I was aboard the Norwegian Escape cruise from NYC to Bermuda on 8/12/18 - 8/19/18. My cousins booked the cruise with 8 of their friends and invited my daughter (13 years old) and me along. Embarkation went very smoothly and we were on the ship by 11:30-12:00 and immediately went to lunch at the Garden Cafe. This ended up being a popular stop during our cruise as we could always find something yummy to eat and the staff was helpful and friendly. Ate breakfast there every morning and was greeted warmly by the bubbly Julie Valentin, the Coffee, Coffee gal. We rise early and were able to get decent seats at the pool every day. Those coming at 10:00 should not expect to have our luck. Biggest disappointment was the lack of pool availability. For 4,300 guests, pool capacity was 82 at the public spots. Woefully underestimated!

The ship sparkled and had a cozy feel without being over the top glamorous. It's a long walk from aft to forward, but I was able to make my steps goal every day. Plenty of restaurants and bars and the waits to get in were short. We took advantage of the dining plan and ate at La Cucina, Teppanyaki and Cagney's in addition to the complimentary choices of the Manhattan Room and Savor. The food was delicious without exception. Each dinner meal did take between 2-2.5 hours to complete which got a little old.

We had a forward balcony room on the 13th deck and it was nice. The balcony and bathroom were both larger than I had expected. The bed was hard to sit on, but I slept well every night. Read more