Princess cruisers try NCL - Thanksgiving Escape

[pegbert]

Since others are much more talented at giving detailed reviews with pictures, I won't even attempt it. But as Princess cruisers (Platinum) looking for something different, I thought I'd share a few thoughts and observations from our recent Thanksgiving cruise on the Escape.

 

We are a professional couple in our 50's, no kids, not into late night partying or in need of constant entertainment. Our jobs are very demanding, so when we go on vacation we are happy to just unwind and do absolutely nothing, if that is what we choose!

 

We wanted to try something different because, quite frankly, our last Princess cruise as just plain boring. And the reason we picked the Escape was because DH is a parrothead and wanted to experience Maragritaville at Sea (more on that later).

 

We had a mini-suite with large balcony, all the way forward on the port side. It was a little smaller (narrower) than Princess mini's, but the décor was nicer and the bathroom bigger (minus the tub). The bed was comfortable, the pillows not so much. Liked the USB ports on either side of the bed, and the in-room coffee maker was a nice touch. The TV is on the wall between the bed and sofa, and the mount does NOT pull out and swivel, which doesn't make a lick of sense. You could only tip it by a couple of inches one way or the other, so if you were on the far side of the bed or sofa, it was really hard to see. Storage was fine, although with the bed next to the closet it was a little challenging to access the closet with only about 1' between the bed and closet.

 

A word about the balcony: it was HUGE, with two chairs & a table, as well as two loungers and a side table. We paid extra because we figured we'd use it rather than going up to the pool deck. Well, we learned two things: 1) the sun is not always on your side of the ship, and even when it is, the dividers are tall and cast big shadows; and 2) there is a hot tub cantilevered over the side of the ship up on deck 16 (or 17), which splashes water down onto the open balconies below.... not much fun when you are trying to read or nap on your lounger and keep getting pelted with big splashes of water! That being said, we did like the extra space, but not sure that we'd pay extra for the privilege again, since we were not able to use it in the fashion that we had hoped.

 

One last thing about the location of the forward cabins: there are three heavy fire/water doors that you have to open manually to access the cabin hallway.... something you don't think about until you have a drink and/or snack in each hand, and have to put one of them on the floor just to open the doors! Might also be an issue for passengers with physical challenges. On the flip side, it did make for a quiet hallway.

 

We ate almost exclusively at the buffet - again, we have to dress up and meet deadlines and timelines all year long, and loved that we could just mosey up to the buffet in our sweats, pick whatever we fancied, and be in and out in 45 minutes or less. The layout and size of the buffet beat Princess by a mile! The food is displayed cafeteria-style, with lots of selections and multiple stations of each offering, including beverage dispensers. We never had to wait for or hunt for a table - something unheard of on Princess. I think that Princess tries to display their buffet food as "fancy", when it really isn't anything special once you get it in your mouth. NCL isn't trying to be pretentious with their buffet... it is good quality, fresh, nothing fancy fare.... we always found something good to eat for all meals. Believe me, if the quality had been lacking, we would have gone to the dining room. But it was just fine for us. We did eat at O'Sheehan's on the prime rib night (only to find out later that you could get the same thing fresh from the carving station at the buffet!)

 

We saw Million Dollar Quarter - excellent! The only negative is another design flaw: you could hear the music from the diner show one deck down, which sometimes drowned out the dialogue in the theater. I was thinking "Did they not sound-proof at all??" Nevertheless, the show is well worth it! We also saw Howl at the Moon.... loved it so much the first time, we stopped by a second time! Boy, are those guys (and gal) talented!!

 

We are big football fans, and always enjoyed watching games on MUTS, so were wondering how they would do football on NCL. The place for football is The District Brew House. They have a bunch of small tv screens, as well as a "larger" one that they pull down for games (same as what classrooms have for overhead slides, etc). Fans in jerseys arrive early to get a good seat in front of one of the screens. It is as close to a sports bar as you're going to get.... they could double the size of the venue and easily pack it with fans. The good news is that when the game is on at The District, it is also on your cabin TV. Thanksgiving Day, they also showed the games on the big screen in the atrium. The District was also one of our favorite places to hang out on rainy days.... quiet and laid back, with comfy leather furniture and swivel easy chairs.

 

In St. Thomas, we like to take the skyride up to Paradise Point, so we did! Amazing views, nice little restaurant up top for lunch and a cold beverage.

 

In Tortola (a new stop for us), we book the "Escape to Jost Van Dyke" trip through NCL. DH says it is the best thing he has ever done on a cruise, and I agree. Very well organized, and the nicest thing is that it was not one of those "party cruises" where everyone is loud and sloshing their beverages. We sat up top with the captain, who answered questions about the island... very interesting and informative. White Bay is gorgeous; we had breakfast at Soggy's, bought some t-shirt and hats, and just hung out on the beautiful beach. The only negative is that the trip was too short!! We could have stayed on that beach until the sun went down, and then some. Alas, all aboard was 2:30pm, so we only got three hours on Jost. We highly recommend this excursion.

 

We had an early flight out of MIA, so did the self walk-off. We went down to line up at 7am, and the line was already through O'Sheehan's, down the hallway and into the casino. By the time the gangway was open at 7:45, the line was triple what it was when we got there.... and this was only for the forward gangway. So my advice is to get in line by 7am if you want to be one of the first off. The rest of the process was a breeze, and we were at MIA by 8:30.

 

Finally, a word about the Margaritaville thing. I can't comment about the restaurant, other than it never seemed to be open when we walked by. As for the bar... it seems that they were using it during the day for various sales pitches (beauty products, spa services, etc), and at night for karaoke. This is what disappointed us the most: where was the "island state of mind" that Jimmy Buffett is known for? Based on the NCL advertising, we expected to be kicking back with a margarita, listening to Buffett music or watching his concerts on big screens. The Margaritaville atmosphere was non-existent... nada, ziltch, nothing. The closest I saw was a bartender and two passengers trying to sing a Buffett song at the outside bar. We love to tailgate at Buffett concerts, and always spend the day at Margaritaville in Grand Turk....not so much for the food and drink as for the atmosphere. On the Escape, the only "atmosphere" was some Margaritaville décor and logos painted on tables. This was the biggest disappointment of the trip. Now we know, don't go on NCL for a "Margaritaville at Sea" atmosphere, because it's just not there. Too bad.... could have been a really cool experience.

 

Overall, we give this trip a big thumbs up. Would we cruise NCL again? Sure! The biggest lesson we learned is that it pays to go out of your comfort zone and try something new.... you never know, you might like it! We now plan on trying some of the other cruise lines too.

 

Peg.

[hj1madison]

Pegbert, Thanks for the review. Quick question for you. What cabin number were you in? We are booked 3 in a row in those minisuites and curious about the placement of the hot tubs above. Thanks!

[cruiseblues2013]

Enjoyed your review Peg, thank you. We have sailed all lines, more on NCL then others. We are trying Princess Royal for 20 days in January, want to see those small islands the other lines usually do not stop at. Hoping we will enjoy our first Princess cruise, and not too boring, although we only have 3 sea days and almost daily island stops. Will be interesting to compare the lines:cool:

[pegbert]

Pegbert, Thanks for the review. Quick question for you. What cabin number were you in? We are booked 3 in a row in those minisuites and curious about the placement of the hot tubs above. Thanks!

 

We were in 8124, port side. There was only one day when the hot tub issue was a problem... the seas were rough, and we were headed into a storm. However, I could imagine the same issue if there were kids (or big kids!) goofing around in the hot tub and splashing water over the sides for "fun".

 

It was the most peculiar thing.... I was laying on my lounger and kept feeling these big drops of water all over me and the balcony. It wasn't sea spray coming up, it wasn't rain because there were no clouds over head... what the ????? Then when I looked up I could actually see the water coming over the side of the hot tub. Ding ding ding, there's yer answer!

 

Hope that helps,

 

Peg

[pegbert]

Enjoyed your review Peg, thank you. We have sailed all lines, more on NCL then others. We are trying Princess Royal for 20 days in January, want to see those small islands the other lines usually do not stop at. Hoping we will enjoy our first Princess cruise, and not too boring, although we only have 3 sea days and almost daily island stops. Will be interesting to compare the lines:cool:

 

Princess is a great line, and we will certainly sail with her again. I do love the Princess sun decks and promenade.... can always find somewhere nice and quiet to sit and relax, without the "sexy legs" contests and such. We did a southern Caribbean two years ago on Princess, and had a GREAT time.... we had the one of the best CDs at sea, and he really made a difference. So you just never know. It was time to do something different, and we are glad we took the leap of faith. We, too, want to see some of the smaller islands, or at least ports other than the ones where the mega ships go; so we'll look at other cruise lines, and go with an open mind.

 

Have a great time on Princess!

[TheDougOut]

We saw Million Dollar Quarter - excellent! The only negative is another design flaw: you could hear the music from the diner show one deck down, which sometimes drowned out the dialogue in the theater. I was thinking "Did they not sound-proof at all??"

 

What's interesting... there's a "Mighty Ships" episode that followed the Breakaway's maiden voyage. On the first night, the entertainment director sat in on Rock of Ages and discovered there was bad sound bleed from the Cirq show downstairs (identical setup as the Escape). After the performance, the crew went searching for the cause, and discovered the problem was an uninsulated crew door between the venues. They temporarily fixed it by draping sound blankets over the area.

 

Two ships later, you'd think they'd figure it out. :(

[hj1madison]

We were in 8124, port side. There was only one day when the hot tub issue was a problem... the seas were rough, and we were headed into a storm. However, I could imagine the same issue if there were kids (or big kids!) goofing around in the hot tub and splashing water over the sides for "fun".

 

It was the most peculiar thing.... I was laying on my lounger and kept feeling these big drops of water all over me and the balcony. It wasn't sea spray coming up, it wasn't rain because there were no clouds over head... what the ????? Then when I looked up I could actually see the water coming over the side of the hot tub. Ding ding ding, there's yer answer!

 

Hope that helps,

 

Peg

 

It does help! Looks like we may need to rig a "splash guard" since we are in the direct vicinty! Thank you for taking the time to respond. I have been so anxious about those rooms. We are treating multi-generations and first time cruisers and just want it all to be as wonderful as can be.

[BabsinTX]

Enjoyed your review. We did our first Princess cruise this past January and were surprised that the food wasn't as good as NCL's. We're sailing on Princess in January and January 2017, so I hope things improve.

 

I also agree with your thoughts about the layout of the Princess buffet (we were on Grand). Very claustrophobic!

[LrgPizza]

It seems you are getting the Margaritaville bar on deck 17 confused with the 5'O'Clock Somewhere Bar on deck 8. That's the one that is used for sales pitches, karaoke, etc. that you mentioned.

[KeithJenner]

What's interesting... there's a "Mighty Ships" episode that followed the Breakaway's maiden voyage. On the first night, the entertainment director sat in on Rock of Ages and discovered there was bad sound bleed from the Cirq show downstairs (identical setup as the Escape). After the performance, the crew went searching for the cause, and discovered the problem was an uninsulated crew door between the venues. They temporarily fixed it by draping sound blankets over the area.

 

 

 

Two ships later, you'd think they'd figure it out. :(

 

 

Yes, we were discussing this on the TA. People then reported hearing the sound from the dinner show when they were seated at the back of the theatre.

 

It does seem to be a very similar issue to the one that they show on Mighty Ships.