I hope you can't tell a book by its cover

[klfrodo]

There may not be any such thing as an ugly baby, but there sure are some where you say to yourself, Bless his little heart".

 

Well, that's how I feel about the NCL Epic. Damn that's an ugly ship.

I'm still sailing on her though. I hope anyway.

Our RCCL Vision of the Seas ship got pulled from her Med itinerary and we had to scramble to find another cruise.

Will be our first NCL experience. We've sailed quit a number of times on Royal and Carnival. From inside cabins to balcony to Crown Loft suites.

 

I'm sure she will be great. I doubt she'll be in my photos from the port though.  😲

[drsel]

Norwegian is a lot like Carnival. its a 4 star cruise with plenty of activities and fun.
They have a good show every night.
they have points for participation in all the events and at the end you get a prize like a t-shirt

[roger001]

1 hour ago, klfrodo said:

There may not be any such thing as an ugly baby, but there sure are some where you say to yourself, Bless his little heart".

 

Well, that's how I feel about the NCL Epic. Damn that's an ugly ship.

I'm still sailing on her though. I hope anyway.

Our RCCL Vision of the Seas ship got pulled from her Med itinerary and we had to scramble to find another cruise.

Will be our first NCL experience. We've sailed quit a number of times on Royal and Carnival. From inside cabins to balcony to Crown Loft suites.

 

I'm sure she will be great. I doubt she'll be in my photos from the port though.  😲

Yes!   She is UGLY.......my opinion.  

[kelmac]

1 hour ago, klfrodo said:

There may not be any such thing as an ugly baby, but there sure are some where you say to yourself, Bless his little heart".

 

Well, that's how I feel about the NCL Epic. Damn that's an ugly ship.

I'm still sailing on her though. I hope anyway.

Our RCCL Vision of the Seas ship got pulled from her Med itinerary and we had to scramble to find another cruise.

Will be our first NCL experience. We've sailed quit a number of times on Royal and Carnival. From inside cabins to balcony to Crown Loft suites.

 

I'm sure she will be great. I doubt she'll be in my photos from the port though.  😲

Very ugly for sure!  We also booked her NYC to Barcelona in the spring of 2022.  The interior seems to have some unique spaces as well -- I kind of like the set up in the cabins with the sink outside and a nice enclosed shower.  We will eat all our evening meals in the alternative restaurants, as the MDR is okay for lunch, but lacks quality for dinner.  

 

We rate NCL equal with RCL and MSC, but better than Princess.  Celebrity, HAL and Cunard are our go to lines.  Crystal, Oceania, and Azamara we love, but it takes a very special deal to get us onboard.

 

Enjoy!

Kel😀

 

 

[complawyer]

sorry, i dont care what the ship looks like, if the price is right, and its the itinerary i want, i only have to look at the ship while we're in port 

 

besides, i dont think the epic looks any better or worse than any of the other ships in the norwegian line up, just enjoy the cruise. if you want to take away the horror of an "ugly" ship, book a haven suite, it will definitely take away the pain

[farmersfight]

2 hours ago, klfrodo said:

There may not be any such thing as an ugly baby, but there sure are some where you say to yourself, Bless his little heart".

 

Well, that's how I feel about the NCL Epic. Damn that's an ugly ship.

I'm still sailing on her though. I hope anyway.

Our RCCL Vision of the Seas ship got pulled from her Med itinerary and we had to scramble to find another cruise.

Will be our first NCL experience. We've sailed quit a number of times on Royal and Carnival. From inside cabins to balcony to Crown Loft suites.

 

I'm sure she will be great. I doubt she'll be in my photos from the port though.  😲

 

I agree with the consensus so far that the Epic is one ugly ship. Those big block of Haven suites on top & forward to me look like a "brain tumor". But, as you said in your title to this thread, "never judge a book by it's cover". I'm sure the Epic has a lot of very positive features and their are a lot of folks here on CC who absolutely love her and she is their favorite NCL ship.

 

To torture you, here she is again:

 

 

Btw, if you notice, the pic in my avatar is of the Epic. Unfortunately, it was the only small enough pic in my computer files that would fit in the box of the avatar, lol.

[ltish23]

I actually loved the Epic, as weird as it was. Only thing is the pool, doesn't have water around the edge of it like other ncls, so pool deck is hot.. 

[Linda the Book Lover]

We sailed the Epic twice. Once the Caribbean and once a Mediterranean cruise. We loved the ship and more so after her drydock. Both times we had an enjoyable time. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder😉

[Hearthosesteeldrumsplayin]

I haven't sailed on her, but I have to say that NCL used to have a picture of the Owner's Suite bedroom on their opening page of the web site.  With those floor-to-ceiling windows, I was like"I NEED to sail in that cabin!"  So, when I called NCL, I asked WHAT SHIP and SUITE is that?  They absolutely could not tell me!  I found it out on my own later...and am STILL wanting to book that cabin!

Right now, I think most of us would be happy to be sailing, PERIOD.  I think you will have a fabulous time!  The outside may be ugly, but I'm sure the inside has a heart of gold!

[jaapie]

For us itinerary is more important than the ship. We have sailed on the Epic and would do so again even though it is not our favorite ship. For us the bathroom layout was not a problem but what we didn't like was the very enclosed feeling of the lounges due to the lack of windows so difficult to find a chair inside where you could look at the ocean. 

[All-ready2cruise]

I think Epic is one of those ships which "love it" or "hate it".   Epic was my 2nd cruise.  Huge compared to the 1st ship I cruised on, the Star, however. so much/too much to see.  Our balcony, a BA, was great. The food was wonderful, however, reconnecting with co-cruisers during the cruise was not so great.  How the ship is seen, determines what they the reviews say. 

We had no problem with the external appearance of the ship... the interior was beautiful.  Who cares what it looks like on the exterior?  

Some pax had a problem with the BR layout... we loved it.  All in a different perspective.   

 

It's all how you look at things. 

JMO

cheers 🥂

Edited October 10, 2020 by All-ready2cruise

[Linda the Book Lover]

48 minutes ago, All-ready2cruise said:

I think Epic is one of those ships which "love it" or "hate it".   Epic was my 2nd cruise.  Huge compared to the 1st ship I cruised on, the Star, however. so much/too much to see.  Our balcony, a BA, was great. The food was wonderful, however, reconnecting with co-cruisers during the cruise was not so great.  How the ship is seen, determines what they the reviews say. 

We had no problem with the external appearance of the ship... the interior was beautiful.  Who cares what it looks like on the exterior?  

Some pax had a problem with the BR layout... we loved it.  All in a different perspective.   

 

It's all how you look at things. 

JMO

cheers 🥂

I so agree it is all you look at things. We enjoyed both times on the Epic.

[ellenw]

Sailed Epic once. A great cruise! I hear many complaints about the bathroom setup The concept is great, but execution not so much. But still a wonderful ship. Would cruise her again if the itinerary was right.

 

 

 

 

[BirdTravels]

We love the Epic. We have sailed on her 7 times and enjoyed every cruise. 
 

The boutique bathrooms are unique, but we’ve never had any problems with them. We have paid $400/night at boutique hotels in major cities across the US with very similar setups. Yeah, the hotels had more space than a cruise ship cabin, but the bathroom situation was very similar. 

[MoCruiseFan]

On ‎10‎/‎10‎/‎2020 at 1:43 PM, drsel said:

Norwegian is a lot like Carnival. its a 4 star cruise with plenty of activities and fun.
They have a good show every night.
they have points for participation in all the events and at the end you get a prize like a t-shirt

 

 

NCL is absolutely NOTING like Carnival, Thank God.  CCL has rusty old dirty ships with very little late night food (unless you count half raw pizza dripping with grease( and really crappy casinos.

[Summerstravel]

Well the Titanic was supposed to be the grandest ship in the world and we all know how that story ends. 

Norwegian has great service I am sure you will have a wonderful cruise. 

[drsel]

OP, if you enjoyed Carnival, you will certainly enjoy Norwegian. Never mind the looks

[drsel]

But wait for last minute price drops after the final payment date. (Unless you have to go on only 1 particular sailing in 1 particular cabin).

You will be surprised how low it can go. At least that was the case prior to Covid.

[drsel]

 

 

 

 

NCL is absolutely NOTING like Carnival, Thank God.  CCL has rusty old dirty ships with very little late night food (unless you count half raw pizza dripping with grease( and really crappy casinos.

Haha, then you haven't tried Costa.

There is NO late night food at all!

And you have to pay extra even for a basic pizza in the pizzeria and for water in the main dining room.

 

[Viajera7]

I have sailed the Epic twice and I like it so much that I have 2 more future sailings on her. One In 2021 and one in 2022. As Linda the Book Lover said: Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

[drsel]

I would never allow the external look of the ship to affect my enjoyment of The Cruise

[dexddd]

On 10/10/2020 at 2:49 PM, Hearthosesteeldrumsplayin said:

I haven't sailed on her, but I have to say that NCL used to have a picture of the Owner's Suite bedroom on their opening page of the web site.  With those floor-to-ceiling windows, I was like"I NEED to sail in that cabin!"  So, when I called NCL, I asked WHAT SHIP and SUITE is that?  They absolutely could not tell me!  I found it out on my own later...and am STILL wanting to book that cabin!

Right now, I think most of us would be happy to be sailing, PERIOD.  I think you will have a fabulous time!  The outside may be ugly, but I'm sure the inside has a heart of gold!

Epic does not have OS but they do have DOS.  Maybe that is what confused them.

[prov2727]

I sailed the Epic in January and loved everything except the fact that I had to go through the smoky casino to get to the dining room unless I wanted to go to the front of the ship to take that elevator down (my room was on the back part of the ship). The crew were wonderful, the food was delicious--I really got all the peace and quiet that I wanted and for those who like a little noise and excitement, there was certainly that too. Always found a chair on deck, a place in the buffet area to eat, etc. I only have Holland America to compare with (in which all of those things were true too), but I preferred Norwegian probably because I didn't have to share a dining table although I did often converse with other guests as we ate if they chose to start a conversation. 

[pcrum]

We were on the Epic for 15 nights on a TA cruise in April, 2019.  We absolutely loved the ship.  The entertainment was excellent; we had the Broadway show Priscilla Queen of the Desert and the dance show, Burn the Floor.  There were other cabaret shows also.  Howl at the Moon is only on a few NCL ships, not sure why it's not fleet wide.  We loved it on the Epic and closed it down more nights than I can count.  They also had a great Beatles tribute band which we loved (and I'm not really a Beatles fan).  We had one of the balconies on the "hump" so it was a larger balcony.  I would sail Epic again in a heartbeat, but it seems she is leaving FL.  

[The Traveling Man]

We have sailed on the Epic three times.  I love the way the ship is laid out, but there are a few negatives.  There aren't enough elevators for 4000 passengers, so there can be quite a wait at times.  The theater is about the same size as those on much smaller ships, so reservations are required for the shows.  They sometimes fill up and have to turn away any latecomers.  The most curious aspect, though, has to be the design of the staterooms, particularly the toilet facilities.  If you are accustomed to hotel rooms in out-of-the-way European destinations, you should have no problems.  Otherwise, having the sink next to the bed, a claustrophobically small shower stall, and the toilet separated from the bed by nothing but a sliding glass door and a curtain may seem a bit odd.