Just returned from the 10 night Inaugural Transatlantic crossing of the NCL Escape. Had an absolute fantastic time. Since I know quite a few posters are booked on it for upcoming cruises, I thought I would give you
my thoughts.
The ship is absolutely beautiful to me. In terms of decor, very similar to GA and BA but IMO, a bit more understated. The public areas are nice and open and everything flows well together. The smoke free casino was awesome!! My mom and I stayed in a 2 bdrm Haven family Villa so our experiences and impressions are based on that. Below are a some things that stood out for me:
Things I loved:
*Beautiful public areas. A variety of venues each night with live music.
Margaritaville - Restaurant and bar- food complimentary -the menu was wonderful and delicious. Conch fritters, fish tacos and key lime pie...Amazing!!
*Food Republic - Fantastic!! Ala Carte restaurant. A large variety of small plates and sushi. Most dishes were made to share. Two people could easily order about 4 items to share for around $20 and not walk away hungry. The menu was very innovative with an amazing combination of flavors. My mom and I loved it so much we went 3 times for lunch and once for dinner. LOL
*Most of the complimentary as well as the specialty restaurants have new, upgraded menus.
*Ala Carte pricing. Being able to order and pay for just what you want was very nice.
*Ropes course - just as fun if not better than the GA and BA
*Smoke free casino!!!
*The gym is much more spacious and open. Not closed off into two sections like the GA and BA.
*Entertainment was absolutely fantastic:
*Supper Club - the John Hughes based “For the Record” was great. I was an 80’s teen and saw all of the movies and knew the songs.
*After Midnight - Amazing show with some really talented dancers
*Million Dollar Quartet- this was my favorite of all of them. It’s a show I’ve seen on stage in Chicago. This cast and shortened production on the Escape was exceptional.
* The comedians at the Headliners were really funny and dueling pianos of Howel at the Moon was just as fun as on the other ships.
*The staff was wonderful. So friendly and outgoing. Saw the Captain and officers out and about often interacting with guests. Our room steward was excellent. Our Butler and concierge totally spoiled my mom.
*The Haven. Wow!! I’ve sailed in the Haven on every class of ship that has one. The Escape’s IMO, the best. The made the depth of the pool deeper so you can comfortably swim laps. Two hot tubs in main haven and finally one on the outdoor sundeck. They also included the retractable roof that they included on the Breakaway. Bigger Haven restaurant with an outdoor dining area. Finally a new and upgraded Haven restaurant menu. All pay per view movies except for Adult movies were complimentary for Haven guests.
Things I didn’t like:
- the food at the Supper Club was pretty blah, a bit too dark to even properly eat your food.
- Internet was awful. Very slow at times, lots of page timeouts
- hard sell at the spa
- not a great variety of merchandise in the shops. I don’t believe I’ve ever sailed on a ship that didn’t sell swimsuits. If you wanted jewelry and watches, you were in luck.
- This may be Transatlantic specific because of the older than average crowd. Lack of activities for those of us more active.
- Another thing that may be TA specific was that they ran out of somethings and/or somethings were not stocked. I know that they did not have coffee pods for the coffee makers in the standard rooms.
One thing I heard from some of my fellow CCers was that room service was very slow which I find that totally unacceptable since they charging for it for regular rooms. As Haven guest's we did not experience that at all, food was delivered quick and hot from whatever restaurant we chose.
That’s about it. We thoroughly enjoyed it. Once I can find a date that works for all 3 of my DDs, I will be booking the Escape again. I know they will love it.
