Norwegian Escape Review
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This was my second cruise with NCL, the first being a booze cruise on the NCL Sky. I have been on about 18 or so cruises, mostly with Princess, Celebrity, and MSC. I am in my mid 40s and traveled with a friend and his mother. And this was my first cruise over New Year’s.
New York: I took Amtrak up from Washington DC the morning of and got to Penn Station just before 9. I walked up to the port while stopping for breakfast along the way. Then walked over to the port. This was an easy walk even with a suitcase. There was a little rain but with an umbrella I had no issues. The gates to the port at 48th and Twelfth were open with easy pedestrian access.
Embarkation: After approaching the gate, a traffic cop pointed me in the direction of the porters. I dropped off my bag and took the elevator up to check in. No lines at security and check-in. I then was pointed to the waiting area. I was in group 7 and only had to wait maybe 30-40 mins until boarding. The whole process was pretty quick and without drama. After boarding I met up with my friend and his mother and we sat and had a couple cocktails while we waited for the cabins to be ready.
Cabin Review
Studio Stateroom
This was my first time in a Studio. It is a small cabin and my first impression was there was not going to be enough storage to unpack. But surprisingly there was enough storage to put everything away and not leave the cabin cluttered. The funky lighting was cool and it was a nice cabin for a single. Had great temps and water pressure in the shower. The Studio Lounge was great for free coffee in the morning and water at the end of the night. My cabin steward wasn’t the best. My cabin was only vacuumed the day I arrived. I almost took the vacuum from the hall and did it myself halfway through the 9 days. She didn’t really make the bed well and it took 3 days for her to realize to just leave the accent pillows under the bed as at turndown there’s no room to store them anywhere else. I would definitely stay in a studio again if I was traveling solo.