This was our first ever cruise and the Escape just happened to be the ship on the itinerary we chose out of NYC. Airfares at that time of year (it was school vacation) were outrageously priced so we sailed out of NYC which is only a 2 hour ride from home. The ship and crew exceeded our expectations! I was somewhat concerned about sickness with all the children on board the ship as I was traveling with my 30 year old daughter who is afflicted with Cystic Fibrosis so we try to avoid germs as much as possible. The ship was impeccably clean and the crew did a great job ensuring that passengers washed their hands before entering the buffet, shops and the restaurants. There were so many activities and so much entertainment to name in one review but there was something for everyone, every day, every hour!

Embarkation was exactly what we expected based on the description from one of the NCL representatives over the phone. The best advice she had for us was to keep an open mind at the terminal because it will feel overwhelming and chaotic. She also said once you board the ship it will be like everyone just disappeared and you will wonder where everyone went. She was 100% right! We did self-assist disembarkation with zero problems. We were off the ship and in Grand Central by 8AM.

We had a balcony stateroom on deck 12 fairly close to the elevators mid ship. The room was plenty big for two of us and I believe it could have accommodated three. We found that there was so much to do on the Escape that we were really only in the room to go to sleep. Our stateroom attendant Haj was very attentive and did a wonderful job having our room made up early morning and left us a cute folded animal towel every night. We met the director of food and beverage one day at Spice H20 and he sent a bottle of wine and chocolate covered strawberries to our stateroom which was very nice! Read more