I can't decide. Epic or Freedom?

[2hearted]

I need help deciding between a 7 day Epic from Barcelona to Rome on 10/8/17 or a 10 day Freedom of the Seas on10/5/17 round trip from Barcelona. They are both within a few hundred dollars of each other, so that is not the debate. However, the Epic does include the drink package which is nice. They both have a few of the same stops and every day but one is at port. So, I don't think I would get full use out of the drink package anyway. I would love to get some unbiased opinions. I have sailed both lines in the Caribbean, but neither ship. I am not partial to either line.

 

 

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[cincicruisers]

If everything is equal I would take the longer cruise.

[BirdTravels]

I would go for the longer cruise for similar price.

[fshagan]

If you are going with the base cruise price as a comparison and didn't do a mock booking, make sure you are accounting for the 18% gratuity on the NCL drinks package; even though you are getting it for free, they will assess 18% on the value of the package. For a 7 day cruise, I believe it is about $95 per person for the gratuity. If you aren't already accounting for that it swings NCL another $190 more expensive.

 

If you usually end up with a bar bill of more than $200 then it might make sense to consider NCL. For us, we never have a bar bill that high anyway so it's not a perk we would pay tips on. YMMV.

 

In general, the cruise with the lowest per-day charge is the best deal, given the same itinerary. It sounds like the Freedom is giving you additional port stops.

 

I have sailed the Epic and it is my least favorite NCL ship, but I don't know how the Freedom compares. My negatives are not necessarily things that would ever bother you, and my "dislike" is slight enough that given a good price and itinerary I would not hesitate to take the Epic again. With that disclaimer, here's my quibble list with the Epic:

 

Rooms are small and the bathroom and shower are simply frosted glass enclosures inside the cabin, on either side of the door.

 

 

Here's a shot of someone sitting on the toilet in clothes:

 

 

Note there is a curtain that can be drawn to separate the rest of the cabin from the toilet and shower (you can see the brown curtain to your left in the picture of my wife). It can take some planning with cabin mates you don't want to have walk in when taking a shower (if any), so agreeing on honoring the "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door can help solve that issue. This isn't much of a problem for couples, but if you are traveling with teens or mixed families, and one of them is shy, it can be an issue.

 

The Epic is a ship with a lot going on, but other than from your balcony, you feel pretty disconnected from the sea. There is no promenade deck that wraps around the ship; instead the outside walking area is fore and aft and the view is obstructed by the lifeboats:

 

 

The pros are that the Epic has great night life, and the entertainment is very good for a cruise ship. We especially enjoyed the dueling piano "Howl at the Moon" show in one of the lounges. The Broadway style shows are usually fun, with pretty good singers and dancers (on a par with good theme park shows like you see at Disney). NCL also has lots of live music going on in bars and lounges, and we really appreciate that.

 

We also like that we could always get a table for two in any main dining room whenever we wanted to eat. NCL doesn't have traditional dining where you eat in the same place every night, seated with 6 other people you haven't met before (and that you are stuck with for the rest of the cruise). We really like this aspect of cruising with NCL. Most lines now have some kind of "anytime dining" although we believe NCL still does this best.

[denatravels]

I've done both lines, but neither ship. Longer wins for me-- honestly, I chose NCL over RCCL for my February cruise because the prices were equal and included the perks-- I probably won't get off the ship. On a port intensive cruise, it does become less used. If you're going for the ports, I'd maximize THAT.

 

 

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[SuiteTraveler]

Freedom is an awesome ship and a longer cruise would be my preference.

[bluesea777]

Ha ha, we have been on 16 NCL cruises and pretty much most of the NCL ships. We have been on Epic 3 times (total 44 days) ... and IMVHO I think Epic has the best restaurants on any ship - layouts, locations, ambience. Also the bars.

 

We could not careless about the cabins as we're a long married couple. Lots of storage space though. We were never in cabin long enough. The showers were good though.

 

We have been on all NCL classes ships and each class has its pros and cons over the other classes, so we do not have a favourite NCL ship! :eek:

 

I'll cite one thing - we do not like Le Bistro on the Dawn, Star, BA and Escape because of lack of ambience that is there on the Jewel class and Epic, and also on the Sun.

 

Each to each ship's own.

[gymbomb]

I like NCL, but Epic is definitely my least favorite ship so far. I would do Freedom both for the ship (which I think is much less important on a European itinerary than Caribbean) and for the extra days.

 

 

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[tgirl25]

I am getting ready to go on Epic in feb, but not sure I would want to share a room with anyone on this ship due to the bathroom issue. If I did this cruise with my son as I often do I would have to go for joining studio's because there is no way I would do a different arrangement with someone I was not in a long past caring type relationship with. With the boy, no way!

 

While i have not been on Freedom, I was on the sister ship Liberty of the Seas and it was an amazing cruise. The Ice Shows, surfing and everything to offer on the ship was just amazing. I would certainly suggest any of the Freedom class.

 

I would always take a similarly priced longer cruise unless work restricted. But you also have the choice of a longer cruise on a great ship so that is the way I would go

[Escaping2016]

I have down Epic. There were 4 of us in the room two adult (friends) and 2 10 year old boys. There was a privacy curtain for the bathroom area and we had the balcony to sit out on while people were getting ready it really wasn't an issue at all

 

 

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[joshuae]

Are there public bathrooms on each level with cabins?

[volk904]

I have never been on the the Epic but I have been on the Freedom of the Seas twice. It is a great ship. Since it is 3 days longer for similar money and your airfare to Europe is not cheap the longer trip sounds appealing to me. The NCL tips charge for the free drink package. is $99 pp on top of the cruise fare.

 

 

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[deramy]

We are on the Epic in a few weeks and got the UDP and SDP (3 meals) included. Can someone please advise if we will still be charged 18% gratuities on every drink/meal? Not such a good deal after all if this is the case! Thanks in advance for any advice.

[don1976]

We are on the Epic in a few weeks and got the UDP and SDP (3 meals) included. Can someone please advise if we will still be charged 18% gratuities on every drink/meal? Not such a good deal after all if this is the case! Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

I think once you've paid for the dining packages then you're done. However any drinks not covered by the dining package (like speciality cocktails), we found still had the 18% added.

[SullytheBFG]

The UK does not pay 18% on top of the packages as our consumer law is different. We sail the Epic later this month and got the UBP which covers drinks up to $15 and the 3 night dining.

 

We had the free drinks package for two weeks on the Escape in January which was fantastic. Our drinks bill otherwise would have been horrible!!

[deramy]

Phew!! Thanks guys just what I wanted to hear! 🍷🍸🍷🍸xx