Short review of the Suite life on the Epic

[Jojo27]

This was our 6th cruise on NCL and we have also sailed on RCL and Disney a few times. This was our first time on the Epic, which given the size and number of passengers I wasn’t 100% sure I would like. It didn’t help that what I was reading on CC in the months before our trip teh review were not super positive. However, we live our life’s with the glass half full so to speak and try not to the let the small stuff ruin a vacation.

Room

We splurged for a suite so embarkation was a breeze, brought wine on board and paid the corkage fee, This IMO, is one of the best NCL perks if you’re a wine lover and want to save a little bit of money. We had our first Aft facing suite on deck 10 which is by far one of my favorite rooms to date and I am now sold on aft facing rooms. As many noted, there is a quite a bit of shaking when entering a port when you are in the Aft of the ship, but hey, it is also a good wake up call.

We also really liked that the room was a far walk from the Epic Club and Haven area and we didn’t mind getting the extra exercise each day. Our room steward was great and always willing to help when we needed something. Never saw the butler but a few times but when we did he was always pleasant . We used the concierge a few times for show/dinner reservations and they were all very nice.

Dining

The Epic Club is a great suite perk and we ate most every breakfast and dinner in this intimate dining venue; the service and food were great. The steak in the Epic club was so good that we didn’t see a reason to spend the extra money for Cagney’s.

Taste-tired this main dining room one night for a change of scenery and it was not quite the same as the Epic Club. The food and service were OK, but the atmosphere is very loud and it was hard to carry on a conversation. I did try one thing at Taste that was downright horrible, the crab cakes. I guess I was thinking they would be more like the crab cakes Cagney’s use to have and it was more like a blob of crab with a “k”.

Teppanyaki-great as usual and well work the extra money.

O-Sheehan’s-had lunch here twice and thought it was very good, liked the menu much better than the Blue Lagoon that is found on other NCL ships

Garden Café-went just a couple of times for a late lunch and what can I say, it is a buffet, nothing special and something for everyone.

Entertainment-

Blue Man- we have seen it before in Vegas so maybe that took some of the excitement out of it, was kind of underwhelmed.

Went to Legends show, and the Steven Tyler and Elvis impersonators were great, but still scratching my head over Katy Perry, didn’t realize she was yet a legend? Probably didn’t help that the girl singing her songs was a little off key.

Never made it to Howl at the Moon but walked by several times and the place was hopping. We did listen to the band in the Blues club and they were wonderful.

Casino-

Spent a fair amount of time in the Casino, and while we didn’t win the bank, we never go to a Casino expecting that we will. We set a budget and came home with some money so that is a good thing. I thought the dealers were great, bar service was at times MIA. We had drink cards (lowest level) and the only issue was when I ordered a drink (Cosmo) they said it wasn’t approved with our card, but when I said make it with house vodka they said OK and I never had an issue again. Yes, the smoke in the casino can be bad at times, and it never fails that a smoker always sits next to me, but I never noticed the smell of smoke outside of the casino area as others have mentioned.

Haven

Never spent any time around the pool area but did spend most afternoons at the upper deck/Posh and loved it. We lucked out and had great weather the whole cruise, even on sea days it was warm and the breeze wasn’t too bad either. Being able to find a lounge chair and not have to deal with chair hogs is great. If we ever went on the Epic again and were not in a suite I would definitely pay for a Posh pass.

Crew

Found the crew to be very friendly and never experienced any rude crew members as mentioned many times when reading through the boards on the Epic. Had one of the best room stewards I have ever had and all others we came in contact with were very accommodating and friendly, but hey so are we!

Ports-

Have been to all three before with St Thomas still one of my favorites. Hoped a taxi to a local beach and did some snorkeling which was great. in St Maarten we took a taxi to Maho Beach to watch the planes land and that was fun. Nassau is probably my least favorite destination and we just got off the ship for a short walk. Really wish they would replace Nassau with the private island or even another day at sea.

Overall we had a wonderful cruise on the Epic, love freestyle cruising and that is what keeps bringing us back to NCL. There is so much to do on the Epic and so many places to hang out while on the ship I never really noticed the crowds and I would have no concern booking a bigger ship based on our experience.

[cruisingcasinos]

Glad You enjoyed your time on the Epic. We love her so much we are heading out in a few weeks for our 3rd trip!! Still have many adventures to find on her.:)

[Robert Peel]

I enjoyed reading your review, well laid out and you hit all the highlights, we are sailing next week and staying in the Haven in a 2 BR Suite and looking very forward to being back on the EPIC again.

[david_sobe]

Great review!

Thanks for sharing. Glad you had a great time :)

[RJ2002]

Thanks for your review. NCL suites are great, aren't they? We had an aft suite on our last cruise and enjoyed it very much.