The "Better Late than Never" EPIC Review: April 30-May 7

[pambo]

It was so good!

[lynnquenby]

Thos warm banana pancakes ion Shanghais were A~M~A~Z~I~N~G Pam - totally agree!!!! I actually thought Dave might pick his plate up and lick it clean !!!!

 

A great night, we later discovered we were kin there the same time as you and Eric ........if only we'd known :rolleyes:

 

Lynn

[pambo]

Wow-if we had only known indeed! But at least we met at the Meet & Mingle on Sunday!

[pambo]

As promised, here is the continuation of my restaurant review on the EPIC. So far, so good. We enjoyed all of our meals - as I said some more than others. We will definitely make a few changes next time around but I will get to that later.

 

Teppanyaki ($25 cover charge/person)

The tables in Teppanyaki seat 8. When we arrived, we were seated at a table that already had a group of 6. We immediately introduced ourselves and learned that they were part of a much larger group celebrating two birthdays. They made us feel very welcome and we thoroughly enjoyed the evening with them. Pretty much following our theme for the week, DH had filet mignon and I had the sea scallops and shrimp. Although we enjoyed the meal, it didn't seem like it warranted the $25 cover charge compared to other meals that we had during the week. DH said that the steak at Cagney's and Le Bistro were much better. We are glad we tried it - as I said, we had a fun evening. But I think that next time, we would skip an evening at Teppanyaki and add another at Le Bistro. Teppanyaki is on the same deck as Shakers, so it made it very convenient for us to head right over for our usual night cap and another perfect ending to another perfect day.

 

Cagney's ($25 cover charge/person)

Based on my comments above, you can imagine that we were very happy with our meal at Cagney's. We will definitely go back here next time. We started off with shrimp cocktail and lobster bisque - both were excellent. We followed this with salads - DH had the Caesar and I had the Wedge Salad - very good blue cheese dressing! For our main course, DH had the 12 oz. rib eye and I had the half rotisserie chicken. It was so tender that it fell right off the bone and was perfectly seasoned. He thoroughly enjoyed the rib eye - it was cooked exactly as he liked it and was very tender. Once again...no room for dessert!

 

Manhattan Room (no cover charge)

With all of our dinner reservations, we only allowed ourselves one night at the Manhattan Room....oh, next time there will be more! We did not make a reservation and were seated immediately upon arrival. We loved the atmosphere in here and enjoyed the music with our dinner. The service was fantastic -- we submitted a Style card for our waiter at the end of the week as he made the evening so much fun. So what did we have? New York Strip Steak for DH and Rosemary Roasted Chicken for me. We both started with a Caesar Salad. Both meals were very good. And once again...you guessed it...no room for dessert!

 

Le Bistro ($20 cover charge /person)

Yes, this was by far our very favorite meal of the week! As I had said, we were celebrating our anniversary and my birthday. I had read so much on these boards about the wonderful mushroom soup...oh it was delicious for sure! DH had the onion soup and practically licked the bowl clean. For our main course DH had the beef filet and he said it ranked right up there with some of the best he has ever had. I splurged a bit extra and had the Fruits de Mer which was lobster, shrimp, and scallops in a puff pastry with a light cream sauce. It was fantastic!!! The seafood was so tender and sweet. The puff pastry was light and flaky and the cream sauce was just enough to complement the dish without overpowering it. I still think about that meal and will certainly return one day to enjoy it again! This time we decided to share a dessert and tried the crème brulee....so good!

 

In conclusion:

•We learned that if we travel at off-peak times, it is not necessary to make dinner reservations. There were always tables available. I imagine that it might be very different during Spring Break or at other times when the ship is at full capacity. Since we are not tied to a school schedule or a sports schedule, we have more flexibility as to when we can travel and now realize that we enjoy flexibility in dining as well.

 

•We would eat at the Manhattan Room more often - thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

 

•We would eat at Le Bistro more than once.

 

•In order to accomplish the above, we will need to cut something out. That would probably be Teppanyaki and La Cucina. It's not that they were bad - we just liked the other places a bit more.

 

•We are glad that we stepped out of our comfort zone and tried NCL.

 

•We enjoyed our EPIC cruise so much that we bought two future cruise credits....we will be back!

 

•We met some wonderful new friends because of our connection on the Roll Call Board....thank you Cruise Critic!

 

•Don't sweat the small stuff...enjoy your cruise. A little over a year ago, I was in Cardiac Intensive Care. Ever since then I cherish every day. I am blessed that I am still here...and I am blessed that I am able to travel once again.

 

•Bon Voyage and Happy Cruising!

[lynnquenby]

A fantastic review Pam. Was great to see it from your perspective given we travelled together on the same cruise.

 

Looking forward to our 'reunion cruise' as like you, we have the 2 cruise credits to use too! Maybe we can get Kim & Dan and Tracy & John to join us?!

 

Thanks for taking the time out to write this review.

 

Lynn

[pambo]

Thanks Lynn-glad to hear you bought the future cruise credits too. It is interesting to get different perspectives-one of the reasons I love Cruise Critic.

Now let's get planning on that reunion cruise!

[Baatman]

Lots of good information, thank you.

[pambo]

I always find a lot of good information on these boards as I plan my cruises....hopefully you will find some helpful tips in my review as well.

 

Best of luck with your planning. If you have any questions, please let me know.

[lynnquenby]

Thanks Lynn-glad to hear you bought the future cruise credits too. It is interesting to get different perspectives-one of the reasons I love Cruise Critic.

Now let's get planning on that reunion cruise!

 

definitely........maybe on one of the new ships?! ;)

[pambo]

That is EXACTLY what I was thinking!

[pabb56]

Pambo thanks so much for the great review.I too am a diamond member on RCCL but have booked a cruise with just the girls in Sept on the Epic. Have taken away some great info from your review and will put it to good use. Thanks again

[pambo]

You are very welcome...enjoy your cruise!

[halos]

Another really nicely written review. I so enjoyed reading every word. It was written perfectly and I thank you for taking the time.

 

I know what you mean about NCL crew. The hospitality on NCL ships is like non other that I have sailed. The level of totally pleasant service you describe is something I have had on every one of my NCL cruises. I'm happy that you were able to experience that as well :)

[pambo]

Thank you for the kind words! I enjoyed writing it as it helped bring back those special moments. We look forward to many future cruises on NCL.

 

Next month we will try HAL for the first time as we visit Alaska...hopefully it will be as positive as our week on the EPIC.

[halos]

Thank you for the kind words! I enjoyed writing it as it helped bring back those special moments. We look forward to many future cruises on NCL.

 

Next month we will try HAL for the first time as we visit Alaska...hopefully it will be as positive as our week on the EPIC.

 

I hope you have a wonderful cruise! Please come back and review that one too!! :)

[pambo]

Thank you, halos...I will certainly do that.

 

To pabb 56:

When we did a girls only cruise on the Majesty a few years back, we had a photo scavenger hunt. It was so much fun and we ended up with a great variety of photos.

 

The EPIC certainly lends itself well to a photo scavenger hunt. I did a search on these boards for some suggestions and then personalized the list to our group.

 

Have fun!

[canpass]

Thanks Lynn-glad to hear you bought the future cruise credits too. It is interesting to get different perspectives-one of the reasons I love Cruise Critic.

Now let's get planning on that reunion cruise!

 

loved your review and was sorry that I didn't get a chance to meet you at the meet and great. The EPIC absolutely exceeded my expectations and as you have pointed out the crew was absolutely amazing all they wanted to do was make us happy. We loved the EPIC and would go back on her in a heart beat.

[pambo]

Tom - sorry that Eric and I didn't get to meet you and Rosemary either. I can't believe I totally got the time wrong after all of that planning:confused:

 

We did get to meet quite a few others at Maya Chan later in the week. I made a point of walking around and introducing myself. We had some great people on our Roll Call Board!

 

Thank you again for all of the effort that you put into organizing the Meet & Mingle. Perhaps our paths will cross again someday.