Escape 1/16/16=1/23/16 first time NCL, first week long cruise

[duchesslt]

Hi! I thought I'd leave my impressions of my Escape cruise as a first time week long cruiser and a first time NCL customer. I travelled with a 70 year old mom and a 12 year old son. I had the UDP but no drink package.EmbarkationFor whatever reason, we showed up at noon thinking we'd be avoiding the crowds but check in was held up. Lines were long but once check in began, the whole process took about 45 minutes from back of the line to getting on the ship. Our rooms were ready right away which was nice.Overall ship look and feelIt was a massive ship. It reminded me of a more modern Vegas strip hotel - like the Cosmopolitan. I thought the Manhattan room was very well done, very pretty and understated. The specialty restaurants were theme decorated nicely. The pool area was very small but the kids/family waterpark was quite big. Spice H2O grotto/bar was cute. The casino was surprisingly large. The kids club was big and done up each night to match the activity theme. Very inviting.Mid-ship Mini Suite 13198The layout was nice, it was comfortable for 3 - I think 4 would've been pushing it. The bathroom size was great - a real shower, enough room to change. The balcony was an adequate size for 2 sitting, 3 standing. Recommendation: get a port side room on Escape with a balcony. You get a memorable sail away from Tortola cruising past the BVI and USVI. We went past Peters, Norman, Jost Van Dyke, St John, St Thomas and ultimately Puerto Rico. A beautiful afternoon sitting with a glass of wine on the balcony - great views, very relaxing.Our room steward did a great job keeping it neat, and was very attentive to the fact that our room service card was missed twice. He had a supervisor come down and apologize for the mishap and they personally ensured we got our morning coffee the rest of the trip. It was a nice gesture.Specialty restaurantsI travel a lot for work and have had the opportunity to eat at some of the best restaurants in the world. I thought you should take that into account when considering my opinion.Teppanyaki - VERY good. The filet looked very fresh and the shrimp were excellent quality. Good flavors, fun family show. The green tea cake was not good. Cagneys - EXTREMELY good. Porterhouse was excellent, all steak sauces were good flavor, excellent sides, great understated service, very good chocolate cake dessert. I put it up there with a Morton's or a Ruth Chris or a Capital Grille.Le Bistro - Good. Decent bouillabaisse, good salad, ok crème brulee. Bayamo - not very good. Started out with an extremely good salad, but the lobster entrée was almost inedible. Chewy lobster, sauce flavors had not "gelled" and tasted like salt and overcooked peppers and they forgot the stuffed chile that was supposed to accompany it - came with a flavorless black beans and mushy rice that didn't go with the entrée. Dessert was not memorable. The restaurant is getting a budget to close it off from the bar/atrium area as neither Jose Garces or the cruisers felt it was a great dining experience with the loudness of the location.Pinchos Tapas bar - EXCELLENT. Well worth the $7 flat charge. Great grilled shrimp, excellent chorizo, very good blue crab salad, awesome potatoes, great service. Really surprised us - a must for UDP or SDP lunch or afternoon snacks. Get a nice glass of wine to go with it.Food Republic - VERY EXCELLENT. I was surprised again by the quality and portion of the tiger roll, the soba noodles with pork belly, the beef anticuchones. For you coconut lovers, the coconut dessert I'd rank in the top 5 desserts I've had anywhere. It came in a coconut shell, coconut glace, coconut mousse, coconut shavings, bits of pineapple. All the food presentation was beautiful and the flavors amazing.Main Dining room - very nice atmosphere, piano player excellent. Not slow on our sailing. Food was ok - not on par with specialty restaurants but decent - would compare it to quality of eating at a chain restaurant. Margaritaville - nachos ok. That's all I had for lunch one day. Huge portion fed 3 and we were full.O Sheehan's - only brought my son after kids club for a snack. Very nice staff, not very good food.CasinoGet ready for your clothes to reek of smoke. I love the smell of cigarette smoke but had to get a separate laundry bag for my "casino clothes". I would change into specific clothes just to gamble.I played blackjack and had the misfortune of getting an extremely rude dealer. His attitude left me shocked and other cruisers happened to have run into him and, like me, left the table. He is from Romania and if he gets rotated to your table, leave. Blackjack also pays 6:5 vs. 3:2 on the lower wager table which I thought was pretty cheap of Norwegian. The slots were up and down. I was in the casino every night after dinner for 2-3 hours and never saw a big jackpot hit. I was lucky to get a few hits that let me pay down my gambling account. Overall, broke even on a 7 day sailing. Also ran into rude floor staff at casino, berating me for not being able to print my voucher. The crew that pays out at counter was pleasant.Guest ServicesI was there quite a lot paying down my gambling account. Most of guest services was very nice. One lady (Lucia) went out of her way to make sure I got my 25% UDP discount at food republic. One Asian lady with half head shaved was EXTREMELY rude. She printed my account and informed me I owed 2700. I explained that I had receipts showing I had been paying down my gambling account all week. She shot back that I must've forgotten a lot of what I charged. I politely asked her to please call finance, and they were able to sort out my account. In the end, I owed $200 and what was surprising is she never apologized for her attitude. Another Argentinian woman was rude about confusion over the credit back to my account for 3 cancellations of the brat pack show.Guest Services was hit or miss. I left with the impression that they must have a lot of people try to rip them off. Also, that they are not empowered to fix accounts as anytime a credit was due (like honoring the 25% UDP Food Republic discount), they had to speak to a manager. Kids Club and Family WaterparkMy son had a blast. The staff here was incredibly nice, upbeat and really went above and beyond to make it a fun experience fo the kids. My son always wanted to stay until the end of the nightly theme activities and one night begged me to pay for extra time after 1030.He also had a blast on the waterpark slides. He got stuck in the freefall because he didn't remove his swim shirt and screamed bloody murder not realizing there was an "emergency exit" trap door that got him out quickly. Still, he went back on without his shirt and conquered his fear.The family slide was a lot of fun, too.Pool AreaRude, rude, rude cruisers hogging rows of chairs. Area is too small for days at sea. If your vacation goal is to sit by the pool be warned you will have to do battle for a chair. I also found the noise level at the pool to be almost unbearable but I didn't have a Drink package and sobriety might've had a lot to do with my not wanting to be there :)Glow Party at Spice H20I was really wowed by the kick off to the Spice H20 glow party. That was a very fun family activity. Be sure to get there by 1020 to see the glow party choreographed kick off. A good time for all ages.ShowsMillion Dollar quartet was cancelled for the week due to supposed staff illness. Rumor has it there is a drinking problem with one of the cast members. Was disappointed. Some cruisers were staging a mutiny at guest services - may explain how guest services gets worn down. What can they do?Brat Pack was cancelled pretty much all week, too. Cast member injury. Guest services couldn't take care of the refund and sent me to box office. Here I encountered another extremely rude employee insisting I was credited right. I finally was able to get him to listen to the fact that I had prepaid the show and the credit for the prepay was missing. Again, there seems to be staff that is trained to assume cruisers are trying to rip the company off!My mom and I enjoyed After Midnight. Very talented cast and classic American music. Most cruisers seem to find it boring and I saw a few leaving.Comedians were very good. Rodney was hilarious and Mark's skit about the old school playgrounds had me cracking up. We saw it in the theater substituting one of the Million Dollar quartet slots. Theater bar was never open.Other activitiesI did the radical rides adventure in Tortola with my son - a must do. So much fun boating in the channel across various Islands. Got bruised launching off a wake, but I used to jet ski so I was aiming for them.Discover St Thomas (Megans Bay and Blackbeard's Castle) - the tour ends at Blackbeard - you walk down the 99 steps and end up in downtown. You have to pay to get back to the ship - I told Norwegian that return transportation was extra so they would change their adverstising that it was included in the excursion price but the excursion staff just blew me off on that one. I didn't request a refund - the difference was $12 for 3 of us but was surprised staff didn't thank us for informing them of the advertising discrepancy. Megan's Bay was not too crowded but we were first there. It's beautiful.BahamasI think Nassau is a pit. I brought my mom to see Atlantis. She enjoyed walking around the shops, casino. We didn't pay for a tour of the guest only grounds.DisembarkationThis was a mess. I don't recommend early walk off. The line was horrifically long, from aft elevators wrapping around dining room - narrow. I had to lug 4 bags as mom over packed. Regret the stress of having booked an early flight but I did make a 955 just not with time to spare. I suggest you book a later flight, enjoy breakfast, have your bags brought out, and avoid crowds.Overall impression: Escape is a floating Vegas style resort. A great time for kids - planned for family sailings and activities. Some very good restaurants. Some very nice staff and then some very, very rude staff who seem to not want to listen to the customer. Feel free to ask me questions - will do my best to answer.

[duchesslt]

I organized the above with subject headers and paragraphs. Somehow it posted as a wall of text. It's not letting me edit! I get a blank when hit edit.Sorry about this. Will try again.

[duchesslt]

Hi! I thought I'd leave my impressions of my Escape cruise as a first time week long cruiser and a first time NCL customer. I travelled with a 70 year old mom and a 12 year old son. I had the UDP but no drink package.

 

Embarkation

For whatever reason, we showed up at noon thinking we'd be avoiding the crowds but check in was held up. Lines were long but once check in began, the whole process took about 45 minutes from back of the line to getting on the ship. Our rooms were ready right away which was nice.

 

Overall ship look and feel

It was a massive ship. It reminded me of a more modern Vegas strip hotel - like the Cosmopolitan. I thought the Manhattan room was very well done, very pretty and understated. The specialty restaurants were theme decorated nicely. The pool area was very small but the kids/family waterpark was quite big. Spice H2O grotto/bar was cute. The casino was surprisingly large. The kids club was big and done up each night to match the activity theme. Very inviting.

 

Mid-ship Mini Suite 13198

The layout was nice, it was comfortable for 3 - I think 4 would've been pushing it. The bathroom size was great - a real shower, enough room to change. The balcony was an adequate size for 2 sitting, 3 standing.

 

Recommendation: get a port side room on Escape with a balcony. You get a memorable sail away from Tortola cruising past the BVI and USVI. We went past Peters, Norman, Jost Van Dyke, St John, St Thomas and ultimately Puerto Rico. A beautiful afternoon sitting with a glass of wine on the balcony - great views, very relaxing.

 

Our room steward did a great job keeping it neat, and was very attentive to the fact that our room service card was missed twice. He had a supervisor come down and apologize for the mishap and they personally ensured we got our morning coffee the rest of the trip. It was a nice gesture.

 

Specialty restaurants

I travel a lot for work and have had the opportunity to eat at some of the best restaurants in the world. I thought you should take that into account when considering my opinion.

 

Teppanyaki - VERY good. The filet looked very fresh and the shrimp were excellent quality. Good flavors, fun family show. The green tea cake was not good.

 

Cagneys - EXTREMELY good. Porterhouse was excellent, all steak sauces were good flavor, excellent sides, great understated service, very good chocolate cake dessert. I put it up there with a Morton's or a Ruth Chris or a Capital Grille.

 

Le Bistro - Good. Decent bouillabaisse, good salad, ok crème brulee.

 

Bayamo - not very good. Started out with an extremely good salad, but the lobster entrée was almost inedible. Chewy lobster, sauce flavors had not "gelled" and tasted like salt and overcooked peppers and they forgot the stuffed chile that was supposed to accompany it - came with a flavorless black beans and mushy rice that didn't go with the entrée. Dessert was not memorable. The restaurant is getting a budget to close it off from the bar/atrium area as neither Jose Garces or the cruisers felt it was a great dining experience with the loudness of the location.

 

Pinchos Tapas bar - EXCELLENT. Well worth the $7 flat charge. Great grilled shrimp, excellent chorizo, very good blue crab salad, awesome potatoes, great service. Really surprised us - a must for UDP or SDP lunch or afternoon snacks. Get a nice glass of wine to go with it.

 

Food Republic - VERY EXCELLENT. I was surprised again by the quality and portion of the tiger roll, the soba noodles with pork belly, the beef anticuchones. For you coconut lovers, the coconut dessert I'd rank in the top 5 desserts I've had anywhere. It came in a coconut shell, coconut glace, coconut mousse, coconut shavings, bits of pineapple. All the food presentation was beautiful and the flavors amazing.

 

Main Dining room - very nice atmosphere, piano player excellent. Not slow on our sailing. Food was ok - not on par with specialty restaurants but decent - would compare it to quality of eating at a chain restaurant.

 

Margaritaville - nachos ok. That's all I had for lunch one day. Huge portion fed 3 and we were full.

 

O Sheehan's - only brought my son after kids club for a snack. Very nice staff, not very good food.

 

Casino

Get ready for your clothes to reek of smoke. I love the smell of cigarette smoke but had to get a separate laundry bag for my "casino clothes". I would change into specific clothes just to gamble.

 

I played blackjack and had the misfortune of getting an extremely rude dealer. His attitude left me shocked and other cruisers happened to have run into him and, like me, left the table. He is from Romania and if he gets rotated to your table, leave. Blackjack also pays 6:5 vs. 3:2 on the lower wager table which I thought was pretty cheap of Norwegian.

 

The slots were up and down. I was in the casino every night after dinner for 2-3 hours and never saw a big jackpot hit. I was lucky to get a few hits that let me pay down my gambling account. Overall, broke even on a 7 day sailing. Also ran into rude floor staff at casino, berating me for not being able to print my voucher. The crew that pays out at counter was pleasant.

 

Guest Services

I was there quite a lot paying down my gambling account. Most of guest services was very nice. One lady (Lucia) went out of her way to make sure I got my 25% UDP discount at food republic. One Asian lady with half head shaved was EXTREMELY rude. She printed my account and informed me I owed 2700. I explained that I had receipts showing I had been paying down my gambling account all week. She shot back that I must've forgotten a lot of what I charged. I politely asked her to please call finance, and they were able to sort out my account. In the end, I owed $200 and what was surprising is she never apologized for her attitude. Another Argentinian woman was rude about confusion over the credit back to my account for 3 cancellations of the brat pack show.Guest Services was hit or miss. I left with the impression that they must have a lot of people try to rip them off. Also, that they are not empowered to fix accounts as anytime a credit was due (like honoring the 25% UDP Food Republic discount), they had to speak to a manager.

 

Kids Club and Family Waterpark

 

My son had a blast. The staff here was incredibly nice, upbeat and really went above and beyond to make it a fun experience fo the kids. My son always wanted to stay until the end of the nightly theme activities and one night begged me to pay for extra time after 1030.He also had a blast on the water park slides. He got stuck in the free fall because he didn't remove his swim shirt and screamed bloody murder not realizing there was an "emergency exit" trap door that got him out quickly. Still, he went back on without his shirt and conquered his fear.The family slide was a lot of fun, too.

 

Pool Area

Rude, rude, rude cruisers hogging rows of chairs. Area is too small for days at sea. If your vacation goal is to sit by the pool be warned you will have to do battle for a chair. I also found the noise level at the pool to be almost unbearable but I didn't have a Drink package and sobriety might've had a lot to do with my not wanting to be there :)Glow Party at Spice H20I was really wowed by the kick off to the Spice H20 glow party. That was a very fun family activity. Be sure to get there by 1020 to see the glow party choreographed kick off. A good time for all ages.

 

Shows

Million Dollar quartet was cancelled for the week due to supposed staff illness. Rumor has it there is a drinking problem with one of the cast members. Was disappointed. Some cruisers were staging a mutiny at guest services - may explain how guest services gets worn down. What can they do?

 

Brat Pack was cancelled pretty much all week, too. Cast member injury. Guest services couldn't take care of the refund and sent me to box office. Here I encountered another extremely rude employee insisting I was credited right. I finally was able to get him to listen to the fact that I had prepaid the show and the credit for the prepay was missing. Again, there seems to be staff that is trained to assume cruisers are trying to rip the company off!

 

My mom and I enjoyed After Midnight. Very talented cast and classic American music. Most cruisers seem to find it boring and I saw a few leaving.

 

Comedians were very good. Rodney was hilarious and Mark's skit about the old school playgrounds had me cracking up. We saw it in the theater substituting one of the Million Dollar quartet slots. Theater bar was never open.

 

Other activities

I did the radical rides adventure in Tortola with my son - a must do. So much fun boating in the channel across various Islands. Got bruised launching off a wake, but I used to jet ski so I was aiming for them.Discover St Thomas (Magen's Bay and Blackbeard's Castle) - the tour ends at Blackbeard - you walk down the 99 steps and end up in downtown. You have to pay to get back to the ship - I told Norwegian that return transportation was extra so they would change their advertising that it was included in the excursion price but the excursion staff just blew me off on that one. I didn't request a refund - the difference was $12 for 3 of us but was surprised staff didn't thank us for informing them of the advertising discrepancy. Magen's Bay was not too crowded but we were first there. It's beautiful.

 

Bahamas

I think Nassau is a pit. I brought my mom to see Atlantis. She enjoyed walking around the shops, casino. We didn't pay for a tour of the guest only grounds.

 

Disembarkation

This was a mess. I don't recommend early walk off. The line was horrifically long, from aft elevators wrapping around dining room - narrow. I had to lug 4 bags as mom over packed. Regret the stress of having booked an early flight but I did make a 955 just not with time to spare. I suggest you book a later flight, enjoy breakfast, have your bags brought out, and avoid crowds.

 

Overall impression: Escape is a floating Vegas style resort. A great time for kids - planned for family sailings and activities. Some very good restaurants. Some very nice staff and then some very, very rude staff who seem to not want to listen to the customer.

 

Would I sail NCL again? Yes, for my kids I would. For adults - I wouldn't consider this for a couple but for multi-generational family vacations they do a good job of having something for everyone.

 

Feel free to ask me questions - will do my best to answer.

[TheDougOut]

Great review... thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts!

 

I loved your comments about balcony views after leaving Tortola. We're boarding on Saturday... with everyone in our group having port-side balconies. :)

[Yorkvillain]

Thanks for the review. I loved the breakdown of all the restaurants.

[mjkacmom]

Great review! If you want to avoid lines, get to the port early, or late - noon is probably the most crowded.

[duchesslt]

Forgot to mention for the experienced NCL cruisers

 

Spoke with various multi-NCL cruisers who noted Escape was ok but they enjoyed Getaway a lot more. I asked for specifics but no one could really give one, it was an overall experience on the ship. Perhaps the show cancellations and hit or miss staff may have had something to do with it.

 

I forgot to note that there is a ridiculously rude bartender at Tobacco road. I saw him make fun of a cruiser who did not speak English, and ironically the bartender is no native English speaker either.

 

I think perhaps the "mixed crew" (from excellent to must be fired) made this a tough cruise to absolutely love.

[Chipster2]

Thanks for posting your review. Looking forward to checking out the Escape myself soon.

[Obx_1974]

Seems to be quite a few reports of the ship experiencing more motion than other NCL ships. How did the ship behave on your cruise compared to other ships you have sailed?

[duchesslt]

Seems to be quite a few reports of the ship experiencing more motion than other NCL ships. How did the ship behave on your cruise compared to other ships you have sailed?

 

The seas were pretty flat on our sailing. I never even really felt like I was at sea. Only 1 night/day on the way back from Tortola sailing northwest Atlantic over Puerto Rico/Dominican could you feel you were at sea. No one in my party got sick. Some cruisers did get sick.

[duchesslt]

Oops - also forgot to rate La Cucina, Atrium Coffee, Bake Shop, and the Buffet. Also the Atrium area.

 

La Cucina

 

I expected bad Italian based on reviews. I ordered the Capellini with fresh mozarella. It wasn't bad. For my entree I had the Veal Marsala - veal was good, marsala a bit thick and salty (and I don't mind salt but for salt haters it would've been rough). The Panna Cotta dessert was ok, too.

 

Buffet/Coffee

 

I only went once for breakfast and once for a salad. I am somewhat grossed out by buffets so am not the best person to review them. I had the omelet station make me scrambled eggs, as the powdered ones didn't look appetizing. The salad section was sparse on choices but everything was fresh.

 

Ship coffee is like motor oil, but us caffeine addicts made do. I had a couple of coffees at the atrium coffee shop and the Lavazza latte was good.

 

My mother enjoyed almost all the buffet food she had. She has been on a few cruises and thought it was a very good buffet, good enough to skip the charges for the specialty restaurants.

 

My son and mom really enjoyed the pasta station. I tried his spaghetti bolognese and thought it was perfect hangover/comfort food if you wake up late one day and need carbs/fat.

 

Bake Shop/Gelato

Took my son for cupcakes a couple of times. He enjoyed them. He also enjoyed the Pistachio Gelato..

 

They had small pieces of chocolate to get a sweet fix in that I thought were pretty good.

 

Atrium/OSheehans overlooking Atrium

Had a great time watching the panthers game, dabbin', hootin' and hollering. Great atmosphere to watch games on big screen from O'Sheehans looking down.

 

Rude cruisers tried to hold seats for the second game for the entire first game. I got tired of watching people try to sit for a meal and the rudeness of a lady telling them she was holding them while they showered (for 3 hours) and finally said something to her. I insisted she let someone sit for their meal and if her friends showed up I'd give them and my son's seat.

 

I think my point is on a 4k passenger ship you run into some very uncouth people, such as the guy in his 40s yelling obscenities at an 80 year old couple for cutting the disembarkment line (I always learned elderly go first, respect elderly), but overall the clientele was family oriented and smiling/polite.

Edited January 24, 2016 by duchesslt

[scrappinannie]

Forgot to mention for the experienced NCL cruisers

 

Spoke with various multi-NCL cruisers who noted Escape was ok but they enjoyed Getaway a lot more. I asked for specifics but no one could really give one, it was an overall experience on the ship. Perhaps the show cancellations and hit or miss staff may have had something to do with it.

 

I forgot to note that there is a ridiculously rude bartender at Tobacco road. I saw him make fun of a cruiser who did not speak English, and ironically the bartender is no native English speaker either.

 

I think perhaps the "mixed crew" (from excellent to must be fired) made this a tough cruise to absolutely love.

 

First of all, thank you for taking time to give us your thoughts. Our family is booked on the Escape in April and I'm so glad to hear your positives. I booked La Cucina, Cagney's and Teppanyaki for our family of 4 and it appears as if these may be some great choices. Ours kid are 6 & 9 and it will be their first cruise, so the waterslides/pools, kids clubs and cabins were a huge factor to consider when choosing this cruise. We have a mid ship family mini suite on deck 10 and I am loving the bathroom layout. After sailing Epic last fall we knew we needed a better cabin layout if we were all going to survive the week together in one room! lol

 

Question about St. Thomas....do you think we could do the 99 Steps/Blackbeard's Castle on our own and then go to Mountain Top? We want to keep this a low key, low cost day since we're doing excursions for the other 2 ports and I think the kids would like this area. Any recommendations for lunch, possibly at Mountain Top?

 

Thanks again for your insights. That's what I love about CC!

[duchesslt]

First of all, thank you for taking time to give us your thoughts. Our family is booked on the Escape in April and I'm so glad to hear your positives. I booked La Cucina, Cagney's and Teppanyaki for our family of 4 and it appears as if these may be some great choices. Ours kid are 6 & 9 and it will be their first cruise, so the waterslides/pools, kids clubs and cabins were a huge factor to consider when choosing this cruise. We have a mid ship family mini suite on deck 10 and I am loving the bathroom layout. After sailing Epic last fall we knew we needed a better cabin layout if we were all going to survive the week together in one room! lol

 

Question about St. Thomas....do you think we could do the 99 Steps/Blackbeard's Castle on our own and then go to Mountain Top? We want to keep this a low key, low cost day since we're doing excursions for the other 2 ports and I think the kids would like this area. Any recommendations for lunch, possibly at Mountain Top?

 

Thanks again for your insights. That's what I love about CC!

 

Yes, you can absolutely take a cab to Blackbeard's Castle on your own. When you make it down the 99 steps, you can take a cab to the gondolas for the mountaintop. The earlier you go, the less the crowds. We were one of the first boats to dock. Bring sandwich bags and order the flat $7.95 charge per room service order (regardless of how much you order) - get sandwiches delivered in the AM - and grab a pellegrino bottle and you can save even more.

[gopsu1]

You mentioned how smokey the casino was, I thought they were making a nonsmoking Casino with a glass wall.

[duchesslt]

You mentioned how smokey the casino was, I thought they were making a nonsmoking Casino with a glass wall.

 

I hear they are getting a budget for this and will be doing a retrofit at some point. It was smoky enough where I recommend you bring separate clothes and laundry bags for gambling. My gambling clothes reeked. I love the smell of burning tobacco so I wasn't annoyed but the odor on the clothes and in my hair was pretty stale and offensive!

 

The back part of the casino, closer to the MDR, is "non smoking". The area was barely being used and somewhat of a joke considering the whole 7th floor is open.

[Keith1010]

Thank you for your review.

Keith

[R6bbie]

Holy wall of text in your 1st post, skipped reading review!

Back to school :)

[Sundiego]

Thanks so much for this review! And thanks for taking the time to edit your first wall of text :)

 

I am about to book a "last minute" cruise out of Miami, trying to decide between Escape or Getaway. Have been on Breakaway and Getaway and we wanted to try something new. Not sure I can justify the extra money for Escape. For a balcony guaranty it's $260 more per person. That would make a dent in our bar bill/gambling bill! Still on the fence.

[Sauer-kraut]

Holy wall of text in your 1st post, skipped reading review!

Back to school :)

 

That's really a shame because the OP corrected his review with content headings and broke it down in manageable paragraphs. Just go to post #3!

[duchesslt]

Thanks so much for this review! And thanks for taking the time to edit your first wall of text :)

 

I am about to book a "last minute" cruise out of Miami, trying to decide between Escape or Getaway. Have been on Breakaway and Getaway and we wanted to try something new. Not sure I can justify the extra money for Escape. For a balcony guaranty it's $260 more per person. That would make a dent in our bar bill/gambling bill! Still on the fence.

 

I spoke with loyal NCL cruisers that all unanimously liked Getaway more. None could give a specific reason - just an overall vibe to the ship. I think they are really similar ships and, as a fellow gambler, I would probably opt to put the $520 difference on the line in the casino.

 

Also, if ports matter, on Escape I enjoyed Tortola because I piloted my own boat and got to go across the channel through various neighboring islands on a gorgeous day in flat waters. St Thomas is ok. But Nassau - it is a pit (sorry, Bahamas lovers, but that city is a pit!). I think the Getaway western Caribbean seems to have the better port itinerary of the two.

[wrcjr98]

Holy wall of text in your 1st post, skipped reading review!

Back to school :)

 

Your loss R6bbie, because it was a great review! If you would have read on, you would see in Post 3 that the OP re-wrote the review with spaces.

Thank you duchesslt for taking the time to write this very detail oriented review!

[Sand and Seas]

I spoke with loyal NCL cruisers that all unanimously liked Getaway more. None could give a specific reason - just an overall vibe to the ship. I think they are really similar ships and, as a fellow gambler, I would probably opt to put the $520 difference on the line in the casino.

 

We were on the Escape last week too. Have also been on the Getaway three times and are planning to go back on both ships. On the Getaway, love the Flamingo Grill for breakfast and lunches, disappointed with Escapes changes to Margaritaville. Escape's entertainment sounds the best, but wouldn't know for sure since Million $$ Quartet and Brat Pack were unfortunately cancelled:( Both Waterfronts are great. Escape's Food Republic is a new favorite with us. Overall, Getaway is still my favorite.....but maybe next October's Escape will have that entertainment going for it;)