My Brief Norwegian Escape

I recently spent 1 night aboard Norwegian Escape and I thought it would be nice to share my experience with you. Obviously I can’t tell you everything. I’m good, but not that good! There’s only so much one can see in 20 hours.

I had a balcony cabin on Deck 9 which was virtually identical to the cabin I had during my time on Norwegian Getaway. The only big difference was that this time I had a shower over a bath instead of a double walk in shower – aside from that and the colour scheme, it was the same accommodation. It also offered the same comfortable bed – I love the beds on Norwegian – and the same double sink in the bathroom. The one thing that I really liked about the cabin wasn’t even in the cabin at all. It was outside – “At Home”.

In some areas Norwegian Escape really felt like Norwegian Getaway to me, but she did have 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 liked it! I was also quite warm when I went inside, so to suddenly feel like I was in a deep freeze was actually quite pleasant. Definitely a tick on my list. I also found Spice H2O, which I had originally fallen in love with on Norwegian Getaway. I enjoy the music and the atmosphere and if I were to spend longer onboard 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 –  I would have maybe added some vines or flowers, or something.

Other areas that I liked were Margaritaville, The Haven (this was very impressive and the courtyard aspect spanned 3 decks), Manhattan Dining Room, The District Brew House (they have a photo booth in there that you MUST try!) and The Waterfront.

I am about to reach the best bit…FOOD! 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 incredibly good! It was possibly one of the best hot dogs I have ever eaten, even the bread was perfect: slightly toasted and just the right size. It more than made up for the lack of Mozzarella dippers that’s for sure.

In the evening I dined at Food Republic on a table with 4 others 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 (myself and David from World of Cruising that was sitting next to me) 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 ($7.50), 21 oz Wagyu bone-in rib-eye ($19.99), chicken teriyaki ($5.00), Japanese squid ($7.50 – my favourite of all the dishes), Shrimp brochettes ($6.50) and salt & pepper calamari (I can’t remember the cost for these).  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 highly recommend Food Republic and you can’t leave without having dessert. I went with the “coco loco” which was coconut, cream and pineapple. If only I could be there right now.

I thought you might also like to have some fun facts and figures. Here goes:

• Norwegian Escape has 357 slot machines and 28 gaming tables in her casino, the largest in the Norwegian Cruise Line fleet
• 900 people can fit in the Escape Theatre at any one time
• The District Brew House offers a variety of 24 craft beers and 50 bottled beers
• The Mandara Spa aboard Norwegian Escape offers the largest thermal suite in the fleet
• Tobacco Road was Miami’s oldest bar and it can now be found aboard Norwegian Escape – literally

I enjoyed my time on Norwegian Escape very much, I definitely have a lot of love to give to Norwegian AND their onboard shops (some of the best at sea in my opinion), but now I watch and wait for the arrival of her sister, Norwegian Bliss…

About CruiseMiss

Trying to explore each and every inch of this wonderful planet via cruise ship.