Cruise Review: Norwegian Cruise Line's Norwegian Escape
- Tara Wilson
- Jun 10
- 15 min read
Updated: Jun 16
For a fun cruise vacation packed with dance parties, exciting waterslides, hilarious live game shows, unlimited poolside drinks, and a thrilling 3-story ropes course, be sure to check out the Norwegian Escape!
This cruise review is for the Norwegian Escape's 7-Day Caribbean Round-Trip from Miami in July, with stops in Great Stirrup Cay, Bahamas; Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic; Tortola, British Virgin Islands; and St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin islands.
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After all the fun we had on our summer '22 cruise to the Caribbean, we were excited and ready to book the next one for summer '23! We were on the hunt for a longer, 7-day cruise and up popped this seemingly perfect cruise with Norwegian.
This 7-day cruise not only stopped at four different ports (wow!), but also was a greater value overall than a 7-day Caribbean cruise with other competitor cruise lines, including extra perks like an unlimited open bar and two meals at a specialty dining option, which are normally extra charges.
Though we had never sailed with Norwegian yet, this trip was exactly what we were looking for and we were super excited to check out something new!
Was it worth the risk? Read on to find out! Here is my in-depth review of our time on the Norwegian Escape! For a quick overview, skip to "Final Thoughts."
The Statesroom
My boyfriend and I stayed in a Balcony stateroom for this trip (if you're doing a Caribbean cruise, I highly recommend getting a balcony) that was located on Deck 8. We were actually surprised at the size of the stateroom, it felt pretty spacious to us, as far as cruise cabins go!
Our stateroom had a queen-sized bed, a couch, a flat-screen tv with a mini desk and pull-out stool/ottoman, closet and a mini fridge. It's hard to say what the square footage of the room was, because on the site they advertise a size range (207-322 square feet) and we were never given an exact measurement.
The balcony was a decent size, and it's really quite magical pulling into a port in the Caribbean when you have a balcony - waking up to those turquoise-clear waters is something else!
The balcony did come furnished with two chairs and a side table, however, we really wished the table was a tad bigger. We were looking forward to having room service breakfast on the balcony, but since that table was tiny and there was no table in the room, we stayed in bed with our trays and did our best not to spill.
We felt that the bathroom was a pretty decent size and was not only spacious for a cabin bathroom, but we also appreciated the shelves!! There was plenty of room to put away our belongings because of the shelves.
After this experience, I think every cruise cabin bathroom should have shelves. It's amazing for space & keeping organized, let me tell ya!!
It wasn't very clear who was in charge of making up our room - on previous cruises, we had one person dedicated to our room, whereas on this trip, we seemed to have multiple people making up our room - either way, everyone we ran into was lovely and our room was clean every day.
Activities & Things to Do
Pools & Watersports
The Aqua Park on the Norwegian Escape is located on Deck 16 and features thrilling water slides, two shaded hot tubs, and one main pool.
View of the very crowded pool deck with main pool, both shaded hot tubs, and waterslides aboard the Norwegian Escape from the Sun Deck; while docked in Miami.
Slides: There are two free-fall slides (where you stand in a capsule and wait for the bottom to drop), a tube slide where two people can race side-by-side on inner tubes, and a milder slide for young ones or those not wanting quite the thrill. I'm a huge fan of thrill rides, so I was most looking forward to checking out the two free-fall slides and the tube slide - however, I never got the chance to ride them.
We tried waiting in line for the slides, but every time we checked, the lines were terribly long and a couple times - never even moved. On a couple port days, while everyone else was either getting off of the ship or getting back on, we tried to check out these slides again, but they were closed down every time.
Pools: Unless you pay extra for access to the pool at The Haven, or the adults-only sun deck at Vibe Beach Club, expect a less than ideal experience at the pool. There is a splash area for kids, along with an all-ages pool next to it, but the one main pool is not enough for the thousands of passengers onboard to enjoy comfortably. I believe the pool is over 6'7 ft deep, so the majority of people who want to enjoy drinks and hang in the pool will not be able to do so unless they're hugging the wall, and that's if they can find a space to hold on to. Otherwise, you're treading water and also trying to hold a conversation while avoiding the kids swimming around - good luck with that.
The bars at the pool also get completely overwhelmed, and there is never staff walking around taking drink orders, so expect to wait about 20-30 minutes in line every time you want to order a drink.
Grotto: There is a really cool walk-through grotto on Deck 17, where you can cool off and not have to deal with the pool. That was one of my favorite features on the Norwegian Escape - it definitely made me forget I was on a cruise ship!
Helpful tip: always bring your sandals with you anywhere on these upper decks - it gets incredibly hot, and you don't want your feet to burn while going to the bathroom, bar, water slides, etc.
Sports & Athletic Features
Since we happened to miss it on the last cruise, I was so happy that we got to play a round of mini golf this time around on the Norwegian Escape's 9-Hole mini golf course! You can find the course up on Deck 18.
It was a popular activity, but luckily there was no wait! There's also a three-story ropes course, bocce ball court, basketball court, fitness center, jogging track, and a spa and salon (spa/salon services require an extra fee). If I ever get the chance to cruise on this ship again, I would definitely check out the ropes course and the Snow Room in the spa! And of course - hopefully the waterslides, too!
Onboard Entertainment & Other Activities
There was never a lack of activities onboard the Norwegian Escape, which helped keep our days entertaining when we didn't want to fight for a spot in the pool. My boyfriend's mom won a free 8x10 portrait from one of the professional photographers onboard during a bingo game (extra fee), which was a fun activity & great prize to help commemorate the trip!
If you were able to snag a seat by the ledge at O'Sheehan's (24-hr Irish pub), you could have a perfect view of whatever entertainment was going on at the deck below, which got pretty fun & rowdy at times, especially during the live Deal or No Deal game shows. I personally liked watching the chef demonstrations from that spot, too!
There's a great game section next to O'Sheehan's on Deck 7 that included a pool table and a couple bowling lanes! These games aren't complimentary, but definitely worth a play or two. The bowling is more of a miniature option, so it's kid-friendly and a lot safer than having actual bowling on a cruise ship, but still super cool to see and we had fun playing a round!
Honestly, there's so much to do onboard the Norwegian Escape that boredom is simply not an option! If you like to gamble, there's a large casino on Deck 7 that includes both slot machines and tables. There's a video arcade up on Deck 17 for those who love games. For those who love live entertainment, there are dueling pianos, stand-up comedy shows, karaoke, and live musical performances throughout the ship. For those who like to shop, there are several boutique stores to walk through and check out, as well as an art gallery.
For the kiddos, there's the Guppies Nursery (6 months to 3 years old) as well as the kid's aqua park, and a teen's only lounge called the Entourage.
For the adults, there's Spice H20 - an outdoor club-like venue with two bars on Deck 17 where they have various theme nights (like 80s Night). We had fun going to these theme nights and dancing the night away - but I have to note that even though it's supposed to be adults only, it's definitely not. Many adults were bringing their kids to the club, and no one was stopping the teens from coming in as well, which of course isn't necessarily a bad thing on a family cruise, but for those looking for a child-free night, it definitely kills the "adults-only club" vibe that was intended.
Dining & Restaurants
There are nineteen different dining options to choose from on the Norwegian Escape, including room service, a gelato shop and a café. Most of the options are specialty dining, which would usually mean you have to pay extra, but lucky for us, our package included two specialty dining meals, so we were able to try a couple of the restaurants!
Complimentary Dining:
Garden Cafe: all-you-can-eat buffet open for breakfast, lunch & dinner
Savor: main dining room
Taste: main dining room
The Manhattan room: main dining room
O'Sheehan's Bar & Grill: Irish pub, 24-hour eatery
American Diner: 50s style diner
The Haven Restaurant: private dining that's exclusive to guests of The Haven
Room Service: 24 hours (items are complimentary but there is a room service fee)
Specialty Dining:
Food Republic: Asian-Latin fusion tapas
Teppanyaki: Japanese restaurant
Bayamo by Ocean Blue: Seafood restaurant
Moderno Churrascaria: Brazilian steakhouse
Cagney's Steakhouse: upscale American steakhouse
La Cucina: Italian restaurant
Le Bistro: French restaurant
Pincho Tapas Bar: Spanish tapas restaurant
Atrium Café: café & cocktail bar
Dolce Gelato: gelato shop
Main Dining Rooms: I thoroughly enjoyed the food in the main dining rooms; the food was delicious and I thought there was a tasty selection every night. I'm always blown away by the complimentary options on cruises and the amount you're able to order every night in the dining rooms, and the Norwegian Escape was no exception.
Everything on the menu above is complimentary, unless there's specifically a price next to it. That means one could order a couple appetizers, an entree, and a dessert every night and not have to pay extra!
Specialty Dining: For our two specialty dining options, we chose to celebrate a birthday at Cagney's Steakhouse one night for dinner, and eat at La Cucina for another.
We truly enjoyed our time at Cagney's - everything from the waitstaff to our food was delicious!!
We barely had any room left for dessert, but once the cart rolled by...we couldn't pass on something sweet to share!
La Cucina also had some super tasty Italian dishes - it was so hard to choose just one entree! Though the food was delicious, there was quite the wait for the entrees to arrive.
The food all tasted amazing and our wait staff was fantastic - however, I don't believe the restaurants were properly staffed to accommodate bigger parties. This was a family cruise trip for us, so we had a party of 14 plus one toddler. Since our party was big, we usually ate separately and would have six to eight people to one table/reservation. On average, our entrees alone took over 40 minutes to come out. A couple of nights, we missed shows we were planning on seeing because we hadn't expected dinner to take over three hours.
I don't believe this was the staff's fault at all, our waitstaff was attentive and seemed to do the best they could, but we've always cruised with a group of at least ten, and have never had long waits like that on other cruise ships. And I say this as someone who's worked in the food & hospitality industry for over a decade - I understand sometimes it takes a little longer to accommodate bigger parties, but the wait for food & drinks onboard the Norwegian Escape was extensive.
Bars & Lounges
On top of the nineteen different dining options to choose from, there were also eleven different bars & lounges on the Norwegian Escape, not counting the pool bars and the two exclusively for The Haven guests and those with passes to the Vibe Beach Club. Talk about options!
The Sugarcane Mojito Bar was definitely my favorite stop when I needed a refreshing break from the summer heat. My go-to was their mojito with coconut water!
Other bars & lounges:
Atrium Bar: specialty coffee, beer & wine
Headliner's Comedy Club
Mixx Bar: bar between main dining rooms
O'Sheehan's: Irish pub
Pour House: cocktails on tap
Prime Meridian: cocktail bar
Skyline Bar: casino bar
The Cellars: wine bar
The District Brew House: craft beer, cocktails
Tobacco Road: cigars & cocktails
The Cellars wine bar had multiple wine tastings & pairings for purchase throughout our cruise, and we decided to do the wine & cheese pairing. Very informative & delicious for those interested in wine!
Unlimited Open Bar Package
The Unlimited Open Bar Package at no extra charge was a big draw for us in choosing this cruise - however, it did get confusing so I feel it's worth mentioning. In other cruises, you have to pay extra for an alcoholic drink package - but from our experience, once you paid for that, it covered all alcoholic drinks onboard (and at the cruise line's private island, if that was on the itinerary).
With Norwegian, it covers spirits, cocktails, wine & beer priced up to $15 (as well as most non-alcoholic drinks). If it was over $15, you needed to pay extra to cover the cost, or you needed to purchase the "Premium Plus" beverage package. It got confusing trying to order drinks at bars, because there was no clear indicator on what was included or what was extra, and half of the time the bartenders also didn't know themselves until they rang it in and could let us know.
A menu clearly stating which beverages and spirits were included with each separate package would've been very helpful and would streamline service at the bar.
Technically there is no Starbucks onboard, but the cafe "proudly serves Starbucks," so you can still order specialty coffee drinks. However, the unlimited open bar package did not cover that, you needed to pay extra for each coffee or purchase the premium plus package.
Ports of Call & Shore Excursions
Our Ports of Call for this cruise were: Great Stirrup Cay, Bahamas (Norwegian's private island); St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands; Tortola, British Virgin Islands; and Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic.
I was very excited to check out these four ports for the first time - however, I felt that the scheduling made visiting these ports less than ideal.
Our first stop of the cruise was at Great Stirrup Cay, Norwegian's private island in the Bahamas.
Compared to a competitor cruise line's private island in the Bahamas, Great Stirrup Cay was a fun beach stop for our cruise, but didn't blow us away. It was difficult to get a beach chair, and unless you paid extra for an excursion, there was pretty much the beach and a couple places to eat & drink. However! I feel it's important to mention that they have some pretty amazing features that are launching in Winter 2025, and I know those will definitely jazz up this island! One feature includes a new, adults-only heated pool the size of a CRUISE SHIP with two swim up bars!! This stop alone would make me sail with Norwegian again, just to check it out! For more info, click here!
Our second stop was St. Thomas, from 11am to 7pm. Most of the excursions we were interested in were already sold out, so we took a local tour of the island that was offered at the port, and then walked around for a bit before heading back to the ship. If I could go back, I would get up early and pay for a snorkeling excursion, or take the aerial tram (St. Thomas Skyride) to get panoramic views of the harbor.
Our third stop was Tortola from 6am to 2pm. This felt like a very short day, especially since back at home I mostly work nights, but coming from the west coast, we're also three hours behind - so getting up before 6am to go explore didn't sound very appealing to us. Most of the excursions were before 8am, so we decided to take a local taxi to one of the island's beaches for about an hour, which also happened to be within walking distance to one of the oldest (and last of its kind) rum distilleries in the Caribbean.
I would say my favorite port stop out of the four was Puerto Plata. We went with an excursion at this port since we weren't able to do much at the other two locations, but there was actually plenty to do at the port that we could've just stayed there all day instead! The port was called Taino Bay, and had a family pool, day beds and hammocks along the beach, and even a lazy river - all free! There was also a surf simulator, plenty of shopping, and places to eat and drink.
Our paid excursion took us to a very beautiful private beach! There was a bar, some water activities, a zip line, and a little bit of shopping. However, the ride out to the beach was over 45 minutes one way, and it was very very bumpy. Definitely would not recommend for anyone with physical impairments/restrictions - it's almost two hours round trip and a very uncomfortable ride.
However, if you're able to endure the ride out to the beach, you'll catch some amazing views on the way, and the tour guide on the bus was incredibly sweet & informative!
Final Thoughts
Overall, my impression of this 7-night Caribbean Cruise on Norwegian's Escape was that it had the potential to be a great cruise, but there were way too many passengers and not enough staff. This could have been due to the fact that it was July, and it possibly isn't that packed at other times of the year. However, pretty much every activity we did on this ship (or attempted to do) was affected by this.
The waterslides were a big draw for me, but the slides were either closed or the lines never moved, so I gave up trying to ride them. The wait for drinks at the pool, no matter which bar you went to, was incredibly long. Dinner at most restaurants, though the food was delicious, took between 2.5-3 hours. I understand summer is a busy season for cruises, and I know to expect crowds, but we've never experienced the same overwhelming crowds and wait on other comparable summer cruises like we did with this one.
That being said, I really loved:
The staff in charge of onboard entertainment & activities, especially those running the theme nights at Spice H20 - they were very high energy & engaging, and great at getting the party started!
Our balcony stateroom on Deck 8 felt spacious and comfortable, and I especially loved the shelves in the bathroom!
There are plenty of activities scheduled daily, and cool features throughout the ship (like the ropes course, escape room activity, water grotto, video arcade, casino, etc), that one can have a great time onboard the Norwegian Escape - if you're able to beat the crowds.
I personally think the Norwegian Escape (and this July 7-night summer Caribbean itinerary, specifically) is a perfect cruise for small groups of young & middle-aged adults, families, and couples who are looking to party, get the most bang for their buck, and perhaps are first-time cruisers. This crowd can get rowdy, so for those looking for a peaceful retreat, you may want to pay extra for access to The Haven or relax at the spa. For those who have young children or don't drink, it's helpful to keep in mind that the unlimited drink package on this cruise will create a certain vibe in public spaces on the ship.
If I didn't have previous cruises to compare it to, my expectations probably wouldn't have been so high for this cruise, which is why I say for the price point, included extras & 4-port itinerary, it's great for young, first-time cruisers or those on a budget. It's a great size ship where there's plenty to do and see, but it's not so massive that you'll get overwhelmed or lost easily.
Despite the crowd - I would definitely sail on the Norwegian Escape again, but would try for a less busy time of the year.
Ready for your adventure on the Norwegian Escape? Click here to check out its upcoming cruises!
Quick Ship Facts
**Information gathered from Norwegian Cruise Line's official site.
All opinions in this review are entirely my own, and both this trip & post are not sponsored by Norwegian Cruise Line.
Great article. Super helpful! Can't wait to go on mine in August!!!!