First time cruisers!

[Jenna2407]

Hi

I have already posted in my roll call but it isn't a very busy forum.

 

We are first time cruisers and will be on the epic leaving from port canaveral on feb 11th. I have quite a few questions so please bear with me.

 

I have been told it is cheaper to book with outside vendors for excursions? How much cheaper? I'm a bit of a worrier and so am considering just booking with NCL?

 

We are stopping at: st. Thomas, tortola and great stirrup cay. Is there anything we 'must do' at each of these stops?

 

I'm confused by the dining, other people have told me that you are given set meal times etc? But I've also read NCL don't do this? What is the dress code for evenings? Do we need to bring a suit for my husband and dad? Also I have read something about a 'white night'? What is this?

 

We each have the ultimate beverage package and have been told it includes all drinks up to a $15 value.... are there many drinks that are over this value?

 

Anh other first timers advice would be perfect - we all had to start somewhere. Oh also has any1 ever picked up car hire from cape canaveral alamo? Was it easy enough?

Edited September 4, 2016 by Jenna2407

[www3traveler]

I can answer some of your questions:

 

For dinner, you can eat at any restaurant you wish anytime you wish and there is nor need to dress up, unless you wish. La Bristro ( the French restaurant does say not shorts, flip flops and shirts with collars for men). As a lady I usually wear nice pants and a light weight sweater.

 

The White Hot Party is offered on Jewel Class ships, not sure about The Epic. It is a late evening party- loud music, disco a degree- required to dress in white NO.

 

I do not purchase excursions from outside vendors but many do. Great Stirrup Caye is Norwegian's private island. Great time to soak up the sun and relax.

 

Enjoy, relax and welcome to Norwegian.

[BirdTravels]

We are first time cruisers and will be on the epic leaving from port canaveral on feb 11th. I have quite a few questions so please bear with me.

Welcome to CC and welcome to NCL Freestyle cruising! We have sailed on the Epic 5 times and enjoy the ship.

 

I have been told it is cheaper to book with outside vendors for excursions? How much cheaper? I'm a bit of a worrier and so am considering just booking with NCL?

First time cruisers, it may be easier to book shore excursions with NCL. We normally book all of our shoreex with NCL.

 

We are stopping at: st. Thomas, tortola and great stirrup cay. Is there anything we 'must do' at each of these stops?

We normally go snorkeling on St. Thomas. GSC is undergoing a major makeover as we speak. From the "old" GSC, we have enjoyed the waverunners and swimming with the stingrays. It's just a great beach day.

I'm confused by the dining, other people have told me that you are given set meal times etc? But I've also read NCL don't do this? What is the dress code for evenings? Do we need to bring a suit for my husband and dad? Also I have read something about a 'white night'? What is this?

No fixed time dining. That's freestyle. The complimentary main dining rooms do not require reservations.

 

If you want to eat at any of the specialty (i.e., pay for a meal like going to a restaurant) reservations open on November 13 (90 days before your cruise). Make your reservations online on MyNCL for specialty restaurants.

 

The Manhattan Room main dining room and the Le Bistro restaurant require long pants and a collared shirt. All other restaurants allow shorts. That being said, most people will dress up a little at night. Suits are never required, but some folks will dress up if they want a nice photo by the ship's photography team.

 

 

We each have the ultimate beverage package and have been told it includes all drinks up to a $15 value.... are there many drinks that are over this value?

No. Almost all drinks are under $15. If you exceed $15, you pay the difference in cost and tip on that amount.

 

Anh other first timers advice would be perfect - we all had to start somewhere.

Reservations for the two Broadway shows Priscilla Queen of the Desert and Burn the Floor also open on 11/13.

 

 

Oh also has any1 ever picked up car hire from cape canaveral alamo? Was it easy enough?

 

Enjoy the Epic.

[Jenna2407]

Thankyou for your replies, they were very helpful.

 

Yes I think we will just stick to booking the exc through NCL as I would be panicking about things going wrong. When do we book excursions? Once we're on board? Stingrays are my favourite sea animal and that trip was top of my list for GSC. The snorkling on st.thomas, do you need to book an exc for that or is there plenty to see without doing a trip? We have our own snorkle stuff.

 

How many complimentary dining rooms are there? And do you need to book specialality ones in advance or can you once onboard?

 

Are the shows complimentary? And again do you HAVE to book in advance or is it usually possible to book once onboard?

[NoName]

Thankyou for your replies, they were very helpful.

 

Yes I think we will just stick to booking the exc through NCL as I would be panicking about things going wrong. When do we book excursions? Once we're on board? Stingrays are my favourite sea animal and that trip was top of my list for GSC. The snorkling on st.thomas, do you need to book an exc for that or is there plenty to see without doing a trip? We have our own snorkle stuff.

 

/QUOTE]

 

For WONDERFUl snorkeling, just take a taxi over to Coki beach. Bring a few dog biscuits with you and you will be surrounded by lots of beautiful fish. They also rent chairs and food/drink/restrooms are available.

 

Have fun. Kim

[Jenna2407]

Is it easy enough to just get a taxi? And would it then be easy to get 1 back to the ship? How much roughly would a taxi be? I have seen a trip i like the look of, its a cat and beach one for $75 pp.

Also at great stirrup cay, with it being a private island, is food and drink included? We have the UBP? Or do we need to pay for anything we have whilst off the ship?

[BirdTravels]

Also at great stirrup cay, with it being a private island, is food and drink included? We have the UBP? Or do we need to pay for anything we have whilst off the ship?

 

Your UBP will work on GSC like on the ship (in fact, the booze and bartenders from the ship go to the island and set up bar there).

 

There will be a picnic buffet available. Hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken, pizza, assorted salads and fresh fruit. Nothing fancy,,,, but exactly what you want on the beach.

 

With the current renovations, they are suppose to be putting in some a la carte eating venues. We are all anxious to see how that turns out when the island reopens.

[BirdTravels]

Stingrays are my favourite sea animal and that trip was top of my list for GSC.

We did the stingray encounter last year. It was great. Lots of time in the water with the stingrays. Make sure to have your waterproof camera.

 

How many complimentary dining rooms are there?

There are two main dining rooms. Manhattan Room has live music during dinner and is the larger of the two. Taste is slightly less formal (you could wear shorts to dinner).

 

O'Sheehan's bar and grill is open 24 hours. The Garden Cafe buffet is open for breakfast/lunch/dinner.

 

And do you need to book specialty ones in advance or can you once onboard?

Highly recommend that you book specialty dining exactly 90 days before your cruise. NCL holds tables for on-board bookings, but you need to do that as soon as you embark if you want prime time dining. You can always change or cancel your reservations once you get onboard the ship. Teppanyaki is the most popular and will sell out quickly. Cagney's steakhouse is the second most popular and prime time dining will sell out.

 

Are the shows complimentary?

The two broadway shows in the theater are free. You should book in advance (90 days before your cruise). You can always change any reservations before you cruise by calling NCL reservations or once you are on the ship.

 

The comedy show in Headliners is also sometimes available for advance booking. If not, once you are on board, you can use the touch screen kiosk in all public areas, your stateroom TV, or your iConcierge app on your smart phone to book a show. Early shows are family oriented. Late shows are for adults only. We try to go every night stand-by (just get in the standby line).

 

Other shows are just walk-ins. No reservations required.

 

There is one paid dinner show, Cirque Dreams. If you like Cirque, then this is your chance to see a Cirque show for $30 (vs $130 in Vegas). Buy the Premium seats. Show up 1 hour before show time and wait in line for the best seats (they seat you first-come-first-serve).

 

There is one paid lunch show put on by the comedy team (sometimes a murder mystery lunch, sometimes something else).

And again do you HAVE to book in advance or is it usually possible to book once onboard?

 

Enjoy the Epic!

Edited September 5, 2016 by BirdTravels

[fshagan]

Are the shows complimentary? And again do you HAVE to book in advance or is it usually possible to book once onboard?

 

Booking the specialty restaurants in advance makes it easier to choose the time you want to eat. Just like a land restaurant there is limited capacity, so once all the people who want to eat at 7 PM have made a reservation that spot is filled up. The only one we have really ever had a problem eating at was the Japanese habachi grill Teppanaki (sort of like Benihana's) that only seats a few people at a time.

 

The main dining rooms are not that way at all. No need to make a reservation, and there is no assigned seating. We have waited for a table before, but only a few minutes (they give you a pager and you can walk around). You can get a table for two (or however many are in your party). It is not the traditional set dining time at large tables with strangers, which we personally hate.

 

For the big production shows they take reservations, then open the theater to everyone 15 minutes before the show. If you are used to Broadway shows you might want to sit near the back / aisle with your first show on a cruise ship; people rave about NCL's entertainment because it is arguably the best on a cruise ship. But, that's a bit like having a "smart dog" ... it is "smart" compared to other dogs, but really isn't smart in human terms. You might find the entertainment lacking if you are used to seeing Broadway shows and want to bolt from the theater, as we have done several times. Usually, though, we have a lot of fun, even sitting in the back at the aisle.

 

NCL does have a lot of live music, and one very fun venue is the Howl At The Moon or dueling pianos show, where two or three musicians take requests from the audience and everyone sings along. This is free, and first come, first seated. Other live music is in lounges, etc. and they are free and no reservations taken or needed.

 

You didn't say anything about the size of your party; do you have children, teens or are you taking several un-related people in the same cabin? The Epic has a strange bathroom set up that can be a surprise if you aren't prepared.

[hladygirl]

If you love beaches as I do then you should do the NCL excursion in Tortola to jost van dyke. It is great. Everyone should experience white bay on jost.

[Jenna2407]

These responses are brilliant and I am so glad I asked the questions and theres things I honestly had no clue about (such as booking dinner and shows!)

So if i book tables in the paid restaurants, am I charged a booking fee now, or just pay it all ince in the ship?

If I'm honest it is all whizzing around my head haha! Having never done a cruise, I just cant wait too see how they fit a cirque show onto a ship!!

 

Sorry I did forget to post about our party... there will be 4 of us. Me and my husband and my dad and his wife. We are going for my dad's 50th birthday! His birthday is actually on February 7th but due to school holidays (we are from the UK) we can't leave the UK until the 10th feb.

 

The day we are in tortola, we are only there from 7am until 2pm, this doesn't seem to give us much time? What time do you have to be back in the ship if it leaves at 2pm?

Also I presume its only GSC where everything is complementary during the day?

 

Again thankyou so much for your replies, I know my questions may seem silly, but its all so new! I'm used to disneyworld holidays or all inclusive resorts!!

[hladygirl]

If you take the ships excursion they will wait for you if they are late. If you book the alacarte restaurants you will not be charged when you book.

[dolita22]

Just want to say, enjoy your cruise!!

 

Like you, despite 12 cruises, I am still a nervous cruiser. We've only booked anything through a tour compay in St. Maarten. Here are some recs for your other islands:

 

You are in good here in CC. We took some friends on the Epic on their first cruise on the Epic in 2014

 

Must dos:

 

-- St. Thomas -- get off in a covered taxi and got to Megahn's bay!! Can do through NCL for about $29. Couple hours in Meghan's Bay. It's beautiful.

 

-- Tortola -- go to the Baths at Virgin Gorda. We did the Bath through Virgin Gorda. Completely worth it, despite the super wavy ride over to the Baths.

 

-- Nassua -- Walk around. Grab a water taxi if you'd like, but in all necessity, jus stay on the ship! Completely worth the quiet!

 

drinks: Most are under $15! If you have to, you'l just have to pay the difference over 415...which is few! Have such a great time!!

[bonvoyagie]

Most of the people on this board are from the US and therefore responses are based on their experiences with that system. I just happen to notice that you are from the UK. UK bookings have different rules and regulations when it comes to payment terms etc. So I really don't think anyone here can predict what you will be able to pay for in advance, what is charged onboard etc.

 

When it comes to excursions - I have mostly gone with NCL tours (that said on my upcoming cruise, I am not using NCL at all. But I do feel comfortable with the vendors I have chosen and we are only going to Canada.

 

For the US if you order a shore excursion in advance (via phone or internet) you will pay for it at that time. If you wait until you are onboard, then you will pay for it on your shipboard account.

 

I have not cruised the Caribbean so I can not comment on any of the tours there.

 

Relax and enjoy your cruise.

[Jenna2407]

Having looked at my booking on NCL website, it seems it is very similar to how people from the US book. I am able to book exc and pay in GPB. So i will be doing this before we go.

Also it seems it is the same for everything else with regards to booking dining etc, so the advice has been perfect.

Its making me even more excited :)

[Kealy]

We usually do half a beach day in St Thomas, for a gorgeous beach but not snorkeling, Magen's bay. If you want to snorkel, then Coki or Sapphire. We also like to hit some of the jewelry stores in STT.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

[atomax]

I have never booked an NCL excursion. For me, the cons are:

 

• The price. You can usually save ~40% using a private tour operator. With four people, that can be quite costly.
  
• The size of the group. The NCL groups can often be enormous, busload after busload of people going to the same place. Private tours are usually smaller (a van or small bus) and more nimble (you can get into/out of places a lot faster with a group of 10-20 rather than 100-200). For example, when we were in the Grand Caymans, we went on a small boat to the Stingray Island. There were only 16 of us. We all got to feed the rays by hand from 2 buckets of fish. The other, bigger boats only had the tour guides feed the rays. People got jealous of how much fun we were having and tried to come over to where our group was. Our guides were able to gracefully keep them away.
  
• Things to do on the excursion. On a private tour, you can negotiate with the tour operator to spend more (or less) time at a particular venue or shopping. With an NCL tour, you are locked into what the plan is for the rest of the group.
  

 

Since you're not sailing until February, your roll call probably will become more active in October/November. There will be experienced cruisers there who will be arranging private tours and may need extra people to round out the group. Most private operators are well rated on Trip Advisor (TIP: Check out Trip Advisor for suggestions on things to do in your ports), so it is in their best interest to make sure everyone has a fabulous time and get people back to the ship in time. The reason why many book NCL excursions is because they "guarantee" that the ship will wait for you if their tour runs late. However, I have seen reports on this site that that may not actually be true.

 

Since you are going to multiple ports, perhaps try one private and one NCL excursion and see which one feels better for you.

Edited September 5, 2016 by atomax

[mypleasure]

Something to consider is whether you intend to dine in the Speciality restaurants, which ones, and how many nights this adds up to. Some of them are a fixed price and some are a la carte as in some charge a fee for as much or as little as each of you want and some charge for each item that is ordered. If you intend to do speciality dining for 3 or more nights it may be worth looking into buying a speciality dining package at a fixed price which will allow you all to get what you want without worrying about the menu prices at all in the a la carte venues such as the steak house and Le Bistro. Depending on where you all want to eat, and how much food your party might want this can save you quite a bit of money to do other things with.

[fshagan]

Sorry I did forget to post about our party... there will be 4 of us. Me and my husband and my dad and his wife. We are going for my dad's 50th birthday! His birthday is actually on February 7th but due to school holidays (we are from the UK) we can't leave the UK until the 10th feb.

 

You guys will have a blast!

 

I will say if you are staying in ONE cabin it will be very tight with four adults' date=' and the Epic has only frosted glass separating the toilet and shower from the rest of the cabin (they are located on either side of the door):

 

[img']http://pictures.cruisecritic.com/data/521/epic-toilet.png[/img]

 

A standard balcony cabin is very nicely appointed but does have very little room in it. My wife can touch the sides of the room easily just above the pull out sofa that really only sleeps one. Behind her you can see the toilet and shower compartments with curved, frosted glass on either side of the door:

 

 

With just a couple it is rarely a problem, but a lot of families with teens of different sexes or mixed families have struggled a bit with the layout. One solution is to bring an opaque shower curtain and clothes pins to make the stalls more private, or use the rotating "make up room" door sign and set it to "Do Not Disturb" so the people outside the cabin don't enter at an inopportune time. Just behind my wife on the viewers left you can see a curtain that is provided that will separate the cabin from the bath area for more privacy when everyone is in the cabin.

 

If you have separate cabins this probably won't be a problem. It seems to bother us Yanks more than Europeans, but I thought I would mention it just in case.

Edited September 5, 2016 by fshagan

[Linda the Book Lover]

Welcome to cruising and NCL!

 

My DH and I will be sailing on the epic for our second time in 2017. You will never be at a loss of what to do. I can understand being nervous about booking private vendors but in all of the years of cruising we always made it back in time and saved money by booking private. As someone mentioned the roll call is a great place to find others who are also interested in going private and looking for a few more to join the excursion. We have met some fun people on the roll call that we also did excursions with on our trips.

 

We are going to see Cirque again since it has been a few years. It is well worth the money. The food was so-so but with all the food on the ship we certainly didn't go hungry. If you decide to book this it is under entertainment and not restaurants. It is nice to try out the specialty restaurants but with so many venues you will have plenty of food places to try.

 

Have a great time!

[Jenna2407]

Haha we most definitely have seprate cabins!! Sharing is not for us. We are 2 or 3 doors away from each other which is perfect. Dont mind using the loo in front of hubby so no issues for us there.

 

How do I actually book private tours? Is there certain websites? I have everything wrote down incl the exc we want to do and wpuld like to look at the private ones so I can compare.

[OurAnniversary25]

Welcome to cruising! So far, the Epic is my favorite of the NCL line. No one has mentioned the slides -- definitely go on the orange one -- we loved it!

 

Definitely recommend making reservations in the specialty restaurants online as they become open. We booked our upcoming cruise very late, and we've already found the available time slots are limited. You can always rearrange things if you find you have time conflicts. If you hope to indulge in any spa treatments, I recommend you make a reservation shortly after boarding. Especially on sea days and "dress up or not" nights, they fill up quickly.

 

I recommend looking at sites like TripAdvisor and Viator. You could also just google each of the ports to see what private operators are available. We rarely buy NCL's shore excursions, as we don't like the feeling of being "cattle-herded" onto a bus with 40 other people. Many of the same tour operators used by NCL also book smaller groups. As one company put it, "We are usually in front of or behind an NCL bus as we return to port". And of course, keep in contact with those on your roll call. We have done many shared excursions through CC.

 

Lastly, have a wonderful time!

[Linda the Book Lover]

Go to boards.cruisecritic.com

 

You find the port and then read many reviews and suggestions from CC folk. I use this quite often and found so many good reviews and comments about excursion vendors. I always create a draft in my email and copy paste ideas for each port and then zero in on the "we must do". Sometimes we just walk around especially when we have been to a port before.

 

My DH claims I love the planning more than the cruise but we all know that is not true;)

[julie3fan]

This is the way I research my private excursions. First I look at NCL's listings to see what they offer so I have a general idea of what's popular. Then I go to the Port of Call section here on Cruise Critic and read posts about the places that interest me. (I wish people would entitle their threads with a more meaningful title sometimes! I hate it when they say "Looking for ideas" and you have to open it to read what they're talking about!)

 

Anyways, a lot of times there are mentions of particularly good tours and tour operators in the threads. I make a note of these, then go to their websites to read about their tours. I compare itineraries and rates, and at this time I often find one or two that seem likely.

 

Then I go to Trip Advisor and look what they list in Things To Do for the area. Once I get to Trip Advisor I usually have a pretty strong idea of what I'd like to do, and if I haven't already found a few tour operators, I can find them here. Then it's a matter of narrowing it down to the tour operator that offers what I want for the price I want.

 

One thing to be careful of is to check their cancellation policy before you book. And make sure you're booking a tour for the right port area and that they'll pick you up at the pier. And triple check that the tour hours give you enough time to make it back to the ship on time!

 

I'm smack dab in the middle of researching tours for our Caribbean cruise on the Epic next March, so I've been doing all the above steps for the past few days. Another thing I recommend is save all emails from the tour operators. I set up an email folder for each port and that way it's easy to find them when I need to review them.

 

Have fun with the planning!

 

Sent from my SM-G925V using Tapatalk

[julie3fan]

Welcome to cruising! So far, the Epic is my favorite of the NCL line. No one has mentioned the slides -- definitely go on the orange one -- we loved it!

 

I have a question about the slides. I wear glasses and I'm blind as a bat without them. Can you go down the slides wearing glasses?

 

Sent from my SM-G925V using Tapatalk