Escape Thoughts 8/12-8/16

I have previously sailed the Breakaway to Bermuda twice - in 2014 and 2015, so I was interested to see how the Breakaway Plus class Escape compared. We had a 5 person oceanview family stateroom. It was spacious with plenty of storage for all of our stuff. More storage than I recall the Breakaway room having with plenty of closet, shelf and drawer space. I'd take two smaller bathrooms over one large one with a tub though (the hardest thing about 5 people in a room is only having one bathroom).

I found many areas of the ship to be pretty cold. Headliners in particular always felt freezing. The theater seats were much more comfortable than the Breakaway's seats.

I don't have many complaints about the food. Buffet offerings were comparable to the Breakaway cruises I sailed on previously.

We ate at Cagney's twice, LeBistro once and La Cucina once.

Cagney's porterhouse was a definite downgrade over what I was served last time, which was a thick piece of quality meat. The porterhouse now is a basic thin cut that you can find in any supermarket meat section. The filet was good and the sides were good. Service was good.

LeBistro IMO is still the best specialty restaurant on the ship, although they've removed the steak for two from the menu which was pretty disappointing to discover.

LaCucina is vastly improved over what it was when I dined there in 2015. The revamped menu is good and food is much improved over the Olive Garden level stuff they were serving previously.

We had our MDR service in the Manhattan room twice. I thought the offerings were fine, if uninspired. And while we were a large party (13 people), 2+ hours for MDR service for a 3 course meal is too long, especially when the room isn't full and they never come around to ask if you want more to drink (this always required flagging someone down).

My biggest complaint about the food is the desserts. I found them to be lacking everywhere. Specifically, anything made of chocolate on this ship was terrible - it was if they were using completely unsweetened chocolate for everything. Whether it was the 7 layer cake at cagney's or the chocolate topping for the eclairs, it was so overwhelmingly unpalatable. The profiteroles at LeBistro were good, but odd that they fill them w/ ice cream rather than pastry cream. The best dessert I had all voyage was of my own creation involving pound cake, hard scoop ice cream, and chocolate and caramel sauces at the buffet.

Some of my party ate lunch at Margaritaville at sea one afternoon and liked it. They also said the portion sizes were enormous.

Most of the bar venues were the same although I liked the Escape's more where they differed. For example, I thought the Skyline bar was better than the Bliss Ultra lounge on the Breakaway.

Escape must have a larger Splash academy location on deck 5 now. On our Breakaway cruise, we always picked up the kids from Bliss lounge (or other venues) where they took them for activities. On this cruise, they remained at Splash academy the entire time unless they were at the sports court.

The ropes course was a nifty upgrade over the Breakaway's, with multiple ziplines and the opportunity to "walk the plank" on both sides of the ship, in addition to offering two levels of attractions.

Overall I would give the Escape a slight edge over the Breakaway. Being of almost the same class, both ships are very similar, but where there were differences, I preferred the Escape.

It still bugs me that NCL changed their Bermuda departure time from 5pm to 3pm. Those extra couple of hours on the last day were great to have.

Two people missed the ship on the sail back to NYC. They were brought to the ship by the harbor pilot boat which met up with us right as we were about to leave the channel out of Bermuda. Does anyone know if the passengers need to pay the Bermuda Ports Authority for this ride to the ship?

Thanks for posting! We plan to not find out if you have to pay Bermuda Ports Authority for that ride! ;)

Thank you Rich for mentioning about the 2 ladies who missed the ship. I saw the whole thing on the web cam and my heart sank for them, albeit it was their fault for being late. I can't imagine the feeling seeing the ship leave with all of your belongings and perhaps family and friends on board. Glad they made it to the ship and I will guess they will have to pay some sort of charge - not sure if insurance would cover this though. Also, thank you for your review, we are boarding the Escape to Bermuda on 9/30/2018. I don't want to rush it because it goes so fast!

Thanks for the honest review. We’re doing the NYC-Bermuda cruise in May. Having never experienced an overnight port stay, I have a question. Is the ship less crowded on evenings that you are in port?

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Yes...many people go to dinner on the island..

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Thanks for the honest review. We’re doing the NYC-Bermuda cruise in May. Having never experienced an overnight port stay, I have a question. Is the ship less crowded on evenings that you are in port?

 

 

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I can't say I really have paid much attention. Neither this ship ship nor the Breakaway ever felt very crowded to me in general, except when they're doing something like Deal or No Deal in the Atrium, which is just a poorly conceived venue design for this size of ship.

On Wednesday night, a lot of people definitely went into Hamilton for Harbor Nights. More than I remember on my previous two cruises to Bermuda on the Breakaway. It's kind of ridiculous how early people start lining up for the 6:15 PM ferry trip to Hamilton. Don't people know they're supposed to be on vacation?

Is there something specific you are looking to do in the evenings on the ship while in port?

I too was on the same sailing. I stayed in the Haven and it was crowded compared to the Breakaway. I found out there are 30 more Haven rooms than the Breakaway. I was also told that the Bliss has less rooms because of the observation deck, which should make the Haven less crowded. The prices on the Bliss, (Haven Rooms) are also ridiculously priced. Anyway, it was a good cruise overall, and as far as those two ladies are concerned, set your watches 1/2 hour ahead of time so you won't miss the boat!

Thank you for taking the time to post your thoughts. I agree, I wish they kept the departure time at 5:00 p.m.

I was on the Breakaway in July of her first year to Bermuda. I do not recall 5:00 departure.

I was on the Breakaway in July of her first year to Bermuda. I do not recall 5:00 departure.

Here's the itinerary from my 2014 cruise.