Let me start by saying I have been on approximately 15 cruises 8 of which have been aboard NCL. I mention this as prior to taking our trip on the Escape I and my fiance read many reviews. I noticed that in many cases it was either rated excellent (1st time cruisers so its easy as you have nothing to compare it to) or poor as your expectation of a cruise was different than the experience. Hopefully this will help your choice. Not an expert of course just our view f this

We chose the escape for the 8 night feature and the fact that is was the newest of the mega ships. We booked a balcony stateroom 2 months prior to sailing. 1 week prior to departure we saw the cabin had gone down by $200.00 per person so called back. We were offered either a $100.00 shipboard credit (we weren't happy about that) so after much time the rep offered us a mini suite balcony, explaining it wasn't much different however the bathroom was much larger. We were mid ship on the 10th deck. The bathroom was simply amazing. 2 sinks, a bowl you could actually sit on, the shower, had tremendous space (I'm 6'6) and had the pressure coming from 4 levels of heads was unlike anything we had experienced prior. I know its just a bathroom but my fiance wanted to take it home. That's how nice the shower was!

We were given the 10AM embarkation time and where as we did wait until 11:30 to board overall the embarkation was very smooth and quick once started. Read more