Just back from Norwegian Escape and a brief comparison to all my Holland America cruisesI I

[albingirl]

We returned yesterday from a 7 day Carib. cruise and TI want to share my findings with  you.  We live in Florida, so going out of Orlando was really easy.  The ship is huge,and I have never been on such a large ship.  It was massive.  We have sailed with NCL however, but have been true loyalists to HAL.

We booked a balcony stateroom and it was lovely.  I particularly like the floor plan, where the closets are in the room, rather than in the entrance to the room.  It makes it easier to get around without awkward positioning around your companion..The food was similar, but the Bistro was outstanding and better than anything I've ever had on HAL. We don't eat at buffets but when we dined in the main dining room, we found two smaller offshoots called the Taste and Savor and they were wonderful.. Smaller atmosphere, much like Club Orange in my opinion.  

The entertainment was far better than anything we've recently experience on HAL.  There was music everywhere and I loved that.  The show called the Choir of Man was the very best I have ever seen at sea.  Just amazing singing and dancing.  The actors truly engaged the audience and I was captivated by them all.

Ok, the negatives.  The ship was so chaotic by the pool that we never went there.  The bar was slammed and always had 4 or 5 bartenders going in the afternoon.  The noise was loud, loud, loud.  But, their saving grace was a beer kiost where you could easily grab a beer and go.  Since NCL has a beverage package, significantly cheaper than HAL, and has no limit on the number of beverages you can consume in a day, there was tremendous drinking onboard.  

We found a quiet area called the Waterfront, with comfortable chairs and couches , and alot of them, for your afternoon reading or napping lol.  

We dont' gamble but the casino was very smokey when we walked by.  They also have a cigar bar, which is horrible if you are in that vicinity.  There was also smoking on some balconies and no way to police that, really.  Just obnoxious.

It was a zoo.  Door slamming was prevalent and difficult to take.  

The staff was wonderful, however, and they do try hard to please.  We aren't high maintenance, but found the whole atmosphere crazy at times.

We'll stick with Holland America for the future.  After this, I have zero interest in the island cruises.  We didn't even make it to one port in the Dominican Republic because of the wind.  Oh, before I forget, the daily graituities were $20.00 pp.  Our credit from stock holdings didn't go to anything but non-refundable credit, as well.  

When you had dinner in a specialty restaurant due to your dining package, you were limited to one appetizer, one entree, and one dessert.  Since I am a light diner, it didn't much matter to me, but I could see how it could disturb others.  The highly rated La Cuccina was not very enjoyable, and I can't quite figure out why.  Slow service?  Just missing the mark.

Anyhow, that's all folks.  I really appreciate reading others experiences on these cruises, so I thought I'd add my two cents.  About what it's worth lol.

[canadianbear]

@albingirl  you’ve posted this twice, FYI. I answered on the other thread.  

[Roz]

Thank you for your balanced review. 

 

Is it true that NCL's drink packages don't include tips?

[albingirl]

I don't know how to get rid of one.

[3rdGenCunarder]

7 minutes ago, albingirl said:

I don't know how to get rid of one.

 

You report it to the mods and they fix it. I just did that. 

 

Thanks for the comparison. I haven't sailed NCL in a long time, and I doubt I will again. Just the sight of their huge ships makes me say "no." And I've heard that there's a noisy vibe--I'm sure to some people it's "lively" and fun, and that's fine, just not for me. I'm glad you found a quiet niche to relax in. I would be desperately looking for something like that on such a huge noisy ship. 

 

[kazu]

Thanks for the comparison.

[albingirl]

Just now, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

You report it to the mods and they fix it. I just did that. 

 

Thanks for the comparison. I haven't sailed NCL in a long time, and I doubt I will again. Just the sight of their huge ships makes me say "no." And I've heard that there's a noisy vibe--I'm sure to some people it's "lively" and fun, and that's fine, just not for me. I'm glad you found a quiet niche to relax in. I would be desperately looking for something like that on such a huge noisy ship. 

 

Agree!  Thank you.

[albingirl]

15 minutes ago, Roz said:

Thank you for your balanced review. 

 

Is it true that NCL's drink packages don't include tips?

No, it includes tips.

[mcrcruiser]

Seems to me that these large Norwegian ships are more suited to younger people from your review . younger people like the unlimited bar & they don't mind noise ; because they are young . from your review we would not like this type of cruise line . 

We only sail HAL ships now because we no longer able to fly & HAL sails from our home port of San Diego . We were able to sail last March 14 days on Celebrity Soltice  from Los angeles portin a handicap balcony . The 2 lines HAL & Celebrity are similar however ,Celebrity does  do a much better job in the Enttertainment area . When we could fly most vof our cruise were Celebrity cruises 

 

We do enjoy the Koningsdam for other reasons  like the spacious handicap balcony cabins .Excellent service  & the cruises we can book to Hawaii ,Mexico & West coat to San Francisco . One day soon we hope HAL btings back their round trip south america cruise from San Diego .

 

Cliff

[puppycanducruise]

Thanks for taking the time to post your comments.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Thanks for sharing.

[OlsSalt]

Good thing passengers still have choices, rather than all cruise lines locked into some deadening competition to be like each other. Yes HAL, the quieter option when cruising.  Phew. 

[Rinderoo]

I have sailed 'em all and prefer HAL and Disney. However, HAL to me is boring--but in a good way. I don't care for the music and miss production shows. But the tradeoffs to me are worth it.  I don't notice anyone heaping plates of food and not eating it on HAL--service in the Lido pretty much eliminates that issue. Dining room meals are duplicated in Lido (we went to MDR once on our recent 11 night Eurodam cruise.) Passengers are generally nice, quiet,  and respectful of others.  Elevators aren't necessary for me on HAL with their smaller ships. Never heard one door slamming or TV through the wall. We like to be on a cruise ship that is manageable, with great food and no drama! I do Disney for entertainment and to keep my status and we like it a lot even as older adults with no kids. But I find HAL far more relaxing and less chaotic than RCCL and NCL. Never saw a drunk person on HAL--just a tipsy happy person in the casino. 

So although the music on HAL makes me run for internet and XM Octane and Ozzy's Boneyard, I will happily sail them to actually relax and not be stressed out.  

[POA1]

Does NCL allow you to pay the difference if a drink is over limit, or do you still pay the whole amount? We were on the Escape in 2018, I could have any bourbon I wanted as long as it was Bulliet. Any other brand and it was full cost.

[albingirl]

13 minutes ago, POA1 said:

Does NCL allow you to pay the difference if a drink is over limit, or do you still pay the whole amount? We were on the Escape in 2018, I could have any bourbon I wanted as long as it was Bulliet. Any other brand and it was full cost.

They allow you to pay the difference. We had grand Marnier one night and just paid a bit over 4 dollars for both. A fine after dinner drink.

[Hlitner]

Interesting thread.  We have not cruised on NCL for some time. but certainly, have no problem accepting HAL (longer voyages) as a floating Assisted Care facility :).  Some noise and a lively bar are still fun for this ole guy as long as the noise is not heard in my cabin.  Many consider NCL a budget line, so we find the review fascinating since the OP thought some of the food superior to HAL.  As to being limited to the courses in the alternative restaurants, the last time we were on HAL that was also the policy in the PG (you could get another starter for an extra fee).  HAL did finally do away with that extra fee (but increased the price of the PG).

 

As to the entertainment comparisons, we know of no other cruise line with worse entertainment options than we have recently found on HAL. My goodness, even the small (450 passenger) Seabourn ships have real shows (with singers, dancers, etc).

 

Hank

[albingirl]

2 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

Interesting thread.  We have not cruised on NCL for some time. but certainly, have no problem accepting HAL (longer voyages) as a floating Assisted Care facility :).  Some noise and a lively bar are still fun for this ole guy as long as the noise is not heard in my cabin.  Many consider NCL a budget line, so we find the review fascinating since the OP thought some of the food superior to HAL.  As to being limited to the courses in the alternative restaurants, the last time we were on HAL that was also the policy in the PG (you could get another starter for an extra fee).  HAL did finally do away with that extra fee (but increased the price of the PG).

 

As to the entertainment comparisons, we know of no other cruise line with worse entertainment options than we have recently found on HAL. My goodness, even the small (450 passenger) Seabourn ships have real shows (with singers, dancers, etc).

 

Hank

Many may consider NCL a budget line, but I paid close to HAL for the all inclusive experience. The only food I really found superior was in LeBistro. All else was quite equal.  One thing I  forgot to note was that you only get 50 dollars per stateroom credit toward excursions. HAL is far more generous there. 

[cat shepard]

Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts. It is so timely, I will be sailing on the Escape in a few weeks.

 

My “traveling Sister”’s volunteer group is using it as a fundraiser, and we are both nervous/excited about the size of the ship and the number of passengers. But it will be a very easy drive to a port Canaveral for us. And the idea of a ropes course & zip line on a ship sounds great. We jokingly tell everyone that we can walk from the bow to the stern and get our daily steps in. We figure we can handle anything for 7 days - right?
 

Did you do any excursions at your ports? Did you visit their private island?

 

Edited January 28 by cat shepard

[Hlitner]

5 minutes ago, albingirl said:

Many may consider NCL a budget line, but I paid close to HAL for the all inclusive experience. The only food I really found superior was in LeBistro. All else was quite equal.  One thing I  forgot to note was that you only get 50 dollars per stateroom credit toward excursions. HAL is far more generous there. 

This may shock some, but we now consider HAL a budget line (in terms of quality and pricing (on many cruises)).  Having add-on items in the MDR (many of those same items used to be included) and the crazy (now gone) policy of charging extra if you wanted soup and a salad in the PG just reeked of a budget line.  HAL remains the only cruise line, that we have cruised in 50 years, that actually had "dark nights" where there was no entertainment in the theater.  We eagerly await the future improvement of HAL so we can again return to cruising on the line.   Nice ships, great staff, and terrible leadership!

 

Hank

[albingirl]

4 minutes ago, cat shepard said:

Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts. It is so timely, I will be sailing on the Escape in a few weeks.

 

My “traveling Sister”’s volunteer group is using it as a fundraiser, and we are both nervous/excited about the size of the ship and the number of passengers. But it will be a very easy drive to a port Canaveral for us. And the idea of a ropes course & zip line on a ship sounds great. We jokingly tell everyone that we can walk from the bow to the stern and get our daily steps in. We figure we can handle anything for 7 days - right?
 

Did you do any excursions at your ports? Did you visit their private island?

 

Thanks. We didn't do any excursions since we are familiar with all the ports. Private island is beautiful. I don't particularly think anyone would have a problem with this ship if you seek out the quieter places like the Waterfront. Don't miss the show. Bring your reading material since the library is very small.

[albingirl]

2 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

This may shock some, but we now consider HAL a budget line (in terms of quality and pricing (on many cruises)).  Having add-on items in the MDR (many of those same items used to be included) and the crazy (now gone) policy of charging extra if you wanted soup and a salad in the PG just reeked of a budget line.  HAL remains the only cruise line, that we have cruised in 50 years, that actually had "dark nights" where there was no entertainment in the theater.  We eagerly await the future improvement of HAL so we can again return to cruising on the line.   Nice ships, great staff, and terrible leadership!

 

Hank

It always irked me that a movie would constitute entertainment in the showroom. Mostly movies that I disliked!

[cbr663]

So appreciate your review.  The largest ship we have sailed is the Koningsdam and my concern with the larger ships is noise and crowds.  We are looking for smaller, not larger.  

 

There are 2 things that HAL needs to do to win us back:  improve both its onshore and onboard service and improve its onboard entertainment.  Until then, we will continue looking elsewhere.  If everything aligns we will booking a European River cruise this week.  🤞

[Tradestock]

Thank you for taking the time to write a review.  Did the cruise director on NCL make a morning wake up announcement, either in the hallway or stateroom intercom, "Come on down and purchase bingo or scratch off tickets?"(paraphrase) 

[albingirl]

2 minutes ago, Tradestock said:

Thank you for taking the time to write a review.  Did the cruise director on NCL make a morning wake up announcement, either in the hallway or stateroom intercom, "Come on down and purchase bingo or scratch off tickets?"(paraphrase) 

Thanks. I don't remember anything like that, but I  generally tune cruise directors out. I only listen to the Captain. He's the man.

[albingirl]

Just now, albingirl said:

Thanks. I don't remember anything like that, but I  generally tune cruise directors out. I only listen to the Captain. He's the man.

To add, there was a fire onboard one night in the nightclub. I  heard the Captain then. Woke us up. Jeepers, hard to get back to sleep.