She’s big, she’s brash and she’s burly. She’s also suffering from a bit of an opening night party hangover. Norwegian Epic, the most eagerly-anticipated new cruise ship of 2010 is going to be a little bit late making her British debut.
She should have arrived in Southampton by this morning, ready for a two-day preview cruise for travel agents, press and television. Instead, the 153,000-ton giant is feeling her way gently through the Channel at reduced speed due to a “technical problem” – said to be a failed propellor shaft bearing – which almost led to yesterday’s departure from Rotterdam (above) being cancelled.
The prospect of an unexpected extra few hours at sea was one which appeared to be welcomed by most of the passengers queuing to board, if the cheer that greeted the announcement was anything to go by, even if it meant a lot of them had to make hasty changes to their post-cruise travel arrangements.
The ship, which will carry up to 4,100 passengers, has about 2,000 aboard, most of whom paid about £149 for the one-night voyage.
Over the next couple of days I will be bringing you my impressions of the ship, its innovative new features, and the vast array of entertainment on offer.
Whether the two-day jaunt will go ahead as planned remains to be seen – we might just have to stay in Southampton while engineers fit a new bearing. Epic sails for New York later this week and is due to arrive on July 1, ready for a naming ceremony the following day.
About the Author: John Honeywell
John Honeywell is a travel writer specialising in cruise ships and cruise travel. Winner of CLIA UK's Contribution to Cruise award 2017.
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