Norwegian Escape Review

Won't be sailing with Norwegian again.

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

Rating by category

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

Additional details

Sail Date: Jun 2017
Cabin: Spa Mini-Suite with Balcony

We were really excited about this cruise! My husband researched a ton before we booked it. We have sailed with Disney, Princess and Royal prior to this. The ship looked awesome online and we were excited to try Norwegian and to have the ropes course and the cool water slides for my teenagers. The check in process was very fast and efficient. When we walked around the ship for the first time to check it out we learned very quickly that this was pretty inferior to our last cruise on Princess, which we loved. I told my husband, "Whoever designed this ship should totally be fired!". The pool areas were very small. There was only one adult pool. The kids pools were jumbled with things for little kids to play on, but if you were a parent, there was no place to sit and watch your child in the pool. You couldn't see past the toys to the pool. We found that it was wall to wall people and impossible to find a lounge chair anywhere near any of the pools. The spaces didn't flow at all!! There was a jogging track through the pool area, which seemed hilarious. We actually saw a few people trying to do a slow jog as they dodged people right and left. It was a jumble of areas that didn't feel harmonious. The main atrium, which we love hanging out in on other cruise lines, was a complete joke. The casinos are on the middle floor of the atrium, with the specialty restaurants and comedy club on the bottom. The problem is that the casino is a smoking area and the smoke isn't contained to that area. It seeps out into all of the common areas, so that it reeks of smoke, even outside of the specialty restaurants. We tried to avoid that area at all costs. The art area, which we've thought was cool on other ships, was more of a hallway, with people coming and going, so it was hard to actually stop and look at the art. We were excited to get the drink package for my kids, so that they could get mocktails, like they did on the Princess cruise. Their favorite thing was ordering virgin pina colada's and strawberry daiquiris. They weren't allowed to order them on this ship. It was only soda. Lame!

Our room was actually really nice. We upgraded to the spa suite, which was close to the thermal suite. The bathrooms were large and spacious with an amazing shower! Their were no plugs near the beds though, which was weird. We had two rooms for my family, and we couldn't open the partitian between them on the balcony's, which was totally stupid. We have loved doing that with the other ships we've been on so we can at least hang out on the balcony together. I have to say that the thermal suite was by far the best thing about the ship. My husband, 18 year old son and I would escape the crowds every night and spend an hour in the saunas, steam room, jetted tubs and the warmed lounge chairs. I highly recommend it!! That is the one thing that we haven't found on any other ship that we will definitely miss!

On other ships we have loved sitting out watching movies under the stars with lounge chairs and blankets provided. The Norwegian Escape had movies, but there was limited space for regular chairs. It was also in the adult pool area, next to a very loud dance party going on in the deck next door, so the movies were really hard to hear. It was also next to hot tubs and a bar with very loud drunk people. If you're going to have family friendly movies, don't have it next to bars, with men talking about how to get girls drunk and topless. Not well thought out at all!

Cabin Review

Spa Mini-Suite with Balcony

Cabin M9
5 Helpful Votes
previous reviewnext review

Find a Norwegian Escape Cruise from $499

Any Month

Get special cruise deals, expert advice, insider tips and more.By proceeding, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

© 1995—2024, The Independent Traveler, Inc.