Norwegian Escape Review

A Spa-tacular Vacation!

Review for the Eastern Caribbean Cruise on Norwegian Escape
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ancarett
First Time Cruiser • Age 60s

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Additional details

Sail Date: May 2016
Cabin: Spa Mini-Suite with Balcony
Japanese cooking demonstration in the atrium
The Escape from the port shopping area in St. Thomas
Departing Tortola: a view from the spa!

We were a trio of travellers – two fifty-something women and one still-barely teenager – with two of us on our first cruise ever, for this voyage on the Escape. The occasion was our youngest member's high school graduation. The three of us converged on Miami the day before departure which made it easy to show up for our Saturday departure.

After a quick breakfast at the hotel, the three of us and our luggage piled into a taxi for the short trip to the port. We were fortunate to be in Group 1 for boarding and soon made it through the screenings (health questionnaire, security and such) before having the first photo of our cruise trip taken, posed in front of the ship backdrop. The waiting room was cavernous but we arrived early when there were still plenty of chairs. There was tea, coffee and water as well as vending machines in the waiting area that soon filled up ahead of the 11:30 start of boarding. We noticed a few people clutching Group 13 boarding passes – I hope that their wait wasn’t too long.

Precisely at 11:30 they started the boarding and although we saw a few people who weren’t part of Group 1 sneak in with the crowd, trashing their boarding passes to avoid detection, in general embarkation went smoothly. We had a bit of a look-see as we came on board. She’s a beautiful new ship and everything was well-maintained. Our group had already determined to spend the next few hours, until we could get into the cabin, up at the buffet so we waited a bit for the elevators. Once we walked past the pool deck which was already filling up with eager folks, we parked ourselves at a comfy windowside table up in the Garden cafe. Time to start eating, err, cruising!

Cabin Review

Spa Mini-Suite with Balcony

Cabin M9

We had a spa mini-suite with a balcony and were very close to the forward staircase and elevators. We were just steps from the gym and spa which worked out well for us using those facilities but being just below the Lido deck meant that we heard a lot from there: setting out the loungers in the morning, live music during the day, putting the loungers away at night. I recommend the location only to those who don’t mind that bit of noise and, really, it was just at a few times of day. Given that it’s a spa mini-suite: spend more time at the spa.

There were three power outlets at the desk in the cabin but we could only plug into one of them. No matter: we had an extension cord. However, I was excited to see that they had USB outlets on the bedside lights so you could plug your phone, iPod or other small device with just a USB cord!

We slept three very well with nightly efforts by our fabulous steward to turn down the sofa-bed and put it back to rights every morning. The larger bathroom in the mini-suite was appreciated: especially the shower stall size. Watch out for the step UP to the bathroom though. That took all three of us two nights to master.

Some people complained about the storage but we found it more than enough for our needs with a closet that held about two dozen hangers as well as floor-to-ceiling shelves. Add that to the storage in the dresser/drawers and we were set. Our favourite part of the furnishing was the footstool whose top doubles as a portable desk/dining area. Cunning design!

Port Reviews

St. Thomas

Escape was the only ship in our port today so there weren’t huge crowds except for the ones disembarking! We didn’t book any excursions for our first landfall. One of us had attended the port shopping talk to figure out what was being pushed and where some of the various shops were. The others relied upon her to guide us in that respect but mostly we just moseyed around the port, enjoying the views (check the cable car ride up above the port – very scenic), the flowers and the benches available all around the shopping areas.

It was very humid and, after two days at sea, the heat felt a bit oppressive when we were in the shopping area. We had to pick up some watch batteries for a medical device and found those in the pharmacy (check Building One towards the far end). The shops were nice but we were mostly interested in exploring around.

At lunch time, we made our way over to Senor Frog’s and had an absolute blast. I highly recommend you stop there for lunch – you’re just a stone’s throw from the ship but it is cool and comfy, a bit closer to the waterfront than the shopping area. Plus the food and drinks are fabulous and the staff members are awesome. Chunk y was our waitress and she was an absolute treasure. She retrieved a teddy bear from the pool much to the relief of its little boy owner and his mother.

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