NCL Epic - Concerned About Bad Reviews

[sh4848]

I’m sailing on Norwegian epic sept 18th. Looking forward to this Mediterranean cruise. Not worried I know we will enjoy all our ports and the ship 

[Travelicious]

20 hours ago, RumRunner2021 said:

The message goes beyond "drag."  Just sharing that for the uninformed who might be trying to decide if they want to take their kids to that show.

Interesting.  What do you perceive the message to be?

[RumRunner2021]

9 minutes ago, Travelicious said:

Interesting.  What do you perceive the message to be?

I'm pretty sure you know.  I won't elaborate because it would likely break forum rules.

[phillygwm]

On 8/26/2022 at 12:25 PM, cruiseny4life said:

Maybe that are relevant to the 2020's? We don't need more 80's, 90's, or earlier musicals. There's a reason we don't go to the entertainment. Seriously though, we don't need MJ, Priscilla, Chicago, or Oklahoma...ugh, this is one of those things I absolutely abhor about NCL. 

 

I'd love to go to a show (in my flippie floppies, shorts, and tshirt, mind you) that isn't dedicated to the relics of our past. 

Actually, Priscilla opened on Broadway in 2011, Jersey Boys was 2005,  Six is a 2021 show,  MJ is a 2022 show.  Some of those feature older music but looking at the Tony nominated musicals of the past dozen years, a fair proportion are jukebox musicals:  3 out of 9 in the 2020's alone.   I don't know the shows on every ship offhand but I'm not aware of any that are super old.  

 

What is NCL trying to accomplish?  A high energy, "light", not too controversial show with a limited cast that comes in under a certain time and isn't super technical to produce.  Add to that the ability to obtain the rights, which presumably rules out all the Disney shows and who knows which others.  

 

There really aren't a ton of options left.  Given the subject matter, there is about zero chance you'll ever see shows like Jagged Little Pill, Fun Home, Book of Mormon or American Idiot onboard. 

 

Edited August 28, 2022 by phillygwm

[hallux]

32 minutes ago, phillygwm said:

but I'm not aware of any that are super old.

I don't think Footloose (Joy) and Jersey Boys (Bliss) are terribly new shows.  I guess it depends on your definition of "super old"...

[complawyer]

well, since jersey boys is about the 4 seasons, and their 1st hit came out in about 1963, i would argue that the premise is not super old, but ancient (lol)by the way, we walked out of the show on the bliss about 2 weeks ago, they were trying to follow the movie, not the play itself. the show dragged until "Bob Gaudio" came in, again playing the same song as in the movie.

 

on the other hand, i thought "six" was amazing. from start to finish, the girls never let up. their energy level was astounding.  dont miss this one!

[phillygwm]

4 minutes ago, hallux said:

I don't think Footloose (Joy) and Jersey Boys (Bliss) are terribly new shows.  I guess it depends on your definition of "super old"...

Footloose was 1998, JB was 2005.  But those are relatively new compared to the poster's reference to Oklahoma (1943) and Chicago (1975) 🙂  

 

And I stand corrected on the number of post-2020 jukebox musicals:  It's actually 4 of 9.  Philosophically, I understand why B'way producers like them (and revivals.)  They're a proven commodity and, given the cost of producing a show, it's less risky than going out with a potential bomb with original music.  But it doesn't leave a lot of newer source material.

[complawyer]

personally, i'd go to a musical revival play any day. personal favorites, camelot, fiddler on the roof, sound of music. it is probably not feasible to produce these on a ship, but whenever they are performed locally, (los angeles), im there!

 

same with all the old MGM musicals! and fyi, im a 74 year old baby boomer!

[rscales2]

The Epic had the best food in the fleet . I can see  why some People will be offensive by Priscilla I’m not. There other Entertainment . You can’t really walk around the ship it have a funny shape. I myself love the Epic but I’m a single male who sail in a solo cabin .

[Teampayne2]

We sailed the Epic a couple of weeks back, first time with NCL having previously sailed many times with Carnival and Royal Caribbean and once with MSC.

We enjoyed our cruise but wouldn’t sail the Epic again unless we got an amazing to good to refuse rate. We found the entertainment a little lacking, didn’t like the lay out of the ship, there seemed a lot less public space on deck and the pools were oddly really hot?! 
We also missed having a choice of pool, with only having the two small pools which are right next to each other.

There are my negatives, on a positive note I would say though that we enjoyed the food and have no complaints at all there, we ate in the buffet for lunch and dining room for dinner, the service was also good and staff were always very helpful and friendly, I hope this helps.

[RumRunner2021]

16 hours ago, rscales2 said:

I can see  why some People will be offensive by Priscilla I’m not. There other Entertainment .

I'm not offended by it (assuming that's what you meant by "offensive").  I just think it's crap for entertainment.  To your point, I can (and do) just find my entertainment elsewhere.  I'm glad Priscilla is so danged popular, because while others are crowding into the theatre to watch it, other venues have less people to deal with.

[Trimone]

Has become a bit of a Stag and Hen party ship, we sailed on its first outing after Covid, excellent 

 

 

[rscales2]

1 hour ago, RumRunner2021 said:

I'm not offended by it (assuming that's what you meant by "offensive").  I just think it's crap for entertainment.  To your point, I can (and do) just find my entertainment elsewhere.  I'm glad Priscilla is so danged popular, because while others are crowding into the theatre to watch it, other venues have less people to deal with.

They have Burn the Floor, Howl at the Moon which the Band play the song you want. The comedian are very good. 

[blueslily]

On 8/24/2022 at 9:17 PM, BirdTravels said:

We have sailed on the Epic 6 or 7 times in the past and would happily sail on her again (we're looking at a Southern Caribbean cruise from San Juan on the Epic). Lots of people complain for the sake of complaining. We would give the Epic two thumbs up. She's a lot nicer than the small ships in the fleet. 

 

The Epic is a little older. Been through two major dry docks. But, she is still a grand ship. No laser tag, go karts, and virtual reality pavilions which is totally  fine with us. She was NCL's first mega ship and has what you would expect on a bigger ship. 

 

Yes, totally love the Epic. Im not really sure what all the fuss is about the bathroom. It's actually a helpful setup. But, as said above, some people complain just to complain and some people are just negative. I love cruising and the Epic is a great ship for both Caribbean and Mediterranean sailings. Go enjoy and dont be deflated by negativity of other people.   

 

EDIT: I'm not sure why this posted a second time. 

Edited August 28, 2022 by blueslily

[blueslily]

Interesting discussion about shows on ships. I'm thinking back, and I dont recall usually selecting a cruise based on the shows on a ship. Hmmm. Just hasn't been a high priority for me.  I guess it depends on why we choose to cruise. Shows usually dont fall high on my list. I could take them or leave some of them and still have an awesome cruise. 

[rscales2]

I like Priscilla wish it was a 45 minutes show instead of 75 minutes. The Pasta in the  Buffett is very good. Have them heat up Pasta. Don’t eat the Pasta that they have out. Makes sure it fresh that they cook. Don’t go to the Italian speciality restaurant . Cagney and La Bistro is superb . They have a Asian restaurant that is included that have a spicy noodle dish.I’ll be very careful eating. I will only go to the Japanese restaurant only if I have free at sea. Moderno is also very good. I’m really trying to cut back on meat.

[BirdTravels]

We like Pricilla. We were at opening night on the Epic in 2015 as the ship came out of dry dock. During that cruise, Pricilla the [old] movie was playing continuously on the stateroom TVs. It's great broadway entertainment. 

[MSUjohn]

On 8/27/2022 at 10:30 AM, RumRunner2021 said:

 

 

Edited August 29, 2022 by MSUjohn

[MSUjohn]

9 hours ago, rscales2 said:

I like Priscilla wish it was a 45 minutes show instead of 75 minutes. The Pasta in the  Buffett is very good. Have them heat up Pasta. Don’t eat the Pasta that they have out. Makes sure it fresh that they cook. Don’t go to the Italian speciality restaurant . Cagney and La Bistro is superb . They have a Asian restaurant that is included that have a spicy noodle dish.I’ll be very careful eating. I will only go to the Japanese restaurant only if I have free at sea. Moderno is also very good. I’m really trying to cut back on meat.

 i went to La Cucina on my last cruise it was a great experience and the ribeye was super.

[cruiseny4life]

On 8/27/2022 at 9:51 PM, phillygwm said:

Actually, Priscilla opened on Broadway in 2011, Jersey Boys was 2005,  Six is a 2021 show,  MJ is a 2022 show.  Some of those feature older music but looking at the Tony nominated musicals of the past dozen years, a fair proportion are jukebox musicals:  3 out of 9 in the 2020's alone.   I don't know the shows on every ship offhand but I'm not aware of any that are super old.  

 

What is NCL trying to accomplish?  A high energy, "light", not too controversial show with a limited cast that comes in under a certain time and isn't super technical to produce.  Add to that the ability to obtain the rights, which presumably rules out all the Disney shows and who knows which others.  

 

There really aren't a ton of options left.  Given the subject matter, there is about zero chance you'll ever see shows like Jagged Little Pill, Fun Home, Book of Mormon or American Idiot onboard. 

 

Ok - so I may stand corrected if I were to cruise some ships. What you mention above is quite interesting to me.

 

When I look at entertainment on the ships I've cruised/going to cruise on (it's limited to the Getaway and Escape), I see lackluster entertainment like "Burn the Floor," "JunNk," and "Million Dollar Quartet." I actually think the quartet could be good if they weren't singing Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, etc. That just sounds boring. I believe these guys do another show where they sing some Broadway tunes. I am going to go to that next week as I think it'll be fun. I wish I could drag my husband along, but he's completely uninterested in any type of musical (I know it's not a production). 

 

Then, I look at the Escape and it's "Choir of Man," "Howl at the Moon." Again, Malevo looks like it might be interesting since I'd be immersed in the music/dance of another culture. It may be one that I watch in the spring.

 

As for NCL Epic (to bring it back to the topic) - it looks pretty poor if you want something with music that is post 1999. We have some "Burn the Floor" which includes tango and rumba, "Howl at the Moon" with a lot of 70's rock (this might be the music I hate more than any other kind), "Priscilla" which is edgy. I'll give NCL that! But, they sing old songs as drag queens are want to do. And finally, "The Cavern Club," well it's the damn Beatles. Seriously? 

 

If NCL starts going in the direction of "Six," then we may just be in luck with some lovely shows in the future! I agree they won't produce Disney (that's ok with me), but "Wicked," "Jagged Little Pill," "Book of Mormon," "Avenue Q," etc. would not likely make it. The shows would be way better though! 

 

And so, yes, of course you're right. NCL is going to make mostly older-friendly shows, because that is who the majority of their market is. I just wish there were something a bit more Millennial friendly. I'm not going to go all cancel culture on it and not sail though. I'll just get on board and enjoy blasting Nick Minaj, Kesha, and others from my balcony (kidding folks, kidding).  

 

Thanks for the fun conversation philly!! 

Edited August 29, 2022 by cruiseny4life

[cruiseny4life]

14 hours ago, blueslily said:

Interesting discussion about shows on ships. I'm thinking back, and I dont recall usually selecting a cruise based on the shows on a ship. Hmmm. Just hasn't been a high priority for me.  I guess it depends on why we choose to cruise. Shows usually dont fall high on my list. I could take them or leave some of them and still have an awesome cruise. 

Depending on cruises in the future, I may throw a little (just a little) bit of stock into which show is playing. If there are two ships with similar itineraries, I might just select the ship with a better show than the ship with a has been show. I could totally see myself getting on Bliss over Getaway next time so I can see "Six." Itinerary and the embarkation port will win out over the show, but if I get down to needing a 4th or 5th reason, then I could see this happening.

[MSUjohn]

20 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

Ok - so I may stand corrected if I were to cruise some ships. What you mention above is quite interesting to me.

 

When I look at entertainment on the ships I've cruised/going to cruise on (it's limited to the Getaway and Escape), I see lackluster entertainment like "Burn the Floor," "JunNk," and "Million Dollar Quartet." I actually think the quartet could be good if they weren't singing Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, etc. That just sounds boring. I believe these guys do another show where they sing some Broadway tunes. I am going to go to that next week as I think it'll be fun. I wish I could drag my husband along, but he's completely uninterested in any type of musical (I know it's not a production). 

 

Then, I look at the Escape and it's "Choir of Man," "Howl at the Moon." Again, Malevo looks like it might be interesting since I'd be immersed in the music/dance of another culture. It may be one that I watch in the spring.

 

As for NCL Epic (to bring it back to the topic) - it looks pretty poor if you want something with music that is post 1999. We have some "Burn the Floor" which includes tango and rumba, "Howl at the Moon" with a lot of 70's rock (this might be the music I hate more than any other kind), "Priscilla" which is edgy. I'll give NCL that! But, they sing old songs as drag queens are want to do. And finally, "The Cavern Club," well it's the damn Beatles. Seriously? 

 

If NCL starts going in the direction of "Six," then we may just be in luck with some lovely shows in the future! I agree they won't produce Disney (that's ok with me), but "Wicked," "Jagged Little Pill," "Book of Mormon," "Avenue Q," etc. would not likely make it. The shows would be way better though! 

 

And so, yes, of course you're right. NCL is going to make mostly older-friendly shows, because that is who the majority of their market is. I just wish there were something a bit more Millennial friendly. I'm not going to go all cancel culture on it and not sail though. I'll just get on board and enjoy blasting Nick Minaj, Kesha, and others from my balcony (kidding folks, kidding).  

 

Thanks for the fun conversation philly!! 

JunNk is a huge downgrade from cirque du soleil & Million Dollar Quartet is actually a pretty good show. i honestly dont understand how anyone can hate 1970s rock which is probably the best decade of rock ever (and i am saying this as a late gen Xer who was a teen in the 90s, another music decade).

for live entertainment i actually enjoy the non "Broadway" acts more. singers, stand ups, magicians and especially aerialists; that sort of thing.   

 

yes they play the older music because boomers are the ones with that cash and time for cruising (insert getting all hopped up on ***** and going to hear some music joke here).

[MSUjohn]

44 minutes ago, MSUjohn said:

JunNk is a huge downgrade from cirque du soleil & Million Dollar Quartet is actually a pretty good show. i honestly dont understand how anyone can hate 1970s rock which is probably the best decade of rock ever (and i am saying this as a late gen Xer who was a teen in the 90s, another music decade).

for live entertainment i actually enjoy the non "Broadway" acts more. singers, stand ups, magicians and especially aerialists; that sort of thing.   

 

yes they play the older music because boomers are the ones with that cash and time for cruising (insert getting all hopped up on ***** and going to hear some music joke here).

***** = censoring the name of the little blue pill?

[phillygwm]

10 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

When I look at entertainment on the ships I've cruised/going to cruise on (it's limited to the Getaway and Escape), I see lackluster entertainment like "Burn the Floor," "JunNk," and "Million Dollar Quartet." I actually think the quartet could be good if they weren't singing Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, etc. That just sounds boring.

Million Dollar Quartet?  Oh, you mean the 2010 Tony nominee? 🙂

 

10 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

Then, I look at the Escape and it's "Choir of Man," "Howl at the Moon." Again, Malevo looks like it might be interesting since I'd be immersed in the music/dance of another culture. It may be one that I watch in the spring.

 

As for NCL Epic (to bring it back to the topic) - it looks pretty poor if you want something with music that is post 1999. We have some "Burn the Floor" which includes tango and rumba, "Howl at the Moon" with a lot of 70's rock (this might be the music I hate more than any other kind), "Priscilla" which is edgy. I'll give NCL that! But, they sing old songs as drag queens are want to do. And finally, "The Cavern Club," well it's the damn Beatles. Seriously? 

Actually, I don't disagree.  I used to go to Broadway a lot but the jukebox musicals just get old.  I went to see Jersey Boys on Broadway because (older) friends wanted to go.  They had tears in their eyes.  I couldn't wait to leave.  One exception, which I'd love to see NCL produce, is Xanadu, which itself is a Broadway remake of one of the biggest movie bombs of all time (Olivia Newton-John and Gene Kelly.  What could possibly go wrong?)  The B'way version owned the early 80's campiness of it all, which is what made it great.  And I did enjoy Priscilla, though I didn't see it on the ship.

 

So what NCL entertainment do I like?  Well, the cast of Six was sick when I sailed on the Bliss last December so I missed it, though I liked it on B'way.  But I usually skip the shows altogether and play blackjack instead.

[mskaufman]

So, the reason we chose Epic was the itinerary.  Food was fine. Entertainment was OK. I would be more concerned about the small pools or lack of poolside seating if there were sea days.  However, that wasn't the case.  It did always seem crowded. Epic did fine for what we wanted, which was to get us from place to place.