Escape Here I Come !

Despite having been working in the cruise industry for over 15 years I have never yet seen a Norwegian Cruise Lines ship – well apart from moored off the coast in Cannes where it looked, to be honest, like a massive, gaudy, monstrosity !

That will all change on Wednesday this week when finally I shall be able to get on board the brand new Norwegian Escape and see for myself what this cruise line is all about.

So I am going into this with an open mind and not sure what to expect! I expect her to be big, and she is, 163000 tonnes carrying around 4250 passengers – wonder if you would ever meet the same person twice ? I also expect lots of noise, music and fun hopefully, as she is billed as a modern contemporary ship with loads of new features.

Freestyle dining, like all the ships in the Norwegian Cruise Lines fleet, so not so formal, eat where you want, when you want with whoever you want. We have booked Cagney`s Steakhouse so should be very American style steaks, seafood and lots of it. Loads of dining venues to choose from such as the Teppanyaki  serving Japanese cuisine, Bayamo which is seafood with a latin twist and also a Spanish style Tapas bar, along with the two main restaurants of course. Those are just a few and I will try to see as many of them as possible during my short stay on-board.

I am looking forward to the entertainment with Broadway hit shows such and the Brat Pack live at the Supper Club. The ” Million Dollar Quartet ” celebrates the music of Elvis, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis & Carl Perkins – sounds like its going to be difficult to choose what do after dinner.

I am expecting the cabins to be small, we have an inside stateroom but hope to be able to see the other cabin types too.

So what about the Spa? It`s a Mandara Spa so should be excellent and it even has a Snow Room, now that is a first! Temperatures will be 21 – 32 degrees Fahrenheit, cold with a continuous flurry of snow all day long – now that sounds great !

Not long to wait now and I have a funny feeling that, despite my reservations about huge ships, I`m going to like this one a lot !