This was our fifth cruise two with Royal Caribbean and two with Carnival. I booked this cruise about four months out and selected a guaranteed mini-suite and got a great price. NCL also threw in the Ultimate Beverage Package and the 4 day Specialty Dining Package which was a very nice perk. We flew into Miami from Phoenix Friday, May 6th and stayed in the Comfort Suites north of the Miami airport. The hotel was nice and the morning breakfast and shuttle to the port is very good.

We all got to the port at about 11:00 am and were on the ship by 11:45. The Escape is a beautiful ship with stunning decor everything feels new and the lighting all around the ship is crisp and inviting. This sailing on the Escape had 5,002 passengers plus 1,700 crew which was just a hair short of max capacity. Despite this I never felt like the ship was overly crowded and we hardly ever had to wait more than a few seconds for an elevator to appear.

Room: Great we ended up getting a Mid-Ship MINI suite assigned on deck 14 close to the elevators. The bathroom was huge and the shower was really cool. The beds were comfortable and the balcony was larger than RCCL and Carnival. Read more