Trip review from the Epic

[tedly1960]

Just returned home from a fantastic week on the Epic. It was our first time cruising, so we weren't exactly sure what to expect. We did have much help and information from our travel agent and friends that have cruised and one person who actually sailed on the Epic. It did not disappoint!

Embarkation in Barcelona went very smooth. Our cabin was ready and available when we embarked. It was just as pictures had showed. We were deck 10 balcony. It is compact and everything must have their place, so you should be organized. Balcony was large enough to be comfortable. For the first night, we could not figure out how to turn off the over sink light. There seemed to be no switch for it, so our airplane blinders came in handy first night. This was quickly figured out the next morning. Cabin was always very clean.

Spent the first day exploring the ship. Went up to deck 15 and worked our way down to deck 5. Quickly found everything, such as restaurants, bars, shops, casino. Relaxed after in Shaker's when the announcement was made for the mandatory muster. My advice for people, embark as early as you can then explore the boat.

Dining - We had booked into 4 specialty restaurants prior to sailing, Cagney's, Tepanyaki, Le Bistro and La Cucina. I had read that people were saying that the best thing about La Cucina was the view, and they were right. Food wasn't bad but not nearly as good as our other 3 specialty selections. We thought that Le Bistro, Cagney's and Tepanyaki were outstanding. Le Bistro was fine French dining at its best. Tepanyaki, the show as entertaining and the food was also outstanding. My ribeye steak at Cagney's was excellent. It was, as all other meats, done to my specific medium rare. We also ate at O'Sheehan's, The Taste and Manhatten. O'Sheehan's was like pub fare food to me. I thought Manhatten's was much better that The Taste. We did the buffet breakfast at the Market Place the first 3 mornings. It can be hard to find a table. Lines move pretty quickly at the omelette stations. There is much to choose from and it was good. Morning 4 and 5 we did room service breakfast. First morning they forgot our bacon. Scrambled eggs for the room service are, I'm pretty sure from powdered eggs. Both mornings our food was delivered within the time slot we had chosen. Morning 6 and 7 we ate ala carte breakfast in the Taste restaurant. Nice change of pace to get away from the hustle of the Market Place and have a much more leisurely meal. When we did have lunch, it was either at the Market Place or at the H2O buffet. All good there with much to choose from.

Entertainment - We had not booked a Cirque show, so never got in to see it. We tried 1 night to get into the Supreme Dream show and were turned away as it was full. Walked into Howl at the Moon for 2 nights. Very entertaining and funny and interactive. I recommend this as a free and walk in. Most often we were retiring for the night before many of the later shows as we often had early morning excursions. There all kinds of free light entertainment at many of the bars, so there was never short on some kind entertainment. We aren't casino people so have nothing to say about this except to say that there was plenty of options to gamble.

Service - Was top notch. Cabin was always spotless. Cede did a great job of keeping our cabin clean and welcoming. Everyone was always happy and welcoming. From waiters and waitresses to bartenders to everyone else, they seemed happy and very content.

All in all, I never considered myself a cruise person, but my wife and I were very happy with the whole experience. If we were ever considering another cruise, I would definitely look at NCL first.

[ttiplock1973]

Thanks for the review! Did you do any Ncl excursion?

[cardbucfan]

Thanks for the review!

[FreestyleNovice]

Thanks for your review. That light switch under the cupboard at the sink is a tricky one indeed. :D

[tedly1960]

Thanks for the review! Did you do any Ncl excursion?

 

The only NCL excursions we did were the Rome On Your Own and Antibes and the Old Market in Cannes. The beauty of that one was that the tender was included because we booked an NCL excursion, or by mistake we were never charged for it.

[funpig]

There is no charge for the Cannes tender.

 

On our May 15 visit to Cannes, there were high winds and waves which caused the ship anchor to break. We were stuck on shore waiting for the crew to replace the anchor and reposition the ship which had drifted.

[meltingmoments]

May I ask......what's The Supreme Dream Show? :confused:

[tedly1960]

May I ask......what's The Supreme Dream Show? :confused:

 

It actually may not be called exactly that. I might be off by a word or so, but it is a tribute show to Diana Ross and the Supremes as well as other motown acts.

[ppstateofmind]

thanks for your review!

 

did you get to see any DVD's on sale from the best moments on your cruise? Did they have someone with a camera filming around?

[FreestyleNovice]

It actually may not be called exactly that. I might be off by a word or so, but it is a tribute show to Diana Ross and the Supremes as well as other motown acts.

 

Legends in Concert?

[ppstateofmind]

thanks for your review!

 

did you get to see any DVD's on sale from the best moments on your cruise? Did they have someone from NCL with a camera filming around?

[AdrenalineRush]

It actually may not be called exactly that. I might be off by a word or so, but it is a tribute show to Diana Ross and the Supremes as well as other motown acts.

 

Pretty sure the show is called "Soul Satisfaction"

[tedly1960]

Legends in Concert?

 

Pretty sure the show is called "Soul Satisfaction"

 

Definitely wasn't Legends in Concert. Probably was a spin off of Soul Satisfaction, but more specifically about the Supremes. I see in a previous review, funpig had the dailies listed. I saw Soul Satisfaction listed but no Supremes. Maybe they change the name of the show periodically or did a more specific show when we were on board.

[familyof6cruisin]

Thanks for your review.- cant wait to go!!! Can I ask, What did you do in Mallorca?

[tedly1960]

Thanks for your review.- cant wait to go!!! Can I ask, What did you do in Mallorca?

 

Really didn't do much. Didn't want in on any organized excursion. Was the last day of vacation so just wanted to wind down. Walked a few miles along the water. Stopped at a Cafe for a couple of drinks and a light lunch. Didn't really know how far the town center was. I know we didn't get to it. I know they have shuttles to take you to the town center and they also had horse and buggy to take you to town center. There really wasn't much to see in the few miles we walked so probably best to take the shuttle or horse and buggy to get there.

[familyof6cruisin]

We were thinking the same since its the last day; sitting by the beach

Thanks again for posting :)

[tedly1960]

We were thinking the same since its the last day; sitting by the beach

Thanks again for posting :)

 

This may be a helpful link.

 

http://majorca-tours.net/home-en/beaches-mallorca-distances/

[meltingmoments]

It actually may not be called exactly that. I might be off by a word or so, but it is a tribute show to Diana Ross and the Supremes as well as other motown acts.

 

Thank-you! :)

[familyof6cruisin]

This may be a helpful link.

 

http://majorca-tours.net/home-en/beaches-mallorca-distances/

Thank you for the link .. It has some great information on the beaches ..