{"id":19823,"date":"2014-01-17T01:00:56","date_gmt":"2014-01-17T09:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cruisingdoneright.com\/?p=19823"},"modified":"2014-01-17T01:00:56","modified_gmt":"2014-01-17T09:00:56","slug":"friday-76","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vitaluna.net\/?p=19823","title":{"rendered":"An Epic Move in Norwegian Entertainment?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Epic\"<\/a>Of all the cruise ships we've sailed on, the <\/span>Norwegian Epic<\/a> still ranks at or near the top of the list. This, despite the fact that many have railed against it as the ugly duckling of the family for any number of reasons, starting with its "box top" appearance.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Frankly, what a ship looked like never bothered us one way or the other. We were more concerned with where it was going, how comfortable it was if there's turbulent waters, how easy it was to navigate, what it had to offer on board, if its people were friendly and interesting, and what came out of the kitchen.<\/span><\/p>\n

We love the Epic.<\/span><\/p>\n

So now it's going to Europe, to be based in Barcelona<\/a>. Oh, to be in Barcelona, a city we also love…<\/span><\/p>\n

We do have a question about the Epic's new life: What about the entertainment?<\/span><\/p>\n

Norwegian<\/a> specializes in entertainment. It was on the Epic that we first saw Blue Man Group<\/a>, not once but twice. It was in the Epic that we were introduced to the <\/span>\"Slam<\/a>Legends in Concert<\/a>. And it was on the Epic that we met and enjoyed a jazz\/bluesman named Slam Allen<\/a> — it appears we weren't the only ones who liked him, because Norwegian moved him and his band off the Epic and onto a newer, "prettier" ship, the Breakaway<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

But what happens in Europe?<\/span><\/p>\n

Do Europeans feel the same way about the glitzy performances of "legends" whom some — not us — might call poor imitations of the real Michael Jackson<\/a>, the real Rod Stewart<\/a> and the real Whitney Houston<\/a>?<\/span><\/p>\n

Eric Clapton<\/a> notwithstanding, do Europeans find the blues (assuming that Slam Allen was succeeded by another blues band) as comforting and entertaining as North Americans do?<\/span><\/p>\n

We're told that Blue Man Group played for tiny audiences in Europe…will it have a permanent place on the Epic?<\/span><\/p>\n

Since its arrival in late 2010, the Epic has had its toe in European waters each summer, so Norwegian's decision to send it off to Barcelona was not done without research, of course. But those were just summer sailings and we wonder if this maligned yet popular ship will have what it needs the most: European entertainment sustainability.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Otherwise, the Epic will never be the same.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Celebrity Summit<\/a>
\n\t7 nights<\/span>
\n\tMay 4, 2014<\/span>
\n\tBayonne<\/a> (return): <\/span>King’s Wharf<\/a>
\n\tInside: $494<\/span>
\n\tCost per day: $70<\/strong><\/span>
\n\twww.celebritycruises.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Of all the cruise ships we've sailed on, the Norwegian Epic still ranks at or near the top of the list. This, despite the fact that many have railed against it as the ugly duckling of the family for any number of reasons, starting with its "box top" appearance. Frankly, what a ship looked like… Continue reading An Epic Move in Norwegian Entertainment?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,32,25,19,15],"tags":[705,267,409,138,818,912,72,51,204,86,35,29,1514,22,404,126,470,1157,1515],"class_list":["post-19823","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cruise-industry-news","category-deals","category-people","category-ships","category-stories","tag-barcelona","tag-bermuda","tag-blue-man-group","tag-celebrity-cruises","tag-celebrity-summit","tag-cruise-bargains","tag-cruise-deals","tag-cruise-ports","tag-cruise-ship-entertainment","tag-cruise-ships","tag-cruises","tag-epic","tag-eric-clapton","tag-european-cruises","tag-legends-in-concert","tag-norwegian","tag-rod-stewart","tag-slam-allen","tag-whitney-houston","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vitaluna.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19823","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vitaluna.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vitaluna.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vitaluna.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vitaluna.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19823"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vitaluna.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19823\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vitaluna.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19823"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vitaluna.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19823"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vitaluna.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}