NCL questions

[TMS9539]

We're considering a cruise on the NCL Epic, but I know absolutely nothing about this cruise line. What can people tell me about it?

 

We've previously cruised on Princess, RCL and Carnival. Princess is probably our favorite but we enjoyed all of our cruises. I will be traveling with my 74 year old mother. We go on cruises mostly to relax, so we spend a lot of time on our balcony, but we enjoy a good show and also love to play the slot machines in the casino. We never pay to eat in specialty restaurants - in fact, we often just choose to eat in the buffet rather than spend several hours over dinner.

 

How does NCL compare to other cruise lines? Will there be more kids than other cruises? How is the entertainment? And the service?

 

The price for the Epic is similar to Carnival. Does that mean NCL is more like Carnival and less like RCL? Not that it matters, but it's nice to know.

 

Also, a few questions specific to the Epic: Is the buffet located at the front of the ship? We usually try to book a cabin in the back to have easy access to the food, but if the buffet is in the front we'll book a cabin in the front.

 

Also, does the ship feel crowded? We haven't been on a ship that big before.

 

Thanks!

[anandaindonesia]

I'm new to NCL so can only answer one question.:)

Yes, the buffet on Epic is located at the front. It's called Garden Cafe, deck 15 forward.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

[kirsty_r]

We've previously cruised on Princess, RCL and Carnival. Princess is probably our favorite but we enjoyed all of our cruises. I will be traveling with my 74 year old mother. We go on cruises mostly to relax, so we spend a lot of time on our balcony, but we enjoy a good show and also love to play the slot machines in the casino. We never pay to eat in specialty restaurants - in fact, we often just choose to eat in the buffet rather than spend several hours over dinner.

 

My main concern here would be there are only 2 elevators on EPIC (forward and aft), so there could be a lot of walking for your mother. She may be a fit 74 year old though!

 

How does NCL compare to other cruise lines? Will there be more kids than other cruises? How is the entertainment? And the service?

 

Depends on your cruise - on the TA older folk, less kids. On my European one, a lot more kids. (theres lots for kids to do on EPIC). Maybe try and avoid school vacations. I wouldn't say there are more than other cruiselines - but maybe more than say ships like the star in the Baltics which appeals to older folk. I enjoyed the entertainment - Blue man, howl at the moon, and cirque are unmissable. I like the service, but this is something which is subjective. I can only say I felt the service on the epic was better than the star. I also felt the officers tried to get to know you more on EPIC.

 

The price for the Epic is similar to Carnival. Does that mean NCL is more like Carnival and less like RCL? Not that it matters, but it's nice to know.

 

I can't really compare - I think NCL is unique - with freestyle approach.

 

Also, a few questions specific to the Epic: Is the buffet located at the front of the ship? We usually try to book a cabin in the back to have easy access to the food, but if the buffet is in the front we'll book a cabin in the front.

 

Yes - front. Look for the elevators when booking your room, and try to aim for close to the elevators.

 

Also, does the ship feel crowded? We haven't been on a ship that big before.

 

Personally I haven't felt crowder, but probably base this on your specific cruise. The TA I hardly saw anyone. ON the European cruise, there are quieter spots e.g. spice H2O (Adults only) and some sneaky nooks and crannies that will be quieter than the main deck. I enjoy looking down on the atrium from the deck above when looking to relax inside.

[em-sk]

We're considering a cruise on the NCL Epic, but I know absolutely nothing about this cruise line. What can people tell me about it?

 

We've previously cruised on Princess, RCL and Carnival. Princess is probably our favorite but we enjoyed all of our cruises. I will be traveling with my 74 year old mother. We go on cruises mostly to relax, so we spend a lot of time on our balcony, but we enjoy a good show and also love to play the slot machines in the casino. We never pay to eat in specialty restaurants - in fact, we often just choose to eat in the buffet rather than spend several hours over dinner.

 

How does NCL compare to other cruise lines? Will there be more kids than other cruises? How is the entertainment? And the service?

 

The price for the Epic is similar to Carnival. Does that mean NCL is more like Carnival and less like RCL? Not that it matters, but it's nice to know.

 

Also, a few questions specific to the Epic: Is the buffet located at the front of the ship? We usually try to book a cabin in the back to have easy access to the food, but if the buffet is in the front we'll book a cabin in the front.

 

Also, does the ship feel crowded? We haven't been on a ship that big before.

 

Thanks!

 

NCL style is relaxed. The complementary places to eat include the buffet, two main dinning rooms (three course meals), a pub style restaurant (quick basic dishes). There is also a small mini-buffet in the H20 adult-only area at the rear of the ship. It is a fairly casual and relaxed ship.

 

Some of the shows are "name brand" shows. Blue Man Group, Second City (comedy), lots of music acts in multiple venues at the same time. The performance venues are small for the size of ship, they make up for that by having multiple venues and performances in parallel. You either like Blue Man Group or not.

 

For dinner you can make reservations ahead of time if there is a specific time you want to eat or see a show. For the shows they usually open it up to anyone who did not make a reservation 15 minutes before start time.

 

The ship has a lot of choices

[garycarla]

Two comments:

 

1 - Everything posted here is about NCL. And, almost every topic is a question. Meaning? Try to be more specific in the TITLE.

 

2 - Along with the answers you will get here, you will get way more by just scrolling down the page and read posts from the past week or so. Same questions, more answers. Also, read some reviews that have been posted in the review section.

 

 

Good sailing!

[LittleMissMagic]

We've previously cruised on Princess, RCL and Carnival. Princess is probably our favorite but we enjoyed all of our cruises. I will be traveling with my 74 year old mother. We go on cruises mostly to relax, so we spend a lot of time on our balcony, but we enjoy a good show and also love to play the slot machines in the casino. We never pay to eat in specialty restaurants - in fact, we often just choose to eat in the buffet rather than spend several hours over dinner.

 

I've also cruised on all of the lines you've mentioned! I think the Freestyle concept could work very well with your family. There are no assigned dining times (but you can make reservations for specialty restaurants if you wished) - just show up at one of the dining rooms, the buffet, or another eatery and you'll get in and out quickly. The Epic has two dining rooms. Taste is more casual, and you can wear shorts and almost anything except swimwear or hats or nothing at all. The Manhattan Room is their more formal dining room which requires pants for men. There were a few nights when we just ate upstairs in the buffet, the Garden Cafe, or at the grill on the pool deck. Dining on the Epic is really easygoing.

 

How does NCL compare to other cruise lines? Will there be more kids than other cruises? How is the entertainment? And the service?

 

I traveled on the Epic in the Mediterranean at the beginning of May, so there were hardly any children - I cannot comment on the spring Caribbean crowds, but I don't imagine that there would be any more children than Carnival or Royal Caribbean.

 

The entertainment on the Epic, in my opinion, knocks the other ships' I've sailed on out of the water. The Epic was my first (and only really) "mega ship" so if you've sailed on the Oasis or the Allure, then you are already spoiled by Broadway-style entertainment at sea. Some people cannot stand Blue Man Group, but my entire family loved them. I thought Legends was a bit of a bore and lacking great talent in all performers. Howl at the Moon is a dueling piano show, and I found them exceptional - the pianists are incredibly talented! And then we did pay to see Cirque Dreams which we enjoyed - both food and the show.

 

The price for the Epic is similar to Carnival. Does that mean NCL is more like Carnival and less like RCL? Not that it matters, but it's nice to know.

 

The most recent Carnival cruise I've been on was the Carnival Dream over Christmas in 2010. And I would say no, the Epic is more like RCL and less like Carnival. I cannot compare the entire line of NCL as a whole, as I've only sailed the Epic, but if I were to choose between the Norwegian Epic and the Freedom of the Seas - same itinerary - I would choose the Epic. I honestly think that Royal Caribbean is overpriced right now, and it's quite a turn-off to me - one of the reasons that I've chosen Norwegian and Princess over RCL for my past four cruises.

 

Also, a few questions specific to the Epic: Is the buffet located at the front of the ship? We usually try to book a cabin in the back to have easy access to the food, but if the buffet is in the front we'll book a cabin in the front.

 

Yes, the Garden Cafe is located at the front of the ship.

 

Also, does the ship feel crowded? We haven't been on a ship that big before.

 

I actually didn't feel like the Epic was crowded at all. I think they did a pretty good job with providing enough public spaces of appropriate size in proportion to their staterooms. The only ships that I have really felt the crowds in public spaces (particularly the buffet) on were the Carnival Dream and Island Princess.

 

Thanks!

[VideoTech]

You can find many, many reviews of the Epic here: http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/index.cfm

 

Select NCL, Epic, and if you want, the cruise itinerary in the drop down boxes. Read a fair selection of the reviews, and remember the people who generally take the time to write and post reviews are usually the ones who either had a great cruise, or a bad one. So after you read the reviews, throw out the worst and the best and you'll have a good idea of what the Epic is really like.

 

Then you can come back and post specific questions if you don't find the answers in the reviews.

[danh78]

We're considering a cruise on the NCL Epic, but I know absolutely nothing about this cruise line. What can people tell me about it?

 

We've previously cruised on Princess, RCL and Carnival. Princess is probably our favorite but we enjoyed all of our cruises. I will be traveling with my 74 year old mother. We go on cruises mostly to relax, so we spend a lot of time on our balcony, but we enjoy a good show and also love to play the slot machines in the casino. We never pay to eat in specialty restaurants - in fact, we often just choose to eat in the buffet rather than spend several hours over dinner.

 

How does NCL compare to other cruise lines? Will there be more kids than other cruises? How is the entertainment? And the service?

 

The price for the Epic is similar to Carnival. Does that mean NCL is more like Carnival and less like RCL? Not that it matters, but it's nice to know.

 

Also, a few questions specific to the Epic: Is the buffet located at the front of the ship? We usually try to book a cabin in the back to have easy access to the food, but if the buffet is in the front we'll book a cabin in the front.

 

Also, does the ship feel crowded? We haven't been on a ship that big before.

 

Thanks!

 

We've done Epic twice (only cruise, so I can't compare to other lines) and love it.

 

Buffet is in the front of the ship

 

Kids depends on time of year. We just went last week, 1/11-1/18, hotel director said there were 3-400 kids on board. Over Christmas, he said the number averaged around 1,100

 

Lots of entertainment options, Blue Man, Legends and Howl at the Moon being our favorites.

 

I posted a short review here in the boards a few days ago, working on a longer full review