EPIC Family Adventure 11.24.12

[crusinmama06]

Twinkstarr - have fun with your boys!

 

Carol - I swear we entered at the same terminal and sailed two different ships. Spooooooky! ;) and yes, we will have to actually sail together some day lol

 

Youngestof9 - Hope you and Al have a great time in February!

[Twinkstarr]

Twinkstarr - have fun with your boys!

 

Carol - I swear we entered at the same terminal and sailed two different ships. Spooooooky! ;) and yes, we will have to actually sail together some day lol

 

Youngestof9 - Hope you and Al have a great time in February!

 

Oh dear, not sure what I have started. Now the guys think they might want to do the Breakaway in June. Eldest thinks it would be fun to sail from Manhattan ala the old ocean liners.

 

Good thing I met a bunch of travel agents on our cruise! Haven't had a good cruise one here since mine retired a couple of years ago.

[crusinmama06]

Oh dear, not sure what I have started. Now the guys think they might want to do the Breakaway in June. Eldest thinks it would be fun to sail from Manhattan ala the old ocean liners.

 

Good thing I met a bunch of travel agents on our cruise! Haven't had a good cruise one here since mine retired a couple of years ago.

 

I agree with your eldest. There is nothing quite like sailing from NYC :D

[Julienatul]

Thanks so much for your review! I love your pictures and it looks like the entire family had a great time. The Epic is now my favorite ship :). Your photo package is amazing. Great shots.

 

I too missed the personalized wait staff but loved the freestyle concept of being able to do what you want when you want.

 

I think the kids club personalized experience just depends on the staff and number of kids onboard. We had a lot of kids during spring break but I'm sure its nothing compared to your sailing. In March we found the kids crew staff to be absolutely amazing. They knew my kids by name and just had that personal touch. They always did what was on the schedule. Almost each time we picked up my son (aged 3) at the time, he was sitting on a counselors lap being entertained by a story, game etc or just being comforted. They went above and beyond to ensure he was having a good time there. My daughter aged 6 also never wanted to leave. She would have slept there if they allowed it lol. This was before they started closing at certain times and changed to the circus themes so things may have changed in the way they operate now.

 

Thanks again for your review. Just seeing your photos gives me Epic withdrawal :)

[alexkrn46]

Great review I really enjoyed it and your girls are becoming beautiful women!

[Cruzface]

Sorry - I leave for one week and it will take me 3 to catch up with everything.

 

Moving on!

 

Day 2 - Sea Day - Continued

 

Time for the Aqua Park!

 

The girls meet up with some new friends and spend quality time in the hot tubs and hit the slides - including the Epic plunge.

 

 

 

And I know before we left I searched high and low for the "minimum height requirements for the slides". Soooo many posts said "there are none" - not quite. The minimum height requirement is 42" tall. And below we have a picture of that sign of the infamous "no diapers" sign which was IGNORED by EVERYONE. There is no enforcement onboard the Epic of the no babies in diapers rule - NONE!

 

This cruise we spent the majority of our time in the Aqua Park - at one point there were THREE BABIES IN EACH HOT TUB! I was sitting next to the hot tub while my kids rode the plunge and they wanted to jump into the hot tubs at this point and I yelled NOOOOOO!

 

These were SMALL 1 year old babies in the hot tubs. What made me cringe were that the parents were bobbing them up and down (yes - the fecal tea bag reference kept going through my mind) And the other adults in the hot tubs kept smiling and oohing all over the babies. Umm - ewwwww!

 

 

And this area below - there is a sign that says "no diapers" but then there is a sign that says "please take your children for frequent bathroom breaks" AND the entire area was filled with non-potty trained tots. During my week I saw many officers walk through the Aqua Park and stoop down to pick up a piece of blowing trash - but not one cast a glance toward the poop soup in the hot tubs.

 

 

This is why I never go in a hot tub on a cruise ship.

[eiffeltower07]

I loved this review! Thanks for the tip about the photo package.

[crusinmama06]

I loved this review! Thanks for the tip about the photo package.

 

You are welcome - I am still loving my photo package :D

 

We used it a lot at Christmastime! I printed out the photo release and went crazy with it over Christmas. ;)

[jinxyoz]

A fantastic review with so many tips and hints. Just loved it!! Amazing family memories for you all.