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Norwegian Epic

Norwegian Epic

Fran Golden is dizzied by the prospect of 14 onboard restaurants and impressed with the new 100-square-foot cabins planned for budget travellers on NCL’s latest  

NORWEGIAN EPIC Vital statistics Passengers: 4,200 | Crew: 1,730 | Tonnage: 153,000 tons | Cost: $1.2billion (£823million) | Sets sail July 2010

When you call a ship Epic, you better be ready to introduce something new. And the 4,200-passenger Norwegian Epic is indeed different, from its smokestack to its keel.

In fact some of its features – no central dining room, no main traditional theatre and all outside cabins have balconies – may just revolutionise the way we look at cruising.

“Freestyle cruising to the next level,” is how Andy Stuart, Executive Vice President of Norwegian Cruise Line, describes the vessel’s deconstructed nature.

So in place of the main dining room, there are 14 restaurants, which is more than any other ship on the high seas. And in place of a nightly show production there’s a choice of intimate entertainment venues. You choose what you want to eat, what you want to see and when.

The 153,000-ton Epic is indeed epic, even in its boxy exterior design. Some chat rooms are describing artist impressions of the ship as looking a bit 1960s Soviet from the outside, but don’t let that put you off – there are many hidden surprises here.

First, the firsts – Epic is the only ship with a bar made entirely of ice where you put on a faux fur coat and drink vodka. Then there is a giant Aqua Park with three slides including Epic Plunge, the first tube water slide at sea – guests sit in rubber rafts and head down 200 metres, whirling around via centrifugal force. The Epic has the first squash court at sea and rappelling wall too (like rock climbing, but you go down instead of up; there’s also a huge rock climbing wall).

Bowling lanes have proved popular on other NCL ships, so the Epic will have six – the most on any ship at sea.

Dining-wise, the restaurant offerings already have this foodie salivating. I am most keen on the real Chinese restaurant serving dim sum, which is based on The China Club in Hong Kong. An Irish pub will double as a sports bar and feature American pub grub and a Tuscan venue will have romantic tables around olive trees in its courtyard. Cagney’s Steakhouse gets a new twist here with the addition of Brazilian churrasco – skewered meat presented tableside. The ship’s buffet-like Garden Café and The Great Outdoors are being designed to look like a traditional English country garden. NCL’s popular Japanese Teppanyaki and sushi bar are expanded here, too.

On the entertainment spectrum, while a typical ship theatre holds half the passengers, in an early and late show, Epic will have a smaller one holding 600 passengers where an ‘event’ will take place – details on exactly what the show will be were not available as the magazine went to press. But the idea is you will only go once on your cruise. The other nights? There’s a comedy club where the popular Second City improvisational theatre troupe will perform nightly, a blues and jazz club, a Monte Carlo-inspired casino (the biggest on any NCL ship) and more bars and nightclubs than you’ll probably have time to visit. So many venues that Stuart quipped, “If you can’t get a drink on this ship, you’re dead.”

And then there is entertainment while you dine. Epic will have an aft-view supper club with dancing – quieter in the early evening and moving into Latin later at night. And there will be another venue with a dinner cabaret experience – exact details were not available at the time of writing, but Stuart said it would be “a step apart from anything on a cruise ship today”.

For spa fanatics, Epic serves up the biggest space on any NCL ship, with 21 treatment and therapy rooms, four saunas, a thalassotherapy pool and new offerings such as a bamboo massage and Champagne manicure/pedicure. There will be a barber shop, a lash and brow bar and expanded medi-spa facilities (Botox anyone?).

The gym is the biggest, too, and has such cool features as a kinesis room and boxing ring. The sports deck is so super-sized there will be footballs to kick around (there’s also a regulation-size basketball court).

For kids, the biggest Kids Crew centre of any NCL ship will have areas for ages two to nine and ‘tweens, with teens in their own hangout.

Epic’s cabins are impressive, too. Wavy walls add a striking design element to the modern décor, but it will be interesting to see how people react to the facilities – the shower and toilet are in separate compartments, and the sink is located near the bed.

Accommodation innovations also include the creation of tiny (100-square-foot) cabins for budget travellers, with no ocean views but round windows looking out to the corridor, funky, changing-colour lighting systems and access to a special two-deck social area, with a bar and large-screen TVs.

At the other end of the spectrum, luxury accommodation includes 60 villas and suites in a private area overlooking a courtyard with a private pool – the design is reminiscent of a swish Miami Beach resort. Guests in the villas have access to a private gym and restaurant, so they don’t have to mingle with everybody else unless they want to. Speciality spa suites are located near the spa, and some have whirlpools. Family-friendly cabins are near the Kids Crew facilities, and have fold-out sofa beds for the children.

Traditional cruisers may find some of the Epic changes confusing, even discomforting. But keep in mind this may be more than a cruise ship. It may be a cruise revolution. The Epic will cruise from Miami, year-round.

For more, call 0800 916 3233, visit cruisethomascook.com, your local Thomas Cook or Going Places store, or see Thomas Cook TV, Sky channel 655

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