Norwegian Cruise
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@acamm — I would love to learn more about your cruise. Not so much the stops, but what “ship life” is like on the ship. There were some things about our Carnival cruise that make us one to take it up a notch next time to a better cruise line and we were looking at Norwegian. Can I ask a few questions?
1) Were there LOTS of activities on the ship during the day you could do that didn’t involve shopping or going to classes hosted by the shops (jewelry seminar hosted by jewelry store, history of watches hosted by watch store)?
2) Is there plenty of good dining included in the cost of your trip or do most foods require additional payment?
3) Was the casino minimum bet at table games a reasonable amount (it was for Carnival)?
4) What kind of activities were you able to do during the daytime hours on sea days that didn’t cost you extra (I think all of the lines have a lot to do at night)? We aren’t sit by the pool and chill out kind of people so we need things to do.
5) What kind did they have that did cost extra and were those charges reasonable?
6) Any other thoughts that you would like to share about “ship life” for Norwegian?@ferg I would LOOOOVE to talk your ear off about our amazing Norwegian Cruise!! I have a super busy morning, but I’ll return here later in the day to answer all of these questions in depth!
In a nutshell…. Norwegian is AMAZING and we can’t wait to get back on one of their ships! We actually are looking to book again for 2019 for a Mediterranean Cruise
@Ferg … ok I finally am logging back into D-cot…. today has been insane. . .
Lets answer your questions for you…..
1) Were there LOTS of activities on the ship during the day you could do that didn’t involve shopping or going to classes hosted by the shops (jewelry seminar hosted by jewelry store, history of watches hosted by watch store)? YES… tons and tons and tons of activities! Let me begin by saying this was our first cruise ever, so we didn’t have anything to compare it to. This ship had 4,100 passengers, and 1,200 crew members. The ship had 20 restaurants and a ton of bars and lots of things to do for everyone! My son loved Entourage – the teen club… we barely saw him!! He hung out with a ‘crew’ of 9 guys and girls and they had a blast the entire week. We did events as a family, and then Kevin and I did a ton of stuff together too. Activities we personally participated in were:
-Dance lessons
-Dance CONTEST… to which I was paired up with a crew member and I came in 2nd place on the whole ship!!
-Geography trivia
-80’s trivia
-Charades!!!
-Karaoke
-White / Glow Party
-80’s Dance Party
-Video Game trivia
-Deal or No DealFree Evening shows we went to were:
-Comedy Show
-Priscilla Queen of the Desert
-Burn the FloorWe paid extra for the Cirque show, which was awesome!
It was a 7 night cruise, with 2 sea days. The 4 port days we did excursions on the 4 different islands (Bahamas, Grand Cayman, Cozumel, Jamaica) so we didn’t do anything on the ship. We had 2 sea days which we literally laid on the sun deck (full vacation mode!!!!) and read all day and listened to the live music on the Lido. I read 1 1/2 books that week!!!
Other activities that I KNOW were offered on the ship, but that we didn’t take part of due to above events:
-napkin folding class
-art auctions
-paint and wine classes
-rockclimbing wall
-yoga
-bingo2) Is there plenty of good dining included in the cost of your trip or do most foods require additional payment?
Holy Moly…. YES YES and YESSS! The food was sooooo delicious! Now, as you know there are about 50% free restaurants and 50% extra charge restaurants. We did both on this trip, and both were equally delicious! The 2 main dining rooms were Taste and the Manhattan Room – and they were both probably my favorites even over the extra charge restaurants! They had steak and seafood and pasta every night… the daily specials were so amazing! The french onion soup at both of the main dining rooms was spectacular!! The other free restaurants were an amazing irish pub: O’Sheehans, an Asian noodle bar: Shanghai’s, the biggest buffet I’ve ever seen on the Lido deck, and others. The QUALITY of food in each restaurant was beyond my expectations! I would compare it to the Disney food quality of : Le Cellier and Monsieur Paul for sit down restaurants….. and Boma for the buffet. It was awesome!3) Was the casino minimum bet at table games a reasonable amount (it was for Carnival)?
Honestly… we walked thru the casino about 4x every single day….. and we never even played 1 slot machine I can’t help you with this one….4) What kind of activities were you able to do during the daytime hours on sea days that didn’t cost you extra (I think all of the lines have a lot to do at night)? We aren’t sit by the pool and chill out kind of people so we need things to do.
Well… on port days we were on adventures every single day… .on sea days we were totally laying by the pools and on the top deck However…. there was tons to do for everyone on the entire ship. If you are interested in seeing what is available, you can do a google search for Norwegian Epic: Freestyle Daily which is the daily paper that came out every day that listed all activities. Here is someone that I found by doing a google search that posted every day for their week in 2016 : https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=24248785) What kind did they have that did cost extra and were those charges reasonable?
What kind of what? 6) Any other thoughts that you would like to share about “ship life” for Norwegian?
Well, I will say that It’s what you make of it!!! We tried to do EVERYTHING on the ship! We went to every show, we hit up every bar, we saw every band (even if just for 1 song), we bar hopped to mingle and check everything out, we tried all the food, tried all the trivia nights, we did all the dancing and parties, and shows, and everything that we possibly could do! It was awesome!I would totally get a balcony room for SURE! I can’t imagine not having an ‘outside’ on the ship. Its not that much more to have that upgrade, and I thoroughly enjoyed ours!
We met so many people from all over America and all over the world. its kind of like summer camp!
We spoke to a lot of seasoned cruisers who have been on several different cruise lines such as Carnival, Princess, etc. The majority said that Norwegian is by far their favorite! We are currently looking to book our next cruise for 2019 to the Mediterranean … on the same exact ship because we loved it so much! 
We hope to have it booked by the end of January once we can decide on which week to book.I’m not sure what other questions you have, so just ask away!
@Ferg We were on the Norwegian Epic out of Port Canaveral. We are currently booking the Norwegian Epic again for 2019 out of BARCELONA, SPAIN!!!
You’re going to Africa? Wow, that will be so special to see Alyssa’s first water well and to hang her plaque. I know you are looking forward to that!!!
If you have more questions about Norwegian, ask away… I might have the answer
@ferg that is so awesome. Africa! And what an honor to be able to go and see Alyssas well. I know it’s not for another year, but please share as much as you can about that experience when you return.
@ferg that is wonderful that you are going to Africa to see the well and commemorate it with the plaque. My
swells just thinking about this.@ferg I’m so happy for you! You’re going to have the BEST time!!!!!!!
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