Back from 12/1 sailing of Epic with kids

[RobinSie]

I will try to give details of our trip as I get time, but life has been insane since we returned.

 

Please excuse my lack of organization as I will probably jump back and forth on topics as I think of them...

 

We had a mini suite, cabin 14044, which was great for our family. The extra 30 sq ft makes for a large shower and a little more wiggle room. We were right around the corner from the kid's area and just 1 flight down from both the garden cafe and pool area. The location could not have been better for us and we had absolutely no issue with noise. There is ample storage space, in fact, we didn't come close to using it all. We were able to store all 5 of our suitcases under the bed. The hair dryer is full-size so there is no need to bring your own. There is a coffee maker in the room also, but I only used it the last day. Ask your room steward to empty the mini-fridge so you can use it for your own stuff.

 

This was our first time cruising in December and most likely our last for a few reasons:

1. The daylight hours are short in the late fall/winter, just like they are in the states, so time on deck in the sun is limited.

2. The Atlantic can be very rough this time of year. Most of our family experienced issues with motion sickness, which hasn't bothered us at other times of the year.

3. It was also very windy till we hit the waters of the Caribbean, so the slides were not open the first couple days.

 

Although we got an amazing deal on this cruise price-wise, I don't believe we would choose this time of year again for those reasons.

 

Embarkation was simple and quick as was debarkation. If you want to take your own bags off the ship, you can debark prior to 8:30am. We chose this option and pretty much walked right off the ship. I will say that the Garden Cafe is a total zoo and hard to move around in the last morning, especially since several folks decided to bring along all their luggage.

 

Splash Academy, the kid's area is great, but please be aware before making any reservations that on sea days they close from noon till 2p and from 5p till 7p. If you want to see early shows without the kids, you will want to do that on port days, when you can take advantage of the port play meals. The exception is on St. Thomas day. They don't close that day, but they also don't offer an evening meal time. I will write more about Splash Academy later.

 

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. I'm definitely not the expert like some others here on CC, but I will do my best.

 

Until later...

[boopsahoy]

Sorry to hear the waters were rough! How did you like the Epic otherwise?

[RobinSie]

We loved the trip overall. The public rooms are nicely appointed and comfortable. There were plenty of deck chairs, although the area right around the main pool can get crowded. The food was good overall.

 

The filet in Teppanyaki was melt in your mouth good, as was the steak in Cirque (not sure if that was a filet or another cut...just remember it was delicious). We ate in the Garden Cafe at least once a day. The food there was buffet good. I had the soup from the Lo Mein bar several days, my daughter enjoyed the pasta to order, the coconut ice cream is good, but my favorite was the macadamia brittle, the chocolate chip cookies (only at supper) were awesome and the flourless chocolate cake was my favorite desert of the trip. I will talk about more food and hopefully figure out how to share some pictures and the dailies later on.

 

The casino is large and they allow smoking at the tables if the person is gambling. The ventilation was not enough to clear the fog and being a non-smoker, it was uncomfortable at times.

 

We felt the overall service was very good. We only had slow service the first night in the Manhattan Room, but we were so tickled to be on the ship finally, that it was really a non-issue.

 

Blue Man Group is not to be missed! We all loved the show and wished we could go again. Cirque was a good show. A warning to those who sit along the aisles...this is an audience participation show. My DH and oldest DS (27) both were picked. The steak was delicious, but the rest of the food was ok at best. Kids have the option of chicken tenders and fries.

 

There is so much to say about this ship that it will take me several days to cover it all. A shout out to Don for his excellent review, which is the reason we booked the Epic. Every time my kids went down the Epic Plunge I could hear in my head "Dude...where's your tube?" from his original review. Anyway...I hope to sail her again some day and would absolutely rebook 14044 if it's available. I think wanting to rebook is about the best recommendation someone can make.

 

I will try to go more in depth on specific topics in the coming days. I would definitely, without reservation, recommend this ship.

[PathfinderEss]

Enjoying your review, look forward to hearing more.

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the review!