The Epic! I didn't hate it! But...

[Robin1961]

Don't be too nervous - we still had a great cruise! It's a very pretty ship, just a strange design in places. The food and entertainment were top notch. It has some cool little features, like the bridge-viewing room, that other ships don't have.

 

We had a lot of luck by trying to time things a little outside of peak times. We also made reservations prior to the cruise for shows and dining, and the comedy shows once we got on the ship. We spent the day on the ship in port a couple times, and that allowed us to really enjoy the pool deck. If you're in decent shape, we never took elevators down, and used the stairs if we were only going up a deck or two - that helped us navigate the elevator issue.

 

We saw lots of people having a great time - I'm sure you will, too!

 

 

thanks again

[Crzy4my2]

I think we had the same waiter in O'Sheehans. We watched three couples come in after us and get their orders well before us. This was the only bad experience that we had with waitstaff.

 

I never saw any staff hassle a smoker for not gambling so I can only assume they don't care much. I did on many occasions see them shooing people away from the taste overlook. At least they made the effort.

 

For me the ship was way to dark, it already has a darker decor and the soft lighting makes it worse. They need to invest in some brighter lighting.

 

My only real complaint on the cruise was the horrible lack of planning on NCL's part for GSC. Two tenders for a ship with over 4500 people on it?!? We sat in the theater and I was amazed at the line. I asked one of the staff why there was such a holdup and that was when I learned of the tender situation. We grabbed our stuff and just went to the pool.I am a really laid back person but that set me off. I paid a lot of money for this trip and couldn't even get off the ship.

 

I also do not like the bathroom situation on the wavy rooms. I had to go visit the balcony when my wife was in there and vice versa.

 

The inside cabins (at least those I saw on deck 13) had a much better layout and a private bath. I've already booked one for the next cruise. Every time we get a balcony we barely use it. No need to spend extra for something that doesn't get used much.

 

Best line from the cruise......

They have John Wayne toilet paper here.

John Wayne?

Yes, its rough, gritty and it don't take sh*t off no one.

 

Overall my wife and I really enjoyed the trip and Norwegian. She was even picked for Deal or No Deal and of course blamed me for her stellar $1 win after she turned down $198. :-P

 

 

 

 

 

We saw your wife playing. We were sitting behind her on the benches near the excursion desk. We were also in the theater with you. We stayed and went over to GSC. We waited on the tender for about 45 minutes while they filled it...as it was constantly being thrown into the side of the ship. I was happy I had my sea sickness patch on. :)

[Roharmi]

lol it makes her feel so much better that it's my fault for turning down the $198 offer. Maybe I will get picked on the next one. Glad you made it off in GSC. We still had a good time on the ship

 

 

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[back-at-it]

"This is a ship where being in the Haven probably makes a huge difference in experience."

 

You are correct. My one and only trip with NCL was on the Epic Transatlantic in a Haven two bedroom suite. This was the best cruise we were on to date. Loved the POSH area. We also loved O'Sheehans and had great service. But we were there for early dinner and lunch.

 

Yes the escort on and off the ship were amazing. As well as special seating for the shows. If you go on this ship and have the opportunity, go Haven. We had a balcony and Upsold to the Haven. Loved it.

[QTsKid]

". If you go on this ship and have the opportunity, go Haven. We had a balcony and Upsold to the Haven. Loved it.

Do you mind if I ask...Was that a huge price difference?

[back-at-it]

Do you mind if I ask...Was that a huge price difference?

 

Sorry, I did not see this .. It was $1000 per person. Our Balcony was $975 for the extended large balcony. So total $1975 per person. Yes it was worth every penny. I would do it again.

[AerynSun_JohnCrighton]

...I didn't love it either. It had some real positives: the food, the entertainment, and some of the staff. It also had some negatives: the size, the disconnect from the ocean, and sadly, some of the staff.

 

This is just going to be some observations - not a long trip report with pictures (for that I say check out Mitsugirly, Timsierramist, and Oakman58 - their detailed reports and pictures were instrumental in my knowing the ship inside and out before I ever stepped on board! I'm just hoping to pay it forward a little - thanks to Cruise Critic, I knew all about the bridge viewing room (go forward on 13, starboard), the "secret" staircase (aft deck 8 - 13 port, and aft 8 -14 starboard), and the sundeck with the comfy loungers (looking forward from the pool deck take the elevator on the right to 18, and then walk forward to the front). On day 1 I took my husband on a little tour, and he was amazed, lol.

 

Here's my contribution to Epic CC information: after a day or so, I realized that the floors were color-coded for port and starboard! The port is red and starboard is blue - the room numbers, carpets, stairwell panels, and elevator lights all follow this pattern! If only we still had the fish to tell forward from aft, I would've been all set.

 

About us: We're in our early 50s, and this was our 8th cruise, 7th on NCL. We've sailed on the Sun, Sky, Dawn, and Getaway, and we've stayed in balconies, oceanview, and insides (as well as seeing the inside rooms on the Dawn and Sun that my adult children stayed in). We're pretty laid back, and this cruise was all about relaxation. I'm a teacher, so I am limited in when I can sail - though I live in GA now, I know this is a school break week up north, and I saw more Patriots jerseys on this ship than I would in a game at Foxboro!

 

Gold status: We were sailing gold for the second (and last - next time we're platinum, woohoo) time. At Canaveral we had a separate security line (I think with Haven and Platinums), and then the check-in lines were separated by multiple categories: Haven, CAS, Platinum and Platinum Plus all had separate lines, and I think Silver and Bronze were together, and then everyone else. Once they were boarding, they called in this order: Haven, Platinum +, Platinum, Gold, guests who need assistance, CAS, Silver, Bronze, and then the newbies.

 

We had our tri-fold card in our room outlining the benefits. We had two (one each) one liter bottles of water in our room. Our steward brought the sparkling wine later (we ended up giving it to him - we never had a chance to drink it with the drink package). There was a sign at the Latitudes desk with the date and time of the party (we didn't go). For tendering, we received a call from the Latitudes representative with instructions on what to do. We didn't use any of the other perks this time.

 

The spa: I bought a spa pass online, and it was worth every penny. On the ship they were asking $246. I thought I'd be waiting for the heated tile loungers, but the hot commodity was the soft loungers on the balcony. Those were hard to get, though I did get lucky a couple times. Not a lot of saving with towels or personal items, so that was good. The view from the sauna was wonderful. As far as the other amenities, they had oranges, orange- and lemon-infused ice water, and hot water for tea (Lipton Earl Grey, Darjeeling, Mint, and an herbal I can't remember).

 

For the smokers: I don't smoke but DH does, so here's where you can smoke: Spice H2O, port-side near the bar on the main pool deck, in the cigar lounge on 7 (go through Shakers), and in some areas of the casino.

 

The room: Tiniest inside I've seen so far!! Thanks to CC, I knew to put a spare card in to keep the lights on, that the switch for the vanity lights is under the mirror, and that you could shut off the phone light by tapping the light bulb icon on the screen. There is a an outlet strip under the desk area. There is a writing table type thing that pops out from on top of the draws. There is a little basket under the sink - we were confused because it looks like an ice chest on the inside - turns out it's for towels! I learned that fun fact from a little laminated card that was on the shelf by the outlet strip.

 

The separate arrangement wasn't so bad - I thought it was nice to be able to be at the sink while my husband was in the shower. However, the sink was kind of low and weird. The glass door on the toilet ("like pooping in a phone booth" I saw in another review - cracked me up) was a little weird. DH and I have been married 30 years, but there are still some mysteries we like to keep to ourselves. The most annoying thing was that there was very little floor space or places to put stuff - I ended up putting the stool in the closet, and placing things on top of it. Storage for things you wanted to put away was decent. Our steward was excellent - we left him our champagne, a tip, and a vacation hero card!

 

The food: So good for the most part! We only ate in the complementary restaurants. We ate breakfast (2x) and lunch (3x) in Taste - the crabcake stuffed potato skins and grouper sandwiches were amazing. We ate in the Manhattan room for dinner twice. Tuesday's menu had the amazing Maui red onion soup and skirt steak with chimichurri that I loved on the Getaway. There was also a chocolate lave cake for dessert that was amazing. We went to Shanghai twice - very pleasantly surprised by both the food and service. The 5 spice chocolate cake and tapioca deserts were delicious. We also ate several times in O'Sheehans, breakfast, lunch and dinner. We had terrific service in all locations with one exception. The first night we ate dinner in O'Sheehan's, we had service so bad (I had to get my own drinks at one point), that I wrote a comment card to complain - a rarity for me. It just wasn't up to NCL standards.

 

The drink package: We were charged taxes in Port Canaveral - the bartenders made it a point to let us know as we ordered. Even though we knew this already (from CC and our trip on the Getaway last year), I'm sure many didn't. We were also warned before ordering coffee at the atrium bar that specialty coffees weren't included (again we knew, but they seem to be trying to keep folks informed). While we had very little trouble getting drinks, we definitely noticed fewer bar staff on the pool decks and in the bars taking orders - we went to the bars ourselves 95% of the time. The two pool bars are not big enough to support a ship of this size, and Spice H2O had two of the least friendly bartenders I've ever seen on an NCL ship (they were manning the Bacardi bar on Great Stirrup Cay and they weren't any better there). The pre-mixed drinks are not my favorite.

 

The ports: We didn't get off in Cozumel or Jamaica. We went to Royal Palms on Grand Cayman - great beach day and tendering was a piece of cake. Tendering for GSC was not a piece of cake - the winds were causing huge problems delaying tendering for a couple hours. We went over around 12:30 and stayed til about 3:00. The Abaco Taco bar was quite tasty. We walked around some - they've done a ton of work. I was hoping to find the nature trail that goes to lighthouse, but I never did. Lots of people were in the water, though I found it a little cool for my taste.

 

The entertainment: Epic really shines here! We loved the Epic Beatles, Priscilla, and Howl at the Moon. The live musicians (Manhattan Band, Mac N Cheese, Zoe, and the pool band whose name I didn't catch) were all really good. The comedians and magician were decent enough, but not as good as everything else. We didn't see Burn the Floor - we saw it on the Getaway, and were up for seeing it again, but opted to watch Star Trek Beyond out on the big screen in Spice H2O - well worth it!!

Disembarkation: This is where being in Haven is a huge difference to those of us in steerage, haha. I read the review from a Haven guest who said the fog delay wasn't that big of a deal. Well, things were a little different for the rest of us (though some people should've paid attention and followed directions, IMO). When we heard about the delay, we got our bags ready, told our steward what we were doing, and went to Taste for a nice sit-down breakfast - we weren't even in the port yet. Others decided to line up - they ended up being in a line for over three hours! After breakfast, we grabbed our bags and went to deck seven, which was a zoo. There was no organization to the line, people couldn't get to the end, and so people ended up standing wherever - which of course made the people who had been there for hours upset. It took a while to clear customs, but once we did, the line moved pretty quickly. It was funny; every time the captain or cruise director would refer to "easy walk-off" the crowd would burst into laughter - nervous, aggravated laughter.

 

Final thoughts: with a few exceptions, the staff didn't seem as happy and engaging as we've experienced in the past. They were still very professional, with the exception of the barstaff mentioned above. The ship is too big for my taste, and areas seemed very broken up.

 

The pools were VERY small for a ship of this size. I liked the arrangement of Spice H2O better on the Getaway. The Epic Plunge was fun, but I liked the fast blue and green slide on the Getaway better. If you go on the Plunge, be sure to pick up your tube at the bottom first!

 

On a positive note, I like what they did with the casino and smoking areas - some of the casino is non-smoking, and it really helps keep the smell down.

 

I really missed having a real promenade deck - especially with an inside room. While I wouldn't avoid the Epic, I would probably only sail on her if I really liked the itinerary. I would also book a balcony so I could have somewhere to connect with the sea and have a quiet place away from the crowds. This is a ship where being in the Haven probably makes a huge difference in experience.

 

So it was a decent cruise - and definitely better than a week at work or in the winter cold. I'm a teacher so I'll give it a grade: B+

 

Do you know or remember how deep the water is at the end of the plunge?

[bostongal965]

Do you know or remember how deep the water is at the end of the plunge?

 

Not very - you don't go into a pool or anything - you just kind of stop in the channel. It was actually so low, I found it awkward to get off the tube and get back up.

[Clarea]

Informative review, thank-you.

[Keith1010]

Thanks for your report.

Keith

[bluehawks47]

Thank you so much for your review. I am a teacher also and we our spring break starts this Friday, so we will be getting on the Epic Saturday morning :) Was the Spice H2O area crowded? Since it is spring break, I assume we will be spending a lot of time in there... not to get away from kids, but I get to see kids every day of the school year, so I thought I would give others a chance to experience them ;p

 

Also, do you have any suggestions for disembarking? We need to get off the ship pretty early. I guess fog was the main issue for your sailing?

 

Thanks again for your great review and enjoy the rest of your school year.

Edited March 4, 2018 by bluehawk47

[jtdlmc]

Just wanted to add for the smokers - there is also smoking on the promenade (deck 7), I believe it was port side, there are pillar ashtrays every so often down the deck but no place to sit.

 

Great review. We were on Epic in early February. I said I would never sail her again but then last week I was looking at 2020 itineraries out of San Juan and Epic is the only NCL ship so.....now I'm thinking she wasn't all that bad lol!

[bostongal965]

This review was actually from last year - Feb 2017 - found it funny that it got resurrected after so long (though it certainly is no record by Cruise Critic standards, haha).

 

To bluehawk47 - we spent a lot of time in Spice H2O for the same reason (not to mention my time in the spa)! Don't hate kids, but I sure needed a break from them. Funniest thing happened - a group of teenagers were blocking a hallway trying to figure out what they wanted to do next. Instinctually I went into school mode and in my best teacher voice told them to move along - they scattered! My husband looked at me and said, "That was awesome." Hahaha.

 

It was no more crowded than the pool deck during sea days, and was heaven during port days. The bar area got crowded because of people waiting for drinks as well as smoking. There is almost no shade, though so that may have something to do with it. You have a great rest of your school year as well!

 

To jtdlmc - when Epic first came out, I really wanted to sail her. Then all the mixed reviews came out...and then Breakaway and Getaway came out, and seemed so much better. She's not a bad a ship, and she does have some very nice features. While I wouldn't seek her out, I wouldn't avoid her, either.

[bluehawks47]

This review was actually from last year - Feb 2017 - found it funny that it got resurrected after so long (though it certainly is no record by Cruise Critic standards, haha).

 

Oh my gosh, I didn’t even realize this review was from last year, but I’m glad it got resurrected.

 

 

 

 

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[ShannonSC2]

Going on the EPIC for the 2nd time at the end of the month. We had a great time when we went the first time. This will be our 6th cruise with NCL.

 

The first time we went on the EPIC I read so many negative comments. I was thinking in my head that I had made a mistake by booking it. We had the best time on the EPIC. Of course we were in Europe. The food was amazing, the staff was great and the entertainment was fabulous. The bathroom setup was a little awkward but we managed. :)

 

I am hoping that this coming cruise for the EPIC isn't a disappointment. But I am having fun no matter what. Sailing with friends to celebrate graduation makes for a fun week! :)