First Time Cruise!

[Oceandiver1]

We came back just yesterday (11.23.13) from a 7 day Epic cruise. My first ever. Well, let me say that I am a diver, so I have been on many Liveaboard Dive Boats. But something this big AND crowded, new for me.

 

4000 people is a lot, takes a lot of paitence, not my strong point. First day we boarded early before the cabin was ready, I will not do that again. We had lunch in the Garden Cafe, we knicknamed it " The Trough"....what a zoo. No tables, no ice, no silverware! Dinner that night in O'Sheenan Pub...just so so....And the no ice, silverware, tables continued for the week....

 

When we checked our cabin, we found a glass in the medicine cab with ugly black water in the bottom and it was filthy :( I did not think the room all that clean. Beds were like rocks.

 

First full day, breakfast in O'sheenan's, took one hour from ordering to getting food! It seemed to us like it was the first day at work for lots of employees...they all seemed confused!

 

 

We had 3 nights of dinners at the special restaurants, we bought the "bundle" package. Everyone loved the French one, Le Bistro. We also did La Cuchina and Cagneys. Great streaks at Cagneys.

 

Most other times we did the 2 dining rooms and a couple quick meals in "The Trough"....

 

We did "Blue Man Group", loved that. Some of our party also did "Legends".

 

On our last day/night the lock in our cabin door broke. Took 3 trips to the front desk to finally get someone to fix it.

 

I was disappointed in the ports of call. We did St Maarten, St Thomas and Nassau. They were just mega shopping trips. On St Maarten we did take a local bus to Maho beach to watch the big planes come to land, that was very cool.

 

In Nassau we took local buses again to the conch shacks under PI bridge. The conch was great!!

 

I would probably cruise again. I would just do some things different. I did really like NCL "freestyle" things. We brought a case of wine, it was nice that we could do this and saved us LOTS of money!!

 

Our travel agent got us an upgrade to a balcony, loved that. I think I will always want that :)

[Ilovesailing]

We had lunch in the Garden Cafe, we knicknamed it " The Trough"

 

We've been calling it the trough for years and always avoid it as we only eat dinners at the specialty restaurants, they are worth the extra up charge and to just get away from the cattle herding at the trough.

We have also named the hot tubs stock pots.

[kcwingwalker]

Thanks for sharing the pros and cons of your cruise:)

 

Glad you liked Freestyle and perhaps you'll try NCL again on one of the smaller ships.

[BlueJai]

Thanks for sharing your experiences. Always good to read new reviews!

[DMH15]

Treat yourself to a suite on the Sun and you will see why I love it so much.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free

[newmexicoNita]

We came back just yesterday (11.23.13) from a 7 day Epic cruise. My first ever. Well, let me say that I am a diver, so I have been on many Liveaboard Dive Boats. But something this big AND crowded, new for me.

 

4000 people is a lot, takes a lot of paitence, not my strong point. First day we boarded early before the cabin was ready, I will not do that again. We had lunch in the Garden Cafe, we knicknamed it " The Trough"....what a zoo. No tables, no ice, no silverware! Dinner that night in O'Sheenan Pub...just so so....And the no ice, silverware, tables continued for the week....

 

When we checked our cabin, we found a glass in the medicine cab with ugly black water in the bottom and it was filthy :( I did not think the room all that clean. Beds were like rocks.

 

First full day, breakfast in O'sheenan's, took one hour from ordering to getting food! It seemed to us like it was the first day at work for lots of employees...they all seemed confused!

 

 

We had 3 nights of dinners at the special restaurants, we bought the "bundle" package. Everyone loved the French one, Le Bistro. We also did La Cuchina and Cagneys. Great streaks at Cagneys.

 

Most other times we did the 2 dining rooms and a couple quick meals in "The Trough"....

 

We did "Blue Man Group", loved that. Some of our party also did "Legends".

 

On our last day/night the lock in our cabin door broke. Took 3 trips to the front desk to finally get someone to fix it.

 

I was disappointed in the ports of call. We did St Maarten, St Thomas and Nassau. They were just mega shopping trips. On St Maarten we did take a local bus to Maho beach to watch the big planes come to land, that was very cool.

 

In Nassau we took local buses again to the conch shacks under PI bridge. The conch was great!!

 

I would probably cruise again. I would just do some things different. I did really like NCL "freestyle" things. We brought a case of wine, it was nice that we could do this and saved us LOTS of money!!

 

Our travel agent got us an upgrade to a balcony, loved that. I think I will always want that :)

 

your review is honest and objective, like they should be. NO, mega ships are not for everyone. We did one a couple of years ago (not NCL) it certainly wasn't our thing either.

 

We used to love St Thomas and the shopping, we do not find the deals special anymore, the people are not madly in love with Americans and it can be pretty crowded. If you really like water sports you probably would like a western Caribbean cruise better.

 

The first day is always a hassle with the buffet or dining room being crowded. It is only one day or better, a few hours. As for your cabin, that does surprise me, usually they are spotless.

 

Hope there were enough positives to make you want to try cruising one more time. I don't remember the exact breakdown but it is something like this: 70% of those who cruise for the first time will fall in love with cruising, 20% will find it a good experience, but not the only way to spend a vacation and 10% will never give it another try. There is nothing that is perfect for everyone. Our own daughter does not like cruising, we will never get her on a ship again. The rest of the family can't get enough.

[fshagan]

Your review makes me a little nervous; we like NCL a lot, but are cruising for the first time on the Epic in two weeks, on the exact same itinerary. I'm a bit concerned about the crowds. We don't plan to board early; standing around for several hours doesn't appeal to us.

 

We are avoiding the ship's excursions and will find something to do in St. Marteen, take a taxi to Coki Beach for some beach snorkeling in St. Thomas, and then have a 2 hour snorkeling trip for Nassau. We like to snorkel but the Caribbean doesn't have the best snorkeling, so we don't spend a lot of money on it. As a diver, I think you would find it underwhelming as well. The reefs look dead compared to Kona's Capt. Cook's (or even just beach snorkeling anywhere in Kona, Maui or Ohau).

 

I try to avoid the buffet as much as I can. Reminds me of the school cafeteria. Our experience is that it is run very well, with plenty of flatware, food, etc., so I'm thinking you caught them at a bad time. What we usually find is the main dining room service is "slow" by today's standards (taking 2 - 3 hours to eat used to be called "dining", but we live in a fast food world now).

 

I like how you gave such an honest review, complete with the shortcomings but then mentioned you will probably try cruising again. You might like the smaller ships like the "Jewel" class ships on NCL. We've always found them pretty laid back.

[VideoTech]

I would second the many recommendations for you to try one of NCL's smaller ships. We've done Epic, and one of the big RC ships, and will always take a smaller ship over a bigger one any day.

 

If you can spring for it, try one of the suites (Penthouse or higher, "mini-suites" are not suites in this case) on a smaller NCL ship. Lots of perks, including gracious and unhurried breakfast and lunch in Cagney's. In ports, you usually get priority disembarkation, which avoids those long lines waiting to get off the ship. Many other perks too...NCL has some of the best suite cruising in the business IMO.

[johnsak123]

I actually enjoy going to the specialty restaurants to avoid the crowds since I am not really into crowds. I hardy ever got the crowded feeling on my cruises except when you are at the buffet and cant find a table.

I think it is pretty disgusting to not have a 100% fully cleaned cabin by the time you get to your cabin.

The cruise before last had some dirty remnants of the previous tenant and I was not a happy camper

Glad these things didn't damper my cruise experience