Late review on the Epic March 31-April 7

[NoahtheRed]

A wedding. A kilt. A beautiful dress. Bacon cupcakes. Grilled Cheese. Fallout 3. A stormtrooper. Indiana Jones. Beer with citrus. This is how our journey begins. At 7:00pm, on March 24th, 2012, the beautiful and elegant Ladypacis and I were married in Newport News, Virginia. Now obviously, this doesn’t entirely relate to our review, but it does set a context. Our voyage on the Norwegian Epic was our honeymoon and it was something that I think we both awaited with more eagerness than our own wedding. Last year, we took our inaugural cruise aboard the Norwegian Sun and from day one, we were positive that cruising was going to be our choice whenever the subject of vacation was brought it up. Our wedding planning began in August. Our honeymoon planning began far before that.

 

We officially put money down in early October and after much research, aided particularly by this board, we decided on the Norwegian Epic. For us, the ports of call were second in importance to the ship we took to get there. The Epic offered so many things that we wanted to see and try that it was more or less an obvious and natural choice. This is by no means a slander or a slight to the other ships in the fleet, but let’s be honest here….what other ship can compare to the Epic? Like seriously, no other ship offers everything that the Epic does. Sure, there’s little that is actually unique to the Epic, but it’s the only one that offers it ALL. Add to this it’s aura of strength and it’s just the clear choice for a honeymoon. So we put our deposit down and started counting days.

 

After the wedding hubhub had died down (for reference for our non-married members, cloud 9 doesn’t end, but the buzz from the wedding itself lasts for a while none the less), we began preparing for the cruise. Now, we don’t consider ourselves seasoned veterans, but it’s definitely much easier when you’ve done it before. We packed our bags and prepared our cameras. Our flight left Norfolk Intl. Airport around 7:30 and after a rather uneventful flight, we sat at the gate at Miami…….and sat….and sat. We sat for 15 or 20 minutes. Apparently American Airlines upkeep of their small-ass-plane stairway things was slacking on that Friday because they couldn’t get it to work right….so we sat on the Tarmac. Finally, they got their ducks in a row and made our way through the sprawling Miami International airport, found our bag, and hitched a ride on the Airport shuttle to the Hilton across the runway.

 

I want to take a moment here to give special kudos to Hilton. Back in February, I made reservations with Red Roof Inn. We were landing late enough, and leaving early enough that we didn’t feel the need to go for a high end hotel. We just needed a place to sleep and not be shot in. Well, as we got closer (ie: the week before), I decided to see if there were any deals floating around. By luck mostly, I snagged a deal via Priceline for a night at the Hilton Miami Airport for a few dollars more than the Red Roof Inn. Obvious choice. So I paid up and we snagged it and BAM. Hilton! Well, in the comments box, I added that it was our Honeymoon. I had heard that folks sometimes got perks like free breakfast or whatever, so I figured no harm in trying. Well, thanks to the Hilton, it was worth it. When we arrived, they set us up not only with food…but also a free upgrade to an Executive balcony suite on the 13th floor in room 1337. Yeah, the gamer kids who just got hitched got room 1337. We were elated. The bed was to die for. The room was gorgeous. The balcony had a beautiful view of the Miami skyline. It was amazing. However, let’s get back to the cruise.

 

We awoke Saturday morning to a bright and sunny spring day in Miami. We repacked our stuff and after breakfast (amazing) and a few small errands (ie: making it rain at the ATM), we got a cab to the port. It was about $20 for the ride and unless you have a big party, a cab is the way to go in Miami. We arrived at the terminal to see 3 other ships were departing that day. The shipspotter in me went nuts and Ladypacis’ eyes just got bigger. Arrival and getting checked in was easy. From dropping our bags off to sitting in the waiting area took MAYBE 10 minutes. It wasn’t long before we were upstairs, staring at the juggernaut herself through the gigantic windows at the NCL Miami terminal. We've only seen the Miami and Port Carnaveral terminals, but it's clear that the Miami one has a few more years on it. It wasn't bad by any means, but the PC one is definitely more impressive in it's layout and view. This is not a harsh criticism by any means though. Considering it's only real purpose is covering our heads before we go onboard, it did it's job fine :P There was the usual check-in hoops (the photography people were REALLY pushing it this time :P) but all in all, quick, easy, and painless.

 

It was a brief wait before we could get on board, but once we did, WOW. When you enter the ship, you come in near the Epic theater and it’s massive bank of elevators. We quickly took a look at the deck maps and headed straight to the Mandara Spa for Spa passes. We were about middle-of-the-pack getting on, so we didn’t want to risk the passes selling out. Fortunately, we were quick enough and got our passes plus a tour of the spa. Let me say, I love getting pampered and have experience being pampered…but damn dude, the Mandara spa is amazing. It covers an area about the size of the buffet on Deck 15 and has a crazy amount of features. Pacis took some great pictures which she’ll upload shortly. I won’t bore you with every detail, but what I will say is if you want to use the spa…a spa pass is the way to go. They have the usual stuff (saunas, steamrooms, etc) as well as an amazing open air back deck that is pretty easy to fall asleep on. In fact, it’s impossible to not be comfortable in there. GET THE SPA PASS! Heads up though, it’s a little confusing to get to. Take the main bow elevator to 15 and then walk down the deck through the pool area to the other end and take the elevator down a floor.

 

After that, we kind of wandered around and explored the ship. The layout is actually pretty intuitive. The main thoroughfaire area covers about 3 decks and probably 60% of what you are looking for can be found there somewhere. Taste, the MDR is on the bottom floor at one end and the Epic theater plus the club is at the other end. In between are the other dining areas (Shangai, Teppanyaki, O’Sheehans, Ice bar, etc) The art gallery, service desk, etc are on the bottom. Most important to me, the Cigar lounge is on the middle deck (deck 6) and is behind Maltings (the beer/whiskey bar). The Casino occupies a massive area on deck 6 right smack in the middle. I’m not kidding or exaggerating when I say it’s massive. There are dozens of tables, 100s of slot machines and other random stuff.

 

We had made dinner and entertainment reservations in advanced, and I cannot emphasize how good of an idea it is to do that. With 4000 people getting onboard, it can be a bit hectic and you may even forget to do it otherwise. We did have to make reservations for the Ice Bar on the boat, but that was no biggie. We stopped there and got our choice of times. I recommend you make entertainment and icebar reservations early in the week so you can go again later if you like it.There is so much to do that I recommend pick a couple things you DEFINITELY want to do and focus on that. You don't want to try to do everything because to be frank, you can't. You simply can't :P

I'm going to be updating this over the next 24-48 hours as I edit the nonsense out of the rest of the review. Ladypacis will be posting pictures as well, so keep checking back in!

[gelo7]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

[SallyStrawberry]

Good start, look forward to reading more!

[jdvmd]

Look forward to reading more! Congratulations on your marriage!

[MickCruiser]

You have to make reservations for a bar?

[LadyPacis]

To make his post clear:

 

Few snapshots from the plane:

 

 

View from our balcony at the Hilton, I would recommend this hotel to anyone staying the night before:

[NoahtheRed]

I really am lucky :)

 

That said, let's continue by talking about the boat. I won't bore you with details about the layout of the boat itself. It's pretty common knowledge where the majority of things are. Once you know a few key locations, everything else is easy to find. The thing I really want to emphasize here is the size though. It's no secret that the Norwegian Epic is massive. In fact, Royal Caribbean had to make an entire new class of boat just to beat the Epic for size. When designing the Epic, it was clear that the big thing on their mind was space. A lot of cruise ships I've seen are very well....boat like. The restaurants are nice, but small. The corridors are narrow. The main thoroughfare is compressed. Everything is just smaller than it would be on land. This is not the case on the Epic. The reality is, the Epic has a large amount of open space inside. Sometimes, when it wasn't moving (more on that later), it was easy to forget we were on a boat. There is just so much open space that it's almost deceptive. Even with 4000 passengers on board, it wasn't the least bit claustraphobic. Impressive thumbs up to Norwegian in their design.

 

The one bit of location/layout I want to talk about is the Spa. Ladypacis and I heard months ago about the Mandara Spa pass. I already talked about it above, but it's worth mentioning again. As I said, the spa is huge. But what's glorious about it is just how private it is. I don't know exact numbers, but it felt like there was hardly anyone there in the spa anytime we went. The separate men and women's locker rooms have separate steamrooms and saunas, and of course showers and changing areas. Once you exit that area, the main spa area has these massive chairs that are so easy to fall asleep in. On the port side, you can find the steamroom with some kind of tea infusion thing. It feels like you are breathing herbal tea. Really clears up the nassal passages and feels amazing. There is a Finnish and I guess regular Sauna next to it that I spent a good deal of time in. Both have glass walls so you can see out onto the water while you sweat away whatever it is you sweat away. Both have several nifty timer glasses so you can keep track of your time in there. Pro Tip: Take some water in with you. You'll thank me later.

 

Outside the saunas are these heated ceramic tile loungers. They may look hard, but let me tell you....that doesn't matter. We sort of set up a "pattern" for each visit. Steamroom, Sauna, shower, sauna, hottubs, lounger dealies. Within minutes, you fall asleep and wake up forgetting what time/day/year it is. Seriously, so relaxing. The hot tubs are your standard massage/water therapy deals. On the back wall, they have this lounge thing that does a great number on your back. In the middle, the fountain/waterfall things are great for pinpointing tight spots. Behind everything is the outdoor covered deck lounge. It's got a great view off the stern and is oddly pretty quiet. There are traditional lounge beds and covered beds. This was one area that was usually full, so grab a spot when you can. Naturally, I slept a lot here.

 

Off to the side, next to the hottubs is a relaxation room. It's quiet and almost the perfect temperature. Ladypacis got a lot of reading done here. I am too obnoxious to be allowed in there :P

 

Beyond the spa, there is a a huge ass gym and workout area (that we neglected because we're lazy people), as well as the massage and whatever else stuff. We took the tour, but between people complimenting my boots and me thinking about cuban cigars and margaritas, I admittedly didn't commit much to memory.

 

More coming....

 

(btw, as you can tell, I tend to do what is known as "Stream-of-conciousness" write. After the initial "boat review", I'll go into a more organized day-by-day review that will hopefully be easier to digest. If you have any specific questions or want a clarification, please don't hesitate to ask :) )

[LadyPacis]

Pictures of the spa, best money spent on board, hands down.

 

 

 

 

 

[NoahtheRed]

Seriously yeah, best money spent on the cruise I think.

 

Let's get to the room! We boarded around 11:30 and after lunch and a little more wandering around, we went to our room. We had Balcony suite 11021. I highly recommend you check around the boards for specific rooms because unlike other ships where one balcony is pretty much the same as any other, the Epic has a lot of little nuanced (and some not so nuanced) differences. I spent probably 2 days researching suites to try and get the best location, and frankly if I speak candidly, I did an amazing job. Suite 11021 is situated about 5 or 6 rooms back from the very front and has no lower obstructions (other than the uncovered balcony 2 decks below). It's slightly protected from the wind and has a bit of overhang from the balcony above so it's nice and shaded most of the day. The Epic has rather large balconies (big enough for a lounger) and they have nice high ceilings so you can really get plenty of fresh air. The door is a sliding door and has a simple lock/handle combo that's easy to operate. While I think we would have been "fine" with an inside cabin, I like having the view and ability to watch what's happening outside.

 

The cabin itself is impressive. Many people before have commented on the hidden storage and that's really no lie. Unless you are trying to cram 4 people in one, there is plenty of space for everything. The curved walls give it a nice sort of.....relaxed appeal. There's accent lighting friggin everywhere. Behind the bed, the ceiling, everywhere. A nifty feature that we liked was when you walk in, there's a little slot on the wall to put a room card. That controls the lights in the room. As long as there's a card in there, your lighting is on. This also helps prevent accidentally forgetting a room key since you have to take it out to turn off the lights.

 

Everything inside the cabin is very modern and sleek. Flatscreen TV, touchscreen telephone, toilet that's powered by a Rolls-royce turbojet..... Seriously, everything is friggin nice. The bed is incredibly comfortable. On the Sun, the beds were nice, but not really anything to call home about. Sleeping on the epic however...incredibly. It's kind of rounded and a little short if you are over 5"10' tall, but hey....cuddling. I slept better on that boat than I have at home in months.

 

The bathroom seems to be the main flaw with most reviews. This, I suppose, is a preference thing. Yes, it's true that the shower and toilet thing are essentially visible from the room (there's a privacy curtain though), but the reality is....unless you are pressing yourself up against the glass, it's difficult if not impossible to see inside. I can understand concerns about the lack of a separate area, but really....it's not that big of a deal for us. For some it might be, but hey, different folks...different strokes. No complaints from us.

 

The toilet however. Mother of god. When I said it was powered by a turbojet, I was only exaggerating slightly. The first time I tried it, I thought something was broken. It's like opening the Ark of the Covenant. We had to be very strategic and diplomatic about it's use because if someone else is asleep in the room when you flush it, you WILL wake them up. Heavy sleeper or no, that person is going to know you flushed the toilet. Once we had inked up a fair use agreement, everything was peachy :P

 

There's the usual room safe, wallet eating refrigerator, and reading lights (push button, son!) In addition, and this is a feature I really liked, the TV works as a sort of information kiosk. Using the remote, you can surf around ship info, shore excursions, etc. We found it useful for checking times and locations for various events. It's also got video rentals (not the best selection, but whatever) and the ability to order pizza. Very helpful.

 

Our cabin attendant, Greg, was very friendly and greeted us every morning as we left. I'm convinced he knew we were gamers because the first towel animal he left was unidentifiable as anything other than a Zerg Drone from Starcraft 2. Seriously. I'm 100% convinced it was a Zerg drone and there is nothing anyone can say to convince me otherwise. It became a nightly event to see what new towel sculpture he left. Requests for more towels or what have you were quickly responded to. Greg? You get 19 gold stars and a platinum Mutalisk.

 

I also want to add that the hallways on the Epic are not flat. That is to say, because of the shape of the rooms, they have a wavy pattern. This was great because as people walked down the balls, passing them was easy. It should be noted however, that like everything on the Epic, they are massive. From our stateroom to the closest elevator was just a short jaunt, but if we wanted to get to the other end of the ship....I felt like I needed a motorcycle. Plan your walking accordingly. After a shore visit, I nearly had to crawl the length of the ship my feet hurt so bad. So another Pro Tip: Bring a motorcycle/scooter/large person to carry you.

More to come....

[LadyPacis]

Sink area, light for this area is hidden under the mirror, also we had no splashage issues:

 

Shower, loved the solid door instead of the leg-clinging-curtain:

 

Balcony, ash trays are per request:

 

TV and coffee area, also had hot teas:

 

Very comfortable bed, reading lights seen:

 

Very uncomfortable couch, this became a place to drop our bags:

[jdvmd]

You have to make reservations for a bar?

For the Ice Bar, yes! Only 20-25 people are allowed during any one session. It is quite popular and fills up quickly.

[NoahtheRed]

For the Ice Bar, yes! Only 20-25 people are allowed during any one session. It is quite popular and fills up quickly.

 

Yup, it's worth it too. It's not very big (about the size of a pair of staterooms) so they only allow like 15 people at a time. It costs $20 a person and you can spend up to 45 minutes inside. They have TVs and chairs (made of ice, covered in what looked like caribou pelts). The $20 also includes two drinks off a small menu of specialty drinks. The drinks are about martini glass sized and are rather strong. They are served in these ice cups with a plastic cover, so they are EXTRA cold. They provide these insulated ponchos and gloves to wear as well. Definitely recommend closed-toed shoes and long pants, as it's negative 17 degrees inside. Oh yeah, and it took me like 2 minutes to open the door to leave because I'm dumb.

 

We went the first night and there were 3 other people inside. They have non-alcoholic options too, so you can bring ye olde kids as well as far as I know. Don't be like me and take your poncho off. I cannot express how cold negative 17 feels after the warming feeling of alcohol subsides. We forgot to do it, but it's recommended to bring handwarmers for the bar tender :P He's a nice guy and has to spend all night in there.

[vivavegas]

Nice review! Looking forward to reading more! Thanks..:)

[LadyPacis]

Ice Bar, it was a lot of fun, and definitely worth it, even just to say that you have done it before:

 

 

They give you these parkas to wear, which are pretty warm, but the gloves are pretty thin. If I had better gloves, I could have stayed in longer:

 

Even the glasses are made of ice:

 

Noah trying to show off :P :

 

[jdvmd]

Ice Bar is 17 degrees, not minus 17.

[hill6]

Great review so far. Congrats on the wedding.

[SliceOfLife]

Ice Bar is 17 degrees, not minus 17.

 

It is minus 17 degrees. I just looked on my Freestyle Daily and it says "The Ice Bar has a constant temperature of -17 degrees F, and the Antechamber is +50 degrees F.

[SliceOfLife]

NoahtheRed, great review!! I love your description of the jet engine toilet, hilarious!! I can't wait to read more of your review and see pics! You must have an awesome camera because your pics are amazing!

[NoahtheRed]

It is minus 17 degrees. I just looked on my Freestyle Daily and it says "The Ice Bar has a constant temperature of -17 degrees F, and the Antechamber is +50 degrees F.

 

Yeah, the minus 17 part stuck with me....as the one picture demonstrates :P (Actually, it appears that there is not a consensus on it. Some sources show 17, others show minus 17...and another shows 0. Eitherway, the bar is below "comfortably cold"....even for a Scandinavian blooded moron like me)

 

As far the camerawork, all credit and praise goes to Ladypacis for that. Everything was shot with a Canon Rebel T2i. Photography is one of her big interests and she takes it seriously. The dedication shows with the quality. She will have to post some of her best pics at some point (we had a bit of a "photography run" a few times where we just took pics of everything and anything) I took plenty of pictures as well, but the vast majority of mine are either terrible or are of boats we saw.

[soaringfalcon]

This a fun review! Love it!! Can't wait for more,

[PathfinderEss]

Nice review, thanks for taking the time to post it, like your pictures.

[Ilikebigboats]

Loving your review! I want more please!!

Congrats on your wedding you guys are so cute!::)

[NoahtheRed]

Let's talk food now!

 

Ladypacis and I are food people. You wouldn't guess it, but we love to eat. We constantly try new restaurants and go out to eat at least twice a week usually. When we first learned about the Epic, one of the things that got us really giddy was the sheer number of restaurants. I'm talking size once again, but man oh man, are there a lot of choices onboard.

 

The first and frankly most important two places we spent time was the Garden Cafe on deck 15. This is the main eatery on board and I doubt anyone skipped eating there a single day. It was our first stop after the Spa actually. To put it lightly, it's a bit overwhelming. It covers an massive swathe of bow area and seems almost cavernous. It seems everyone else had the same idea we did because it took us a good 5 minutes to find an open table for two. There are neat booths plus plenty of tables by the windows. My one complaint about seating was the space. If you are carrying a backpack or bag, it's like navigating a china shop. I'll go ahead and apologize to anyone who I hit by accident while navigating the narrow aisles and such between tables. The seating is comfortable though, and really, there isn't a bad seat anywhere. The buffet itself is huge...or really I should say "buffets" because there are two. One port side, the other starboard. This alleviated some of the lines and most stations were quick and efficient. I did my best to try a big variety of food while I was there and really, I wasn't disappointed by any of it. The pasta bar was amazing. There were 3 or 4 different pasta choices, as many toppings and sauces, plus plenty of seasonings. There were stations for cut meat, seafood, various international style dishes. My lovely vegitarian wife had no problems finding plenty of non-meat options as well, so really...no one will go hungry. I highly recommend the deserts there too.

 

Oh yeah, I drank a ton of coffee because it seems no matter where I was....there was a coffee machine within a few yards. The staff were quick to clean tables or bring condiments as well. My only complaint would be the crowdedness, but that is hardly NCLs fault. I mean, damn, they had a good buffet. I'd have been surprised if it wasn't crowded.

 

The other major point to be aware of food wise is the Main dining room, Taste. Taste is just as big as the buffet, but obviously crowdedness was less of an issue. It's got a modern, almost hipstery feel to it. The metalhead in me tolerated it :P The food there was equally as good, though I found myself frequently relying on the house menu more than the night specials. I do miss the tortellini from the Sun though. They were really quick though, which was nice. I don't think we ever spent more than 45 minutes in Taste at a time, which I suppose is nice (my understanding is our European colleagues would prefer more relaxed dining, but whatever :P). Their Wine menu was, from what I can tell, big and awesome....though I don't drink wine so my opinion is roughly pointless :P

 

Now let's talk about a couple of the specialty restaurants. I'm going to bullet point them because I'll get too confused if I don't :P

 

• Teppanyaki - this was the first specialty restaurant we ate at (Sunday night) and the food was sufficiently to die for. They have the usual hibachi style stuff and all of it is amazing. The other point of interest here is the number of tables. I remember on the Sun, they had two tables and thus reservations were tight. The Epic, in typical Epic fashion, has friggin 12 tables. TWELVE. The chefs are very skilled and our food was amazing. Ladypacis requested her rice egg free and they were very considerate of her needs (okay, wants....she just doesn't like eggs, no allergy or anything :P) They have a separate drink menu featuring some sake based drinks plus a few other random things I didn't try because I'm classless like that :P I seem to remember we both had to crawl back to the cabin because we were so full.
  Wasabi sushi bar is attached to Teppanyaki, but sadly, I didn't get a chance to eat any sushi there. The year before, aboard the Sun, we ate at Wasabi and I finally caved and tried sushi for the first time. Frankly, it was good enough that I constantly crave it now and I blame NCL for whatever health problems I develop as a result. Thanks NCL, for the early death :P
   
  
• La Cuchina - I want to say we ate here on Thursday, but I may be wrong. Eitherway, this was our first time at La Cuchina and all in all, we enjoyed it. I ate a metric asston of fresh mozzarella and bread before my meal, which I slightly regret because my pasta was amazing (again, classless Noah had chicken parmesan). The restaurant itself is located underneath the Garden Cafe and you have to go through it and walk down some stairs to get there. There were a couple of groups there so sadly, service was not 100% up to par with the rest of the ship's restaurant options. Our waiter, Anthony was very friendly though and I'm 90% sure he didn't charge me for my macchiato. If possible request a window table because the view off the bow is bloody awesome.
   
  
• Shanghai Noodle Bar - This place is located near the casino and is kind of tucked away. I CANNOT FATHOM WHY ANYONE WOULDN'T EAT HERE! It's an a'la carte type place (much like Wasabi) and has the most amazing pot stickers in the known universe. Seriously. I nearly died they were so good. I had a soup with a bunch of mushrooms and glass noodles that was amazing and I think Ladypacis' had some kind of vegi deal with the big fatass noodles (Once again, Classless noah shows his ugly head and doesn't remember the names of the food). This is a great place for lunch or a quick bite when you et back on board. We didn't try the Shanghai restaurant unfortunately, but that's something we'll remedy on our next Epic cruise.
   
  
• O'Sheehans - Oh, the ever popular Oceans (yeah, you know what I'm talking about). This is a traditional pub type place and occupies a big area near the casino as well. There's a bowling alley in it as well as a bar stool seating around the massive screen dealy where they seemed to always be playing "Deal or no deal" or showing movies. It's an included dining option so I really recommend taking full advantage of it. We ate there probably three or four times and tried a decent bit of the menu....okay, that's a lie. I ate my bodyweight in hot wings and mozzarella sticks. Eitherway, for the price (aka....nothing), it's a great place to grab a snack or quick lunch. The bar area has pool tables and traditional pub stuff. On our next cruise (which will be a group thing because I like making my friends do fun things), I see myself eating here a lot.
   
  
• Great Outdoors - This is your typical outdoor buffet deal. It's got the usual stuff plus some themed meals throughout the week. Once again, drank a ton of coffee here and Ladypacis usually grabbed a snack when we weren't doing anything. Plenty of seating (both covered and un-blazing sun-covered) and good spots to watch drunk people do drunk things :P
   
  
• Moderno - Okay, this was our "LAST NIGHT, MUST EAT CLASSY!" restaurants. Remember that time I said that Ladypacis was a vegi? Yeah, I totally lied. She mostly eats vegetarian, but not at Moderno. Moderno is located at the stern of the ship and shares an entrance with Cagney's. Below it is the Manhattan room (once again, too classy for Noahthered....not classy enough for Ladypacis :P). It's a brazilian steakhouse and a really good one at that. The salad bar is roughly amazing. Smoked cheeses. Different salad options. More fresh mozzarella. all sorts of random good stuff. Don't fill up though, because the meat skewers start moving. I got some strawberry drink that I can't spell or pronounce that tasted amazing (imagine a mojito if it wasn't called a mojito, didn't have mint, and tasted like strawberry) and we asked the waitress if Ladypacis could have a selection of meats well-done. We were not disappointed in the least. You really need to try everything and then go back for seconds here because there is nothing that isn't amazing. I highly recommend the garlic steak...any of the pork products...the parmesan crusted chicken..etc. Remember to had a bit of deep fried banana or mashed potatos between to cleanse your palate...and drink of your libations heavily, ya know...for Valhalla and stuff (this IS a Norwegian ship)
   
  
• Havana Cigar lounge - This isn't actually a restaurant, and I didn't actually eat anything in here, but I don't know where else to put it. You see, I'm a cigar smoker. I love cigars. On the Sun, I broke the rules a lot and smoked on my balcony (I asked our neighbors if it was okay with them, I got my answer when an older gentleman lit one up too). However, with the cigar lounge on board, I could smoke in a peaceful environment without worrying about bothering neighbors. The lounge attendant, Greg (seriously, everyone we came in contact with was named Greg) was amazing. By the second night, he knew my drink order and brought it to me before I was even done cutting and lighting up. It's rather small, but honestly, space was never an issue. I usually arrived around 10:30-11pm and was there usually until 1am or so. I don't think there was ever more than 4 or 5 other people there. There are a couple TVs which were airing the Masters (this is also where I learned I like golf...there is hope for Classless Noah) and usually some light music. There is a small cigar menu if you didn't bring your own, or you can buy them down at the duty free booze shop...though there selection is severely lacking. The menu included mostly higher end cigars (Davidoff, Cohibas, etc)...but given that I brought my travel humidor, I did not care. And as expected, after everyone had been to St. Martin, it smelled like cubans in there (cigars, not people). Honestly, the Havana lounge was awesome and I'll be hardpressed to say yes to a boat that doesn't have one.
   
  

 

There are plenty of other restaurants on board obviously, but given the fact were only there for a week...it really wasn't enough time to try them all. That will be a review for next cruise :P

 

MORE TO COME.....

[LadyPacis]

Taste:

 

Shanghai:

 

Noodle Bar, I have to second the awesomeness of this place. They were more than willing to make the noodles and rice without meat in them, and even charged us less for them. I wish we had ate here earlier so we could have gone here more:

 

Moderno:

 

Wasabi:

[LadyPacis]

O'sheehan's (Oceans), I loved the artichoke and spinach dip, despite not liking artichokes or spinach: