STX France reported a cost overrun related to the construction of NCL's Norwegian Epic that could range from 15m to 20m EUROS ($20m to $27m) for the St. Nazaire yard. The builder said every effort is being made to manage the overrun and that it has a solid working capital position, and the funding of such cost overrun will be managed from the existing working capital

See what the cost of that "Block House " added. LOL

The Oasis looks like it was designed by a team with a leader where each member knew his role, the goals, performed it, and a totally integrated design resulted.

quote:

---

Originally posted by desirod7:

The Epic looks like it was designed by a committee where everyone was in charge, yet nobody responsible, a horse trade of features, where the arms did not know or care what the legs were doing. It is the most unbalanced and disjointed design since the 1960 Oriana.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Aussie1:
Since the Oriana of 1960? She was one of the most stunning and attractive ships.

---

ss Oriana set new records for the fastest crossing of both the Pacific and Indian Oceans, at speeds in excess of 27.5 knots, which to this day have not been beaten by another passenger/cruise ship !

With regard to her decks, her covered promenade deck was like the one on the ss ' The Oceanic ' which is now the Japanese Peace Boat.

She was a great ship to the end and even when reports from Dalain, China, said she had sunk in a storm, it proved wrong and she was only partly submerged.

Unfortunately the interior water damage was too great for her to be refitted again as a museum with other facilities.

Having been partly submerged for about 10 months, it was possible to patch up her hull, where it had been holed through hitting something on the harbour floor, and pump out all the water.

This resulted in her being towed in an upright position to the breakers yard.

I have always considered I was lucky to sail on her for about her last ten years in service with P & O.

Epic is the modern Oriana: a complicated machine with a haphazard and disjointed form.

I do not doubt the Oriana's engineering as a seaboat, nor the quality of the workmanship, or the grace of her public rooms.

Canberra's beauty stops you in your tracks, Oriana not so much.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Matts:
I wonder if, whilst prices are depressed, they will go for a further newbuild - EPIC2? - or even something again completely different.

---

I don't think we will see a second EPIC. Many will give thanks that she will be one of a kind. Personally I find that kind of uniqueness utterly attractive. I feel the same way about QM2. I am happy there is only one. These days it's so unusual to have just one ship built. Usually there are endless clones and derivatives.

NCL's executive management has stated that future newbuilds will probably be between the size of EPIC and the Star Class of ships.

quote:

---

Originally posted by eroller:

NCL's executive management has stated that future newbuilds will probably be between the size of EPIC and the Star Class of ships.

---

Is that an omission that she's too big, too expensive or maybe just too difficult?

quote:

---

Originally posted by Malcolm @ cruisepage:

Is that an omission that she's too big, too expensive or maybe just too difficult?

If she's a big sucess why not build another it would probably be cheaper this time around. Of course if the food and service 'sucks' they will struggle to fill her. It could go either way as far as I'm concerned.

---

I'm thinking the overall cost of EPIC is pretty exorbitant. I don't really see anything earth shattering about the basic design, so I can't imagine the difficulty of construction is anymore complex than other ships.

I hope NCL can pull off the software to go with the hardware. After her introduction I don't want to see posts like "EPIC Blunder". Many will compare her OASIS, and RCI did a pretty flawless job with OASIS. Almost everyone that sails OASIS raves about her, and everyone comments how uncrowded she feels and the lack of lines. That is by no means an accident or coincidence. RCI spent a lot of time and $$ to design an uncrowded ship and build up the infrastructure surrounding her. It remains to be seen if NCL can pull off the same. I sure hope so.

quote:

---

Originally posted by eroller:

I'm thinking the overall cost of EPIC is pretty exorbitant. I don't really see anything earth shattering about the basic design, so I can't imagine the difficulty of construction is anymore complex than other ships.

I hope NCL can pull off the software to go with the hardware. After her introduction I don't want to see posts like "EPIC Blunder". Many will compare her OASIS, and RCI did a pretty flawless job with OASIS. Almost everyone that sails OASIS raves about her, and everyone comments how uncrowded she feels and the lack of lines. That is by no means an accident or coincidence. RCI spent a lot of time and $$ to design an uncrowded ship and build up the infrastructure surrounding her. It remains to be seen if NCL can pull off the same. I sure hope so.

Ernie

---

I'm thinking the overall cost of EPIC is pretty exorbitant. I don't really see anything earth shattering about the basic design, so I can't imagine the difficulty of construction is anymore complex than other ships.

I had assumes it's because NCL changed their design requirements at a late stage in the building process? Maybe some of the public rooms were redesigned?

NCL still regularly mess-up with their exiting ships in terms of food and service, they are INCONSISTENT at best!

I can't believe the 'Pride of America' still gets quite a fair number of bad to mediocre reviews - they seem incapable of rectifying that product.

Let's not forget Epic started out with trendy Studio cabins for couples (240 pax) which they had to turn into single cabins (120 pax). That represents a loss of income and the 'Living Room' (now the 'Studio Lounge') will attract half the passengers it was designed for, which will impact on its revenue generation. They clearly made these cabins too small and could not sell them to couples!

quote:

---

Originally posted by Malcolm @ cruisepage:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by eroller:
[qb]

I note that Oasis has yet to have any major u-turns.

---

The only major hurdle OASIS has faced is the Aqua Theater. The shows have proved challenging and there may be some changes in the design for ALLURE. None the less it's a huge success and most of the passengers are unaware of the challenges. Also, the Aqua Pool was supposed to be open to passengers for swimming during the day, and to my knowledge this has not happened yet.

The only other hurdle is with Falmouth Jamaica. It's not ready. I don't know if RCI can be blamed for this. St. Thomas was not ready either, but thankfully they found a suitable temporary alternative. RCI had to make an arrangement with Princess Cruises to use their dock in St. Thomas. How much RCI is paying Princess is anyones guess. Enough that even if a Princess ship is in port with OASIS, OASIS will be the ship to dock at that particular pier.