Our Cruise on the NCL Escape to Bermuda - Aug 19th

[Kortehgehn]

So this is my first review and although probably not the best first review, I have had intentions of posting before but never seem to find the time after the cruise. I suppose I should note that we have been on quite a few cruises with NCL and have tried to stick with them through a lot of the changes in the past few years. For the most part we have been satisfied but this cruise was a little different.

 

 

 

I know some people will have issues with some of the more negative views or the Haven elements, but this was just our experience. Also, please skip the "Rant About Art" section if that's not your thing. There were many positive things about the trip that I am sure I have not mentioned. I will try to answer any questions anyone has, especially any questions about Bermuda, as I didn't really focus much on that in my review. We were on the August 19th cruise to Bermuda on the Norwegian Escape out of New York and we stayed in one of the Aft Penthouses category H6, the configuration with the shower next to the balcony.

 

This is our third cruise on the Escape in the Haven. Service seems to have decreased, Haven area seemed overcrowded. Glad to see that the shattered window on the Haven courtyard roof was finally replaced after over a year though..! We really miss Adrian as Haven Concierge and Julie as Cruise Director; the current staff was not up to par with them.

 

The cabin and location on the ship was great. We got to the pier around 12:00 and boarded the ship around 12:30. on our tickets it had said not to arrive at the pier before 12:00 which I thought was later than we had arrived in the past, so I'm not sure about that. Another passenger had told us that boarding had started around 11:00 so I suppose it's still okay to arrive early and you won't be waiting around to board. Check-in was easy and we got escorted right onto the ship without issue. Margaritaville was open for Lunch, free for Haven guests, which they did on our last Escape cruise as well. We got to our room and were able to drop off our bags right away. Haven rooms were ready around 12:30 and I think they made a ship-wide announcement that all rooms were ready by 1:00.

 

Our room was great, it had an amazing balcony with plenty of space for two loungers, two chairs and a small table as well as a full table and four more chairs. The ship ended up docking on the starboard side, and we were on the starboard corner, so we had a good view of the dockyard while in port. There was some rain, as tends to be the case in Bermuda, but the overhang was enough to get all the furniture underneath so the balcony was still usable even in a downpour. Although we have had problems with soot in the past, this time there was very little soot on the balcony so no problems there. There were some soot marks on the cushion covers but I think they had been there a while, as I only saw very light soot one time on the balcony during the entire cruise. Also, for anyone wondering about noise from Spice H2O, it was not an issue for us, it could be heard if you were in the living area at night and close to the balcony door, but it was not too loud at all and it always seemed to stop by midnight, although we were probably usually in bed by then.

 

 

On the third day I realized we were originally charged for Vibe passes that we never received, and then hassled on the third day of the cruise about removing the charge. Also, an FYI for anyone reserving VIBE on the Escape, the hot tub in VIBE doesn't work, or at least it doesn't produce bubbles. There is a sign on it that says something to the effect of "Unlike other hot tubs on the ship this hot tub does not produce bubbles" so I guess it's a feature. ;)

 

Overall we felt that the value of the drink package was worthless with the new added 20% gratuity for Haven guests, we definitely lost money on that package. We were also upset that it was a required cost in our booking and that we could not book without including it in our package. The decision to disallow the carrying of soda, juice and water onboard is extremely annoying, especially since there are many brands that are not available on the ship (which we would even pay to bring onboard if given the chance!) such as Dr. Pepper or Polar Beverages. I think it's also very silly that there is no easy way to get cans of soda in the room. I do not know of any other line that restricts beverages to this extent and on MSC they are ALL free for suite guests.

 

It seems like onboard gratuities continue to go up almost every six months and I must have missed the last increase. The suite discretionary service charges ($17.50 pp/pd) are getting ridiculous, especially since they are now grater than those of standard passengers and still do not include the Butler or Concierge that are tipped separately.

 

The cost of spa passes ($492 pp) and services has increased to a point where the value does not seem worth it, although the service and staff in the spa were great.

 

I was very surprised at the new photo policy. We were at dinner and the photographer came around as the always do and asked us to pose for a picture, so that was fine. Then it got a little weird, she came back to our table sometime later with the printed picture in a folio. So I asked her if this would be available down in the gallery for purchase and she said that actually if I wanted the photo that I had to purchase it now and that if not, that it would not be available later. I asked her about this policy and she said it was being rolled out on two ships including the Escape. Then I asked her if it was just a trial basis on those ships to see how it worked and she told me that if would be on all ships within a few months. I thought that was all very strange, as we like to see all the pictures at the end of the cruise and pick the best ones, and this really put me on the spot during dinner. So from then on I just said "no thanks" when the photographers came around after that. In the end I do not think that this new policy will help NCL.

 

Main dining room staff was lacking although specialty restaurant staff were friendly and attentive. We felt the menu items were excellent in Cagney's and that Le Bistro was good, although a duck breast entree would be nice. We felt the menu in La Cucina could use some more classic Italian updates; we miss the old menu and the traveling bread.

 

Bermuda was wonderful. Excursions were excellent, the two wreck snorkel and the restless native catamaran were great!

 

We attended the art auction through Park West on the last day of the cruise.

 

<Rant About Art>

I know some of the history of Park West and their lawsuits and I normally do not attend the auctions. However, I knew that Guy Harvey had been on the ship recently and painted some watercolors while he was onboard. I was interested in them so I decided to attend the auction with my wife on the last day. It just made me sad and angry to see some of the tactics going on. I wanted to give Park West a chance but it seems like such a scam and as though they do not have a conscience. One gentleman spent $43,000 on some Mohammad Ali memorabilia and Park West had obviously been working with him prior to this auction on the price and the lot. I don't know it's value, so I can't really comment on that but it did seem to me to be excessive. It's what happened next that really annoyed me, the auctioneer started a "mystery auction" with two pieces that he said he "just found in the art stores of the ship" that he said were "just meant to go together". It turned out to be a Peter Max print of a flag with four stars and a set of Mohammad Ali boxing gloves. Now it was obvious that the gentleman who bought the first lot had no idea about this before the auction and was quite surprised. They had a representative right next to him ready to take his bid and they were definitely targeting him with after he had already spent the 40K+ on the first lot. It bothered me that they call everything original even though it's mostly all prints from a glorified inkjet printer. However, I did see some interesting works on this cruise that they were selling, that were foil gold and silver leaf painted over with an airbrush, but I didn't know anything about them. They are definitely not originals though and are prints made by some process unknown to me. They even had some art done on wood where the grain was visible but these were prints as well, they called it a caldograph I think... on closer inspection it was definitely some sort of print on plywood. The Park West representatives are not very helpful with these kinds of questions. I was really just curious and I tried to get one of them to explain the wood process to me and I don't think she had a clue. She said it was solid wood and a "unique original", I tried to get more of an idea simply how the print was made but got nowhere and I think we just ended up annoying each other. They are still selling the Dali's of indeterminate origin, they still have the Renoir plates, and on this cruise they were pushing old manuscript pages of Latin text which annoys me on many levels. All these things just made me feel like NCL should get rid of Park West for those practices on principal, but I do know they make a good amount of money from those auctions. I am not sure but I don't think they use Park West on Regent or Oceania though which makes me suspicious as to the motives there. Oh, the Guy Harvey artwork I was looking at did come up for auction. It was an original watercolor painted onboard and valued by Park West at $8,700 for only $5,400. I know some Guy Harvey originals can sell for that but this was not one I thought rose to that level. After witnessing the rest of the auction I just didn't feel right about it or the price. I wondered if there had been prints issued of this original and I even started to doubt if it was really an original. I mean, I had been told a few days earlier that they had been painted onboard by a representative of the gallery, but the auctioneer had been using the term original to describe EVERYTHING! In the end I just left frustrated but have learned my lesson and will not attend a Park West event in the future regardless.

</Rant About Art>

 

Disembarkation was wonderful, our luggage was off by 8:30 and having the separate Haven line in the port of NY is a great idea. We got from the ship to our car in 15 minutes!

 

Overall, we choose NCL for our cruise vacations for the value and the Haven experience. While it has been better in some areas it has decreased significantly in others. We loved cruising in the Gem's smaller Haven on past cruises as well and might have considered that in the future, but after the new renovations the Haven atmosphere especially in the Gem's courtyard just isn't the same. I think now that the competitive edge of the Haven might be lost, especially with lines such as MSC offering competitive pricing lower than NCL on the similar Yacht Club packages. Unfortunately I have been thinking about canceling our reservations on the Bliss and looking to other lines for our next cruise, we will miss the value and service we used to experience on NCL.

 

Well, this post is quite a bit longer than I expected so I will wrap it up there, but I will try to respond to any questions anyone has here. I can certainly elaborate on specific areas if anyone wants to know more. Oh, on a final note we thought the main stage shows were still great even though this is our third time seeing them, and they had a new magician on who was OK, not sure if that was a one time thing or not.

Edited August 31, 2018 by Kortehgehn

[April42749]

Thanks for the review. We are going on the Escape 10/21-Bahamas-Guy Harvey Conservation cruise, and I'm hoping it's more than just Guy "painting". It's advertised as "conservation lectures". This was the selling point for DH, but on the roll call there isn't any excitement about it.

 

 

 

I appreciate and agree with the Park West rant. To let you know, Carnival ended their contract with them and they were not on my June Horizon cruise. As to the person who spent $40K, I just hope it's someone who has no knowledge of the true value but has a lot of money, not someone who used the Park West "credit plan" and will be paying for it over the course of several years.

[Kortehgehn]

Thanks for the review. We are going on the Escape 10/21-Bahamas-Guy Harvey Conservation cruise, and I'm hoping it's more than just Guy "painting". It's advertised as "conservation lectures". This was the selling point for DH, but on the roll call there isn't any excitement about it.

 

 

 

I appreciate and agree with the Park West rant. To let you know, Carnival ended their contract with them and they were not on my June Horizon cruise. As to the person who spent $40K, I just hope it's someone who has no knowledge of the true value but has a lot of money, not someone who used the Park West "credit plan" and will be paying for it over the course of several years.

 

I was not familiar with the Guy Harvey conservation cruise but I just looked it up and it sounds great from the flyer. We'd be all in on a cruise like that, unfortunately it's just the wrong time of year for us. We had cruised on the Escape last year out of Miami and we just missed Guy Harvey on the ship by one week! We were really disappointed about that. The foundation really does amazing work and Guy Harvey has so many connections that I would imagine there would definitely be some interesting lectures on conservation and the like. It is always so clear how passionate Guy Harvey is about these efforts, especially how active he is in the foundation himself, on the front lines, so to speak. I just wish they would rotate the programming on the ship's Guy Harvey channel a little more as whenever we are on the ship there are usually only one or two "episodes" that we manage to catch that seem to repeat all week. The funny thing is, on the three Escape cruises that we have been on, there were different shows. :confused: So I don't know why they can't shuffle the programming a little more.

[Laszlo]

Nice review. Got to love Park West when they use the term "Giclee". Just another word for a digital print. They could have made 5 copies or 5000 Lol

[PATRLR]

The decision to disallow the carrying of soda, juice and water onboard is extremely annoying, especially since there are many brands that are not available on the ship (which we would even pay to bring onboard if given the chance!) such as Dr. Pepper or Polar Beverages.

Definitely from Massachusetts if you are looking to carry on your Polar beverages. :)

[vacation44]

Thank you for taking the time to post your review.