Skubi

Hi everyone

For all those who have recently lost their spouses, my heart goes out to you.

After reading through all the posts, I’m glad that I started this thread that was able to help others that are struggling with similar circumstances and this decision.

Sorry it took so long for me to come back to the thread to share. 

So to start, I did take my cruise solo and yes I enjoyed it.  Not the same way I would have enjoyed it with my late husband but in a different way.

This was my experiences for those wondering how it all turned out. 

Dining:  I joined the solo group and  I went to the solo dinners in the main diningroom.  I took in one speciality restaurant with another solo that wanted to do that one, and one speciality alone.  I can't say I felt awkward dining alone in the speciality as I doubt anyone at other tables paid any attention to me.  But since I'm still struggling with eating out alone and what to do while sitting there without food to concentrate on, that part was not enjoyable, The food was great but it definitely was not a “dining experience”, it was lonely with no one to chat with in between courses.  I was happy the service was quick and didn’t leave a lot of time between courses to dwell on it. 

Shows:  I went to one show with the solo group and the other I went alone.  Since a theatre is meant to be enjoyed quietly and not a social event, being alone was not a big deal.

Excursions:  I went on one group excursion coordinated by people on my roll call and one NCL excursion.  They were both fantastic.  The other port I just went shopping near the ship. 

Socializing:  I met a wonderful couple from my roll call, that were travelling with a couple of solo friends who took me under their wing and made me feel welcome into their circle when we met up on the pool deck.  I chatted and had a few laughs with others I had met up by the pools.  I’m an early riser and normally DH and I would have our coffee on our balcony watching the waves and chatting.  So I chose to go for a walk on the few spaces the epic has open to the ocean and then go to the smoking area of the pool deck where people were friendly and enjoyed chatting.  My experience was people seemed to be friendliest and open to conversing with others in the pool areas.

My closing thoughts:  Evenings were the most difficult.  I wondered to a few bars/lounges, stayed for a bit to listen to the music and although the rooms were very crowded I felt very alone.  So I ended up spending a couple of hours in the casino and then going back to my cabin and going to bed.

I totally understand those that say they love being able to choose what they wish to do without worrying about pleasing others and loving the solitude and quiet to rest, ponder or read, if they don’t have that in their regular life.  Unfortunately, my entire life now is solitude and doing everything alone, I’m really not looking for that on vacation.  So it would really be nice to find a likeminded friend to travel with.  The other big difference I found travelling alone was after the cruise, I had no one to enjoy shared memories with.

So in summary, would I do it again?  Yes when my finances allow me to. 

Sorry you had so many disappointments on this cruise. But it sounds to me like you had a lot of positives as well.

It's too bad that you would let the bad experience, tarnish your loyalty, considering you say that your other cruises with NCL were great. Maybe this was just a crap happens cruise, or as friends of mine like to say "fecal matter occurs" LOL

I can't say the Epic is my favorite ship, as a matter of fact, I probably wouldn't sail her again unless the stars were aligned to meet my vacation criteria.

Hope whatever you choose for a next vacation is great. Thanks for sharing.

This cruise I picked a solo cabin. I stayed in one on my first cruise and loved it. They are so cozy, and tons of storage (trust me, I pack. A lot!). I was so excited to stay in a solo again. I walked in my studio cabin (12509) and the entire closet door was missing. A huge disappointment. .

A final note on the closet doors.

I was on the Epic in February and heard this from many solo travellers in solo cabins. Some had loose closet doors, some none at all. I heard the reason for this was a design flaw and although initially they tried to fix them, they couldn't easily be fixed to stay in place and not continually fall off. So as they came loose or fell off they were just leaving them off.

I have no idea whether this information is correct or not.

Tons of storage though, much more than I would have thought.

I agree, it does have an abundance of storage spaces however I did miss not having drawers and just having shelves.

Thanks for the tips. Where do you need to go to book the escape room?

The time and place for sign up will be in your dailies

Ours was

Headlines, deck 6 fwd

Box Office, deck 6 fwd

Do you know if the walls are magnetic in the staterooms? I have things I hang in the wall and if not magnetic, I will bring stick on hooks. Thank you.

 

 

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They are but you would have to have very strong magnets. I had decent but not overly strong magnets and due to the covering of the wall, they wouldn't stay in place.

Would love to know how the speed is on the epic....we wanted to skype our son back home and also stream some basketball games

The Epic had 3 prices for unlimited

Social Media 14.99 per day (app to app messaging & Social Media Access)

Wi-Fi 29.99 per day (app to app messaging, Social Media Access, check email & general web surfing)

Premium Wi-Fi 34.99 per day (app to app messaging, Social Media Access, check email, general web surfing & video streaming)

I upgraded from my free at sea internet to unlimited wi-fi for an additional $84.97 (7 days) and for the most part worked well.

I was able video message with my daughter. She said on her end I paused only a few times but no delay on my end at all. There were areas of the ship that were better than other areas to connect. I never tried streaming anything and only used it for PM, FB & Emails. I never tried Skype, but if your son and yourself use messenger, you can video in it at the medium priced one.

The lower in the ship, the slower the connection or no connection at all. The i-consierge worked most times for looking up what was on etc. I did have a few times that it just wouldn’t connect. Although I wished it would have had a feature that allowed you to add from “whats on” to a favourites list. And it really should have a refresh. I cannot comment on the texting ability, since i was a solo traveller, I had no one to text with.

I guess I will find this out today. Why do I have the feeling if I go to internet guy he will send me to guest services and if I go to guest services they will send me to internet guy? I’ll find out and report back!

 

 

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Please do report back. What ship are you on?

Just got off the Epic Go to internet manager and request to pay the difference between the free at see 250 minutes and unlimited

You may want to bring a sweater with you for shows. Both shows I went to, was quite chilly in the theatre. I only found once that i was chilly in Manhattan main dining room.

I see you will be on Epic in a couple of weeks. Have fun! Hope you will come back and write a review :) Six more weeks for us!

Here's my sort of review

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2605216

I tried to touch on things that other reviews didn't mention, or give my take on things that differed from other reviews. To give more of a balance.

If you have any questions, I will be happy to answer them.

We are not sailing the Epic until May in the Med but would like to see the dailies to schedule dinners and shows.

Your main show times will be noted in your NCL account.

I sailed 2 weeks after the OP on the same itinerary and the times of the shows were not the same and the dailies that were posted did not match mine.

The only thing past dailies posted do, is give you an idea on what NCL may offer on your cruise for activities, not the timings. Not sure why they just don't repeat. I would think it would be a lot less work for the person that does the scheduling.

Have a good cruise

Thanks everyone

We just got back from a RCI cruise and the ice was "available on request". We are looking at possibly using NCL for our next cruise and was wondering if the cabin attendant fills the ice bucket routinely or "on request"?

Thanks!

All of my previous NCL cruises, our room steward kept our bucket filled twice a day. This past cruise on the Epic, I had to request that he keep it filled, which he did without issue.

If it's not filled, just leave your room steward a note asking for him/her to keep it filled.

Just got off the Epic, same price to purchase before or on the ship

Epic, Feb 17 - 24

Well after spending a week on the Epic, I still haven’t changed my mind on it being a bad layout, weird room layout ship. I did also miss the wow factor of the atrium,that I got on the Dawn and Star. But none of this worth complaining about since at this point nothing can be done to change these things, And this did not impact my enjoyment of my cruise what so ever. Would I choose her again? perhaps if it fit my vacation criteria.

I will make a note here about my cabin. In a mix up of my cancelling / rebooking to get better deals, before final payment. The cabin and location I originally chose changed, I didn’t notice the new cabin number till a few days after my last rebook. I was quite concerned because the balcony cabin they gave me 14078, was under the pool deck and therefore worried me about noise above. I worried needlessly, only once did I hear moving of things above and it was later in the morning and not loud. However, anyone that books this row of cabins, please be advised if you do no like or want to walk a lot, do not choose one of these. Since it is not a direct walk from elevators to cabin, a few of us in this row of cabins,jokingly referred to our hallways to get there, as a mouse maze. It does show the hallways on the deck plans,but I completely missed it. This is just noted as a heads up for anyone that might find this annoying. I was fine with it, once I found my cabin on the first day, as the mouse maze is not well marked.

The lighting in my cabin sucked big time. Even with every light on in the cabin it still was dim and hard to read anything, unless it was daytime and I could open the curtains to the balcony. Anyone that wants to apply makeup or read in their cabin, may find this annoying.

I ate in the buffet, Taste, Manhattan, Modernos and O’Sheehans. I did have my personal favourites but all food was fine, delivered hot and our service was prompt. I wanted to eat at Cagneys, however, it was booked till 9pm and later every night before the first day of the cruise. I’m sorry I didn’t book it before my cruise but since this was my first time as a solo traveller and I didn’t know how the sign up dinners worked, I didn’t book. My mistake.

I read a lot of reports before going about the Epic of staff not delivering that high standard of friendly service. I did not experience this at all. My room steward was friendly and proficient,I did have to request he fill my ice bucket (which had always been done twice a day on previous cruises). Not a big deal, once I asked him to, it was done. I think they could use a few more walk around servers on the pool deck and Spice H2O, but when flagged down, the ones there were friendly and willing to get me whatever I asked for. The washy washy girls were a little less sing song than I’ve had on previous cruises, but still smiling and friendly. I didn’t find one staff member appearing unhappy, unfriendly or not helpful.

Solo travellers gathering: The solo co-ordinator was very friendly and tried to accommodate us. Unfortunately he doesn’t have much pull, so there was only so much he could do, with requests. He is allowed to book the solo travelling group in the large diningrooms only and if room allowed to book for the shows. I’m not even sure he has a key to the solo lounge, since when he came he knocked on the door to be let in. LOL Also when attending the gathering, if not in a solo cabin, I had to knock on the door to be let in.

I seen no evidence of wear and tear on the ship, as some previous reviews had stated. As a matter of fact I constantly seen workers in all areas, cleaning and painting. I had heard from a few other travellers about things like solo cabin closet doors removed or hanging. But did not witness any of this myself.

I upgraded from my free at sea internet to unlimited and for the most part worked well. I could even video PM with my daughter. She said on her end I paused a few times but no delay on my end at all. There were areas of the ship that were better than other areas to connect. The lower in the ship, the slower the connection or no connection at all. The i-consierge worked most times for looking up what was on etc. I did have a few times that it just wouldn’t connect. Although I wished it would have had a feature that allowed you to add from “whats on” to a favourites list. And it really should have a refresh. I cannot comment on the texting ability, since i was a solo traveller, I had no one to text with.

Smoking areas. There is seating for about 44 people on the port side aft of Waves pool bar on deck 15. Seating for about 60 on the starboard side in H2O deck 16. Promenade deck 7, I believe it was the port side, but the non-smoking side is well marked on the exit door. No seating at all available on the promenade deck. The casino when playing has about 75 slots (only about 35 regular slots, the rest are poker video slots) that allow smoking and about 160 for non-smoking. The smoking slots are set about ½ back in the 2 alcoves. The casino made numerous announcements regarding their smoking rules. The most popular slot games were in the no-smoking section. I didn’t even see the cigar bar in my travels, so I can’t even tell anyone where it is, let alone anything about it.

Tendering: I foundthe tendering process this time confusing and not well explained in the dailies,but this just could have been me.

Shows. The only shows I attended were Priscilla and Burn the floor. Priscilla was much as I expected and the costumes were great. I wasn’t a fan of burn the floor, but shows are subjective and YMMV.

All in all, I had a wonderful cruise and probably the most friendliest passengers of any cruise I’ve been on, from CC members, solo travellers group and just random people I met out on decks, in hallways or elevators.

I really miss:

 

- having to sit down with a brochure at a travel agency, trying to figure out the deck plan of an older ship that didn’t have two cabins that were the same. Even in the same category, cabins would come in all imaginable sizes, layouts and orientations. And after you picked the cabin you liked, you’d sit there and watch your TA call the cruise line, who would then tell them that the cabin you wanted was not available. You’d go back and forth for an hour playing this game.

 

- No balconies, not even in suites, Even a picture window was unheard of. A tiny porthole was a luxury. Bathrooms were the size of a porta potty (yes, smaller than today’s bathrooms)

 

- bunk beds equipped with belts to prevent one from falling over in choppy waters (a testament of how rough the ride could get on smaller, older ships without good stabilizers).

 

- all meals served in the same dining room, at the same time, at the same table, for every single meal and no other choices. No food options available after hours. Buffet not available for dinner.

 

- having to trek to the ship’s radio room to make a call if I wanted to reach loved ones back home. The 3 minute call would be more expensive than my entire shipboard account expenses for an entire week today.

 

- Not being able to plug in a hair dryer in my cabin without risking blowing up a fuse and knocking out the electricity on half a deck (true story. Happened to us on Costa).

 

- the daytime entertainment highlight for the day would be the wooden horse races by the pool or in a lounge

 

- At night, only one show that consisted of the same 4 dancers in Vegas style costumes, performing in a tiny stage located in a low ceiling lounge. If you sat on the front row, you would for sure have feathers on your face every time the dancers turned.

 

- no shipboard account and no card charging. Having to pay cash for onboard expenses. Having to purchase drink coupons to then redeem at the bar. Heavens forbid that you ran out of coupons while you were having fun at the night club because you’d have to leave the club and go to guest services for more.

 

- Those weird key cards with holes

 

- Having to wear a plastic wristband all week

 

- The water sloshing wildly at the pool, every time the ship was at sea, even on fairly calm sea days.

 

- The paper sheet with news headlines that you could grab from guest services. The only way to know what was going on in the world since there were no TV’s, radios, telephones (and obviously no WiFi) in any stateroom or public area. Maybe a blessing in disguise to be so disconnected.

 

Now seriously, these are things that I miss:

 

- White glove escort to my stateroom (not just for suite passengers)

 

- smaller ships meant the ability to port into smaller, more off the beaten path destinations.

 

- on that same note, being able to explore ports (specially in the Caribbean) that were not Americanized, overly commercialized, and overrun with chain stores.

 

- overall, a more personal experience where you’d really get to know your fellow cruisers and the crew

 

In retrospect, I guess modern cruising isn’t that bad.

 

 

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LOL Kind of puts things in perspective. When one door closes another opens. Guess that can be said for long gone traditions and new ones introduced.

Thanks for your review. 17 days and counting for me.

Loved the review, thanks so much. Will be on her in 17 days, so excited.

Since I'm a fair bit older than you, if I choose to do the specials in the spa. I may just skip the facial, since if I got your massage therapist, he'd have a field day with my wrinkles, and I certainly would need a "new face" :D :D

When you can get to it, some questions:

 

- How was boarding at Port Canaveral?

- Did you dine at any of the Specialty Restaurants? If so, any menus and your experience?

- How was Harvest Cay?

- Any problems with the ship or service?

 

Again, thanks for taking the time.

The OPs sailing didn't go to Harvest Cay.

I've never cruised RCL, I've only did numerous cruises on NCL and one on Carnival. I love NCL. However saying that I've only cruised in balconies and won't cruise anything less than that. So if you can get an ocean balcony on RCL for about the same price as a studio on NCL, as well, if you are travelling in the winter and starting out in a warmer climate by leaving from FLA. I think you've probably made a good choice choosing RCL.

From all of my research there are small differences between the lines but not enough to worry about. Enjoy your cruise.

Thanks Laura

Too bad their unveiling was only for one ship out of 16

I'm following this as well. I've asked a few times on this board and the solo board, but there doesn't seem to be a consensus or clear definition of he/she's roll or duties.

The only consistent that I have received is on the mega ships, that there will be about an hour open to all solos gathering around dinner time each day in the solo lounge and there may be sign up boards for a group dinner.

Thank you for the balanced review. Will be sailing on her in February. Have always found most of NCL staff to be over friendly and want to please. So hope this was just a fluke that you didn't have that type of service and the staff will find their happy face again before I sail. Although not surprised by the internet staff, since on all of my NCL cruises I've never found an internet staff member to be friendly or helpful.

Thank you for response :)

 

I was a bit hesitant about "no natural light" and being claustrophobic, but I think the "Porthole" into hallway will be fine. I SO LOVE the Studio Lounge feature. I have been researching and on my way booking my first Solo Cruise (Studio Cabin) on the Escape to Bermuda in September. :)

I can't speak for the Escape. But the other NCL ships I was on, you could view the ships bridge web cam on a channel on the TV. That may be an idea to give you the feeling of natural light.

You can try call NCL air/sea program 800-327-7030, when I called there to check on flights, they had a separate price for transfers from airport in Orlando (MCO) to ship, return $70

Also you can check with Go Port Canaveral Transportation (321) 735-8840. sorry I can't give you a price for them, since it is included in my snooze/cruise package.

There was a farewell song? What were the lyrics? Did they play it during sail away or when you were disembarking for the final time?

The last song they sing at the end of the crew talent show in the theatre the last night of the cruise.