We recently sailed the Norwegian Escape with the standard itinerary (St. Thomas, Tortola, and Nassau). I am 70, my wife a few years behind. We bought our adult daughter along for her birthday, staying in a Haven 2 bedroom suite (H4). We have sailed about 20 times before, with most of the major cruise lines. We have sailed three times on NCL, in a suite each time. We are professionals and are rather aloof when it comes to cruising. We are happy to sit on our balcony all day and watch the world go by, while we read books and professional journals. Great customer service is expected. Rarely do we mingle with the other passengers. The Haven setup is just perfect for us, planning to stay 90% of the time in the Haven with rare venturing out of our cocoon.

Embarkation and disembarkation were quite stress-free (after arriving a little after 11 AM), taking about 25 minutes to board after security. Most of the time was spent walking to the ship. Every time we arrived at a VIP lounge along the way, they called us to go to the next stop. The lines were always moving. It took about 15 minutes to disembark, ship to curb.

The ship was beautiful and was regularly being cleaned and maintained spotless, for a one-year old ship. Smoke odor was a major issue in the central public part of the ship, and after the first few nights, we simply avoided the area. Early in the day, before the casinos got busy, the odor was more bearable. Read more