dolita22

Loved your review! Thank you for writing it. The Sky was my first NCL cruise and my parents' first-ever cruise in 2011 and made me really fall for NCL's product - so much so that I've gotten my DH hooked, too. :-)

Glad you had such a fantastic time!

We travel a fair amount and have never ordered room service when staying in hotels. On cruises, we order room service breakfast daily. Not much, but for us, it's a special treat we enjoy while cruising. I'm guessing we will still order room service while on cruises, because it's one of the many things we truly enjoy while cruising, but we may order less frequently - or not at all - if the fee applies to items we order. Waiting to make a decision until we see the menus.

Every morning we order 2 pots of coffee, a fruit plate and a sweet roll. Definitely not worth the upcharge.

That's pretty much what we order, too. We really enjoy having breakfast and drinking coffee on our balcony, whether we're at sea or pulling into a port. Not worth paying $7.95 in the future if those are indeed not complimentary items.

On our sailing, I am having a tough time with three balcony staterooms near each other on port side. (I was advised port.)

There are many options left in the large balcony category. Any ideas why these have not been sold? For an extra $90, it seems like a great upgrade. Unless I am missing something? Do folks expect noise there, etc?

We will have two rooms of grandparents and a family of 4 with young kids if this matters....

TIA!

The only reason we didn't book one was because they are forward and we like to be mid-ship. To compromise, we booked a mid-ship angled balcony and just know the balcony won't be as large as the B6 balcony.

So I'm looking at some documentation for an upcoming cruise in May. It looks like it you put down a deposit for a future cruise within 4 years you get $100 instant OBC per person.

 

I have some questions.

 

Apparently you have 4 years to book, do you have to specify a sailing date?

Do you really get the OBC immediately and can it be used for anything?

Is there any catches? Not valid on certain promotions, etc

I've heard on your 2nd cruise you get OBC anyway automatically, is this true as a latitude member?

What happens if you do this and don't book within 4 years? I guess you lose your deposit.

 

Any other feedback is welcome, should I do this or not or pass for $100 pp credit? It would be just me and my son booking.

 

Thanks,

It's a great deal! We buy one on each cruise, but you can purchase up to 4 per person. The Freestyle Cruise Reward serves as your full deposit on a future cruise of 6+ days, unless you are in a suite or villa.

If you purchase the FCR, you'll receive $100 per reward (not per person) in OBC on the cruise you are on.

You do not have to specify a sailing date until you book a cruise when you get home. You can book on board using NCL's website, but you do not have to book anything until you get home.

Book and sail within 4 years of the date of purchase, according to the terms and conditions (http://www.ncl.com/popup/cruise_rewards_terms), but some have reported being able to book by the expiration date and sail after. I would not count on being able to do that, though.

We have only gotten future OBC by booking at Latitudes Insider offer. It is not automatic, at least not that I'm aware of. Certain promos aren't combinable (e.g., the Latitudes Insider offer with the current Freestyle Spectacular promo), but you can pick one offer and have the FCR applied.

Hope that helps!

That running track really sucks though. [emoji32]

We sailed the Epic for a second time in January and my husband loved the running track! He ran 8-10 miles on it 3 days of our 7-day cruise. :) He liked that it was somewhat protected from the wind and he had something to look at on each run. Granted, he was comparing it to a.) the track on RCCL's Independence of the Seas, which is on one of the upper decks and he'd have to bend quite far into the wind when he was on the more forward part, making it quite difficult to run; and b.) the track at our gym, on which he runs 20 miles and just looks at blank walls the entire time. :-)

Like the PP said, you can carry on as much soda as you want. By "carry on," we've taped a room tag to cases of soda and dropped it off with the porters, along with our luggage. You can request the room steward empty your fridge, then store your soda there. We did just that and found the steward put the contents in a drawer under the sofa.

There is soda in the mini-fridge, along with snacks and other items. I believe ours had two cans of Pepsi, two cans of Diet Pepsi, and two other cans of soda. Can't recall what they were.

You could also buy a soda package instead of carrying on.

Hope that helps some!

Keep an open mind. As others have said, reviews are one person's opinion.

We've sailed the Epic twice, most recently in a mid-ship balcony in January. Our cabin was pretty much right at mid-ship, too. I wasn't sure how fast the walk forward/aft would be, but it went much faster than I thought it would and only took a couple minutes. Not bad at all.

Personally, I'd start listing all the things you want to do on the Epic. There is so much! Go with an open mind and enjoy!

There is usually a laundry special at some point during the cruise. They provide a bag and you fill it with clothing that needs to be cleaned, and they charge a flat price for it. On our recent Epic sailing, I believe it was $27.99.

Thank you, and I understand the risk of the boat being full. Passenger #4 is not born yet, so I don't think I can pretend...I need to know what would actually happen if I needed to try and add later.

We had to do this when my parents' booked a family cruise well in advance and my nephew had not yet been born. Worked with a PCC and he did as others suggested and put a placeholder name in as the third guest in my sister and BIL's room. When my nephew was born, my mom called the PCC and updated the name. Easy!

I would definitely add a placeholder name for now, particularly with the 3rd/4th passenger promo happening. If you didn't add the baby and the promo ended, I'm not sure what the cost would be.

My nephew was 8 months old on the sailing and he, along with my sister and BIL, did just fine. It was a great cruise for all of us!

I have been on all three and would rank them as follows:

1. NCL

2. RCCL

3. CCL

I'd rank the three lines in this order as well.

IMO, the other lines don't do the Freestyle concept as well as NCL, and that is our favorite thing about NCL. We felt RCCL was less flexible, particularly when dining, as a result.

Entertainment is better on NCL in that there are more options that suited our tastes (we're in our early 30s) and that didn't just point us to bars for entertainment, which is what we felt like RCCL did last year.

Food is subjective, but we very much enjoy NCL's food. My normally not-picky-eater DH really disliked RCCL's food, but enjoys nearly everything on NCL. We only dine in the MDR or complimentary options on NCL and have yet to have a bad meal. Again, subjective.

It sounds as though you have an open mind and will enjoy yourselves.

The Escape looks pretty awesome! So awesome that we switched from sailing the Star next year to sailing the Escape on this year's U.S. inaugural and in January. :-)

If you haven't already, check out NCL's page on the Escape: http://www.escape.ncl.com/

$600. Most of that was excursions, some was drinks and the Freestyle Cruise Reward. :)

Wow, thanks for the info! That definitely gives me some things to think about.

 

PS. I see based on your signature that I'm not the only one who books vacations a million years in advance. We've had this cruise, which is still 6 months out, booked for almost a year!

Yes! I told my husband I must have at least one vacation planned, even if it's a year away. We have a couple land-based vacations coming up, but within two weeks of coming home from our Epic cruise in January, we had booked the Escape - two sailings. The first is the inaugural U.S. sailing (3 days), then we'll sail again next January to take in everything we missed the first time! Thankfully, my DH enjoys cruising as much as I do!

In regards to the PP who mentioned the pagers and NCL nickel and diming by offering specialty restaurants: On our recent Epic sailing we did have to wait twice to be seated in the MDR - about 20 minutes each time. It was totally fine, and we could see they were quite busy. We did go at a peak time (around 7 or 7:30), but you could go earlier or later and not have to wait. You can also now make reservations for the MDRs on NCL, which IMO defeats the purpose of freestyle cruising, but plenty of people had reservations and were seated when they got to the MDR.

The food in the MDR on NCL has been very good, and we have yet to go to a specialty restaurant. We've never felt pushed into going to a specialty, although one of these cruises, we'll try one just because want to.

We have also felt no more nickeled and dimed on NCL than we have on RCCL or Carnival. They all give options on how you spend your money, and that's a great thing about cruising.

I'd pick the Getaway, the spa balcony, and the extra sea day. We love sea days and try to pick cruises with more sea days than port days! :) Plus, it's a newer ship and seems to be getting really good reviews.

We sailed the Indy last year for our honeymoon, and I sailed the Grandeur in 2010. Although we've never sailed the Getaway, we have sailed with NCL a few times (Sky and Epic), too. When it comes down to it, we prefer NCL and the Freestyle aspect of cruising and, IMO, RCCL's version of that doesn't compare.

In addition, we felt the entertainment is better on NCL. On the Indy, we enjoyed the ice show, but felt like they pushed "entertainment" as going to bars and and drinking. We enjoy adult beverages, but much prefer shows over the bar scene.

Our family friends were in a spa balcony on the Epic in January and LOVED it. They spent many, many hours there relaxing in the thermal suites and hot tubs there. They said it was well worth the money.

Both RCL and NCL are comparable in terms of adults/kids. In September, I'm guessing there will be fewer kids on board.

Have fun choosing and planning!

Sometimes!! :D Our cabin was missing the curtain and hooks and didn't even notice the track until I saw a curtain in another cabin the second to last day of the cruise.

Oh no!

1. We've sailed the Epic twice and love it. The bathroom setup didn't bother us; we actually like having everything separate as it seemed to make getting ready for the day and for dinner much easier. There's a curtain that can be pulled for privacy for anyone in the bathroom or shower.

2. We were on the January 18th sailing of the Epic, and there were a ton of kids! Very rude kids, many in the adult-only pools, running around and into waiters carrying trays of coffee, etc. However, as a PP said, it was a combination of the MLK holiday, a break for schools for Jewish kids in the northeast (according to a woman from NJ we spoke with on our sailing), and the KSF promo. We've sailed the weeks after that in previous and there were very few kids on board.

4. I'd recommend booking shows before you board. We booked shows for our first sailing of the Epic back in 2013, but did not for our recent sailing and kicked ourselves for not doing so. We were still able to get in, but had to wait in the standby line. You can always book and reschedule once you get on board. Our friends did that for BMG and it was no problem to switch their show date and time.

As others have said, the Epic is a unique ship. Some love it, some don't. I'd say keep on an open mind, do your homework, and relax and enjoy!

ETA: There's a quick review of our time on the Epic in my signature. No pictures, though.

I just booked an inside family cabin for a mediterranean cruise! I read a lot of posts about the bathrooms. I like that they are separated, but I hate that they are see through. What the heck? Anyway, we are ncl fans, so this wasn't going to stop us from picking the epic for this dream itinerary.

 

I remember reading about someone who was going to use suction cup hooks and a shower curtain liner, but I can't find that post anywhere. I was wondering if it worked or if anyone has thought of any other ideas that will allow for some privacy. It will definitely bother us, esp. My teen daughter, even if others can see an outline. I have seen pictures and even a video so I am aware of how it looks and really don't want to argue about whether or not we need to cover it :) How about draping a large towel over the shower/toilet doors? I could take two cheap lightweight beach towels and just leave them there.

 

Eta: in some photos, it appears there is a gap over the door, but not in others. Hmm..

We've sailed the Epic twice, and there is a curtain that one can close that offers privacy for using the restroom or the shower. If I recall, it doesn't separate off the sink, so that is usable when the curtain is pulled.

I don't recall a gap at all between the shower/bathroom doors and ceiling. If it was there, it was really small - probably too small to fit a towel through/over. A sheet may work, but you could save room in your luggage and just pull the curtain.

Hope that helps some. Good luck!

We sailed the Epic for the second time in January and did not reserve shows (Blue Man Group, Legends, Second City) before leaving home. We'd sailed the Epic a couple years back and didn't reserve then, so thought we'd be okay not reserving for our January sailing. Kicked ourselves for not doing it in advance! We tried to reserve on the ship, but everything was booked. We still ended up getting in, but ended up waiting on standby.

My advice is to reserve shows before you leave, then onboard, if you miss a show or your plans change, go to the box office and re-reserve. Our friends did that for BMG on our January sailing and had no problems changing their show date and time.

Have fun!

I just read a thread on this yesterday, but can't find it now, but I am curious, too. I think someone mentioned doing a mock booking on NCL's site, and bed by the balcony vs. bed by the door is indicated when you select a room. Doesn't help me, though, because our room has already been selected. I plan to reach out to my PCC to see if he can tell me.

You will disembark from deck 6, by Headliners, I believe. Last month on the Epic, we left our room at 8:30 a.m. and were through customs and waiting for our shuttle to Fort Lauderdale by 9. Fastest disembarkation ever! Yes, we did the self-disembarkation with our luggage.

The ship left port a little after 5:00. It was scheduled to leave at 4:00 and I never heard a reason why they left after that. Weather was great for sailaway. Our roll call group was having a meet somewhere, but we did not show up for that.

We left late because there was a medical emergency. I can't recall where, but I had gone back to our room to grab a sweatshirt (we were in Spice watching the sad Packer game, and it was cooling off) and heard the captain making the announcement that the person had to be taken off the ship before we left, then the US CBP requested a new manifest and that had take time. Hope the person was okay!

Thanks for your review, OP. We were also on that sailing; I wrote a review (in my signature), too. It's great to hear perspectives of others on the same cruise!

I completely agree that so many kids were out of control that week. We are like you and cruise during times of year when kids are back in school and thought that we would be a perfect week, given that holiday breaks were complete by then. Nope! Needless to say, our cruise in 2016 will not be that week.

Looking forward to more!

We sailed the Epic in January for the second time. We sailed in 2013 and it was in good shape then, but with two years passing, I wasn't quite sure it would be in as good of shape for this year's sailing. We were surprised, though!

Overall, we thought the Epic was in good shape, considering it's 5 years old and number of cruisers on each week. There were some rust spots on our balcony, some missing tiles in the pools, and some of the deck lounge chairs were broken/looked like they'd seen better days (faded). But overall, our room and everything in it (carpet, bedding, seating area) and all the main areas of the ship were in really good condition. The staff seem to do a great job of taking take of the Epic.

For the $2,000 savings, I'd have no problems choosing the Epic again! Have a great cruise.

Woohoo! Love reading reviews on the Epic. We sailed her for the second time in January and will miss her when she goes to Europe.

Looking forward to more!

I will also add, make reservations ahead of time if there are any shows you'd like to see (Blue Man Group, Legends, Second City). We sailed the Epic for the second time in January and decided not to make reservations for anything, and instead just roll with what we felt like doing the day of. Ended up as standby for Legends and didn't see Second City (we'd seen BMG on our first sailing). We waited until those with tickets were in, then were allowed in the theater. Kicked ourselves for not just reserving before we left. So easy!

Also, on deck 18 forward, outside of Posh, there are red padded lounge chairs and daybeds. It's a popular area, but nice and quiet, and people on our sailing seemed to vacate the chairs and daybeds in the afternoon. It's a good place to nap if you want sun!

Have a great cruise!