When the Norwegian Epic is launched 80 day from today the 153000 ton 4200 guests (dbl occupancy) cruise ship will not only feature some of the most innovative and flexible accommodations ever – from new Studios specifically designed and priced for the solo traveler and exclusive access to The Studio Lounge to private Villas – but also 20 different dining options the most intriguing of which is the Cirque Dreams and Dinner Show. The first dinner show at sea will not only feature a fixed menu for 274 diners but a 2 hour up close and personal acrobatic and comedy show that will see 50 costume changes throughout its duration. As one observer at the land practice session put it “you will probably forget to eat your dinner”. The dinner show will probably be priced at $15-$20.

Further information on Norwegian Cruise Line’s largest ship to date can be found here

The Governor of Alaska and cruise line representatives seem to have reached a tentative agreement to reduce by 25% the “head tax” for Alaska cruise ship passengers to $34.50, in exchange for discontinuing a lawsuit brought by the cruise lines.  The tentative agreement is subject to ratification by the legislature probably as part of a tourism marketing bill. It may however be too late for the 2011 Alaska Cruise season which will see a drastic reduction in sailings over the 2010 cruise season. Most major operators have reduced 2011 capacity as they reposition ships to the hopefully more lucrative European market. Among the major repositionings is Royal Caribbean which will relocate 10 of its 22 ship fleet to Europe. Princess Cruise follows suit with 7 ships, the Crown and Grand out of Southampton, the Emerald out of Copenhagen for the Baltic and the Ruby and Emerald in the Mediterranean.  The Ocean Princess and Pacific Princess will sail smaller more intimate ports. Norwegian Cruise Line will locate the new Epic in Europe as will Carnival with the Carnival Magic. The norm will also be longer cruises and port stays with the shorter 7 day cruises in short supply.

The upshot of it all is:  if you are looking to cruise to Alaska do it in 2010 rather than 2011 because prices are most likely to go up. If a Europe Cruise is on the horizon for you in 2011 then expect larger than already large crowds in popular European destinations. The crowds in the popular Turkey destination of Ephesus in November of 2009 already shocked us compared to those of earlier years.

Norwegian Cruise Line announced that due to increased year-to-date booking volumes it will raise fares up to 7% fleet-wide as of April 2. The 10-ship line cited strong interest in particular in its new ship, the Norwegian Epic, debuting in June and for the ‘Pride of America’, its Hawaii-based ship.
“Our first quarter Wave season promotion definitely persuaded consumers to book a Norwegian cruise vacation as we saw heavy call volumes translating to exceptional bookings,” Norwegian Cruise Line CEO Kevin Sheehan says in a statement.
Norwegian joins a growing list of cruise companies hiking prices as business rebounds from the downturn of 2009. The announcement comes just weeks after industry giant Carnival announced plans for its own across-the-board price hike of up to 5%, effective March 22. Like Norwegian, Carnival cited soaring bookings.
The announcement of a price increase should motivate the few waiting for last minute specials. They are not going to materialize. Instead prices will be higher later this year because of the lack of supply in cabins.

Again the Celebrity Mercury cruise ship, which was  plagued by a massive outbreak of stomach illness last week, has been struck by the suspected norovirus.
At least 55 of 1,880 passengers on the current voyage of the Charleston-based Celebrity Mercury have fallen ill according to reports in Charleston’s ‘The Post and Courier’.
The latest voyage began last week Saturday, a day later than scheduled, after the ship went through a thorough cleaning and disinfecting following last week’s outbreak, where at least 419 of 1,830 passengers were hit by the gastrointestinal illness.

The Cypriot-owned Louis Majesty (formerly NCL Majesty) sailing between Barcelona and Genoa with approximately 2000 passengers and crew on board was hit by 26 ft high rogue waves off the coast of Marseilles on Wednesday Mar 3/2010. The waves smashed glass windshields killing two male passengers and injuring several people. The ship is now making its way back to Barcelona according to a Louis Cruise Line spokesman.

Last Sunday the third ship in the Celebrity Solstice class left the building of the Papenburg Meyer Werft where it had been under construction for the last year.  According to Celebrity the 122,000-ton, 2,850-passenger ship will have some on-board facilities appropriate for the European market and will enter service in late April sailing out of Southampton, England where it will be based for the summer.  This decision by Celebrity indicates a desire to capture more of the growing European cruise market. The Eclipse will sail a series of Canary Islands, Scandinavia – Russia and Spanish Mediterranean voyages through the summer and fall of 2010 before heading to the Caribbean for the coming winter where it will be based in Miami starting in November.  By my experience having sailed in the Mediterranean on the  Celebrity Solstice in November of 2009 the Eclipse should attract a loyal following pleased with the many innovation this class of ship has to offer.