Norwegian Escape - Balcony Stateroom: My Tour and Review
Welcome onboard Norwegian Escape, one of my favourite cruise ships! This was the ship that I took my first ever cruise on back in 2018 and, since then, I’ve spent HUNDREDS of nights ‘at Sea’, exploring what this fascinating industry has got to offer. If you’d like to keep in touch, then please do sign up to receive my FREE e-mail newsletters - you can do this by clicking here and popping your e-mail address into the box. Also, come and find me on YouTube - I’d love to show you so much more of the world by sea in video form over there. If you do come over to YouTube, leave me a comment on one of my videos - say hello!
In this post today, I’m going to show you around a standard balcony stateroom onboard Norwegian Escape, in order to hopefully help you decide if this is a room that you’d like to cruise in. The room we’re going to look around today is 13164, so cabin 164 up on deck number 13, but this isn’t too important - most of the balcony staterooms you’ll find on this ship will be exactly the same. If you’re considering a balcony for your upcoming cruise on Escape, you’re part of the majority - this ship has over 1,100 balcony staterooms, so you’re going to be very well catered for from that perspective! Anyway, let’s head into the stateroom, and let’s get started!
You’re going to find balcony staterooms/cabins on so many decks of this ship - they’re available to book across decks 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15, so whether you want to be closer to the ocean and the activities downstairs, or the pool decks and buffet upstairs, you’ll have plenty of choice. Each standard balcony room onboard this ship features two twin beds that convert into a Queen (as shown in my picture above), and additional bedding for up to 2 additional guests. In this room, those additional guests would be going on the sofa bed at the far end of the photo, but more on that later…
In terms of size, these rooms range between 19 sq m and 29 sq m, and the balconies will be between 2 sq m and 7 sq m - you’re going to have to do some hunting on a deck plan to find the larger ones! Personally, I’m always just thankful to have a view of the outside, so I don’t generally hunt out those ‘bigger’ cabins - I don’t really need the space. You’ll find a number of different cabin ‘grades’ within the ‘standard balcony’ header: BD, BF, BC, BB and BA. If you’re unfamiliar with cabin grades, you’ll see these when you click through to book your cruise - each different stateroom has a different grade applied to it - some will be more expensive, while others will be cheaper. It’s obvious for this cabin type that the larger rooms will cost more money, and those in what is considered to be a ‘better location’ (eg Mid-ship) will also have a premium price applied.
Looking at the room itself, it’s fairly typical of most cruise ship cabins, with a few nice features. First up, let’s talk about that shelf above the bed. I often find myself on ships hiding paperwork etc in drawers, or not having anywhere to keep my book during the day, as I’ve already filled the bedside table with stuff. This little shelf serves as the perfect place to store things like this, and it’s so easily accessible from the bed - really handy!
While looking at the bed area, let’s also talk about lighting. At first, I found it odd that the bedside lights are side-mounted, so that they’re directly facing the bed, rather than mounted one on each side of the wall behind the bed. However, the more I thought about it, this doesn’t really matter. If anything, you probably get a better light coverage on the bed, than if they were to be mounted the more ‘typical’ way. The point we need to talk about with these lights is that each has a USB charging port on the side. I’m such a massive supporter of USB outlets on bedside lamps, as it means I can charge my phone by the bed, and I don’t need to have it across the other side of the room - a big ‘thumbs up’!
Next up, let’s talk about the desk and vanity area…
Looking from this angle, you get a much better feel for what’s on offer over here. First up, you’ve got your TV - I find this is in a bit of a strange position, as I’d rather it was directly at the base of the bed. However, I’m assuming it’s where it is to provide a better view if you’re using the sofa (or if you’ve got guests using this as a bed) - not the end of the world. Underneath the TV, you’ve got one of those really useful shelf areas that I mentioned over by the bed - NCL seem to love these, as they were in all of the cabins that I was able to access while onboard!
Moving over towards us, the next thing to mention is the really long desk with large mirror directly infront. This is nicely lit with 2 spotlights directly above, so don’t worry about struggling to see yourself when you’re putting the finishing touches to your outfit before heading out in the evening. In terms of power outlets, you’re going to find a number of options over here by the desk - you’ve got 3 x USA power outlets, and also 1 x European outlet. I love when a cruise line thinks to provide for multiple markets through the simple inclusion of multiple different types of power outlets - it makes trip planning SO much easier! As NCL are an American-based cruise line, I was really surprised to find European plug points on here - a really great touch!
Under the desk, you’ve then got your hair dryer, and also a fridge for the room, but I won’t show you these in this report - boring, I know!
In due course, I’ll have a video room tour of this cabin, and so many others, uploaded to my YouTube channel. If you’re not already subscribed over there, then click here now, or just search ‘Fraser at Sea’ to find me!
Next up, let’s talk about that sofa I mentioned earlier - this is where your 3rd and 4th guests would be sleeping in this cabin…
I know - not a huge amount to report here, but this is a closer look at the sofa that can be used as an additional bed in this cabin. Being perfectly honest, I’ve seen much nicer looking sofa beds on cruise ships, but this did seem comfortable enough, which is the main concern at the end of the day. I didn’t see this cabin set up for a group of 4 travellers, but I’d imagine it would handle the load perfectly well!
One thing to think about if you’re travelling as a larger party is storage. If you scroll back up to my previous photo, you can see the in-room storage at the other side of the bed - the double wardrobe. Try not to over-pack, as you’re all sharing one wardrobe (yes, there are a few drawers too, but the wardrobe is where I’d imagine most of your stuff will go…). I’m a rubbish person to ask for group travel advice though, as I usually tend to enjoy cruising solo, rather than with groups of people!
Ok, stateroom living and sleeping areas covered, let’s now move into the bathroom. You’ll find the bathroom will be the first door you’ll pass as you enter the room - if you’re looking at my previous photos, it’s tucked in behind the wardrobe we mentioned a second ago. Here’s what it looks like on the inside:
A nice enough bathroom, with some interesting touches. There are a few things I’d call out in here:
The frosted shower door - I guess this would be useful if you’re a group of friends cruising, and you need to all get ready quickly, but this is the first time I’ve ever seen this on a cruise ship. As much as I give the explanation of a group of friends, I’d find it pretty weird if one of my mates was pottering around the bathroom while I was in the shower - glass screen, or not. Incase you can’t tell, I’m not sold on this. What I will say, however, is that I’m DELIGHTED to report there isn’t a shower curtain in here!
The dark wood shelving and woodwork above and below the sink and vanity area - I really like this touch. I don’t think this has photographed too well - you’ll get a better feel for this in my YouTube video when it’s ready, but I thought this was a really classy touch for a modern cruise ship bathroom.
The shower head detaches - this is so useful if you’re planning to cruise to warmer climates where it’s beachy. I hate a fixed shower head if I’m trying to remove sand from my body, so this is a win!
A few other things you’re going to find in this bathroom:
Two fixed hooks on the back of the bathroom door - idea for hanging up towels when you’re done with them.
Shampoo, Shower Gel and also Handwash in fixed dispensers - your cabin attendant will be able to fill these up for you when required!
A toilet - nothing to report here, ha!
A sink, and it’s a big one! If you’ve followed me for a while, you maybe know that I hate staying on a cruise ship, or in a hotel, with tiny little sinks - this one’s huge, so a great plus-point!
A washing line - there’s a washing line in the shower area, so perfect for drying off your swimming stuff, or if you need to wash some things through while you’re travelling!
So that’s it - a quick tour of a balcony stateroom onboard Norwegian Escape. Would I recommend this cabin type for someone currently considering a cruise onboard? Absolutely yes! I often cruise on the inside of the ship, so I’m potentially easily won over with a balcony, but this one’s really nice. The ship was built back in 2015, and you really do need to remember that if you’re used to the more modern ships, but this one seems far more modern than I’d have expected to maybe find on a ship of this age.
If you’d like to explore cruising with NCL in more detail, head to my other posts on this cruise line by clicking here, or head to the NCL website by clicking here.