Escape crowd questions

[VikingD]

My family ( wife and 2 girls 12 & 11) are trying to find a cruise for next summer and the Escape looks like fun. We have been on 3 previous cruises (none with NCL) with the largest ship being Royal Caribbean Freedom of the seas. I keep reading reviews about how crowded the Escape is but I also read that about the Freedom and we never felt like it was over crowded. Yes we couldn't find chairs by the pool and lines at the elevator could be long but we tend not to make big deals about things like that. So I am wondering just how crowded the Escape is on seas days in respect to the following;

 

1. How long are the lines for the water slides, rope course and how crowded is the kids pool area.? I know there will be a lot of kids but so crowded the kids can't really even move around in the pool?

2. For dinning we will be eating in the complementary venues. Are there long waits for a table (we are early eaters and would dine by 6:30 at the latest) or long lines for any counter service places?

3. In general walking around I understand at certain times you may hit some bottle necks but is it so crowded that you are constantly fighting a crowd to get from one place to another or so crowded that you can't sit and enjoy a show or performance without some personal space?

4. Would there be much of a difference with the crowd if you departed the last weekend in May compared to the 2nd weekend in June?

 

Thanks for any input you can give.

[BirdTravels]

1. How long are the lines for the water slides, rope course and how crowded is the kids pool area.? I know there will be a lot of kids but so crowded the kids can't really even move around in the pool? the lines are only a few minutes long. you can keep cycling through over and over and over.

2. For dinning we will be eating in the complementary venues. Are there long waits for a table (we are early eaters and would dine by 6:30 at the latest) or long lines for any counter service places? the waits are short. if you are very concerned, you can make a reservations, but they are not necessary. eat when you're ready.

3. In general walking around I understand at certain times you may hit some bottle necks but is it so crowded that you are constantly fighting a crowd to get from one place to another or so crowded that you can't sit and enjoy a show or performance without some personal space? never. (o.k., yes, as the 800 seat theater empties, there will be a short wait for the theater elevator. Otherwise, there is never that kind of crowd.

4. Would there be much of a difference with the crowd if you departed the last weekend in May compared to the 2nd weekend in June?Last week in May is Memorial day. The ship will cruise fairly full all summer. sailing early will give you better temperatures on shore and keep you out of the hurricane season.

 

Thanks for any input you can give.

 

Don't believe everything you read. We have been on the Escape twice, Getaway twice, and we will be on the Breakaway for the third time in a few weeks. All the same class of NCL ship.

 

Is there more people on a 4200 passenger ship vs. a 2200 passenger ship. Sure. But that does not mean that you'll be constantly standing in a line.

 

Enroll your girls in the Splash Academy programs and that will give them organized activities above and beyond the slides and ropes courses. Do it on the first day so that they will be meeting and bonding with new kids when everyone is doing it.

[Two Wheels Only]

You can avoid bottlenecks by learning the layout of the ship. "Normal" people tend to follow the crowd and everyone goes the same way but CC people learn the alternate routes.

[snownow]

Heading out for our third trip on the Escape.. I am in the same boat as you with the wife and 2 girls (10 and 14). If you plan on spending your time sitting around the pool... you will have a bad time. Main pool is adult only most of the time. The kid pool has almost no seating.The kids pool was never over crowded, there is just limited seating. However, like i said our third time on this boat that is only due to our kids wanting to go back.

 

Girls 11 and 12 will love it.

Water slides; drop slides like a 15 minute wait (max), the other slide is hit or miss. I think the most i waited was 10 minutes.

Ropes course. I think we had a few 10 minute waits, and one 20 minute. Worth it. Take a chest mounted gopro.

Kids club: mine did not want to leave. It gave the wife and I quite a bit of us time :ship::champagne-toast:. Plus the girls made a bunch of friends to stand in the slide line with :). Push them to go the first day and make friends.

 

Crowds overall, there are spots that are always "too busy". The atrium for the smaller show are always busy and we did have a hard time finding seats at times. Elevators are always crowded, but we make the kids take the stairs to work off the junk food. As mentioned main pool area is a horrible design and too busy.

 

The ship also has a bunch of areas to avoid the crowds, Deck 8 is awesome, and has some nice bars. We never felt overwhelmed at the main shows, easy in and out. The restaurants are pretty spread out and with reservations it was a breeze.

 

As far as the timing i would imagine that the boat would be less full this month, but it will have less kids for them to make friends with. We did June last year and had a great time.

 

 

 

 

My family ( wife and 2 girls 12 & 11) are trying to find a cruise for next summer and the Escape looks like fun. We have been on 3 previous cruises (none with NCL) with the largest ship being Royal Caribbean Freedom of the seas. I keep reading reviews about how crowded the Escape is but I also read that about the Freedom and we never felt like it was over crowded. Yes we couldn't find chairs by the pool and lines at the elevator could be long but we tend not to make big deals about things like that. So I am wondering just how crowded the Escape is on seas days in respect to the following;

 

1. How long are the lines for the water slides, rope course and how crowded is the kids pool area.? I know there will be a lot of kids but so crowded the kids can't really even move around in the pool?

2. For dinning we will be eating in the complementary venues. Are there long waits for a table (we are early eaters and would dine by 6:30 at the latest) or long lines for any counter service places?

3. In general walking around I understand at certain times you may hit some bottle necks but is it so crowded that you are constantly fighting a crowd to get from one place to another or so crowded that you can't sit and enjoy a show or performance without some personal space?

4. Would there be much of a difference with the crowd if you departed the last weekend in May compared to the 2nd weekend in June?

 

Thanks for any input you can give.

[beerman2]

Pool area gets very crowded.

MDR just show up put your name in. Minimal wait time.

Plenty of open space on the ship!

 

The Escape was our best cruise ship out of 9 cruises.

 

Book it and relax and enjoy!

[2ManyCruises]

We've sailed Freedom of the Seas & Escape. Neither ship felt crowded. Enjoy.