sdmike's review & daily diary of Epic's inaugural western Caribbean cruise

[SherronLeigh]

Wow! Thanks for that!! Nice to read positive, useful comments. Excellent job! Thanks again for an enjoyable read.

[cavmom]

Did you know Ben Freeman from Valdosta, GA? He was a soldier from Valdosta who did not return from Iraq in 2003. I met him in Ft Carson and have info for his parents.

Marianne dirkg1314392@yahoo.com

[sdmike]

Hey Mike, I'm reading through all the posts, so you may have answered it, but could you give me just a bit of a rundown of what you get access to with the spa pass? Is there access to any outdoor pool/hot tubs? thanks, fantastic review and fotos....I'm only on page 11 and moving through, anxious to see if you ever posted the dailies. Thanks, Charlie

 

The spa pass gives you access to...um...the spa :)

 

Inside each locker room in the spa is sauna and steam room, plus showers, rest room, towel/robe room, lockers, and a sitting area with water and tea. Out in the co-ed area are a lot of loungers (including heated tile loungers), a couple more saunas with amazing views off the side, an 8 lounger aft balcony, and a spa pool that includes 5 different things. The main pool has cutouts around the perimeter with whirlpool jets, plus there is an attached hot tub, an effervescence tub that blows small bubbles from the bottom, and on the far end a submerged lounging area that blows bubbles underneath. In the center is a tower with 3 high power streams of water to massage your shoulders. The water is warm, but not hot.

 

Here are a couple of pics.

 

 

 

 

 

 

(last picture courtesy of eroller)

Edited August 26, 2010 by sdmike

[2010_cruisers]

sdmike

Cool Cruiser

 

I was curious about the secret entrance to the SPA .um, care to email me

 

tripledip05 @ hotmail com

 

Let me know thanks.

[cheecher]

I guess i didn't word my question very well, but luckily, you provided the answer i was looking for :D ... I think i was mainly wondering how much of it was indoor/outdoor -- the pool is indoors, correct... I think this might be the big splurge of the trip...thanks for the extra info....

[cheecher]

My wife just asked me to ask you:

 

what are the spa hours?

How busy was it?

did you guys feel like it was worth the money, would you do it again?

[sdmike]

My wife just asked me to ask you:

 

what are the spa hours?

How busy was it?

did you guys feel like it was worth the money, would you do it again?

 

I think the spa was open from 8am to 10pm each day except the last night when it closed at 8pm. It wasn't busy when I was there, except the loungers on the aft balcony were always full of people sleeping. I never had trouble getting a lounger and there was never more than one person in a sauna or more than 5-6 in the pool at one time. Again, just my experience. It was definitely worth the money. I think we visited 4-5 times and would have liked to have spent more time there (but my daughter was being pretty clingy and it was hard to find time)

[sdmike]

At the risk of blowing up my bandwidth, here are some pictures from our western caribbean cruise. The pictures got randomized inside of each folder, but at least I've got them organized by day. :) Enjoy

 

http://public.fotki.com/ritchiefamily/san_diego_family/2010-pictures/epic-cruise-public-/

[2010_cruisers]

sdmike

 

 

um..great great great amazing pix of so much of the ship.....and yes...you have nice feet...........um, never mind. ..lol.

[sdmike]

um..great great great amazing pix of so much of the ship.....and yes...you have nice feet...........um, never mind. ..lol.

 

hahaha. A lot of those pictures are my brother's trying to do the same "feet" thing as in my avatar. Believe me, I wasn't obsessed with my feet. :D

[2010_cruisers]

Smike.

 

I have used about 80% of your pix in my collages, or whatever we call them...header fotos....in my signature I use a lot of your items...you have a good eye and I like to crop yours and others to create the banner...I make. I have now made 61 different ones....

 

btw that fotki.com..that us used next to your photos, have you ever used them to create a t-shirt or a gift for anyone....I am wondering if they can actually deliver what they promise on the web..ever dealt with them and if so, how does a t-shirt take to be made, printed and delivered to my door...

 

Please step this way if you info, if you have any...thanks

[sdmike]

Nope, never tried them for any items. Maybe I will get a mug with my kid on it one of these days. If so I'll let you know how it turns out

[tecknicole]

At the risk of blowing up my bandwidth, here are some pictures from our western caribbean cruise. The pictures got randomized inside of each folder, but at least I've got them organized by day. :) Enjoy

 

http://public.fotki.com/ritchiefamily/san_diego_family/2010-pictures/epic-cruise-public-/

 

Love the Roatan album.. very nice. We will be on that beach Nov.2nd. :)

[Adkmom]

Mike is there a good place to meet our group at West Bay in Roatan. The group is splitting to participate in different activities then we want to meet at the beach for snorkeling and drinks later in the day. Thanks

[sdmike]

Mike is there a good place to meet our group at West Bay in Roatan. The group is splitting to participate in different activities then we want to meet at the beach for snorkeling and drinks later in the day. Thanks

 

Well, we only went to one place (Infinity Bay), so I can't really comment on the options. However, it would be very easy to find your group at Infinity Bay. It's not very big, and there is a poolside bar and an outdoor tented restaurant next to the beach that would make fine spots to meet. The beach isn't that big either.

[Adkmom]

Had a chance to look at photos thanks for posting. Are the snorkeling in Roatan taken at the Infinity Bay or did you take a snorkel trip?

 

Thanks for all the cabin photos. Looks bigger than I thought from all the reviews. There appears to be storage everywhere. Did you have a family balcony or a Deluxe Family balcony?

 

Thanks

[Sundae]

Great photos!

 

Just some questions:

 

There's a blue pillow on the headboard of the sofa, says EPIC, was that a souvenir you purchased from the ship's gift store?

 

How did you know the black EPIC book left on your bed was meant to be a guest gift and not something that was meant to be left in the stateroom for the next guest?

 

I see a bar of soap in the shower, you brought that yourself or does NCL provide it for balcony staterooms? Were there built-in shelves within the shower stall?

 

Is the giant climbing cage for kids only?

 

Thanks.

[sdmike]

Had a chance to look at photos thanks for posting. Are the snorkeling in Roatan taken at the Infinity Bay or did you take a snorkel trip?

 

Thanks for all the cabin photos. Looks bigger than I thought from all the reviews. There appears to be storage everywhere. Did you have a family balcony or a Deluxe Family balcony?

 

Thanks

 

We snorkeled off the beach at Infinity Bay. There is a small reef about 100 yards out in about 6 feet of water that had lots of fish. There was a guy in a kayak out there throwing fish food around too. We rented the gear from a guy at the beach for $10 per person.

 

We had 4 in a family balcony and had plenty of storage space. We even had a big backpack for each of us and those hid away in the space behind the couch. While I would have liked some more traditional drawers, there was plenty of usable storage space.

[sdmike]

See answers below

 

Great photos!

 

Just some questions:

 

There's a blue pillow on the headboard of the sofa, says EPIC, was that a souvenir you purchased from the ship's gift store?

 

We got those in the store. My kids love those stretchy beanbag pillows (dd9 calls them "squishies"), so we got one in black for my son and turquoise for my daughter

 

How did you know the black EPIC book left on your bed was meant to be a guest gift and not something that was meant to be left in the stateroom for the next guest?

 

It showed up on the bed one night with a note that said "a gift from NCL"

 

I see a bar of soap in the shower, you brought that yourself or does NCL provide it for balcony staterooms? Were there built-in shelves within the shower stall?

 

I had a small bar of hotel soap in my travel bag so we used that. NCL does not provide a bar of soap, AND you could not buy it on ship (maybe you could in port). Yes, there were some shelves in the shower stall for your soap, razor, etc. See the picture below.

 

Is the giant climbing cage for kids only?

 

Yep. The spider's web was kids only. They had a weight limit of 130 that was loosely enforced, but I understand from some other posts recently that it was reduced to 120 and is now strictly enforced due to breakage of the bungee straps with heavier users.

Thanks.

 

[jual]

Sorry if you have already answered this, but did you book the Victor Bodden tour when you arrived or did you pre book? It sounds great and we would love to do this tour.

 

Julie

[k9sar]

Sorry if you have already answered this, but did you book the Victor Bodden tour when you arrived or did you pre book? It sounds great and we would love to do this tour.

 

Julie

 

Julie

 

We booked ahead of time. It was not an excursion available through the cruise line. Mike had read about it here on the boards and we all decided it looked like a good idea so he contacted them directly. I believe there is a web site but do not know the link offhand. A quick search on Victor Bodden will most likely get you there.

 

Scott

Edited September 6, 2010 by k9sar

[sdmike]

Julie

 

We booked ahead of time. It was not an excursion available through the cruise line. Mike had read about it here on the boards and we all decided it looked like a good idea so he contacted them directly. I believe there is a web site but do not know the link offhand. A quick search on Victor Bodden will most likely get you there.

 

Scott

 

yeah, what he said.

 

k9sar - aka monkeyboy

 

[jual]

yeah, what he said.

 

k9sar - aka monkeyboy

 

Thanks, done

[Sundae]

See answers below

 

 

 

 

Thanks!

 

BTW, what side of the plane did you sit on to get the aerial views of the port of Miami?

 

Is the lack of hair conditioner and bar soaps unique to Epic or this is how it is with NCL on all their ships?

[sdmike]

Thanks!

 

BTW, what side of the plane did you sit on to get the aerial views of the port of Miami?

 

Is the lack of hair conditioner and bar soaps unique to Epic or this is how it is with NCL on all their ships?

 

I was on the right side of the airplane, which you should be able to tell from the picture with the engine in it. :)

 

Not sure about other NCL ships. This is the only one I've been on.