If you read yesterday’s blog you know I was pretty harsh in my critique of Norwegian Epic’s New Wave staterooms. There are a few other quirks about the room, one being the bed is short, but I just found out from one of the onboard hotel personnel that the bed is standard size – the problem is the headboard is extending five inches over the mattress. The fix – pulling the bed out from the wall. That works, but it will limit the space to walk to the bathroom. The other issue is the 3rd berth is rock hard – my daughter is having a tough time sleeping on it. They are going to try using a duvet to make it softer for tonight. I also discovered that they will be changing all the sink faucets since they are getting a lot of complaints about them.

I had a good look at the staterooms today and there is a better New Wave layout than my current room. I have the New Wave design where the bed is first (right next to the toilet and shower) and the sitting area is by the balcony door. The other layout for the room is when the sitting area is first and the bed is next to the balcony/window. This much better as there is more space around the bathroom area. I’ve also seen the connecting cabins for these rooms, well, in order to have the door you will lose a closet and all the drawers. It’s always something.

Granted it was very bold for NCL to change the stateroom concept with the New Wave set up. I think a lot of passengers will grin and bear it. But I am sure there will be some passengers turned off by this and may not book Epic. Time will tell.

If I had my choice of accommodations on this ship it would be in the Villa Complex. This area at the top of the ship boasts 60 suites and penthouses with private pool, sunbathing space, restaurant and nightclub. The Travelocity Gnome is up there now sunbathing as I type this…(sigh)
Singles have the Studio area that offers 128 single cabins; each is just 100 square feet, but offers exclusive access to a lounge with TVs, a bar and space to hang out with other solo cruisers.

This morning it was breakfast with Sponge Bob. Yes, you can dine with the Nickelodeon characters and they even put on a show in the Spiegel Tent. Cost is $10 per child, $15 for adults – it’s a fixed breakfast menu.

The coolest place on the ship (literally) is the SVEDKA Ice Bar that is inspired by the original ice bars and ice hotels in Scandinavia. This frozen chamber is the first ice bar at sea and offers lighting that simulates the Northern Lights and creates a distinctive arctic atmosphere. The bar, walls, tables, stools, glasses and life-size sculptures all made from ice. You have to make reservations for this bar in advance as only 25 guests are allowed in for a limit of 45 minutes. Guests are given hooded coats and gloves to keep them warm, since the room’s temperature does not rise above 17 degrees Fahrenheit. Big tip — wear pants, closed toe shoes or you won’t last more than 5 minutes. Time is limited in the bar because in order to keep it frozen it must stay closed for 16 hours a day. The cost is $20 and includes two vodka drinks.

Dinner tonight was at Teppanyaki, a Japanese eatery where chefs cook at individual stations surrounded by 10 or 12 diners. The cost is $25 per person and the food is terrific. The best part is watching the dramatic knife wielding chef put on a show.

Another unique experience only on Epic is Blue Man Group. Guests in the theater’s front-row seats slip on plastic rain ponchos for protection from the messy onstage mayhem. It’s the best show at sea – not to be missed.

Stay tuned for more blogs from Epic! Including the NBC broadcast of Macy’s Fourth of July celebration.

First impression on boarding the Norwegian Epic is experiencing the wide open spaces – it’s massive, yet offers abundant comfy nooks and crannies to relax in. The décor is lovely with tasteful coloring, lighting, and architectural design.

First stop was to eat lunch at Shanghais’ Noodle Bar where my family and I ordered delicious ala carte dumplings, spring rolls, lo mein, and rice dishes. It’s a great atmosphere as you watch your food being prepared in front of you. Cost is $2-3 per item. While eating we had the added pleasure of enjoying some terrific blues music being played across the way at Fat Cats.

Now it was off to find our stateroom on Deck 14. This took some major detective work as there are no markings and if a room steward hadn’t opened a corridor door we wouldn’t have known where to go. This area of the ship is where the family staterooms are located and they are just steps from the children’s play area and the pool area a deck above. Stateroom 14096 is at the very end of a winding hallway next to a secret door to the gym. The lack of foot traffic is a plus and being so close to the gym and spa is a bonus.

Once inside the balcony stateroom, well, I sounded like Nancy Kerrigan after she was hit in the knee with a crowbar – why, WHY, W-H-Y!!!??? What a design disappointment these New Wave staterooms are. It’s cool looking with the contemporary curved walls and ceilings that supposedly maximize the living space. As for the bathroom – there isn’t one. Somebody thought it would be crafty to break apart the shower and toilet and put them behind retracting smoked glass doors. There’s a curtain to separate the shower and toilet, but the sink is outside in the cabin area. My quad stateroom is 216 square feet, but it feels so much smaller. There are two lower beds and floor-to-ceiling glass door that opens to a big private balcony, a sitting area, a flat screen television, mini-bar, and a tea and coffee maker. The closets and drawers are across from the sitting area (3rd berth) and when the ceiling bed (4th berth) is retracted you can’t open the closets. My family and I are literally colliding into each other. These rooms are fine for two people, but for a family of three or four it’s just too cramped.

It’s a shame I had to devote so much negative space to the stateroom issue because the rest of the ship and the crew are fantastic. The gym is the biggest I’ve seen on any ship and is equipped with abundant exercise equipment, work out rooms, and a squash court. The spa is lovely and offers an escape from the non-stop action around the ship.

This ship is hopping with activities from bow to stern. The pool deck is huge and offers a lot of sun and shaded areas. The slides are huge with the 200-foot-long Epic Plunge being the highlight. The rock climbing and repelling wall (the only one at sea) is pretty cool as is the outdoor ice rink (not real ice, but oiled Teflon that ice skates can glide across), spider web climb cage, and bungee jumper area.

For dinner it was off to the Cirque Dreams and Dinner show that is a two hour theatrical dining experience held in the Spiegel Tent room. Cover charge is $15 for general seating and $20 for premium seating. This one of a kind interactive theatrical dining experience is performed in the air, while juggling a four course, fixed-menu dinner. The food and acrobatics were excellent; however, the pantomime show in between acts was loud and very annoying at times. Additionally some of the dialogue was not suitable for young people.

After dinner it was off to observe all the nightlife and no other ship on the high seas can touch this vessel in the sheer number of bars and entertainment options. It’s truly…Epic.

Stay tuned: Tomorrow we’ll talk more about staterooms, breakfast with the Nickelodeon characters, Svedka Ice Bar, O’Sheehans, bowling, Teppanyaki, Blue Man Group, Fat Cats and more.

Norwegian Epic, the largest ship ever to dock in the Manhattan Cruise Terminal, arrived today for her official inaugural festivities following her maiden transatlantic seven-day voyage from Southampton, UK. Norwegian Epic with a height of 200 feet cleared the Verrazano Bridge by approximately 24 inches at 7:40 a.m.

The 153,000 gross tons, 4,100 passenger Norwegian Epic, Norwegian Cruise Line’s largest and most innovative ship ever, enjoyed a smooth and successful first sailing before arriving in New York this morning. The ship, billed as the world’s largest floating entertainment venue with world-class entertainment unlike anything before seen at sea. There are 20 dining options, a Svedka ice bar, a 2-story Wii, two 3-lane bowling alleys, a rock-climbing and an aqua park, among other fun features.

The ship will be officially christened by country music superstar Reba McEntire at 2 p.m. ET on Friday, July 2. Comedian and “Curb Your Enthusiasm” star Jeff Garlin will serve as host of the ceremony. The ship, which is docked at Pier 88 at the Manhattan Cruise Terminal, will then sail on a two-day preview sailing, before returning to the pier the morning of July 4th to host the Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular.

Erin and Sean Spital last saw their luggage after checking in at New York’s JFK airport, shortly before they boarded their flight to Barcelona on Iberia Airlines. The couple waited until the last bags made their rounds on the luggage carousel, their bags never arrived. Left with only the clothes on their backs, and with their 7-day Norwegian Cruise Line cruise about to depart, the Spitals did the only thing they could do: They filed a claim with Iberia and went out to buy new clothes.

Naked truth

Lost airline luggage — it’s a problem all cruise lines are dealing with more often these days, especially on European cruises. I’ve been on a number of Mediterranean cruises where dozens of passenger’s bags never made it to the ships for embarkation. Most bags turn up during various ports of call, but not all of them make it. Like the Spitals, their owners just had to make do.

“Many people don’t realize it, but most cruise ships have a small supply of clothing on board that guests can borrow, and there is even formal attire for men and women to rent,” says John Heald, Carnival Cruise Lines senior cruise director. These reserves can usually tide people over, but sometimes passengers become desperate because their bags are truly lost and they can’t find replacement clothes in the ship’s supply or even in port. On those occasions, Heald puts in a “shout out” request for clothes during his live “Morning Show” on the shipboard TV. He once put out a call for a pair of extra-large women’s underwear, and got back seven pairs from sympathetic passengers. “Cruising can really bring the best out in people,” Heald says.

The Spitals received help from their cruise line, too. As Heald duly noted sometimes the best in people does come out. For Sean Spital, who is well over six feet tall, finding clothes was difficult. Thankfully a sympathetic Norwegian crew member of the same height was kind enough to loan some pants during the sailing. The cruise line also helped Erin Spital with clothing and arranged for the couple to keep in constant contact with Iberia. Despite all the help, the Spitals racked up a substantial credit card bill at various ports buying new clothes.

Sadly, the Spitals bags never showed up during their week-long cruise. “We paid more than 400 euros for basics like underwear, shoes, tops, and since it was December some sweaters,” Erin says. The Spitals kept their receipts and filed a claim with Iberia for the cost of their replacement clothing, which came to almost $1,500.

After returning from their cruise, Sean Spital kept calling Iberia daily to find out where their luggage was. Unfortunately, communication was difficult due to language barriers and changing stories. “They didn’t have updated information on the bags or their system was down. Sometimes I just couldn’t understand them and they couldn’t understand me.”

They were told due to the heavy snow storms in Europe and the U.S. in December many bags became displaced. Three weeks after they returned home the Spitals received one bag, which had been pilfered of many items including an expensive shaver, Gucci loafers, and cashmere sweaters. The airline has yet to find the other bag.

Bags of shame

Unfortunately for the Spitals Iberia is ranked the worst airline in Europe for lost luggage. A report in the London Telegraph stated the Spanish carrier lost 19.2 bags for every 1,000 people who boarded its planes during the winter months. Additionally, the carrier was ranked the worst performer in a survey carried out by the Association of European Airlines.

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, your luggage has a fairly good chance of taking a different trip than you do. The department’s latest Air Travel Consumer Report shows 155,224 reports of “mishandled” bags in February this year, up from 136,066 in February 2009. While the numbers are still high the airlines have improved their baggage handling within the past two years as the number of mishandled baggage claims has declined.

Airlines do their best to find your luggage before declaring it lost. On average, it takes more than a week; in difficult cases, it can take as long as a month. According to the Air Travel Consumer Report, about 2 percent of all missing bags remain lost. So, what do you do when an airline loses your luggage on your cruise vacation? Here are some tips.

• If your luggage is lost, report it to the airline immediately. The Department of Transportation strongly suggests you fill out a form with the airline the day your baggage turns up missing. If you flew on more than one carrier, the airline you last flew is usually the one responsible for processing your claim — even if the other carrier lost the bag.
• If your baggage is declared lost, make an itemized list of everything in your suitcase. Assign a value to each item, including the suitcase itself, using the price you paid, but understand that airlines won’t pay full replacement value; they will pay a depreciated value. The maximum claim the airlines are required to pay is $2,800 for baggage lost on a domestic flight and approximately $1,500 for baggage lost on an international flight. The maximum award for international flights changes daily based on that day’s value of “Special Drawing Rights” (SDR) per passenger. The daily value of SDR can be found at the International Monetary Fund’s exchange rate Web site. Additional information on SDR can be found in every airline’s contract of carriage.
• A similar claims process is involved when luggage is damaged. Open your suitcase right away to check for damaged contents or stolen items. Any damage or lost or stolen items should be reported immediately to the airlines. The same limits apply for damaged luggage as to lost luggage.
• Tell the cruise line staff that your airline lost your luggage. They can help you keep in touch with the airline regarding the status of your luggage and they can help you get clothing and personal care items.

The Department of Transportation estimates that it takes an airline anywhere from six weeks to three months to pay you for your lost luggage. As for the Spitals, after three months they finally received a check from Iberia for $900, far from their original claim. They are glad it’s over and have vowed to never fly Iberia again.