Norwegian Escape Review
Rating by category
Additional details
We are a couple from Wisconsin (age 42 and 38), that has been on 8 previous cruises, all with Norwegian. We cruise for the warmth, entertainment, food and drink. At home we at mostly at local restaurants and almost every kind of food imaginable. We enjoy craft beer, wine and well crafted cocktails. This will be long, since it's a new ship.
Embarkation: We arrived around 10:45 and only waited for about 10 minutes in the Gold/Platinum line. Then it was an hour wait in the BUSY waiting room. Getting on the ship was slighly chaotic. So many people in the elevators and O'Sheehans area (where you board). Worse than on smaller ships. We ate at O'Sheehans quickly because we figured the buffet was ten times worse with crowds. More on the food later. Tip: Go find somewhere far away from deck 7 upon embarkation.
Entertainment: Wow! I don't know if this is the ship for you if you just want quiet time to relax (unless you have a Haven room...we saw many, and the Haven lounge/pool area was amazingly beautiful and relaxing). There was sooo much to do. Daytimes were fairly typical of pool games, some trivia, a movie in the atrium, bingo, etc. Evenings were busy with comedy, dueling pianos (Howl at the Moon), theatre shows, dinner theatre, karaoke, trivia...tons of options. We saw Million Dollar Quartet, Brat Pack (dinner theatre), comedy and Howl. The Howl performers weren't clicking like I'm used to on prior land and sea shows, but were still good. All the rest were GREAT, and we are pretty picky about these things. I hear the Brenda Braxton show and After Midnight were also great if that kind of music is at all interesting to you. Though most said After Midnight could have been about 30 minutes shorter.
Cabin Review
Oceanview Stateroom with Large Picture Window
We had a forward facing oceanview...one of the large portholes that literally is facing forward. It was ample sized for two, and we enjoyed the unique layout of the room. We weren't running in to each other, and enjoyed a ton of storage, thanks to the window seat. Much more than we needed, actually. The window seat is very deep and runs the whole width of the cabin, with storage below. Bathroom was fine. Not huge, but okay. The room was also very quiet. There's very generous power outlets--three US 120 V outlets on the desk and USB chargers on the lights by the bed. Glad I read this ahead of time and left the power strip at home.
That said, it's a looong walk to the elevator, which was okay for us, but may bother some. Also, we felt a ton of motion being all the way forward, and on a higher deck. Woke me up a few times in the middle of the night, but luckily I'm not prone to seasickness.
Port Reviews
Tortola
I love the rugged beauty of Tortola. Went to Cane Garden Bay previously and it was a calm slice of heaven, with ample services available (food, drinks, bathrooms, taxis, etc.). This time, the tide was super high, making the beach "shrink" and seem very crowded, plus the water was churning with big waves, making water lounging impossible. An opposite experience from our past visit! We walked to the rum factory (about five minute easy walk). It was $2 each for a very, very brief "tour" (the place is old, rustic and small--this was optional) and I think $4 for four shots/samples of rum. Tip: buy a Coke outside first to go with your samples!
Nassau
The ONLY reason we get off the ship in Nassau is to head to Gone Fish'n near the Fish Fry. We walk there (past Junkanoo Beach). We've eaten at the other Fish Fry places, and much prefer stopping at Gone Fish'n to eat. They are a Kansas City BBQ competition team, and their sauce is out of this world. It's a rustic, fenced in spot on the beach. So you can walk on the beach, wade in the water while your food is moved from smoker to grill. Highly recommend for a rustic food stop. Tip: across from the Fish Fry, on the main road, the public bus stops. It's $2 back to port and they are very nice. Just ask a vendor or local where to catch it.
Miami
Miami is such a beautiful city (though not cheap!). Lots to do, clean, and good transportation.