Escape Review of the 3-day Hamburg -Southampton

[SuiteCruisin14]

A little late to the review party but here we go. Not good at uploading photos but will give a go.

 

NCL Escape 3 day from Hamburg to Southampton.

GETTING TO KNOW US

We in our late 60’s and we are active seniors who have done 29 cruises over the last 30 years. This was the end of 15 days in Europe to celebrate our 50th Anniversary. We like the Freestyle NCL offers but have done other lines as well.

 

We had never done a “new” ship right off the dock and we were excited to be part of all the newness seeing it before others. Hubby and I anticipated that there were to be glitches in many areas and knew we would be the ships Guinea Pigs as staff had not had passengers yet.

 

SO, knowing all that, here is our review:

 

FRIDAY NIGHT CELEBRATION IN PORT OF HAMBURG: We were privileged to be in Hamburg on the Friday night when Hamburg welcomed the Escape. There were hundreds of people out and about to see her in all her slender and to watch the fireworks. Before the celebration, there were people on the docks in yellow slickers handing out Escape umbrella to the crowd. We snatched two of them. I was also interviewed on German public TV about sailing on the ship on Sunday.

Very Funny Story: A couple on the dock saw that we were actual passengers of the ship and wanted a photo of us with the ship in the background.

 

 

ARRIVAL TO PORT We arrived at 10:30 AM and we were on board about 12:15. The going was slow and there was a "Disney" line to get on the ship. As expected, crew had some confusion but handled each request from passengers as quickly as possible in our area. We were in Group 12 to board.

Embarkation was not as cruisers expect because there was no baggage assistance. For us, it was no issue as we were doing the 3 day, however, those getting on for the Transatlantic definitely struggled. Also, those with mobility issues or in wheelchairs were without assistance where we were.

 

OUR CABIN We have not booked an inside cabin for some time but because this was a 3 day cruise and we anticipated we would be exploring the ship most of the time, we chose an inside cabin, 13463. The best surprise was the bathroom, very large, lots of space to store things and the shower was wonderful. I am not a fan of climbing over the tub to shower so this was perfect.

We are not over packers so we found plenty of storage in the cabin. In the closet, we had 12 hangers, a safe, and several shelves along with space under the hanging side to store shoes. The bed had 2 small night tables with shelves in each one. I did not check under the bed for storage, too much to see and too little time. There was a built in table/desk with small bench and a refrigerator built in also.

Our cabin was set up to hold 3 people but the third bunk would have been too claustrophobic for me. The cabin hallways seemed bigger than on the smaller ships

The cabin needed a room card to keep power on so we threw in a grocery store card and everything worked and we still had our keys.

SHIP This was our first cruise on a ship of this size and huge it was. Our cabin was forward and we walked a lot to get to everywhere. In my younger days, this was not an issue but I think the mega ships are not for me, just a personal choice.

We explored everything we could and other than being huge, the ship was beautiful and the Waterfront truly brought back the Promenade Deck of the older ships.

My DH did the ropes course while still in port and it looked intense to me. Throughout the 3 days, the kids and adults who climbed the course were having a lot of fun. There was also a mini version of the course built in so the younger kids had a course to do. The water park was immense and rivaled some water parks in the US and kids were using it. I thought the tots water area was well done and had many things for the toddlers to do. We did not see Teen or Kids area as we had no need.

 

DRINKING ESTABLISMENTS (We had the Caps and Corks package)

We went to Tobacco Road, The Cellars, The District Brew House, 5 O’clock Somewhere and Spice H2O. We never waited for a drink, service was quick. There were some vintages of wine and several brews that were not available but this was a shakedown cruise and we always found something we liked. Drinks did come with a port tax that we were not expecting but nothing outrageous. The only thing on our NCL account at the end was some minor gift shop purchases and the $20 odd taxes.

Spice H2O was a great late night place but rain and weather kept the crowds away. I think this will become VERY busy on the Caribbean cruises.

 

DINING VENUES (We had no paid meal plans)

We ate at both dining rooms, Garden Cafe buffet and O’Sheehans.

First night, the service v e r y slow but we expected something would happen as this was the first time the dining room was full for the staff to practice on. Same dining room next time was great.

We had breakfast in O’Sheehan’s and the selections for us seemed very limited. Lunch menu had more options.

We found the food in the dining room delicious and well presented. Always a good mix of selections with vegetarian options, also.

 

One thing NOT to our liking in the main dining room, items for a price. Prime Rib and 2 other items were on the menu but for an additional $14.95+. These main dining rooms are our only place left without a la carte and we were very disappointed to see them there. Come on NCL, at least leave the Main Dining alone.

 

There were a few hiccups like dessert and coffee taking forever, waiters not sure what table they were serving and trying to order drinks in the dining room. We expected this on the 3 day and waited patiently (sometimes).

The Buffet was well laid out and both sides had the same items so easy to find a small line. There was a bar within the Buffet that made getting a beer or drink very easy. I fell in love with the Pasta Bar, made to order with sauce and ingredient choices. There were no Hot Dogs or Hamburgers but maybe the Margaritaville at Sea was for hamburgers. The one time we went to it, it was raining and this is an outside venue.

 

ENTERTAINMENT

We only saw Million Dollar Quartet and needed no reservation to get a seat at the 7 PM show. The young musicians were amazing and portrayed the characters excellently. Not to be missed.

 

We went to the Howl at the Moon first night and I howled long and loud, LOL Music was good and piano players were energetic and had incredible talent. I am told I howled until 1 am but don’t remember. We went back on night 2 but crowd was not into it and we left. Night 3 was back to night one caliber.

 

The Casino seemed to be bigger than any at sea we had seen. It was nice because there was no smell of smoke yet. I put $5 in a slot on day 1 and came away with $37.50. Wish I could be more exciting about the Casino but we just did not have time to see everything and stay there.

 

We are not smokers so I cannot comment on this but we did not see any smokers in the casino.

 

DISEMBARKATION

We had a reservation on the National Express from Southampton to Victoria Station for 9:30AM. We were off the ship and taxied to the National Express in plenty of time. We had no idea how far the Victoria Station was from Heathrow but the nice young lady changed our tickets at the counter and it was worth the 40 pounds to get on the right bus. We heard that NCL was selling transfers for $75 but I don’t know if that was per person or couple. Having read CC info, we did not pay anywhere near that much even with the change.

 

All in all our experience was positive, we knew the ship would have issues but for us, they were few.

The staff and crew were always on hand to take care of passenger issues with one exception but that was eventually dealt with.

 

Having an inside cabin was okay for the 3 day but we agree we need to see out.

Because of the weather, we can’t comment on chair huggers, kids in the adult pool, or any people smoking where they should not be.

 

We attended the Meet & Greet and the Cabin Crawl and met some wonderful new friends we will keep forever.

 

Many thanks to Kyle, Cherie and Anita for all the hard work organizing all the activities, it made a difference.

[Sauer-kraut]

Because of the weather, we can’t comment on chair huggers, kids in the adult pool, or any people smoking where they should not be.

 

Just laughing here, much nicer picture of people hugging the loungers instead of hogging them. At least there is a body there! LOL :D

[portofrome]

Thank you for the review.

[TrumpyNor]

DISEMBARKATION

We had a reservation on the National Express from Southampton to Victoria Station for 9:30AM. We were off the ship and taxied to the National Express in plenty of time. We had no idea how far the Victoria Station was from Heathrow but the nice young lady changed our tickets at the counter and it was worth the 40 pounds to get on the right bus. We heard that NCL was selling transfers for $75 but I don’t know if that was per person or couple. Having read CC info, we did not pay anywhere near that much even with the change.

 

I just wanted to say that we pre-booked the National Express coach from Southampton to Heathrow, and paid only 42 GBP for two persons (21 GBP p.p.) - and that is just a "fraction" of the NCL price of $75 p.p. ($150 for two persons)!!!

 

We attended the Meet & Greet and the Cabin Crawl and met some wonderful new friends we will keep forever.

 

Many thanks to Kyle, Cherie and Anita for all the hard work organizing all the activities, it made a difference.

 

Thank you for your kind words, it was great to meet you as well!

Keep in touch!

 

Anita

Edited November 12, 2015 by TrumpyNor

[GUEST080219]

DRINKING ESTABLISMENTS (We had the Caps and Corks package)

We went to Tobacco Road, The Cellars, The District Brew House, 5 O’clock Somewhere and Spice H2O. We never waited for a drink, service was quick. There were some vintages of wine and several brews that were not available but this was a shakedown cruise and we always found something we liked. Drinks did come with a port tax that we were not expecting but nothing outrageous. The only thing on our NCL account at the end was some minor gift shop purchases and the $20 odd taxes.

Spice H2O was a great late night place but rain and weather kept the crowds away. I think this will become VERY busy on the Caribbean cruises.

 

On board the guest relations staff was incredible rude about the tax charges but the Central Europe office credited the british taxes back to my bank account as it was a "glitch" in their system. For prepaid UBP there should have been no taxes on each individual drink.

 

Probably not many of those affected did contact NCL after being told on board that it is absolutely correct and there is nothing to be done about it. So a nice additional revenue stream for them.

[fabnfortysomething]

we were in Howl at the Moon and could see you at the front having a good dance!

 

I was also howling along to the songs-in fact my husband remarked he thought a cat being strangled had sneaked in:D

 

We didn't have additional taxes on drinks for the 2 day Hamburg to Southampton leg but did for the next 2 days-I assumed that was because we never reached international waters having just sailed past Isle of Wight and into the channel

[Nalagh]

I really enjoyed reading your review. Our roll call group is a fantastic fun bunch. :)

 

Cherie

[SuiteCruisin14]

Just laughing here, much nicer picture of people hugging the loungers instead of hogging them. At least there is a body there! LOL :D

 

I think I shall continue to call them huggers, it was unintentional but I like it too.

[SuiteCruisin14]

I really enjoyed reading your review. Our roll call group is a fantastic fun bunch. :)

 

Cherie

 

It was great meeting you and Kyle, would sail anywhere with you.

[funat55]

Thanks for posting your review. My turn to go on the Escape is in February and I can hardly wait. Glad to hear you had a good time.