03/01/16-24/01/16 - Norwegian Epic Live - Haven Spa Suite (H9)

[SwissLe]

DAY 3/13

 

So a very good morning from Cagliari where the temperatures are about the same as Calgary I am guessing. It's overcast and around 10oC so defiantly not pool deck weather.

 

Last night was very chilled. I had my shave, very relaxing and I am now baby soft on the face too. After the shave I went to the captains cocktail party in the epic club and stayed chatting/drinking until around 20.00 where I lazily opted for the haven restaurant for dinner.

 

In the restaurant there must've only been around 4 tables, so service was super attentive. I washed my beef sliders (special of the day) down with a glass of Merlot and accompanied these with a steak. I dread to think what number cow I am eating after 12 days. The steak was so-so but after you've had the filet mignon in Cagney's melt in your mouth nothing will compare. It was still an enjoyable piece of meat served with green beans and chipped potatoes.

 

I passed on desert in favour of a piña colada in the casino. I had a more lavish budget tonight for the slots and at one point was $100 up, but very quickly down again. I had a stroll around, Bliss was hosting the Norwegian's night out and suitably busy but very few dancing and the other main attraction was the comedian. I pretty fussy when it comes to comedians, very rarely is someone funnier than me!, and can't hide my face if they are terrible which then in turn makes me a target of ridicule. I now give them a wide berth, especially on cruise ships. I'll change my mind when Chris Rock jumps on board.

 

After my stroll a sense of maturity came over me and I headed back to my bed at a reasonable midnight on the clock.

 

A quick snack breakfast awaits this morning (I've missed a sit down meal) before a mooch around the town; depending on how long I can bear the cold for.

 

Update you later.

[SwissLe]

 

[SwissLe]

 

[SwissLe]

[raining cats and dogs]

Hi SwissLe,

Thank you for a lovely running review of the Epic. We will be boarding her on the 24/02/2016. Could you please tell me who the current Captain is. I saw it somewhere on a recent "daily" but as luck would have it I cannot find that article. I know some people ask what is the relevance of knowing who the captain is, but I am still curious.

Many Thanks

[SwissLe]

DAY 4/14

 

Good afternoon from a rather windy Norwegian Epic. We're at sea today after departing Sardinia last night at around 6pm.

 

The stroll yesterday was a great success. At the port there is a bus which takes you out of the dock area. From here you can walk into town and then up into the old town. There are also people selling tickets for a small open top bus tour, a tuktuk tour for €30 and various other things to do. Compared to Barcelona these all seemed reasonably priced.

 

I walked over a large road and first took a look in a department store which had some amazing deals on perfumes. I bought a large bottle of Aqua de Parma for €200, so the same price as the small bottle back home. I then walked up hill and went into various little churches and chapels, all free and open for people just to walk in.

 

After walking round the old town I looped back and came down into the port area before stopping at a cafe for a snack and drink. All the locals were so friendly, insisting they bought me a coffee and said how great having the ship in port was. Appreciation for ships has long gone in most ports, so it's nice to see someone still loves his ugly dolphin headed white box.

 

When we left the port it was a calm aspect; 3mm waves reported on the navigation channel. After sailaway I decided to try a new restaurant for this cruise; Shanghi's. This is now a free restaurant albeit with a more limited menu, it's also super popular. I was seated right away just behind the greeting stand.

 

It turns out I had the last table and I would get free entertainment whilst eating of people being asked to wait 30minutes and seeing the different reactions to this news. Some welcome it with surprise being so short and others can't understand why there is a wait - including one person throwing the pager on the floor!

 

The meal was good, typical western Chinese food. All well presented and piping hot. I had delicious steamed 'pot stickers' or dumplings in my world, a spring roll, Kung Pao chicken and steamed rice. Washed down with a Diet Pepsi. My waiter was caring and speedy despite the number of tables and noodle bar under his watch.

 

After dinner I moved to the Cagney's bar to chat with the best bar tenders and waiters on the ship. They make excellent cocktails, take time to chat and the bar is a little less busy with through traffic than Maltings/Shakers. I had a prosecco, speakeasy martini (careful with this one) and a piña colada. After this I had a nightcap in the Epic Club bar and retired for the night.

 

I woke up this morning to an announcement from the captain announcing high winds and a routing change to try and avoid rough seas. We'd performed a massive u-turn and were heading back on ourselves. Take a look at our crazy routing. He advised caution when walking around the ship and to avoid the open decks due to high winds (30knts+).

 

The ship was still cutting through this well with little to no movement. I went to breakfast in the Garden Cafe and took it back to my suite before watching a film on the TV. It was so windy I couldn't even open the balcony door.

 

I decided to get out of the cabin to let the steward make it up. I took a stroll around the ship and settled for a while to read in epic club. One of the girls asked me if I wanted lunch and I was feeling polite enough to accept. I had a burger and offended the waiter by not having a starter or dessert. All beautifully cooked and presented.

 

After lunch I went to the concierge lounge upstairs to play Yatze with some people from Canada. I was still learning but we had some good fun whilst watching people attempt to get in the courtyard pool, before quickly retreating to the hot tubs. The hot tubs were nicely steaming today as its a chilly 8oC obviously made a little worse by the wind chill.

 

Whilst playing the movement of the ship picked up. My game mates were feeling a little queasy so retired back to the cabin for a snooze. A siesta sounded perfect so I went back and lay on the sofa but was quickly rocked to sleep with the duvet from the sofa bed over me. I woke at 5ish from my cozy sleep and the winds had picked up even more. The ride up here is bouncy to say the least tonight.

 

I ordered a snack from room service as tonight I am going to Priscilla again at 7pm and having dinner at 9pm in Cagney's. My butler delivered it around 20mins later. I am kinda missing my butler from last week as he always set the food up and removed the covers to take away. Week 2 just dumped the tray on the table and left, perhaps it was up to me to ask but service anticipation is what NCL push these guys as having.

 

It was also odd that whilst playing Yatze a butler pushed a cart of cakes, chocolates and chocolate strawberries through but today I only got strawberries. Perhaps it's because I am a legal intruder in this cabin? I think 14 days makes a guy picky as this cabin is simply beautiful.

 

Anyway; as we bounce around the sea I am about to get ready for the show at 6.30pm.

[SwissLe]

 

 

 

 

 

[SwissLe]

Hi SwissLe,

Thank you for a lovely running review of the Epic. We will be boarding her on the 24/02/2016. Could you please tell me who the current Captain is. I saw it somewhere on a recent "daily" but as luck would have it I cannot find that article. I know some people ask what is the relevance of knowing who the captain is, but I am still curious.

Many Thanks

 

 

Captain Frank, or Frank Juliussen or The Old Man On The Bridge

[Freespir8]

Congratulations on your upgrade! How exciting! I am thoroughly enjoying your review and sense of humor! We have a 21 day B2B in a forward facing suite scheduled for October. .our first B2B and loving your activities...that is pretty much us. Our goal on a cruise is to relax!

Looking forward to reading more!

[Eggs2Go]

Hey, SwissLe, want you to know I'm hanging on to your every word and often laughing out loud with your observations. :D:D You are making it difficult for me to patiently wait my turn to board the Epic on March 16 for a 22 day cruise.

 

Since I'm from Florida and the Med sounds cold to me, I've got my spa pass purchased; now I only have to figure out how to get as relaxed as you always seem to be. Because I want to explore as much of Europe as I can, I've booked an NCL shore excursion in every port, but still hope to find time for some wandering and café sitting in your style. And although I'll be on the same ship as you are, we are worlds apart with you up there in that magnificent Haven suite with a butler, while I'm down in a 100 sq.ft. solo studio cabin.

 

But you are an inspiration in how to continue enjoying life despite the floods and other disappointments we all face. Thank you for your live reporting, and thank you for showing me how to have fun no matter what.

[SwissLe]

DAY 5/15

 

OK so I'll admit it, last night I climbed into bed at 11pm after having just two glasses of wine, a prosecco, random bartender cocktail and piña colada all day. I think that almost qualifies as a dry day.

 

So last night I left you on the way to Priscilla. I can confirm it has been the roughest sea night yet onboard the Epic. I was personally shocked that the show went on and that there were so many people there.

 

The performers in Priscilla were fantastic, the set was sliding from one side of the stage to another but nothing phased them. They put on the performance as if we were on dry land, true professionals. For those that haven't seen or know about the show many of the scenes involve dancing in high heels or large shoes on podiums; not a great combination with a rocking ship. To put it in perspective many of the guests were unable to traverse the stairs to get out at the end, with senior citizens littering to aisles as the young saved themselves - or more likey ran to dinner.

 

I arrived just before 9pm for my Cagney's dinner and the maitre d entered panic mode that my table hadn't been prepared. It didn't allay his stress level when I said I was early and would just have a drink at the bar with my two favourite bar tenders. One of which was so excited to pair wines with my meal and prepare a special cocktail to begin. I don't know if it was Priscilla or the motion of the ocean but I was pretty much in love with this guy and his efforts tonight - tune in tomorrow to see if there is a wedding on the cards; or probably more likely a steak and cheesecake baby.

 

Quit the messing and so I'm sitting at my table, have an amazing wine to follow an amazing cocktail with waiter after waiter come and say hello by name, and how happy they are to see me return, Even if it is cruise ship fake, I feel special and understand this is why we cruise - for service like this.

 

I skip a starter, preferring to save space for the good stuff, and head straight into the filet mignon with mac and cheese with a side of broccoli, in my mind as a peace offering to my body for the 14 days of meat abuse. My filet mignon arrived, perfectly cooked and then closely followed by the sides and for some reason the sides never stopped coming. What a meal this was, all served whilst the ship rocked and the waiters struggled with their balance.

 

For dessert I had the obvious choice, the Oreo Cheesecake with strict instructions they only brought one out. I could sense the parade of deserts in her eye when I asked for it. The cheesecake was its usual rich and tasty self, and beat me around 75% through. I said my goodbyes, a longer process than normally expected to leave a restaurant and slipped into bed at a decent hour - even crossing out of the way of cruise friends who were going in the direction of Bliss to party. With discipline like this who knows what tomorrow will bring?!

 

Well, it brought wind and bobbing and direction changes and rain and despite the cabin TV telling me my next port was Naples; it looks like we're rocking in Palermo, Sicily. I'll give bridge team full credit on this one, it was one of the roughest approaches I've experienced in a couple of years. Perhaps it was the other MSC ship already sitting in port that set the challenge?

 

Let's go get some breakfast and find some gangsters in Sicily. If that fails it will just be another cafe and a mooch.

[SwissLe]

 

 

 

 

 

[SwissLe]

 

 

https://vimeo.com/152046036

[SwissLe]

https://vimeo.com/152057249

[SwissLe]

Palermo, Sicily:

 

 

 

 

 

 

[SwissLe]

 

Edited January 17, 2016 by SwissLe

[kirsty_r]

looking great!! we board on the 24th Jan - hope your still enjoying your trip. :)

[sc2011]

Been 2 days since we've heard from you. We're having withdrawals! ;)

Hope you're still having a great time!

[Number34]

Hi SwissLe

Really enjoying your review, I'm on the Feb 3 sailing so picking up lots of hints on what to do, thanks.

One,very very important, question. You said, about your last meal in Cagneys

".... of which was so excited to pair wines with my meal ...."

I have the UBP, how easy has it been to get your wines matched to your food? On my last cruise with Celebrity they had sommeliers but I have been told that NCL do not.

[hawkeyetlse]

Also, how did you get a bottle of Oberon with the UBP? (or did you?) We often ordered 4 glasses of the same wine at the same time and they never offered to bring us the bottle!

Edited January 20, 2016 by hawkeyetlse

[SwissLe]

Also, how did you get a bottle of Oberon with the UBP? (or did you?) We often ordered 4 glasses of the same wine at the same time and they never offered to bring us the bottle!

 

 

The Oberon is not included in the UBP, a $60 bottle, but was given as a gift from the F&B Officer. I think being sat at bar for 15 nights made him take pity on me. Still a good wine, my favourite so far.

[SwissLe]

Hi SwissLe

 

Really enjoying your review, I'm on the Feb 3 sailing so picking up lots of hints on what to do, thanks.

 

One,very very important, question. You said, about your last meal in Cagneys

 

".... of which was so excited to pair wines with my meal ...."

 

I have the UBP, how easy has it been to get your wines matched to your food? On my last cruise with Celebrity they had sommeliers but I have been told that NCL do not.

 

 

Thanks for sticking with me.

 

The waiters know the wine list, and some of them can advise (more likely in the speciality restaurants) but don't expect a sommelier style service. This bar tender was a diamond, all it took was 10 days to find him.

[SwissLe]

Been 2 days since we've heard from you. We're having withdrawals! ;)

 

Hope you're still having a great time!

 

 

Thanks for coming back. I will do some more writing today; was wondering if anyone was still with me. I go to Florence/Pisa tomorrow on a tour, so expect some meat there!

[SwissLe]

 

Anaclayton and his favourite cocktail, the pink squirrel. Don't ask for one, this was the last of his ingredients - the end of an era.

 

 

I think this is my favourite, the elephant. Closely followed by the monkey.

 

 

Only when you make best friends with Prambu in O'Sheehans can you get chicken tenders at 4am. 4am and that portion size, what a guy!

 

 

The famous four cones in Le Bistro. Not my cup of tea but an impressive presentation.

 

 

The flourless chocolate tarte in Le Bistro. A must for those who love Nutella.

[hawkeyetlse]

I have the UBP, how easy has it been to get your wines matched to your food? On my last cruise with Celebrity they had sommeliers but I have been told that NCL do not.

At Cagney's they give you an iPad with a slick wine adviser app installed on it. More show than substance, maybe, but it has more info and it's more fun than a normal wine menu. However, with the UBP, we were only looking at wines by the glass, so that aren't that many to choose from to begin with. You can work your way through the whole list in a couple of days and then stick to your favorites after that. We like Oberon, too. :)