_(cropped).jpg) Norwegian Escape inBremerhaven, 2015 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Bahamas | |
| Name | Norwegian Escape |
| Owner | Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings |
| Operator | Norwegian Cruise Line |
| Port of registry | Nassau, Bahamas |
| Ordered | 18 October 2012 |
| Builder | |
| Cost | €700 million |
| Yard number | S693 |
| Laid down | 19 September 2014 |
| Launched | 15 August 2015 |
| Sponsored by | Pitbull |
| Christened | 9 November 2015 |
| Acquired | 22 October 2015 |
| Maiden voyage | 2015 |
| In service | 2015–present |
| Identification | |
| Status | In service |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Breakaway Plus-class cruise ship |
| Tonnage | 164,998 GT[1] |
| Length | 1,069 feet (325.9 m)[2] |
| Beam | |
| Draft | 28.29 feet (8.622 m)[2] |
| Decks | 20 |
| Installed power | |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 23 kn |
| Capacity | 4,266[4] |
| Crew | 1,733[2] |
Norwegian Escape is aBreakaway Plus-classcruise ship operated byNorwegian Cruise Line (NCL), a subsidiary ofNorwegian Cruise Line Holdings. She was the fleet's firstBreakaway Plus-class ship to be delivered and was designed with larger dimensions andgross tonnage than her older sister ships,Norwegian Breakaway andNorwegian Getaway, at 164,998 GT.
After NCL ordered the ship with German shipbuilderMeyer Werft in October 2012 at an estimated cost of€700 million, herkeel was laid in September 2014 and she wasfloated out from the building dock in August 2015. She was subsequently delivered in October 2015 and was officially christened byPitbull inMiami on 9 November 2015. Since her debut, she has homeported inMiami,New York City, andOrlando, operating itineraries to theCaribbean,Bermuda, and theMaritimes.
The passenger accommodations built on the 164,998 GT-vessel include 407 inside cabins, 114 oceanview cabins, 1,168 balcony cabins, 308 "mini-suite" cabins, and 82 studio cabins for solo travelers as well as 47 wheelchair-accessible cabins. 95 additional suite cabins across two decks were designed with conjoining use of exclusive facilities.[5] The ship's increase in double occupancy capacity from 3,969 of her older sister ships to approximately 4,270 resulted from an additional deck built for cabins. The ship was also widened by 5 feet (1.5 m), which increased the width of balconies by 40 centimetres (1.3 ft).[6]
The core of the specialty dining and entertainment venues aboardNorwegian Escape lies within an expanded three-deck complex positioned in the center of the ship across the sixth, seventh, and eighth decks. It was first unveiled onNorwegian Breakaway andNorwegian Getaway and is also accompanied by an outdoor promenade, called The Waterfront, designed foral fresco dining. The complex includes numerous bars, restaurants, lounges, and a casino.[7][8]
Norwegian Escape was also built with the largestwater park in the NCL fleet. The sports complex additionally includes a three-storyropes course and various other ball courts.[9]
On 18 October 2012, NCL announced that it had entered into an agreement with German shipbuilderMeyer Werft to order its thirdBreakaway-classcruise ship, a 4,200-passenger vessel scheduled for delivery in October 2015 at an estimated cost of€700 million. NCL chief executive officer Kevin Sheehan explained that the robust booking demand that the company saw for its first orderedBreakaway-class vessel gave the company confidence to move forward on its "Breakaway Plus" expansion plans following the investments NCL had made towards its onboard product. The new ship would be the fleet's firstBreakaway Plus-class ship and would include additional passenger cabins and space for venues compared to her older sister ships.[10][11] On 8 October 2013, NCL announced the name of the estimated 163,000 GT ship asNorwegian Escape, which was chosen from an online naming contest it had organized for fans onFacebook in September.[12][13]
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On 12 March 2014, NCL revealed marine wildlife artistGuy Harvey would design the new ship's hull art with his depictions of various sea creatures.[14] Meyer Werft marked the beginning of preparation forNorwegian Escape at its shipyard inPapenburg with the steel cutting on 20 March 2014.[15] Construction began on 19 September 2014 when Sheehan performed thecoin ceremony at thekeel laying ceremony, where the first of her 86 steel blocks was lifted into the dock.[16] She wasfloated out from the covered dry dock on 15 August 2015 for final outfitting[17][18] before she began her conveyance along theEms on 18 September 2015 from Papenburg to reachEemshaven the next day.[19] After a period ofsea trials,Norwegian Escape was delivered by Meyer Werft to NCL inBremerhaven on 22 October 2015.[20][21][22]
On 7 October 2015, NCL namedPitbull as the ship's godfather, making him the first man bestowed with the designation; he christened the vessel on 9 November 2015 atPortMiami.[23][24]
Following her delivery,Norwegian Escape set sail from Bremerhaven toHamburg for the beginning of her inaugural festivities, where she would begin her two-night maiden voyage toSouthampton. This made her the largest passenger vessel to start a cruise from Hamburg at the time.[25][26] After her maiden voyage, she embarked on hertransatlantic crossing to Miami on 29 October 2015.[21][22]
NCL announced in March 2014 thatNorwegian Escape would be deployed to Miami to sail EasternCaribbean voyages toTortola,St. Thomas, andNassau on a year-round basis for her maiden season, and she began the operation on 14 November 2015, making her the largest cruise ship to homeport in Miami at the time.[27][28][29] She continued to homeport in Miami until spring 2018.[30] In April 2018, she was repositioned for the first time since her debut and began sailing fromNew York City for week-long cruises toBermuda and theMaritimes.[31] She returned to Miami in November 2019 to operate week-long itineraries to the Western Caribbean.[32] NCL had scheduled to deployNorwegian Escape abroad for her first full season operating fromCopenhagen to theBaltic region in summer 2020, but theCOVID-19 pandemic and itsimpact on tourism suspended those plans.[33][34] After more than a year-long pause in operations, she restarted sailing fromPort Canaveral nearOrlando in November 2021 and cruised to the Caribbean.[35][36][37] The ship sailed fromCivitavecchia to cruise in theMediterranean region for her first summer in Europe in May 2022.[38] In Spring 2023 it operated from eitherPort Canaveral orMiami, sailing to the Caribbean. As of October 17, 2023, theNorwegian Escape sails fromNew York Harbor toNew England andCanada with routes sailing from the Mediterranean planned in summer 2024.
On the evening of 3 March 2019, the ship was struck by a "sudden, extreme gust of wind" northeast off the coast of theDelmarva Peninsula while sailing south from New York to Port Canaveral. She had been caught in a 100-knot (190 km/h) wind gust, which forced the ship tolist to theport side of the vessel.[39] The degree of heel caused several broken windows and made furniture and other loose items overturn in public areas and cabins.[40] NCL reported that several injured passengers and crew received treatment onboard and the ship continued on her way to Port Canaveral, where she later docked without any apparent damage and was permitted to continue operating the voyage as planned.[41][42]
On 14 March 2022,Norwegian Escape ran aground while leavingPuerto Plata, Dominican Republic after gusts forced the ship to make contact with the channel bed. Initial attempts bytugboats to free her had failed so it took more than seven hours to wait for high tide in order to refloat the vessel. She subsequently returned to the port to be checked for damage, where it was determined she had sustained enough damage during the grounding to force the seven-day voyage to end prematurely. Passengers began disembarking the vessel two days later and were flown to Orlando on charter flights over the next few days. After all passengers had finished disembarking on 18 March, the ship sailed back to Port Canaveral and returned on 20 March. NCL cancelled several of the ship's subsequent voyages to accommodate time for repairs[43][44][45] before she returned to service on 16 April 2022.[46]
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