Recap of first-time-ever NCLer going on EPIC . . .

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

... I have not only PCD but NCLPCD....and I don't have another NCL booking until 9/2012:eek:

This MUST be remedied!

 

Now you're talking !! :D

 

Send those vibes over to Linda (mom of DJ) on your Hawaii sailing and see if we can break (albeit temporarily) her never-ending CCL streak! :)

 

Tom

[mtb242]

What I believe Don was referring to was that guests have the option to "upgrade" their "base" cruise experience - with the addition of a few additional cost items (Cirque Dreams... Murder Mystery Lunch... specialty restaurants, etc). In other words, one could easily get onboard and NOT pay any additional $ (other than tips I suppose) or one could "dive in" to whatever additional extent they wish.

 

I felt as Don did - we were not at all put off by the extra cost items. We were fully aware of the optional status to begin with, and enjoyed most everything which we did (whether it was extra cost - or "included").

 

Tom

 

I understand what Don is saying. I am curious which upgrade he thinks was not worth the price paid.

 

BTW I really think this is an awesome review thread of the Epic. We're sailing in ~5 weeks and I can't wait, especially after reading this thread!

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

I understand what Don is saying. I am curious which upgrade he thinks was not worth the price paid.

 

BTW I really think this is an awesome review thread of the Epic. We're sailing in ~5 weeks and I can't wait, especially after reading this thread!

 

 

Gotcha - I will put on my thinking cap and see if I can deduce the answer... but my guess is that he'll be back on here before I take a shot at it!

 

5 weeks ---- I am jealous !!! :)

 

Tom

[halos]

Now you're talking !! :D

 

Send those vibes over to Linda (mom of DJ) on your Hawaii sailing and see if we can break (albeit temporarily) her never-ending CCL streak! :)

 

Tom

 

Ah, but I hope to NOT be even thinking about NCL being a better choice, let alone talking about it while I am on that CCL Hawaii sailing because I'll totally ruin a 15 day cruise for myself. :(

I need to just 'love the one I'm with' on that occasion. :)

 

Depending on how that Hawaii cruise goes, it just may be my last on CCL (for a while anyway...I hate to say 'never').

NCL's 'hospitality' is just above and beyond. I hope they continue to do what they are doing.

Don's review and excitement exactly reflect my own feelings about NCL....there is just something extra there, and it's awesome :)

Edited March 29, 2011 by halos

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

Ah, but I hope to NOT be even thinking about NCL being a better choice, let alone talking about it while I am on that CCL Hawaii sailing because I'll totally ruin a 15 day cruise for myself. :(

I need to just 'love the one I'm with' on that occasion. :)

 

Depending on how that Hawaii cruise goes, it just may be my last on CCL (for a while anyway...I hate to say 'never').

NCL's 'hospitality' is just above and beyond. I hope they continue to do what they are doing.

Don's review and excitement exactly reflect my own feelings about NCL....there is just something extra there, and it's awesome :)

 

We, as you may recall, had the 15-nt Hawaii sailing on the Carnival Spirit booked for January of next year. We cancelled it a couple of weeks ago (shortly after our Epic adventure) - realizing that all those sea days on Carnival would be... uh... boring! We will probably end up with another sailing on the Epic in that window.

 

Tom

[halos]

We, as you may recall, had the 15-nt Hawaii sailing on the Carnival Spirit booked for January of next year. We cancelled it a couple of weeks ago (shortly after our Epic adventure) - realizing that all those sea days on Carnival would be... uh... boring! We will probably end up with another sailing on the Epic in that window.

 

Tom

 

To be honest, we wound up having some friends/family book that Hawaii cruise along with us...if it were just us, I may have cancelled too. I hate to say boring, because I have never been bored on a cruise BUT you are right. When you compare the two experiences, CCL can seem boring.

 

Lack of variety in dining venues will be boring as well as entertainment and live music.....I will miss the NCL Meet & Greet experience and getting to talk to the officers and meet the Captain, hotel director, etc.

But as much as I love NCL, I do like the idea of sailing to Hawaii as opposed to flying there to get on an NCL ship.

I wish NCL would have an option of sailing to Hawaii from CA, but they don't. I had been looking at Princess to Hawaii for this reason, when Luckysell started the group....once I saw that, we jumped on it. It seems like a fabulous group of people and I am VERY greatful for that!! :D

 

How I feel while on this cruise will be the deciding factor in how often I sail CCL in the future, if at all. I've never sailed a CCL cruise of this length. I have sailed NCL for a couple 14/15 day cruises and enjoyed them SO much. If you're on a ship for 15 days and hate getting off of it on that last morning, you know the cruise was a good one. :)

You should seriously try one of NCL's repos......best cruises EVER!!! :D

Edited March 29, 2011 by halos

[mkad1109]

I was not interested in the Epic at all for a few reasons, but did last week to appease my daughter. Reading this thread has been enlightening and I think my husband is in for a REALLY BIG DISAPPOINTMENT............I think I have found love over the internet:eek:!!!!LOL!!!

 

Excellent review that has without a doubt been the best 1/2 hour of my life! I am more excited about our upcoming cruise than I think I ever was for the previous ones!!! thank you!!!!! And I have to wait 13 months :mad:

[Turks&Caicos Dreams]

Well it's official I booked THE EPIC late last night.

I'm on a special promo and had to book some kind of NCL cruise by midnight, so what better way to do it than by waiting to the last possible seconds.

 

I've know I wanted to go on the Epic for a year, so that part was easy.

I wasn't expecting the boat to be gone form May thru Oct from Miami though. For that matter getting any 7 night Caribbean cruise out of Florida all Summer being out.

 

I spent 10 hours yesterday calling, reading, navigating ncl website, watching dvds, tv, internet and brochures before booking -- now I would say I could probably help anyone book a cruise. Ha.

 

It would figure I found this board after all that. Of course I just had to stay up and read the 9 pages of this review before falling asleep. ;)

 

Officially I'm / we / us / whoever wants to go along - are going in November, however since I'm / we are on a special offer - still trying to get on the April 16th or 23rd sailings.

 

------

The "work, travel etc schedule" open dates for us to cruise right away were 4/18-5/4 -- leaving the perfect, ideal, 100%, can't wait, ready to go, oh my god cruise .......The APRIL 23 - EPIC, alas NCL HAS BLACK OUT DATES FROM 4/17-4/29. Making that the only EPIC - ncl will not let us go on. Figures the one time I can actually go with no hassel or drama is a black out date. This to me is very upsetting since so many basic inside cabins are still available. You would think they'd lift that to get me to go now, get me hooked and ready to book a second cruise later in the year right away. The ncl cruise representative management that could've tried to get me on the 23rd, were very unhelpful to my special offer vip rep and the customer service people I spoke with didn't want to even try to ask.

----

 

With work, friends, bills and of course the NFL season pending due to the lockout and football schedules on hold, the November booking probably will not be realistic. May end up just having to take Spirit out of New Orleans sometime over the Summer. Thus my booking and research about the Epic may have been a complete waste as far as actually sailing goes.

 

I'm still focused on trying to come up with a way to get on the April 23rd sailing and trying to find a way to make my schedule work to go on the April16th sailing (see I can't wait!!) -- so......

 

 

Deffinately could use some one on one email chat time with someone who has sailed recently (hint hint Don). Info on the basic or cool Ins and Outs, fees, free stuff, deals etc. If going to sail right away want to do it relaxed, fun and inexpensive since don't have extra time to save or plan.

 

Thanks,

 

atlsuntimes2010@hotmail.com

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

Well it's official I booked THE EPIC late last night.

...

 

Officially I'm / we / us / whoever wants to go along - are going in November, however since I'm / we are on a special offer - still trying to get on the April 16th or 23rd sailings.

 

...

 

WELCOME to CC !

 

What is your current November date? We'll be back on 11/26.

 

Tom

[wrxrob]

Wow, fantastic trip report. Loving all of the pictures.

[graphicguy]

Don....thank you, thank you and THANK YOU!

 

So looking forward to my cruise on the Epic at the end of April.

 

You are making me too anxious!!!!!!!

[CRAustin]

TurksnCaicos. I saw *****.com had a last minute special for the 23rd. I am on that sailing through Harrahs/casinos of the seas! Good luck!

 

Don. Love this review and all your hard work and effort putting it together. Thank You!!!!

[nyupstate]

Great review Don..Thanks.....About the black napkin thing. My wife works in an upscale steakhouse. The napkins are white, BUT if you have black pants or a black dress on, the waitress will replace your napkin with a Black one. Hence no white lint on your trousers or dress....Don't know if they have an answer for the lipstick though....

 

And I for one am very grateful for this as it is not very nice to walk around with little white lint balls on your nice black slacks.

[Sgt Superman]

Great review so far.

We leave on the Epic in November and reading this thread has me way too excited.

[DGP1111]

Sorry for delays in response. Yet another rough day at work, but I went out for a super meal afterwards, and now home to try to do a bit more recapping.

 

Must be rough on the person (wo)manning that spa desk, with that horrible view and all. ;) Could you imagine?

 

Hopefully they get some sort of 'differential pay' to help offset the pain and suffering of that location. :D

 

Was this the murder mystery lunch, or some upgrade yet to be discussed?

 

It's the 'yet to be discussed' thing.

But since you asked I'll skip ahead and answer. It was an experience during the last few hours of the final day of the cruise. It's easy to make judgement on first impressions as well as final impressions, and I often help teach a class on that very thing. Therefore, I managed to remind myself that this was not a bad thing . . . it was just substandard in comparison to all the absolutely fantastic other things.

 

What, you ask??

'twas La Cucina as an evening dining experience.

This is the least expensive 'upgrade' to the whole list of fee dining locations, and perhaps there's a reason for that.

Caveat: this was the one and only evening meal that I didn't share along with T-n-C, so while dining solo, and not engaging in conversation throughout the experience, I was able to do a bit of 'white glove' visuals of what all was going on . . . and what wasn't, but should have been.

As I commented in an earlier post, NCL's forte is not onboard theming, and this place was a mess.

 

Was my meal bad? No!

Was my service bad? No!

Was it the absolute weakest of the evening dining experiences? Definitely!!

Would I repeat the experience on another EPIC visit to see if it was just a fluke? No!

 

It in no way ruined my cruise mood, but I was ready to get out of there, and should have skipped their signature tiramisu. I'd have no doubt found a meal in Garden Cafe that would have been as equally enjoyable, and perhaps even more.

 

It it what it is. And I'm not trying to talk others out of giving it a whirl. You may simply love it, and that would be great.

[DGP1111]

YEAH!!!!!!!!!

I get so annoyed with people who don't GET that!!!!

 

You've certainly seen me be both complimentary and critical of sailings in the past (and more in the future), but that issue of N&D just won't see me hoppin' on the bandwagon. :)

Thanks for the positive feedback.

 

Now you're talking !! :D

 

Send those vibes over to Linda (mom of DJ) on your Hawaii sailing and see if we can break (albeit temporarily) her never-ending CCL streak! :)

 

Big Ditto on what Tom said. :)

 

Speaking of Miz Linda . . . you'll see in an upcoming post that she played a BIG and wonderful part of this NCL vacation.

[mtb242]

My husband is keen on trying La Cucina -- I will go in with an open mind. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

[DGP1111]

I was not interested in the Epic at all for a few reasons, but did last week to appease my daughter. Reading this thread has been enlightening . . .

 

That means a lot - - Sincere Thanks!! :)

[DGP1111]

My husband is keen on trying La Cucina -- I will go in with an open mind. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

 

That's what it's all about. Enjoy!! :) :)

[DGP1111]

Well it's official I booked THE EPIC late last night.

 

Congrats!! And welcome to Cruise Critic.

I will attempt to contact you soon to be of any assistance, but I remind that I'm still very new to the whole NCL thing, and there are a slew of people on these boards who can be of far greater assistance.

Edited March 30, 2011 by DGP1111

[DGP1111]

<< insert Paul Simon's Slip Slidin' Away music here >>

.

.

 

Pre-cruise communications had Tom asking me if I was interested in joining him for an EPIC slides 'field trip', and the answer was a quick, "Heck Yeah!"

 

So as we head across the pool deck stylin' in our swim trunks and flip flops, the only real question was Which One First?

 

Tom had his eye on Green early on, so green it should be. And a great first choice it was. None of the slides had long lines that afternoon, and access to the entry points is rather easy, and also well-marked. There was one place on the deck that didn't drain as well as it probably should, and I thought I was being very careful, but for a brief moment I created a new skating move the will never (should never) appear an Olympics. With Tom walking in front, he didn't see so I'm not telling.

 

Perhaps there's a real reason you can find these in several places that have a propensity to collect moisture (Duh, Don!)

 

 

The slide layout is (to me) amazing, with its mingling mix of colors and tubing directions. Nicely done, NCL!

 

 

 

 

 

[slotaddict]

My husband is keen on trying La Cucina -- I will go in with an open mind. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

 

 

I have gone there twice once on the Pearl and once on the Spirit....it is not even a consideration on my upcoming Epic cruise....

to be fair, on the Spirit as I recall it was a part of the buffet, just separated and the tables dressed with red tablecloths....the food was the same on the both cruises...fair...

Edited March 30, 2011 by slotaddict

[DGP1111]

 

The Purple slide makes a rogue departure from the other two and travels you behind the funnel, and then drops your fanny in a lower collection area.

 

 

 

While we both seemed to have a slippy zippy time on Green . . . Purple offered me one personal challenge. I thought if I lay on my back with my fancy new waterproof camera held upwards, it would create a much more steady video image - - and it did. Unfortunately the collection tube had deep enough water that a lot of it ran up into my sinuses at the conclusion. My video (which I'm certainly not posting :p) captured some interesting audio with all the coughing, spitting and sputtering. Yowza!

 

So, you might want to sit up a bit on that one. :)

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

...

Caveat: this was the one and only evening meal that I didn't share along with T-n-C,

...

 

Was my meal bad? No!

Was my service bad? No!

Was it the absolute weakest of the evening dining experiences? Definitely!!

Would I repeat the experience on another EPIC visit to see if it was just a fluke? No!

...

 

No comment... :D:D:D

 

Tom

[DGP1111]

Green on a port day . . .

 

 

Green on a sea day . . .

 

 

By process of elimination, you've probably figured that our third slide to try was the EPIC Plunge. On this one you use a tube for the experience, and there are multiple size tubes, but you end up with whatever size is relinquished as you wait your turn at the exit to grab one.