Norwegian Escape is a Breakaway Plus-class cruise ship operated by Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL), a subsidiary of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings. She was the fleet's first Breakaway Plus-class ship to be delivered and was designed with larger dimensions and gross tonnage than her older sister ships, Norwegian Breakaway and Norwegian Getaway, at 164,998 GT.

After NCL ordered the ship with German shipbuilder Meyer Werft in October 2012 at an estimated cost of €700 million, her keel was laid in September 2014 and she was floated out from the building dock in August 2015. She was subsequently delivered in October 2015 and was officially christened by Pitbull in Miami on 9 November 2015. Since her debut, she has homeported in Miami, New York City, and Orlando, operating itineraries to the Caribbean, Bermuda, and the Maritimes.

Design

Among 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. Of them, 47 cabins are wheelchair accessible. 95 additional suite cabins across two decks were designed with conjoining use of exclusive facilities. 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).

The core of the specialty dining and entertainment venues aboard Norwegian Escape lie within an expanded three-deck complex positioned in the center of the ship across the sixth, seventh, and eighth decks. It was first unveiled on Norwegian Breakaway and Norwegian Getaway and is also accompanied by an outdoor promenade designed for al fresco dining. The complex includes numerous bars, restaurants, and lounges, and a casino.

Norwegian Escape was also built with the largest water park in the NCL fleet at the time. The sports complex additionally includes a three-story ropes course and various other ball courts.

Construction

On 18 October 2012, NCL announced that it had entered into an agreement with German shipbuilder Meyer Werft to order its third Breakaway-class cruise 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 ordered Breakaway-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 first Breakaway Plus-class ship and would include additional passenger cabins and space for venues compared to her older sister ships. On 8 October 2013, NCL announced the name of the estimated 163,000 GT ship as Norwegian Escape, which was chosen from an online naming contest it had organized for fans on Facebook in September.

On 12 March 2014, NCL revealed marine wildlife artist Guy Harvey would design the new ship's hull art with his depictions of various sea creatures. Meyer Werft marked the beginning of preparation for Norwegian Escape at its shipyard in Papenburg with the steel cutting on 20 March 2014. Construction began on 19 September 2014 when Sheehan performed the coin ceremony at the keel laying ceremony, where the first of her 86 steel blocks was lifted into the dock. She was floated out from the covered dry dock on 15 August 2015 for final outfitting before she began her conveyance along the Ems on 18 September 2015 from Papenburg to reach Eemshaven the next day. After a period of sea trials, Norwegian Escape was delivered by Meyer Werft to NCL in Bremerhaven on 22 October 2015.

On 7 October 2015, NCL named Pitbull as the ship's godfather and he christened the vessel on 9 November 2015 at PortMiami.

Service history

Following her delivery, Norwegian Escape set sail from Bremerhaven to Hamburg for the beginning of her inaugural festivities, where she would begin her two-night maiden voyage to Southampton. This made her the largest passenger vessel to start a cruise from Hamburg at the time. After her maiden voyage, she embarked on her transatlantic crossing to Miami on 29 October 2015.

NCL announced in March 2014 that Norwegian Escape would be deployed to Miami to sail Eastern Caribbean voyages to Tortola, St. Thomas, and Nassau 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. She continued to homeport in Miami until spring 2018. In April 2018, she was repositioned for the first time since her debut and began sailing from New York City for week-long cruises to Bermuda and the Maritimes. She returned to Miami in November 2019 to operate week-long itineraries to the Western Caribbean. NCL had scheduled to deploy Norwegian Escape abroad for her first full season operating from Copenhagen to the Baltic region in summer 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on tourism suspended those plans. After more than a year-long pause in operations, she restarted sailing from Port Canaveral near Orlando in November 2021 and cruised to the Caribbean. The ship will sail from Civitavecchia to cruise in the Mediterranean region for her first summer in Europe in May 2022.