Norwegian Cruise Lines was ahead of its time in pioneering what it calls Freestyle Dining. The copycat cruise lines are slowly coming out of the woodwork, with numerous different spins on the concept.
Now, NCL has announced that its new ship, the Epic, will have more than 20 (yes, that’s TWENTY) dining areas on board. About half will have a service charge, none of them more than $25 per person.That means the other half will be included in your fare.
Regular NCLers will recognize some of the restaurants from other ships, which tells me that the whole concept is working well for the cruise line.
Here’s a quick rundown of some no-extra-charge locations:
• Taste, the atrium restaurant serving traditional and contemporary cuisine
• Manhattan Room, an elegant “supper club” style establishment
• O’Sheehan’s Neighborhood Bar & Grill, 24-hour availability, serving American favorites
• Garden Café, Norwegian’s signature casual restaurant
• Great Outdoors, the pool-side grill
• Spice H20, Latin and Asian-influenced cuisine in the adults-only complex
• Atrium Cafe and Wine BarStudio Lounge, snacks and light meals
• Epic Club, elegant and exclusive, for Norwegian Epic’s Suite and Villa guests
• Courtyard Grill, casual, outdoors
The restaurants with per-person charges are:
• La Cucina, Italian ($10)
• Cirque Dreams & Dinner, a circus-inspired dinner-and-show experience that includes a three-course meal ($15 for general seating/$20 preferred)
• Shanghai’s, Norwegian’s first Chinese-only restaurant ($15)
• Shanghai’s Noodle Bar (a la carte)
• Wasabi, sushi and sake (a la carte)
• Le Bistro, Norwegian’s famous classic French bistro ($20)
• Moderno Churrascaria, an expansive salad bar and a variety of meats served by tableside passadors ($18)
• Cagney’s Steakhouse, the line’s signature steakhouse ($25)
• Teppanyaki, the Japanese restaurant found on other Norwegian ships ($25)
If you’ll forgive my pun, that’s an Epic culinary roster.
That’s it…I’m done.