The first hurricane in the 2010 Atlantic season has formed in the Gulf of Mexico. Due to the location of the storm in the gulf, no ships will have issues with ports. Carnival’s vessels sailing in/out of Galveston and New Orleans may have a bumpy ride though.
Texas is starting to feel the effects of the storm. I woke up this morning in Houston and it was a dark and cloudy day with rain expected soon.
from StormPulse.com
Carnival just announced that the Carnival Magic (sister to the Carnival Dream) will home port in my former hometown of Galveston in November 2011. She will be joined by the slightly smaller Carnival Triumph. The Magic will operate the 7-night routes and the Triumph will do the 4&5-Night routes.
The current Galveston based ships, Conquest and Ecstasy, will then reposition over to New Orleans, Louisiana, and resume their routes from there. NOLA is familiar waters for the Conquest, as this is where she was based out of prior to Katrina. Carnival moved the ship to Galveston when NOLA was out of commission following the storm. TX proved lucrative enough that she remained there ever since. The addition of these two ships, matches CCL’s pre-Katrina levels.
This comes hot on the heels of RCI bringing the Mariner of the Seas over from the west coast to replace the older Voyager of the Seas. Mariner will only be there seasonally (i.e. December-April) as opposed to CCL which will sail both of theirs yearround.
Carnival’s press release after the break.
4:48pm: And that concludes the Norwegian Epic Live blog. Over 2 weeks of posts about the ship. Following her from France to the Netherlands to England to New York and finally to Miami. Thank you all for following. It’s been a blast. Non-NCL fans will be happy to know that soon this post will no longer appear at the top of the screen. So goodbye for now,
-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!
This post will be updated as I come across good quality photos of her arriving in Rotterdam, Southampton, and New York during the inaugural weeks. Check Back!
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":
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The Norwegian Epic departed Rotterdam this morning and is currently on her way to Southampton, England where she was scheduled to arrive at 1000 but that has been rescheduled to 1730(5:30 pm) local time.
NCL is reporting that the ship developed a problem with the propeller shaft. This is the part that connects the brass propellers to the ship.
This could be nothing major if its a problem with a seal or gasket or something of that nature. Its an easy fix. If it is something wrong with the shaft, a defect in the metal, vibration, bent, etc. then this is a serious problem that requires drydocking. Now since the ship is continuing to sail to England, and NCL is acting as it is no big deal, I’m inclined to believe them. If a drydock were required, then they would have had that all figured out by now and canceled the upcoming voyages.
So far, only the arrival time is impacted. No word on future preview cruises or the maiden trans-Atlantic.
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.
Even more photos can be found on the Norwegian Epic tab here in CruiseInd.
UPDATE 11:47am EST:
All further updates from her voyage around Europe and over to the States will be covered on the Norwegian Epic Live Blog!
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Currently, the Epic is in the English Channel between Southampton, England and Cherbourg, France. Make sure you are tracking her live here. Having been officially handed over from STX France yards to NCL yesterday, she is sailing full speed to Rotterdam to begin her promo tour before heading state side.
Will post pictures as soon as I get them.
![600px-Oasis_of_the_Seas[1]](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Oasis_of_the_Seas.jpg "600px-Oasis_of_the_Seas[1]")
File this under mega-rumor-that-probably-has-little-truth-but-is-interesting-nonetheless. According to CIN who hears “through the industry grapevine,” RCI execs are considering possibly sailing the Oasis to Europe. The Mediterranean is probably the best bet. Oasis has been very profitable for the port of calls in the Caribbean, and ports in Europe would love the bragging rights to say that they have Oasis calling there. The ports in the Med are extremely interested in attracting her also for the amount of visitors she can carry.
The big problem is: infrastructure. Oasis is huge in both a physical sense and a passenger sense. Port Everglades required a massive expansion of a terminal, Labadee required a dock be built, and Falmouth, Jamaica warranted that a port be constructed. RCI execs are reminding the European port authorities of the investment that is required for her to sail there. RCI claims that current infrastructure needs to be upgraded.
Europe is becoming extremely lucrative and very profitable for lines. In 2011, Barcelona will be THE hot spot for cruising in Europe. All lines are sending their best products there. Carnival will have the brand new Carnival Magic; NCL’s will have among others, the hotly anticipated Norwegian Epic; and RCI will send the Liberty of the Seas, and others, to the Med; Other lines will also have a strong presence in the Med then as well.
IF Oasis were to sail there, it would be in 2012 I would guess.
Some things to keep in mind: RCI are under contract to bring a certain amount of passengers to Port Everglades. This is only economically feasible through the use of Oasis and Allure as they process 10-12,000 pax every turn-around day. RCI may have contracts with other ports in the Caribbean that Oasis and Allure play important roles. Also, why would European ports invest that much money in infrastructure to attract ONE ship, when lines are already sending ships to Europe based on current infrastructure and facilities.
So I pose a question to you: Do you feel that RCI should send Oasis to the med or keep her stateside. Sound off in the comments below.
source CruiseIndustryNews
I’m back after a long weekend and the Epic is back from her seatrials. You can see the photos on the Norwegian Epic page.
Another bit of info. Her delivery date has changed from the 15th to the 17th. Maiden voyage and inaugural celebrations are still on track.
