Orangegrove’s Epic Adventure – Two Week Cruise from July 17-31, Eastern and Western C

[orangegrove]

A little long, hope you enjoy. J I will try to get the second week done soon!

 

Drive to Miami – July 15 -16, 2010

Travelers include me (DW45), DH45, and DS11 hailing from the Piedmont area of NC. It is our 4/5th cruise with NCL, but we have cruised other lines as well, and this is our first B2B. This cruise we decided to drive to Miami because we had no school time restraints and planned to stop at Kennedy Space Center on the way down to break up the trip.

We stopped at the first Official Florida rest stop to get our free OJ and grapefruit juice. Location is on I-95 south. This is a great stop after crossing into Florida. It is a huge rest area and there are 1000’s of brochures from all over Florida that you can pick up. Free maps and a free drink. Clean bathrooms too. The drive was not so bad accept for a very bad storm from Jacksonville to Daytona. I was driving this stretch and the conditions were horrible, we were going about 45mph in a 70mph zone through downtown Jacksonville. I was right behind a semi that almost jack knifed because some idiot was rubber-necking at the accident in the northbound lane. In any case we made it to Titusville and spent the night in a brand new Holiday Inn (just opened in June!). Beautiful hotel and restaurant….free night for us, had enough HI points from previous cruises!

Friday morning we got up had a fantastic breakfast and headed for KSC. Get here early to avoid long lines. (9am) My son is 11 and this proved to be a great stop for his age. This is not cheap $41 adult/ $31 child. I had $5 off coupon for each person from Tropicana Juicy Rewards. That Tropicana came in handy again. $100 onboard credit with NCL and $15 bucks off for the KSC! Whoo hoo! Your ticket is valid for 2 days in a 7day period. We did not do the launch pad add-on $21. We only planned on spending a couple of hours there, leave by lunch and be in Miami at 4:00pm. It didn’t work out that way. There is a lot to see. Your first ticket includes admission to the Astronaut Hall of Fame but we just didn’t have time. We didn’t end up leaving until 3:30pm as it was and didn’t even have lunch yet!

We arrived late in Miami at the La Quinta Inn East at the airport. Normally we stay near the port because we fly in, but being on a 2 week cruise the port charge of $20 a day would be cost prohibitive. La Quinta lets you leave your car for 7 days free and $5 a day after that. Cost of parking $35 paid up front. Be sure to sign up for the port shuttle. It is free! The hotel has been renovated and they are typical small Miami hotel rooms. The room had 2 double beds and everything looked new and freshly painted and carpeted. (Pictures will be posted soon).

[orangegrove]

Saturday morning we wake up; (I was up. Didn’t sleep well due to excitement not due to bed) we made our way to breakfast. This was chaos central. Free continental breakfast but there was no room to sit anywhere. There were so many cruise passengers, mostly Carnival that I observed. They had a great selection of items, but we just grabbed cereal and stood at this long counter and ate the cereal standing up. We finished, went back up to grab our suitcases and make sure we had everything. We were on the 10am shuttle to the port. Went back downstairs waited maybe 10 minutes and we got on the shuttle. No issues. He had names with numbers and we all got on with everyone’s luggage. We were at the pier I think by 10:30am. My husband tipped the hotel shuttle guy and yea, we were here! Not many people around. A porter came by grabbed our bags and another tip handed out. We breezed through security and passport and cc check-in. There is a VIP lounge for suite/platinum guests…we were not part of that group so up the escalator we went. BTW, they do clip the corner of youth key cards for those under 18 so the bartenders can tell easily. We were told where to sit and they would call us when the ship was ready to board. This was the plan…did not work so well. Normally they call row numbers and each row gets up and gets to go through the door, take the obligatory picture, scan key card, and on then on board you are. Not sure if there were new people or what, but they started letting people go through that just came up the escalator and made several people mad who had been sitting down like they were told and pretty soon everyone was getting up and closing in on the NCL people and the small entrance way. We watched the chaos for a while. They did try to get people to sit, one NCL guy ran to the PA system and started screaming instructions to have everyone sit or you will not board. It did not work. People kept getting through the door and the other NCL people were not sure how to stop them. As soon as it seemed reasonable we got up and went through. We took the picture this time. I made some cute NESS /Epic shirts and wanted a family photo. (I will post later). We were definitely on board by noon. My suggestion from talking to several others, if possible and your hotel will let you, get there around 12:30pm, no lines, no herds. Mooooooo! J

We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the ship and getting our bearings straight. The gangway is on deck 6 and we entered near the Spiegel Tent/Epic Theater (FWD on Ship). The Tent is a much smaller venue than what I expected. I knew it was small, but you are in close quarters especially when you see the Cirque Show or the Presumed Murdered Lunch. (Which we did both of and will review). We ended up eating in the Garden Café, but I know Taste was open for lunch if you would like a quiet lunch.

Tip of the day…if you stop in at “Headliners” deck 6 across from Spiegel Tent, you can do two things: 1. Book/cancel any entertainment (not restaurants) you didn’t do before or couldn’t do before and 2. Store any carryon’s that you don’t want to lug around on the ship while you’re exploring this behemoth. They tag the bags and give you a number. You are now free to roam without a lot of extra stuff. We had no issues. My son and husband didn’t want to lug their backpack and I dropped off our swim bag. Pick up when staterooms are finished around 2pm.

[orangegrove]

Our Cabin: 11249 starboard – Deluxe Balcony: they say mid, I say Aft! – For us the location was pretty good. Very close to the elevators but due to their set up you never hear people get on/off the elevators. There is a bank of 8 elevators, 4 port and 4 starboard. Red port/Blue starboard. Earlier we signed up for the Couples Spa Pass $199 per week, only 60 couple passes sold. You have to remember that Spa Suite guests also have use of spa so there are more than 120 people using the spa per week. Our cabin location made it very easy to pop up to the spa without walking through long hallways. If the elevator came right away we were at the spa in 10-15 seconds. You’ve already read about much of the cabins. I will say that we had no major issues with the set up, but my husband did not like the toilet stall size. He is not a small man 6’4” 300+lbs and he felt claustrophobic in the toilet with the door closed. I told him leave the door open and shut the curtain. The shower was a really good size and there IS a bath mat. The floor outside the shower did not get slippery at all. It’s kind of a laminate like flooring and has a grip to it. None of us even felt we would slip. These cabins have an unbelievable amount of storage. Since we did not have a connecting room the entire wall unit was available for storing. This was good and bad. It was tough remembering where you stored stuff and soon I quit putting things in different places for fear I wouldn’t find them again. There is storage under the sofa, above the sofa, and behind the sofa!

I liked the décor but as many of you have read the rooms are narrow. The sofa pulls out and they put a sheet on the sofa which becomes the third bed. My son said it was very comfortable. I laid down on the sofa and it was not bad at all. Not sure if an adult would want to spend a week on one, but my 11yo spent 2 weeks with no complaints. Now comes a slight issue which we found a way to rectify. I stated earlier my husband is 6’4”, I am 5’9”…the mattress measures … get this 72”. That is 6’ for those that hate math. I always carry a small measuring tape in my purse…yeah, maybe I need to go on “Let’s Make a Deal” LOL. About 3-4 inches of the bed is under the headboard. So we are talking major feet dangling in the aisle. The mattress has rounded/tapered corners, so now 2 tall people are fighting for the longest part of the bed. I almost switched with my son whose sofa bed was at least long enough for me to sleep on without dangling tootsies. Which then brings us to:

Second Tip of the Day: I said to my husband that night, ‘Maybe we can move the bed forward?’ Lo and behold, the bed is not attached to the wall and we slid the bed forward several inches. No more dangling toes! J One caveat, if you move the bed forward the aisle in front of bed is very narrow. So if you need to move the bed, move it back in the morning. There really isn’t much space between bed and opposite wall.

Third and Fourth Tip: Many are worried about waking people up to use the toilet at night. They are worried about turning on lights and waking everyone up. There are two reading lamps (one on each side of bed) which bend about any which way you want that you are able turn on. The switch glows a very bright blue. They were too bright for our family. We had to cover the switches with a book, a post-it, or an eyeglass case. Whatever was handy and eliminated the blue hue. Tip 4: note that the telephone is also very bright. It’s like a giant cell phone that is constantly on. On the upper right of the screen there is a light bulb, touch the bulb and the phone goes to sleep so to speak! Many people may not have realized this and probably threw a wash cloth over the phone, but my husband, gadget guy and button pusher lover, saw this right away. We had a reasonably dark room. (The thermostat also had some lights, but that was okay for us).

Now, for those interested in separate beds in the Deluxe Balcony, it looks possible. I pulled up the sheets and took a picture. The beds are 2 separate twin beds with separate mattresses that somehow are connected. However, if they do come apart, you would not even be able to walk between the separated beds. There is not a lot of room because of the curved wall. I’ll post the picture so you can see.

I have some more tips and as I write I will try to remember to advise all of you. BTW, there were plenty of hooks for our family. I think I counted 4 or 5 sets of double hooks. I brought along those 3M hooks but I never needed them. There is a clothes line in the shower which we always used to hang our wet bathing suits. So the hooks were free for towels or even clothes. Now this brings me to a minor gripe which also becomes:

Tip 5: Before you shower, grab towel and your washcloth below sink cabinet and place on hook. My husband kept forgetting to do this and at the end of his shower he would have to get out of shower, open privacy curtain, and we got to see him in all his glory! LOL. This was not such a big deal to us because of family, but friends or older kids staying in the same cabin may feel a bit weird. They should have had a way to put the towels next to the shower so they were easy to grab.

The second minor gripe I have is the extremely small trashcan. Other ships you have one in the bathroom and a larger one in the cabin. Here, you have one extremely small can you can barely put a water bottle in.

Third minor gripe will be for the ladies. (Men, skip this section) The sanitary napkin dispenser is in the hamper like compartment that is located under the sink area. There is no container in the toilet area (other than the garbage can) to place such items while you finish up. I luckily didn’t have a need for that item, but I can see it being a gripe for a few people.

After checking out the cabin it was almost time for the Lifeboat Muster Drill. It takes place at 3:30pm and NO LIFE JACKETS REQUIRED. We made our way to the Manhattan Dining Room (our location) on deck 6 Aft, checked in and waited for the loud horn. 7 short 1 long – all extremely loud! Drill over so time to make our way to deck 15 to find a departure spot.

[orangegrove]

Departure and Evening of Embarkation: The sail away was going great until the rain came. My son and I were too late for a really great spot, but we found one that worked out well. My husband scheduled a massage at 3:45pm. He missed sail away, I was kind of upset, but then it rained and he didn’t miss much anyway. Later on in the cruise I found a spot we liked on Deck 16. You have to go to deck 15 pool deck and take the steps to the next deck. On the port side in the corner you have a great view of Miami from the back and the front. There are not a lot of great open areas to view. Many have glassed windows and deck 7 is covered in life boats with a small area for viewing. We stood here for the second week which was a very sunny day!

The rain came down pretty hard and that was it for the sail away. We made our way back to the room and lo and behold, all the luggage was there! So I began to unpack and decide where things should be for 2 weeks. My son was getting bored by this and wanted to go back to the arcade we visited earlier. We gave him a limit and he needed to check the tv screen to keep up with his spending.

Tip 6: Note they can put a limit on your kids card, but if the limit is $100 and he has spent $97 he can still go to a shop and spend $200 on candy and the amount will go through. After it hits $100 the account will be blocked. They said on their next upgrade this would be fixed, yeah well, I’m here now. We explained this clearly to my son. We also said if he has any money left over from the rest of the cruise that he did not use he may use that money to purchase an I-touch. He’s been saving for a while now and that peaked his interest and controlled his spending. If he went over on his account then he would owe his dad for whatever he went over. This worked like a charm. (BTW, he got his I-touch! J ) Off he went.

We were scheduled to see Blue Man Group (BMG) at 7:00pm and didn’t realize time had slipped by us so quickly; it was 6:40pm! Ugghhh I wanted good seats. We had Cagney dinner reservations following the show so we dressed for dinner. BMG was a great show and highly recommend seeing this. We went twice in the 2 weeks we were there. Several people in the older generations did not like this show. It is a very loud show, and there are strobe lights involved and lots of audience participation. Your arms get a good work out at the end of the show also.

Cagney’s $25: We had a great meal here. My husband and son had the 10oz filet and I had the 5oz. My son did not finish his and my husband said he should have just gotten the smaller one. He figured if he was paying he will get the big one. We had jumbo shrimp cocktail for an appetizer and they were fantastic. Ceasar Salad was great, I had the garlic mashed potatoes and grilled asparagus and my husband went with the baked potato. We are now all stuffed and tired. We had back to the cabin and bedtime for us.

[orangegrove]

Sunday, Sea Day, July 16 – CC Meet and Greet at LeBistro: Today we did a lot of hanging out by the pool deck. There are plenty of chairs, but not all are near the pool. If you want something very close to the pool area then get up early. We didn’t care and got there at 10am after having breakfast in O’Sheehan’s. This is a great place for breakfast. It’s quiet and breakfast is available 24/7. Their omelets were fantastic. My husband and son tried out the slides. I went up to take pictures and video. The line was getting long. They open the slides at 9am on sea days. At 11am we had our CC Meet & Greet. My husband and I went to Le Bistro and were able to meet several CCer’s and of course the Captain, Klaus, Simon the ED, and Silas the CD, plus several other key people. There were probably 25 or so people. Klaus gave us his business card and his phone number. We had a few issues in our cabin and he stated I want to know what peoples issues are right away so they can be addressed. He doesn’t want to read about it on CC. My husband had a nice chat about our few issues, (one reading light did not work and hair dryer worked sporadically and started to smell funny when turned on). One major thing was the shower was hot, hotter, or scalding. We were unable to take a shower Sunday morning. We told him that we already said something to our cabin steward but Klaus wanted to know our cabin number, he wrote it down on his pad and handed us his business card. I spoke to the Captain for a while. Very nice man, a little difficult to understand, we had a nice conversation. Colorado Momma was there and her family. They had issues with the Kids program. NCL will not budge with letting different ages mingle between programs. I think she had a 12 year old and she wanted to go to the teen club with others they were travelling with and NCL said no. I don’t know what came of it I didn’t see here the rest of the trip. She was speaking with Simon Murray when I left them. I guess her 12 yo is almost 13 but I heard Simon say they had a 12 yo on board this trip that turns 13 the following week and they would not let him in the teen program. So they are very strict with this age thing.

We left there after awhile and I went to find my son at the pool. Slime Time Live was scheduled for 12:30 and I signed him up. This takes place in the Epic Theater. There is audience participation involved. The show was pretty good. My son thought it was okay, he’s almost 12 and will be in Middle School this fall so he’s a Tween for sure. There are two families involved that they have previously chosen and they have questions to answer and I think there are 3 games to play. It was fun for 45 minutes. My son did not want to see it again.

The afternoon we spent by the pool or the Spa. It is a beautiful facility. Spa day passes are $30 if there is space available. Sea days the spa is full at certain times. Port days, quite empty. When we got back to the room this afternoon there was an invitation to a cocktail party for my husband and myself at 6:00pm in the Bliss Lounge. Hmmmm, what could this be. Well, we had reservations for 7p at La Cucina so we got showered and dressed earlier. We got there and we had unlimited cocktails and appetizers. It was a fantastic reception. We met two couples and tried to figure this party out. One was travelling in a Villa and never was on NCL before. The second couple is a bronze member like us, and him and his wife were the only ones invited out of there group of 8 travelling together. The gentleman said he made a minor complaint about a few things, but didn’t know why they got invited. We didn’t care. It was a very nice reception and we were quite happy with the Rum Punches and hors d'oeuvres.

We left for La Cucina $10 and we were really too full to enjoy it. The meal was good. I can’t remember what I ate, (due to several rum punches I think) my husband had the steak and my son had the cheese tortellini. Why I can remember what they ate and I can’t remember what I ate who knows.

After dinner we had to walk off this food. We strolled around and ended up in the Atrium listening to Wildfire Duo who were great. We listened to them quite a bit during our 2 week stay. Howl at the Moon was also available but was kind of full so we opted for Wildfire. The White Hot Party was that night but we were so tired never made it.

[orangegrove]

Day 3, Monday July 19 – Sea Day – Another sea day to wander around. Wii on the big wall was popular. We did that for a while. My husband and I were doing the Presumed Murdered Mystery $15 lunch at 12:30pm in the Spiegel Tent. My son went to Recess the kids club. FWIW, I think this lunch should be adults only. Not so much because of content but there is a lot of audience interaction and the audience chooses who is the murder victim and based on who you pick the outcome can be different. We, the audience have to figure out who done it based on questions the audience asks the suspects. We had several children asking non relevant questions that became tiresome and it didn’t flow as well as it could have. It was still a good show and lunch was good, but we only went once in the 2 weeks.

We filled the rest of the afternoon with various activities. For dinner we dined at Moderno Churrascaria. $18 This is located in the other half of Cagney’s. You need to go here with an empty stomach. I know, you’re on a cruise ship and all you do is eat. Try to be hungry here though. The salad bar is phenomenal here. We tried most of the meats, but it was impossible. My family really liked the bacon wrapped chicken. There was lamb, filet, chorizo, ribs and a whole lot more.

After Moderno’s we went to 55 to Stay Alive game show in the Bliss Lounge. We really liked this activity. If you’ve seen “A Minute to Win It” you know the premise. Here you have 55 seconds to do the task. They had various tasks, ie: pull tissues out of box, unroll toilet paper , bounce ping pong balls in the bucket, etc. It was a lot of fun. The last task has everyone who completed the previous task in time competes in the last challenge. They place a pedometer on their head and shake and whoever gets the most clicks in 55 seconds wins. It’s just funny watching people’s heads bob up and down. After this activity Karaoke begins. Yes, karaoke is alive and well on the Epic. After a while it just hurt my ears. Some people were very good but most were not. It was a bad American Idol show. We lasted for ½ hour and then had enough and went back to the cabin.

[orangegrove]

Day 4 – St. Maarten – Tiki Hut Snorkel Park – This excursion we booked through the ship. We don’t always. My family and I had a really good time on this trip. There were only 32 people; they usually have 50 so that was good. You are taken by boat to a floating dock with a bar and several lounge chairs. You are given snorkel gear and if you want you can use noodles. There were fish, but the water here is not nearly as clear as it is in Grand Cayman and in other areas of the Caribbean. There is a sunken boat, and a sunken cannon. My son saw a sea turtle. I missed it. It seems they bring several different excursions to this area for snorkeling. The snuba and a catamaran were also here but the participants were not allowed on our dock. NOTE: There is no toilet facility at this dock…you can swim or kayak to a dock about 30ft away and use the facilities. I didn’t use the facilities; I held it till we reached the ship. This excursion allows you to go back whenever you want. They have a ferry leaving every 40 minutes to an hour. After an hour and a half many people left. I guess they were disappointed in the clarity. Well we stayed on most of the day. We had lunch here you paid extra for. They had hot dogs, hamburgers, and a fish sandwich. No fries, just chips. There is no electricity out here. They have a generator for the boom box and cook with a gas grill. Rum punch and beer was $3, soda was $2. It was all very good. They let my son use their kayak for no extra charge. He paddled all over and had a blast. This was his favorite place in our two weeks. It was not crowded and he had free reign. Another group came over after lunch. For about 1 hour there were only 8 or so of us using the facility. It was fantastic. We were done snorkeling so we just used the noodles, the kayak, and the lounge chairs. We stayed for about an hour after the new group was there and asked to be taken back. We were the only ones going back on this ferry. I think we had great timing. The clouds were getting very dark and we decided not to shop, way too ominous looking.

Tonight we had Cirque Dreams & Dinner Premium Seating and the Ice Bar. The Ice Bar is $20 and this gives you 2 drinks; either with or w/out alcohol. CHILDREN ARE ALLOWED IN, they still pay $20. My son really wanted to see this. Our Ice reservations were at 7:30 most people only stay 20 minutes. You have 45 minutes. It is very small in here. There are only 14 ice bars in the world. My husband did not like this place. They serve vodka based drinks and the one he got he didn’t like. I think he tried the blue one. I had the green one and my son had the Creamsicle. My son’s tasted the best even though there was no alcohol. Just like a creamsicle you remember. After 10minutes of taking pictures my husband left to get in line at Cirque. Get in early 45 minutes to an hour, if you want to sit around the very center. My son and I stayed in the ice bar for another 15 minutes because he thought it was great. We met my husband just before they opened the doors for Cirque. We loved this show/dinner. We had fantastic seats. We were located in front of the keyboard of the piano. The characters did interact with us a lot. We didn’t mind. My son loved it. The other couple at our table also enjoyed the show and dinner. Dinner was a salad with shrimp in it, steak, stuffed chicken, potato, and a vegetable I can’t remember. No photography allowed. They did stipulate no flash photography. I didn’t even try. I didn’t want to get thrown out. The show lasts 2 hours and we booked this again the following week.

After the show I think we were done for the night. The sun drained us and we had some sunburn.

[orangegrove]

Day 5 – Wednesday, St. Thomas – Today was a non excursion day. We just wanted to get off in St. Thomas and wander around the stores. I haven’t been here in many years. Boy, this place has exploded in jewelry stores. Not my thing, but we wandered anyways. It was very humid here today. We just got off the ship and they had these open air vehicles that were headed downtown so we hopped on. I think it was $4 a person. Well, my son has been doing excellent in the video arcade realm. Its day 5 and he only spent $20 so far in video games. We praised him for doing a great job. As we were shopping we came across an electronics store, my son begged to go in to see if they had an I-touch. We did, the price was the same as the states but they gave a few accessories that you would pay extra for and no tax. My husband negotiated with the guy and bought it. I couldn’t believe it. I’m like…what happened to the agreement. My son had 2/3rds of the money, but not quite all yet. It turned out to be a good thing though. It became the carrot that dangled in front of the horse for the rest of the vacation. My husband actually let him use it as is. Remember internet on the ship is only 56k and soooooo slow. My husband would not pay for him to connect. An unloaded I-touch does not come with much. He could see the time in other parts of the world, set an alarm to different sounds, and take notes. There may have been a few other things but not much. It made for shopping without begging the rest of the day much easier on us. I picked up a few things in the stores. I collect Christmas ornaments from places we visit each year. They are small and not too cheesy for the tree. It’s a great memory each year when we put up the tree we recollect our adventures of the previous years. After about 2 ½ hours of shopping we decide to head back to the ship. We hail a cab and are back at the pier in no time. We do not shop at the pier. There are many stores, but we were hot and wanted to get cool asap.

The rest of the afternoon we hung out at various places on the ship. We ate lunch at O’Sheehan’s I had the fish n chips, great, my son had chicken tenders, also very good, and mozzarella sticks (not melty enough). My husband had a hot dog with chili also good. No crowds, no noise. Very enjoyable.

Tonight we ate dinner at Le Bistro $20. It was only my husband and me. DS went to Recess kids club. We had a very nice dinner here. Our travel agent sent us a bottle of wine as a gift and we brought it to dinner tonight. It was great having a dinner with just my husband! After dinner we wandered in and out of different venues and enjoyed the adult only evening.

Note: Tonight you will have the opportunity to stuff a laundry bag for $24.95. Be sure to place on bed by noon Thursday, they promise to return by Friday afternoon. Since we were staying another week we chose to do this. I rolled and crammed 29 pieces of laundry into the paper bag. This included 13 pairs of underwear, pants, shorts, and shirts! No dry cleaning, this is wash only. I got my money’s worth. They came back pressed on hangers (not the wears!) We also received them by Friday morning before arriving in Nassau.

[orangegrove]

Day 6 – Thursday, Last Sea Day – Another day to hang out. We did a lot of what people do on sea days. The pool, the spa, the gift shops, and we went to the future cruise presentation. We learned a few things. The NCL rep stated if you book a b2b book as 2 separate reservations to get credit for each. I didn’t do this and I currently have an email out to my TA to fix the problem. I tried to do it on board but kept getting different answers at Guest Services. If this gets fixed correctly I will be a Silver member! J She mentioned the new upcoming itineraries for 2011, departures out of Tampa on the Star and the Sun out of Orlando. The Jade will begin Israel Holy Land in fall of 2011. She also stated that there will not be another ship like the Epic. The next build will be a size between the Jewel Class and the Epic. I guess, there is another ship on the drawing table!

We ate in Manhattan (free) for dinner tonight. I had the Tilapia which was very good, my DH and DS had steak. (Are you seeing a pattern here LOL) My son’s steak was great but my husbands was very tough to chew. It was not over cooked. You could see pink. The waiter could tell he was not pleased and brought him a new steak. 100% better per my husband. We had reservations for Legends in Concert at 7:00pm and after dinner headed for the show. This was a very good show, but in my opinion dated. Tina Turner look-a-like came out and my DS who is 11 said “who in the heck is Tina Turner”

he said the same thing about Madonna. LOL He did know who Elvis was only because he has this T-shirt with a small Elvis on it and I have explained the “King of Rock and Roll” to him. Elvis was the best, then Tina, and then Madonna. Madonna did have some unbelievable costume changes. They had video of the real Elvis Presley and this guy had his moves down! The timing was unbelievable. My son was a bit bored of this and I could tell several kids in the audience were bored. He would have been happy doing free time in the kids club.

After the show we went to Headliners to see Howl at the Moon in Headliners. These guys are very good. The problem with this venue is that the center part has the good views and most people try to get there. We were a bit late and sat on the side. They have tv’s to see what’s going on, but I would have preferred sitting straight on vs. sideways. We stayed for a few sets, lots of interaction with the audience. We had some drinks and left after 45 minutes or so. People came and went. These guys really have a lot of talent. Off to bed, yes, we were wusses. I don’t think we were ever up past midnight on any night.

[orangegrove]

Day 7 – Friday, Nassau – Blue Lagoon Beach Break and the port that almost wasn’t – Friday morning we wake up and do our thing.

Note: if you are disembarking on Saturday remember to pick up your colored bag tags with the time you want to leave before you get off the ship for Nassau. (There is not a time that says ‘Never’ J)

Around 10am the captain comes on and says we may not make it to Nassau because of the storm. I look out the window and think….ummmm…I see nothing that looks like a storm. A little wavy, but nothing serious in my opinion. Apparently there is Tropical Storm Bonnie floating around the Caribbean and we had no clue. Not many TV channels to choose from and the weather channel was not one of them. We were supposed to be in port at noon, our excursion left at 1:00pm. Sometime before noon the captain came on a said we are going to Nassau should arrive about an hour late. Some excursions would be cancelled there will be a message in your stateroom. Ours was not. Arriving an hour late sounds like no big deal…..ha ha, you are sadly mistaken. Normally they have the excursions meeting in different intervals so they don’t have a jumbled mess of passengers at the gangway. Now all excursions were meeting at the same time! YOWSA! This caused a great bottleneck at the steps, elevators, and gangways. This is the second time I felt herded like cows. The first was after the fire drill. We managed to get off and had to locate our group. The Disney Wonder and a Carnival ship were in port already. Nassau was hot and humid. We had to wait quite a long time for all to get off the ship and get on our way. I should have brought a water bottle. But, after everyone was together they herded us down the pier, through the shops, and out to the ferry.

TIP of the day: You will see several people selling water along the way…purchase the water. It is only $1. Heck of a lot cheaper than on the ship and cheaper than wherever you are going. It was ice cold, we bought 5 bottles. I was thirsty.

We got on the ferry and headed to Blue Lagoon Island. This stop included lunch and a non alcoholic drink. This is also where the Dolphin excursions take place. As we were approaching this lagoon I had a sudden déjà vu, I had been here before. I came when I was about 14 with my sister and family. I have a picture of the two of us on the stone castle like thing that overlooks the lagoon. You can no longer walk over or climb up there but it kind of freaked me out. That was some 30 years ago. No swimming with the Dolphins back then but we loved this beach area. The area now has inflatable jumping things. That cost extra to use. We did not use them and I don’t know the price. We snagged some hammocks under the palm trees and planted ourselves for the afternoon. The water was crystal clear here. Should have brought my snorkel, I forgot to put in my bag because of the delay and all. My son did rent the kayak. It was $15 for 30 minutes but the guy really didn’t watch the clock much and I bet he had it for over an hour easy. You can rent snorkel equipment here. No idea about cost. Floating mats were free to use. Lunch was hamburgers or hotdogs. The burgers were okay. The lemonade was cold and felt refreshing. There is a bar, didn’t purchase any alcohol here so no idea of cost of drinks.

The day ended nicely, there is a gift shop full of usual souvenirs. We got back on the ferry at 5:30pm and took a nice 40 minute ride back to the pier. We had a rum punch on the way back. Very good! No time to shop in Nassau everyone on board by 6:30pm for a 7pm departure.

We heard some people say that they were at Atlantis, in my opinion you probably did not get your money’s worth. We arrived over an hour late, by the time they arrived at Atlantis it was probably well after 2pm and you had to be back on the ship by 6:30p. Atlantis is close but no way did you get 6 hours there and for the cost difference plus 2 other ships in port at the same time it must have been a zoo. There was a boy on the elevator and asked “Do you think these people were at Atlantis?” The mother turned around and with a roll of her eyes said “I think EVERYBODY was at Atlantis!” So for $150 for the 3 of us to go to a nice uncrowded lagoon for the afternoon, I think it was worth it.

Dinner on the last day was unscheduled, thankfully. We got back to our cabins and showered and changed into something not sandy and reasonably clean. Tonight we headed back to O’Sheehan’s for dinner. We really liked eating here this first week. We sat where we could watch people bowl. Very entertaining on a moving ship. Bowling btw is $5 includes shoes. There was always a wait. Even in the Bliss lounge. My DH and DS tried twice. Both times over an hour and a half wait. Who would have thunk?

While many others had to pack tonight we ventured around the ship. Stopped at the candy shop and ended up buying a pound of candy! $12! They were in those clear canisters you just move the lever and the candy comes pouring out, very quickly which is why we ended up with so much. There is now way to put back if it comes out to quick. Mix and match $2.99 a ¼ pound! They have lemon heads, sprees, sour patch, etc. I’ve got a photo to post.

One week down, a second to go!

[orangegrove]

Disembarkation – NOT FOR US Whoo-hoo – Saturday, July 24th

The next morning arrives and we are in no rush. They still want everyone out of the cabins by 9am. There are 3 places for breakfast available. Garden Café and Manhattan until 9:30am, O’Sheehan’s always open.

FWIW on port days we discovered that eating in the Manhattan Room was just perfect. It is quiet, they serve you, you get most anything you want and there is hardly anyone there. The Garden Café is okay if you want to get something quick and get off the ship. But being served is a nice way to begin a day. We did the Manhattan again today for breakfast. Our journey is now half over and we have truly enjoyed our vacation so far. We are having an epic time on the Epic! J

B2B info: The night before you will receive instructions on disembarking. You do not have to pack up anything! All you need is your passport, key card, and customs sheet filled out. You wait until all passengers have been called. We hung out in the Atrium. We wanted to stay clear of everyone dragging luggage off. Around 10-10:15 an announcement will come over the PA system that this is the final announcement and all passengers need to disembark. We got up headed toward the gangway with several other B2B people and everytime we saw an NCL employee all we said was “Back 2 Back”. They say: “B2B, right this way”. Zip, Zip, zip. We handed customs forms in, they didn’t even look at the passports, we physically went outside the building, then as a group went in the building where you entered the previous Saturday. We zipped past everyone else and back up the escalator to the waiting area you are familiar with. Now this is where NCL needs improving. They kept us as a group in an area but when the boarding process started again, we should have been before all new passengers, but it was a mishmash of mayhem. The cow thing began again….Mooooooo…b2ber’s were getting mad because we all waited patiently. They need to get rows with numbers or put us in another room. In any case we were back on board by noon and ready to start a second week. It was fun people watching and having everyone try to get their bearings.

Important for B2Ber’s: If you booked as one reservation (14 day complete trip) then you were not able to book any shows for the 2nd week. Go immediately to Headliner’s and book what you want. They have 4 people there with computers ready to book people into shows for the week. We booked BMG and Cirque again without a problem. We were flexible on the night and time since we had very little booked for Specialties the 2nd week. This is important if you want to see Cirque again. The show sold out both weeks we were there. There is a standby line and I saw several people get in but you have to get there extra early for standby.

A few more things: If you DO NOT buy the soda card they give you a 12oz can. The second week soda cans were sparse for some reason so they kept giving us a glass. My husband demanded a second glass for free. I think this is fair. You can get 2 glasses filled with ice out of a 12oz can. NCL needs to be consistent with this. If you normally give a can to someone who is paying then you need to have cans available at the bars. Some bartenders did it, some gave him a problem.

We loved the soft serve ice cream in the Garden Café. Many nights I would stop by and get the warm blueberry, peach, apple cobbler, or the bread pudding and put some vanilla ice cream on top.

You can avoid buying a milk shake in O’Sheehan’s by going to Garden Café grabbing a water glass, fill with milk and add your soft ice cream. Mix with spoon. It’s not the best, but hey, your kids want a milk shake this will do for them.

Bring an extra grocery/drug store card with you. In order to turn on the lights and the AC in your room you have to put your key card in the slot. I happened to have a CVS extra card and we used that all week. The cabin stewards moved it up so the air doesn’t run all day because they are ordered to do this, but it was more convenient to keep our keys on us.

So this is it for week 1. Week 2 will not be so long. I will concentrate mainly on the two ports. (Costa May was weathered out). We really have had a wonderful time and have enjoyed the ship immensely.

[david_sobe]

Welcome back!

 

Your review is amazing.... so detailed..... and those tips! Thanks for taking so much time to write your review. It seems you really enjoyed your trip. Since you did b2b, which did you prefer more, the eastern or western?

What was your favorite restaurant? Favorite part on the ship?

 

THANKS AGAIN

[orangegrove]

Welcome back!

 

Your review is amazing.... so detailed..... and those tips! Thanks for taking so much time to write your review. It seems you really enjoyed your trip. Since you did b2b, which did you prefer more, the eastern or western?

What was your favorite restaurant? Favorite part on the ship?

 

THANKS AGAIN

 

Thanks David, I normally would have said Western, but it has been so long since we did the Eastern that I really enjoyed it. Hard to say what my favorite port is. We really enjoyed the Tiki excursion on St. Maartin but I loved Roatan, we hired a local cab driver he took us on the tour of the island, went to the Monkey Park, and then to the beach. All for $60 plus $5 for the Monkey Park. We did give him a hefty tip. My favorite restaurant was Moderno, my husband would say Cagney's. I loved hanging out at O'Sheehan's and watching whomever was playing in the Atrium below, or watching a movie on the big screen.

[coka]

Thank you very much Orangegrove for the detailed review. You hit upon everything that I had wonderered about. Anyone who carries a tape measure is A-Okay with me! You also brought a smile to my face in each post. I loved the tips too!

Looking forward to reading about week 2!

 

coka

[neverthought]

Great job Orangegrove, your review was very informative, love the little tips.We are doing a B2B in Sept. and I'm kind of disappointed in how long it took for you to reboard. B2B s/b able to go thru customs, then just turn around and get back on.Thanks again for taking the time to write this, can't wait to see your pictures.

Neverthought

[sdmike]

Great stuff! I wish you would have posted this between your B2B legs because we were one of the folks that threw a shirt over the phone to block the light. We also put things on the blue LED's because they were too bright too. Like you, we left the AC control light alone. :)

 

I too loved hanging out at the overlook at O'Sheehans watching whatever was going on down in the atrium. I had the chicken pot pie there while watching the blue man Q&A, and I snacked there several times watching movies or the kids play wii. :)

[criscruise]

Thanks for the review! I agree, your tips are appreciated, too.

Glad you had such a good time.

[Aldeya]

I cannot thank you enough for your review!! We are doing B2B in September and I absolutely LOVE all the details in your review.

 

One question. We also booked this cruise as one reservation for 14 days. It didn't even occur to me that we can get double credits if we had 2 reservations instead of one. I thought if we book it as 2 reservations we might have to change the cabins for the second leg and we didn't want to deal with it.

 

You mentioned that you contacted your travel agent to fix the problem. Did it work? I still have few weeks before our cruise and would like to know if its possible to change our bookings. And again if we do this can they make us to change the cabin on the second leg?

 

I'd really appreciate any information.

 

Thanks again for a WONDERFUL review! Can't wait for the second week and photos.

[Kruizin'Kath]

Thanks for taking the time to post this great review. :D

[orangegrove]

I cannot thank you enough for your review!! We are doing B2B in September and I absolutely LOVE all the details in your review.

 

One question. We also booked this cruise as one reservation for 14 days. It didn't even occur to me that we can get double credits if we had 2 reservations instead of one. I thought if we book it as 2 reservations we might have to change the cabins for the second leg and we didn't want to deal with it.

 

You mentioned that you contacted your travel agent to fix the problem. Did it work? I still have few weeks before our cruise and would like to know if its possible to change our bookings. And again if we do this can they make us to change the cabin on the second leg?

 

I'd really appreciate any information.

 

Thanks again for a WONDERFUL review! Can't wait for the second week and photos.

 

My TA is currently in the NC Mountains. She did email me. She'll be back on Wednesday night and take care of it on Thursday. I will let you know what happens as soon as I find out.

[AlynS]

Thank you so much for posting your review on your B2B. So glad you enjoyed your trip and as I'm doing a B2B on 8/14, it is very, very helpful. Was wondering how the turnaround would happen and you've really given me some insight into the process.

 

All my best,

Alyn

[canadiancruiser13]

My wife and I are booked the 14 day cruise starting October 31, 2010.

 

My question for you is: do you or did you know someone that was doing the 14 day cruise that got off earlier inthe morning in Miami for shopping - sightseeing etc...

[Newtonville Dan]

Welcome home Orangegrove. I just about fell over when I read that. Great review, sounds like you guys had a super time. Too bad reboarding was such a zoo. I would imagine that NCL will have that sorted out in a week or two. It must be the sheer volume of people boarding.

Did you have to do the 2nd muster drill?

 

Looking forward to 2nd week installment.

 

Dan

[orangegrove]

My wife and I are booked the 14 day cruise starting October 31, 2010.

 

My question for you is: do you or did you know someone that was doing the 14 day cruise that got off earlier inthe morning in Miami for shopping - sightseeing etc...

 

I did not get off, been to Miami many times, however, you could get off. Take key card, passport, go through customs, etc. THen just grab a cab and go. I would get off early because you have to be back on by 3p I believe. They were letting people off as early as 7:30am. But not much going on in Miami that early.

[orangegrove]

Welcome home Orangegrove. I just about fell over when I read that. Great review, sounds like you guys had a super time. Too bad reboarding was such a zoo. I would imagine that NCL will have that sorted out in a week or two. It must be the sheer volume of people boarding.

Did you have to do the 2nd muster drill?

 

Looking forward to 2nd week installment.

 

Dan

 

Dan, yes we had to do the 2nd Muster drill. I asked several people because many people here (CC) said they didn't have to. New regulations maybe:confused: