No longer loyal to Royal... just booked a 14 nighter transatlantic on Norwegian Epic

[bankofdad]

The only thing I am not a fan of yet is that there are A LOT of pay restaurants

 

I know all cruise lines do this to some degree now, but with NCL, everything seemed to be an upsell. We've done a number of cruises with them and had a great time on all but one (and that one wasn't bad - Hawaii made up for the cruise experience shortcoming). Just know they always seem to offer something better, at a cost than what the cruise fair includes everywhere you go.

[framboesa]

Loved the Epic parties and water slides...hated the freestyle dinning (waited every evening about 20 minutes to be seated...and we were just the 2 of us!)

 

;)

[Grillfish]

We sailed out of Barcelona on the EPIC last May for a short 7 day cruise. Loved Barcelona. The ship.... so, so. Prob wonnt book EPIC again.

 

Osheehans is good for lunch. We did MTD and if we got there when they opened, no wait. One MDR was better than the other, but can't remember which one. The shows were good.

 

Our room had an extended balcony and we had two lounge chairs out there. Our bed was closer to the balcony than the bathroom, didn't want to have the toilet almost next to the bed.

 

One hint, if someone is taking a shower, do not open the cabin door to go out or come into the cabin. I saw many "blurred" people taking showers as the other person in the cabin opened the door for some reason or another. At least no one had the glass shower door open or stepping out of the glass tube when the cabin door was opened.

 

This May, we will be on the FOS for the first time, actually first Royal Car. cruise for us. Will be nice to see the differences.

 

Either way, enjoy the TA cruise!

Edited February 7, 2014 by Grillfish

[mconthehighseas]

I haven't read all the posts on this thread, so I may repeat something someone else wrote.

 

I think it's GREAT that you are trying NCL sooner in your cruising experience rather than later. Imagine how you would feel if you cruised on Royal for 20 years, and only then found out that NCL was a better fit for you. :rolleyes:

 

There are different cruiselines for a reason - not everyone has the same likes and dislikes. And people change as their situations change.

 

We started off on Royal Caribbean, and then moved over to smaller lines and eventually to HAL, because they had the itineraries we were looking for. Now that we are parents, we are back to RCI, because it is a better fit for us again.

 

It sounds like you did your homework, so go enjoy your reward!

 

BTW, NCL and RCI used to be owned by the same company in the 80s. Let us know if there are still any similarities between the lines.

[Ourusualbeach]

 

BTW, NCL and RCI used to be owned by the same company in the 80s. Let us know if there are still any similarities between the lines.

 

NCL and RCI have never been owned by the same company. I think that you may be thinking that NCL was started by Ted Arison who later left to found Carnival.

[jp30338]

NCL was one of my fave cruises!

[LetsGetWet!]

I sure have! and I will sure I ride those slides every single day for two weeks! :D

A transatlantic in almost a year, and its February right now. Hmm... If you're going to ride those slides every single day for two weeks, may want to bring a wetsuit! :)

 

From wiki: December, January and February are the coldest months, with average temperatures around 14 °C (57 °F) during the day and 5 °C (41 °F) at night.

 

57 for a high and that's not counting wind chill! I'm thinking the first few days of that cruise at least may be a bit cool for pool and slides!

[momofmab]

Not a fan of the bathroom set up in the balcony cabins on Epic - so that would keep me from booking that ship. Not sure what they were thinking about with that kind of configuration (other than trying to cram in as many cabins on the ship that they could). I've been on NCL Sun & Jewel and liked NCL in general (I do think their suite perks are some of the best), but the lack of things to do onboard, onboard shopping, etc., have sent us to RCCL, which we love. Also love the promenade, cafes, etc. That said, I would sail NCL again, but not Epic.

[dplusd]

That's a great itinerary we done twice. Madeira is one of our favorite ports. We have been wanting to try NCL, but have ruled out the Epic. We seen it in ports many times and it is just the ugliest ship I've seen. But, that would not stop me from trying it...it is the curved balcony staterooms and terrible bathroom set up that keeps me away. I'm open to other NCL ships...but that the Epic with that flawed stateroom design!

[tigger-ttfn]

Been on NCL not sure I'll go back I AM LOYAL TO RCC 30 CRUISES and counting

[tigger-ttfn]

See I will definitely be in the minority here but I think NCL Epic is the best looking ship on the seas. There is something very Nordic about the way she looks. Royal's ships have great curves, but I love the blocky ruggedness of the Epic. I wish they had built a couple more versions of epic but that ain't happening. I'll get on NCL Epic one of these days.

 

Boxy cars and boxy ships.................. the worst!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Mapleleafforever]

Enjoy!! We have also been looking at maybe trying out the Epic, please come back and let us know how it was.

[oneputt18]

We are also straying a little, booked two cruises on X for 2014

 

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[DreamingBig1]

Always good to try something new. We just tried Celebrity this year (I hadn't been since the 90s) and we're trying Norwegian Breakaway next year after a May cruise on Allure. So far Royal's still our favorite but it's always nice to have other options to change up every once in a while! We used to enjoy Carnival occasionally but don't like recent changes to their product and found Celebrity a little quiet for us, so we're really hoping we enjoy Norwegian.

 

Celebrity without a doubt is a little too quiet for us as well. Tried them a year and a half ago. The ships are gorgeous, but other than that, not much else to do.

 

The Epic looks like a interesting ship.

[KeywestK]

The only way to determine if you would like another cruise line is to try it. We have sailed almost exclusively with RCI, but have tried Carnival (will likely never do again,) and Celebrity (will probably do again.) We plan to try Princess, NCL, and MSC after we move to FL next year;)

[onyourtoes]

you've seen what it looks like... right? Man that is one ugly ship ;)

 

 

Sort of looks like Legos.:eek:

[TryingCruising]

We love Norwegian! Enjoy!

[Giorgi-one]

Have been on Norweigan many times and enjoyed most. However, I have heard many bad comments about Epic. My niece just got off and described the ship as a people mover to maximize the number of people in the Casino. And they are gamblers since they got the cruise for free at a Casino.

[Giorgi-one]

The only way to determine if you would like another cruise line is to try it. We have sailed almost exclusively with RCI, but have tried Carnival (will likely never do again,) and Celebrity (will probably do again.) We plan to try Princess, NCL, and MSC after we move to FL next year;)

 

No offense but you can't just say it that way. You need to look at the ship not the cruise line. Many people do not like the bathroom arrangement on the Epic with a separate shower and separate toilet which open directly into the stateroom. Just on example.

[Giorgi-one]

The only way to determine if you would like another cruise line is to try it. We have sailed almost exclusively with RCI, but have tried Carnival (will likely never do again,) and Celebrity (will probably do again.) We plan to try Princess, NCL, and MSC after we move to FL next year;)

 

No offense but you can't just say it that way. You need to look at the ship not the cruise line. Many people do not like the bathroom arrangement on the Epic with a separate shower and separate toilet which open directly into the stateroom. Just one example.

[negc]

While there are some fabulous dining venues you can pay for on NCL, the food in the main dining room and buffet is very good. I might say it was better than RC food, and you can just walk into the restaurant any time you want to. Have fun on NCL, as many have said any cruise is a good cruise!:)

 

You may be able to "just walk into the restaurant any time you want to" but that doesn't mean you won't have a wait for a table. The very fact that they issue beepers almost guarantees that a wait of twenty minutes or longer to be seated is more often the rule than the exception. Will be interested to see how the OP compares his Epic cruise with his previous cruise experience, especially the oft-criticized bathroom arrangement in the staterooms, and the matter of traffic patterns and crowding. We have had good experiences with NCL and a few that were not that good but overall I agree that any cruise is usually a good one. At least he will be onboard the Epic and spared, for the most part, the view of this, to my mind at least, exceptionally odd-looking cruise ship. There has to be a good reason that they decided against building more ships of this design.

Edited February 8, 2014 by negc

[KeywestK]

No offense but you can't just say it that way. You need to look at the ship not the cruise line. Many people do not like the bathroom arrangement on the Epic with a separate shower and separate toilet which open directly into the stateroom. Just on example.

 

Admittedly, my original comment was very generic. Certainly when a person is trying to determine what cruise/cruise line to book, they need to do their homework on all the determining factors--ship/size/layout, itinerary, price, etc. I personally know nothing about the NCL Epic, or any NCL ship, and likely won't until I'm ready to consider booking and doing all of my due diligence. Just my thoughts on the matter.

[hellsop]

Sort of looks like Legos.:eek:

 

Hahah! Yeah... First time I saw it, my friend said it looked like it was designed by a 12-year-old in bed with a fever.

[edington]

We found the Epic beautiful with nice touches like the shows and ice bar, but it was like being in a huge Las Vegas hotel rather than a cruise ship. We made the mistake of getting an inside cabin and the ship is so large, we missed the feel of the ocean. I love the smaller ships with the open promenade decks where you feel close to the ocean.

 

 

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