Tag Archives: Norwegian Epic

Norwegian Cruise Line toughens cancellation terms

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Norwegian Escape, Getaway, and Breakaway.
Norwegian Cruise Line announced new terms for canceling booked cruises that will require earlier decisions about backing out of trips and impose higher penalties on cancellations.

The changes, which take effect on bookings made after Jan. 1, are complex. But on one common product, the cruise or cruise tour of 7 days or longer, the least costly cancellation will require forfeit of 25% of the cruise fare for bookings cancelled 76 to 89 days from sailing.

The current policy is loss of deposit for bookings cancelled 56 to 75 days before sailing.

Cancellations 60 to 75 days out come with a 50% penalty, those from 31-60 days a 75% penalty and within 30 days, 100% penalty.

The current schedule penalizes cancellations from 29 to 55 days out at 50%, and those from 15 to 28 days at 75%.  Currently, when guests cancel within 14 days of sailing, they lose their full fare.

Standard deposits will be $100 per person on cruises of two to six days, $250 on cruises seven to nine days and $400 on voyages 10 days or longer.

Final payment will be due 75 days from sailings of two to six days and 90 days on longer voyages. Holiday sailings will require final payment 120 days from sailing, except for the Norwegian Sky.

Norwegian Epic back in service with new attractions and spaces

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Norwegian Epic.
The Norwegian Epic set sail this week with new venues and attractions after a three-week renovation.

The ship now features the Cavern Club, an entertainment venue that pays tribute to the Cavern Club in Liverpool, England, where the Beatles performed in their early years.

The Epic has a new Broadway-style revue, “Priscilla Queen of the Desert — The Musical,” a show that celebrates gay pride and is based on the 1994 Australian film. Well-known pop songs from yesteryear are part of the score, including “It’s Raining Men,” “I Will Survive,” and “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.”

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A scene from “Priscilla Queen of the Desert — The Musical.”

The Aqua Park now has SplashGolf, a game that combines water features with minigolf.

Norwegian Epic also was outfitted with a new photo gallery, library and card room.

Several restaurants received new decor, carpeting and furnishings, including Moderno Churrascaria, Cagney’s, La Cucina, Le Bistro, Garden Cafe, Manhattan Room and Taste.

Other venues that were spruced up: the Mandara spa, Bliss Ultra Lounge, Marketplace buffet, Epic Theater, casino and Haven suite complex.

The Norwegian Epic entered service in 2010. The ship will sail Mediterranean cruises this winter and next spring and summer before returning to the U.S. and its new home in Port Canaveral, Fla., in fall 2016.

The Escape a step forward for Norwegian Cruise Line

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Part of the Guy Harvey hull painting on the Norwegian Escape. Photo Credit: Tom Stieghorst

PAPENBURG, Germany — The Norwegian Escape will be a bigger, and improved, version of the two ships that preceded it in the Norwegian fleet.

On a tour here, Norwegian executives showed off the line’s 14th ship, which is about six weeks away from its debut in Miami in early November.

Although it is based on the same platform as Norwegian Breakaway and Getaway, the Escape will be notably different in its details and carry more passengers.

Escape, designated Breakaway Plus in early discussions, will have one more deck of cabins, giving it a capacity of 4,270 at double occupancy, up from 3,969 for its predecessors.

The extra deck also allowed for a two-story design in the deluxe Haven area, which now has an elegant glass-enclosed curving staircase connecting the two levels. The Haven also has an indoor-outdoor restaurant, a feature from Norwegian Epic that was skipped on Breakaway and Getaway but is being resurrected.

The pool area of Norwegian Escape. Photo Credit: Tom Stieghorst

On almost every deck, Escape has something that distinguishes it as new. On the top deck, the ropes course has been expanded to three levels and has 99 elements, including five zip tracks. The Plank, a balance beam that extends out over the side of the ship, is now on either side of the ship, doubling the opportunity for passengers to try it.

The Aqua Racer water slide has been given a bigger diameter and can accommodate 1,000 riders an hour, up from less than 500 previously.

Breakaway/Getaway’s ice bar has been deep-sixed in favor of The Cellars, Norwegian’s first wine bar. Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville replaces the more generic Flamingo bar near the Spice H2O entertainment area, and his 5 O’Clock Somewhere bar will use the space occupied by the Fat Cats jazz and blues club on preceding ships.

At the new Food Republic, guests will order dinner on iPads. “These ships come out with ever-more innovative features with every ship we build,” said Norwegian President Andy Stuart.

Stuart said that the outdoor dining area in The Haven and the ropes course are among his favorite additions on Escape. “The ropes course is going to blow people away,” he said.