Norwegian Cruise Line and Epic questions.

[yancycruiser]

We are long-time cruisers since 1993 and last time on Norwegian 25 years ago.   We are considering the Norwegian Epic out of Port Canaveral, 8-day cruise out of Port Canaveral.   We have been on 25 cruises with last 13 on Royal Caribbean or Princess.    From your experience how is Norwegian overall.   Plus any opinions on the Epic would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Yancycruiser

 

[Two Wheels Only]

As far as NCL ships, Epic is......unique. 😉

It's the only ship of its kind.

 

It's not the prettiest ship on the outside. Some say that it will be the ugly emeritus of the cruise industry for all of eternity.

 

The "bathroom" layout of the majority of staterooms can be a problem for many. 

 

Some people feel that it is interior-focused with less of an "outdoors" feeling since it lacks a Waterfront area that later ships have. 

 

However, the Haven on Epic is considered by many to be the best in the fleet plus it has more normal bathrooms. 

 

As for NCL overall, you should really do a lot of research so that you will know what is included and what isn't. With NCL, many things are optional and that leads to many people feeling "nickled and dimed". It's not really that but many people use that term. Think of it like picking and choosing what you want and ignoring what you don't want. In many cases, there are included things as well as pay as you go optional things. 

 

The biggest, most often discussed topics are the Free At Sea promos and their associated (20%) service charges and the DSC (Daily/Discretionary Service Charge) which is $20/$25 per person per day depending on stateroom type. 

[yancycruiser]

Thank you Two Wheels Only for your detailed input.  It really helps with my overall decision.

 

[ExpatBride]

I was lured to the Epic by an excellent price and lived to regret it. I prefer smaller ships with no more than 2,500 passengers, so it was a bad fit for me. I've had a wonderful time on both the Star and Jade.

 

Pre-COVID, I thought that NCL delivered excellent value for money, but I quit sailing with them in 2017, so I don't know how it is now. Given that there have been recent cost-cutting measures on every cruise line, I don't think I'd like the "new" NCL. 

[AstoriaPreppy]

20 hours ago, yancycruiser said:

We are long-time cruisers since 1993 and last time on Norwegian 25 years ago.   We are considering the Norwegian Epic out of Port Canaveral, 8-day cruise out of Port Canaveral.   We have been on 25 cruises with last 13 on Royal Caribbean or Princess.    From your experience how is Norwegian overall.   Plus any opinions on the Epic would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Yancycruiser

 

 

NCL will be a very different experience than what you've experienced on Princess/Royal, and the Epic is a very odd ship to start with. Most importantly: all staterooms (outside of Haven rooms, NCL's ship-within-a-ship concept for suites) have bathrooms *in* the room space. The toilet is in your cabin (with a sliding glass door) as in the shower, and the sink. This probably doesn't make sense, so please google for pics. 

 

We've always found NCL ships tend to feel more crowded than some of the other lines. Large portions of the ships are given over to specialty dining venues that are open only for dinner. So instead of having a huge MDR (or three like Princess) and maybe two or three specialty restaurants, you'll find three smaller MDRs and 10 or so specialities. If you're doing Specialty Dining, many of the NCL venues are a la carte pricing (not set fee). If you're planning on going more than one or two nights, you have to buy a dining package to get value so you're not paying $200 in the steakhouse for dinner.

 

NCL also has a different design philosophy than Royal or Princess. NCL designs smaller venues with limited capacity: the theater isn't like a huge Princess or Royal Caribbean theater that 1/2 of the passengers can fit into at once... The Epic holds around 4,000 passengers, and the theater holds around 700. There's a lot of queuing up, and making reservations in advance on the larger ships, even to get into smaller bars to hear a band.

 

That said, there's lots of pros to NCL. The vibe is very laid-back (think shorts for dinner) and the passengers tend to like drinks and being social. It's not traditional in any sense, and people appreciate that. 

[BirdTravels]

21 hours ago, yancycruiser said:

We are long-time cruisers since 1993 and last time on Norwegian 25 years ago.   We are considering the Norwegian Epic out of Port Canaveral, 8-day cruise out of Port Canaveral.   We have been on 25 cruises with last 13 on Royal Caribbean or Princess.    From your experience how is Norwegian overall.   Plus any opinions on the Epic would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Yancycruiser

 

The Epic and NCL are middle-of-the-road cruise line like Royal and Princess. We sail 6-7 times a year split between NCL and Royal. We have sailed on the Epic 6 or 7 times and would not hesitate to book on her again. We have booked both Mediterranean and Caribbean cruises on the Epic. And we have booked mostly club balcony suites, but have also sailed in the Haven (suites) on the Epic twice. 

 

I saw a nickel-and-dime comment, Royal is the same. For example, if you want to pay for a hamburger on Royal, you can go to Jonny Rockets and pay for a hamburger that you can get free in the Windjammer. On NCL, you can pay for a hamburger at specialty dining or get it for free at the buffet or MDR. You can pay for Specialty Dining, you can pay for BINGO, you can pay for the Casino, you can pay for shops, you can pay for internet.... pretty much universally the same across cruise lines. You pay a daily service charge,,, pretty much the same on all cruise lines. On the Epic, there is a paid dinner show, consider it specialty dining. Like Royal and Princess, you can go onboard a ship and not spend a single penny (assuming that you pre-pay your service charges). Or you can spend a lot. 

 

The Epic has a very large Spice H20 adult sun deck with a small pool, not too unlike the solarium on Royal. 

 

There are two MDR which are "My Time Dining", show up when you're hungry or when it fits your schedule. No set dining times. And run much better than Royal who hasn't figured it out yet. 

 

If you're into Thermal Suites (spa), the Epic has the best in the NCL fleet. And it far, far, far, far outshines any thermal suite offering from Royal. If you are into the high life, the Haven on the Epic is also one of the best in the NCL fleet and far far far outshines Royal's suite (short of a Star class suite).

 

The Bliss lounge is a large space for night time entertainment,,, modeled after an ultra lounge, it is big and comfortable (more so since they removed the bowling alley from it - you can still bowl, but not in the lounge). 

 

I saw a comment about the theater... not unlike theaters on any cruise line, including Royal. You are not going to get 6000 passengers in the Royal theater on Oasis class ships, in the ice rinks, in the aqua theaters. And you're not going to get all of the passengers on a ship in a theater on any ship for that matter (unless you are on a tiny tiny ship). You need to make reservations. So it is exactly the same as Royal. The Headliners comedy club on the Epic is the same size as the comedy clubs on Royal ships (i.e., small). It is not unique to the Epic or NCL.

 

 

[graphicguy]

Agree with much of what has been said.  Personally, I like Epic.  It’s been 10+ years since I sailed her.  And, it was my re-introduction to NCL given I had first sailed with them on the Norway, which was an old ship at the time.

 

Have also sailed Royal (but not Princess).

 

Lots of NCL’s current identity was first instituted on the EPIC.  Externally, some don’t like the way it looks.  Personally, none of that has any affect on me.  Some mention the bathroom…..what they’re talking about is the fact that it’s very compartmentalized.  There’s the toilet area as one compartment (with frosted doors that allows you too see shapes but nothing else from the outside).  Same with the shower.  There’s a sink separate from all of that, too.

 

Personally, we liked it.  I could be showering, while the GF (at the time) could be using the toilet, and we didn’t disturb each other as a result.  I mean, if you don’t mind shaving/brushing your teeth, etc while the wife/GF/BF/husband/SO are showering in the same room, then it’s a non-issue.  If you’re not related in any way, you will just have to plan your bathroom usage a little.  Again, not a thing for me.  As my then GF stated, “we do things in this cabin that I would never want my mother to know about, in various states of undress…the bathroom is fine.”

 

Entertainment is where NCL shines above the other cruise lines.  I know they have the CAvern Club, which features a really good Beatles act, among others.  The main theater has literally Broadway shows, and they used to have the “Spiegle” venue which had Cirque de Soleil type shows combined with a dinner.  We thoroughly enjoyed each show we saw immensely.

 

The other big point is the “freestyle” aspect of an NCL cruise.  You don’t have to don tuxes, suits, gowns, ties, heels, etc….for any meal….anywhere.  There may be one or two restaurants that require long pants and close toed shoes, but the rest is casual.  So, no need to do extra packing for any of that.  Plus, you can view which restaurants are busy on screens throughout the ship.  If you want to eat at one of them, you just wait until it opens up, or decide to go to another one that isn’t as busy.  In brief, there are no specific “seatings”in the Main Dining Rooms.  You can make reservations, but it’s not rigid like having an early and/or late seating.  

 

I had read they refurbished parts of the ship (Haven, as previously mentioned) recently.  

 

Plenty of bars.  Atrium, where a lot of the activities happen, has a bar and a 2nd tier area, home to O’Sheehans 24 hour bar/restaurant.  You can actually look down at the entertainment/activities from a perch in O’Sheehans.  Those activities are typical cruise fare, game shows, trivia, etc.

 

I’ve taken over 15 NCL cruises.  Service has never been anything but exemplary on all of them.

 

Free at Sea (FAS) is a good deal.  If you want the drink package, all you pay for is the tips, which is substantially cheaper than other cruise lines’ drink packages.  There’s also the Specialty Dinners included in FAS (I think it’s 2 included).  Overall, those specialty restaurants are quite good and equal to any of the other specialty dining venues on other ships or cruise lines.

 

All the ships I’ve sailed were in good shape and clean as a pin. 

 

Bottom line…food is good, cabins are comfortable, ship is nice (at least on the inside), service is great, entertainment is excellent.  Not sure you can ask for much more.  NCL is probably more similar to Royal than Princess.  NCL Haven is WAY, WAY cheaper than Royal’s Star class, which is the most similar to the Haven.  Neither is cheap, though.

 

Like all other cruise lines, where you sail, when you sail, how long you sail, the ship you sail….all have an impact on fares.  A little shopping will net you a deal on any of these cruise lines.  NCL is no different.

 

 

 

 

[mking8288]

On 6/17/2023 at 11:17 AM, yancycruiser said:

We are long-time cruisers since 1993 and last time on Norwegian 25 years ago ... any opinions on the Epic would be appreciated. Thanks,

We started cruising NCL about 25 years ago and that was on the Norwegian Sea then (also, the Crown ... followed by the "Dawn" then, when it was brand new - the rest, part of our cruise history since.  A lot has changed, including management and freestyle cruising has changed quite a bit.  Other posters already mentioned & covered many area, don't see much to add on the pro's and con's of sailing NCL.  The Epic is one of its own, unique for its French design (especially if you talk to the ship's officers) vs most other ships that come out of other shipyard(s) with Italian styling.  It's not the most popular & some hated & disliked it, sort of the same feelings some say with the newest Prima class ships - plentiful "issues".  

 

We just recently did our first TA and saw a nice price drop after final payment cutoff, cancelled our plan to sail the Prima, and did a 15 nights eastbound, NY to Barcelona via the "northern" routing thru the Azores - it was a fine, good cruise for us, not perfect and it worked well for us; skipped Cadiz, Spain due to maritime weather, mainly very (rough ??) sea as the ship apparently cannot safely dock - already at the harbor's entrance.  You can refer to & read our detailed Semi/Live Cruise Report below ... haven't seen any other recent reports from the Epic since then, as she is in Europe for the summer & fall.  Crew & officers onboard were happy as some of them, looking forward to a change of scenery and different ports.  The ship is, IMHO, overdue for a good dry dock as there are subtle areas that are in need of some cosmetic touch-up; and, additions (unlike newer ship builts, do not have bedside USB/outlets).  We didn't have issues with the funky & separate toilet and shower "closets" and sliding frosted see-thru doors (aside from the loud sound when "flushing" while your spouse/partner is sleeping).  If you go read the details in the report, plus the pictures - it should give you a good feel for it.  

 

NCL has other ships sailing out of FL, including PC - if the price is right for the Epic and the schedule looks good, DW and I would probably book & sail on her again.  

[yancycruiser]

Thanks everyone for taking time to write wonderful detailed responses.   Truly appreciate your time.   I have decided to stick with Royal Caribbean and Princess for now.    Happy cruising to all of you.

 

[BirdTravels]

Some complain on how the front of the ship looks. BUT,,, those ugly (to some) forward facing solarium balconies are some of the best rooms we have sailed in. The balconies have windows that open forward, but can be closed when there is weather. The balconies have their own air conditioning controls. We have spent many hours out there enjoying the views in total comfort.