Misc Thoughts from Escape Cruise

[swymnwymn1]

I wanted to share a recap of some of the highlights of our NCL Escape Cruise from last week. I learned a lot of info from these boards so I would like to pass some of it on to others if it helps.

 

We had an large oceanview room at the front of the ship which was very nice. I would probably try to get one of those rooms again next time. We saved quite a bit off of balcony prices and are fairly busy on the ship so I don’t think we would use the balcony enough to justify the extra cost. It was a beautiful room and had more room than we needed.

 

For food – we liked all the specialty restaurants. We had a free dining package and bought an extra 3 night dining package so wecould do specialty 6 of 7 nights. Kids mostly ordered off kid menus sothey do not pay the dining package fees. They could get stuff ala carte at many of the restaurants. Teppinyaki is always a favorite so they do get the food there. Buffett was crowded first day but otherwise we could always find a table. Had many menu options. Our favorite meals on the ship were probably at Pinchos Tapas and Bayamo(Pinchos-we had a very nice view at outside table. All of the tapas we ordered were really good. Favorite waitress there Mylene of the whole cruise. Bayamo – also great, upgraded menu, lots of seafood options and other options if you are not a seafood fan too). On past cruises Cagney’s was usually our top … this time I think we were there on a busy night so it wasn’t really the same atmosphere as on past cruises. They could probably have used a lot more wait staff to help. Still good food though. LeBistro was also good although someone I was with missed the lobster tail optionon the menu from prior cruises. We did not try Food Republic or La Cucina. Even though we are Jimmy Buffett fans we did not eat at Margaritaville, it closes at 5 (not open for dinnertime). There is a $14.95/pp charge which would have been paid or included in dining package but we decided to use the other options instead for dinner. We did get drinks there once. I think Pinchos and possibly Bayamo mayhave had a slight upcharge we paid to use dining package there but it wastotally worthwhile in my opinion. Kids liked kid menu and also liked the buffet options, was able to find something for everyone. My favorites in rough order – Pinchos Tapas/Baymo, Le Bistro/Teppinyaki, Moderno (also wasquite good), and then Cagney’s. We didn’t end up eating in OSheehans but menu looked similar to prior cruises.

 

We appreciated all of the activities available on the ship. They had a lot of options for everyone. Kids liked going to many of the shows too – comedy (7pm or 9pm shows are kid friendly), comedyjuggling show, escape the big top challenge was also a fun family activity. Onday 1 we went to box office to book shows for week and had to ask about escape the big top challenge and booked that also. Shows towards end of the week were sold out later in the week according to entertainment screens probably on day 4 or so, not sure on that….so I am not sure how early you need to booked but you probably want to do it within first day or two to be safe. I wasn’t able to book when we boarded on iconcierge app but box office line wasn’t too long. I had premade some of the dinner reservations and the other ones I could make by going to LeBistro or Teppinyaki after boarding.

 

Many other family friendly things – movie trivia game/other trivia games, water slides, family insanity game, my kids liked the wii u dance challenges, etc. There was also a photo scavenger hunt on one of the last days which seemed popular with kids and which my family also enjoyed. The ropes course was not often open because it was very windy but we were able todo it on the last night of the cruise. They have a smaller ropes course for shorter kids (under 48” I think) and then others can go on the regular ropes course. There was also a small zipline on the main ropes coursewhich was fun. We also liked the minigolf and giant chess set and other miscellaneous things like that around the ship.

 

Jamaica – we booked a resort for a day pass to Hilton RoseHall resort. The food/drinks were good and the place had many different places to hang out in terms of pools, lazy river, beach, etc. I would say we got there in just enough time to get some lounge chairs for the day. If you are going on your own I wouldn’t wait very long so you can go and checkin. You could also pay extra to get a cabana which I don’t know the price of but they seemed to be pretty full. You can inquire about that at concierge desk when you check in and one person in line with us sounded like they had booked a beach one in advance. I liked the location of our chairs better since we were near the lazy river and main pool which also has swim up bar, little waterslides, etc. The jerk hut food was quite good (Ithought it was worth the wait in a bit of a line that had formed) and my kid liked the nachos from the main restaurant near the pool too which we just ordered and got back to the chair. I saw quite a few people from our ship there. There is also a small coffee / fresh juice hut and there was a small bar near dock by beach which also made pizzas to order. We have done Dunn River and Blue Hole/Secret Falls before. I thought this place was really good for what we got and for being fun for the kids.

 

Grand Cayman – We took the public bus to Hemingway’s. When I exited the terminal there was an info desk and the lady gave me map for public bus terminal – it was easy to find and maybe 2 blocks away. Told driver we wanted to go to Hemingways and we were off. Another driver told him it was by Hyatt. We were first group dropped off from public bus. Hemingways is a restaurant at a former hotel location, so you can get beach chairs with umbrella with a minimum food/drink purchase (Ibelieve it was $25/pp). My husband added shrimp to whatever he orderedand I ordered tempura entrée. We were able to get waters/sodas/otherdrinks. They had a gelato stand which opened up at some point and which was quite popular so of course we had to do that too. My kids liked the pools there too, there was a pool that had different parts which were some shallow and some deep. There is a swim up bar by the pool too. I was glad we went there for day. When we were done we went across streetand a public bus was going by and turned around and picked up a group of us to go back to ship. If you do go there, I would recommend you go early. We got there before it technically opens and most of the beach chairs were already spoken for. We had no problem getting them but If you come later you would have had to set up by the pool or maybe just lay onbeach. There was a hot tub area by the main hotel and it looked like they were doing some very minor work near the hot tub but people could still use it. If you aren’t looking for a stingray excursion or other popular activities on GC this would be a good beach place to hang out for the day.

 

Atlantis – We went there for the day on the aquaventure wristbands. We ordered food at the restaurants by the pool and they had something for everyone. It was a lot of walking to get to the waterpool/slides area but we enjoyed it. Again we got there before it opened(I think pools open at 10) and the chairs were already fairly well marked, we were able to get a good spot where the mayan temple challenge slides come down. Kids liked the lagoon area, we all liked the slides/etc. They strictly enforce the height 48” for mayan temple slides for kids FYI. There are various ways you can get daypass to Atlantis; we saw some people there on ship excursion, some did resort for day type stuff, we had booked room through comfort suites. Cabs were easy to get to/from Atlantis to ship. This was probably my favorite stop of the cruise. Again as with the other places we went, I would suggest go early if you want to get lounge chairs.

 

Wewould definitely sail NCL again. I was able to meet some of the shipstaff at M&G which was also nice. The hotel director Deepak is a class act and his assistant Cheeray is very kind. This ship has a great crew. They have a few more ships coming out soon so it will be hard to decide what to book if we go again in next few years. I think Epic was still one of our favorites but the Escape is right up there too. I heard some people on ship saying they thought it was too big/too many people, it was a busy week because of spring break and lots of extra passengers on ship if it is 4 vs. 2 to a room, but we were able to do everything we wanted and there are so many areas on the ship. It could be difficult at times to get chairs by pool but we were usually able to figure something out for this. I encourage you to book specialty restaurants and shows once you know your plans to avoid issues. One miscellaneous thing -- our great stirrup cay day got changed because of highwinds so it became a combo at sea day/get to Nassau mid afternoon day;apparently this must happen with some frequency because they had a revised ship schedule for the mostly at sea day out within an hour or two. We did not use the clamshell we had booked for GSC since we didn’t go to the island. I did like using the NCL iconcierge app to see what was going on. We did not use it for calling or texting but I think I would do that next time.

 

That’s all I can think of for now. Happy cruising to all.

[LrgPizza]

We love the Escape. Getting ready to do our 3rd cruise on her. Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for sharing your experience.

[HoneyBunny0811]

Great review!! What cabin number were you in?

[Gershep]

Thanks for posting.

[SkookBot]

Been a lurker on here, finally decided to engage in some conversation after 8 cruises with NCL. Sounds like you had a great trip. DO NOT skip Food Republic next time on the Escape, easily one of the best stops onboard!

[LrgPizza]

Just an FYI, if you had posted here about a complaint you had on your cruise, you'd have about 950 replies. LOL!!!

[jdvmd]

Wanted to doublecheck the cost of Margaritaville. You said it was $14.95 a person, yes?

[swymnwymn1]

Hilarious comment lrgpizza :)

 

Yes jdvmd I believe it was 14.95/pp for margaritaville even though we didn't eat there due to timing. It was very quiet there the whole cruise. I got some drinks for us there when we played minigolf..it was closest. I think it said they served Bkfast there from 7-9 am but we never tried it.

[riclop]

Thanks for the recap.

[peg013]

Thanks for your review. I can't wait to get back on the Escape again. :hearteyes:

[Skippy915]

Really nice review! Gave lots of helpful info. Will be on the Escape first time end of April, so reading this definitely adds to the pre-cruise excitement!! Thank you :)

[lisakoivu]

I loved your review. After years of sailing BA from NY during spring break, because it is most convenient, we are excited to give Escape a try next spring.

[newmexicoNita]

I wanted to share a recap of some of the highlights of our NCL Escape Cruise from last week. I learned a lot of info from these boards so I would like to pass some of it on to others if it helps.

 

We had an large oceanview room at the front of the ship which was very nice. I would probably try to get one of those rooms again next time. We saved quite a bit off of balcony prices and are fairly busy on the ship so I don’t think we would use the balcony enough to justify the extra cost. It was a beautiful room and had more room than we needed.

 

For food – we liked all the specialty restaurants. We had a free dining package and bought an extra 3 night dining package so wecould do specialty 6 of 7 nights. Kids mostly ordered off kid menus sothey do not pay the dining package fees. They could get stuff ala carte at many of the restaurants. Teppinyaki is always a favorite so they do get the food there. Buffett was crowded first day but otherwise we could always find a table. Had many menu options. Our favorite meals on the ship were probably at Pinchos Tapas and Bayamo(Pinchos-we had a very nice view at outside table. All of the tapas we ordered were really good. Favorite waitress there Mylene of the whole cruise. Bayamo – also great, upgraded menu, lots of seafood options and other options if you are not a seafood fan too). On past cruises Cagney’s was usually our top … this time I think we were there on a busy night so it wasn’t really the same atmosphere as on past cruises. They could probably have used a lot more wait staff to help. Still good food though. LeBistro was also good although someone I was with missed the lobster tail optionon the menu from prior cruises. We did not try Food Republic or La Cucina. Even though we are Jimmy Buffett fans we did not eat at Margaritaville, it closes at 5 (not open for dinnertime). There is a $14.95/pp charge which would have been paid or included in dining package but we decided to use the other options instead for dinner. We did get drinks there once. I think Pinchos and possibly Bayamo mayhave had a slight upcharge we paid to use dining package there but it wastotally worthwhile in my opinion. Kids liked kid menu and also liked the buffet options, was able to find something for everyone. My favorites in rough order – Pinchos Tapas/Baymo, Le Bistro/Teppinyaki, Moderno (also wasquite good), and then Cagney’s. We didn’t end up eating in OSheehans but menu looked similar to prior cruises.

 

We appreciated all of the activities available on the ship. They had a lot of options for everyone. Kids liked going to many of the shows too – comedy (7pm or 9pm shows are kid friendly), comedyjuggling show, escape the big top challenge was also a fun family activity. Onday 1 we went to box office to book shows for week and had to ask about escape the big top challenge and booked that also. Shows towards end of the week were sold out later in the week according to entertainment screens probably on day 4 or so, not sure on that….so I am not sure how early you need to booked but you probably want to do it within first day or two to be safe. I wasn’t able to book when we boarded on iconcierge app but box office line wasn’t too long. I had premade some of the dinner reservations and the other ones I could make by going to LeBistro or Teppinyaki after boarding.

 

Many other family friendly things – movie trivia game/other trivia games, water slides, family insanity game, my kids liked the wii u dance challenges, etc. There was also a photo scavenger hunt on one of the last days which seemed popular with kids and which my family also enjoyed. The ropes course was not often open because it was very windy but we were able todo it on the last night of the cruise. They have a smaller ropes course for shorter kids (under 48” I think) and then others can go on the regular ropes course. There was also a small zipline on the main ropes coursewhich was fun. We also liked the minigolf and giant chess set and other miscellaneous things like that around the ship.

 

Jamaica – we booked a resort for a day pass to Hilton RoseHall resort. The food/drinks were good and the place had many different places to hang out in terms of pools, lazy river, beach, etc. I would say we got there in just enough time to get some lounge chairs for the day. If you are going on your own I wouldn’t wait very long so you can go and checkin. You could also pay extra to get a cabana which I don’t know the price of but they seemed to be pretty full. You can inquire about that at concierge desk when you check in and one person in line with us sounded like they had booked a beach one in advance. I liked the location of our chairs better since we were near the lazy river and main pool which also has swim up bar, little waterslides, etc. The jerk hut food was quite good (Ithought it was worth the wait in a bit of a line that had formed) and my kid liked the nachos from the main restaurant near the pool too which we just ordered and got back to the chair. I saw quite a few people from our ship there. There is also a small coffee / fresh juice hut and there was a small bar near dock by beach which also made pizzas to order. We have done Dunn River and Blue Hole/Secret Falls before. I thought this place was really good for what we got and for being fun for the kids.

 

Grand Cayman – We took the public bus to Hemingway’s. When I exited the terminal there was an info desk and the lady gave me map for public bus terminal – it was easy to find and maybe 2 blocks away. Told driver we wanted to go to Hemingways and we were off. Another driver told him it was by Hyatt. We were first group dropped off from public bus. Hemingways is a restaurant at a former hotel location, so you can get beach chairs with umbrella with a minimum food/drink purchase (Ibelieve it was $25/pp). My husband added shrimp to whatever he orderedand I ordered tempura entrée. We were able to get waters/sodas/otherdrinks. They had a gelato stand which opened up at some point and which was quite popular so of course we had to do that too. My kids liked the pools there too, there was a pool that had different parts which were some shallow and some deep. There is a swim up bar by the pool too. I was glad we went there for day. When we were done we went across streetand a public bus was going by and turned around and picked up a group of us to go back to ship. If you do go there, I would recommend you go early. We got there before it technically opens and most of the beach chairs were already spoken for. We had no problem getting them but If you come later you would have had to set up by the pool or maybe just lay onbeach. There was a hot tub area by the main hotel and it looked like they were doing some very minor work near the hot tub but people could still use it. If you aren’t looking for a stingray excursion or other popular activities on GC this would be a good beach place to hang out for the day.

 

Atlantis – We went there for the day on the aquaventure wristbands. We ordered food at the restaurants by the pool and they had something for everyone. It was a lot of walking to get to the waterpool/slides area but we enjoyed it. Again we got there before it opened(I think pools open at 10) and the chairs were already fairly well marked, we were able to get a good spot where the mayan temple challenge slides come down. Kids liked the lagoon area, we all liked the slides/etc. They strictly enforce the height 48” for mayan temple slides for kids FYI. There are various ways you can get daypass to Atlantis; we saw some people there on ship excursion, some did resort for day type stuff, we had booked room through comfort suites. Cabs were easy to get to/from Atlantis to ship. This was probably my favorite stop of the cruise. Again as with the other places we went, I would suggest go early if you want to get lounge chairs.

 

Wewould definitely sail NCL again. I was able to meet some of the shipstaff at M&G which was also nice. The hotel director Deepak is a class act and his assistant Cheeray is very kind. This ship has a great crew. They have a few more ships coming out soon so it will be hard to decide what to book if we go again in next few years. I think Epic was still one of our favorites but the Escape is right up there too. I heard some people on ship saying they thought it was too big/too many people, it was a busy week because of spring break and lots of extra passengers on ship if it is 4 vs. 2 to a room, but we were able to do everything we wanted and there are so many areas on the ship. It could be difficult at times to get chairs by pool but we were usually able to figure something out for this. I encourage you to book specialty restaurants and shows once you know your plans to avoid issues. One miscellaneous thing -- our great stirrup cay day got changed because of highwinds so it became a combo at sea day/get to Nassau mid afternoon day;apparently this must happen with some frequency because they had a revised ship schedule for the mostly at sea day out within an hour or two. We did not use the clamshell we had booked for GSC since we didn’t go to the island. I did like using the NCL iconcierge app to see what was going on. We did not use it for calling or texting but I think I would do that next time.

 

That’s all I can think of for now. Happy cruising to all.

Mice review and simple enough not to be boring. Glad you had a great time as well as the kids could find plenty to keep them busy.

[wdsted]

Thanks for taking the time to post your thoughts.

 

 

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[psac]

Wanted to doublecheck the cost of Margaritaville. You said it was $14.95 a person, yes?

 

I think maybe it went up to $16.99 from what I’ve seen on other threads?

[jdvmd]

I think maybe it went up to $16.99 from what I’ve seen on other threads?

That’s why I was questioning - numerous reports of $16.99 + 20 percent service charge. Did they reduce the charge?

[Stace894]

Thanks for the review. We are about 65 days out from our own "Escape" in June and I can't wait! It's always great to see positive reviews and when people have complaints it never surprises me its usually by someone who did no research on their ship, cabin, trip. Great to see people having a fantastic time on vacation!

[bonniboo1]

Stace I will be on the week before you but we’ll be sure to leave plenty of fun for you.

 

A little research goes a long way. A dear friend of mine went on the BA and had a ton of complaints. These would have been taken care of with a little pre cruise research. I am not one to have a friend book a cruise and sit back and do nothing. I too appreciated the time that the OP and all others spend to make our trips great.

 

Bonni

[Nanagu11]

Great review...what cabin were you in?

[Shynook11]

We had a free dining package and bought an extra 3 night dining package so wecould do specialty 6 of 7 nights. Kids mostly ordered off kid menus sothey do not pay the dining package fees. They could get stuff ala carte at many of the restaurants.

So are you saying we can take the kids into the specialty dining rooms with us, and they aren't charged if they order off the kids menu? We usually leave them to eat in the pub or buffets on their own.

[Shynook11]

Thanks for the review. We are about 65 days out from our own "Escape" in June and I can't wait! It's always great to see positive reviews and when people have complaints it never surprises me its usually by someone who did no research on their ship, cabin, trip. Great to see people having a fantastic time on vacation!

Us too! June 10th!

[MS52]

Hilarious comment lrgpizza :)

 

Yes jdvmd I believe it was 14.95/pp for margaritaville even though we didn't eat there due to timing. It was very quiet there the whole cruise. I got some drinks for us there when we played minigolf..it was closest. I think it said they served Bkfast there from 7-9 am but we never tried it.

 

 

 

Breakfast there was great.....very quiet. There was an omelet station, never a line. Bacon, sausage, potatoes, pastries, fruit, toast or muffins, cereal. Not the selection of the Cafe but never a crowd. We enjoyed it.

 

 

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