Norwegian Escape Review

4.0 / 5.0
3,046 reviews

First Time Norwegian Cruiser

Review for the Eastern Caribbean Cruise on Norwegian Escape
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px72403
2-5 Cruises • Age 50s

Rating by category

Cabin
Value for Money
Embarkation
Dining
Public Rooms
Entertainment
Fitness & Recreation
Service

Additional details

Sail Date: Mar 2017
Cabin: Balcony Stateroom

I've cruised on Celebrity Cruise Line a few times with great satisfaction and went out on a limb and chose Norwegian this time due to schedule and timing of sail dates. Overall, I wasn't "wowed" by anything on the ship--yes it's big, yes it's new but the service was not stellar like it was on Celebrity. The officers were less than friendly to the general workers on board, sometimes admonishing them publicly which I thought was really not necessary. With that said, the general cleanliness around the pool was not great--half full drinks under lounge chairs, spills and food on the ground not cleaned up--I chalk that up to way too many people in a small area. I would also have to say the officers were not friendly to me as a cruiser---I had to say good morning to them before I would get a response and a smile. On Celebrity, they really went out of their way to ask "Are you having a nice cruise, everything going well--are you taking an excursion?" Which made me think they really did care about us--did not get that impression at all from Escape crew over 7 days. Our room steward, Ali, was very nice and professional and worked hard for us all week long.

The food was good, but not outstanding. Cruise director Tyler was very entertaining, I give him an A+ for trying to keep the crowd happy and entertained, in general the on board entertaining (Escape Theater) was very good. Few disappointments--the bartenders were the least friendly bunch of men I have ever seen--particularly at the pool, I swear I never saw them smile all week long, every time I greeted them I felt like I was a bother to them. For the fact that there are 4200 people on this ship, more than one pool would be a good idea--you literally could not get IN the pool because all the people were sitting on the edge to watch the stage shows. And it was next to impossible to find a lounge chair many days because other cruisers would put their towel and personal items on the chair at 10am and never actually use the chair--the ship should really do something about that because it was annoying many of the other customers on the ship.

For my personal preference, there were way too many children on the ship (and that isn't Norwegian's fault, just the timing of spring break) But it was annoying that 12 kids would be in the hot tub and no room for adults, and that there seemed to be no one watching the children and they ran up and down staircases and in the elevators. The library is small and you could only check out books at certain times of the day--what is that all about?

Cabin Review

Balcony Stateroom

Cabin BD

It was a nice room with good amount of storage in bathroom and cabinets in the room. I would prefer that instead of the "shampoo conditioner" all in one that it have a separate shampoo and conditioner (just a personal preference) The balcony was nice to have, definitely enjoyed that.

Port Reviews

Nassau

We had already done 2 excursions so thought we'd save some money and just walk around. We actually ended up having much more fun than we expected! The straw market is interesting and bought several items for under $20. We also walked over to the beach (no taxi needed) and spent some time. The beach is a little rocky but very pretty, you can rent chairs, umbrellas and other items and there are beach bars if you want to party or if you want more quiet area head further down the beach.

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