By
Rebecca Gibson |
Norwegian Cruise Line’s latest newbuild Norwegian Escape will offer private dining for guests when she debuts in October 2015
Located below Tastes – one of the ship’s three complimentary main dining rooms – Private Room at Tastes will accommodate up to 100 guests and offer the chance for groups to dine together in a private setting. The venue has its own entrance, lounge and private dining area.
“We recognised the need to be able to accommodate groups onboard and have addressed that with a private dining space,” said Kevin Sheehan, CEO of Norwegian. “In addition, we have many new dining, lounging and entertainment spaces in the works that will take our revolutionary Freestyle Cruising and ensure it remains unmatched in the industry. In the coming months, we will announce more of these exciting features.”
Norwegian Escape will also incorporate The Waterfront and 678 Ocean Place, which were first introduced on Norwegian Breakaway and Norwegian Getaway. Designed to enhance the guests’ connection to the sea and evoke a traditional seaside boardwalk, 678 Ocean Place and The Waterfront span three decks an offer a variety of interconnected indoor and outdoor dining, shopping, gaming and entertainment venues.
A three-story atrium showcasing an LED chandelier with light changing effects will serve as the centerpiece of 678 Ocean Place, offering openings to all three decks and floating glass staircases connecting the levels.
678 Ocean Place will connect The Waterfront outdoor spaces with indoor dining venues such as Italian restaurant La Cucina, Nowegian’s signature Brazilian-style steak house Moderno Churrascaria, the line’s popular Cagney’s Steakhouse and cocktail bar Prime Meridian. Meanwhile, the Waterfront will feature venues such as Dolce Gelato, various shops, a photo gallery and the Humidor Cigar Lounge.
Spanning more than 19,000 sq ft on deck 7, the contemporary Escape Casino will be the largest in Norwegian’s fleet and offer 357 slot machines and 28 gaming tables featuring poker, black jack, roulette and craps. It will also feature video poker and multiple LED screens in the new Skyline Bar. New to Norwegian Escape is a portrait studio, where guests will have the opportunity to take professional photographs.
“The Waterfront and 678 Ocean Place have revolutionised the industry, receiving rave reviews from our guests and travel partners,” said Kevin Sheehan, Norwegian’s CEO. “We knew from the start that Norwegian Escape should also feature this game-changing design. With this new, larger ship, we’ve taken the concept up another notch and we’ve added some additional interesting venues and features.”
Several of Norwegian’s signature dining venues will be featured on Norwegian Escape including Savor, one of the ship’s complimentary main restaurants; Teppanyaki restaurant, which will serve Japanese cuisine on 12 flat-top grills; French-style restaurant Le Bistro; and O’Sheehan’s Neighborhood Bar & Grill, a 24-hour sports bar and restaurant offering classic American dishes.
Other returning venues include the two-storey Manhattan Room, which has floor-to-ceiling panoramic windows facing the aft of the ship and live music and dancing; Mixx Bar; and Bar at the Atrium, which will feature a self-service wine bar. The ship’s atrium and surrounding area will also offer the line’s signature two-storey video wall, a shore excursion desk, an internet café, an Art Gallery, three meeting rooms, and a multi-purpose room that functions as card room and library.
Norwegian Escape, which is currently under construction at Meyer Werft’s Papenburg yard in Germany, is the first of the line’s Breakaway Plus vessels and will be its largest ship to date, able to carry 4,200 passengers. The ship will include all of the innovative features found on Norwegian Breakaway and Norwegian Getaway, plus a number of new spaces and interactive experiences that are yet to be announced. Guests can stay in the line’s signature luxury ship–within-a-ship complex – The Haven by Norwegian – as well as solo traveller studios, and various accommodations for families, multi-generational groups, spa enthusiasts and more.
Marine wildlife artist and ocean conservationist Guy Harvey has been commissioned to design the signature hull artwork of Norwegian Escape. Harvey – who is also a keen marine biologist, photographer, diver and angler – will illustrate two underwater scenes of marine wildlife, which span 1,065 ft from the ship’s hull to the aft.
From 14 November, Norwegian Escape will be the largest cruise ship to homeport year-round in Miami, US, where she will offer weekly seven-day cruises to the eastern Caribbean. Destinations on her itineraries include St. Thomas,US Virgin Islands; Tortola, British Virgin Islands; and Nassau, Bahamas.