For this cruise it was just my 12 yo son and I. My husband and older son opted to stay home for this spring break. When I was planning this trip, I let my son do some research and propose a trip. He picked the Escape because of the ports of call and the fact that it was a new ship.

I will start by saying that the service we received was impressive no matter where we were on the ship. All the staff we encountered were pleasant and helpful. Hansel who was serving drinks up on deck 19 remembered us each day, called me by name, and even remembered my son's soda choices.

One surprise was that, by the end of the week, my son and I both agreed that we had enjoyed the regular dining options, i.e. MDR+ Buffet, more than the specialty dining. I say it was a surprise because we were looking forward to the specialty restaurants and I had even made reservations right at the 90 day out mark to make sure we could get in. We picked Le Bistro, Tepanyaki, and Cagney's. The food was good generally but my son's steak at Cagney's was unfortunately overcooked. I offered to send it back but he didn't want to waste the filet so he ate it, even though he was disappointed. The portions were too large at Tepanyaki - we could easily have done well with half of what they served us. Read more