Today the STX France’s shipyard in St Nazaire delivered the completed Norwegian Epic to NCL. Epic is easily the most anticipated ship coming out this year, and definitely one of the most widely talked about ships the industry has produced. I for one, have been very excited about this ship for some time now.
For NCL, the Epic represents quite a significant jump in terms of ship design and in their ship management.
Epic is around 153,000grt (gross register tons), almost 60,000 tons larger then NCL’s next largest ship’s, the Jewel Class ships at 93,000grt. That’s quite a big size increase. It would be like welding a ship bigger than the Titanic to one of the Jewel class ships.
With this extra size comes a lot of extra passengers. Where the Jewel Class ships carry around 2,400 passengers at double occupancy, ((for you none ship geeks, that’s when each state room is carrying 2 passengers even if it can sleep more)) and about 2,670 passengers max, the Epic will carry close to twice that number at 4,100 people just at double occupancy. Another huge increase for NCL.
The questions me and a lot of other people want to see answered are... ‘Can NCL manage this ship?’ and ‘How well will the design of this ship work?’ ‘How well will the layout of this ship handle the large numbers of passengers?’ ‘Will it be too crowded?’
-“Can NCL manage this ship?”
For most cruise lines meals are served in 1 or several large restaurants, at a set time and with assigned seating, thereby limiting the passenger to eating at that set time and table (unless they want to eat at an extra tariff restaurant). The passenger is also subject to the cruise lines dress code. NCL however operates its ships under a concept called, “Freestyle Cruising”. The idea is that passengers can do whatever, eat whatever, and wear whatever they want, wherever they want. For this reason, NCL’s ships are designed with many different restaurants, bars, and many different amenities.
The concept sounds simple enough, but it is in its execution that NCL has run in to trouble. With the traditional arrangement cruise lines only have to staff and manage one large restaurant at a set time, but with Freestyle Cruising the cruise line has to staff and manage many different smaller restaurants for hours on end, much like restaurants on land. In the past the difficulty of Freestyle has caused many problems for NCL, like long waits for passengers to be seated, over crowding, and slow service.
However over the last few years, NCL seems to have improved significantly in its execution of Freestyle Cruising. Yay!! But will they be able to manage a ship with the size and capacity of Epic??
-“How well will the design of this ship work?’ ‘How well will the layout of this ship handle the large number of passengers?’ and ‘Will it be too crowded?
Norwegian Epic is an entirely new design for cruise ships. It’s untested and for that reason people are skeptical of how well it will handle passengers.
Recently Royal Caribbean came out with their new ship, the Oasis of the Seas. She was an entirely new design as well, and before she came out people were also skeptical of how well she would handle her HUGE passenger loads. As luck would have it she handles them beautifully! Passengers say despite her huge size and capacity, ((Oasis is about 222,000gtr and holds over 6,000 passengers)) she doesn’t feel crowded and movement about the ship is very easy. Indeed when you look at Oasis’ deck plans, you can see that her design is very simple and clean and not complicated, and because of that her launch went incredibly smooth for Royal Caribbean and their passengers (very of unusual for a new ship).
Epic, on the other hand, is not as cleanly designed and this is evident just by looking at her deck plans. Her layout is kind of quirky and odd in some places. That doesn’t necessarily mean it won’t work very well. It might work great, we just have to wait and see.One thing that does look like it will be a problem for Epic though, is how it will handle the crowds when it's rainy outside. Many of Epics amenities are out on the open decks. Two night clubs, the pools, rock climbing wall, sports arenas, the water park, and bars among other things, would be pretty much useless if it rains, so the question is, will the amenities inside be able to handle the extra load? Again we will just have to wait and see.
Personally, (and this is just me guessing) I don’t think it will handle the load that particularly well. I think there will be times when Epic will be pretty crowded. Judging by Epic’s size, her capacity seems rather high to me when you compare her to a ship of similar size. Take for example Royal Caribbean’s Freedom Class ships…they, at about 154,000grt, are actually bigger then Epic and hold 3,634 passengers at double occupancy. Epic even though it’s slightly smaller holds about 500 more at 4,100 double occupancy. That on top of Epic’s layout, leads me to think that it’s possible Epic’s passengers will have to deal with a lot of crowds. Like I said though, there is every possibility that I am wrong. We need to see the ship in service first before we can really make that judgment.
All that being said, I have to say I am still really excited about this ship. I think she definitely raises the bar for NCL, and even in someway the entire industry. The list of things to do on this new ship is amazing! There’s an actual Ice Bar, bowling, clubbing, rock climbing, a cirque type show, The Blue Man Group, a bunch of huge water slides, a TON of food options, including the ability to order pizza to be delivered anywhere on the ship, a jazz club and improv shows by Second City. And that’s just a partial list! The ship is all about choice, and there is a lot of choices onboard, from the 13 different types of cabins in over 30 categories, to the dozens of food options, to the many different bars, clubs and other entertainment options. You will never be bored on this ship.
All that being said, I have to say I am still really excited about this ship. I think she definitely raises the bar for NCL, and even in someway the entire industry. The list of things to do on this new ship is amazing! There’s an actual Ice Bar, bowling, clubbing, rock climbing, a cirque type show, The Blue Man Group, a bunch of huge water slides, a TON of food options, including the ability to order pizza to be delivered anywhere on the ship, a jazz club and improv shows by Second City. And that’s just a partial list! The ship is all about choice, and there is a lot of choices onboard, from the 13 different types of cabins in over 30 categories, to the dozens of food options, to the many different bars, clubs and other entertainment options. You will never be bored on this ship.
One thing that has been talked about since the first pictures of Epic showed up on the Internet, is her unusual exterior appearance. I have to admit, when I first saw the pictures I thought she was really ugly. But now after seeing her built I have to say her looks, while not very good, have grown on me. Shes unique and interesting to look at.
Whatever ugliness she has on the outside though, she makes up for on the inside. Her interior design is actually pretty nice in my opinion (there are some odd areas though). Its modern and fun, but not overdone, or gaudy.
As I am writing this, Epic has been delivered to NCL (YAY!!) and is on her way to Rotterdam in the Netherlands for some media events, and a short cruise. After that she will head to Southampton, England for some more media events and another short cruise. Then on June 24th, she will set off on a 7 night transatlantic cruise to New York were she will be christened, and also take part in the 4th of July celebrations in NYC. After that she heads off to her home port of Miami for her first official voyage on July 10th.
As I am writing this, Epic has been delivered to NCL (YAY!!) and is on her way to Rotterdam in the Netherlands for some media events, and a short cruise. After that she will head to Southampton, England for some more media events and another short cruise. Then on June 24th, she will set off on a 7 night transatlantic cruise to New York were she will be christened, and also take part in the 4th of July celebrations in NYC. After that she heads off to her home port of Miami for her first official voyage on July 10th.
There is much more I could say here about Epic, but I will save all that for a later date.
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