Cruise newbies are considering NCL: Your thoughts?

[CruisewithMary]

Hi!

 

My partner and I are considering going on our first cruise this year. The fact you can travel the world in an easy way sounds perfect for us.

 

We've heard a lot of lovely stories about NCL but we are still not sure it will be the right cruise line for us (It's hard to choose, there are so many!).

 

We are in our early 30's and the most important things for us is the portfolio of activities offered on board and the quality of the food.

 

What are your thoughts about the food? Is there any speciality restaurant you would highly recommend? Is it worth to buy the beverage package?

 

We've seen this comp to win a Western Mediterranean cruise on Norwegian Epic (http://www.worldofcruising.co.uk/win-norwegian-cruise/), we entered (you never know, with a bit of luck...), but really, we felt in love with the itinerary and are considering booking it anyway. Have you already experienced this one? What are your thoughts on Norwegian Epic?

 

Thank you all for your help, it will be really appreciated!

 

Mary

[Petitbotcottage]

Mary,we have had 3 cruises all with NCL on the Pearl, Jade and Epic and loved every one. The Epic Mediterranean cruise is very nice

[Manbo]

We loved the Western Med on the Epic! Spice H2O was awesome for the day at sea (just get there early). We mostly explored on our own (except the Vatican which we would skip the next time).

We thought the food on the Epic was really good, but we are underwhelmed with the specialty dining, we are generally disappointed).

the most important thing is to have a good attitude! you will have a blast!

[CruisewithMary]

Mary,we have had 3 cruises all with NCL on the Pearl, Jade and Epic and loved every one. The Epic Mediterranean cruise is very nice

 

 

Thank you for your comment Petitbotcottage! :) It is good to hear feedback from previous passengers. What were your thoughts on the food? or the service?

[detroitlions]

You should get the UBP for free.

[CruisewithMary]

We loved the Western Med on the Epic! Spice H2O was awesome for the day at sea (just get there early). We mostly explored on our own (except the Vatican which we would skip the next time).

We thought the food on the Epic was really good, but we are underwhelmed with the specialty dining, we are generally disappointed).

the most important thing is to have a good attitude! you will have a blast!

 

 

Fantastic! It confirms me this cruise is a good choice! Yes, I guess, for the days at sea, everybody has the same idea, so first arrived... first served! ;) Well, I guess it would be better to avoid the speciality dining then and use this money to go to lovely restaurants when going ashore!

[sanger727]

First of all, you should be getting the Beverage package for free. The running promo on Norwegian is called 'free at sea' where insides and ocean views come with one freebie and balconies and above (sometime oceanview a are included) come with two freebies. Freebie choices change month to month; but if you are interest in having the beverage package, def book when that is an option.

 

Options are usually the beverage package, a few free specialty dinners, free internet, and a shore excursion discount.

 

I'm assuming you live in the U.K.? If so just be educated when you book. Have seen people come on here stating that their travel agent sold them a package that included the cruise and the flight but did not include any of the freebies. So look online ahead of time and know what price you should be paying and then see what they offer you.

 

Be aware the epic has an odd bathroom setup where instead of a bathroom, the shower and toilet are directly off the cabin so there's no much privacy.

 

NCL is a great line and we really enjoyed the epic just make sure you do your homework before you book. As I understand it U.K. Customers have different booking conditions than US customers (specifically, there's no free cancellations or the ability to rebook to take advantage of changing promos or price drops for U.K. Customers)

 

 

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[BirdTravels]

We cruise several times a year and have sailed on the Epic six times (twice to the Med).

 

The ship was in dry dock in October 2015 where all of the public areas were rebuilt from the sheet metal up. So, she is fresh and contemporary. We actually sailed on the repositioning cruise from Southampton to Barcelona after the dry dock (when the paint was still drying). ;p

 

Google "Norwegian Escape Menus" to see of NCL menus (they are pretty consistent across the fleet. (Note: The Epic does not have Bayamos, Supper Club, Food Republic, Margaritaville, or Pinco Tappa).

 

You can have a white tablecloth meal 3 times a day for your 7 day cruise if you want. The food is "good" (comparable to any high street restaurant). The specialty dining rooms will cook entrees to order. Sometimes you read some negative reviews. We always consider that the ship's galley needs to prepare 15,000+ meals a day (think about your high street restaurant trying to server more than a 100 covers a night).

 

The UBP for free (as a promotion) is a great deal. We'll order a lot of non-alcoholic frozen drinks (virgin strawberry daiquiri, virgin pina colada, virgin mango meltdown). It does not have to be a beer from sun-up to bed time (can be, but doesn't have to be). We always think about it in terms of "what would I never pay for in my local pub,,,, but have always wanted to try".

 

The Med itinerary is great. Lots of great ports. But,,,, if you venture out on your own, some of the major cities like Rome are far from the port. And if you are late getting back, the ship won't be there waiting for you. :( Most people take organised tours (could be the more expensive NCL tours, private tours, or at least the NCL transfers to the city centers).

 

Tourist all day. Play all night. You'll need a holiday from your holiday

 

Enjoy!

Edited March 2, 2017 by BirdTravels

[Petitbotcottage]

Thank you for your comment Petitbotcottage! :) It is good to hear feedback from previous passengers. What were your thoughts on the food? or the service?

The food on the Epic is wonderful. The Main Dining Rooms of Taste and Manhattan are excellent and we never felt the need to try the speciality restaurants. The Garden Cafe buffet is also excellent. No problem at all with the service

[NCLfamily]

The Epic is wonderful. Dine in Cagneys at least once. Teppenyaki is fun too, usually around 5 or 6 couples around each hot plate, so good banter. Head to Duelling pianos after 10pm whenever it's on, loads of fun. Spice h20 during the day for kid free relaxing and a good international chit chat at the bar.

 

 

We are going on The Epic (Med) for the 4th time in October. We started cruising in 2010 when I was 36 and my wife 34, we now cruise at least once a year (twice last year and this). We love it.

 

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[Thrilled2012]

We loved our Western Med cruise on the Epic! We went before its last dry dock so I imagine its even better now. We really enjoyed the ports. We didn't do any organized tours as we had been to most places previously. Embarked in Rome/Civatavecchia. We did the HOHO (hop on/hop off) bus in Barcelona, walked around Florence on our own and went to the Duomo and Ponte Vecchio, etc, walked around Palma de Mallorca on our own and toured the royal palace, relaxed on the beach in Cannes, found an amazing taxi driver that took us all over Naples and to Herculaneum for very little charge. When we got back to Rome we spend a few days there and a day at Pompeii.

 

The Epic was so much fun. We had the free at sea promos (beverage package and specialty dining). We never ate in a MDR so I can't speak to that. We had a bad experience at Cagneys (none of our steaks were cooked even close to the temperature that we ordered. My medium rare steak wasn't even remotely pink and was tough. Resembled a hockey puck more than a steak lol). LeBistro and LaCucina were fair (but we tend to be picky about our French and Italian foods). If you like escargot, LeBistro's escargot were tasty. We had excellent food at Teppanyaki and Modernos. I know some people aren't into buffets, but we found the Epic buffet to have tons of choices, well cooked and hot food. We really liked it, especially for breakfast and lunch.

 

I hope you decide to take the plunge. If you do, happy sailing!

[SquishTheWhale]

 

Be aware the epic has an odd bathroom setup where instead of a bathroom, the shower and toilet are directly off the cabin so there's no much privacy.

 

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While the Epic does indeed hav an odd bathroom setup this makes it sound worse than it is! The toilet and shower are seperate on either side of the corridor. The doors to both are opaque glass, so it's not like they are directly in the cabin! For you as a couple this shouldn't be an issue unless you are really shy about your bodily habits. However it can be an issue for friends travelling together as the doors don't have locks and you can see the outline of the person inside (and hear what they are doing!). There is a curtain that can be pulled across for more privacy but it's still not as private as a normal bathroom. Personally I was fine with the set up- I've lived with my fiance for many years so I know he goes to the bathroom haha. The sink is in the main cabin and I liked that I could be brushing my teeth while he was in the loo or the shower.

 

Are you from the UK? Can I suggest you have a little look at the link in my signature which gives my review of our first ever cruise, which was on the Epic. It won't be the same itinerary, but we are a similar age, from the UK and it was our first cruise, so there is enough similarity there that it should be worth your time to have a read!

 

Personally I loved our first cruise- the Epic is a bit odd but as we didn't have anything to compare her to it didn't bother us. It's been over a year and it's the holiday we still talk about all the time, even though we've been on others since! Instead of saying 'I wish we were on holiday' it's now always 'I wish we were on a cruise' lol

 

There's something about the security and pampering of being on the ship with all the food and entertainment you want, and the mix of adventure and seeing so many new places that just works for us. We are going on our second cruise in October and I am already browsing for 2018!

[CruisewithMary]

First of all, you should be getting the Beverage package for free. The running promo on Norwegian is called 'free at sea' where insides and ocean views come with one freebie and balconies and above (sometime oceanview a are included) come with two freebies. Freebie choices change month to month; but if you are interest in having the beverage package, def book when that is an option.

 

Options are usually the beverage package, a few free specialty dinners, free internet, and a shore excursion discount.

 

I'm assuming you live in the U.K.? If so just be educated when you book. Have seen people come on here stating that their travel agent sold them a package that included the cruise and the flight but did not include any of the freebies. So look online ahead of time and know what price you should be paying and then see what they offer you.

 

Be aware the epic has an odd bathroom setup where instead of a bathroom, the shower and toilet are directly off the cabin so there's no much privacy.

 

NCL is a great line and we really enjoyed the epic just make sure you do your homework before you book. As I understand it U.K. Customers have different booking conditions than US customers (specifically, there's no free cancellations or the ability to rebook to take advantage of changing promos or price drops for U.K. Customers)

 

 

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Yes, I am from the UK! I will make sure to read the up to date T&C's before to book and to check which freebies are available at that time. I wasn't aware of that so your comment has been really useful!

 

Regarding the bathroom, I have checked pictures on Google after reading your comment, but, to be honest, I think it should be ok for us.

[CruisewithMary]

While the Epic does indeed hav an odd bathroom setup this makes it sound worse than it is! The toilet and shower are seperate on either side of the corridor. The doors to both are opaque glass, so it's not like they are directly in the cabin! For you as a couple this shouldn't be an issue unless you are really shy about your bodily habits. However it can be an issue for friends travelling together as the doors don't have locks and you can see the outline of the person inside (and hear what they are doing!). There is a curtain that can be pulled across for more privacy but it's still not as private as a normal bathroom. Personally I was fine with the set up- I've lived with my fiance for many years so I know he goes to the bathroom haha. The sink is in the main cabin and I liked that I could be brushing my teeth while he was in the loo or the shower.

 

Are you from the UK? Can I suggest you have a little look at the link in my signature which gives my review of our first ever cruise, which was on the Epic. It won't be the same itinerary, but we are a similar age, from the UK and it was our first cruise, so there is enough similarity there that it should be worth your time to have a read!

 

Personally I loved our first cruise- the Epic is a bit odd but as we didn't have anything to compare her to it didn't bother us. It's been over a year and it's the holiday we still talk about all the time, even though we've been on others since! Instead of saying 'I wish we were on holiday' it's now always 'I wish we were on a cruise' lol

 

There's something about the security and pampering of being on the ship with all the food and entertainment you want, and the mix of adventure and seeing so many new places that just works for us. We are going on our second cruise in October and I am already browsing for 2018!

 

I have checked pictures on Google and the bathroom will not be an issue for us :) I will make sure to read your post, I feel more confident now, as a cruise newbie, to book on Norwegian Epic knowing it is a good ship and you had a lovely time during your first cruise.

[CruisewithMary]

LeBistro's escargot were tasty. We had excellent food at Teppanyaki and Modernos. I know some people aren't into buffets, but we found the Epic buffet to have tons of choices, well cooked and hot food. We really liked it, especially for breakfast and lunch.

 

 

Being French, I will make sure to taste them! (and make sure my British partner tries them! :))

[Thrilled2012]

Being French, I will make sure to taste them! (and make sure my British partner tries them! :))

 

 

Oh boy! Well if you are French then they may not be up to your standards lol, as I have had much better. But out of the appetizers and main courses that the 4 of us ordered, they were our favorite item. I would certainly order them again. Enjoy! You will definitely not go hungry on the Epic :)

[luckyinpa]

1st cruise was on the breakaway to bermuda in haven room. i loved it. got me hooked so i had to find a cheap cruise 2 months later to go on. NCL gives away the most freebees and yes i've done the research. dollar for dollar they are a better deal especially if you are a drinker. i only found one other reasonably priced line that gives you any free drink/dinner packages

 

the ship was super clean and everyone was friendly and helpful and thats what made me go again so quick.

[Ergates The Ant]

We have booked our first NCL cruise through their website in the UK. Although some of the terms and conditions we get in the UK are less favourable than our friends in the US get, you will be pleased to know that if you get the free drinks (UBP) promotion, it does mean free, whereas US customers have to pay an extra service charge on top.