NCL Epic - The New Standard for Cruise Ships?
Yesterday Norwegian Cruise Line unveiled the first artist renderings of its new 153,000-gross ton, 4,200-passenger Norwegian Epic—the company’s largest and most innovative Freestyle Cruising ship to date. Currently under construction at STX Europe in St. Nazaire, France, the contemporary, balcony-rich, 19-deck ship will be 1,068 feet long, 133 feet wide, with a draft of 28.5 feet when completed in May 2010. As most people expect, it will be full of new innovations (a real ice bar for example). It is also taking some bold steps by removing many iconic features of cruise ships such as a traditional dining room, multiple story atriums and other ship board amenities.
The Epic is scheduled to go into service in May of 2010. It will be interesting to see what its impact will be on the cruise industry. Will it change the standards or be characterized as a flop?
Reader Comments
As an architect and fan of classic passenger ship design I can only imagine how designers of Normandie and Ile de France are clawing at the lids of their coffins so they can disinter themselves to choke the designers (if indeed, there are any) of new ships that look like the Epic. One can only hope it fails economically so such an ugly design is never repeated.
i hope i can work on that ship…..its very wonderful….because this coming march i will graduate in st. therese-MTC colleges in tigbauan site.