The long-awaited arrival of Norwegian’s Epic has begun. Yesterday, the star-crossed star of the NCL fleet left Southampton on its inaugural sailing, a two-day return trip in waters off the coast of England for the benefit of media and special guests. In other words, a coming-out party.
Tomorrow, the Epic’s “epic” journey begins. The Atlantic crossing that will bring it to New York is sold out. That’s sold out, as in 4,100 passengers. The 7-day cruise will have the Big Ship in the Big Apple in time to be christened by its godmother, country music and sitcom star Reba McEntire, on July 2.
Another two-day inaugural cruise follows (that would be the North American inaugural cruise, as opposed to the European one), with the Epic’s return to New York coinciding with its first appearance on national TV. The ship will the site of Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks, an event broadcast live on NBC at 9 p.m. (EDT) on Independence Day.
Birth hasn’t come easily for the Epic. Three times during the four years it took to plan and build the ship, the Epic was damaged by fires at STX France, the shipyard where it was “born.” At least two of the fires are currently under investigation.
Now that she has escaped the alleged arsonists, the Epic is the subject of almost daily press releases from Norwegian. By launch time, it’s possible the media world will be Epic-ed out…and the number of launches continues to grow. After it leaves New York (the second time), the Epic sails to its home port in Miami, for yet another celebration and yet another two-day “inaugural cruise.”
The flagship of the fleet at NCL is introducing some high-tech features in the staterooms…like booking entertainment shows and shore excursions on your TV, and even playing slots and video poker without leaving your room. As attractive as that might sound, it would probably destroy our vacation budget!
Once it becomes just another working cruise ship, the Epic will be busy on 7-day to 13-day excursions through the Caribbean until it re-positions to Barcelona next May to spend the summer season in the Mediterranean.
And if after all this you still haven’t heard enough about the Epic, there’s still more…on YouTube!
That’s it, we’re done.