NCL to have HUGE announcement August 4th.

[CruisinHarvey]

They've got one of two problems. Either the demand doesn't exist to keep a ship the size of the Epic there. Or, as I suppose, they're trying to find the right fit for the Epic. With it's design, it's kind of been an outcast. They were trying to see if it would be a better fit staying in the European market. I guess that experiment failed. When was the last time a cruise line put a relatively new ship on 3 and 4 night cruises? I actually liked cruising on the Epic(once out of Barcelona, once out of Miami). It's never gathered mass appeal though.

[perditax]

They've got one of two problems. Either the demand doesn't exist to keep a ship the size of the Epic there. Or, as I suppose, they're trying to find the right fit for the Epic. With it's design, it's kind of been an outcast. They were trying to see if it would be a better fit staying in the European market. I guess that experiment failed. When was the last time a cruise line put a relatively new ship on 3 and 4 night cruises? I actually liked cruising on the Epic(once out of Barcelona, once out of Miami). It's never gathered mass appeal though.

 

I know I can't be the first person to point this out, but DCL Dream is newer than Epic and it does exactly those short/newbie cruises out of PC. I bet the prices are going to look VERY attractive to families comparing the two.

Edited August 4, 2015 by perditax

[CruisinHarvey]

I know I can't be the first person to point this out, but DCL Dream is newer than Epic and it does exactly those short/newbie cruises out of PC. I bet the prices are going to look VERY attractive to families comparing the two.

 

Actually, the Dream's maiden voyage was in 2009, while the Epic was in 2010, but I get your point.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

The thought of doing a weekend sailing on the Epic is VERY attractive to me. As it stands now I can hop on the Sensation Thursday afternoon, basically not miss work, and be back on Sunday.

 

In the article in Florida Today (this morning) it indicated that the 3/4 day sailings would be in January and March ('17) to Nassau and Great Stirrup Cay. Now just waiting to see how many they offer, and what days of the week they'll sail on.

 

Tom

Edited August 4, 2015 by Tom-n-Cheryl

[perditax]

Actually, the Dream's maiden voyage was in 2009, while the Epic was in 2010, but I get your point.

 

I'm sorry, but that's not correct.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disney_Dream

[newmexicoNita]

I'm sorry, but that's not correct.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disney_Dream

 

does it really make a difference?

[Vacationdreamer<><]

Epic is a bit of an odd-duck ship, isn't she? I'm a NCL newbie, but isn't she the ship that they came up with something new then didn't replicate?

 

It has the unusual bathrooms, doesn't it?

[CruisinHarvey]

I'm sorry, but that's not correct.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disney_Dream

 

My apologies. Why I was thinking the Carnival Dream, is beyond me. It doesn't even sail out of PC. Although I'd assume you have a newer Disney ship sailing out of PC. They're feeding off the folks going to Disney World. That makes perfect sense.

[CruisinHarvey]

Epic is a bit of an odd-duck ship' date=' isn't she? I'm a NCL newbie, but isn't she the ship that they came up with something new then didn't replicate?

 

It has the unusual bathrooms, doesn't it?[/quote']

 

The Epic is unique. It was the only ship they had built in France recently. It's interior is really expensive. And, as you already know, the bathroom design in the cabins were an experiment to get more cubic feet of usable space in a cabin. It didn't go over. They went back to Germany after that, and the cost for the Breakaway and Getaway was significantly less than the Epic.

[perditax]

Would someone be willing to explain to a newbie what the 'bathroom issue' is?

 

Also, on CC's main official review for Epic, they state that the spa/thermal suite was near unusable due to crowding. Can anyone comment on that?

[SwissLe]

Would someone be willing to explain to a newbie what the 'bathroom issue' is?

 

Also, on CC's main official review for Epic, they state that the spa/thermal suite was near unusable due to crowding. Can anyone comment on that?

 

On every other ship, since around 1990, a sealed unit bathroom has been installed into the unit of the cabin which is then slotted into the substructure of the ship. Some designer convinced NCL that this bathroom unit was a waste of space, and it would be much more efficient to have the bathroom items within the stateroom.

 

When you walk into an Epic standard cabin you have a toilet and shower each side of you. They put a glass door on each of them, then frosted the glass. The sink is then on the counter top further inside the cabin, with a vanity above. It's open plan living. To give a little more privacy NCL also furnished the cabin with a curtain that slides in front of the bathroom and shower units.

 

The design was a risky move, and one that they haven't (or other competitors) replicated on any of the newer ships.

[perditax]

On every other ship, since around 1990, a sealed unit bathroom has been installed into the unit of the cabin which is then slotted into the substructure of the ship. Some designer convinced NCL that this bathroom unit was a waste of space, and it would be much more efficient to have the bathroom items within the stateroom.

 

When you walk into an Epic standard cabin you have a toilet and shower each side of you. They put a glass door on each of them, then frosted the glass. The sink is then on the counter top further inside the cabin, with a vanity above. It's open plan living. To give a little more privacy NCL also furnished the cabin with a curtain that slides in front of the bathroom and shower units.

 

The design was a risky move, and one that they haven't (or other competitors) replicated on any of the newer ships.

 

Ah, thank you. This sounds similar to the setup of the solo studios. I liked it there, but I can see how it might be bothersome to some people, or in a mixed group.

[SwissLe]

Ah, thank you. This sounds similar to the setup of the solo studios. I liked it there, but I can see how it might be bothersome to some people, or in a mixed group.

 

Ironically, the solo studios have a solid toilet door - more private than the shared cabins!

[CruisinHarvey]

Most of the issues on the ship are in the cabins. The bathroom has been well documented. The other problem was that they made the cabin kind of wave so it didn't look like your usual rectangle. The walls are curved, as is the couch and the bed. that causes a problem. All the mattresses are rounded on the bottom, to keep the curved look in the room. It looks really fancy, but it's not practical. Imagine two in a bed, where the bottom is shorter on each side. For a person about 5'8" or above, your feet will hang off the end. I don't think anyone actually tried it before they agreed to keep that design.

[mking8288]

Back on subject line of OP, this isn't the "huge announcement" for today - rather, it's the new sailings half way around the world for many ...

 

As for earnings news, it's out - the old sayings, "buy on rumors & sell on news" are true ... here http://finance.yahoo.com/news/norwegian-cruise-line-nclh-misses-125912746.html

 

Listening in on the "live" NCL webcast - conference call on earnings: Q&A - i.e. ship(s) will not sail the China market before 2017 once decision is made - likely sooner than planned. FDR acknowledged that they are as much as 10 years behind their competitors cashing in success with the China/Asian market - and it is seen as a seasonal deployment only (by taking the ship with the lowest yield, the Star out of the US and sailing over there for better financials with marketing efforts)

 

FDR also mentioned that onboard spending by Euro pax haven't gone up (foreign currency exchange rates being one factor ...) and also trying to attract more Canadian pax. (Full transcript should be out for those who wanted to read it verbatium)

[Presbycruiser]

Back on subject line of OP, this isn't the "huge announcement" for today - rather, it's the new sailings half way around the world for many ...

 

As for earnings news, it's out - the old sayings, "buy on rumors & sell on news" are true ... here http://finance.yahoo.com/news/norwegian-cruise-line-nclh-misses-125912746.html

 

Listening in on the "live" NCL webcast - conference call on earnings: Q&A - i.e. ship(s) will not sail the China market before 2017 once decision is made - likely sooner than planned. FDR acknowledged that they are as much as 10 years behind their competitors cashing in success with the China/Asian market - and it is seen as a seasonal deployment only (by taking the ship with the lowest yield, the Star out of the US and sailing over there for better financials with marketing efforts)

 

FDR also mentioned that onboard spending by Euro pax haven't gone up (foreign currency exchange rates being one factor ...) and also trying to attract more Canadian pax. (Full transcript should be out for those who wanted to read it verbatium)

 

Seems like NCL knows what it's doing business-wise. Cashing in on the booming Asian market makes sense. There are hundreds of millions of newly wealthy or middle class folks in China and India alone.

 

But their communications with their own passengers needs work.

[Aquahound]

Listening in on the "live" NCL webcast - conference call on earnings: Q&A - i.e. ship(s) will not sail the China market before 2017 once decision is made - likely sooner than planned. FDR acknowledged that they are as much as 10 years behind their competitors cashing in success with the China/Asian market - and it is seen as a seasonal deployment only (by taking the ship with the lowest yield, the Star out of the US and sailing over there for better financials with marketing efforts)

 

Seems like NCL knows what it's doing business-wise. Cashing in on the booming Asian market makes sense. There are hundreds of millions of newly wealthy or middle class folks in China and India alone.

 

I can see this happneing. An inside source tells me RCI is sending Oasis to China in 2017. If that holds out to be true, I can see NCL doing the same...and doing so with one of their newer ships.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

I can see this happneing. An inside source tells me RCI is sending Oasis to China in 2017. If that holds out to be true, I can see NCL doing the same...and doing so with one of their newer ships.

 

With what's been in the news lately regarding the Chinese economy, not sure that I'd be expanding my presence over there. But, then again - what do I know about international market/finance decisions !

 

Tom

[CruisinHarvey]

Hope the announcement is good enough to get the stock holders eyes off the 2nd quarter report and on to something else. Since NCL missed targets a little, the stock tanking today. It's down more than 6%.

[FreestyleNovice]

Anything? Yet?

[russianmom]

Anything? Yet?

 

The big announcement is that the big announcement was yesterday!!!! We got punk'd by DelRio again!!!!

[FreestyleNovice]

The big announcement is that the big announcement was yesterday!!!! We got punk'd by DelRio again!!!!

 

Hehh.

 

Reminds me, do/did we have a source for the big announcement?

[dub237]

With what's been in the news lately regarding the Chinese economy, not sure that I'd be expanding my presence over there. But, then again - what do I know about international market/finance decisions !

 

 

 

Tom

 

 

Yes more probable than ncl bliss will go to asia

Edited August 4, 2015 by dub237

[jmele999]

Yes more probable than ncl bliss will go to asia

 

Not sure that NCL is ready to send a big ship to Asia until they see what type of response (bookings) they get from the deployment of the Star to Asia. I can see Bliss going to Europe and one of the other smaller ships (Spirit) going to Asia.

[SteveH2508]

Not sure that NCL is ready to send a big ship to Asia until they see what type of response (bookings) they get from the deployment of the Star to Asia. I can see Bliss going to Europe and one of the other smaller ships (Spirit) going to Asia.

 

Spirit was originally built for the Asian market so there is a certain logic to that. Whether the Spirit's casino is up to snuff for that market is perhaps another question?