danh78 Posted January 19, 2014 #1 Share Posted January 19, 2014 Just got back from our honeymoon. Overall, I'd say it was a good trip. Any specific questions let me know. We did this exact same cruise in April 13. Embarkation Easy. We flew in Friday, stayed at the Downtown Hilton. Short cab ride to the pier, we got there a little early and walking through check in was easy. We were on before noon and went straight to Taste. Stateroom 13030. Room itself was a pretty typical balcony room. Bathroom set up, blah blah blah. Balcony was huge. We had 3 chairs, a lounger, small table and still plenty of room to hang out. Dining We ate at Manhattan a couple times. Food was good, service was nice. One night, there was a 20-30 minute wait. They gave us a coupon for a couple glasses of champagne, that was nice and unexpected. They easily could have just said there was a wait too bad so sad. The buffet was always solid. Crowded, but that's to be expected. Lots of choices. On to my one complaint of the cruise. Taste. Food was ok at best. Service was pretty awful. Once they take your order, you hardly see your server. We went for breakfast one day and probably waited 45 minutes for our food after we ordered. The manager/supervisor came around and gave the worst non-apology I've ever heard. Something along the lines of "We're very busy today, you understand" Moderno was awesome. My wife prefers medium/medium-well, so the servers would ask what she wanted, then take it to the kitchen to give it a couple extra minutes on the grill. After we got a taste of everything, the servers made sure to check on what selections you wanted more of. Tepanyaki was good. Last time was better. I think our chef was not as experienced as last time, so the entertainment part was not as good as last time. The food was tasty though. Entertainment Blue Man Group was lots of fun. Legends was ok. Steven Tyler was good, Elvis was good. Katy Perry...meh. According to my wife she neither looked nor sounded like Katy Perry. Second City was ok. My wife really liked it, I just thought it was alright. My wife really liked the game shows and little staff functions. We did Q&A with Senior Staff and Blue Man Group. Both of those were fun and enlightening. Sr. Staff was Chief Engineer, Hotel Director and Chief Officer. Guests are VERY interested in the toilets. Weird! I know I said "One Complaint", I guess I have one more. The musicians. The piano player in Shakers and guitar player in Maltings weren't very interesting. They reminded me of cheesy Vegas lounge singers. No biggie, it's not like there weren't lots of other places to go. The band that played out by the pool during the day was pretty rockin, so I'll give them credit there. Um, I think that's it? Weather back here in Chicago is pretty awful, I'd much rather be back on the boat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dlynn0366 Posted January 19, 2014 #2 Share Posted January 19, 2014 Welcome home & congratulations to you & your wife! Thank you for posting your review so quickly. I'm heading this Mar back to the Epic for the 3rd time. I've never tried Taste or Manhattan...no particular reason just never have. We stay in the Haven & just once had a breakfast in the Epic Club. If we don't eat in one of the specialty restaurants I actually really like the Buffett :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anandaindonesia Posted January 19, 2014 #3 Share Posted January 19, 2014 Thank you for sharing your experience. Happy honeymoon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N747KT Posted January 19, 2014 #4 Share Posted January 19, 2014 Thanks for sharing. I'll be in my honeymoon too on epic in march. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SouthernChef Posted January 20, 2014 #5 Share Posted January 20, 2014 Congratulations! My wife and I were onboard with you for this trip. Our biggest complaint was the sheer amount of rude people in the ship. I don't think that I've ever been on a cruise with so many impolite people. We actually found Taste to have better service than Manhattan. I rarely eat in the MDR, so it was a non-issue for me. I also have to agree with you about the "lounge singer" acts in the dining room. There was one day on the pool deck that the Manhattan band played, and the singer fell flat with his story telling and shtick. He talked more than they played. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JKHawaii Posted January 20, 2014 #6 Share Posted January 20, 2014 I was on the same cruise ................ must say, the weather was just about PERFECT! I highly recommend the Ultimate Dining Plan ............... for $119 PP, you can eat at Cagney's, Moderno, Teppanyaki, La Cucina, Shanghai's, or Le Bistro every night of the cruise. That meant for us great food, great service, great atmosphere, and no waiting. As far as the rude people, I didn't really encounter this other than the handful of people I encounter on every cruise ................ I guess most of the rude people the OP encountered were at the other end of the ship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazydaisy90 Posted January 20, 2014 #7 Share Posted January 20, 2014 Congrats on your wedding! Can you tell us where you went and the excusions? We are going in March. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3DBeach Posted January 20, 2014 #8 Share Posted January 20, 2014 Congratulations! Thanks for sharing your review. Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abbo1963 Posted January 20, 2014 #9 Share Posted January 20, 2014 We were on the same cruise and we found the other guests to be really amazing . We always dined as a couple and every single night we ended up in conversations with the couples sitting around us . Everyone we met in the bars were also very friendly. sorry you had a bad experience Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danh78 Posted January 20, 2014 Author #10 Share Posted January 20, 2014 I was on the same cruise ................ must say, the weather was just about PERFECT! I highly recommend the Ultimate Dining Plan ............... for $119 PP, you can eat at Cagney's, Moderno, Teppanyaki, La Cucina, Shanghai's, or Le Bistro every night of the cruise. That meant for us great food, great service, great atmosphere, and no waiting. As far as the rude people, I didn't really encounter this other than the handful of people I encounter on every cruise ................ I guess most of the rude people the OP encountered were at the other end of the ship. I agree. Weather was great. Wasn't me that had a problem with rude people. I mean, you get that anywhere, but overall I thought most people were nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danh78 Posted January 20, 2014 Author #11 Share Posted January 20, 2014 Congrats on your wedding! Can you tell us where you went and the excusions? We are going in March. Stops were St. Martin, St. Thomas and Nassau. We didn't really do any excursions this time around. In St. Martin we took a water taxi across the bay and walked down the beach till we found a spot we liked. $20 got us 2 chairs, an umbrella and a bucket of beer. Then lunch at the Blue Bitch. St. Thomas we walked around, then took the sky tram up to Paradise Point. Pretty cool view of the island. Again in Nassau, we just hopped a cab to Cabbage Beach. Not bad, but the beach in St. Martin was definitely better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisingcasinos Posted January 20, 2014 #12 Share Posted January 20, 2014 Thanks for the review and CONGRATS on Your Marriage. Much happiness! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samiams2 Posted January 21, 2014 #13 Share Posted January 21, 2014 Good review. Thx. I was on the same cruise ................ must say, the weather was just about PERFECT! I highly recommend the Ultimate Dining Plan ............... for $119 PP, you can eat at Cagney's, Moderno, Teppanyaki, La Cucina, Shanghai's, or Le Bistro every night of the cruise. That meant for us great food, great service, great atmosphere, and no waiting. As far as the rude people, I didn't really encounter this other than the handful of people I encounter on every cruise ................ I guess most of the rude people the OP encountered were at the other end of the ship. Could you eat lunch at the teppanyaki with UDP? Does the OP or any other returning cruisers have a copy of the dailies or at least the "the look at your week" handout that's passed out at the Beginning? Someone posted a set from beginning of December but it was a diff itinerary/days. We r trying to figure out some reservation for the first couple nights. We sail 2/9 Tia Sam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sauer-kraut Posted January 21, 2014 #14 Share Posted January 21, 2014 Could you eat lunch at the teppanyaki with UDP? Teppanyaki isn't open for lunch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BBT Posted January 21, 2014 #15 Share Posted January 21, 2014 Good review. Thx. Could you eat lunch at the teppanyaki with UDP? Does the OP or any other returning cruisers have a copy of the dailies or at least the "the look at your week" handout that's passed out at the Beginning? Someone posted a set from beginning of December but it was a diff itinerary/days. We r trying to figure out some reservation for the first couple nights. We sail 2/9 Tia Sam I have all of the dailies from the Jan. 4 week. Same itinerary so I doubt much change. I will try to scan the covers in & post them sometime later today. To the OP, I think sometimes the musicians at the quieter venues like Shakers & Maltings play to a certain cruise line expectation - be there, play & privide background sound but don't over do it. Jim Capik the guitar man at Maltings is a HELL of a harp player! I'll bet this is his primary musical ability. He rocked it when he joined the Bart Walker Band in Fat Cats a couple times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samiams2 Posted January 21, 2014 #16 Share Posted January 21, 2014 Teppanyaki isn't open for lunch Well.... Look under the heading "the best way to fill your afternoon" ....this is from a daily that Out To Sea posted from the epic beginning of dec. and when I went on the gem 4 yrs ago we could do Teppanyaki for lunch. Not every day but they do make it available on a couple at sea days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samiams2 Posted January 21, 2014 #17 Share Posted January 21, 2014 I have all of the dailies from the Jan. 4 week. Same itinerary so I doubt much change. I will try to scan the covers in & post them sometime later today. To the OP, I think sometimes the musicians at the quieter venues like Shakers & Maltings play to a certain cruise line expectation - be there, play & privide background sound but don't over do it. Jim Capik the guitar man at Maltings is a HELL of a harp player! I'll bet this is his primary musical ability. He rocked it when he joined the Bart Walker Band in Fat Cats a couple times. If you could post them that'd be AWESOME!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BBT Posted January 21, 2014 #18 Share Posted January 21, 2014 CC doesn't make this easy, but here are the dailies from the January 4, 2014 Norwegian Epic cruise. They'll be in 3 posts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BBT Posted January 21, 2014 #19 Share Posted January 21, 2014 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BBT Posted January 21, 2014 #20 Share Posted January 21, 2014 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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