How many dance venues are on the Epic, would like to know everything about the ship!

[gam888]

We have sailed on many other cruises but have never sailed on NCL before. We are considering a 10 day cruise to the Canary Islands in March. We would like to do some ballroom dancing and general dancing after dinner. Would you please tell us how many dance venues are on the ship. We were told that the Disco mainly plays Electronic kind of music even though the clientele is mostly over 50's. We are over 50 and are not that keen on that type of music either. How many other lounges that have dance floors that has a live band or DJ that plays ballroom music, or pop chart music that one can dance to? Are there any parties held on deck? There is some sort of a white party I noticed, in an indoor lounge somewhere?

How is the food in the restaurants that do no require an extra fee? Do they serve lobster? Are they decent or you have to get better quality food going to one of the specialty restaurants?

NCL is offering a choice of one of 4 perks. We are considering the $50 off per cabin per port for shore excursion. Even though we usually hire a taxi and share the cost with another couple when we are in port and don't take ship excursions. This time I thought perhaps having $25 off per person will offset the expensive cost of a ship excursion, are they well run?

Then there is the choice of 250 free internet minutes. Is the WIFI fast on the ship? Usually we buy a drink in a cafe onshore and use the free internet, so just wondering if it's a better value to take the internet package or the shore excursion discount offer for our perk when we book this cruise.

 

Any other info on the Epic is helpful. Thanks in advance!

[Sunnyday2010]

I have the same question :)

I am trying to decide what perk to choose.

The dining and drink perk charge an extra $86 for gratuities (FYI):(

[Sauer-kraut]

We have sailed on many other cruises but have never sailed on NCL before. We are considering a 10 day cruise to the Canary Islands in March. We would like to do some ballroom dancing and general dancing after dinner. Would you please tell us how many dance venues are on the ship. We were told that the Disco mainly plays Electronic kind of music even though the clientele is mostly over 50's. We are over 50 and are not that keen on that type of music either. How many other lounges that have dance floors that has a live band or DJ that plays ballroom music, or pop chart music that one can dance to? Are there any parties held on deck? There is some sort of a white party I noticed, in an indoor lounge somewhere?

How is the food in the restaurants that do no require an extra fee? Do they serve lobster? Are they decent or you have to get better quality food going to one of the specialty restaurants?

NCL is offering a choice of one of 4 perks. We are considering the $50 off per cabin per port for shore excursion. Even though we usually hire a taxi and share the cost with another couple when we are in port and don't take ship excursions. This time I thought perhaps having $25 off per person will offset the expensive cost of a ship excursion, are they well run?

Then there is the choice of 250 free internet minutes. Is the WIFI fast on the ship? Usually we buy a drink in a cafe onshore and use the free internet, so just wondering if it's a better value to take the internet package or the shore excursion discount offer for our perk when we book this cruise.

 

Any other info on the Epic is helpful. Thanks in advance!

 

Well the only dance floors are in the Main Dining Room and will have a live combo on some evenings during dinner so you can get up and dance while dining. The only other floor is in the Bliss Lounge, again more of a disco atmosphere.

 

The Glow party will be held in Spice H2o and is fun....again mostly pop/disco/rap music. NCL isn't really geared for ballroom at all. For a truly fantastic time dancing in the evenings you can't do better than the Queen Mary 2 -- and she does do the Canaries every once in a while.

 

Lobster is available for a surcharge in the main dining room.

 

I seriously think you can do better on your own for excursions, $25 per person per port really isn't much of a savings. I've never done ship excursions. WiFi can be slow, but it seems to have improved.

[Midwest_Traveler]

I haven't yet sailed on the NCL Epic so I can't answer your questions in regards to the dancing. For the ship excursions, I would highly recommend shopping around. We booked a private, 8-hour tour for 5 people in Naples including a private guided tour of Pompeii at the #1 recommended tour guide on a very well-known trip advising website and it was under $600. A similar tour from NCL would have been closer to $2000 (!!).

 

If you're willing to read reviews and do some shopping around, I think that you can get better excursions for less money. Granted, these excursions do run the risk of not getting to the ship, but as long as you plan ahead, I think you should be fine in almost all circumstances.