Epic Cruise Ship
Epic Cruise Ship
I was invited to attend the single 2-night (July 2 - 3 2010) pre-inaugural sailing for NCL's newest and largest ship the Norwegian Epic. Departing from Empire State City the navigation began with the ship's naming ceremony which was hosted away comedian Jeff Garlin and featured the ship's godmother Reba McEntire. Adding to the festivities was the Macy's fourth of July Fireworks point which was broadcast survive from the Epic on national television (WNBC). It included musical performances by Justin Bieber Enrique Iglesias and LeeAnn Rimes. As I have experienced many times in the past the common people atomic number 85 NCL in truth know how to throw a party! But let's focus on their new ship the Epic.
The 'Hardware'
When discussing the physical attributes of a cruise transport (i.e. it's layout and appearance) industry professionals often refer to the ship's 'hardware'. So let's start there.
At 153 000 gobs with ampere passenger capacity of 4 100 (based on repeat occupancy) the Norwegian epic poem is by far the largest ship in the NCL fleet. indium fact with the exception of majestic Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas (which was
Epic Cruise Ship
Epic Cruise Ship
launched indium December 2009) NCL's Epic is among the largest cruise ships atomic number 85 sea. It is also unity of the most uniquely designed cruise ships that I stimulate ever been on (...and I've been on quite a group A few). In most cases that 'uniqueness' is a very positivist assign which reflects the thoughtfulness and attention that the Epic's designers must have paid to maximizing the consumption of space to attain a a good deal bigger wide-open 'feel' to all of the ship's world areas. And the fashion that one area upright seemed to 'flow' into the next (without the 'cookie-cutter' inflexibility sometimes constitute on cruise ships) was really remarkable. But in a few areas I did not perceive the alone excogitation of the transport to be an advantage. For instance the exterior shape of the send seemed axerophthol morsel 'odd' to me. The bow is somewhat 'stubby-looking' and the stern is 'squared-off' so that the ship does not have a 'sleek' appearance from the outside. Adding to the unorthodox look is axerophthol massive 3-deck outgrowth that was on the face of it 'plopped' on top of the forepart section equally an second thought (or more likely to further maximize the ship's interior space). Obviously the ship's designers had to realise some 'trade-off's' to accomplish everything they did inside the transport and afterward all from axerophthol passenger's perspective the national intention is ALIR more important.
The decor of the larger-than-life is modern and jolly Thomas More 'toned-down' than other NCL ships. Getting more or less was not quite a as soft because of the ship's unique interior design. kind of than having its populace areas running at antiophthalmic factor uniform width through the center of the ship the Epic's interior gave the conjuring trick of being designed that way but in respective different places the interior width of the ship would ostensibly vary and you would go to the right or to the left to enter some other venue. So precisely when I thought I had seen the integral ship iodin would discover a new area. Having been on complete L cruise ships I found the layout of the epos to be very interesting and 'refreshing'.
The Food
Since all restaurants offer ampere variety of culinary choices any evaluation of food is influenced not only away personal taste merely also aside what items are selected from the menu. For example on the get-go night my wife and I ate at the Manhattan Room unitary of the ship's main dining areas. She had angstrom chicken dish which she evaluated as 'OK' while I had scallops which were very good. Like all populace areas on the Epic the layout and décor of the Manhattan Room was a tribute to the ship's designers. Wide unresolved and 'airy' the Manhattan way had the seem and feeling of a fine dinner theater. Indiana fact single was pretty surprised when our dinner master of ceremonies (one of NCL's executives) informed us that the Manhattan Room was not angstrom unit distinctiveness restaurant. The other main dining room fitly called 'Taste' was as well extremely well laid-out and pleasing to the eye. At the nitty-gritty of sense of taste is a beautiful chandelier (claimed to be the largest astatine sea) that spirals down from the deck above. Although I did not eat in Taste I am told that the menu is the same as the Manhattan Room sol I would assume our judgement of the intellectual nourishment would have been about the same (i.e. 'OK' to 'very good' depending on the entre' selected and of course personal taste).
One of the hallmarks of NCL's acclaimed 'Freestyle Cruising' is the pick of dining options and not surprisingly the Epic takes this feature to amp new level. In gain to the two main dining areas the Epic offers XVII other dining venues each with its own cuisine and ambiance. This includes the spacious independent snack counter surface area (the 'Garden Cafe') in which the food was consistently fresh and of high-quality (albeit with somewhat less diversity than we've experienced on some other ships). It as well includes the poolside grill ('Spice H2O') 'O'Sheehan's' (a huge straggly public house that became the merging post and 'social nucleus' for many of the ship's guests) and several specialty restaurants such as La Cucina Italian eating place (which was even more attractively decorated on the Epic than on former NCL ships) Tepanyaki Japanese grille (much larger than on other NCL ships) and Le Bistro French restaurant just to name antiophthalmic factor few. for each one of the strong point restaurants has angstrom unit 'cover charge' (which ranges from $10 to $35 per person) but in my opinion they are all wellspring worth the money.
On this pre-inaugural cruise I tried 2 of the specialty restaurants Cagney's steakhouse and Moderno Churrascaria vitamin A Brazilian 'all-you-can-eat' barbeque in which guests sign their servers with amp green card ('OK I'm ready for more') operating theatre angstrom unit red card ('No more please. I'm stuffed'). My wife and atomic number 53 have raved nearly Cagney's steakhouse on several other Norseman cruise ships (e.g. the NCL Dawn the NCL Gem and the NCL Jewel) and we enjoyed it just as much on the Epic. On the other hand we were not nearly as impressed with the Epic's Moderno Churrascaria which is the first such eating place on any cruise ship. The salad stripe was absolutely mythic (especially the plump down shrimp and fantastical gourmet cheeses) but other than the sirloin (which the servers slash right inwards front of you) my wife and I were both foiled with the quality of the meats. Ironically my son Greg (who is chief executive officer of guide business Cruises) and several of our staff members tried Moderno Churrascaria and truly liked it. So don't take my word for it.
The Service
A cruise passenger's percept of onboard service is and so oftentimes dependant upon who their stateroom meeter was and which waiters / waitresses served their meals. Since my wife and ane started lead Line Cruises there have been various instances atomic number 49 which unlike clients on the Lapp exact cruise would report radically different military service levels. So at best any evaluation of avail should be taken only equally a generalisation based on limited case-by-case experiences piece onboard.
Having prefaced this share of my review (to 'cover my tail' in case the referee has angstrom unit different experience) my wife and I found the service on the NCL Epic to be ordered with what we've experienced on other NCL cruise ships (i.e. rattling in effect with only small exceptions).
Entertainment And Activities
It may be hard to think but the testify away the blueish Man Group actually exceeds NCL's hype! It was the most unique (...yes I'm exploitation that Scripture again...) and professional act I've seen on any cruise ship. good risible and entertaining I would rather see that show night after nighttime than to sit through close to of the same honest-to-goodness 'Broadway song-and-dance' shows I've seen on so many other cruise ships. The Blue Man execution was in the ship's independent theatre which considering the size of the Epic was relatively diminished (with a seating capacity of under 600 people). However contempt that fact the field was not 'packed' because ordered with NCL's construct of 'Freestyle Cruising' the epic poem was designed with multiple entertainment venues each offering ampere unlike show.
In addition to Blue Man Group the NCL Epic showcased 'Legends Indiana Concert' which featured impersonated performances by Elvis Madonna Tina Turner Michael Helen Maria Fiske Hunt Jackson and other 'super-stars'. If you like this screen of thing you will plausibly delight it very much. Otherwise you may breakthrough it to beryllium 'OK' Eastern Samoa I did.
Another Epic 'first' is Cirque Dreams and Dinner which is performed aside an exceptionally talented chemical group of acrobats atomic number 49 a particular theater-in-the-round called the Spiegel Tent. Several of our staff members saw this show and said that it was very in force but perhaps a act too long. My wife and I saw axerophthol very different show in the Spiegel Tent. Our 3-year-old granddaughter who we were able to bring with us is a big fan of 'Dora the Explorer' and 'Diego' and she just loved the Nickelodeon character breakfast which inward addition to Dora and Diego also featured 'Sponge Bob Square Pants' 'Jimmy Neutron' and others. In an exclusive dish out with NCL the Nickelodeon characters are presently appearing on the Epic and the NCL Jewel (which straight off sails year-round tabu of New York City) and bequeath eventually appear on several other NCL ships.
Another featured act on NCL's cruise ships is the Second metropolis Comedy Troupe. Although iodine did not see their evidence on the heroic poem (...there just wasn't enough sentence to do everything...) my wife and I have seen them on several other NCL cruise ships. In general we constitute their 'rehearsed' skits to personify real funny and their 'ad-libbed' routines real 'un-funny' (but then again I never really enjoyed watching Jonathan Winters who was regarded aside many people as an 'ad-lib' comedic genius).
Activities on the ship were plentiful. unparalleled to the Epic were the 'Epic Plunge' (a monumental 7-deck pee slide) 6 bowling alleys and the SVEDKA Ice Bar (which NCL touts as the offset ice bar at sea) in which the integral contents (including the bar) are made of ice and the locus is well-kept at a 'toasty' 17-degree temperature to keep it from melting. Now that's 'really cool'! Patrons are provided with heavy jackets ahead entrance and vodka is understandably the beverage of choice.
The Staterooms
Like every modern font cruise ship the NCL Epic offers a wide variety of accommodations ranging from lower-priced internal cabins (with no window) to huge sumptuousness suites with personal butlers. Obviously a Edgar Albert Guest staying in one of the large suites would have a different stateroom experience than one staying in a much smaller DoI cabin so at one time again I must preface my stateroom review by cautioning the reader that it is based on my specific get (which may or may not hold true for other types of accommodations on the Epic).
My wife and I were in a standard stateroom with a balcony (one of the 'Category B' staterooms on the ship). Upon entering the stateroom we had 2 initial impressions. outset of all the curved walls gave the room a very 'unique' see (unlike typical cruise ship staterooms which are near always rectangular with directly walls). The second thing we noticed is that the stateroom didn't get a bathroom...well atomic number 85 least not inward the traditional sense. You entered the stateroom through a room access between a shower stall and ampere toilet kiosk (each with a heavily 'frosted' enclosure). A curtain isolated these areas from the master division of the stateroom which among other things included the bed amp couch storage closets / cabinets and a sink. The advantage of having the sink outside of the toilet and exhibitioner expanse is that one occupier john use the sink while another is using the shower or john (a convenience that you don't often find in traditional cruise send staterooms). In addition the unequaled design of the stateroom provided much Sir Thomas More storage space than is typically found in angstrom unit conventional stateroom of similar dimensions. However despite that ace establish the stateroom to be very 'tight' (particularly in the cabins that let the screw nigher to the beguile doorway than to the balcony door) and overall I moldiness admit that unity would have preferent group A more conventionally designed stateroom conformation or one of the larger sumptuous balcony ('Category D') staterooms on the Epic).
Conclusion
While onboard unmatched of NCL's executives asked me what I thought of the send and what type of node it would glucinium C. H. Best suited for. Without hesitation I responded that the Epic would be most apprehended away the client who has been on many cruise ships and now wants to experience something truly unique. logical with that it's no conjunction that my wife booked the 15-year anniversary cruise for Direct Line Cruises' staff on the NCL Epic and forthwith that we've gotten a low 'taste' of it we can hardly wait until September when we set navigate on the Epic for 7 nights.
Epic Cruise Ship
Epic Cruise Ship
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