Vyhanek

I walked the track on the Epic last week. You will have a hard time running 5 miles in the morning because there are plenty of walkers. I was there between 9ish and 11ish. I'd say any given day there were probably 20 walkers on that track. It does get pretty busy, the walkers average age is probably 60 so the walking is slowish, and normally they are walking side by side......because they are on vacation. There were a few runners but they would have to run, stop when they are behind walkers then wait for the walkers in the opposite direction to pass, i could tell it was frustrating. It won't be easy unless you go at an off time.

I was on the Epic last week as well. I think the issues with your cabin are uncommon. I'm actually surprised that your cabin steward would clean that room without a closet door and not get the issue addressed. It took you escalating it and then he was able to make on appear. That I don't like. But the issue with the air conditioner leaking wasn't an ongoing issue and was addressed.

I absolutely hated Great Stirrup Cay. I don't find it pretty at all. I've been cruising NCL for more than 20 years. GSC used to be a pretty island! There used to be sand!! Now it's just a big mound of hard coral. People were tripping over the mounds of coral. It's not a sandy nice beach like it used to be. You can tell the island construction and the numbers hurricanes have wiped the sand right off the coral base! The water was frigid and the waves were so rough, as they usually are in the many, many times I've been there, it's not easy to get in the water at all. Much less snorkel. it used to be that passengers could get off and explore the entire island. I remember being able to walk all the way to the light house! Now that's all barricaded off. Cruisers are contained into a tiny part of the island. It used to be you could walk 1/2 mile to the other side of the island and find a stretch of beach all to yourself. Now they put 4000 passengers on a tiny fraction of the island, full of hard coral. My advice, WEAR SNEAKERS, not flip flops because it's not easy to walk on that coral island base!

I don't love the Epic but I think NCL does a pretty good job with it. I liked the food, they do a much, much better job with food than they used to. NCL's food, back when I was a silver latitudes customer was truly horrible. That's back when we called horrible....."subjective". But I do miss the lobster! Even 2 years ago lobster was everywhere available. Now you can't even buy it as an uncharge. Lots of people could care less about lobster but lots of people want lobster on vacation. This is my single complaint about the food. Other than that, everything was great. Except desserts. Not great at all but I am a big fan of soft serve ice cream and I got all I wanted.

I was disappointed in the shows. Not that I was offended by the overtly homosexual dominance in all the shows, but it was too much. Priscilla obviously but even Burn the floor pushed the homosexual thing too far. Even the Cirque show has a strong homosexual flair to it that it never had before. I think the new Australian Dance Company really takes pushing their homosexual agenda overboard. Especially since most of the passengers last week were probably an average age of 62. I'm 50 traveling with teenagers and I felt I was bringing the average age down dramatically. If I felt the homosexual agenda from every show so strongly I can't imagine what the majority of the people cruising thought. Most people on the Epic were 60's and 70's and I thought the homosexual push was just to much for this demographic.

AS far as the tenders. I didn't see that as a big deal at all. NCL has really got the tender thing down! They can load 2 tender boats each holding 250 people in just a few minutes. There was minimal waiting for tenders! Again, I've been cruising NCL for a long time, I remember waiting an hour or more in line for tenders. They never had tender boats that held 250 and they never loaded 2 at the same time like they do now. Tendering is nothing!

I was a little concerned from previous reviews that it would be hard to get a drink. Nope. Never, not once. With 4000 people you'd think to expect long lines. Nope.

I take a beach safe with me, it's the size of a purse/lunchbox and attach it to my lounge chair. Check out safego.com

As long as you're prepared for 4 of your days to be freezing cold, (2 days down, 2 days back). We just cruised out of Port Canaveral in December. It was pretty cold even starting from Port Canaveral the first day in December! WE can't afford to burn 4 days useless from work/school. It's better for us to pay to fly to Florida than to burn precious days. But every family is different.

This is why the Epic has the best Haven. The courtyard is a mass of families with young kids but on the Epic, the adults only sundeck POSH is the best. its a huge sundeck with its own bar. Anyone who't traveling without children in Haven on the Epic doesn't bother with the courtyard. It's enclosed anyways, you're like a caged animal in there with no ocean view! It's the private adult beautiful sundeck on the Epic that makes it amazing.

Epic

By far. I've written this out a few times but basically the Epic Haven has half the guests and it's bigger! It has 3 bars (lobby, POSH and off the courtyard) the other ships have one lobby bar. With more people.

The Epic has POSH which is a very large outdoor sundeck with it's own bar. There's plenty of seating for all Haven guests. The other Haven's I've been on have an upper sundeck that seats probably 20-25. There's not nearly enough seats and chair hogging is very real. There is no need for chair hogging on the epic with less passengers and a much, much larger space. Then my major pet peeve about the Haven on the other newer ships is that the one and only smoking area for the entire Haven is on that tiny sundeck. I told you already how it's over crowded, now add in the smoking area. It is separated sort of by a glass partition but not adequate at all.

Then drink service is slow in the other Haven ships. With one bar that means the drink servers have to make there way down 2 decks from the upper sundeck to get your drink in the Haven bar. In POSH on the Epic there are several bars and on every level. The bar servers aren't going far to serve.

Then I like that the Epic Haven doesn't have the enclosed, retractable roof. In theory that sounds nice but the retractable frame is all metal and glass and the noise bounces all over the courtyard. It's echo'y. If you get even a couple of well behaved kids in the pool, the noise bounces all over the courtyard from all the metal and glass.

You will be able to see if it is a lifeboat issue or really a capacity issue by checking if the ship is sold out?

My guess is that there are many open cabins and if they deny you an additional guest in the courtyard, they are guessing you'll book an additional cabin! These cruises don't get "sold out" even on Christmas Week. They book way, way, way beyond capacity during holiday weeks.

By guess is that this is their way of forcing you to book another cabin.

I don't know so much that people are intentionally bullies and won't move away from the door for others to get out.

I think in general, the problem is that most people are stupid. They don't have the basic brain power to realize when the elevator stops, someone behind them probably has to get off. They stand there oblivious and irritated because they think someone else is going to try to get on the already crowded elevator.

It's not that people are bullies, it's that people are stupid. I think a good tactic would be.....not just "excuse me" but " excuse me, can I get off here"

With the unlimited beverage packages, NCL has a lot more drunks than I've ever seen before.

But I don't know if that's even the issue. There are way more drunks but I didn't feel any less safe.......just maybe more like I was on a Carnival ship instead of my platinum NCL. I'm sure this Mom isn't going to let it be a free for all with her young teens, clearly she's parenting different than...."We'll see you at the end of the week kids!".

We had to split up from our teens only once and I thought it would go a lot better than it did. My kids had been on probably 5 or 6 cruises by then, we couldn't get our cabins together and so they were down the hall probably 5 doors. They were a little freaked out about being away from us. Being not at home, and getting ready did cause issues. I remember them coming to our room often needing help and attention and direction. It was OK because they were a few door down, it wouldn't have been oK several decks away.

I don't know about the reading comprehension skills of some of these other posters, when you said there will be no behavior issues, I take that to mean, you can trust there won't be wild, loud kids running up and down the hall or creating a problem. When you say you won't have behavior issues.....what else could a less skilled reader take from that?! It won't be behavior issues, the issue will be that your kids aren't as comfortable as you think they will be and that will make you uncomfortable!

Your kids will have more questions than you think. Texting on the ship doesn't work like you expect it to, you aren't just a text away. And my teens knew what to expect. My teens were a bit freaked out by a knock at the door, they never really could find things, being away from home, they were just needier than I anticipated.

I would find another cruise.

You could probably move the coffee station from the living room area into the bedroom and put it on the desk/vanity. I can tell you how that will go down though.......you will eventually have to do it yourself or ask your room steward to do it once you get on the ship. I think if they can make that accommodation on the ship they will but the pre cruise conceirge will be of no help with that. I don't think the new pre-cruise Haven conceirge does anything outside of scheduling dinner, shows, spa......no special requests. Its like when you call you are talking to a PCC that has no idea what's going on, you can tell they've never been on an NCL cruise and they don't know how to make special requests happen.

The pre-cruise concierge has changed from past years. In the past, when I emailed I think I was connected right to the conceirge on the ship. The latest concierge service doesn't do much beyond make reservations with the same MYNCL online access that I could do. I requested a booth for dinner......in the past that was no problem for Haven requests, this year I call and they had no way to make that request I'm told. In the past you could give them a dinner time and it was usually accommodated, now I think all they do is go to the online reservations and if the online reservations are full you are SOL. It's like they don't have any special Haven pull at all. Trying to coordinate the shows I'd booked with a dinner time that was available probably 70 days out you think they could have helped me with......nope. Instead since they couldn't accommodate my dinner/show time requests they are sending my request to the ship to work out. Well, I know for sure once I get on the ship and talk to them the first day or so they will be able to accommodate my simple requests when I ask but that's not the purpose of a pre-conceirge!

I guess I'm OK with that but compared to how the pre-cruise Haven conceirge used to work, this is a downgrade. I'd almost rather not be offered a service that doesn't help me. I can do online everything they can do. They can offer no more.

The king size bed in the suite isn't two single beds pushed together as on other cruise lines. It's a real king.

I've made a 12:30 flight from port Canaveral. BUT, the Epic is having a lot of issues if you read the reviews. Normal time for embarkation and I'm assuming disembarkation are taking a long time with people waiting in the hot sun for hours, sit-in gin the terminal for hours and then almost missing the lunch service. It's not normal NCL organization. I think 2pm is a good.

You can't just go to the thermal spa. The only way you can enjoy it is if you buy a weekly package. They are expensive and the do sell out. I liked the Epic the best. Last year I bought the package for the Escape, I think the Escape sells way too many! It was always, always crowded. I never once could get a tile lounger. Eventually, at the end of the week I learned when to go for less crowds.....dinner time like 7-8pm were good! But then you end up with sweaty hair and needing a shower at 8pm before dinner it made for a late dinner and then of course missing the shows. I think the experience depends on how many passes they sell. After last years experience on the escape, I really don't know if I'd do it again.

Th Epic is getting some consistently horrible reviews, embarkation is taking 1 1/2 hours, dinner reservations are lost, really long wait times for drinks, bar service intentionally slow, the complaints are consistent.

I was on the Epic 2 years ago and it was wonderful. I had lobster for every dinner, there were no long wait for anything, no need to get to the theaters an hour plus in advance. I'm booked again on the Epic in a couple weeks.

I want to think it will all be fine but when you see consistently, recurring issues on the reviews it makes you think the Epic has a serious problem.

The OP is trying to see the stingrays.......It was one of her main, must do things she clearly writes.

Once you get off the ship there will be vendors selling tours right there. The stingrays is great, you don't want to miss it and you'll be able to pick up a tour right from the pier. It's a lot better than the Turtle Farm or Hell, I've done it all on Grand Caymen.

I'm leaving soon also and I got a very generic Haven welcome letter. I called with a few special requests, like time for dinner that I couldn't book online.......there is space, as there always is, they just only book so many online reservations. I was told I couldn't book that time. So I ask, "Are you able to take special requests because if you can book what I can book myself online this won't be helpful". She said all she has access for me is the regular online reservations. Then I requested a booth for my dinner reservations which I've been able to do in the past ahead with the Haven concierge.......nope, she can't do that either.

Basically all she could do for me was what I could do for myself online. She isn't associated with any one ship, very, very limited capabilities there. I'd be certain she'd have absolutely no idea what M&M's are even available on the ships.

NO, 250 minutes gets sucked up very quickly, especially with teenagers! It's not 3-4 hours either because the ship's service runs about as fast as a dial up. There's a lot of downtime loading!

Even if it were a solid 3-4 hours, that gets sucked up quickly lounging on the sundecks, sitting waiting in the theater for a show, evening downtime etc. Anyone under the age of about 35 will burn thru that 250 minutes in about 1-2 days!

Also, NCL will not let you transfer the 250 between devices. So if you and your dh want to each get online, you'd need to buy another package or share the same device.

Yah, how ridiculous. Chicago and NYC are nothing in comparison to the danger in Jamaica. You get off the ship and feel like prey, immediately you feel unsafe, immediately you feel their evaluation..... can snatch your purse, can they snatch your designer sunglasses right off your head, immediately you will be harassed, not asked nicely to buy like in Mexico, you will be harassed to buy.

You go to downtown NYC or Chicago and there are police at every street corner, multiple people don't come up to you and want to sell you drugs. You'd have to search out your drug deal. It's ignorant to compare, even in the liberal left gun infested den of Chicago, still it's safer. And I agree about the falls. You want to stay away, it's scary dangerous, it's not pretty, it's dirty and dangerous. The last time I was at the falls, a big aggressive guy pushed his way onto out tour bus and walked up and down the aisle demanding a tip and this was before we even got off the bus and climbed the falls! He was looking to rob us all! Fortunately a police officer dragged him off, it's almost like they knew what this guy was doing on our tour bus. This was an NCL excursion. A couple minutes later, while at the trinket booths a guy in our NCL tour had his sunglasses yanked right off his neck, stolen. That's how aggressive they are! We then go to Margaritaville and a guy tries to sell pot to my 13 year old daughter while she's standing about 5 feet away from me! In no way, literally no way, is Jamaica like NYC or Chicago!

I do remember about 15 years ago, the crime against tourists did get so bad that NCL stopped going to Montego Bay and only went to Ocho Rios. I've been on Cruise Critic a long, long time. About a year late, there was a hiatus from Ocho Rios also. I think now that the ships are so much bigger and need deep water piers, the islands the ships can dock at are very limited. I remember going to islands like Samona ten years ago with NCL's smaller ships. Now the ships are limited to the deep water ports. Thus Jamaica.

I've been on both. I agree that in general the Escape wins. The big, really big, exception is if you are a Haven guest. The Epic wins over and over for so many reasons.

Mainly for me the Posh, Haven sundeck which has it's own bar, nice seating and plenty of space. The sundeck on the Haven Escape is horrible, it's an after thought squeezed into a corner of an upper sundeck. There isn't nearly enough seating, it turns into a chair hog situation, I'd say there are probably only 25 lodge chairs for 200 plus Haven guests! There is no bar up there and waiting for servers to go 2 floors down is a long wait. This tiny area is shared with the only smoking area in the Haven. It is divided by a glass partition but it's tiny so, smoke is everywhere. The Escape packs more people into the Haven and the courtyard is glass enclosed. The glass enclosed thing sounds good but it really isn't. The huge amount of glass and metal makes the whole area very echo'y. One or two kids and the noise just bounces all over the Haven. By design, the courtyard is really loud. Then the sundeck situation sucks.

The Escape Haven doesn't compare at all with the Epic Haven.

I think the teen club is for the 13-15 year old set. I can tell you my daughters by the time they got to be about 14 wanted nothing to do with a teen club. Seventeen year olds don't want to hang around 13 year olds.

Our post office has the forms.

It would be hard to sleep 6 like those rooms say they do, I get why you'd want someone on an air mattress I'd bring an air mattress, you could inflate and deflate each night if you needed the space in your room. those roll away beds take up a lot of space.

You will be very surprised at how lively it is! NCL has always been similar to Royal Caribbean as far as demographics and nightlife. Certainly less than say Carnival but with the party crowd on Carnival comes lots of wife beaters, bare beer bellies, head to toe tattoos.....these are your options.

With the recent drink package inclusion, I have noticed he party level on NCL ships to be very lively. The outdoor, evening pool deck parties have live music, loud live music and lots of happy people of all ages. I don't think you will find a ship more lively actually. Not even on Carnival. It's going to be as lively as cruising gets!

I think this whole beach area has been under construction going on about 10 years now. It's ridiculous!

A few years ago I had booked my family in a 2 bedroom Haven suite. I think the total was around 8 Thousand. I got a call from the "upsell Desk" this was back in the days you were forbidden from calling the desk yourself asking about the upsell. You had to just sit around and wait for the magic call and hope you were home when the call came because they wouldn't hold the deal for you to just talk it over with your husband. You had to decide in that call. So this one time I get the call......They ask me....."would you like to upsell from your 2 bedroom Haven suite to the Garden Villa?! OMG, I was so excited! "How much?"................Wait for it.............For an additional $11,000 I could upsell to the Garden Villa!!

I go to look at how much the Garden Villa was priced out normally......$19k. To think they'd call me and I'd just spend another 11k with no break what so ever on the price. Not a deal. That would be called a scam of a call. I was very disappointed in NCL for presenting that as a deal!

My motto has always been, life is short and vacation is important. You get the cabin you will be happy with. If you can upsell into something even better fine but don't start your vacation off disappointed IN YOURSELF that you didn't book a cabin you will be happy with.

Plenty of people attempt to fly in the day before but then THAT flight gets cancelled. It's too simplistic to chalk it up to....."They shoulda flew in the day before".

So you're at the airport the day before, your flight out gets delayed, delayed, delayed then finally gets cancelled. The airline tells you....."We can't get you out tonight, we'll have to get you on a flight tomorrow". Hmmm, Ok then tomorrow's flights are all full, now getting on ANY flight out is a big problem.

This is how many people get caught. "Shoulda flew in the day before" comments are too naive.