Norwegian Cruise Lines has announced that travellers who want to join their new cruise liner, the Epic, on its seven-day Mediterranean voyages now have alternative embarkation options.

Between the 29th April and the 17th October 2012, cruise passengers will be given the choice of starting their journeys either in Civitavecchia (Rome) or Barcelona.

Passengers will get the chance to explore exciting ports such as Marseille (Province), Villefranche (Nice), Livorno (Pisa) and Florence. The only difference between the two options will be the order of the itinerary.

Amanda Graham, PRO for Norwegian Cruise Lines, said in a statement to e-TravelBlackboard that the company aimed to offer guests more flexibility so they could plan the perfect holiday.

The company’s Norwegian Jade already offers alternative embarkation points. Ms Graham said that this gave passengers the opportunity of meeting other people who have already visited the cities where they were going to. This was a great way of getting recommendations.

While this will create extra work for the Guest Service Desk and the officers, the cruise line does not expect any other operational changes to become necessary.

Civitavecchia (Rome) departures on the 4,100 cruise liner are already open for bookings.

Norwegian Cruise Lines has, of course, recently been in the news when it announced the cabin designs for its new cruise ships that will be delivered in 2013 and 2014. Each ship has a passenger capacity of about 4,000 and the new designs were described as "modern boutique hotel meets the sea."