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

[miniwheat]

I'm loving all the question and answers going on it's helping so much!! Thanks:D

[writerchick1982]

Thanks for posting the AWESOME review and pictures! 12/4 won't come soon enough!

[bled01]

Wow, that was a really informative review and great pics as well.

 

Question, where did you guys get the T-shirts below? On board? How much?

 

 

 

[miniwheat]

Wow, that was a really informative review and great pics as well.

 

Question, where did you guys get the T-shirts below? On board? How much?

 

 

 

 

I was wondering the same thing!:confused:

[intrepid_guy]

Wow, that was a really informative review and great pics as well.

 

Question, where did you guys get the T-shirts below? On board? How much?

 

 

 

 

I believe those shirts have to be won. That is how I got mine!!!! They used to have contests on their Facebook page and give away shirts. I assume that is how Mike got his...

 

 

~Intrepid <-- I am EPIC

[Bgem75]

Wow, that was a really informative review and great pics as well.

 

Question, where did you guys get the T-shirts below? On board? How much?

 

 

 

 

you can either win them or inquire to ncl about them..Both my dh and I have them as well. They seem not to mind giving them away...FREE ADVERTISING!!

[coka]

The review, the stories, the smiles, your family are all priceless. Thank you for spending an incredible amount of time and effort to write your family's experiences and to answer our questions. It is also nice to see who is at the other end of the feet! Thanks again for sharing,

 

coka

[sdmike]

On our last cruise in December we had a Garden Villa and I can confirm that in order to get up there you do need a key card with access. Also the Posh area that is on Epic was also on that ship, but it was not accessible to anyone unless you were in the Court Yard area.

 

So maybe it was a mistake that you were able to get up there. Did you actually see the court yard area with the special pool? If so then you were definately in the wrong area lol.

 

We could see it, but not access it. We just went up the outdoor elevators between the hat and the pool. Maybe we just got lucky because we got on, the doors closed, and it went up to 18. How would you get to the public sun deck otherwise? We didn't see any stairs anywhere that provided access.

[sdmike]

See my comments below...

 

Thanks Mike for the wonderful review! Sorry you couldn't make Costa Maya - we're also looking forward to Maya Chan on our cruise in 33 days (but who's counting :D). I'm glad to hear most things weren't as crowded as reported on some of the preview cruises.

 

Got a couple questions -

• I saw the dress code listing no shorts in the Manhattan Room and Le Bistro, but no mention of jeans. Are these also outlawed in those venues? (I know you guys didn't eat there, but perhaps knew someone who did?)
  

Sorry, I don't know the answer to this. What I read from NCL was that no shorts are allowed for dinner in Manhattan. I would imagine that nice jeans would be fine.

 

 

• Was the spa always crowded or was it mostly that first day when you mentioned it? We had originally wanted to book a spa balcony, but they were all sold out, so now we're looking at getting the passes.
  

It really was never crowded. There were always seats available, and at most only a few people in the spa pools. The only place difficult is the balcony where there are about 6 or 7 loungers outside. People go there and sleep, tying the loungers up for hours.

 

 

• Daily drink specials - I saw several listed on the Eastern Daily's that included a souvenir glass. Do you know if you could get the glass on day one, and then get a refill price on the next day's drink? I really don't need to be bringing home 14 glasses at the end of the week if DH and I decide each to get the drink of the day. :D
  

Not sure. I didn't get any of the drinks of the day. Sorry

 

• Taste/Manhattan menu - I've seen the available anytime menu, but were there also daily specials? Are these posted each day at the restaurant or on the interactive TV?
  

We didn't know the daily specials until we were in the restaurant. They were not listed on the TV or in the dailies. There were restaurant stations around the ship (like outside the garden cafe) where you can review menus and make reservations, but I don't think the daily MDR/Taste menu was there either. You might just have to visit taste and look at the menu posted outside the entrance. :)

 

Thanks again for the great review. Although my boss may not thank you, as I kept coming back here to keep reading it when I probably should have been working. :D

[sdmike]

My brother got his shirt by answering a trivia question. I got mine when NCL emailed me and asked if I wanted one. :) You can't get them on board. On the first day I walked through the Atrium lobby and saw a half dozen people sitting together with these shirts on. :D Lots of folks were asking about them.

 

There's some GREAT inaugural season stuff on the ship. Shirts, hats, mugs, jackets, backpacks, etc. I got a great shirt that has the ship specs on the back and an Epic logo on the front. The last day at sea they have 2 shirts for $20 sale at the marketplace on 15, but none of the inaugural sailing stuff goes on sale.

Edited August 3, 2010 by sdmike

[Bgem75]

Mike,

Did you notice if they had any EPIC christmas ornaments? We love to collect these bcs every year we put the tree up we are reminded of our travels.

Meg

[M&D]

Best review ever!

[AlynS]

What a wonderful review! Thanks so much. My son and I had such fun looking at the pictures. I was supposed to start getting organized with my packing today but your review had me fantasizing about our trip all day instead.

[intrepid_guy]

Mike,

Did you notice if they had any EPIC christmas ornaments? We love to collect these bcs every year we put the tree up we are reminded of our travels.

Meg

 

I hope so! I buy them on every cruise!!!

 

~Intrepid <-- never too soon to think about Christmas!

[sdmike]

Mike,

Did you notice if they had any EPIC christmas ornaments? We love to collect these bcs every year we put the tree up we are reminded of our travels.

Meg

 

Sorry guys! I did not notice!

[crew mom]

Great review Mike! Enjoyed both it and the pictures. Thanks for sharing!

[orangegrove]

Mike,

Did you notice if they had any EPIC christmas ornaments? We love to collect these bcs every year we put the tree up we are reminded of our travels.

Meg

 

I collect christmas ornaments also, and they did not have them! :mad: Maybe on future sailings. I ended up buying christmas ornaments at the ports. I guess you could buy the keychain and hang it on the tree. :D

[UK_Cruiser]

I collect christmas ornaments also, and they did not have them! :mad: Maybe on future sailings. I ended up buying christmas ornaments at the ports. I guess you could buy the keychain and hang it on the tree. :D

 

 

I saw your comments re disembarking at the end of week one for B2B passengers.

 

Sounds unorganised and a bit of a shambles to be honest. I don't want to have to sit around with all the new passengers for 2 hours !

[kiraryker]

WONDERFUL REVIEW!! I was a little worried after I read that someone said they would not zipline with Victor because it looked very unsafe - but someone told me to read your review and seeing your pictures really put me at ease!

 

We will be there in January and I have booked our group with Victor for the zip and dip - Thanks again for posting the pics!

[Cruzin 1025]

Thanks Mike for the information!

[dnl_in_Illinois]

I've been reading reviews and much of everything and I don't think I've read anything that asks a most basic question that I just thought of: When eating at any of the free restaurant venues like the Taste, Manhattan Room, etc. - do you need reservations or do you just show up? If the answer is the latter -- was there a line and or a long wait?

 

Thanks for all the great info SDMike and others who have posted.

[UK_Cruiser]

I've been reading reviews and much of everything and I don't think I've read anything that asks a most basic question that I just thought of: When eating at any of the free restaurant venues like the Taste, Manhattan Room, etc. - do you need reservations or do you just show up? If the answer is the latter -- was there a line and or a long wait?

 

Thanks for all the great info SDMike and others who have posted.

 

 

It's been answered many many times.

 

It's part of your freestyle dining so you just show up. Same as O'Sheehans & buffet restaurants.

 

One thing I am reading more and more is that there really hasn't been any need for restaurant reservations. Even when the board is showing full or fully booked people are turning up at all different times and getting seated without a reservation at all the restaurants by the sounds of things.

[Adkmom]

you can either win them or inquire to ncl about them..Both my dh and I have them as well. They seem not to mind giving them away...FREE ADVERTISING!!

 

I asked my NCL rep about these shirts and she tried to get me one but said they were given out at the Inaugural and there were no more available. Who did you contact. I would love one!!

[k9sar]

As things come to mind, I will continue to share the information. Since it is nearly lunchtime, you can imagine where my head is at.

 

1. In TASTE and The MANHATTEN Room, they sometimes have a dessert that involves caramel sauce. My wife LOVES caramel so we ordered the cheesecake minus the strawberries but drowned in caramel. We were not disappointed with the portion and the cheesecake was very tasty but I felt that the caramal had a bit of a burnt and bitter taste. I chalked it up to a bad batch until I had another dessert later in the cruise and it tasted the same. Not to my liking but it may be expected/acceptable for others.

 

2. In the Garden cafe, there were a variety of desserts you could have but, in my opinion, any of the non-chocolate (I don't like chocolate) desserts lacked flavor, especially the sugar-free selections.

 

3. I heard from others (again, I don't do chocolate) that many of the chocolate desserts were prepared with semi-sweet or dark chocolate rather than milk-chocolate. The result is a bolder, more bitter flavor that was not a favorite for some. Nice thing though... if you don't like it, get something else.

[dnl_in_Illinois]

It's been answered many many times.

 

It's part of your freestyle dining so you just show up. Same as O'Sheehans & buffet restaurants.

 

One thing I am reading more and more is that there really hasn't been any need for restaurant reservations. Even when the board is showing full or fully booked people are turning up at all different times and getting seated without a reservation at all the restaurants by the sounds of things.

 

Okay, fine. How about the last part of my question -- are their lines and a wait time to be seated. A few minutes is to be expected -- I'm thinking about wait times over 10 minutes?