We did a back to back cruise (eastern and western Caribbean) for 14 nights. We had some doubts about the cruise because of bad reviews we had read here but I don't think they must have been on the Escape because the ship was amazing!! Embarkation was very quick. We only had to wait about half an hour in the queue. We embarked at 1pm and went up to the Garden Cafe for lunch. Yes it was quite busy as everyone was embarking about the same time but we had no trouble finding a table. We were a party of two couples in our early 60s. Our cabin was amazing. We booked a Balcony cabin as a treat for my Husband's birthday. Our cabin steward Bagus (I think that's how you spell it) was wonderful. He never forgot anything in the cabin and was always polite and helpful and interested in where we were going. All the staff were amazing - Rajesh the wine waiter, Claude, Andrew, Alex waiters in the restaurants, Fabiene waitress in the Headliners. These are just a few of the names we could remember. Everyone was pleasant and helpful and always greeted us when they saw us. The food was excellent in every restaurant we went in. We had the dining package for 3 restaurants and we chose the Moderno, the Bistro and La Cucina. They were superb but the complimentary restaurants were excellent too. We had the all inclusive drinks package (all drinks up to 15$). The only criticism I would have was that water and hot drinks were not included in the package which seemed daft as we could drink alcohol up to 15$ yet we had to pay for water and hot drinks which were a lot cheaper than 15$. I think NCL should change the package. There was tea and coffee in the staterooms however. Entertainment was very good. Tyler the Enternainments Director was brilliant. He was a bit loud at the pool but he worked so hard and always had a smile on his face and greeted us every time we saw him. We went to see the Brat Pack and After Midnight shows in the theatre, both excellent. We also saw Oh What a Night in the supper club, excellent too. We went to see a few of the comedy shows in Headliners. They were so funny. We only had to queue a couple of times and only for a few minutes and the ship was full. I cannot understand why anyone should complain about this ship it was wonderful and so much to do. It is the best ship we have been on and we have cruised 5 times on various ships. We did two of the shore excursions offered by the ship but they are quite pricey. Themother excursions we booked either at the ports or with tour operators online before we set sail. We cannot fault this cruise it was amazing and we will certainly be cruising with NCL again. We met a couple of people who complained about the food, all I can say is that they must have been very fussy eaters. We met another couple who did not like the idea of no formal night. They preferred the Royal Caribbean cruises but every time we saw them they were not dressed up so can't understand what they were talking about. Yes it is a freestyle ship but you can dress up or down as you please. They do have a White Night where many people wore white. It was good fun.

We spent most of our time on the ship in the Spice H2O. It's was an adult only area until 7pm. It was a lovely area with plenty of sun beds, two jacuzzis and a bar. They also had a waterfall grotto that you could walk through to cool down which was a fab idea so you didn't have to get wet through if you didn't want to. The staff at the bar were excellent especially Sam and Rajesh. All in all this is an excellent ship so don't take any notice of the bad reviews because all I can say is that they must be people that are very fussy or just like complaining about everything.