Guests will also have the opportunity to sail round-trip from Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy or Marseille, France giving them the flexibility to choose the homeport that is more convenient for them.

I’ve always wondered when lines would start doing this. I always thought of it to be an interesting idea to explore. The Med is the ideal place to try that, but imagine island hopping around the Caribbean. Wouldn’t that be something? Lets expand on this idea. Imagine boarding the ship in Miami, 3 days later getting off in St. Tomas. Spend 2 days in a resort there, then hop a sistership down to Barbados. Spend the night there and fly back home.

If there was a cruise line to try it, it would be the non-conformist, rebel child of the industry: NCL.

In an interview with uber-cruise-site Cruise Critic, NCL CEO Kevin Sheehan stated:

We thought [the courtyard complex] through in the Project Breakaway planning, and so it’ll be more integrated into the structure this time around. What must have happened [on Epic] was that somebody said, "Let’s put another level on it," and it made the ship look a certain bit odd.

source: CruiseCritic

NCL announced its largest European deployment ever for the 2012/2013 season. They will send 4 ships over with 2 remaining year round, hence the 2013 part.

The 2.018 pax Norwegian Spirit and the 2,224 pax. Norwegian Jade will both sail year round out of Barcelona, Spain. The Spirit will do 12-day Grand Mediterranean voyages in summer and fall. Then do nine-day Canary Islands in the winter and spring. The Jade will sail her 7-day Greek Isles and Greece and Turkey cruises in from Spring to Fall and then switch to 10-day Eastern Mediterranean and Holy Land cruises for the Winter.

The lines flagship, Norwegian Epic, will return to Barcelona, for a repeat of her 2010 summer season.

Norwegian Sun will also repeat her 2011 season by homeporting out of Copenhagen, Denmark for Baltic cruises from May to September 7.

Quite ambitious to send the Epic back over there. She must be selling well.

Full presser with itineraries and dates after the break.

Norwegian Cruise Line today announced its largest European deployment ever for the 2012/2013 season with four Freestyle Cruising ships, including two year-round.  Norwegian Spirit will join Norwegian Jade sailing year-round in Europe beginning in April 2012.  This is also the first time Norwegian Spirit will sail in Europe offering 12-day Grand Mediterranean voyages in the summer and fall, along with nine-day Canary Islands in the winter and spring.  The company’s largest and most innovative ship, Norwegian Epic, and Norwegian Sun will continue cruising seasonally from Barcelona and Copenhagen respectively.

These cruises go on sale to Norwegian’s top travel partners and Latitudes members (past guests) today, December 15, 2010 and to the general public on Thursday, December 16. 

“Europe is one of the world’s fastest growing cruise markets and one where Freestyle Cruising is very well received.  Given this, we felt it was the right time to deploy four ships, including two year-round, in Europe, marking our largest European deployment in the company’s history,” said Kevin Sheehan, Norwegian’s chief executive officer.  “Guests now have the flexibility of embarking from four homeports in Europe sailing to some of the most exciting destinations in the world.”

The 2,018-passenger Norwegian Spirit will make her European debut with two memorable itineraries including a 12-day Grand Mediterranean cruise from Venice, Italy and Barcelona, Spain during the summer, and a nine-day Canary Islands cruise from Barcelona through the fall and winter.  The 12-day Grand Mediterranean sailings run from April 28, 2012 to October 25, 2012 and begin in either Barcelona or Venice and call on Provence (Toulon), France; Florence/Pisa (Livorno), Rome (Civitavecchia) and Naples, Italy; Mykonos and Athens (Piraeus), Greece; and Istanbul and Ephesus (Izmir), Turkey.  The nine-day Canary Islands cruises from Barcelona will sail from November 6, 2012 to April 8, 2013 and call on Funchal, Madeira; Santa Cruz de Tenerife; and Arrecife, Lanzarote, Canary Islands; and Granada (Málaga), Spain.  Norwegian Spirit will also sail an 11-day Grand Mediterranean cruise from Barcelona to Venice on July 9, 2012 and a 13-day Grand Mediterranean from Venice to Barcelona on July 20, 2012.

Continuing her year-round sailings in Europe, the 2,402-passenger Norwegian Jade will sail seven unique itineraries with ports of call in Greece, Italy, Turkey, Croatia, Israel, and Egypt from her homeports of Rome (Civitavecchia) and Venice, Italy.  Norwegian Jade will continue her popular alternating seven-day Greek Isles and Greece and Turkey cruises departing on Saturdays from Venice from April 28, 2012 to October 6, 2012.  The Greek Isles cruises call on Corfu, Santorini, Mykonos and Olympia (Katakolon), Greece. The Greece and Turkey sailings call on Dubrovnik and Split, Croatia; Athens (Piraeus), Greece; and Ephesus (Izmir), Turkey.  Since there is no port repetition between the two itineraries, they can be easily combined on most sailings to create a port-rich 14-day European tour.

Also from Venice, Norwegian Jade will sail a six-day Croatia and Greece cruise on July 14, 2012; and an eight-day Greek Isles and Turkey cruise on July 20, 2012, as well as a seven-day Adriatic and Italy cruise on October 13, 2012 with disembarkation in Rome (Civitavecchia).

From Rome, Norwegian Jade will sail alternating 11-day Mediterranean & the Holy Land cruises departing on Saturdays and 10-day Eastern Mediterranean cruises departing on Wednesdays from October 20, 2012 to April 17, 2013.  The Mediterranean and the Holy Land cruises call on Alanya, Turkey; Limassol, Cyprus; Haifa and Ashdod, Israel; and Port Said and Alexandria, Egypt.  The Eastern Mediterranean cruises call on Olympia (Katakolon) and Athens (Piraeus), Greece; Ephesus (Izmir), Turkey; and an overnight stay in Alexandria, Egypt. 

Norwegian’s newest and most innovative ship, Norwegian Epic, will return to Barcelona sailing a series of 25 seven-day Western Mediterranean cruises from April 29 to October 14, 2012.  The ship will call on Naples, Rome (Civitavecchia), and Florence/Pisa (Livorno), Italy; and Nice (Villefranche) and Provence (Marseille), France.  In addition, Norwegian Epic will sail one four-day Western Mediterranean cruise on April 25, 2012.

Norwegian Sun will continue sailing her nine-day Baltic Capital cruises from Copenhagen, Denmark from May 4 to September 7, 2012 calling on Berlin (Warnemünde), Germany; Tallinn, Estonia; an overnight stay in St. Petersburg, Russia; Helsinki, Finland and Stockholm, Sweden.  Norwegian Sun will also sail one 14-day Norway, Iceland & Faroe Islands cruise on September 16, 2012 calling on Bergen, and Alesund, Norway; Lerwick, Shetland Islands; Thorshavn, Faroe Islands; Reykjavik, Iceland; Glasgow (Greenock), Scotland and Dublin, Ireland.

In addition, there are five opportunities for guests to have an experience of a lifetime crossing the Atlantic with Norwegian’s Transatlantic cruises.  Norwegian Epic offers two options: an 11-day Transatlantic from Miami to Barcelona on April 14, 2012 and a 13-day Transatlantic from Barcelona to Miami on October 21, 2012.  Norwegian Spirit offers a 13-day Transatlantic from New Orleans to Barcelona on April 15, 2012.  Norwegian Sun crosses the Atlantic on April 21, 2012 from Orlando (Port Canaveral) to Copenhagen and back to Miami from Copenhagen on September 30, 2012.

For this episode, Sheehan went undercover as a shipboard worker on the Norwegian Epic and Pride of America.

Sheehan Stated:

“It definitely was an eye-opening experience. I’ve always had the utmost admiration for our crew, but after this experience, I can proudly say we have truly remarkable crew members throughout our fleet.”

On Tuesday, the three flag ships and largest ships in their rival lines all met in St. Maarten. I am of course referring to the Carnival Dream, Norwegian Epic and the Oasis of the Seas. This unique meet-up was courtesy of Hurricane Igor which rerouted the Dream and Oasis.

The totals for that day:

13,000 Passengers

5,000 crew

18,000 visitors total!

picture form the Daily Herald

-Greg

4:32pm:

4:30pm:

4:28pm:If she appears on any of the webcams, I’ll post screens.

4:25pm:Epic is leading the way down the channel with the Carnival Liberty hot on her heels.

4:23pm:And she’s moving down Government Cut.

4:00pm:So here we are. The Epics final live blog sail-away. She should be leaving with in the hour.

Saturday 9:13am:It’s Saturday morning and the Epic, from here-on-out, will now be sailing her regular schedule. Make sure you join me for sail-a-way(4pm EDT) as we follow the Epic for one last time!

Friday 11:58am:Here is another video with some production value to it.

Friday 10:58am:Nothing really new. She is out on the high seas today then back to Miami tomorrow for her turnaround and the beginning of her liner service. Here is a quick video of the Epic in Miami turning around.

Thursday:She set sail for her 2-Night preview cruise. And thus begins her series of circles all throughout the trip.

6:11pm:Well that’s it from me today. I’ll post again tomorrow when she leaves for her 2-Night trip.

5:43pm:She is all tied up at the Port of Miami on Dodge Island. Tomorrow she leaves on a cruise to nowhere preview cruise and then, its the beginning of her Caribbean service.

5:32pm:Welcome to your new home: Miami!

5:15pm:She completed her turn and will be tied up shortly.

4:59pm:Epic is turning around now in the turning basin.

4:43pm:She just cleared the jetty and now is sailing down Government Cut. I wonder if she is going to turn around before docking?

4:11pm: Epic is beginning her turn into the Miami channel.

12:36pm: She is currently 30nm off of West Palm Beach. Latest report form the ships states and ETA at the Miami pilot of 2pm EDT.

10:50am: The Epic is expected to arrive in Miami this afternoon. I will be following it here! So stay tuned.

1:05pm:NCL is arranging a meet up to great the Epic in Miami.. They encourage you to tweet form the event by using hashtag: #nclepic! NCL is doing a fantastic job of social media for the Epic. The techie side of me is thrilled by a company actually using social media correctly!

Tuesday 12:29pm:The Epic just sailed by Cape Hatteras, NC. As she sailed by, you will notice she made an abrupt turn to port for some reason.

12:44pm:And she just left. Next stop, Miami!

Monday 11:46am:The Epic is currently docked in Manhattan until she leaves for Miami sometime today.

10:00pm:Just finished watching it and it was lame. Basically they were in Spice H2O and a bunch of people in tight pants sang for the first half hour, then fire works. The word Norwegian Epic was mentioned all of like twice. NCL really should have had them do a piece, just a quick one, on at lease some of what the ship offers. Well at lease you kinda got some glimpses of the outside of the ship…

8:52pm:Make sure to tune into NBC in ten minutes for the live coverage from the Epic!

11:37pm: Make sure you check out the webcams today which can be found earlier in this thread. In port today are the Norwegian Dawn, the Epic, and Holland America’s Veendam. The Dawn and the Veendam both sail r/t Bermuda cruises out of Manhattan.

Sunday 10:53pm:Epic is back in NYC after sailing in circles for the past day. Macy’s Fireworks display will be broad cast on NBC at 9:00pm EDT. Make sure you tune in. Oh and of course, Happy Independence Day to all my stateside readers.

Saturday 11:47pm:Nothing really new today. The Epic is out in the vast Atlantic today. You can track her progress on the Tracking Epic page.Right now she is beginning her turn 16nm directly south of Block Island. No narrow, cramped, congested English Channel for her any more.

5:13pm: Freshly christened, the Epic is traveling down the Hudson towards the Atlantic for her 2-Night cruise.

 4:36pm: Yup its over. She is christened by Reba McEntire. Here is the replay.

4:22pm: I THINK the Epic should be christened by now. Its hard to get reports… I’ll find out more.

12:10pm: YouTube user NJPhotographer62 uploaded a 1080p (HD) video of the Epic’s arrival. Heads up: if you are going to watch this in HD (its also available in low-def), make sure you have a fast connection. Click here to view all 9 minutes of Epic goodness.

11:30am:Also check out the webcams below. The Epic is joined by the Carnival Miracle, sailing 8-Night eastern Caribbean trips r/t out of NYC.

Friday 11:13am:Uber-Cruise-Website Cruise Critic posted 4 photos from the Epic docked in NYC.

05:04pm: For those intrested, NCL put their official statement about the Epic’s arrival in NYC on NCL’s Facebook page

04:59pm: I made the webcam images below live so they both show the most up to date pics of the Epic.

11:50am: So I guess the rumor is true. From EpicMadHatters blog.

11:33am: First photos of her sailing into New York Harbor.

11:00am: Funny rumor I’ve heard. Apparently the Epic has to launch several of he life boats in order to safely dock alongside the pier. The entire boat hangs over the water, just like the Carnival Dream and the Oasis of the Seas.

Thursday 10:50am: The Epic is safely tied up at the New York Passenger Ship Terminal in New York’s Upper West Side. Some webcam grabs for you this morning.

from Pied Piper Travel

from Wired New York (great collection of cams throughout the city)

Wednesday This is my last update until tomorrow morning. Rule of thumb; if you’re not a NCL fan, probably should skip the blog tomorrow. If you are a NCL fan, then prepare for an onslaught of pics and news tomorrow. Stay tuned!

Wednesday Tomorrow is the big day. The Epic steams into New York Harbor. This post will now appear as the first post on the home page for the time being. She is also back on AIS so you can head over to our track the Epic live page to view her current position. Also, check out this screen grab!

SaturdayAs the Norwegian Epic continues to sail the Atlantic, not too much news until she reaches the States. I will unsticky this post soon. I made this post Sticky, which meant that it will always appear as the first post, and newer ones went directly below it. Once she is in NYC on the 1st, I will make it sticky again. In the mean time check out the ultimate collection of interior photos from the ship.

Friday 1:50pm EDTNothing new to report. She is off of AIS as she is in the middle of the Atlantic. Once she is close to New York, or probably Nantucket for that matter, she will appear again.

7:21pm EDT The Epic is now out in the deep blue sea. She is making 22.7kts so the shaft problem has been fixed.

Thursday 3:00pm EDT The Epic is back in the English channel. Next stop: NYC!

Thursday 1:00am EDT The Epic made it back to Southampton after Making a handful of circles in the English channel. She is currently disembarking the travel agents and press and getting ready for her first paying passengers.

11:39pm EDTThe Epic is just north of Isle of Wright and steaming up the Solent

12:00pm EDTTwo more photos posted.

11:00am EDTThe Epic is actually at sea! She is only doing 8 kts but there is no need for her to go faster. Not in the crowded busy English Channel.

Wednesday 1:00am EDTAs the Epic stays motionless tonight berthed alongside Southampton, here is a mega post of Interiors. I can’t find a better collection out there!

8:00pm EDT Here is some interesting news for you this evening. As far as I know, she is still at the dock in Southampton. Now I have seen rumors that she might stay there until tomorrow, or that she just might not leave the dock period. Remember that she is currently on a 2 night cruise-to-nowhere, roundtrip out of Southampton. It is a media cruise again. There is no official statement as to the problem, but it is probably related to the Shaft problems. It doesn’t necessarily make it more serious, it’s just taking longer to fix. I’ll keep you updated.

11:35am EDT Photos of her last day in Rotterdam.

11:00am EDT The Norwegian Epic is docked in Southampton, England. I am searching for webcams or photos. Will post back…

Tuesday 12:00am EDT The Epic just passed Dover. ETA for Southampton, according to AIS is now 15:00 (UTC). That works out to 1100 EDT

4:43pm EDT The Epic is currently cruising along at just above her half speed. She is making 13 kts. ETA for Southampton, according to AIS is 13:00 (UTC). That works out to 900 EDT

11:43am EDT Here are the details and NCL’s official statement.

Monday 11:20am EDT BREAKING: Epic suffering from propulsion problems. Finding out more…

Monday 11:00am EDTAfter a quick turnaround to drop off the press, she is currently heading back down the river towards the English channel.

Monday 1:30am EDTShe’s Backkkkkkkk! I’ll check back in tomorrow morning.

Monday 12:37am EDTShe is heading down the canal. Not too much longer.

10:56pm EDTSpeaking of webcams, she is just entering this one now!

10:54pm EDTDown to 6kts and entering the port. She’ll be going to the same berth as she was at before. Make sure to check the webcam soon!

10:33pm EDTShe is down to 1o kts and about to enter the canal.

8:56pm EDTEpic is about 20 or so Nautical Miles from the entrance to the canal to Rotterdam.AIS says an arrival time of 0230 UTC.

Sun. 11:30am EDTOn this Fathers Day morning (And a happy fathers day to everyone out there.), we find the Epic sailing in the English Channel on her way back to Rotterdam. Nothing else really new. I added two more great photos of her in Rotterdam. I’ll post back later in the day as she is spending the entire day and sea and will dock tomorrow morning.

4:50Pm EDTShe successfully left the dock and is now on her two night media cruise.

11:21am EDTHere are the first batch of photos from her arrival.

11:04am EDTI am currently finding hi-res photos of her arriving in Rotterdam. Will post back with them. In the mean time, here is the live view. Just refresh the page and this image will update:

10:54am EDTLive webcam is above. source.Got a webcam grab. This image is static so it won’t change.

SAT. 10:48am EDTShe is alongside and tied up in Rotterdam this morning (well for us sateside)

1:20am EDTAIS shows her at 16nm from Cruise Terminal Rotterdam. She has entered the channel and will tie up at the terinal. This could be an hour depending on traffic, conditions, Captains, pilots first time here,etc. I’ll check back in tomorrow morning.

1:12am EDTShe’s in the channel. Only a matter of moments until she is tied up.

12:25am EDT10 nautical Miles out. 8kts

10:57pm EDTShe is beginning her turn east to enter Rotterdam. She is about 50nm out. Should be docked by midnight.

5:55pm EDT:The Epic is slowing down as it makes the narrow, busy passage between Dover 23kts, 24nm south of Eastbourne, England and 36nm North of Dieppe, France.

3:40pm EDT:The Epic making 23kts, 24nm south of Eastbourne, England and 36nm North of Dieppe, France.

11:47am EDT: According to AIS, her scheduled ETA in Rotterdam is 3:30 UTC. Now I am assuming that it is 3:30 am as the maritime community runs off of 24hr clocks (i.e. military time). That puts her into the Netherlands at 11:30pm (2300) EDT/08:30pm (2000) PDT.

11:00am EDT: This is the Live blog of her Inaugural events.

UPDATE Sunday 7:29am:Last Epic update for a while. I promise! I’ll leave you with two great cruise photographers, Ernie Roller and Barry Vaudrin. Their work can be found here and here respectively.

UPDATE Thur. 11:27am: From a PhanFare page": 

UPDATE Wed. 11:32am: Chris Hunsicker give us these photos from Shipspotting. Our firrst photos of her sailing towards Southampton.

UPDATE Tue. 11:26am: Adri Schouten and Stan Muller from Shipspotting provide us with these:

UPDATE Sun. 11:19am: Dave Jansen over at Shipspotting has two very good hi-res photos.

UPDATE Sat. 12:00pm: Dutch site www.CruiseFans.nl has an excellent collection of photos from her arrival. There are three four pages of photos. Here are a sampling of them.

Click here for Page1 Page2 Page3 Page4

UPDATE Sat. 11:19am:

UPDATE:
Here is NCL’s official statement. Sounds like a drydocking fortunately will not be required:

June 21, 2010 – Norwegian Epic’s arrival into Southampton on June 22 has
been delayed because of a technical issue which in no way affects the
safe operation of the vessel. The ship is now scheduled to arrive into
Southampton at 5:30 p.m. instead of 10 a.m.

Guests on the ship’s one-night preview cruise from Rotterdam to
Southampton are being given the option to not sail and receive a full
refund of the cruise fare paid and a future cruise credit for the value
of the cruise fare paid.

For those guests who choose to sail but have to re-arrange travel
arrangements, Norwegian Cruise Line is assisting and will cover any
direct verifiable change or cancellation fees up to 100 EU per person
incurred as a result of this change.

Guests on Norwegian Epic’s two-night inaugural cruise on June 22 from
Southampton will embark at approximately 8:30 p.m.