Epic Tips and Tricks

Or "Hacks". :rolleyes:

Okay, experts, let's talk about the Epic. I'm sailing with three other people in a few months, and it's time to start giving everyone the details.

I've complied my own list based on previous threads, and I'm hoping others can add to it.

(Note: These have been copied and pasted directly from previous posts- so any grammatical errors or typos aren't mine. Also, it didn't occur to me until this very second that I should credit the original posters. Sorry- my bad.:o)

• Don’t forget to eat in O’Sheehan’s (24hr)

• Take a power strip with you. There's only one outlet with two plugs in standard balcony room

• On the last sea day they have a big sale on Epic stuff in the shops on deck15. 2 shirts for $10 are a good deal for gifts - some nice sweatshirts, jackets, hats and other items for 50% off. The main gift shops don’t have sales the last day.

• There's an awesome out-of-the-way place for shaded lounging... under the sports deck starboard aft

• There are at least four places to get a made to order omelet in the Garden Café at breakfast

• The public sun decks on 18 are virtually empty, even when the pool is full (seating for about 100 people up there)

• Discovered the fix for the sink splashing.......don't turn the faucet on full blast.

• "Secret" aft stairs are aft - on either side at the very back of the Epic. If you look at the deck plan you'll see blank spots there.

• Note that the cabin telephone is very bright. It’s like a giant cell phone that is constantly on. On the upper right of the screen there is a light bulb, touch the bulb and the phone goes to sleep

• A simple tip for future cruisers, You don't need to use your key card to keep the lights on. Any card will work. Just put it in the slot by the door.

• You can drop off of bags at Headliners - to walk around without bags for a couple of hours. (SWells' note- I think this is the Cavern Club now.)

• Spice H20 was a good “away from people” spot for lunch on embarkation day.

• There are 2 drawers for clothes (or shoes) under the couch bed

• A tip that I didn't see under "Rooms" is to pull your bed out from under the headboard. This will give your bed a few more inches in length..

• Breakfast at Garden Cafe is loud and busy, get your food and head down to La Cucina. It had a beautiful view of sea for dining. First few days there was hardly anyone else down there. I don't think other cruisers knew it was open

• There is a slide-out small table (like a desk) directly above the mini-fridge

• The shower was really nice not so big but the pressure was great. I didn't find the shower steamed up the cabin at all. Just turn up the A/C a bit before going in

• Vanity Mirror: The light was just underneath the medicine cabinet. You just have to find the switch

• Tip for ice cream lovers: If both sides of the buffet are open, they serve different flavors on each side. So if you are on one side and don't see what you want, go over to the other side

• If you can fit things in early on your trip, see was the comedian/magician (he is not around by the end of the week

• We were so disappointed that we didn't try to snacks in the spice H2O bar. They had empanadas, and a bunch of other little goodies we didn't know they served there. FREE by the way

• The water slides are awesome. Start with the purple. It’s the tamest and never had a line. Then do the green – it’s fun, and also never has a line. THEN do the big yellow one with the tubes

• Around the front on 18 there are loads of cushioned beds, probably not quite the same comfort as Posh but much better than the regular beds. I noticed plenty of spares any time I strolled around there. Easy to get to - lift to 17, then walk up stairs to 18, one doorway leads to Posh (access card won't work here unless you've paid for posh pass), the other leads out to deck 18

Thanks so much. I will be on her in March and these tips will come in handy. The tip about the slide out table will be used a lot by us as well as many others. We are slow to get up and eat a lot of breakfast in the room.

Your post has been saved as a PDF and will be with me on my trip.

Thanks again.

Seven weeks today I will be sailing around the Med on the Epic so all very useful thanks. Would love to see more tips and tricks if anyone would like to oblige.

Seven week on Sunday for me!

Tips are really useful. Thank you

Thanks for sharing.

Wow !! You did your homework and helped us out !! We will be on Epic in February. I already made my copy of your information and tucked it away with our cruise papers. Thank you !!

Seven week on Sunday for me!

Tips are really useful. Thank you

Maybe see you onboard!

I'm happy my list is useful to so many.

I would love it if others could add to it... 😜

Thanks for sharing! Will be sailing on the Epic with a group in February and I've posted your list on our group FB page.

Headliners should still be Headliners, Fat Cats Jazz Club has been turned into The Cavern Club. Go and hear whoever is playing in there, the bands are usually top notch.

The casino slots just outside the club were the non smoking section.

There are finger hot snacks and cookies (finger food) in a small steam table in a corner of the casino, used to be my go place on my way back to my cabin from the late movie showing in the Atrium.

There is (was) popcorn set out in the Atrium Cafe for the late night movie, but you have to be quick.

Spa Pass!! Seriously wonderful and that outdoor aft balcony with beds and super padded loungers, its just top notch. Great splurge.

Bowling in O'sheehans and in Bliss might be fun if you're in a big group, one lane though. Bring socks.

Crepe station in the buffet at night.....near where you'd get the made to order eggs at breakfast. Grab one, go to the hand dipped ice cream area and get it filled and then slather on chocolate sauce..... YUM!!

Spice 2o is a great place (adults only during the day) with the small pool and big screen. Bar is up there and snacks. Will turn into the deck party place at night (all ages)

Okay, I'm hungry now ... have a great time.

Wow, great tips!! Looking forward to cruising the Epic in January. Thank you so much for taking the time to list these

If you fancy wading through my review of the Epic (link in my signature) there's lots of tips in there! Just in response to the tips you have collected so far:

• Take a power strip with you. There's only one outlet with two plugs in standard balcony room- in our Inside there was 4- 2 USA and 2 European. You might find it easier to bring a couple of euro adaptor plugs

• On the last sea day they have a big sale on Epic stuff in the shops on deck15. 2 shirts for $10 are a good deal for gifts - some nice sweatshirts, jackets, hats and other items for 50% off. The main gift shops don’t have sales the last day.- they didn't do this on our 10 day cruise do don't count on it

• Discovered the fix for the sink splashing.......don't turn the faucet on full blast.- our sink didn't splash at all- in fact you had to encourage the water to swirl around

• Spice H20 was a good “away from people” spot for lunch on embarkation day.- I don't think they served lunch here for us. Try O'Sheehans instead for a quieter spot

• If you can fit things in early on your trip, see was the comedian/magician (he is not around by the end of the week- no comedian/magician on our cruise but maybe this varies

• Around the front on 18 there are loads of cushioned beds, probably not quite the same comfort as Posh but much better than the regular beds. I noticed plenty of spares any time I strolled around there. Easy to get to - lift to 17, then walk up stairs to 18, one doorway leads to Posh (access card won't work here unless you've paid for posh pass), the other leads out to deck 18- yes this 'secret sun deck' exists, but on our cruise it did not have cushioned loungers, just normal ones. Still the bst quiet spot on a sea day though

My top tip- don't miss the mexican buffet in Moderno if they run it for lunch. Best meal we had on the ship.

Thank you all for the great tips!

Thanks, Sauer-kraut and Squish for the updates. Some of those items were from way back in 2010, so I was afraid they'd be outdated.

I actually really enjoyed your review, Squish, but I'll confess I was paying more attention to the photos. :o I'll have to reread it. :D

Thanks a lot for that list.

I'll be on the Epic for the third time in a little more than two weeks and I've still managed to learn some tricks from your list. Of course, I can also corroborate more than a few of them :) Here's some more :

- The Quiet Zone on deck 18 (with the cushioned chairs) is the best. But know that this area is locked before 9h30am and after 6h00pm. About every hour in the afternoon, a waiter goes through this area to take drink orders.

- If you board early and want a long relaxed lunch to fill the time before the staterooms become available, I recommend the Taste dining room. Very easy to settle down there for an hour with your luggage.

- Spice H2O is great, but since it's at the back of the ship, on sea days, the fume from the ship's chimney sometimes end up right there. Good to know if you are sensitive to headaches or have respiratory issues.

- It is not widely known that Teppanyaki is open for lunch on sea days, and you can go without reservations. Just be there at noon. It is not free, the usual cover charge applies.

That's it for now! Enjoy the Epic :)

Thanks a lot for that list.

 

It is not widely known that Teppanyaki is open for lunch on sea days, and you can go without reservations. Just be there at noon. It is not free, the usual cover charge applies.

 

This is great information! We still have to old UDP, and I've been trying to decide the best night to book Teppanyaki. Now, I don't have to worry about fitting it in with evening activities. :p

Great tips . Just back from a Med cruise . Here are are a couple more tips .

Get a European plug adapter and double your available outlets . A buck on E Bay .

They work great for all electronic devices . DO NOT USE FOR HAIR DYERS

unless you have the traveler models that can shift to 220V

Book ahead for restaurants and entertainment if you can . If already booked up , don't worry , there are more spots to be booked on board . Plus we found there were always more seats for show walk-ups . As for MDR , the peak time for our Med cruise was at 8 to 8:30 . Line-ups were short to nonexistent at other times .

Shanghai's Noodle Bar opened at 5:30 . We enjoyed it as a great place for a snack to hold us till a late meal . Excellent !

If you have Apple products the I-Message worked for FREE . We were told it's a "bug" they are trying to fix . Don't fix it ! :D

We had OBC . It turned out to be non-refundable . In order to use it I cancelled a prebooked tour and immediately rebooked using my credit . Silly but it worked out fine . I was told this is done on a regular basis .

Trying to think of a couple more .

Wow SquishTheWhale. You don't run out of useful tips.

Thanks.

Great tips! thanks!

These are all great tips to provide for people that are looking for more insider information in regards to the Epic.

A couple of tips I wanted to add:

In terms of making reservations for shows, if you're a person that really knows you want to see a show, and you're worried there won't be any seats available, don't hesitate to reserve. If you prefer to do things on a whim, you can go to the shows without reservations, but you do have to wait in line until people with reservations are seated, and there's always a chance you may not get to attend that showing. It's important to weigh what you want to do/see and the best way to do it for you and your party.

There are TV screens throughout the ship, and accessible in your cabin to see what times are still open for reservations at the speciality restaurants. When I was on the Epic three years ago, we could call a little before we wanted to go and get reservations without any problems. Of course, this can also vary, and if you want to ensure you don't miss out, then by all means make a reservation.

On the room numbers outside the cabins, there is a gauge you can turn that includes things such as "Do Not Disturb."

For those that are in a Studio cabin on the Epic, which is the solo traveler cabins on Decks 11 and 12. Those cabins do not have mini-refrigerators or coffee machines in them, but there is coffee and tea available in the Studio Lounge.

• Spice H20 was a good “away from people” spot for lunch on embarkation day.- I don't think they served lunch here for us. Try O'Sheehans instead for a quieter spot

There are sometimes lunch buffets in Spice H20 from 11:30 - 2:30, however it is definitely not as big as the Garden Cafe. My guess is whomever was providing the tip of going to Spice was referring to going to the Garden Cafe to fix your plate, and take your plate to Spice H20. It's a bit of a trek, but something to consider, especially if someone wants to eat outside, and the areas near the Garden Cafe are full. There are also appetizers available in Spice at certain times.

Thanks, zactak! I just read your Epic review. Wow. 😲

These are all great tips to provide for people that are looking for more insider information in regards to the Epic.

 

A couple of tips I wanted to add:

Thanks for this

Great tips! I'm back on the Epic next week so will deffo remember some of this!

I copied this list of tips from one of the stickies, not sure where. I think it contains pretty much what has been brought. Note that some of the information is outdated such as being able to bring drinks aboard and the Blue Man Group, etc. Also some applies to other ports like Miami. You can use this and go through it and eliminate the obvious ones. Hope this helps.

Epic Tips.doc

Any tip is appreciated KaneCruzer. It's your effort that counts.Thanks.