From Seatrader Insider June 24, 2010:

So many things are happening on Norwegian Epic that passengers might have to book a second week to relax after all the action.

Some experiences are unique at sea. Patrons in the Epic Theater’s front-row seats slip on plastic rain ponchos for protection from the Blue Man Group’s antics, while people clamor to get into the SVEDKA Ice Bar where the temperature is a frigid 17 degrees F.

In a big top tent, diners slice into filet mignon as a pirate sword-fights on a tightrope during Cirque Dreams & Dinner. Elvis, Madonna and Tina Turner impersonators serenade passengers as part of the Legends in Concert show. Passadors slice meats from tall skewers in the Brazilian-style Moderno Churrascaria. Whole pizzas are delivered shipwide for $5.

In Norwegian Cruise Line’s first Aqua Park, passengers swirl around on floating inner tubes in an orange and yellow bowl resembling a giant juicer on a ride that’s called the Epic Plunge. They can also test the first rappeling rock wall on a ship. There are six bowling lanes on board, half in the Bliss Ultra Lounge and half in O’Sheehan’s, the 24-hour pub.

‘As you walk around the ship, people are saying this is completely new. It’s different,’ said NCL’s Andy Stuart, evp global sales and passenger services. Epic is going to bring new customers to cruising and new travel agents to selling NCL, he predicted.

Sales efforts target families with expanded Kids Crew facilities, a teen lounge, Nickelodeon at Sea programming and three-, four- and six-berth accommodations and inter-connecting rooms across categories from Courtyard Villa to economy.

The lavish Courtyard complex stretching across two top decks is expected to draw a new market of upscale travelers with a private restaurant and a bar/nightclub added to the mix. ‘It’s on the edge of being hedonistic,’ Tillberg Design’s Fredrik Johansson told Seatrade Insider.

And solo travelers are courted with the 128 Studios that sport ‘a very, very cool design, unexpected on a ship,’ as Stuart put it.

They’re compact—the bed takes up most of the space—but visually interesting with one padded upholstery wall, mood lighting that can be adjusted from rosy to a cheery yellow and a large round window facing the corridor that belies the fact these are all inside rooms. The bathroom and storage facilities are cleverly designed.

Studio passengers have keycard access to a two-story lounge with wood floors and trendy seating. Imagine a chic youth hostel for singles 30 and up, but with an espresso machine, bar service and big-screen televisions.

All of Epic’s outside staterooms come with a balcony. These ‘New Wave’ rooms with their curving walls have a radically different look than the standard boxy, cruise-ship cabin. They’re sleek and stylish, like a sophisticated boutique hotel. Elemis toiletries, tea/coffee makers and interactive, flat-screen televisions are among the appointments.

The New Wave rooms’ controversial separate toilet and shower stalls, enclosed in fogged glass, ‘take some getting used to,’ NCL ceo Kevin Sheehan acknowledged. There’s a curtain for privacy—though it doesn’t enclose the small sink, positioned in the room.

The accommodations are a calming refuge on a very busy ship. One other sanctuary is the ample Mandara Spa. Here are 24 treatment rooms, some with balconies for relaxation before and after treatments or, on Caribbean itineraries, for outdoor massages. A hydrotherapy courtyard, thermal suite and new offerings like a personalized body scrub selection created by a spa mixologist are other features.

And Epic sports NCL’s first dedicated spa staterooms that include free access to the thermal suite. There are 39 of these, with an attractive Asian design motif, and particularly gorgeous are the eight suites that come with an in-room whirlpool.

Seatrade Insider heard high praise for Moderno Churrascaria, the noodle bar Shanghai’s and the authentic Memphis blues band that plays Fat Cats, the dedicated jazz and blues club.

‘One of the main things I like about the ship is that despite its size, there are a lot of intimate areas,’ said Ramón Santos of corporate meetings and incentives specialists Landry & Kling Inc. in Miami.

Among his top picks are the sophisticated dinner-dance venue, the Manhattan Room; the Cirque dinner show, which he called ‘a highlight’; the expanded Teppanyaki restaurant, where he praised the food quality; the Courtyard complex (‘exciting’); the Aqua Park with ‘so many things going on,’ including bungee jumping and an attraction called Gravity Blast; and the SVEDKA Ice Bar.

That popular spot has limited hours because the room needs to freeze for 16 hours each day. Up to 25 patrons at a time can don fur-lined parkas to slip inside and sip vodka drinks.

‘I wish I had four times the space. We’re doing waiting lists with four and six pages a night,’ said Corey Shannon, corporate beverage operations manager for NCL.

Very few people stay the full 45 minutes, he added. It’s c-o-l-d.

Note from the Cruise Professor:  The books are open and cabins are selling fast.  Book yours now at www.iCruise.com or call 800-iCruise (800) 427-8473.  Be sure to ask your Personal Cruise Expert about our exclusive Epic Cruise Combo package that includes a free hotel.

Always a balmy 17 degrees at the ICE BAR!!!