Things I disliked about the Escape 4/30-5/7

[tallnthensome]

I'll cut to the chase, it was a great ship and a great cruise so I won't bore you with the great stuff so here it goes and it will be quick and painless:

 

- Embarkation sucked once you got to the holding area. They give you a card with group number. Problem is there was nobody in the room telling people anything on what number they were on if any. no announcements. People were all in line to get on and had no idea what was happening.

 

-disembarking sucked as the line was a mile long. I had an NCL transfer to FTL for my 4:10 flight and it actually took until 1 pm to get dropped off at the airport from the bus.

 

- All they showed by the pools all week on both screens at the same time was soccer and tennis. It was horrible and nobody watched from what I could tell. Why not more popular sports or news. Why cater every day to the South Americans and Europeans every day.

 

- Main pool to small and the chair battle for good ones is as bad as everyone says if you want one by the pool and pool bar. Lots of chair savers. Got my chairs by 7 AM.

 

- Music was too darn loud like everyone said prior. Why blast it by the pool is beyond me. Forget relaxing ..... is everyone deaf but me?

 

- Kids pool is 5' to 5'7" deep. Who designed this, lol? I mean really? I guarantee a a kid will drown in the next year. Good thing was it taught both my young daughters how to swim. DO NOT leave you little one unattended by the so-called "kids" pool.

 

- Kids waterpark and waterslides don't open until 10 AM. Huh? What should my kids do for the first three hours? Drown in the kids pool that's over their heads or force parents in with them that early so they don't?

 

- Pool singers just need to go away, they are terrible. Washy Washy guy on the Lido was more entertaining and a better singer.

 

- big screen monitor in H20 kept blanking out at night ruining movies. They need to fire their AV guys and get their money back from the contractor who put it in.

 

- Main dining room is again, too loud with the live performances. Just turn it down so I don't have to yell across the table.

 

- People eating off their own plate at the buffet while hovering over the food. Yuck, go sit down slobs..... you're nasty.

 

- You can walk down one flight of stairs if you're 15, get off the elevator.

 

- Pool bars were actually closed by 8:45 some nights. For real?

 

- Jimmy Buffett Margaritaville was a joke. Since they started charging (God knows why?) it was always always empty. Nobody

wants to or will pay to eat there and rightfully so. Stupid move by NCL and now a waste of space. The urinals in the men's room were more crowded. Eat somewhere else .... anywhere else and let NCL continue to observe that nothingness.

 

Besides that everything else was fantastic! :D

Edited May 9, 2016 by tallnthensome

[IrieBajan54]

On the soccer comment, I agree. When most of passengers are American especially in the Caribbean, why does NCL think we want to watch soccer? :confused:

[tallnthensome]

On the soccer comment, I agree. When most of passengers are American especially in the Caribbean, why does NCL think we want to watch soccer? :confused:

I have no idea .... especially all day every day. How's about a baseball game, Hockey, or Sports Center, or News on one of the two screens. :confused: Saw a basketball game on late one night ....after everyone was in for the night. Edited May 9, 2016 by tallnthensome

[triptolemus]

How's about... News on one of the two screens.

 

How's about no? Vacation. Last person I want to see on vacation is Wolf Blitzer on a giant ass screen above the pool. No news. No phones. No politics. No religion.

 

But this is sadly assuming...

 

The urinals in the men's room were more crowded.

[tallnthensome]

How's about no? Vacation. Last person I want to see on vacation is Wolf Blitzer on a giant ass screen above the pool. No news. No phones. No politics. No religion.

 

But this is sadly assuming...

I could watch Robin Meade all day vs. soccer any day! :D

[Love my butler]

On the soccer comment, I agree. When most of passengers are American especially in the Caribbean, why does NCL think we want to watch soccer? :confused:

 

The answer is simply cost. NCL will not pay the additional cost to broadcast ESPN for the USA. The international ESPN is MUCH cheaper and fairly boring for most US citizens.

 

NCL is saving a nickel and a dime. Par for the course.

[bobg529]

The answer is simply cost. NCL will not pay the additional cost to broadcast ESPN for the USA. The international ESPN is MUCH cheaper and fairly boring for most US citizens.

 

NCL is saving a nickel and a dime. Par for the course.

 

 

Sorry, but soccer is stupid...

 

[Clarea]

Appreciate the feedback.

[Heather1972]

The pools are also too deep on Star and Getaway/Breakaway. Does anyone know why NCL design the pools to be so deep?

[Shayhooper]

My husband loves soccer. :(

[cpcmaestro]

DW and I were on the same cruise. We fully agree with all that you have noted. We wish to reiterate about the awful music/audio decibel level at times in various venues. Two of particular note:

 

1. The Manhattan Quartet in the dining room often blasted so much we couldn't hear a thing at the our dinner table. At times even shouting wasn't enough. There was no need for that volume level where we were seated 2/3 of the way back in the venue.

 

2. The Brat Pack theater show was chock full of talent. But who could enjoy it when every 3 minutes the volume in the room approached what was likely hearing-loss territory?

 

NCL - get out a decibel meter and prove it to yourself if needed. Then ease up on those levels. Louder seldom means better. "Appropriate" sound levels will translate to "enjoyable" levels (and more happy passengers).

 

Also, NCL, you need to find a solution for the smoke odors mid-ship on 6-7-8. Nothing new here. Both stale and fresh smoke was ever-present and unpleasant.

 

There are positives from the cruise also. I'll note one here. We loved Juan for his superbly entertaining piano and vocal sets (at appropriate volume levels I might add). Juan played the Manhattan dining room on the first evening of the cruise (and sadly didn't return there). It was quite simply a wonderful night of dining and dancing. We also enjoyed Juan in his Atrium shows...fantastic!

Edited May 9, 2016 by cpcmaestro

[Golfin55]

How's about no? Vacation. Last person I want to see on vacation is Wolf Blitzer on a giant ass screen above the pool. No news. No phones. No politics. No religion.

 

 

 

But this is sadly assuming...

 

 

Some people are never satisfied unless they complain. The OP is another example of that.

But the real question is, does Wolf Blitzer even wear pants?

You never see him below the torso.

[tallnthensome]

Some people are never satisfied unless they complain. The OP is another example of that.

Wrong in every way. Nothing wrong with criticism in areas that can be improved and make the experience better for all. Perhaps you like going deaf?

[Golfin55]

I say blast the music, it's festive, fun and creates a party atmosphere.

One time we sailed on HAL, it was like a floating morgue. No life, personality or fun to be had. However, they have done a 180 as of late.

Edited May 9, 2016 by Golfin55

[Warm Breezes]

Some people are never satisfied unless they complain. The OP is another example of that.

But the real question is, does Wolf Blitzer even wear pants?

You never see him below the torso.

 

Wrong in every way. Nothing wrong with criticism in areas that can be improved and make the experience better for all. Perhaps you like going deaf?

 

Perhaps it would be more balanced if you critiqued the things you liked as well. You did say there were some but didn't list a one. I would like to see the good as well as the bad. Thanks for what you posted so far though.

[mkbnoc]

 

-disembarking sucked as the line was a mile long. I had an NCL transfer to FTL for my 4:10 flight and it actually took until 1 pm to get dropped off at the airport from the bus.

 

 

Hi, thank you for your thoughts on the ship. Can I ask what time you disembarked from the ship? Just checking to see if I can make my flight.

[tallnthensome]

Hi, thank you for your thoughts on the ship. Can I ask what time you disembarked from the ship? Just checking to see if I can make my flight.

Our color was the last color to be called. That was around 9:30. It took an hour and a half to get off and get through customs. I then took an hour to get on the NCL bus transfer and another hour to get to FTL airport and get off the bus and get the luggage.

[blackwing]

Perhaps it would be more balanced if you critiqued the things you liked as well. You did say there were some but didn't list a one. I would like to see the good as well as the bad. Thanks for what you posted so far though.

I agree. When a post is titled "things I disliked" it is guaranteed to be full of negativity. Some of the things the OP has mentioned are fairly common to all cruiselines... there's nothing you can do about rude people in the buffet or on the elevator.

 

I agree with OP about the kid's pool. Not sure why it has to be so deep, but I also think that parents should always be watching their kids when they are in the pool anyways.

 

As for the music... I like the music. I have seen many comment that it is too loud, and I would agree that in Manhattan it is very loud. But as for other places, I like that the music is loud in Spice H20 for the parties. It's a party. I like the singers near the pool who play the Caribbean music... I can never hear "Dollar Wine" too many times. It is a classic and I always associate that song with cruising.

[Victress2007]

My husband and I were on the same sailing. We thoroughly enjoyed the cruise.

 

-Embarkation - we got there about 10:30 (our scheduled time). Listened to the announcements and got on board within an hour. We had a new person checking us in (she was obviously training and had someone watching over her shoulder). We got onboard, but once there the card wasn't working for drinks. A quick trip to customer services and it was fixed.

 

- Muster drill - Our muster station was the atrium. This was the only real complaint I had with the cruise. It was crowded, with not enough seats, warm and noisy. I sat on one of the seat-side tables.

 

- Atrium in general was well used for many activities. There were not enough seats and I watched one person literally steal a seat from a child who was saving it. Get more chairs out NCL! (They did bring out some folding chairs which helped.)

 

- We didn't hang out at the pool at all. We had the spa pass, if you don't have a spa suite, go to the spa and get a sticker. We were originally told it would be in our room, but that was incorrect as we didn't have a spa suite.

 

- The pool music we heard was quite good, we didn't hang out at the pool though.

 

- We stopped by H20 once in the evening to get a drink - the volume was deafening on the movie.

 

- We enjoyed Manhattan both times we went there. Neither time did we have a problem with the volume. The second time there was a Motown show which was GREAT. I wonder if volume issues had to do with tables by speakers?

 

- Ate lunch at Margaritaville once. It was good and fresh, portions were HUGE. I wish I had the quesadillas, they looked really good. It was full at lunchtime when we were there.

 

- The Supper Club had two shows, both free. "Oh, What a Night" a Frankie Valle tribute show was there. Fantastic! The food was even very good, Chicken and Shrimp.

 

- Food overall was very good. The portions seemed to be bigger than I remember, many times I didn't finish my meal. Teppanyaki was great - there was a HUGE amount of food. I didn't even finish my scallops and shrimp - maybe because I also got fillet since there was so much.

 

- Debarkation. Just be prepared to wait in line. It kept moving. They had you come down to deck 7, then the line went aft to forward all the way down the ship, you turned at the stairway and came all the way back. We had first off tags but didn't get off until about 9:30 by choice. When we went through there was only one person putting people through the computer, checking people out. Once off the ship it was fairly quick. It wasn't well communicated where the colors of luggage were.

 

I didn't expect to write so much! The cruise was great and we loved the ship.

 

Vic

[Two Wheels Only]

- You can walk down one flight of stairs if you're 15, get off the elevator.

 

Can't really blame NCL for that. :o

[dam64]

Yes I have had some issues on cruises BUT Im on vacation, you either let it get the best of you or you let it go.

Edited May 9, 2016 by dam64

[zqvol]

Sounds to me like cruising on a mass market line is not for the OP. There are lines that address all your problems including Rgent, Silversea, Seabourne, and Sea Dream.

[Rob0519]

We were on the first 7 day cruise out of Miami last November. For the most part the cruise was great. There were some issues as the ship and I'm sure a number of crew were both new.

 

The food ran the gauntlet from terrible (Nacho's at O'Sheean's and the powered eggs at the buffet) to outstanding pretty much everywhere else.

 

Service on the other hand was sketchy at times. Worst service was O'Sheehan's and our dinner waiter at Savoy. Best was Manhattan, La Cucina, Bayamo ,Teppanyaki and the Bake Shop and our room Steward. Everywhere else was average to above average.

 

Embarkation was a little long, but again, that is the Port of Miami's issues, not NCL.

 

Debarkation for us didn't seem too bad. Again, NCL has no control over Customs.

 

Volume: I agree with the volume of the live entertainment in the Manhattan Room. Way too loud, but we were seated just off to the left of the band. I would think in the back the volume would sound more reasonable. As for the pool deck, it's a cruise ship. Would I have liked it a little lower, sure, but it's not that big a deal.

 

The Atrium: Only complaint is there is not enough seating for either the Muster or the activities, such as Bingo. It's a nice space, just needs more seats.

 

Every vacation can have it's annoyances and disappointments. Again, the good far outweighed the not so good on the Escape.

[tallnthensome]

Sounds to me like cruising on a mass market line is not for the OP. There are lines that address all your problems including Rgent, Silversea, Seabourne, and Sea Dream.

I considered the cruise fantastic ..... even with the minor complaints. Yes, some aren't NCL's fault and the ones I listed were discussed by myself with fellow passengers in agreement. I didn't want to bore you all with how great the ship, service, bartenders, ports, excursions, and food was. We had a blast, don't get me wrong.

[CP3o]

Maybe they blast the music so loud to scare away pax and make it less crowded. Either way, hope cruisers will mention it in person and as often and as LOUD as possible until ncl listens. I can't see how it makes them less money to turn down the volume so maybe they will listen someday.

 

 

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