Platinum cruiser just off the Escape from Bermduda - a quick and dirty review

[THATGirl!]

I just got off the same sailing on the Escape so i'll jump in too. I have sailed the Escape before out of Miami in 2017 and absolutely LOVE it!!!

 

There were some crazy moments this trip : Emergency wise getting an ill passenger there earlier then just sailing around, then a woman passed out on our catamaran in the deck crews bed & then the family late to the dock who were then left behind!!! We also got to see them brought back to the ship via the port rescue thankfully.

 

*People DO NOT BE LATE !!! The ship will not wait for you.... i have never witnessed that, it was crazy. Watching as they realize we are pulling away without them. Small children crying... crazyness.

 

I love Bermuda, this was our second time and would go back in a second. Clean, beautiful and everyone so friendly. We even lucked out with no humidity this trip! We did the Rising Son excursion and it was amazing, totally worth the money! We also enjoyed dinner on the island and it was great. 

 

*Did not like Tobacco Bay beach, found it just underwhelming. Reminded me of Snorkle but not as nice? and Snorkle isn't the best either IMO. We then went to a cove on our excursion which was breathtaking and last day we went back to Horshoe Bay because it never disappoints as the most beautiful beach. We hadn't been there since they upgraded things so that was a nice touch. One of our taxi drivers said Clearwater is the beach to see so next time for sure. 

 

- chair hogs is a regular thing everywhere you go for vacation .. including resorts /all inclusive's . It's part of life. Do i think it's rude to leave your things and not come back for 4 hours - ABSOLUTELY  but again just how it goes everywhere. I found them ticketing & even saw them remove peoples things a few times but it could be enforced more. We were a party of 6 and half of us got up  very early and grabbed chairs, then relieved the others an hour later so they could go eat. There was never a time some folks in our group were not on some of our chairs. 

 

Chair TIP: First morning after you set sail, you can get a great chair at 8 am because lots of people won't know the lack of until they get out there but going forward you'll need to be up between 6-7 to score one in prime spot as people catch on. Also when thinking about chairs, consider there's always shows in front so if you want to see them from your seat, just flip them around to face the stage & choose closer to the stage.( it is louder)

 

* The kids in the hot tub/adult pool/adult parties! THIS is where i get annoyed. I am done raising young children, i am adult going on an adult trip with all adults that cost a lot of money and i want to hang in adult areas without children. There are areas specified for children as well as programs so adults can have time off. This is just inconsiderate .... please people with younger children, try to understand the rules are there so everyone can enjoy their vacation. NCL does not enforce this enough.... i wish they would. Just a small gripe 🙂

 

Food: Cagnies: we LOVED it!!!( must be hit or miss , La Cuchina we found terrible & Baymo was amazing. Favorite MDR is Manhattan Room and Oshean's is great too. I found the buffet great... my only complaint the chefs couldn't manage an Eggs Benedict with a runny yolk...they were all solid lol, l i was bummed but life goes on 🙂 

 

* Definitely better to pre-book reservations for dinners!!! So grateful we did. 

 

Turn down services: Our room steward was wonderful & he came 2x a day. We didn't know towel animals were cancelled so when we asked him for one he then continued to do them until the last day 🙂 Why discontinue?? We love them even as adults. 

 

Things i recommend bringing : A reusable water bottle (contigo on amazon) to refill, a travel coffee mug  w/cover (think Yeti) so if you want coffee on the pool deck or waterfront this will allow a decent amount and no spilling. Chair/towel clips to keep your towel from blowing away & easier to identify your seats after lunch (amazon). We do bring single dollar bills to tip as we find a little goes a long way. The first day we arrived asked about a previous pool deck waiter we loved & got connected to his replacement... we had constant service! He was awesome. 

 

Port Parking was a easy & convenient ! I recommend it over the more remote ones, couldn't get any easier. We arrived by 9:15 and it was perfect as we didn't wait in long lines and were on the ship by 11:15 . Embarkation was a breeze!

 

Elevator issues:

Post muster the elevator issues of course ... but we just walked, no biggie for us however for others with limitations it is. Disembarkation UGH! I think they have the right idea with color coding when leaving but they only give 15 minutes before they call the next color!! All of a sudden its 3 levels of colors leaving at once and way too few elevators. They should wait  45- hour between calling colors ... only 2 of us could squeeze in different elevators and that took several tries (13th floor to 7th) and so most wound lugging 50 lb suitcases down several sets of stairs. My brand new luggage lost a wheel 😞 

 

That was probably my biggest issue the whole time... so really all in all the best time. If you ask the rest of my party they will agree it was wonderful and we were sad to leave....

 

 

Edited July 10, 2019 by THATGirl!
typo

[IrishDutchess]

We are thinking of doing  a catamaran  excursion on the final morning in Bermuda, and the timing looks like it would end  at 12:30.   Documents say latest time to board ship  -2 hours ahead of time, which would be 1:00- Do you recall which excursion company had a problem getting the passengers back to  ship on time? Do they let you get back on ship after stated boarding time? Ship sails at 3- I do not want to be nervous the whole excursion, but if anyone has done this with no problem please share. 

[ColeThornton]

32 minutes ago, IrishDutchess said:

We are thinking of doing  a catamaran  excursion on the final morning in Bermuda, and the timing looks like it would end  at 12:30.   Documents say latest time to board ship  -2 hours ahead of time, which would be 1:00- Do you recall which excursion company had a problem getting the passengers back to  ship on time? Do they let you get back on ship after stated boarding time? Ship sails at 3- I do not want to be nervous the whole excursion, but if anyone has done this with no problem please share. 

 

The 2 hour boarding time only applies to embarkation at the original port, not at the port of calls.

[IrishDutchess]

Ok thanks for that info-I think it should be ok then.

[vamom76]

14 hours ago, THATGirl! said:

Food: Cagnies: we LOVED it!!!( must be hit or miss , La Cuchina we found terrible & Baymo was amazing. Favorite MDR is Manhattan Room and Oshean's is great too. I found the buffet great... my only complaint the chefs couldn't manage an Eggs Benedict with a runny yolk...they were all solid lol, l i was bummed but life goes on 🙂 

 

Turn down services: Our room steward was wonderful & he came 2x a day. We didn't know towel animals were cancelled so when we asked him for one he then continued to do them until the last day 🙂 Why discontinue?? We love them even as adults. 

They stopped doing towel animals because it increased the number of towels they had to wash (1 extra per room adds up.) We went on the behind the scenes tour on the Dawn and the number of towels, sheets, napkins, table clothes washed daily was insane!

 

I also found the eggs benedict in the buffet to be "cooked," I just assumed it was because they were below those heat lamps - and were cooked all the way through.

[newmexicoNita]

17 hours ago, THATGirl! said:

I just got off the same sailing on the Escape so i'll jump in too. I have sailed the Escape before out of Miami in 2017 and absolutely LOVE it!!!

 

There were some crazy moments this trip : Emergency wise getting an ill passenger there earlier then just sailing around, then a woman passed out on our catamaran in the deck crews bed & then the family late to the dock who were then left behind!!! We also got to see them brought back to the ship via the port rescue thankfully.

 

*People DO NOT BE LATE !!! The ship will not wait for you.... i have never witnessed that, it was crazy. Watching as they realize we are pulling away without them. Small children crying... crazyness.

 

I love Bermuda, this was our second time and would go back in a second. Clean, beautiful and everyone so friendly. We even lucked out with no humidity this trip! We did the Rising Son excursion and it was amazing, totally worth the money! We also enjoyed dinner on the island and it was great. 

 

*Did not like Tobacco Bay beach, found it just underwhelming. Reminded me of Snorkle but not as nice? and Snorkle isn't the best either IMO. We then went to a cove on our excursion which was breathtaking and last day we went back to Horshoe Bay because it never disappoints as the most beautiful beach. We hadn't been there since they upgraded things so that was a nice touch. One of our taxi drivers said Clearwater is the beach to see so next time for sure. 

 

- chair hogs is a regular thing everywhere you go for vacation .. including resorts /all inclusive's . It's part of life. Do i think it's rude to leave your things and not come back for 4 hours - ABSOLUTELY  but again just how it goes everywhere. I found them ticketing & even saw them remove peoples things a few times but it could be enforced more. We were a party of 6 and half of us got up  very early and grabbed chairs, then relieved the others an hour later so they could go eat. There was never a time some folks in our group were not on some of our chairs. 

 

Chair TIP: First morning after you set sail, you can get a great chair at 8 am because lots of people won't know the lack of until they get out there but going forward you'll need to be up between 6-7 to score one in prime spot as people catch on. Also when thinking about chairs, consider there's always shows in front so if you want to see them from your seat, just flip them around to face the stage & choose closer to the stage.( it is louder)

 

* The kids in the hot tub/adult pool/adult parties! THIS is where i get annoyed. I am done raising young children, i am adult going on an adult trip with all adults that cost a lot of money and i want to hang in adult areas without children. There are areas specified for children as well as programs so adults can have time off. This is just inconsiderate .... please people with younger children, try to understand the rules are there so everyone can enjoy their vacation. NCL does not enforce this enough.... i wish they would. Just a small gripe 🙂

 

Food: Cagnies: we LOVED it!!!( must be hit or miss , La Cuchina we found terrible & Baymo was amazing. Favorite MDR is Manhattan Room and Oshean's is great too. I found the buffet great... my only complaint the chefs couldn't manage an Eggs Benedict with a runny yolk...they were all solid lol, l i was bummed but life goes on 🙂 

 

* Definitely better to pre-book reservations for dinners!!! So grateful we did. 

 

Turn down services: Our room steward was wonderful & he came 2x a day. We didn't know towel animals were cancelled so when we asked him for one he then continued to do them until the last day 🙂 Why discontinue?? We love them even as adults. 

 

Things i recommend bringing : A reusable water bottle (contigo on amazon) to refill, a travel coffee mug  w/cover (think Yeti) so if you want coffee on the pool deck or waterfront this will allow a decent amount and no spilling. Chair/towel clips to keep your towel from blowing away & easier to identify your seats after lunch (amazon). We do bring single dollar bills to tip as we find a little goes a long way. The first day we arrived asked about a previous pool deck waiter we loved & got connected to his replacement... we had constant service! He was awesome. 

 

Port Parking was a easy & convenient ! I recommend it over the more remote ones, couldn't get any easier. We arrived by 9:15 and it was perfect as we didn't wait in long lines and were on the ship by 11:15 . Embarkation was a breeze!

 

Elevator issues:

Post muster the elevator issues of course ... but we just walked, no biggie for us however for others with limitations it is. Disembarkation UGH! I think they have the right idea with color coding when leaving but they only give 15 minutes before they call the next color!! All of a sudden its 3 levels of colors leaving at once and way too few elevators. They should wait  45- hour between calling colors ... only 2 of us could squeeze in different elevators and that took several tries (13th floor to 7th) and so most wound lugging 50 lb suitcases down several sets of stairs. My brand new luggage lost a wheel 😞 

 

That was probably my biggest issue the whole time... so really all in all the best time. If you ask the rest of my party they will agree it was wonderful and we were sad to leave....

 

 

The elevator issue is a big one but other than that I do feel most of the complaints we are seeing here go along with cruising in the summer when ships are full and many parents do not see the importance of paying attention to their kids. The chair hog issue, yes is everywhere. Good and bad experiences in restaurant can happen in any restaurant as well. I will drop it there. I have yet to take a cruise that any of these gripes have made my vacation less than great. 

[Scrappygrrl]

18 hours ago, THATGirl! said:

* The kids in the hot tub/adult pool/adult parties! THIS is where i get annoyed. I am done raising young children, i am adult going on an adult trip with all adults that cost a lot of money and i want to hang in adult areas without children. There are areas specified for children as well as programs so adults can have time off. This is just inconsiderate .... please people with younger children, try to understand the rules are there so everyone can enjoy their vacation. NCL does not enforce this enough.... i wish they would. Just a small gripe 🙂

 

 

Do you mean  kids in the main pool? I have an 11 year old and a 14 year old and am hearing conflicting reports. Some say when there are a lot of kids onboard, they make the main pool all ages. Was this the case or was the signage up indicating adults only?Also, kids are allowed in Spice after a certain time?

I am just making sure so I can tell them what to expect onboard.

Edited July 11, 2019 by Scrappygrrl

[graphicguy]

Love the Escape, too.  Love the cruise to Bermuda.

 

Key to the Catamaran excursion is to do it on one of the days the Escape is docked overnight.  I know of a couple who ended up having to find a Good Samaritan (me) to get them back to the ship after the excursion as they could not do it themselves.  They They went a wee bit over the top with their partying that day and passed out for much of the catamaran excursion.  They didn't bother anyone.  They just were "sleepy" most of the time.   😉

[Mike_DeA]

2 hours ago, Scrappygrrl said:

Do you mean  kids in the main pool? I have an 11 year old and a 14 year old and am hearing conflicting reports. Some say when there are a lot of kids onboard, they make the main pool all ages. Was this the case or was the signage up indicating adults only?Also, kids are allowed in Spice after a certain time?

I am just making sure so I can tell them what to expect onboard.

The main pool is always all ages. 

 

Spice H20 is adults only during the day until about 5pm.  There will be signs posted.

[PortFees45]

10 minutes ago, Mike_DeA said:

The main pool is always all ages. 

 

Spice H20 is adults only during the day until about 5pm.  There will be signs posted.

Incorrect. There is an Adults Only pool on the Escape (clearly marked) and a family pool.

 

Children are not allowed in the adult pool. I saw a few, notified a deck attendant, and they were removed within 5 minutes. 

[Scrappygrrl]

15 minutes ago, PortFees45 said:

Incorrect. There is an Adults Only pool on the Escape (clearly marked) and a family pool.

 

Children are not allowed in the adult pool. I saw a few, notified a deck attendant, and they were removed within 5 minutes. 

That's what I thought. Main Pool is adults only. The pool near (between?) the slides is all ages. But again, thought I remembered reading that the main pool was sometimes all ages depending on the demographic onboard.

[THATGirl!]

20 hours ago, IrishDutchess said:

We are thinking of doing  a catamaran  excursion on the final morning in Bermuda, and the timing looks like it would end  at 12:30.   Documents say latest time to board ship  -2 hours ahead of time, which would be 1:00- Do you recall which excursion company had a problem getting the passengers back to  ship on time? Do they let you get back on ship after stated boarding time? Ship sails at 3- I do not want to be nervous the whole excursion, but if anyone has done this with no problem please share. 

I do not recall. They told us to be back by 2:30 as we leave at 3. Honestly we got up super early to ensure we would be back with a couple of hours to spare. My understanding is IF you book the excursion through NCL then they won't leave without you. I think you'll be ok but read the fine print on Excursions through NCL to verify.

Edited July 11, 2019 by THATGirl!
wrong info

[THATGirl!]

4 hours ago, newmexicoNita said:

The elevator issue is a big one but other than that I do feel most of the complaints we are seeing here go along with cruising in the summer when ships are full and many parents do not see the importance of paying attention to their kids. The chair hog issue, yes is everywhere. Good and bad experiences in restaurant can happen in any restaurant as well. I will drop it there. I have yet to take a cruise that any of these gripes have made my vacation less than great. 

Exactly!!!!! It is what you make it 🙂

[ColeThornton]

2 minutes ago, THATGirl! said:

I do not recall. They told us to be back by 2:30 as we leave at 3. ( usually its the 2 hours) Honestly we got up super early to ensure we would be back with a couple of hours to spare. My understanding is IF you book the excursion through NCL then they won't leave without you. I think you'll be ok but read the fine print on Excursions through NCL to verify

 

 

It's not usually two hours early that you have to be on board.  As mentioned previously you only have to be on the ship two hours prior to sailing at the port of embarkation, not the ports of call.

[THATGirl!]

3 hours ago, Scrappygrrl said:

Do you mean  kids in the main pool? I have an 11 year old and a 14 year old and am hearing conflicting reports. Some say when there are a lot of kids onboard, they make the main pool all ages. Was this the case or was the signage up indicating adults only?Also, kids are allowed in Spice after a certain time?

I am just making sure so I can tell them what to expect onboard.

Don't quote me on Spice but i thought i saw the parties at 10:30 and after were 18+  and this was not enforced. I could be wrong... But they offer earlier parties like " Glow" at 8:30 for kids so i do think that's the case. On the pool, yes the " adults only" sign was up and this was a few different days. I am not even really referring to teenagers but under 12 and  all over the hot tub & pool. I could see folks feeling frustrated as 3-4 kids swimming around in the hot tub & pool while they tried to relax & socialize. That's what happens in the pool, a lot of socializing & watching the shows like " Mr sexy Legs" . Some stuff just geared toward adults....

Edited July 11, 2019 by THATGirl!
typo

[ighten]

I keep reading about turn down cancelled and no towel animals - on the Pearl 2 weeks ago we had both every single night.

[LUVINMYHUBS]

Thanks for the review!

[graphicguy]

Same....steward cleaned up my room 2X/day.  I don’t remember if I did or didn’t have towel animals (that means I probably didn’t as I think I would have noticed).

 

This was on the Escape 3 weeks ago.

[PortFees45]

Okay maybe the turndown thing wasn't ship-wide! Either way I can't go back and edit the post. Focus on the other stuff!

[cruisingmomof5]

On 7/10/2019 at 1:46 PM, THATGirl! said:

I just got off the same sailing on the Escape so i'll jump in too. I have sailed the Escape before out of Miami in 2017 and absolutely LOVE it!!!

 

There were some crazy moments this trip : Emergency wise getting an ill passenger there earlier then just sailing around, then a woman passed out on our catamaran in the deck crews bed & then the family late to the dock who were then left behind!!! We also got to see them brought back to the ship via the port rescue thankfully.

 

*People DO NOT BE LATE !!! The ship will not wait for you.... i have never witnessed that, it was crazy. Watching as they realize we are pulling away without them. Small children crying... crazyness.

 

I love Bermuda, this was our second time and would go back in a second. Clean, beautiful and everyone so friendly. We even lucked out with no humidity this trip! We did the Rising Son excursion and it was amazing, totally worth the money! We also enjoyed dinner on the island and it was great. 

 

*Did not like Tobacco Bay beach, found it just underwhelming. Reminded me of Snorkle but not as nice? and Snorkle isn't the best either IMO. We then went to a cove on our excursion which was breathtaking and last day we went back to Horshoe Bay because it never disappoints as the most beautiful beach. We hadn't been there since they upgraded things so that was a nice touch. One of our taxi drivers said Clearwater is the beach to see so next time for sure. 

 

- chair hogs is a regular thing everywhere you go for vacation .. including resorts /all inclusive's . It's part of life. Do i think it's rude to leave your things and not come back for 4 hours - ABSOLUTELY  but again just how it goes everywhere. I found them ticketing & even saw them remove peoples things a few times but it could be enforced more. We were a party of 6 and half of us got up  very early and grabbed chairs, then relieved the others an hour later so they could go eat. There was never a time some folks in our group were not on some of our chairs. 

 

Chair TIP: First morning after you set sail, you can get a great chair at 8 am because lots of people won't know the lack of until they get out there but going forward you'll need to be up between 6-7 to score one in prime spot as people catch on. Also when thinking about chairs, consider there's always shows in front so if you want to see them from your seat, just flip them around to face the stage & choose closer to the stage.( it is louder)

 

* The kids in the hot tub/adult pool/adult parties! THIS is where i get annoyed. I am done raising young children, i am adult going on an adult trip with all adults that cost a lot of money and i want to hang in adult areas without children. There are areas specified for children as well as programs so adults can have time off. This is just inconsiderate .... please people with younger children, try to understand the rules are there so everyone can enjoy their vacation. NCL does not enforce this enough.... i wish they would. Just a small gripe 🙂

 

Food: Cagnies: we LOVED it!!!( must be hit or miss , La Cuchina we found terrible & Baymo was amazing. Favorite MDR is Manhattan Room and Oshean's is great too. I found the buffet great... my only complaint the chefs couldn't manage an Eggs Benedict with a runny yolk...they were all solid lol, l i was bummed but life goes on 🙂 

 

* Definitely better to pre-book reservations for dinners!!! So grateful we did. 

 

Turn down services: Our room steward was wonderful & he came 2x a day. We didn't know towel animals were cancelled so when we asked him for one he then continued to do them until the last day 🙂 Why discontinue?? We love them even as adults. 

 

Things i recommend bringing : A reusable water bottle (contigo on amazon) to refill, a travel coffee mug  w/cover (think Yeti) so if you want coffee on the pool deck or waterfront this will allow a decent amount and no spilling. Chair/towel clips to keep your towel from blowing away & easier to identify your seats after lunch (amazon). We do bring single dollar bills to tip as we find a little goes a long way. The first day we arrived asked about a previous pool deck waiter we loved & got connected to his replacement... we had constant service! He was awesome. 

 

Port Parking was a easy & convenient ! I recommend it over the more remote ones, couldn't get any easier. We arrived by 9:15 and it was perfect as we didn't wait in long lines and were on the ship by 11:15 . Embarkation was a breeze!

 

Elevator issues:

Post muster the elevator issues of course ... but we just walked, no biggie for us however for others with limitations it is. Disembarkation UGH! I think they have the right idea with color coding when leaving but they only give 15 minutes before they call the next color!! All of a sudden its 3 levels of colors leaving at once and way too few elevators. They should wait  45- hour between calling colors ... only 2 of us could squeeze in different elevators and that took several tries (13th floor to 7th) and so most wound lugging 50 lb suitcases down several sets of stairs. My brand new luggage lost a wheel 😞 

 

That was probably my biggest issue the whole time... so really all in all the best time. If you ask the rest of my party they will agree it was wonderful and we were sad to leave....

 

 

First time on this ship, would love to know what is a prime spot during the day, also do you need to take your passport with you when you get off ship in Bermiuda

[jaxw17]

On 7/8/2019 at 3:46 AM, ghc10 said:

We had a 10 month old in our party and we were told we could not bring her into spiceh20. Also saw a group of teens be asked to leave. They definitely were enforcing the rules 

They need to as well. It is supposed to be adults only there are lots of other spaces for children

[beach Friday]

Always do Catamaran tour from ncl on day we leave (4 time) and was always back in time