SwissLe

Yes there is dry cleaning available if you look at post #4 in this thread there is a picture of the Laundry and Dry Cleaning price list. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2311264

 

That's a generic NCL laundry slip. I filled it in just two weeks ago and the butler didn't take it as there is no dry cleaning facility on Epic.

There are standard 'wet' laundry services but no dry cleaning. A little annoying as I wanted some items dry cleaned as the price is lower than in my local store!

I went though all the pics and skimmed some of the headings. Does anyone know if they updated the Thermal Spa Area? I imagine it was cleaned, but the latest pic shows it with the curtain closed and I am panicking they may have removed the outdoor area :confused: - which is my favorite and why I buy the spa pass.

Panic not, there is still the balcony. Very little changed, if anything at all, that I can recall.

SwissLe where are you? I sail on the 3rd of Feb and want to finish your review before I go. LOL

Hey guys, apologies. I am working on the final days and scanning dailies, info and all other stuff you get given.

Will be done by the weekend. Promise!

Does anyone have a specific floor (either 16th or 17th) for the Haven anyone recommends and why? More worried about noise more than anything or if anyone has stayed in a 2 bedroom Courtyard penthouse on the Epic which room were you in and did you have any issues. Thank you in advance :D

I'd go for 16th as you will only have another cabin above you, rather than an open deck on the 17th.

My view on missing the port - is simple a warning of sort must have been received - I've worked in the shipping industry ( tugs etc ) and the wind wasn't that extreme

 

I heard the Cpt table offered

I saw them trying to dock with tugs, thrusters and bouncing around, so I don't think that theory is correct this time. The port is very exposed, unlike the coves we had on other days which may've been the reason.

The captain's table is different to the chefs table. You can enter a competition to eat with the captain for free, look out for the postings in the daily and you need a slip from guest services to enter. I didn't see the chef's table offered on either of my cruises, but I didn't actively look for it.

Apparently we burn tea when using boiling water, recommended to stand the kettle for 4-5minutes before applying to the tea.

Anyway, the main point of my post was that on my last few cruises you can request Twinings English Breakfast rather than the white tea sachets normally served. The butler brought us loads to the cabin and in any restaurant all you had to ask for was Twinings and they'd bring you two in a pot.

The saga of Blondie and Maggie

 

After the lackluster Mr Adams we once again found ourselves sucked into Howl At The Moon (is it possible to walk by when it's in full swing and not stop??), where the entertainment was on point as usual. We ended up watching this hilarious interaction with a couple of guests. The lady in this (terrible, sorry) photo, hereby referred as Blondie, had maybe had a few too many and took it upon herself to do some sexy dance routines at the front while Howl were playing.

 

 

Blondie was enjoyed all the attention until Maggie happened. This amazing lady waltzed onto the stage and proceeded to sit on the bench, drape herself over the guy playing the piano and then dance in front of them, stealing all the attention from Blondie. (By this point she had told us she was called Maggie. Hi Maggie!)

 

 

She is the lady in the orange on the right. She was sitting on the bench and carressing the piano player when the bald guy came back out after his break and started playing the guitar. You can see his face here, he is like 'ummm.... what the heck happened when I was away??' Blondie had given up by this point and gone to sit with her husband who looked like Richard Branson.

 

 

Blondie then decided she wasn't cool with Maggie was getting all the attention, so got up and had a bit of a dance off with her in front of the stage. Maggie responded by sitting on Richard Branson's lap and stroking his face a lot. I don't think he knew where to look! People in the audience were crying with laughter and all taking pictures- I think Howl were feeling a bit hard done by as they were being over shadowed by the dramas! If you were anywhere else on the ship that night you missed out. If Blondie or Maggie happen to be reading- you guys are amazing.

 

Oh, and the other thing that happened in Howl that night was that the four guys who sing in the band The Other Guys were in there watching the show. F had managed to make friends with them in the gym and promised to go see their show (sadly their last show was the next night and clashed with Priscilla so we only made the very end). But at the end of the night the guys from Howl got them up on stage and they did the most amazing version of uptown funk together. I have to say it again, if you were anywhere else that night on board you missed out!!

Ah I know both of these, Maggie is from Scotland and was in Bliss dancing most nights until late. Blondie I had the pleasure of going to Teppenyaki with her and husband (who was always wearing a novelty shirt). She introduced herself as a second wife, much better looking and that she worked in adult entertainment. Lovely!

At Cagney's they give you an iPad with a slick wine adviser app installed on it. More show than substance, maybe, but it has more info and it's more fun than a normal wine menu. However, with the UBP, we were only looking at wines by the glass, so that aren't that many to choose from to begin with. You can work your way through the whole list in a couple of days and then stick to your favorites after that. We like Oberon, too. :)

Yes the iPad is pretty cool, especially the ability to filter by the glass for UBP. I've only seen it in Cagney's/Moderno though. Other restaurants still have the list in order of wine palate.

Anaclayton and his favourite cocktail, the pink squirrel. Don't ask for one, this was the last of his ingredients - the end of an era.

I think this is my favourite, the elephant. Closely followed by the monkey.

Only when you make best friends with Prambu in O'Sheehans can you get chicken tenders at 4am. 4am and that portion size, what a guy!

The famous four cones in Le Bistro. Not my cup of tea but an impressive presentation.

The flourless chocolate tarte in Le Bistro. A must for those who love Nutella.

Been 2 days since we've heard from you. We're having withdrawals! ;)

 

Hope you're still having a great time!

Thanks for coming back. I will do some more writing today; was wondering if anyone was still with me. I go to Florence/Pisa tomorrow on a tour, so expect some meat there!

Hi SwissLe

 

Really enjoying your review, I'm on the Feb 3 sailing so picking up lots of hints on what to do, thanks.

 

One,very very important, question. You said, about your last meal in Cagneys

 

".... of which was so excited to pair wines with my meal ...."

 

I have the UBP, how easy has it been to get your wines matched to your food? On my last cruise with Celebrity they had sommeliers but I have been told that NCL do not.

Thanks for sticking with me.

The waiters know the wine list, and some of them can advise (more likely in the speciality restaurants) but don't expect a sommelier style service. This bar tender was a diamond, all it took was 10 days to find him.

Also, how did you get a bottle of Oberon with the UBP? (or did you?) We often ordered 4 glasses of the same wine at the same time and they never offered to bring us the bottle!

The Oberon is not included in the UBP, a $60 bottle, but was given as a gift from the F&B Officer. I think being sat at bar for 15 nights made him take pity on me. Still a good wine, my favourite so far.

Palermo, Sicily:

https://vimeo.com/152046036

DAY 5/15

OK so I'll admit it, last night I climbed into bed at 11pm after having just two glasses of wine, a prosecco, random bartender cocktail and piña colada all day. I think that almost qualifies as a dry day.

So last night I left you on the way to Priscilla. I can confirm it has been the roughest sea night yet onboard the Epic. I was personally shocked that the show went on and that there were so many people there.

The performers in Priscilla were fantastic, the set was sliding from one side of the stage to another but nothing phased them. They put on the performance as if we were on dry land, true professionals. For those that haven't seen or know about the show many of the scenes involve dancing in high heels or large shoes on podiums; not a great combination with a rocking ship. To put it in perspective many of the guests were unable to traverse the stairs to get out at the end, with senior citizens littering to aisles as the young saved themselves - or more likey ran to dinner.

I arrived just before 9pm for my Cagney's dinner and the maitre d entered panic mode that my table hadn't been prepared. It didn't allay his stress level when I said I was early and would just have a drink at the bar with my two favourite bar tenders. One of which was so excited to pair wines with my meal and prepare a special cocktail to begin. I don't know if it was Priscilla or the motion of the ocean but I was pretty much in love with this guy and his efforts tonight - tune in tomorrow to see if there is a wedding on the cards; or probably more likely a steak and cheesecake baby.

Quit the messing and so I'm sitting at my table, have an amazing wine to follow an amazing cocktail with waiter after waiter come and say hello by name, and how happy they are to see me return, Even if it is cruise ship fake, I feel special and understand this is why we cruise - for service like this.

I skip a starter, preferring to save space for the good stuff, and head straight into the filet mignon with mac and cheese with a side of broccoli, in my mind as a peace offering to my body for the 14 days of meat abuse. My filet mignon arrived, perfectly cooked and then closely followed by the sides and for some reason the sides never stopped coming. What a meal this was, all served whilst the ship rocked and the waiters struggled with their balance.

For dessert I had the obvious choice, the Oreo Cheesecake with strict instructions they only brought one out. I could sense the parade of deserts in her eye when I asked for it. The cheesecake was its usual rich and tasty self, and beat me around 75% through. I said my goodbyes, a longer process than normally expected to leave a restaurant and slipped into bed at a decent hour - even crossing out of the way of cruise friends who were going in the direction of Bliss to party. With discipline like this who knows what tomorrow will bring?!

Well, it brought wind and bobbing and direction changes and rain and despite the cabin TV telling me my next port was Naples; it looks like we're rocking in Palermo, Sicily. I'll give bridge team full credit on this one, it was one of the roughest approaches I've experienced in a couple of years. Perhaps it was the other MSC ship already sitting in port that set the challenge?

Let's go get some breakfast and find some gangsters in Sicily. If that fails it will just be another cafe and a mooch.

Hi SwissLe,

Thank you for a lovely running review of the Epic. We will be boarding her on the 24/02/2016. Could you please tell me who the current Captain is. I saw it somewhere on a recent "daily" but as luck would have it I cannot find that article. I know some people ask what is the relevance of knowing who the captain is, but I am still curious.

Many Thanks

Captain Frank, or Frank Juliussen or The Old Man On The Bridge

DAY 4/14

Good afternoon from a rather windy Norwegian Epic. We're at sea today after departing Sardinia last night at around 6pm.

The stroll yesterday was a great success. At the port there is a bus which takes you out of the dock area. From here you can walk into town and then up into the old town. There are also people selling tickets for a small open top bus tour, a tuktuk tour for €30 and various other things to do. Compared to Barcelona these all seemed reasonably priced.

I walked over a large road and first took a look in a department store which had some amazing deals on perfumes. I bought a large bottle of Aqua de Parma for €200, so the same price as the small bottle back home. I then walked up hill and went into various little churches and chapels, all free and open for people just to walk in.

After walking round the old town I looped back and came down into the port area before stopping at a cafe for a snack and drink. All the locals were so friendly, insisting they bought me a coffee and said how great having the ship in port was. Appreciation for ships has long gone in most ports, so it's nice to see someone still loves his ugly dolphin headed white box.

When we left the port it was a calm aspect; 3mm waves reported on the navigation channel. After sailaway I decided to try a new restaurant for this cruise; Shanghi's. This is now a free restaurant albeit with a more limited menu, it's also super popular. I was seated right away just behind the greeting stand.

It turns out I had the last table and I would get free entertainment whilst eating of people being asked to wait 30minutes and seeing the different reactions to this news. Some welcome it with surprise being so short and others can't understand why there is a wait - including one person throwing the pager on the floor!

The meal was good, typical western Chinese food. All well presented and piping hot. I had delicious steamed 'pot stickers' or dumplings in my world, a spring roll, Kung Pao chicken and steamed rice. Washed down with a Diet Pepsi. My waiter was caring and speedy despite the number of tables and noodle bar under his watch.

After dinner I moved to the Cagney's bar to chat with the best bar tenders and waiters on the ship. They make excellent cocktails, take time to chat and the bar is a little less busy with through traffic than Maltings/Shakers. I had a prosecco, speakeasy martini (careful with this one) and a piña colada. After this I had a nightcap in the Epic Club bar and retired for the night.

I woke up this morning to an announcement from the captain announcing high winds and a routing change to try and avoid rough seas. We'd performed a massive u-turn and were heading back on ourselves. Take a look at our crazy routing. He advised caution when walking around the ship and to avoid the open decks due to high winds (30knts+).

The ship was still cutting through this well with little to no movement. I went to breakfast in the Garden Cafe and took it back to my suite before watching a film on the TV. It was so windy I couldn't even open the balcony door.

I decided to get out of the cabin to let the steward make it up. I took a stroll around the ship and settled for a while to read in epic club. One of the girls asked me if I wanted lunch and I was feeling polite enough to accept. I had a burger and offended the waiter by not having a starter or dessert. All beautifully cooked and presented.

After lunch I went to the concierge lounge upstairs to play Yatze with some people from Canada. I was still learning but we had some good fun whilst watching people attempt to get in the courtyard pool, before quickly retreating to the hot tubs. The hot tubs were nicely steaming today as its a chilly 8oC obviously made a little worse by the wind chill.

Whilst playing the movement of the ship picked up. My game mates were feeling a little queasy so retired back to the cabin for a snooze. A siesta sounded perfect so I went back and lay on the sofa but was quickly rocked to sleep with the duvet from the sofa bed over me. I woke at 5ish from my cozy sleep and the winds had picked up even more. The ride up here is bouncy to say the least tonight.

I ordered a snack from room service as tonight I am going to Priscilla again at 7pm and having dinner at 9pm in Cagney's. My butler delivered it around 20mins later. I am kinda missing my butler from last week as he always set the food up and removed the covers to take away. Week 2 just dumped the tray on the table and left, perhaps it was up to me to ask but service anticipation is what NCL push these guys as having.

It was also odd that whilst playing Yatze a butler pushed a cart of cakes, chocolates and chocolate strawberries through but today I only got strawberries. Perhaps it's because I am a legal intruder in this cabin? I think 14 days makes a guy picky as this cabin is simply beautiful.

Anyway; as we bounce around the sea I am about to get ready for the show at 6.30pm.

 

ports of calls very nice although missed Tangier ( supposedly due to high winds - hmmm not to sure about that )

Interested to know your theory on this one!