New to ncl

[bubba777]

New to NCL, so I ask forgiveness for asking stupid questions. So far, I have only cruised on the Carnival Paradise. I have another cruised booked on the Carnival Valor for January 2017. My Dad is my cruising buddy, but after our next cruise with Carnival, he wants to try another line, so we are looking at NCL.

 

I found a great price on the 7 day Eastern on the Epic for January 2018. We watched some YouTube clips about the ship and it looks beautiful. I do have a few questions.

 

1. How is the dress code? I saw so many people dressed in suits in the videos we watched. That is not us. Shorts and t's during the day. Black jeans or dress pants and a Henley or polo shirt for dinner.

 

2. Since the ship accommodates so many people, do you have to reserve your spot for the shows? I understand you must for the Blue Man and Cirque shows because they are a pay item. How about the other ship shows. That could, and would, be a deal breaker for us. I believe they ruined Disney World by having to reserve ride times and restaurants.

 

3. How is NCL better than Carnival?

 

Thanks for your help.

[casofilia]

1. How is the dress code? I saw so many people dressed in suits in the videos we watched. That is not us. Shorts and t's during the day. Black jeans or dress pants and a Henley or polo shirt for dinner.

 

Norwegian is "Freestyle". Being a Kiwi I wear shorts all the time as there is always an MDR which allows them. There is another MDR where longs are required but not necessarily suits. There is also a specialty restaurant that requires longs (le Bistro) but again not necessarily a suit.

Some people dress up especially on one night when the captain makes himself available for photos but you will not be out of place in your black jeans or dress pants at any time.

 

Mike

[Rhea98]

 

2. Since the ship accommodates so many people, do you have to reserve your spot for the shows? I understand you must for the Blue Man and Cirque shows because they are a pay item. How about the other ship shows. That could, and would, be a deal breaker for us. I believe they ruined Disney World by having to reserve ride times and restaurants.

 

3. How is NCL better than Carnival?

 

Thanks for your help.

Reservations for shows are recommended. Although Blue Man is no longer on the ship, it wasn't a pay venue. Cirque, dinner and show, is pay. I've never done Cirque but have seen shorts as well as "cocktail" style in the theatre. The smaller venue shows have the same. It truly is freestyle with the noted exceptions at certain dining venues, and, then, the no-shorts is the only req. I've seen. No reservations are needed for small parties in the main dining rooms. There are moderate restrictions on bathing attire in any dining venue.

 

NCL vs Carnival. I've only done Carnival once-the Liberty out of Miami (2014). Not really freestyle but maybe in-between. I love Epic (4 past + 2 future cruises), but I thought the Liberty a great ship-more traditional with a better coffee shop, promenade, full jogging track on the top, and plenty of room inside to walk several miles early (5AM). The gym/spa areas were complimentary (only gym is on NCL). I'm not a foodie, but I thought food better on NCL--most notably, the buffet. The pizza was far superior on Carnival, and Guy's Burger joint was great. After several cold and/or incorrect meals served in the MDR, we relied on room service breakfast (which was free and more varied than NCL) and the small venue eating spots. Of course, this is all personal preference. Carnival had reasonably-priced Coke products which we were able to order ahead of time for room delivery. NCL had more entertainment options. We find the crew on both ships equally wonderful.

We won't sail Carnival out of Miami, again. The embarkation was not at all controlled while the disembarkation was a zoo (that may have been avoided by doing the self walk-off as there were no time conditions for those people).

The biggest difference is the Fun-cruise concept. If you like the loud, raucous, party style--not judging--this is for you. The Epic has many fun night activities as well as some on pool deck during the day.

I've only done the one Carnival cruise. It didn't fit us. We love the freestyle so we stick with it.

 

 

Sent from my Nexus 9 using Tapatalk

Edited July 5, 2016 by Rhea98

[Son of a son of a ...]

Re: Carnival v. NCL

 

To me, it is a ship class v. ship class decision. For example, Vista v. Escape. I would rather sail on both than sail on only one twice.

[Rhea98]

Re: Carnival v. NCL

 

To me, it is a ship class v. ship class decision. For example, Vista v. Escape. I would rather sail on both than sail on only one twice.

That's an absolute consideration. I think itinerary may also have an effect. A Carnival transatlantic might be just as "relaxed" as the one I've had on NCL (+2 booked). Our Liberty cruise and two Epic cruises were nearly the same Caribbean loops. I think Liberty and Epic must be close to the same category. Following that, I forgot that the room (ov-which isn't available on Epic) we had was larger than most balcony choices on Epic. My C cruise was 2013 not 2014.

 

Sent from my Nexus 9 using Tapatalk

Edited July 5, 2016 by Rhea98

[LrgPizza]

2. Since the ship accommodates so many people, do you have to reserve your spot for the shows? I understand you must for the Blue Man and Cirque shows because they are a pay item. How about the other ship shows. That could, and would, be a deal breaker for us. I believe they ruined Disney World by having to reserve ride times and restaurants.

 

Blue Man Group is no longer on Epic, and hasn't been for a long time. (for what it's worth, it was a free show.) The only pay show is Cirque.

Edited July 5, 2016 by LrgPizza

[AquaMarineFerret]

I may as well jump in with a naïve general NCL question: rather than having to keep track of our own expenditure aboard, does NCL offer any form of daily account tracker? Yes, I know it's laziness but we are on vacation! :p

[trivimp]

I may as well jump in with a naïve general NCL question: rather than having to keep track of our own expenditure aboard, does NCL offer any form of daily account tracker? Yes, I know it's laziness but we are on vacation! :p

 

If you download the iConcierge app, it's got a tab that lets you track your spending. Some folks have reported trouble/bugs with the app... it took a little fiddling to get it working, but then ran perfectly for the rest of the week for us. Purchases showed up pretty quickly (within minutes in most cases.)

[blackwing]

I may as well jump in with a naïve general NCL question: rather than having to keep track of our own expenditure aboard, does NCL offer any form of daily account tracker? Yes, I know it's laziness but we are on vacation! :p

In addition to the MyConcierge app... you can also turn on your TV and look up your account onscreen.

 

As far as NCL vs. Carnival... it's been many years since I was last on Carnival, but I tend to think that Carnival gets a bad rap. I enjoyed both of my Carnival cruises and my wife was on Carnival last year with her girlfriends and loved it. People tend to have this image of Carnival as a ship full of drunks, sloppily cheering on the hairy chest or sexy legs or hot lady contests. I'm not sure if it's the leftover images from Carnival promoting themselves as "the Fun Ships" and with Kathie Lee Gifford slinking around and singing about all the fun times.

 

Come on, admit it, you loved those commercials too. Both versions. The one that started with "If you could see me now, out on a Fun Ship cruise" as well as the one that started with "In the morning, in the evening, ain't we got fun". But these contests, as well as the sloppy drunks thanks to UBP, also exist in great quantities on NCL.

 

I do agree that the entertainment on the bigger NCL ships with the broadway style shows is probably better on NCL. Food is probably equal. I think you'd have to pick a Carnival ship and compare the activities and venues to Epic.

 

Also, if you cruise with your dad, you appear to be fairly close to him, but just in case you aren't aware, the Epic has "weird" bathrooms. Google some images and you will see. The toilet and shower are separate and basically open up right into the cabin. They have frosted glass doors but you can pretty much see a lot. Being men, you might not care, but I have heard that it causes a great deal of distress to many families. Note that there is a curtain you can pull to separate the cabin area from the bathroom area, but this might be awkward to use.

[AquaMarineFerret]

Thanks for the info on the Concierge app (hmmm, my wife's not taking her iPad and we don't have a smart phone - Luddites!) - useful to know for many, I'm sure! However, the TV route looks good for us!

:o

AMF

[Justaddvodka68]

You can also just stop at the desk and they'll print you out an up to date bill.

 

note that your service charges, if not prepaid are charged daily.

 

 

 

Thanks for the info on the Concierge app (hmmm, my wife's not taking her iPad and we don't have a smart phone - Luddites!) - useful to know for many, I'm sure! However, the TV route looks good for us!

:o

AMF

[AquaMarineFerret]

You can also just stop at the desk and they'll print you out an up to date bill.

 

note that your service charges, if not prepaid are charged daily.

 

Thanks - that's useful to know. Mind you, I don't want to pester the crew like some 21st century Shylock. ;) Fortunately, I did at least pre-pay the service charges before the £ headed toward the bilges!

[bubba777]

Thanks for the replies.

[cruisejunkie76]

hi, I have done 5 Cruises with the Epic already and I love it.

 

you don't have to Dress up if you don't want to. You can though. There will be a "formal" night. On that evening you can Dress up.

 

The Cirque was great. They have 2 Shows per night and you have to reserve. Not because it's mandatoy but you won't get a seat ;)

 

on my last cruise I had Dinner twice in the Buffet Restaurant (theme Evening / once Italien and once Asia) was great. You can wear leisurly Cloth there.

 

If you Need more advise in regards of the ship just let me know ;)