Caroline Hendrie in front of one of the water slides of NCL's 'Norwegian Epic' Looking for a Caribbean holiday jam-packed with entertainment and a vast choice of bars and restaurants? If so, there's a new resort that could be the answer: Norwegian Epic.
The biggest ship from Norwegian Cruise Line bears more resemblance to an all-inclusive hotel than a maritime vessel. if you managed to drag yourself away from the onboard fun, you could see a bit of the world.
But, having just spent two nights on board - when Epic called at Southampton on her way from the yard in France where she was built, en route to her home port of Miami - I don't think even a week would give you enough time to try everything this very lively floating resort has to offer.
The 4,100-passenger, 19-deck Epic is a destination in herself. And she is equipped with revolutionary 'new Wave' cabins, where there is hardly a straight line in sight.
I was taken completely by surprise on entering my balcony stateroom. instead of the usual box with a bathroom chopped into one corner, there wasn't a bath 'room' at all.
By leaving open the clouded glass door around the shower/bath area i was able to see the TV at the end of the bed from the bath. Further into the curvy room - which sleeps up to four - the oval washbasin made an unusual focal point (and is perhaps something to consider when choosing your cabin mates).
At the other extreme, holidaymakers going solo can have all the privacy they like by booking one of the Studios.
These 128 inside cabins, with double beds, choose-your-own mood lighting and windows on to the corridor, are arranged on two decks around a private lounge with a bar to hang out in. Who knows who you might meet in there?
Another private access area - for those prepared to pay a premium so that they don't have to share all the time with 4,000 others - is the Courtyard Villa Complex, on Decks 16 and 17 over the bridge.
By booking into one of the 60 suites and villas, which sleep up to six, you'll be among the elite few hundred around the Villa Complex pool, and you can work out in the complex's gym, use the concierge services, restaurant and bar, and get whisked by elevator up and down from Posh Beach Club, the exclusive access day and night spot on Deck 18.
Open to all is the Mandara Spa, which claims to be the biggest at sea. it surely has the most expensive facial. Serene Chamonaye from South Africa carefully applied 24-carat gold leaves to my face to 'restore its youthful luminosity'.
It was a big investment at £260, but it was also a blissful 75 minutes of peace and pampering after the excitement of hurling myself down the Epic Plunge.
Golden girl: Caroline enjoys a gold leaf facial on boardOn that watery thrill, one of three slides in the Aqua Park, I whooshed down a big yellow twisting tube on a big rubber ring, whirled round a giant bowl and was then sucked into an tube, like a Lilliputian flushed down a lavatory.
One of Epic's selling points is its 'world-class' entertainment. It has its own group, called the Blue Man group, bringing loud yet wordless surprises; improvised and stand-up comedy from Second City, alma mater of Bill Murray and John Belushi; and the Cirque Dreams troupe, who perform an amazing acrobatic and burlesque dinner show in the Spiegeltent, which is fashioned like a big top.
Legends in Concert brings Tina Turner, Madonna and Elvis Presley impersonators in to dinner in the Manhattan Room.
Try as I did, I couldn't sample the food in every one of the 20 dining options, but managed to hop on to a stool in Wasabi for a sushi snack on my way to Taste, where I had lentil soup sitting on a banquette beneath the 40,000 crystals of the chandelier.
The skewered beef in Moderno, the Brazilian restaurant, looked even more mouth-watering than the T-bones in Cagney's American Steakhouse next door - and so the culinary world tour could have continued. of the 20 bars, with a massive screen here, a bowling alley there, a mist curtain to step through in another, the one we were all clamouring to get into was the ice Bar, the first at sea.
In silver thermal ponchos and gloves provided against the -8C (17F) cold, over a bar made from solid ice, we ordered flavoured vodkas from a hardy barman in a fleecy hat.
Two drinks and a 45-minute time slot costs £13. if you are a party animal who never just wants to go in the bathroom and shut the door, Norwegian Epic is definitely the ship for you.
Travel facts
NCL (0845 201 8900, www.ncl.co.uk) offers Eastern and Western Caribbean cruises aboard Norwegian Epic from £1,063 per person.
The price includes return flights to Miami, one night in a hotel and a seven-night cruise.
From May to October 2011, Norwegian Epic will be sailing on one-week Western Mediterranean fly-cruises from Barcelona costing from £839pp.
source: dailymail
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