My impressions of the Epic 12/7/13

[omc329]

Overall, we had a great time and came back relaxed and happy. That said, there are a lot of pro's and cons to this ship.

 

Cabin

 

I for one do not care for the open bathroom concept. I doubt I would do the Epic without the balcony for that reason alone. With the balcony, it was easy enough to shove dh out the door when desired.

 

We had a B6, bumpout, 11075 balcony. The balcony size was wonderful, with 2 loungers waiting for our use, and space for another had we needed one. Not being a sun lover, the extra depth was nice. The location near the elevators was very convenient. Deck 11 worked well for me, as I refused to use the elevator the duration of the week. 4 flights up or 5 flights down was much easier on me. I only had to traverse 10 flights straight a few times during the week.

 

Tons of storage.

 

Bed too short, my toes hung off, as did my sister in her room. I don't know how the men manage on those short beds. That said, I slept SOUNDLY on that bed! (Of course, that might have been exhaustion on my part.)

 

Our shampoo dispenser had some sort of issue where it would only put out a stream not much thicker than a hair. I was getting a sore arm, (seriously, I WAS!), trying to get enough to wash my hair. We told our steward who promised to get maintenance to look at it.

 

That was the only disappointment in my steward the entire week, and possibly the breakdown was with maintenance itself. It did not get fixed the first few days. Now, dh is a BIG man and those showers on the small side. One time in the shower he apparently bumped the dispenser and it fell off and he couldn't get it back on. Possibly our steward thought we were mad, who knows? At any rate, when we came back that day, the dispenser finally worked. :)

 

And that brings me to our steward, Manuel. He was great! He emptied our fridge the first day as requested. He knew us by name and always had a smile for us. He kept the ice stocked for dh. He kept me in clean mugs and creamer for the coffee machine,( I wiped out the machine as best as possible to reduce the coffee oils from flavoring my teas). He noted when we tended to eat and managed to acclimate to our schedules within the first couple of mornings/evenings. We asked to have our cabin ready for a cc cabin crawl for Thursday, and he not only had it ready in plenty of time, but took the time to arrange a couple of towel animals on the shelf behind the couch to boot. Kudos to our steward!

 

Service

 

As I said, our steward was fantastic. I have no complaints on bar staff. We never used the front desk, so can't comment.

 

Restaurants

 

Osheehans was our favorite free place to eat on ship. The delicous offerings and less expensive beer made it our favorite. The atmoshpere was loud though. I wish it were a quieter spot and a larger venue. One time we were told it would be at least a half hour wait. We decided to head to Taste, but later regretted not waiting it out. For the most part service at Osheehans was ok, though we had to ask for water refills on several occasions. No biggie really, except for tracking the servers down.

 

The buffet we mostly hit for after show snacks, ie, crepes. Slurp! If we did happen to go in the morning, we got our stuff and headed down to La Cucina with it. There it was quiet, peaceful, wonderful background music and a great view. Terrific tip from CC on that one. It was also the best place to watch as we came into Nassau. Watching that ship do a 180 with the reef disappearing under the bow was really something to be seen. WoW! Service in the buffet was fine for us, with servers constantly checking to see if we needed things cleared.

 

Taste was our least favorite, and unfortunately the restaurant that was open for brfkst and lunch. I don't care what others have experienced on this ship, but I found the smoke to be an issue on more than one occasion here. One time we were seated and I told dh it smelled smokey. He didn't smell it so we stayed put. By the end of the meal I could no longer breath my head was so stuffed up. I mentioned it to the maitre d who said noone can smoke there, like there is no problem with smoke there, yet, the next time we were seated waaaaay back and I had no problems. He KNOWS there is an issue, it just doesn't effect everyone. He certainly knew where to sit us thereafter so that the smoke no longer effected me!

 

Service in Taste was slow, and the food mediocre. I never went hungry there, but was not overly impressed either. I like my tomato juice in the morning as well as being served, so we ate here every morning except one. We did have a sweetheart of a server the first morning. They were out of my Earl Grey tea. I refused the other offerings and figured I would manage with water. She sent to another area of the ship and brought me my Earl Grey even though I said I'd be ok without. I kudo'd her to the maitre'd that morning.

 

The Manhattan we experienced both good and bad.

 

One night they had the duo group playing. WAAAAY to loud for a dining venue!!!! It was also a night that we specifically told them we had a 7pm show to make, and got there as they opened for that specific reason. Sllllooowwww, despite our request to be prompt. Sis went without desert and got crepes after the show instead, as she also had to stop at the service desk and get a new card after locking hers in the cabin. No card, no show. It couldn't wait.

 

Another night we had piano music. THAT was nice! Perfect atmosphere for a dining room. Our wait staff was told the same thing about a 7pm show and were quite quick with our courses. AND we had the best meal for Manhattan that night, eggplant parmesan. Odd thing was, I only ordered it because nothing else appealed to me that night. YUM!!!!

 

We only ate there one other night and it was fine. We weren't in a hurry so didn't notice the time. We did get a beeper that night, but didn't even have time to get our free drink before being called back! :O

 

We did Teppanyaki the first night. It was the best meal of the cruise and a fantastic way to start the cruise.

 

We did Moderno one night as well, a HUGE disappointment imo. I would NEVER pay to go back there. Imo, the meat was tasteless, stringy and tough. It was bad enough that I was still hungry and asked if I could return to the salad bar. Yuck! Those who brag on it at cc can have it. The cheese rolls and pineapple were the only thing worthwhile in my book.

 

Entertainment

 

We never ran out of things to do, and in fact didn't do all we had planned.

 

Slides were an issue, and I only got on the innertube slide once and the purple one once. I found out my back, which recently had a sizable amount of skin removed, couldn't handle the bumps in the green and purple slides. The innertube slide was great, but the line was always long and in the sun. I avoid the sun for health reasons. Perhaps, if we were to go back, we would stay on ship vs a port to enjoy these more, I don't know. They were also closed 2 of 3 sea days because of wind, so that probably didn't help with the line issues either.

 

We didn't do rock wall or other topside gym stuff.

 

The gym itself was fine. It was croweded regardless of time of day. I saw a few frustrated individuals not able to get on machinery. We were lucky. We always managed to get a machine upon arrival, though one time it was the last one available. A larger excerisize facility would be nice on this ship.

 

Music was everywhere! I danced, and danced, and danced. Merengue class. Salsa class. Line dance class. Music at the pool. Latin music in the evening. Howl at the moon, (terrific!). I had a blast dancing the days away, morning, noon or night.

 

Diveinmovie was a bust. The only one I was interested in was the Hobbit. It was subtitled, (terribly annnoying), there was music playing from the bar in the background, (drove me nuts), and just our luck, it drizzled and rained through the first 1/3 of it. Not to mention they started it half an hour earlier than posted.

 

We gave up and did hot tubs and Howl at the moon. No great loss. If you don't like one thing, go to another!

 

Blue Man group, dh loved, I enjoyed, sis was ok with and actually napped during portions. The blue man drink special was delic!

 

Legends, I'm sorry, was a flop. I enjoyed the crew show MUCH more earlier in the day.

 

We missed Second City thanks to them fooling around with our latitudes meetup. They changed the date from Thursday to Tuesday with FIVE hours notice!! It was too late to reschedule Second City for later in the week, everything was pretty much full up. We had to choose, and I chose the latitudes party and glad we did. I had a GREAT time there and made some new friends.

 

My biggest issue with this ship is the smoke. Casinos should be under glass and away from those of us who do not desire to be exposed to smoke for various reasons, including physical reactions to smoke. It does NOT belong in an open atrium area and around restaurants!!!! The filters might be helping according to some folks, but I found the situation horrid.

 

The only way from the main restaurant to the Epic theater is either through the smokey haze, or up two flights and then back down two flights. There is no excuse for that sort of setup in this day and age.

 

And yes, there WAS smoke issues in Taste, amongst other areas. Smoke spreads and those of us who are highly sensitive to the stuff, (and I don't mean odor, I mean PHYSICAL reactions), should not have to be exposed to the stuff. Smoke if you wish, but get it away from public areas, restaurants and thoroughfares.

 

As for smoke on balconies, we were mostly fortunate with only one morning findind a chainsmoker nearby. Otherwise we went in for 15 minutes or so and then headed back out without further issue.

 

I used to be one who wanted smoke one side for balconies and non on the other. No longer. It only takes ONE idiot. As we sat eating our meal one night the captain came on to announce a contained fire on deck 14. It appeared to be caused from a, what else?, cigarette. The captain sounded less than pleased and we all got a small lecture on fire safety on a ship and not tossing cigarette butts over the side.

 

Go ahead and blast me. I don't care. I don't care who smokes or doesn't. I DO believe it should not be in public areas, nor on balconies, and yes, it only takes ONE idiot to blow it for all the others.

 

Nuf said on that score.

 

Overall we had a great time. I'm still torn on the supership experience. The smoke is a huge issue for me and the reason we switched from Carnival to NCL to begin with. I've become fond of NCL. I hope they "clean up" their act on the smoke issues. We had no complaints with it until now. If this is the new wave for NCL, we may be looking elsewhere as their smaller ships, with seperate casino areas, retire.

 

There is plenty to do on the Epic. Lots of entertainment and facitilities. We never even had a chance to try bowling, though it was on my list of to'do's. Food was hit or miss, but we never went hungry and found some real winners. Service for us at least, was mostly exemplary with a few exceptions. Staff was friendly and many started dancing when they saw me coming. (Told you I danced all over that ship!).

 

I say, we came back thoroughly relaxed and a few pounds up. It was a good cruise overall.

[Kristinemomof3]

Glad overall you pretty much had a nice trip. The smoke for us wasn't a terrible issue, and smoke usually really bothers me. I find it odd to complain about the soap dispenser. I took my own toiletries, so it was a non issue. I went the week before your trip. I still need to write up a review-very soon. The bathrooms didn't bother me, our bed was near the balcony, I'm sure if it was opposite, it would have. Using the bathroom is part of life, so I don't really care about dh's bathroom habits, or him mine.

[LISRAREF]

I am glad to see someone giving an honest review. A large amount of recent EPIC reviews have been all negative and almost unbelievable. You gave us a good idea of the positive and negative all around. Glad you enjoyed your trip!

[MiamiSpartan]

My take on Modernos: if you have never experienced Brazilian food, give it a try....

If you can however, come into town a few nights earlier and you can have your choice of several much better places in town here....

[punkincc]

We were on your sailing. Thanks for showing us your B6 bump out. Nice cabin and we would consider it if an aft were not available. We found the bed length fine, but we are short. No smoke issues on our balcony. A good location if you're worried about that, especially the corner ones. We also are non smokers and I am especially sensitive to smoke. I was genuinely surprised that the casino and surroundings did not bother me at all. Manhattan, we only ate there once and service was good, but I would be sure to ask for a table some distance from the entertainment. I love that salad bar at Moderno and would go again just for that ( and the fried bananas and roasted pineapple ). I thought the chicken and filet mignon were good and just waived off the rest. I would go again to see Legends just to see Steven Tyler ( and then sneak out ). I thought he was great!

 

Interesting about the change in the Latitudes party to Tuesday! We never got a change notice. We totally forgot about it on Thursday. They really messed that one up!

[SASA13]

Thank you for taking the time to write this review. We were on the same sailing, and had no issue with smoke in the dining room or on our balcony. The only specialty restaurant we went to was Moderno, and I thought the food was great, and the salad bar had some interesting stuff. As far as Legends go, STEVE TYLER was fantastic, and you can keep the other two performers. Elvis had a decent voice, but he had NO moves at all ( dissapointing), and I don't know why Katie Perry is considered a LEGEND ??? We love the Epic, and have sailed her 3 times already, and are looking forward to her Western Caribbean itinerary next year.

[oct696]

If we did happen to go in the morning, we got our stuff and headed down to La Cucina with it. There it was quiet, peaceful, wonderful background music and a great view. Terrific tip from CC on that one.

 

Awesome review, thanks.

 

We'll be sailing on the Epic in 3 weeks and want to clarify what you said, above...we can get food from buffet or another restaurant and take it to La Cucina to eat in a quiet room w/a view?? :D

 

Thanks,

Lori

[Demonyte]

The only regular access to La Cucina on Epic is through the stairs at the very front section of buffet seating area so it's ok to go there with food from buffet during breakfast and lunch (when La Cucina is not open itself). :)

Edited December 22, 2013 by Demonyte

[Keith1010]

Thank you for taking the time to write such an extensive review.

 

Keith