Has anyone been on the Norwegian Epic

[disneypartyof4]

We would love to go on the epic....I have 2 boys 12 and 15. I looked at the other cruise posts and I did go on cruise compete and got about 5 quotes. cruise vacation outlet was one of them and the price is the same as the norwegian site but you also get a 375.00 ship credit. They also had another quote it was alittle lower but the credit was lower also. I was thinking of a christmas one leaving on dec 22. but also had them quote week before and it is about 1200.00 cheaper leaving on the 15th. Big Big difference. but it will be harder to get time off at my one job as a school bus driver. the other job I can use personal and sick days. DH would have to take 6 vacation days the week before but the week of christmas he would only have to take 4 . and the kids will be out of school week of. but that is alot of money between the 2 The Epic seems like an awesome ship!

 

[mjkacmom]

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1554297

Tons of other similar threads, as well.

 

[Mickeyluver37]

We're sailing in June- first cruise!!! It's actually a Girl Scout trip that we've been planning for years- so it will be just DD and I, along with several other mom and daughter pairs. It looks like a great ship for the group of 15 year old girls.

The price dropped quite a bit since we booked in November, so several of us just today upgraded to Balcony rooms. With the prices dropping, we were able to pay about the same, but get much nicer rooms.

I am very excited, but airfare is going to be a killer. I've been watching the prices and fare sales, but it looks like the rates are going up, not down, so we're all about to bite the bullet and pay the $1200 pp airfare.

 

[Kristi1357]

We sailed on the Epic last February and LOVED IT!!!
Best. Vacation. Ever.

My only, very small complaint is the jogging track. It's just an out & back type of thing and it smells really, really bad out there. There are exhaust fans or something.

The watersides are awesome! Blue Man Group, Cirque Dreams, bowling, just being lazy by the pool....

 

[TifffanyD]

We went on it in April over Easter week! It was amaaaaaaazing

Loved Second City and Howl at the Moon - we closed that place down nightly! Also loved BMG! Let me know if you have questions.

 

[mikehn]

In planning for spring break this year, I took a long hard look at this ship, but in the end, I felt the cost of the flight down to Miami was just too ridiculous. So we ended going with a different ship outta Galveston. But maybe next year, we'll revisit the Epic

 

[Keira1387]

Not to hijack, but from what I saw on the website it seemed to be a lot of nickel and dimming. The cruise ship appears to have tons of restaurants, but most of them had a nominal fee. Bowling looked like it had fee and so on. Did you guys notice this at all or am I over analyzing?

 

[it's kelly]

I sailed the Norwegian Gem in June and we had a great time! I'm sure you will be very happy!

 

[Kristi1357]

Not to hijack, but from what I saw on the website it seemed to be a lot of nickel and dimming. The cruise ship appears to have tons of restaurants, but most of them had a nominal fee. Bowling looked like it had fee and so on. Did you guys notice this at all or am I over analyzing?

I'd say half the restaurants were specialty ones. There were plenty of places to eat without a surcharge, and we did just that except for our last night. We signed up for a Norwegian master card and received a buy one, get one meal at a specialty restaurant. We went to Teppanyaki and loved it.

We did pay to bowl one game, just to say we did that on a ship. I don't know that I'd bowl at sea again, it was very rocky the day we did it and the ball just rolled all over the place!

I honestly didn't feel it was any worse than other cruise lines. There was plenty to keep you entertained and fed without spending any extra money.

 

[JenLanDisney]

In planning for spring break this year, I took a long hard look at this ship, but in the end, I felt the cost of the flight down to Miami was just too ridiculous. So we ended going with a different ship outta Galveston. But maybe next year, we'll revisit the Epic

An alternative may be to fly into Fort Lauderdale. It's about 45 min from the cruise terminal and airport in Miami.

We've rented a car one way from FLL to MIA and then the car rental company had a free shuttle to the cruiseport.