On the decks of the Epic, Norwegian's flagship until May, there's a little of the Breakaway, the flagship-in-waiting.
Actually, there's a lot of the Breakaway on the Epic.
Most of it is promotional, as Norwegian justifiably heralds the coming of its new brand. Some of it is practical, with Epic features that are moving or being repeated on the Breakaway. And all of it is on the tips of the tongues of crew members, many of whom will be "jumping ship."
This week, coinciding with the start of Wave Season, Norwegian launched an advertising campaign in the hope of taking New York by storm…the good kind, and after Sandy a good storm is what New York needs. It's all designed to "render the New York City experiences found on board." A TV spot in two languages will run from now until after the Breakaway is making weekly trips to Bermuda, and it will be seen down the interstates in Philadelphia 
and Boston, too. It shows an image of the ship sailing by the usual features of the New York skyline.
Norwegian naturally hopes that will sell cruises, or at least drive traffic to the ship's website, where visitors can watch things like a Broadway theater morph into the Breakaway Theater…Soho into The Waterfront on Deck 8…Central Park into Aqua Park.
On the streets this month will be four Breakaway "warming stations" where New Yorkers can escape winter and imagine being in the Caribbean. This is, after all, New York's ship. At least that's the message the cruise line wants to deliver because, unlike the Epic, the Breakaway will have:
• 678 Ocean Place (as in 6th, 7th and 8th Avenues), a three-deck address designed to mirror the city's entertainment appeal, from three Broadway shows to celebrity chef Geoffrey Zakarian's first restaurant at sea (Ocean Blue) to the quarter-mile long boardwalk that offers indoor/outdoor dining and drinking experiences.
• An unmistakable hull of a painting by pop artist Peter Max, a New Yorker whose work depicts much of what attracts people to his city.
• Godmothers from the cast of Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall — some will travel on select sailings.
• The Tony Award-winning musical Rock of Ages, now a mainstay in the theater district, and another show that spawned a movie of the same name…it's just a coincidence that the star of the movie was Tom Cruise.
During a presentation she regularly does on the Epic, cruise consultant Jenny Pershouse credited customers and Norwegian's creative minds for the innovations: "We listen to feedback, and when we do something different, the rest of the industry follows suit."
While calling the Breakaway "New York's ship" is wishful thinking, because there are others sailing in and out of the harbor, the fact is this will be the largest ship ever to home-port in New York, year-round. In summer, its destination is Bermuda, and in winter the Eastern Caribbean, where it will take the place of…the Epic.
It appears that Norwegian is using everything in its imagination arsenal to cement the ship and the city. Everything, that is, short of designing it to look like a Big Apple.
Carnival Conquest
7 nights
February 17, 2013
New Orleans (return): Roatan, Belize, Cozumel
Inside: $429
Cost per day: $61
www.carnival.com