maja

I've sailed the Epic 3 times. 2nd time we had an aft balcony & it spoiled me forever. 3rd time they were taken so we booked the very last cabin on the side.

I never noticed more vibration here. It does feel a little "different", (maybe a slight "swaying" motion?), but nothing annoying.

The only negative issue for you might be the fact that the Epic is so big & it will take extra time & effort to reach certain areas of the ship.

We loved the fact that it was sooo quiet. No one comes by your door unless they are staying back there.

The best thing is the view. Once you experience it, you'll be spoiled.

That's just my opinion.

Enjoy the Epic!

Hi Mary Ann. Yep, I sure do still have it. How have you been? I would love to get updates after you go. I'm trying to plan a trip in March (which includes GSC)...IF I can get my work to let me off for 2 weeks (I only work weekends). Would LOVE to see some updated pictures if you could. Do you still have my email address?

I am in Florida for a quick break. Don't have your email on my laptop. If you get a moment...email me.:)

mitsugirly,

I'll be at GSC the last week of February. I'll try to remember to give you an update. Do you still have my email address? Would love to hear from you.

In my opinion, I think the main issue here is the fact that it took over an hour for action to be taken to abandon ship, and not whether passengers & crew are fully trained. We've all done muster drills, with without jackets, inside outside, whatever. Point is we would all more or less, know where to go. You can follow every rule and have your own plan of action, but, what good will it do when you're standing outside waiting for the command? Are you going to lower your own lifeboat? Over 3,000 passengers & crewmembers got off that ship, showing they did something right. Maybe I'm missing something here & although I realize it's a strong command to abandon ship, perhaps as someone else stated these decisions should not be solely left to the Captain but rather to a specialized group trained to work together in an emergancy situation. Just my opinion.

We were on the Oct 30th Epic sailing also along with 14 other couples. 4 other couples & us had the aft cabins on deck 12. I always book the aft cabins.

As Coka said, with the balcony door closed, there was no noise & a few nights we slept with it open a bit & loved it.

Wouldn't give this up for the world:

Birth control.

 

We have 3 cruise souvenirs at our house ages 19, 17 an 17

:p:p:p VERY FUNNY but I'm guessing they are the best souvenirs ever for you!

Someone posted the Freestyle Dailies.. here is the Western cruise on the Epic for the week of the 24th.

(I go on the Oct. 30th Halloween cruise.. woo hoo!)

http://cid-6129292327b28253.office.live.com/self.aspx/Epic%20Dailies/Epic%20Western%20Dailies.pdf#resId/6129292327B28253!111

Thanks soooo much for the link!

I have not cruised yet (37 more days) but everything that I have read and the same questions I've ask others that have, the seating upstairs is fabulous. You can see everything and there is nothing in your way during the show. People have stated you get a "front row seat" up there. There is only 1 row of seats along the edges, so everyone can see. However, I've heard a lot of complaints about people being downstairs (not within the first 2 areas closest to the stage) that was not able to see or was in an awkward position to turn their heads or their entire body around in order to see the show while eating.

Another good feature of upstairs is that if you have to leave, there's no one behind you to disturb. I had read they ask that you stay seated for safety reasons but upstairs you would not be in anyone's way. The couple seated next to me had to leave early & just got up & left.

On my previous back to backs if we didnt have the same room we had to pack all our items and our room steward would take the luggage to the new room. We had to wait in a designated area that the reception told us to wait at and they escorted us off the ship and then we got our new cards and got right back on. We were on the ship for a while before they started boarding others.

Isn't so weird when you're doing a back to back & everyone gets off the ship & it's just you, and a few others? It's so quiet & unreal. Then suddenly, the new passengers start arriving & everything comes back to life.

I'm going through your photos now. They're the best!

Can you tell me if there's any mini buses or something running along the pier? Someone traveling with me has knee problems & that pier is LOOOOONNNNNGGGG.

It's people like you that will never allow us Ness members ever to get well.

After reading your daily diary, I'm worse now than ever. How many more days till 10/30???

thanks ...;)

Thanks so much for all your hard work! Very much appreciated!

Did you also post an excel spread sheet of the schedules???

You are really prepared!

You're a ness....for sure...come join us on the Ness thread! We will support you all the way;)

Michel gets my vote too! He was right there at the port waiting for us & we had the most amazing tour with him. Very easy to communicate with & will gladly give you suggestions if you need/want them. We were a group of 6 and his patience with us alone was appreciated. I've dealt with lots of guides in the last 10 years & he was, by far, one of the best! As above poster stated, I also would not hesitate to hire Michel again if we ever return to France.

Thanks for the great review..along with the links. Very helpful. We are planning to book in 2008 & I don't know where to start! Your review was great & the links will help.

Thanks for the info Maja, most of the posts I've seen so far have been negative about Samana. You mentioned another couple took the tenders to Samana and found local transportation to Cayo Leventano. Would you do that if you were there again? We are interested in going to the beach but for $30pp through the cruise line I would really prefer to do it myself and save the money for other things. But I also don't want to add any of the not so hard to get pictures of the cruise ship sailing away if you know what I mean...

The other couple were in a small aluminum type boat with a motor. They left the beach at 4:30 and were back on the ship before our group using tenders from the ship! If you don't mind the type of boat & if you allow lots of extra time,you should be fine. The couple that went on their own spoke Spanish. You might have a problem finding someone understanding what you need.

If I ever go back, I would spend the extra $ and play it safe with the ship's tenders.

There was a platter with grilled chicken, @ $10 peso. Other than that, the man that took care of us didn't mention anything about hotdogs, hamburgers, etc.

I wish I could give you a better answer. Maybe some others that just returned will have some answers.

You might want to try & find out if the new resort on Cayo Leventano has a restaurant you can use. I did a search & found out it's the Bahia Principe. It won't be cheap from the looks of the place.

Here's their link:

http://www.bahia-principe.com/bp/hoteles/galeria_hoteles.jsp

Just back yesterday from our cruise on the Spirit. We did the Whale watch/beach escape @ $99 pp, through NCL.

We spent about 3 1/2 hrs on the boat whale watching & saw lots of whales. From there we were dropped off at the pier at Cayo Levantano beach. What a pleasant surprise. The beach is gorgeous.!!!

Imagine a stop at any cruise ship's private islands, only better.

From the pier, if you look directly ahead you will see the new resort (can't remember the name). There is a main trail that will take you to a map of the whole island. If you stay left, you hit the main beach. Huge, clean, white powdery sand. Lots of beach chairs are available. Our group found 12 chairs & placed them near a palm tree for some shade. No one asked us for any $ for them. The water is calm & without rocks. There are numerous restrooms nearby, bars & a big oudoor restaurant. The restroom was clean, but they ran out of toilet paper so bring some tissues with you! Near the restaurant, we saw a buffet area set up for cruise ship passengers, so I suppose they paid ahead for their lunch. We ordered on our own at the restuarant area.

We were fortunate to have someone in our group who spoke Spanish (most workers at the beach spoke or understood very little English) and paid for our lunch in Peso which saved us a few bucks each. Some of us had fresh snapper platters @ $10, some lobster or lobster with prawns @ $16. Most said they should have had 2 lobster instead of 1 with prawns as the lobster was fantastic. All were grilled. Came with rice & beans, plantains & coleslaw. Our Yellow Bird drinks were $5, large bottles of Presidente (?sp) beers were $3. There's a large market for those who want to shop. I didn't stop here so I don't know the prices. I did hear some passengers talk about custom made tee shirts that were nice. I purchased a hand made palm leaf hat as soon as I hit the island. Lots of vendors will attack you to purchase one at $20. When I said no, he immediately changed it to $10. On the way OFF the island, passengers were paying $3-$5 for them.

I'm glad that we booked the combo excursion to see the whales but on the other hand, I wish we had more time at the beach.

The tenders were very slow getting back to the ship. We took the last one around 4:30. We waited around 20 minutes at the dock for one to return for us. I'm sure it's because they haven't gotten into a routine yet and will get better at it in time.

2 of our friends just took the beach excursion, which is the r/t boat ride over to the beach @ $24 or $29 pp.

If you are adventurous, we also had a couple in our group that went over to Samana & then took a small boat to Cayo Leventano. I don't remember how much they paid, but it was just a few dollars each.

There were 2 ships in that day & both were anchored using tenders. Cayo Levantano was a very short tender ride for both.

If you have any other questions, I'll be happy to answer them.