Accessibility Report on Norwegian Escape

Written by Chillie Falls, AccessAdventure.net, December 11, 2023

I have just come off a week cruise on Norwegian Escape sailing from Port Canaveral to the Western Caribbean. The sailing date was December 2, 2023 and I traveled with my Whill Model C2 Power Chair.

I realize this is not necessarily true of all disabled travelers, but the most important accessibility issue for me is doors and how they are handled. Escape does this better than any ship I have been on.

My cabin door was key-activated for entrance, and touch plate activated for exit. I never needed to touch the door handle. The stateroom itself was fine and had all the usual features, plus had a sufficient radius for turning my chair around. The bathroom was huge, again with plenty of turning radius, a roll-in shower, good height for sink, a raised toilet and very adequate grab bars. For an inside accessible cabin, it was great. The only negative was the closet rod was at stand up height, not wheelchair or scooter height.

All, and I repeat, all of the accessible public restrooms were touch plate activated entrance and exit, push button locks, and adequate turning radius. They were also close to men’s and ladies’ rooms, so there was never a problem with ambulatory guests using the accessible space. Well done, Escape.

Many times on upper floors, doorways from inside to outside are usually very heavy, many with 2″-3″ lips, and very difficult for a wheelchair or scooter to get through. All on Norwegian Escape were automatic, or electronic touch plate activated. I actually came home from this cruise with no new bruises on my hands and arms from heavy doors slamming into me.

Embarkation and debarkation were very organized and smooth for me. Considering I have had issues in the past with Norwegian and Port Canaveral, this was wonderful. I was on the ship an hour earlier than planned, and was back in my car and on the road 45 minutes earlier than I thought.

Staff around the ship, was friendly, attentive and helpful without being overly pushy when I didn’t want help. Even the officers were more accessible than on many ships.

There were several areas of the ship that were inaccessible, mostly upper deck recreational areas like the waterslide entrance, the ropes course, and the pickleball/basketball courts that required a flight of stairs. Obviously I had no access to that portion of the cruise.

I found out the last day, that there was one portable lift chair for the pools, however it is kept locked away and not visible. Then you have to contact guest services to send someone to get the lift chair, and hope someone can operate it. Why not leave one for a pool, and one for a hot tub so the disabled community can enjoy water activities with the ambulatory guests.

I was not allowed to go ashore in Grand Cayman and told that the tenders were not wheelchair accessible. I know there is at least one tender that is accessible because I have been ashore there before. When I went ashore before, I had to wait for the next tender since the one loading was not accessible. And it had a ridiculously steep ramp that scared the crap out of me, but it used it nonetheless.

My biggest disappointment of the entire cruise was the cancellation of our visit to Great Stirrup Cay. They have three new wheelchair accessible tenders and I wanted to film one for our community. That must wait until my next cruise in January when I will return.

I rate the Norwegian Escape very high on accessibility. Not perfect, but well done and enjoyable for all guests not matter how much mobility you possess.