Norwegian Epic’s maiden cruise is a transatlantic crossing due to depart June 24 from Southampton, England and to arrive for Inaugural activities scheduled to take place in New York from July 2 to 4, 2010.

In another “first” for Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Epic, the largest LED chandelier at sea is now installed in the ship’s Epic Casino, which is also the largest at sea. The chandelier, which will change colors to all in the spectrum – up to 255 possible variations – has a height of 21 feet, diameter of nearly 11 feet and weighs two metric tons. Built in Vienna, Austria by Kalmar, a leading glass crystal maker who has designed some of the largest chandeliers for hotels and palaces around the world, it is fitted with approximately 40,000 crystal glass pieces of various shapes and sizes – and spans vertically to three decks, with vantage points from the casino, Teppanyanki restaurant, Wasabi Sushi Bar, Malting’s Whiskey Bar, Shaker’s Martini Bar, and the Atrium. The design is of spiraling oval discs, each up to 30 feet in circumference, and 112 suspended crystal encrusted balls of up to one foot in diameter, which orbit the main structure at varying heights.

The chandelier is the most energy efficient at sea. It is completely illuminated by LED technology, using over 10,000 diodes. It is fully dimmable to most effectively enhance the lead crystals and the lighting effects are currently being programmed by UK-based Project International. The impressive structure, which will be the focal point of the ship’s Atrium, took a team of people three weeks to install.
For those that are inspired by the techno music of Blue Man Group and cannot live on a cruise without a guitar solo of their own, Norwegian Cruise Line will offer another first at Sea. A “Check-In-Rock-Out” program on the Norwegian Epic will enable guests to rent a Gibson guitar and play it in their stateroom.
For $10 per day, passengers get the guitar and a private amplifier with headphones.
Guests can rent the equipment at the Fat Cats Jazz and Blues Club. The package includes a Line 6 Pod device, which features controls and special effects so that players can select the type of sound they want to create. Monster Cable supplies the headphones and cables.
For those guests that need a lot of physical challenges other than a fully equipped gym, the Norwegian Epic will feature and extreme rock climbing wall, 33-feet high and 64-feet wide. The wall will be accessible on two levels with varying degrees of difficulty, rated according to official U.S. climbing grades. The extreme rock climbing wall will be part of Norwegian Epic’s 7 decks of Freestyle Family Fun. Other highlights include the first rappelling wall at sea; the most bowling lanes at sea with six in two venues; three separate kids’ and teen activity areas; and a mixed-use sports deck featuring a full-size basketball court, volleyball, soccer, dodge ball, a batting cage, bungee trampoline, rope adventure course and a 24-foot tall enclosed climbing cage called the Spider Web.

On July 10 the Norwegian Epic will then start its 7 day alternate eastern and western Caribbean round trip iitinerary from Miami. For more information on the unique features and accommodation of NCL’s Epic check out our video.

Sea Princess Stars in National Geographic Channel’s Hit Series “World’s Toughest Fixes”
The June 3 Episode Will Take Viewers Behind the Scenes During Princess Cruises Ship’s Drydock

SANTA CLARITA, Calif. (June 1, 2010) – The immense job of drydocking Sea Princess will be featured in the June 3 episode of National Geographic Channel’s (NGC) top-rated show, World’s Toughest Fixes.  TV viewers can go behind the scenes as host Sean Riley follows the entire process from the time the Princess Cruises ship enters the drydock to the final sea trials.

Airing on Thursday, June 3 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on NGC, the show was filmed while Sea Princess was in a regularly scheduled drydock at BAE Systems San Francisco Ship Repair last September.  The episode focuses on the enormous task of completing a multitude of drydock projects in just 15 days, with emphasis on several technical “fixes” on the bottom of the ship that could only be accessed when the ship is out of the water.

“This is a unique opportunity for audiences to really appreciate the amazing around-the-clock effort needed to keep our ships in top shape to deliver the experience our passengers expect,” said Jan Swartz, Princess Cruises executive vice president.  “We’re excited that the National Geographic Channel was interested in featuring this rare behind-the-scenes project.”

One of the network’s most popular shows, World’s Toughest Fixes takes viewers inside some of the most daunting repair jobs with Riley, a professional master rigger, as he works with many of the world’s top mechanics to show how they tackle these challenging fixes. World’s Toughest Fixes airs Thursdays at 9pm ET/PT on NGC.

Riley joins the Sea Princess drydock crew on a number of tasks, adding his own elbow grease and expertise along the way and tries out several drydock jobs.  He helps strip and power wash the hull, tries his hand at upholstery work and joins the team working high up on the ship to seal the windows.  He even gives viewers an up-close view inside the tail shaft housing as he crawls in to show the audience the work being done.

Throughout the episode viewers will get a glimpse of the buzz of activity on a ship in drydock, including a look at installation of carpet and floors, the stripping of wooden decks, and even a glimpse of the ship’s new adults-only Sanctuary which was constructed during the drydock.

Sea Princess sails the Alaska Itinerary from San Francisco for the summer and then repositions to the Caribbean via a Mexico and Panama Canal Itinerary.