opinions........we are a very easy going family and most things people write about don't bother us, but......maybe some things can be

changed/fixed before we sail since it's so far away.....

 

 

 

Been on the Getaway twice last year. On the Escape once last year, and have Feb 6th cruise scheduled. Both ships are really similar. A few more pay for options on the Escape.

 

Is there really a bad smoke problem on board? Am reading many posts that there is a bad smoke smell all over the ship - not just next to the casino or smoking area.....:confused: not really. I've heard complaints about smoke on cruise ships for years. Being an ex smoker I really notice it myself. It's way over blown

 

Creaking?? People have written they couldn't sleep or sit outside on their balcony because it was so loud....:confused: Various areas of the ship do creak during higher seas or winds. While we noticed it, it didn't effect our sleeping.

May seem silly but just wondering - is there really not Jimmy Buffet music playing in "his" venues? Living in South Florida, get plenty of Jimmy, but just curious! :p Nope no Jimmy Buffet music. Not sure why anyone would be there. Actually, hardly anyone is going there anymore.

 

We have sailed both RCL's Allure and Oasis so the comments about how crowded it is doesn't bother us - but seems to be a big complaint.... Didn't notice crowds at all, other than the pool deck. For that, I think folks need to get used to it. It's 1 deck. On a sea, most all the passengers are in one spot. What do they expect?

We were choosing between Escape and Getaway - aren't things supposed to get better as you learn more as you go?????:p

 

You'd be fine with either, as there's not much difference.

[jpuglvr]

Trying to decide between a cruise on the Escape or one on RCL Liberty of Seas. I have a few concerns about the Escape. As a family of five we were only able to get a family OV room on deck 5, I've never cruised on the lowest deck and also am concerned if the smoke will be bad on this deck due to its location near the casino. Another thing is that it seems like their kids club closes at 5 each day for a break so they don't offer dining for the kids like RCL, is that correct? That alone may be a deal breaker for me since my kids don't want to do the long dinners and I don't want to wait til 7 to eat without them. Thanks for any insights anyone has on this ship so far!

[FreestyleNovice]

Which complimentary restaurant has the best food for a "foodie" who enjoys fresh, unique meals. anyone have sample menus? i want to make reservations, but i am not sure which one would suit our taste better.

 

Food Republic as above. Presentation and menu is unique. Won't find that in the MDR's or O'Sheehans/asian venues.

[newcastlemam]

Trying to decide between a cruise on the Escape or one on RCL Liberty of Seas. I have a few concerns about the Escape. As a family of five we were only able to get a family OV room on deck 5, I've never cruised on the lowest deck and also am concerned if the smoke will be bad on this deck due to its location near the casino. Another thing is that it seems like their kids club closes at 5 each day for a break so they don't offer dining for the kids like RCL, is that correct? That alone may be a deal breaker for me since my kids don't want to do the long dinners and I don't want to wait til 7 to eat without them. Thanks for any insights anyone has on this ship so far!

 

 

I would love an answer to the kids club question too as this was the only thing putting me off booking escape. We have booked anyway and decided if we are correct in our presumption that they won't take the children to dinner we can take them to the garden cafe during that time then drop them at kids club before we go for our dinner.

[andriamay]

Question...can you check water/soda with the porter k. The escape? If so is their a limit per room of cases of water. I've been reading contradictory things on the subject.

[hpecorari]

Question...can you check water/soda with the porter k. The escape? If so is their a limit per room of cases of water. I've been reading contradictory things on the subject.

 

Yes, you can carry it on or stick a luggage tag on it and check it with your other luggage. I'm not aware of a limit per person or per room.

 

Harriet

[andriamay]

Yes, you can carry it on or stick a luggage tag on it and check it with your other luggage. I'm not aware of a limit per person or per room.

 

 

 

Harriet

 

 

Thank you, I thought so!

[Driberif1]

Thank you, I thought so!

 

There was 3 of us on the Getaway and we took on one case of water each and that was fine, not sure how much more you could take (or want to take). We are going on the escape April 2nd and plan on doing the same thing.

[msdurk]

Anyone know this info?

 

How deep the the Spa pools are, concerned for non-swimmers.

 

Do they patrol the heated loungers if people are tying them up for a long period of time?

 

Thanks for any info you can help me with.

Edited January 11, 2016 by msdurk

[wrcjr98]

I have a spa question as well - does anyone have a copy of the "menu" with prices/descriptions of services?

Love this thread - tons of info!!

[Vyhanek]

I've done the kids club thing for many years. Mine are teens now.

 

There is no exceptions to the 7pm entrance into the kids club. In fact, they will keep the door locked and it might be 7:06pm before they open up. There will be a line of families waiting to re-register the kids back in as other parents are doing the same thing as you.

 

Then, the check in process each and every time can be very long and SLOW. You don't want there to be 10 families in front of you in line waiting to check their child in. It could be 7:15 before your drop off is complete!

 

Unlike Carnival and Royal, NCL does not take the children to dinner. With the exception of one night. One night they will take a very limited number of kids early to dinner. I can't remember how many kids they take but there will be a sign up list. Once that list is full, it's full. This issue has been a continuing issue with NCL. It has been a common complaint for at least the 10 years I've been cruising with them. It definitely is a reason you might want to stick to the other lines that take the kids to dinner. If you have a kid that really won't sit thru a long dinner....and on NCL the dinner can be long, sometimes north of 2 hours if you are in the main dining room!!

 

The other sticky thing about NCL is that the Kids Club is not open for regular programing while the ship is in port. Once the ship leaves port, then kids club resumes as normal but no Kids Club in port. They will offer a babysitting service where you pay an additional fee to a ship kid crew member for babysitting. The issue with this is you can get anything. It is the Kids Crew staff but they are not obligated to show the kids a good time. Once my kids had an awesome time with a gal who took them all over the ship playing basketball and chess and found some ice cream. The next time the babysitter had them sit and watch Disney movies the entire time the adults were gone on our scuba excursion. Also, it's an additional charge and pretty expensive. The other cruise lines will run regular kids club programing everyday.....even if the ship is in port and at no additional charge. This again has been an ongoing issue with the NCL kids club.

 

As far as the activities the kids do while in the kid club, it's remarkably similar to all the other cruise lines. They play all sorts of fun games, treasure hunts, parades, Survivor type challenges and Minute to Win it contests. It is a fun time.

[bucade]

We leave in 18 days and I have seen that lounge chairs around the pool are hard to get if not "reserved" early in the morning...was wondering if this was the same at Spice H2O? Anyone have trouble over in that area too with getting a lounge chair?

[cubsfan2008]

Thanks for all the help

[CruisinHarvey]

We leave in 18 days and I have seen that lounge chairs around the pool are hard to get if not "reserved" early in the morning...was wondering if this was the same at Spice H2O? Anyone have trouble over in that area too with getting a lounge chair?

 

Spice isn't as bad. I wouldn't wait until afternoon, but you don't have go out early. And, as far as saving loungers on main pool deck, we didn't find it's any worse than any other NCL ship we've sailed on. People always go out early and save them. This is nothing unique to the Escape at all. It's pretty much same, same, whether it's jewel, dawn or away class.