Norwegian
Epic: Adventure On The Sea
By PW Mooney
Ship Statistics
& Itineraries
Photo
Gallery
NCL's long-awaited newbuild—Norwegian Epic—made
a splash in the Big Apple when she arrived for her July 2, 2010 naming ceremony
and as the venue for the live entertainment for Macy's annual Fourth of July
fireworks on the Hudson River. After a less than smooth four-year shipbuilding
phase at the STYX//St. Nazaire, France shipyard, the boxy-shaped vessel built
at a cost slightly over $1 billion is raising eyebrows with her unconventional stateroom
bathrooms, a private block of single-passenger staterooms, and her variety of entertainment
and dining venues.
Enjoying a two-day introductory cruise on board Norwegian Epic,
there was a lot to see—and do. She is a long ship to walk especially
since the two main elevator shafts are in aft and forward and none in between. The
153,000 gross ton ship with 4,100 passengers double occupancy offers a slightly
different version of a cruise—the emphasis being on the entertainment and
the dining. Not only are topnotch performers on board, but also there are 20
restaurants and an equal number of bars and lounges to wine, dine, and entertain
you.
Let's start with the entertainment . . .
The ship is loaded with professional entertainment firsts at
sea. To set itself off from other firsts on other mainstream cruise lines, NCL
is concentrating on top-draw entertainment as its hallmark. The popular Blue
Man Group performs in the Epic Theater; their crazy antics involve audience
participation and you never know if you will be the next chosen participant in
the all-in-fun mayhem.
Then there's the Second City Comedy Troupe, which performs a
special customized comedy revue of satirical skits, hilarious songs and
inventive improvisation in the ship's comedy club, Headliners. (The ensemble is
scheduled to perform a hilarious murder mystery lunch called “Presumed
Murdered” under the Spiegel Tent three times during a cruise.)
Music-wise, Howling at the Moon offers two pianists dueling
it out on two baby grands with rock-n- roll-to hip-hop music that involves the
audience. Legends In Concert has performers imitating famous past and present rock
singers—Elvis, Tina and Madonna—are the standouts performed in the
Epic Theater.
If that is not enough to satisfy your I-want-to-be-entertained
shtick, the 176-seat Fat Cats club offers nightly live blues and jazz. And in
the cocktail lounges, solo performers perform takeoffs on jazz or pop (Frank
Sinatra) or country blues music (Woodie Guthrie.) In addition, one of the two
main dining rooms, the Manhattan Room, offers live band music during the dinner
hours.
For families onboard, there's the circus and dinner in the
Spiegel tent--the only “big top”
at sea on Deck 6 forward. The 90-minute-plus performance has
diners witnessing a circus performance of acrobats, jugglers and lots of other
strange characters while they eat. And to involve the ship's younger guests, lets
not forget NickelodeonTM at Sea that features live Nickelodeon-themed interactive
shows, including SlimeTime LIVE!; Breakfast with Nickelodeon; Nick Live
Poolside entertainment; Nick-themed dance parties and more. (NCL says that Special
Nickelodeon-themed cruises will be offered annually where families can totally immerse
themselves in everything Nickelodeon.)
For those guests wishing to try their luck at winnings—possibly
to pay the bill at the cruise's completion with all those extra charges added to
the cruise fare--the 13,000-square-foot Epic Casino on Deck 6 midship sports a
Monte Carlo-inspired interior design with 340 of the latest slot machines
spread throughout the area along with gaming tables featuring poker, black
jack, roulette and craps. In another first for NCL, the casino's Cascades Bar
sports the largest LED chandelier at sea.
The 681-seat Epic Theatre is the venue for the Blue Man
Group and Legends in Concerts as well as for business presentations. Just
outside the theatre are two meeting rooms with a seating capacity for 20 but
the two rooms that can be combined for larger groups. Several restaurants as
well can be converted to private meeting space during the daytime.
How's the food? Touch and go . . .
Epic boasts 20 dining venues, some new, some not. Nine of
the restaurants require reservations and there is an additional fee to dine
there.
A new venue for this ship is Moderno Churrascaria—where
tasty morsels of meat are sliced off a spit presented tableside ($18). Across
from Moderno—actually the two restaurants hare a common divided area in
aft on Deck 7—is the more traditional Cagney's Steakhouse ($25).
The Chinese themed Shanghai restaurant is also new and offers
an array of delicious
Chinese dishes and noodle-bar specialties. Try their yummy spring
rolls or noodle soups with thin slices of barbecued pork and minced veggies ($15/à
la carte pricing). Also new is the Cirque Dreams and Dinner in the Spiegel Tent
($15/$20); and O'Sheehan's Neighborhood Bar & Grill (named after NCL's CEO)
offers informal fare around the clock at no charge.
Other specialty restaurants found on other NCL ships include
an expanded La Cucina, tucked away in the forward section of the ship on Deck
14 ($10); Wasabi, a sushi and sake
bar (a la carte pricing); and Teppanyaki, which NCL says is the largest
restaurant of this type at sea. The 104-seat venue has 12 knife-wielding chefs
performing for guests as they prepare Japanese cuisines on flattop steel grills
($25 charge). The entertaining chefs are fun though the food served was fair. Le
Bistro offers French cuisine in a cozy, contemporary bistro setting ($20).
There are two main dining rooms, the more sophisticated
Manhattan Room (Deck 6 aft) with occasional live music and a small dance floor;
and the informal Taste located in the ship's atrium on Deck 5 that offer
freestyle dining. I ate at the Manhattan Room one evening and I must say the
food was quite delicious with excellent table service.
The Garden Café provides buffet-style fare during the day
and late into the evening with a wide variety of international dishes, carved
meats, salads and deserts. Within the café, there is a Kid's Café with
child-friendly seating.
For passengers staying in the Villas complex high up on Deck
16, there is The Epic Club and Courtyard Grill designed for their exclusive use.
The Epic Club has an ambience of a formal private club with contemporary and modern
furnishings and a large wine display.
The Courtyard Grill is a more casual, outdoor area of the
restaurant serving Villas guests breakfast and lunch.
And for those wishing to take advantage of dining al fresco from
their balcony,
there is 24-hour room service, though limited in its
offerings, as well as pizza delivery for a modest charge.
NCL's ships feature a Restaurant Reservation and Table
Management system. Flat-screen TVs placed in key public areas around the ship,
show each restaurant's current availability status. Indicator bars reflect when
each restaurant is “full,” “filling up,” or “empty.” If a restaurant is full
and guests would like to wait for an opening, the hostess will quote a wait
time and issue a pager that works all over the ship.
For libation—20 bars of all types . . .
Throughout the ship, there are a total of 20 bars and
lounges. The new SVEDKA Ice Bar
(photo)
is the largest at sea. Inspired by the ice bars found in Sweden and other
Scandinavian countries, this frozen chamber of iced vodka is set in changing
hues of blue, green and purple LED lighting that simulates the Northern Lights
and creates a distinctive arctic atmosphere with the bar, walls, tables,
stools, glasses and life-size sculptures all made from ice. Guests are given hooded
coats and gloves to keep them warm, since the room's temperature will not rise
above 17 degrees Fahrenheit. The bar is very popular and reservations are
required for your 45 minutes in the frigid cold.
Other watering holes include the Atrium Bar; Bliss Ultra
Lounge; Cagney's Bar; The Epic Club private lounge; the Epic Theater Bar; Fat
Cats; Headliners; Humidor Cigar Lounge: the Studio Lounge; Maltings whiskey
bar; Posh; Sake Bar; Shaker's, martini and champagne bar; Waves Pool Bar; Garden
Cafe bar; and the Courtyard Grill Bar. The Posh Beach Club with a sort of South
Beach décor has one of the best sites on the ship for cocktails. Situated on
Deck 17 forward, the outdoor club doubles as a sunning area by day and
transforms into a nightclub at dusk.
The new Spice H2O lounge was closed when I was on the ship
as this was the area from which the entertainment for the Macy's Fireworks
would be televised. Located on Deck 15 and 16 in aft, this adults-only complex with
a huge LED screen doubles as a sunning area by day and turns into a beach club
at night as well.
The Staterooms…some like them, some do not . . .
In
another industry first, the ship's New Wave balcony (photo) and deluxe balcony
staterooms feature curved walls and lines to replicate wave patterns. More
controversial are the “bathrooms” that feature a separate shower stall and a
separate small toilet area, each enclosed by curved translucent-glass doors
that slide back and do not afford much privacy. In my balcony stateroom, the
vanity sink is in the stateroom, just about three feet from the bed. While
there is some shelving for a modest amount of toiletries, there is nothing in
the toilet or shower areas. In other words, one does a juggling act from one
amenity to the other. The wet towels are hung on the entry hall's shower wall
and one finds oneself moving the bath mat with the feet to get to the vanity
basin to avoid touching the bare laminate floor.
To be positive, the beds and seating in the cabins are
comfortable and there appears to be ample space for a week's cruise with the disguised
overhead storage bins that are hard to find as there are no handles, and narrow
closets. The balcony has two chairs and a tiny table that barely holds two
coffee cups. So it is a bit awkward when room service arrives with the
breakfast tray, perilously placed on the tiny table. I had to move a padded
stool from the stateroom to the balcony to balance the tray. But the balcony
views of the sea were great; and one morning during breakfast my companion and
I spotted a school of dolphins frolicking in the sea.
Inside Staterooms: There also are 561 regular Inside staterooms
on Epic, each with a contemporary décor. The bathrooms are similar to those
in the balcony staterooms.
The Studios: In an innovative first for the cruise industry,
NCL launched a completely new concept to make cruising more attractive to solo travelers
with its Studio staterooms. The Studios on Epic are a private key-card access
complex on Decks 11 and 12 aft--consisting of 128 staterooms and the Studio
Lounge with an interconnecting stairway between the two decks. Each Studio
stateroom, at approximately 100 square-feet of living space, done up in a
contemporary design with a full-size bed and separate areas for the bathroom,
sink and shower and feature a large, round window that looks out into the
private corridor with privacy closure, along with customizable color changing
light effects that mirror different stages of the day or the guest's mood. Some
of the studios are connecting for friends traveling together.
The Studio Lounge provides a meeting area for Studio guests
for coffee or a beverage. The studios got good marks from guests who inhabited
them for a week during the pre-inaugural transatlantic crossing.
Courtyard Villas complex: Always an innovator, Norwegian
pioneered the ship-within-a-ship concept on its Jewel-Class ships and is now
taking that vision on this vessel with a total of 60 Courtyard Villas,
Penthouse Suites and Deluxe Owner. All have exclusive access to a private pool,
two whirlpools, a sauna, sun deck, a small fitness facility, private
indoor/outdoor restaurant as well as a bar and concierge lounge.
There are 46 of Norwegian's signature Courtyard Villas
featuring two bedrooms and two bathrooms of ultimate luxury. Six Courtyard
Penthouses include a bedroom with separate living and dining area. Eight Deluxe
Owner's Suites feature all-around floor to ceiling windows, bedroom and
separate living and dining area. (There are also seven Penthouse Suites located
in other areas of the ship.)
Spa cabins: For spa-oriented guests, another first for NCL, there
are also 39 Spa suites and balcony staterooms on Deck 14 with private key-card
entry to the enclave surrounding the Spa complex. Eight spa suites feature an
in-room whirlpool.
Families: As for families or multigenerational groups, 61
Family Mini Suites and 263 Family Balcony staterooms, with triple and quad
occupancies, are located on two decks (13 and 14) within close proximity to the
expanded Kids Crew facility. Many of the family staterooms are interconnecting.
Handicapped-accessible staterooms: Epic has 42 wheel-chair-accessible
staterooms, including suites; all feature collapsible shower stools mounted on
shower walls; all toilets feature collapsible arm guards and lowered washbasin.
Hearing- impaired kits are available to guests by request. All staterooms,
which include permanently lit emergency lights, also have Braille text.
The spa and sports complex—largest at sea . . .
Epic boasts the largest spa facility and fitness center at
sea, so NCL claims, totaling more than 31,000 square feet. The luxurious
Mandara Spa features 24 treatment rooms, two exotic steam Rasul rooms, a DIY
Scrub Experience, Hydrotherapy Courtyard & Thermal Suite, and a
full-service salon. The Spa offers more than 50 unisex treatments including
Elemis facials, massages, body therapies, bliss® face and body treatments, and
acupuncture along with cosmetic medical treatments performed by a licensed
doctor. There are also spa services for youths.
Among the two dozen treatment rooms are two couple's villas
for the ultimate in togetherness massages with the opportunity to soak in a
private, outdoor whirlpool. Two solo villas also have outdoor whirlpools, and
six treatment rooms have balconies with chaise lounges where guests can relax
privately outdoors before or after their treatment.
Fitness Center: The well-equipped complex includes a Fitness
Center with the latest machines that includes 37 treadmills and 18 cross
trainers, extensive weight equipment and free weight areas, stretching areas
and four distinct aerobic studios offering a variety of classes--TRX and
kettlebell training; yoga; pilates; Activio® group cycling; Gravity® reformer;
and body sculpting boot-camp classes. Personal training sessions are also available,
along with nutritional consultation and metabolism testing.
Outdoors, the two-deck-high sports complex offers rock
climbing on a 33-foot-high wall, accessible at two levels; and the first ever
at-sea rappelling wall next to the Aqua Park. On the upper decks, guests can
play soccer, basketball, volleyball, ice skate, and do bungee jumping over a
trampoline, or climb a 24-foot-tall net cage called the Spider Web. Elsewhere
on the ship there are six bowling lanes located on Decks 6 and 7.
And for Epic's younger guests . . .
Besides some of the sports activities I already mentioned, this
family friendly ship offers kids lots of other activities to keep them engaged.
In the Aqua Park on Deck 15, they have a choice of three water slides,
including one specifically designed for children that zips straight through the
rock climbing wall; a second more adventurous slide twisting and turning down
three stories; and The Epic Plunge, the only tube slide at sea that puts the
blast of inner-tubing into the core of a bowl slide with a thrilling drop
through a 200-foot long tube. Riders are then launched into the vortex of The
Epic Plunge where centrifugal forces keep them high on the wall for several
turns, ending in an exciting transition into a splashdown lane. There's also a
wading pool and a kid's pool in the children's Splash and Play Zone, which
features whimsical sculptures and water sprays.
Indoor activities: Recess,
Norwegian Epic's Kid's Crew facility on Deck 14, is easily accessible to the
family-friendly staterooms. There are two separate areas specifically designed
for kids ages two through nine, and tweens ages ten through 12. The Kid's area
includes a space-themed play area, air hockey table, and an interactive light
up dance floor, WiiTM gaming areas, and an arts and crafts area along with a
state-of- the-art surround-sound cinema. The Tween Zone has a futuristic feel
that includes multiple WiiTM and PlayStation® 3
areas, along with a private karaoke performance stage which doubles as a
cinema.
Entourage is the teen zone for ages 13 through 17, located
on Deck 16 forward. This funky space includes air hockey, pinball, foosball, a
video jukebox, and large flat screen televisions, a few of which are located
around a central video game console featuring PlayStation® 3. In
the evening, Entourage transitions into a space for dancing or just hanging out
on comfy couches.
New technology on board . . .
With each new ship coming out, new technology advancements
are in place. On Epic this is evident with the Youfinder® facial
recognition software. For each new guest boarding the ship, a photo is taken
and imbedded onto their cruise card, which also serves as the stateroom key and
in-cabin electricity control. The photo-imbedded cards aids in security issues
by providing the ability to match guests' faces and ID details anytime a photo
is taken post-boarding. It also aids in the purchase of photos taken during the
cruise. Instead of scanning hundreds of photos pinned to a board in the photo
gallery, guests can now swipe their cruise card at a photo kiosk in the gallery
and immediately view their photos. From this, they can order select images and
have them printed out by the ship's photo team or they can order a CD with all
images and take it home for a fee.
Overall assessment . . .
The ship has many plusses. But she also has some minuses. On the minus side, she is a noisy ship.
Not only is the music in the pool area loud, but the beautiful sundeck in the
Courtyard Villas area had nonstop musak piped in. Here was this beautiful vista
with the sea and it was spoiled—this was no quiet place to take a nap or
catch up on some reading!
There is no library that I could find on board and
the ship lacked cozy areas with panoramic windows to look out at the sea.
There was a constant logjam if you were passing through in some of the
entertainment areas on Decks 6 and 7 where guests would cluster in groups and
one had to bulldoze through them to the aft or forward parts of the vessel.
The prevailing odor from smoking, especially in the casino
and on the ship's balconies was very annoying. Hopefully NCL will address this
issue of passive smoke that is injurious to one's health.
There also is no real promenade deck on the ship. What was
the boat deck had the starboard side as a walking/jogging track (you do a
roundtrip on that side), while portside had deck games. But no chairs or
benches on either side perhaps because the suspended motorized lifeboats
obstructed the view.
And speaking of lifeboats there was a fire drill 20 hours
into the cruise where passengers sans lifejackets met in designated public
areas for the drill instructions. In my case, my key card had my muster station
location that was different from what was posted on my stateroom door.
Now the plusses . . .
The big plus to NCL's credit is the ship personnel. They
were professional, congenial and very helpful—whether it was boarding the
ship, answering one's questions, or just the service at the bar or dinner
table—they could not be nicer and I give them a big fat A+ for their
services. No task was too much. If there is anything that makes this ship
standout from other mainstream cruise ships, it is the staff! However, the
indifference of the guest relations counter staff to the guests for the most
part was off putting, which somewhat sours this compliment
The entertainment was good--and different. It will attract
cruisers who want to be entertained 24/7 on a cruise. You have to give NCL
credit for taking a different route to making their ship standout from her
competitors with performers such as the excellent Blue Man Group, Second City, the
dueling pianists Howl at the Moon, and Nickolodeon.
The food in most of the dining venues I ate in was also a
tad above the average cruise fare found on many other mainstream ships. There
were some disappointments but for the most part, the cuisine on this ship is highly
commendable. While there is a variety of dining venues to suit all taste buds, be
prepared to rack up a hefty bill at cruise's end since nine venues come with a
price.
Overall . . .
NCL appears to be aiming for a younger crowd of cruisers and
families who need to keep busy whether it's sports or children's recreational
activities or the diversity of entertainment and cuisine offered. So if you
want a cruise that will keep you amused 24/7 this is the ship for you. This
ship is not for those who want a quieter experience at sea, or want to hear interesting
lectures or classical music, though that could change.
NCL does deserve a lot of credit for trying to be different
with this ship and from early indications, once the kinks are worked out, it
will be a popular seagoing venue for this generation of cruisers.
7/8/2010
Ship
Statistics
Built by: STX Europe in Saint-Nazaire, France
Entered service: June
2010
Gross tons: 153,000
Length: 1,081
feet
Width: 133
feet
Draft: 28.5
Engines: Diesel
electric
Cruising speed: 22 knots
Registry: Bahamas
Decks: 19
Guests: 4,100
(do)
Crew: 1,708
(International)
Laundrette: No
Medical Dept. Yes
Website: www.ncl.com
CDC Sanitary Rating: Not yet rated as of 7/10/10
Itineraries
Norwegian Epic will operate seven-day alternating cruises
from Miami, Florida from July to April 2011. Eastern Caribbean ports of call
include: Philipsburg, St. Maarten; St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands and Nassau,
Bahamas. Western Caribbean ports of call include: Costa Maya, Mexico;
Roatán, Bay Islands, Honduras; and Cozumel, Mexico.
The ship then repositions to Barcelona where she will
operate seven-day Western Mediterranean itinerary from Barcelona, Spain May
through October. Ports of call include: Florence/Pisa (Livorno); Rome
(Civitavecchia); Naples, Italy; and Palma, Majorca, Spain.
Epic then returns to Miami in fall 2011 for her winter/early
spring season of Caribbean cruises.
