Live from France: Epic Float Out!

[CruisinMaterial]

Dan - Thanks for the onboard pictures. I'm sure when you revisit this ship early next year (just before she goes out for her sea trials) I am sure she'll be looking more like her true self. Right now the steel is hard to imagine how she'll really look. I'm sure she'll look stunning though!

 

I agree CDG is the worst airport in Europe to connect through. I don't use Air France any more because of it. I go with either British Airways or Lufthansa. Hopefully you made it home ok! Look forward to the report on Monday! :)

[CruisinMaterial]

Honestly, is the Epic any uglier than the horribly obese Oasis (or Princess' shopping cart class of ships)?

 

And speaking of top heavy...

 

The Epic is a supermodel compared to these things. :eek:

 

The Epic is not a top heavy ship. I agree with you on that thought. She's actually well balanced considering how much of her engine block is located aft which lifts the front end out of the water. That's the reason why Princess changed their blue prints for the Grand class ships and moved the disco closer to the funnel because the weight balance wasn't right and the front end of the ship stuck out of the water more. The NCL Epic is a well balanced ship.

 

The Oasis on the other hand is just a big hunk of steel that will bring chaos of passengers wherever it goes. I can't imagine EVER being in port with that thing. At some point this floating island concept from Chantiers may actually make it to life if RCI keeps up this nonsense. Oasis is just too big and heaven forbid that ship ever runs into trouble. It's like living in two skyscrapers at sea for a week. No thanks!!

 

Epic is for me! Designed for nightlife and entertainment... what a cruise ship should be for (of course outside of food... ha ha)!! :D

[CruisnGram]

Can anyone tell me what the huge white thing is on the Oasis? The thing that looks like blimp flying behind the ship?

 

Thanks,

CG

[Dan Askin]

Dan - Thanks for the onboard pictures. I'm sure when you revisit this ship early next year (just before she goes out for her sea trials) I am sure she'll be looking more like her true self. Right now the steel is hard to imagine how she'll really look. I'm sure she'll look stunning though!

 

I agree CDG is the worst airport in Europe to connect through. I don't use Air France any more because of it. I go with either British Airways or Lufthansa. Hopefully you made it home ok! Look forward to the report on Monday! :)

 

Thanks, 17 hours later and I'm home. It's not just that CDG does one thing poorly, it's that everything -- cleanliness, un-staffed information desk, security staff who can't be bothered, byzantine layout, I could go on -- stinks of incompetence.

 

One spot in particular that was easy to envision as a completed product was the Manhattan Room (aft), one of Epic's two free "main" dining rooms. There's a huge rectangular picture window (already installed to dramatic effect) next to the dance floor (I've been wondering how much of it will be covered by tables vs. shoes -- we'll see) . Cagney's, NCL's specialty steakhouse staple, actually overlooks the Manhattan Room on two sides of the space.

 

Can anyone tell me what the huge white thing is on the Oasis? The thing that looks like blimp flying behind the ship?

 

Thanks,

CG

 

The Oasis blimp was a bit of an experiment. You can read about it here:

 

Blimp: http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=3260

Missing: http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=3266

Found: http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=3267

 

-------------------

 

One other thing: As others have noted, the round blue and green objects on the sun deck are satellite equipment -- a spokesperson tells me that the bright coloration is used to help crane operators identify them more easily during the construction process. Very expensive, fragile stuff.

[14ersco]

The Oasis on the other hand is just a big hunk of steel that will bring chaos of passengers wherever it goes. I can't imagine EVER being in port with that thing. At some point this floating island concept from Chantiers may actually make it to life if RCI keeps up this nonsense. Oasis is just too big and heaven forbid that ship ever runs into trouble. It's like living in two skyscrapers at sea for a week. No thanks!!

 

If I am reading the NCL and RCI web sites correctly they have scheduled both the Epic and Oasis of the Sea to be following the same routes each week.

 

Eastern Caribbean on 7/17, 7/31, 8/14, 8/28, etc. for both ships. Plus they both visit Nassau on Friday: Epic from 12-7 and Oasis from 1-7.

 

Western Caribbean on 7/24, 8/7, 8/21, etc. Plus they both visit Cozumel on Thursday: Epic from 8-6 and Oasis from 8-8.

 

So from only those two ships there could be 10,000 passengers in Nassau or Cozumel at the same time! :eek::eek::eek:

[mickeysgal]

If I am reading the NCL and RCI web sites correctly they have scheduled both the Epic and Oasis of the Sea to be following the same routes each week.

 

Eastern Caribbean on 7/17, 7/31, 8/14, 8/28, etc. for both ships. Plus they both visit Nassau on Friday: Epic from 12-7 and Oasis from 1-7.

 

Western Caribbean on 7/24, 8/7, 8/21, etc. Plus they both visit Cozumel on Thursday: Epic from 8-6 and Oasis from 8-8.

 

So from only those two ships there could be 10,000 passengers in Nassau or Cozumel at the same time! :eek::eek::eek:

 

:eek::eek::eek: is right!

[CruisinMaterial]

:eek::eek::eek: is right!

 

 

:eek::eek: wow... that's a lot of people! Guess if I did do an Epic itinerary I would have to make sure NOT to get off the ship on either one of those days. Cozumel would be a madhouse for sure! Never been to Nassau though so can't say how that'd be. Cozumel you wouldn't be able to get off the street facing the piers and Carlos N Charlies would have a line 20 miles long! :eek:

[CruisinMaterial]

Thanks, 17 hours later and I'm home. It's not just that CDG does one thing poorly, it's that everything -- cleanliness, un-staffed information desk, security staff who can't be bothered, byzantine layout, I could go on -- stinks of incompetence.

 

One other thing: As others have noted, the round blue and green objects on the sun deck are satellite equipment -- a spokesperson tells me that the bright coloration is used to help crane operators identify them more easily during the construction process. Very expensive, fragile stuff.

 

Dan - Glad to see you made it home safely. Can't wait until tomorrow to see the pictures. Even if it is a hunk of metal at this point I can still day dream! Thanks for the official response on the satellite stuff. It just looked like a holiday Christmas ball for a tree and not like it belonged on a cruise ship. I don't recall seeing those in the renderings either so maybe I'll have to take another look. Either way, she'll still look pretty! :)

[blueboro]

So glad you found time to come over from the Royal and Celebrity boards just to make your amazing statement. We'll miss you when we sail the Epic...um, not.

 

CG

 

 

Thanks for your kind thoughts and permission to post. Sorry my opinion offends you but all of these mega barges...INCLUDING Oasis...are just awful looking.

[Elde]

The Epic is not a top heavy ship. I agree with you on that thought. She's actually well balanced considering how much of her engine block is located aft which lifts the front end out of the water. That's the reason why Princess changed their blue prints for the Grand class ships and moved the disco closer to the funnel because the weight balance wasn't right and the front end of the ship stuck out of the water more. The NCL Epic is a well balanced ship.

 

Yep. People often forget that it's not how a ship looks that matters - but how the (engineering) numbers stack up. After all, US aircraft carriers don't list to starboard despite having that great big honkin' island hanging off the starboard side.

[time2cruise1]

Yep. People often forget that it's not how a ship looks that matters - but how the (engineering) numbers stack up. After all, US aircraft carriers don't list to starboard despite having that great big honkin' island hanging off the starboard side.

 

The funny thing remember how ugly many though the modern cruise ships were when they started building them. The ships some of these nay sayers think are so much better looking were refered to as condo's turned on their sides. A disgrace to classic lines of a ship. :rolleyes:

[Elde]

The funny thing remember how ugly many though the modern cruise ships were when they started building them. The ships some of these nay sayers think are so much better looking were refered to as condo's turned on their sides. A disgrace to classic lines of a ship.

 

They all look the same centered in the periscope's cross hairs... :rolleyes::rolleyes:

 

(Old submariner joke - "There are two kinds of ships at sea, submarines and targets".)

 

Once, we were waiting to pull into Barbados and we had to wait for all the cruise ships to get in... Getting bored while waiting, we passed the time by generating practice firing solutions on each one as it passed us.

 

We did the same thing on container ships off of Ft. Lauderdale.