Norwegian Epic vs. celebrity

[Bananaprata]

Hi I would be interested to hear from fellow cruisers that I have been on the Epic as well as Celebrity ships. We went on the Reflection last summer and had a great experience with our 2 boys aged 8 and 10. We have provisionally booked the Canaries and Morocco cruise this Xmas and were a bit worried about how hectic it will be. How xmassy the ship will be? And dow does the fod and the rest compares with other cruise lines. We have only experience of Celebrity, Costa and MSC. Thank you!

[Demonyte]

There will definitely be more kids and activities for kids on Epic.

 

Food is better on Celebrity, but I definitely wouldn't say that NCL's food is bad either - especially since NCL is supposedly improving menus, current menus are not that old and were improvement from previous menus and they are now in process of improving menus even more.

 

I'd say that for families with kids NCL can be a better choice than Celebrity but for us (DINK, early/mid 30s) Celebrity is currently better match because of more "adult" atmosphere.

Edited September 14, 2015 by Demonyte

[Donna_In_India]

Hi - it's been a very long time since I've sailed Celebrity so I don't think my comparison would be fair (although I loved Celebrity). The Epic was my first big NCL ship and I really enjoyed that cruise. We've since been on the Breakaway and most recently, with family (and 5 kids) on the Getaway. If activities for your kids are important I'd check out some of the dailies. I don't remember what was on the Epic for bigger kids (my daughter was about 2) but the Getaway has the slides, ropes courses, rock-climbing wall, etc. which all our kids loved. When I cruised Celebrity they were a lot less kid/family friendly. Don't know if that's changed?

 

Food is subjective and I've enjoyed the food on both lines. On NCL shows are good, kids clubs are good - and in particular I liked the pool deck on the Epic.

 

Christmas time is always filled with kids - not sure about that itinerary though so will let someone who has sailed that respond. I had looked at that itinerary and it does look great!

[ourfamilylovescruising]

as a cruise line we love celebrity, but so far the Epic has been our favorite ship

 

when we cruise we usually have about 20 to 30 people with us ranging from 3 to 78 years old and NCL was the first cruise line that really had something for every age your kids will love the Epic.

[4774Papa]

We have 8 Celebrity cruises and 5 on NCL, including one on Epic.

 

We like both lines, but prefer Celebrity. The food is better and service more consistent.

Entertainment is slightly better on NCL.

 

The Epic was our least favorite NCL ship. We do not like the big ships. We always felt the ship was crowded and the main pool area is too small for the ship and way too noisy. We found it unusable.

 

If you have visitors in your cabin on Epic and have to use the toilet, they can hear you quite well.

 

Entertainment on Epic was excellent.

 

The average passenger age on Epic was about 40, while it is about 60 on Celebrity.

[nomad098]

Hi I would be interested to hear from fellow cruisers that I have been on the Epic as well as Celebrity ships. We went on the Reflection last summer and had a great experience with our 2 boys aged 8 and 10. We have provisionally booked the Canaries and Morocco cruise this Xmas and were a bit worried about how hectic it will be. How xmassy the ship will be? And dow does the fod and the rest compares with other cruise lines. We have only experience of Celebrity, Costa and MSC. Thank you!

 

We have done both but not at Xmass

 

The kids prefered Celebrity kids club to NCL

The kids prefered the pools on Celebrity but the slides on Epic

The Kids prefered the activities outside of kids club on the Epic

 

Food is subjective but we prefered the food on Silhouette to Epic but Epic was better than Constellation

 

We prefered the dining options on the Epic

 

Outside space we loved the grass area on Silhouette and the H20 spice on Epic

and were disappointed with the lack of anything going on on deck on the

Constellation in the evenings

 

Entertainment we prefered Epic

 

Rooms

We had a FV on Silhouette so can not compare

But we had inside and balcony on both the Epic and Constellation

Constellation was slightly better just because we did not like having the sink

in the room on Epic. Liked having the shower and toilet separate on Epic.

 

anything else just ask

[Bananaprata]

Many Thanks for your reply. I would also just like to know which restaurants are free and which ones have a cover charge as it is not very clear on NCL website. Thanks again

[Demonyte]

Many Thanks for your reply. I would also just like to know which restaurants are free and which ones have a cover charge as it is not very clear on NCL website. Thanks again

 

You can see all restaurants and their pricing status (complimentary/cover charge/a la carte) listed in NCL's Dining Guide: http://www.ncl.com/diningguide

[nomad098]

Many Thanks for your reply. I would also just like to know which restaurants are free and which ones have a cover charge as it is not very clear on NCL website. Thanks again

 

Here you go. Not sure when this was last updated. I am sure someone will post if the cover charge has changed

 

The Manhattan Room (Main Dining Room)

Cuisine: Continental

Dress Code: Resort Casual, plus nice jeans are allowed. No shorts after 6:00 p.m. in the dining rooms.

Surcharge: No

Reservations Required: No

Hours

Dinner: 5:30 p.m. – 10:30 p.m.

 

Taste (Main Dining Room)

Cuisine: Continental

Dress Code: Resort Casual, plus nice jeans are allowed. No shorts after 6:00 p.m. in the dining rooms.

Surcharge: No

Reservations Required: No

Hours

Breakfast: 7:00 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.

Lunch: 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

Dinner: 5:30 p.m. – 10:30 p.m.

 

Chef's Table

Cuisine: Upscale Contemporary: gourmet nine course menu with wine pairings

Dress Code: Resort Casual, plus nice jeans are allowed.

Surcharge: Yes, $99 per person

Reservations Required: Yes, only 12 seats available. Please book ASAP

 

Le Bistro French Restaurant

Cuisine: French

Dress Code: Resort Casual, plus nice jeans are allowed. No shorts after 6:00 p.m. in the dining rooms.

Surcharge: Yes, $20 per person

Reservations Required: Yes

Hours

Dinner: 5:30 p.m. – 10:30 p.m.

 

Cagney's Steakhouse

Cuisine: Steakhouse

Dress Code: Resort Casual, plus nice jeans are allowed. No shorts after 6:00 p.m. in the dining rooms.

Surcharge: Yes, $30 per person

Reservations Required: Yes

Hours

Dinner: 5:30 p.m. – 10:30 p.m.

 

Moderno

Cuisine: Churrascaria

Dress Code: Resort Casual, plus nice jeans are allowed. No shorts after 6:00 p.m. in the dining rooms.

Surcharge: Yes, $20 per person

Reservations Required: Yes

Hours

Dinner: 5:30 p.m. – 10:30 p.m.

 

La Cucina

Cuisine: Italian

Dress Code: Resort Casual, plus nice jeans are allowed. No shorts after 6:00 p.m. in the dining rooms.

Surcharge: Yes, $15 per person

Reservations Required: Yes

Hours

Dinner: 5:30 p.m. – 10:30 p.m.

 

Shanghai's Chinese Restaurant and Noodle Bar

Cuisine: Chinese American

Dress Code: Resort Casual, plus nice jeans are allowed. No shorts after 6:00 p.m. in the dining rooms.

Surcharge: No

Reservations Required: Yes

Hours

Lunch: 12:00 noon – 3:00 p.m.

Dinner: 5:30 p.m. – 10:30 p.m.

 

Teppanyaki

Cuisine: Japanese Hibachi

Dress Code: Resort Casual, plus nice jeans are allowed. No shorts after 6:00 p.m. in the dining rooms.

Surcharge: Yes, $25 per person

Reservations Required: Yes

Hours

Dinner: 5:30 p.m. – 10:30 p.m.

 

Wasabi

Cuisine: Japanese Sushi/Sake Bar

Dress Code: Resort Casual, plus nice jeans are allowed. No shorts after 6:00 p.m. in the dining rooms.

Surcharge: Yes, A la carte

Reservations Required: Yes

Hours

Dinner: 5:30 p.m. – 10:30 p.m.

 

O'Sheehan's

Cuisine: Pub food

Dress Code: Resort Casual, plus nice jeans are allowed. No shorts after 6:00 p.m. in the dining rooms.

Surcharge: No

Reservations Required: Yes

Hours

Dinner: Open 24 hours

 

Garden Café

Cuisine: Buffet

Dress Code: Casual

Surcharge: No

Reservations Required: No

Hours

Breakfast: 7:00 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.

Lunch: 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

Dinner: 5:30 p.m. – 10:30 p.m.

 

Great Outdoors

Cuisine: Buffet

Dress Code: Casual

Surcharge: No

Reservations Required: No

Hours

Breakfast: 7:00 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.

Lunch: 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

 

Spice H2O

Cuisine: Grilled Items

Dress Code: Casual

Surcharge: No

Reservations Required: No

Open for Lunch (check hours once onboard)

 

The Haven Restaurant (Private Access for Guests of The Haven Only)

Cuisine: Steak, Seafood

Dress Code: Resort Casual, plus nice jeans are allowed. No shorts after 6:00 p.m. in the dining rooms.

Surcharge: No

Reservations Required: Yes

Hours

Breakfast: 7:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.

Lunch: 12:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.

Dinner: 5:30 p.m. – 10:30 p.m

 

The Haven Lounge (Private Access for Guests of The Haven Only)

Cuisine: Café & Bar

Surcharge: No

Open for Breakfast and Lunch

 

In addition to the restaurants mentioned above, the Norwegian Epic also features the Atrium coffee bar, midnight buffets and 24-hour room service. Pizza delivery for a fee of $5 is available 24 hours a day.

 

Individual items on the room service menu remain available on a complimentary basis and a convenience charge of up to $7.95 will be added to each order placed (Morning coffee, continental breakfast and orders placed by guests sailing in The Haven will not attract a charge).

[Byron_1978]

We haven't been on Epic yet, only the Pearl 3 years ago, but recently completed a cruise on Celebrity Eclipse.

We are currently contemplating going on Epic next year (western med probably).

 

Our findings are as follows:

We thought food was way better on Celebrity. We also like the traditional dining setup more than freestyle. The buffet we found was better on the Pearl than on Eclipse.

 

Entertainment was in our opinion way better on NCL. The shows were not so good quality on Celebrity.

 

Overall, we enjoyed both NCL and Celebrity (and RCI as well).

We would chose based on itinerary, price and what we would like to get out of our holiday. Cruiseline is not an important factor in our selection.

[Demonyte]

The buffet we found was better on the Pearl than on Eclipse.

 

This is interesting. Do you mean buffet as venue or the food served there?

 

I found the buffet food on Celebrity much higher quality (ie. better) than on NCL - the actual buffet setup does not matter to me as that can differ even from ship to ship and does not affect food.

Edited September 15, 2015 by Demonyte

[Byron_1978]

This is interesting. Do you mean buffet as venue or the food served there?

 

I found the buffet food on Celebrity much higher quality (ie. better) than on NCL - the actual buffet setup does not matter to me as that can differ even from ship to ship and does not affect food.

Actually not so much the venue or the food quality.

What bothered me was the variety. It seemed to me that it was always pretty much the same thing they served. It seemed that they chose to move items around so that people would think the buffet changed.

In my memory, when we were on the Pearl 3 years ago, the food in the buffet changed more often.

 

What did amaze me were the burgers in the buffet on Celebrity...They were really great. I could go for one right now if it weren't for stupid things such as work and money...Also the sushi, indian and pizza were not bad at all.

 

What I found pretty bad at the Celebrity buffet was the pasta station. It actually disgusted me as he used the same utencils for taking pasta as for taking all the supplements you could have. I saw him use it to take mushrooms for the person behind me. For anybody like me, with an absolute disgust for mushrooms, this is bad...and because of this, they lost a lot of points with me.

[Dsil432]

I was just on Epic last month. Prior to that, I've sailed on NCL 4 times. I've sailed on Celebrity 5 times as well, most recently in 2012. Both will be very different. To be honest, we found Epic to be overwhelming in terms of number of passengers, and we've sailed on the Freedom-class RCI ships twice so we're used to that size. During sea days and at night, the ship was extremely crowded. We hated that you needed to make reservations for most entertainment and most dining options were sub-par compared to Celebrity. The service was very poor on our Epic cruise, and I imagine over Christmas (which is a time when no one is happy to work) the service would be even worse.

 

We found the staterooms, service, and food to be much better on Celebrity than NCL Epic. Entertainment was about even. The Epic was more lively and had a more fun atmosphere, but with that comes crowds and noise and LOTS of children. Also, expect NCL to make much more of an obvious effort to sell you things on-board. I'm not saying Celebrity won't try to upsell you, but they are much more discreet about it and not as "in-your-face" as NCL is. The Celebrity experience is much classier and more luxurious, but with that is usually a higher cost.

 

I would sail on Celebrity sooner than Epic, although I am still a big fan of the Jewel-class ships.