We (DH 49, DW 42, and DD 10) sailed on the Norwegian Escape from January 23rd - 30th 2016. This was our ninth cruise as a family and our second with Norwegian. We had read the earlier reviews of this ship, and had some concerns, but our concerns turned out to be unfounded!

The ship sails from Miami, but we flew into Fort Lauderdale Airport the day before the cruise and took GO Airport Transportation to the Hilton Downtown Miami. The hotel was lovely - retro, and a little bit weathered but that didn’t bother us at all. We were thrilled with our corner room on the 15th floor with 2 walls of floor to ceiling windows - great city views and we could see Biscayne Bay as well.

The next morning and a short cab ride later, we were at the Port of Miami Cruise Terminal. Having completed a short questionnaire about Ebola and Norovirus, check-in was smooth and easy, but shortly thereafter we hit a snag. Apparently there was a problem with the computers used to scan the guest cards, so boarding was delayed about an hour or two while that was sorted out. While we were disappointed that we couldn’t immediately board, it gave us the opportunity to meet some of our fellow passengers. As people entered the waiting areas, they were handed a card with their boarding group number on it. Finally they called our group, and shortly after that we were on board. Read more