The newly refurbished 155,878gt/2010 built Norwegian Epic returned to Southampton on 19th October to welcome guests after a three week overhaul at Damen Shiprepair in Brest, France. The ship received significant enhancements across the vessel, including entertainment, dining, technical operations and more. The new features come as Norwegian Epic readies for her winter and summer seasons sailing the Mediterranean from Barcelona, followed by her return to the USA and her new home in Port Canaveral in the autumn of 2016.

The ship now features a brand new entertainment outlet The Cavern Club, bringing the legendary Liverpool venue where the Beatles saw their popularity skyrocket to life. Following the addition of Broadway sensation Burn The Floor earlier this year, Norwegian Epic was outfitted with a second new Broadway show during the dry dock, Priscilla Queen of the Desert – The Musical. Dining enhancements include extensive renovations to the existing Moderno Churrascaria, Cagney’s, La Cucina, Le Bistro, Garden Café, Manhattan Room restaurant and Taste restaurant.

Also in dry dock the ship received a new pair of Becker rudders together with more efficient propeller caps, and state-of-the-art energy efficient hull paint. Additional significant technical and safety updates included a lifeboat and tender boat release systems upgrade, thrusters and stabilisers full maintenance, air duct upgrades plus improvements to storeroom refrigeration systems. Three days later the 165,157gt Norwegian Escape, the first member of the Breakaway Plus Class, was handed over to NCL from Meyer Werft at Bremerhaven. The ship arrived at Southampton on 27th October and this month’s Newbuild of the Month is dedicated to the ship.

The second Plus ship was to be the Norwegian Bliss but as she is now destined for the Chinese market the name is likely to change. There are also subtle changes to the renderings for this ship that include the outer part of the pool deck, new public spaces on Deck 15, the navigation bridge is shown as a deck lower and the lifeboats are hidden beneath the promenade deck. It will be interesting to see if these changes translate into the newbuild. Genting’s newbuilds largely mirror the profile of this revised image albeit whilst being more upmarket and with a lower capacity.