Escape Thanksgiving week 2015

[rdmadm12]

I'll keep this short since I know others have already posted their reviews and addressed some things. First off, I have to give a huge thank you to Norwegian. We flew in same day ( yes I know, big mistake) and out flight was delayed by 3 hours due to a mechanical issue. NCL held the ship until after 4pm so 5 families on that flight could make the cruise.

 

Once we were on board I was impressed with the layout of the ship. Having previously cruised Carnival Magic, I thought the Escape was very well done and everything was easily accessed with no choppiness. On the Magic, it always seemed like we missed something because it was hidden around a corner.

 

Food was great! I really have no complaints. We had the UDP and were able to eat at the Teppanyaki and Moderno. Both were fabulous!! The filet that the Teppanyaki was literally melt in your mouth! Very impressive salad bar at Moderno and the meat selection was also great. We ate at Taste and Savor and had good eating experiences at both. The salmon with dill sauce was amazing. We ate at Food Republic once and I thought it was also really good and moderately priced. I had sushi and the reuben potstickers and I was impressed with both. I was able to get 25% off for having the UDP after the fact by taking my print out to Guest Services. We ate most of our other meals at the Garden Cafe as it was only one level up from our room. They always had a good selection and I was particularly impressed with the grilled salmon they had out the first night. I am very picky about my fish. Breakfast was pretty much the same at the buffet every day, but always good and plentiful. We ate at Margaritaville for lunch twice and had good experiences both times. Of course, it was complimentary when we ate. I had the taco salad and it was really good. We also had burgers (good) and key lime pie (excellent). I am not sure if I would feel the same having to pay for it, but it's all subjective. I would suggest printing out the "complimentary" status page now and taking it with to get credit from Guest Services.

 

We had a standard Aft balcony on the 15th floor. There were three people in our room, 2 adults and one child. The balcony is spacious and was really great to have to make the room feel larger. Overall the room was laid out well, but our bed was positioned near the closet which made for a very tight space to try to get into the closet or out of bed in the morning. IMHO all the beds should be closer to the balcony to avoid this. My daughter slept on the couch bed and she said "it was not soft". Luckily she was worn out every day so she did sleep just fine. The main bed was perfectly fine and I had no trouble sleeping on it. There is plenty of storage space in the room for everything. 2 spots under the bed for luggage and we actually used the hanging side of the closet for our other large bag that doubled as a dirty clothes hamper. There are plenty of shelves in the closet as well for storage. The bathroom was quite spacious given the actual size. The only issue we had there was the shower spraying out of the area if it was positioned wrong. The problems we had with the room overall have also been mentioned by others. The balcony doors are not sealing properly. They are meant to be pressurized and create a sound proof seal when closed, but for whatever reason they are not working properly and you end up with very strange thumping noises that are incredibly irritating in the middle of the night.

 

Splash academy was by far the favorite of my daughter (8). It was well run and the kids always had something fun to do. I love that they were open late and the cost was included until 10pm. My husband and I were able to enjoy dinner at places our daughter wouldn't have eaten thanks to this! She really had a great time and I felt confident that the staff was well trained.

 

There were never enough deck chairs for the people in the pool areas/waterpark. Huge problem with people reserving them early in the morning and then not returning until late. Staff did nothing about towels left out like that. What else is new? We experience this every time we travel to a resort so it is what it is. The water park was great overall. I really loved the tube slide and thought it was a good addition so that everyone on board can ride it. The drop slides were rarely open and when they were it was a short time so we did not partake. There is a yellow slow moving body slide that my daughter rode but she said it was too slow. There are also a couple smaller slides in the splash area. My daughter used the pool over by the slides and it held her attention for a while. The main "adults only" pool near the stage was often busy as they used it for the daily activities too. The hot tub near it was not "adults only" and it was often packed with kids. Overall good experience with the water features even though there was no place to sit.

 

I bought myself a week pass to the thermal spa and did not regret it for one minute! It's located on the 16th floor at the front of the ship. You get complimentary robes and lockers and they have fruit infused water or tea as well. It is a large space with about 10-12 stone heated beds at the very front and many other regular loungers along the windows. There is a large jetted therapy hot tub right in the middle that has an oddly placed body temperature tub right next to it. There is a rain shower next to the hot tub to rinse off. The spa therapy rooms were impressive too. They have the usual steam room and dry sauna and then also had a sanarium(steam/dry mixed) and the new salt and snow rooms. I used the salt room daily and I have no idea if it actually has any benefit, it was a nice quiet spot to sit. I attempted to use the snow room, but didn't make it past the entry door before I got too cold and left. My one and only complaint with the spa area is the loudness of the hydrotherapy pool. It makes so much background noise that it is often hard to just sit and relax in the "quiet" areas. I had to bring my headphones to drown out the noise.

 

Overall, I loved the Escape. I would definitely do it again! The good things far outweigh the negative.

[rdmadm12]

Forgot a couple items: my husband ordered fajitas at O'Sheehans and was really disappointed. It was appetizer sized and didn't come with cheese.

 

The 5'o'clock Somewhere bar has nightly karaoke which was very entertaining! Also enjoyed Juan's piano sets in the Atrium.

[bluefish17]

Did you have any loungers on your balcony? Thanks.

 

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

[packercruising]

Very nice review! If you had to pay for the food in Margaritaville, would it have been okay?

[WhenIsOurNextCruise]

Very nice review! If you had to pay for the food in Margaritaville, would it have been okay?

 

I'm not the OP, but sailed last week and ate at Margaritaville for lunch twice. We would have paid for the food at Margaritaville but would probably have eaten a little less. We skipped breakfast and had appetizers and a burger or salad and dessert. We would have skipped appetizers. The ambiance and service were great. The french fries were crisp and hot. Being out on deck 16 near the pool gave it a great open air feeling. I liked the Beach Club Sandwich and it is only $3.99 on the new menu.

 

On another note we ate ala carte at Food Republic twice for dinner and it was worth every dime!

[Cruzinbabe06]

Thank u for your review.

 

We're still trying to decide our next vacation. Either Getaway or Escape.

 

Reading every review that's being written.

 

Thanks again

[Cruzinbabe06]

I'm not the OP, but sailed last week and ate at Margaritaville for lunch twice. We would have paid for the food at Margaritaville but would probably have eaten a little less. We skipped breakfast and had appetizers and a burger or salad and dessert. We would have skipped appetizers. The ambiance and service were great. The french fries were crisp and hot. Being out on deck 16 near the pool gave it a great open air feeling. I liked the Beach Club Sandwich and it is only $3.99 on the new menu.

 

On another note we ate ala carte at Food Republic twice for dinner and it was worth every dime!

 

Thanks for the info.

 

You mentioned the ambience.

 

How is the atmosphere? Music or singing of Jimmy Buffet songs?

 

Thanks in advance

[DeBlonde1]

I was curious how your tour went in Tortola? Did you end up getting the sailing catamaran or the power boat?

[rdmadm12]

We had the catamaran. We did have to take a taxi to the other side of the island and it broke down at the top of a mountain, but Joe was able to make up the time. We had about 25 people on our tour and we were all on the Escape. I still can't figure out why he used the other boat for you guys. We ended up having an amazing trip to the Baths and then to Cooper Island. He did mention that if there is a storm up the east cost the waters near Virgin Gorda get really choppy, but we had a very flat day.

[DeBlonde1]

We had the catamaran. We did have to take a taxi to the other side of the island and it broke down at the top of a mountain, but Joe was able to make up the time. We had about 25 people on our tour and we were all on the Escape. I still can't figure out why he used the other boat for you guys. We ended up having an amazing trip to the Baths and then to Cooper Island. He did mention that if there is a storm up the east cost the waters near Virgin Gorda get really choppy, but we had a very flat day.

 

I am glad you got the right boat and had a great trip! Were you there from 7am to 3pm? If so, it would mean he also lied when he told us it was not logistically possible to get over to the other side of the island and back when our ship was in port for such a "short" time. Only thing I can think is that the power boat doesn't hold 25 people- so probably the almighty dollar made logistics more feasible for your trip. Oh well.

[asubaru]

Thanks for your review.

 

Was this an NCL excursion? Did you walk the trail to the baths or was it a beach type stop?

 

 

We had the catamaran. We did have to take a taxi to the other side of the island and it broke down at the top of a mountain, but Joe was able to make up the time. We had about 25 people on our tour and we were all on the Escape. I still can't figure out why he used the other boat for you guys. We ended up having an amazing trip to the Baths and then to Cooper Island. He did mention that if there is a storm up the east cost the waters near Virgin Gorda get really choppy, but we had a very flat day.

[Daenerys T]

Thank you for the review!

[dennismc]

"We had a standard Aft balcony on the 15th floor."

 

Great review, thank you. What cabin # were you in? Any pictures?

 

Thanks,

 

Dennis