Norwegian Escape Review
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Hubby and I were on the Norwegian Escape week long cruise from NYC to Bermuda departing 12th May. It was our first time on Norwegian. Most previous cruises have been on Celebrity Reflection or Eclipse. We decided we wanted to try out another cruise line and were fully prepared for this to be different to the Celebrity experience. The weather was not great when departing from NYC and for the 2 sea days before we reached Bermuda, this meant more people were inside and made the ship feel crowded. We felt this especially in the Garden buffet. We, therefore, used the main dining rooms for breakfast and lunch more often than we would normally to avoid the crowds. Cabin was great, plenty of storage for clothes etc, bed was very comfortable and the shower room was spacious, good shower pressure. Balcony was well enclosed and very comfortable even when it was windy. We thought the food was of a very high standard especially in the main dining rooms and service was very professional. Hubby is a cake connoisseur,however, and he said cakes were not great, even the cupcakes that were in the atrium cafe at additional charge were not great. We enjoyed the 2 theatre shows ‘Choir of Men’ and ‘After Midnight’ but I particularly liked the piano guys ‘Howl at the Moon’ they were great.
The thing Norwegian did very well for me was the complementary dining experience. As I said the food and service was very good and I liked having 3 venues to choose from. The Manhattan Room was large and more like a traditional main dining room but it had the additional feature of the entertainment while you dine. Taste and Savour are smaller and feel more like being in a restaurant which was very nice.
What we both missed most on the Escape, however, was appealing space on the ship outside our cabin to sit and relax. The Atrium Cafe, where you can have espresso coffee, was beside a busy bar, customer services and a stage where the entertainment team held the games and presentations so it was always noisy. The outside adult area wasn’t very appealing either, no pool and not very comfortable loungers.