We choose this area as we thought a great time to see the changing leaves. Only a few seen! Our travel agent recommended this ship. The ports were great and we were exhausted at the end of the day!! Getting on and off went smoothly a little more congested on last day but not a huge problem. The ship is huge!! I thought 4100 passengers we had to be nuts going on this cruise, but there were very few long lines, the buffet went smoothly the food is delicious, the dining room was wonderful, the pizza at Sorentos was so so. We have Chicago thin crust and the best we think!! The boat is clean and the staff are great. A few we had a hard time understanding with the language not a big deal though. The pools are great! 2 inside, 1 outside. One of the inside is adult only! We did two excursions from Royal Caribean, the lobster boat in Bar Harbour...very interesting and very cold and windy, would we do again? Definetly! And we did the St. Martin Bay of Fundy. Went to the reversing falls and into St. Martin. Very long day. If we did this again, we would do the Bay of Fundy Express. The town of St. John has alot to do if you want to go on your own They have a trolley tour which we should of thought about. Each evening they have entertainment in each of the bar areas and theater, very good. Couple of shows, great singing and dancing, story line was strange.Karoche, trivia, piano bar all excellent!! Read Less

We chose this cruise because it was Canada-New England, which we have done previously, with a few different itineraries on 3 various cruise lines, HAL, NCL and about 10 years ago, Costa. So we have seen many of these ports many times, but we feel comfortable with all of them, and many are either walkable, or have great public transit such as NYC, Boston, Halifax and Quebec City. It is really easy for us for the short flight from Toronto to NYC ( Newark ). As well, taking the train from Quebec City is so convenient with the train station being such a short distance from the secondary wharf # 30, where we were docked. NCL did charge $ 15 for a shuttle into Old Quebec, but a Quebec City bus could bring you there much cheaper, you see much more, and the Bus Day Pass can be bought at the train station. We went to view the Montmorency Falls, with our Bus Pass, but the water flow was quite reduced from previous years due to the semi-drought this past summer. The food on the GEM was ok, but not as varied as HAL. We were on the East Coast, but there was no lobster served on board. Disappointing. Bar Harbor was being drenched, so the tenders were cancelled, but just as well. Walking around Bar Harbor would have required superb rain gear. Raincoats and umbrellas would have been useless.. Everybody likes/hates whatever type of entertainment which is presented. We enjoyed the comedian-juggler, the solo comedian and the superb dance crew including throwback music, like Chicago, which I love. The Iriish pub, Sheehans, was a got-to place for us for quiet and quick breakfast, although we did also enjoy being served at a lower pace in the MDR, meeting really interesting folks at the share-tables which we were offered. WE did have fish n' chips in Sheehans at one lunchtime, but that item should be improved. It was batter with a miniscule amount of fish. It's always your choice if you prefer to eat without any othe tablemates. But such loneliness...you really miss out on great conversations with folks that you have never met, and never will again. Life is a series of opportunities...don't pass them up. As with all of our cruises over the years, the room was always clean, the bed comfortable and the temperature/climate control efficient. We were in an inside cabin, but the architect who put in the bathroom had the wall too close to the toilet,particularly for someone over 6 ft tall, so I had to sit in a weird way to " accomplish" that task. We self-disembarked in Quebec City, since our train was leaving at 8:15am, and the train station was just a 15 minute walk from the ship. We did enjoy visiting the new library in Halifax with its roof-top coffee patio and a great view of the harbor and our ship. Great weather is never guaranteed, so no point in crabbing about the endless rain in Bar Harbor or the very wind day which we had in Quebec City. Such is life. When we took the Dawn about 6 years ago, we missed NYC, but we did get 2 days in Boston instead because of Hurricane Sandy. So again, these things do happen, and folks do get disappointed, but you can't blame the crew or NCL for those things. Read Less

Due to hurricane Helene we rerouted from Bergen and Belfast to Vigo and the Azores. Great effort by the crew to reconstruct tours and the Royal did a great job. Many aboard were miffed at the rerouting. Get over it folks. I’ll take sunny and 85 over 20 foot waves and driving rain any day. Cruise Staff under Matt O was the best I have ever AND I MEAN EvER had. Superior does not begin to describe how much they did in rearranging our tours and extra days at sea. The food was outstanding and the transatlantic allowed for empty optional restaurant choices as Sabatini’s and Crown Grill were empty most nights. But beware the transatlantic route appears to be the motherload of long retired passengers o canes, walkers and scooters. I am 61 and felt young! The crew on the Royal was excellent but the international cafe baristas were not up to par and the new coffee card on your room card is sooooo BAD! Watch for mischarges for regular coffee and now you can’t use it at the gelato bar. Which by the way had great gelatos but was empty 24/7 partially due to the coffee card change. Which is also not transferable to your next cruise. Bad call Princess!!! Read Less

I had gone on cruises before, but never to these ports nor on this shop. I thought it would be a different experience and it was. The accommodations, food, drinks , dining and entertaining were good. I along with some other senior citizens were concerned that there was not a quiet place, unless we missed it, that we could sit without constant noise. I thought the drink package , complimentary dinners and shows were an excellent idea , it allowed me to project my onboard spending. I especially like the idea that the gratituities for the ship employees were automatically deducted from the designated onboard credit card because often times when left to be paid in cash it diesn’t happen. I would prefer external doors opened automatic, I’m a little OCD, touching the sensor was somewhat trying for me, but I managed, probably used a container of sanitizer a day. Read Less

I just finished sailing this past week. I have never been on a ship that big, but found it enjoyable. Things I took and did not need (took from other suggestions since been a while cruising) No need to bring: extra outlet, have plenty of outlets and usb plug on each side of your bed, bungee ties for balcony door-the door sets and locks at any spot you want to open, does not "free swing" so no need. I took two water bottles, but never used them, personal preference. The bed was a bit firm for me can ask your room steward for a crate foam top and will put on your bed. Bring the magnet hooks, it will stick to your walls, great for hats, jackets, sweaters. Cagney's was awesome! Teppanyaki's which was very good. LaCucina was good. Garden cafe buffet was ok, but ate every night at either Taste, Savor and Manhattan which is sit down and asked for "Non-Share" quiet dining instead of rat race in cafe. Go see The Brat Pack!! Awesome! From the Breakfast club movie, great singing and play was very good. Choir men is good too! After-midnight was ok for me. Read Less

I like the free style cruises. Norwegian Escape (built in 2015) is excellent ship. It has much more space for guests everywhere than Breakaway. Cons: Cabin at aft (#12864) was very comfortable, but had a lot of mechanical vibration in low-frequency (up to 30 Hz) diapason. Sometimes was not possible to sleep because of vibration. Show has an excellent actors, but too cheap scenarios. Service phone (#00) number at night time does not answer and has no message box. Port and Shore excursions are good, but expensive. Read forums, explore the Internet and find the same excursions by municipal transport. Pros: Variety and quality of foods are the best in all restaurant and Dining Rooms. But go to Garden Cafe and enjoy any time. Entertainment (exclude show in the Theater) is very good. I can recommend Choir of Man in the Superclub, I can recommend the great guitarist (Orly Penate), which often playing in Brewhouse or at Tobacco Road. In the Brewhouse Manny (the Piano Man) was fun and engaging, and the bar staff was also excellent. Captain Giovanni Cutugno is very experienced and responsible person. Guest Services were excellent. Thanks to Deepak Punia (Hotel Director). Our Steward (Felix) is the best. Anton (Norwegian Escape Art Gallery consultant) is very knowledgeable. Zdravko Kojakovich (Food and Beverage Director) and Prejith Poovaoadathil (Executive Chef) care about the best and very tasty foods for guests. Mustafa Kalkan (Asst. Maitre 'D) is ready to help you any time. Forget about diet! :))) Finally, me and my wife are looking for the next cruise on Norwegian Escape with the same Staff. Read Less

I booked with several friends from Houston, Tx., in fact, eight in all. I joined in with the solo cruisers and met some very nice fun people to eat with, hang out and dance with, and attend shows with. The entertainment was awesome and I can't remember ever having as much fun as with this cruise. The personnel were remarkably friendly and eager to serve. My only regret was that it had to end. The ship was well maintained and the food was good. Lots of choices in the Main Dining Rooms as well as in the buffet area. The bars offered a variety of music and drinks and the personnel that led the game shows were amazing dancers and friendly while teaching the guests to dance. In spite of rainy weather and having to skip one port the extra day at sea was fun. I would not hesitate to sail on Norwegian again. In fact, I can hardly wait for my next adventure. Read Less

I love cruising. I choose Norwegian just to see what it’s like after being on other ships. I LOVED every moment. The suite was huge, the restaurants were fabulous, the staff was courteous, well mannered and always smiling. My massage was relaxing. I also enjoyed the sauna and the hot tubs. The shore excursions were enjoyable. Onboard activities were the best. I never danced so much in decades. The broadway shows were spectacular. The on board shopping was great especially the sales on the last day at sea. There was also a talent show featuring the staff, boy do they have talent. I especially enjoyed the way the crew welcomed us onboard when we were embarking from Canada. It was like a welcome home party with hot chocolate, warm washcloths for our faces and a soul train dance line with the crew. Norwegian will certainly be my cruise ship from now on. Read Less

We got such good value for our money. There is no way what we got could have been had anywhere else. The embarkation was tedious, the ship was held up by a health inspection and we waited (standing) for over an hour. We adopted a waitress in the Symphony dining room and she treated us by family, giving us the scoop on what was good that night and what to maybe avoid. The art talk on Disney and Dali was very professional and we later viewed the six minute they corroborated on and found it delightful. I'm sure was a once in a life time opportunity. We found that a shore excursion was better when we saw what was available - like the pedicab ride thru the fabulous summer homes of the rich and famous on the cliff walk and town. Our arranged wine tour only include one winery although we make 3 stops - why not 3 wineries, they were close together? Read Less

This was our first trip on Holland America. We have traveled on Princess, Viking and Royal Caribbean. Holland America provided us with a lovely vacation and we would find it hard to rank order the ships. We enjoyed some more due to the destinations but the ships were each lovely in their own way. The Rotterdam is an older ship with many nice surprises. The stateroom was very comfortable and there is a good amount of closet and drawer space. I also think the ship is very stable in rough seas. It seemed to me that there was very little rocking in heavy winds when they used their stabilizers. The shows and movies were wonderful. Rondell Sheridan had us rolling with laughter. Enjoyed the many spots to have a drink as well as the casino. We were not able to stop at Prince Edward Island. But Bar Harbor and Quebec were wonderful. Now I must say the best part of the trip was the food and the service. We actually did not eat in any of specialty restaurants because we thought the food was fabulous in the regular dinning room. Read Less