I recently spent one night aboard Norwegian Cruise Lines newest fleet addition, Norwegian Escape and I thought it would be nice to share my experience with you. There’s only so much one can see in 24-hours (well, not even that), but I did manage to squeeze more than 70% into that time.
I had a balcony cabin on Deck 9, which was identical to the cabin I had during my time on Norwegian Getaway. The biggest difference this time was that I had a shower over a bath instead of a double walk in shower (which was quite nice actually, I loved the way the doors slid shut to stop the water going everywhere) – aside from that and the colour scheme, it was exactly the same accommodation. It also offered the same comfortable bed and the same double sink in the bathroom. I have to admit that I love the beds on Norwegian! I don’t know if it is because I have only ever slept in them when they are brand new, but they are so good that I am seriously considering purchasing one of the mattresses online!
Norwegian Escape really did feel like Norwegian Getaway in many respects, but she also had many of her own little charms. The most quirky feature that I found was the Snow Room. I’m not entirely sure what the point of it is, but regardless, I like it! I also found Spice H2O (which was one of my favourite areas on Norwegian Getaway). I absolutely love that space. I enjoy the music and the atmosphere and if I were cruising the warm waters of the Caribbean aboard her, then it would definitely be my evening haunt. There was a “grotto” on the port side, apparently it’s designed for people to cool off when the ship is cruising warmer waters. I could see the idea and I loved it on the inside, but not sure whether it could have been made to look slightly more attractive on the outside.
Other areas that I liked were Margaritaville, The Haven (which offered a very impressive courtyard area with pool), Manhattan Dining Room, The District Brew House (they have a photo booth in there that you MUST try!) and The Waterfront. I really think that The Waterfront aspect of Norwegian’s newer vessels is one of the best additions we have seen to cruise ships in a long time, it is absolute genius!
Now I am going to tell you about some of the food. This is probably the best bit! The food was so good!!!! Once I had dropped my bags in my cabin, I made my way towards O’Sheehan’s Neighborhood Bar and Grill. I had eaten here on Norwegian Getaway and fallen in love with the Mozzarella dippers (as you do), so of course, I was dying to have them again. I sat down, looked at the menu and guess what? NO Mozzarella dippers! I was mortified, but held back my disappointment and carried on browsing the menu. Finally, I ordered nachos and one of Nathan’s Famous Hot Dogs. The nachos were supposed to be a starter, but both dishes turned up at the same time and the portions were huge! I tried the nachos first and then the hot dog – my first ever beef hot dog – and they were both so good! It was possibly one of the best hot dogs I have ever eaten, even the bread was perfect: slightly toasted. It made up for the lack of Mozzarella that is for sure.
In the evening, I dined at Food Republic and I have to be honest, at first I wasn’t really sold on the idea, but oh how wrong was I. You place your order via iPad and each individual dish is charged to your onboard account. Our waitress recommended that we order 3 dishes each as they are meant to be shared, so that is exactly what we went ahead and did. We had: Maine lobster rolls, 21 oz Wagyu bone-in rib-eye, chicken teriyaki, Japanese squid (my favourite of all the dishes), Shrimp brochettes and salt & pepper calamari. All I can say is that it was exceptional, it really was. Not only was the food superb, but I also liked the fact that I never knew which dish would appear next. I can 100% recommend Food Republic!
The only bad thing I can say was that her mid-ship pool deck felt like it had a lot of dead space. On Norwegian Getaway it was packed full of different things and some lovely areas to just sit and chill out, but I felt that Escape lacked that a little bit – there seemed to be a lot of blue deck, especially if you looked down on it!
All images copyrighted to and used with permission of Danielle Fear.
