Our wonderful trip on the Escape February 10th

[schwartzy]

 

Just back from our Feb 10th cruise on Norwegian Escape, Western Caribbean itinerary. I was traveling with my husband, two kids (aged 5 and 7) and my in-laws (the grandparents.) This was really the perfect vacation and ship for our family, so I thought I would share some key thoughts and tips, especially because this site and others helped me so much with planning. 

1)    I’ve seen complaints here about the slides and ropes course being closed a lot. This also happened on my cruise. Honestly, this is totally weather related and I can’t imagine that another ship or cruise line would have handled it differently. My tip: don’t plan for your sea day to be your slides/ ropes course day. For example, all aboard after Cozumel was 3:30 but we didn’t sail away for a while. Winds were low and it was the perfect time for the slides. Tendering at Cayman started at 10- well, the ropes course opens at 9 and we were docked already, so we did it then. Overall, the slides and ropes courses were the highlights of the trip for my kids who spent a few afternoons going on the slides over and over. Then, on the windy, chilly sea day, they went to Splash Academy.
2)    Thank you to @APDMOM – the pictures you took from your balcony of Ocho Rios helped me so much! We were docked at Reynold’s pier since the main pier was damaged. NCL had not communicated this to us. At breakfast in the Garden Café, looking out the window, I knew immediately that this view was “off.” When we got off the boat I asked Jack (cruise director) how to get to the walkable beach (Bay Beach) and he was able to show me and explained it’s only 5 minutes longer. A word on Ocho Rios – the entire walk to the beach cab drivers were accosting us to go with them. They did not seem dangerous but just annoying, and they were LYING about the beach saying stuff like “why are people walking that way? I live here and there’s nothing that way!” (total lie). Just ignore them and say “no thank you.” Bay beach was inexpensive and totally fine for the day. My 5 year old was not big enough for Dunn’s River and other excursions, so this was great.
3)    Don’t trust the MDR menus you see on certain websites (or even on cruisecritic if they are old.) They are dated and inaccurate. Don’t plan your specialty dining around those menus. 
4)    I had seen complaints here about lines - for tendering and other things. I think this is dependent on when you’re cruising. Our cruise was not during a school vacation. We really had no lines for tendering (although you should still make tender reservations on day 1), Splash Academy was never full, and there were no lines for bars. One thing I would definitely do next time I’m booking is to check itineraries to make sure there is only 1 ship at Great Stirrup Cay instead of 2. We were the only ship and it was pretty pleasant, but the 6 of us could not get chairs together until people started moving – so I can’t imagine what it is like when there are 2 ships there. My only complaint about the crowds (very minor complaint) is that the specialty dining gets overbooked and they sit you in overflow areas like the noisy bars. They also squished in the 6 of us at a table for 4 – which they did to other people as well, not just us with kids. When my husband and I had “date night” reservations at Le Bistro they tried to sit us in the atrium area where you can hear the noisy casino and smell the smoke. We waited instead for a table inside. It was a short wait, but we were only 2 people, had reservations, and showed up on time. 
5)    About the food, I was a bit nervous because I had read that that the food had gone “downhill” in the past few years. So the food quality was a pleasant surprise! Just for fun, here are the top 5 things I ate 1) Crab cake at Cagney’s 2) Duck breast at Le Bistro 3) Lamb shank at the main dining room 4) Indian food at the buffet (we are not buffet people at dinner, but we went on Super Bowl Sunday, and I made a plate of all the Indian offerings and it was great!) 5) Since this was definitely a surprise, I have to give a shout out to the buffet at GSC. The jerk chicken and salad was a great lunch!  My husband also loved the lemon pepper shrimp at the MDR and the garlic shrimp at the buffet. He ate a crazy amount of shrimp.

 

I’m happy to answer any questions about this sailing.
 

[mrsaruba96]

Thanks for your review!
can you please tell me are there regular tables and chairs near the pool or on deck? I don’t care for loungers and prefer regular table and chairs. Thanks!

[schwartzy]

1 hour ago, mrsaruba96 said:

Thanks for your review!
can you please tell me are there regular tables and chairs near the pool or on deck? I don’t care for loungers and prefer regular table and chairs. Thanks!

I can't say for sure because I wasn't looking for them, but I recall only seeing loungers and high top stools near the pool. However, I do remember seeing lots of regular chairs at Spice H2O.