Norwegian Escape Review
Escape Food, Architecture and Mandara Spa
Rating by category
Additional details
•We chose this cruise because NYC is an easy port for us. We have been on almost 20 cruises and we are now platinum NCL members. We also considered that being right after the holidays most kids would be in school and being 14 days it would have a lot of retired people onboard. We were right in all assumptions. We fit right in with the older fatter group onboard.
•One of the complaints I see often about this ship is that there's only 2 sets of elevators. This actually wasn't too bad. The problem arises because the decks aren't that large. Instead they built a lot of decks, so the ship is very 'vertical'. The public decks are 6, 7 & 8 along with 16, and 17. That means 10 flights of stairs between activities with your room somewhere in between. Every little thing you have to jump in the elevators (unless you're a track star) causing them to have trouble keeping up with the need during meal times.
•The food at the buffet was a 'C' grade. I still see no difference between their Peruvian Stew, Cuban Stew and their other Stews. People that think this food is great really have to improve their home cooking. We ate at Bayamo (seafood), La Cucina, Caganey's and Le Bistro. Cagney's was a good steak and a good prime rib. La Cucina was a good oso buco. Le Bistro was a good T-bone. I would rate all of these restaurants a 'B'. Bayamo had an additional surcharge on top of the original surcharge and it was a pure disappointment. Shame, really. I would rate it a 'C-'
Cabin Review
Inside Stateroom
Not sure of the catagory (IC?) but it was an inside handicapped room. It seemed pretty large for an inside room and was very close to the elevators. An extra bed was in the ceiling so it never bothered us...as opposed to those extra beds that bulge into the cabin from the walls.
Poor choice of TV channels. Some channels that would be nice to see:
CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, Comedy Channel
Port Reviews
Grand Cayman (Georgetown)
I felt like Grand Cayman is very much like the Florida Keys. It felt laid back and the people were nice. Better infrastructure of roads and sidewalks similar to the Keys.
Ocho Rios
I enjoyed getting off of the ship and went for a 4 mile walk. Everyone wants to make money off of you. Some old guy kept following me trying to talk me up. I finally ducked into an alley and let him have it..."Why are you following me! What do you want! Stop following me!!"
He stopped. I enjoyed my walk after that.
Port Canaveral (Orlando)
Port is isolated. Unless you take an excursion there is no reason to get off the boat.
Harvest Caye
This is an island about 3x the size of the ship. Tiny, tiny, tiny. If you think you're going to see Belize, guess again. It's just a tiny blip of an island with a small beach. I would have liked to have seen Belize and another culture.