First time on Epic

[splinkaone]

We're cruising on Epic for the first time February 2018 out of Port Canaveral, eastern Caribbean. Any tips, must do's, tips on the ship and ports (Tortola, St Thomas, Great Stirrup Cay). Can we use our Ultimate Beverage package on Stirrup Cay?

[Eleteace]

The biggest bit of advice id give is to book the shows as early as you can! Ideally before you go but if not on day one, you can do this on your stateroom TV or there's screens around the ship. The shows sell out pretty fast and you don't want to miss anything.

 

Secondly WATCH PRISCILLA QUEEN OF THR DESERT. It's amazing!! I watched it two nights in a row, such a feel good musical with tons of drag.

 

 

The epic is a funky ship, the bathroom is laid out really strangely... toilet on one side and shower on the other.

 

Make sure you get some buffalo wings from o'sheehans!!

 

 

I think I could go on forever but I don't want to fill up this box. I've written some more NCL tips here http://cruisingisntjustforoldpeople.co.uk/2016/12/04/8-things-i-wish-i-knew-before-cruising-with-ncl/

 

Got a gallery of the epic on there too if you want to checkout the bathroom situ!

 

I haven't been to any of those ports so can't help you there I'm afraid! Have a fabulous time, I'm very jealous.

 

 

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[Oakman58]

We're cruising on Epic for the first time February 2018 out of Port Canaveral, eastern Caribbean. Any tips, must do's, tips on the ship and ports (Tortola, St Thomas, Great Stirrup Cay). Can we use our Ultimate Beverage package on Stirrup Cay?

 

Yes, you can use the UBP on Great Stirrup Cay and NCL provides food at no charge also.

[tombec1]

Yes, you can use the UBP on Great Stirrup Cay and NCL provides food at no charge also.

 

One thing to note - you do pay taxes on drinks when you have the UBP at GSC, just like when you're in a US port.

[spidybabe]

Godfrey tours in St Thomas. Great day and the price is right. We have used him 3 times. Also visit the old Synagogue in town in St Thomas -it's unique and beautiful

The Epic is a great beautiful ship, we had a blast.

Agree about Priscilla -we went twice too. Head to the main dining room for lunch when you get on. Much better way to start the cruise than the busy buffet, and we always get a kick when no bill comes, and you just get up and leave whenever you want.

Safe sailing

[NCLfamily]

Howl at the moon is superb, go after 11pm.

 

Cagneys is the best meal.

 

Spice H2O is good for some escaping from the kids during the day.

 

 

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[Wildfan43]

I would recommend Jost Van Dyke in Tortola. It was amazing.

Howl at the moon and Priscilla are both great shows!!

 

 

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[DMH15]

We did a catamaran on Tortola through Aristocats. Loved it. Check out their website and reviews on Trip Advisors.

 

We cruised Feb 2017 on Epic. So you should get similar. Not too many kids or teens.

 

Great Food and entertainment. Don't miss Priscilla, Cirque or BTF. Loved Howl too!! UnFortunately we missed Beatles.

 

We were in first group at GSC but they sent us all back due to weather. Oh well.

 

Had a fun week.

 

 

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[Justaddvodka68]

One thing to note - you do pay taxes on drinks when you have the UBP at GSC, just like when you're in a US port.

 

This was not the case in December. Is this new?

[insanemagnet]

The Epic is a great beautiful ship

 

!!!! She appears to have been designed with random pieces from here and there, and as a result has the sort of looks only a mother could love.

[Oakman58]

This was not the case in December. Is this new?

 

 

I don’t remember if the bartenders mentioned the tax or not when we visited GSC on our December cruise but the charge did show up on the final NCL bill. My cruise was the Dec 10 -17th eastern Caribbean. If you still have the bill from your cruise you might check it out. It would show up as Beach Bar on the date you visited GSC.

[tombec1]

This was not the case in December. Is this new?

 

We were on the Epic on the Dec 10th sailing, and we got charged tax at GSC. It was on our final bill at the end of the cruise. We also got charged tax while at Port Canaveral prior to sailing.

[Tutontow]

I just got back from sailing on her over St. Patrick's day. We have cruised 13 times and this was our best cruise ever. I strongly urge you to book your specialty restaurants and shows online before you go. La Bistro and Cagney"s are very good. I don't recommend the prime rib in Cagney's. You might like it but to me it seemed more like a prime rib steak rather than a slow roasted prime rib. The filet mignon was over the top good. The food in the MDR is outstanding. The penne pasta with meatballs and the lamb shank were to die for. Lunch in the MDR on sea days was fantastic. When you go to any show, especially the Epic Beatles in the Cavern club show up an hour early. We would get a nice big drink and wait in line. Then we would get another when we went in. An extra five or ten dollar tip to your bartender early in the trip goes a long way. We did this the first day and they took great care of us the rest of the trip. I highly recommend excursions in every port except GSC. GSC is beautiful and has great snorkeling. If you can do it get a corner seat at the pool bar on the ship. That area stays the coolest. Jam Rock plays up there and they are great, for that matter all of the entertainment is some of the best we have seen on cruise ships. Make sure you check out "The Survey Says" and "Deal Or No Deal" it is a real hoot. We showed up at the port at 12:40 and basically walked right on. We were sitting at Matling's at 1 O'Clock having our first drink. On the last day make sure you go down to guest services and get your luggage tags. If you sleep late like us on Debarkation day you will regret it. We left our cabin at 9:15 and it took us forever to get off the ship. Search the forum for Epic tips, there is a bunch of good information here that really helped make our cruise special. I envy you, I wish I was going again today.

 

Here is a link for the tips and tricks http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2388683

Edited March 24, 2017 by Tutontow
Added the link for tips and tricks

[BirdTravels]

The a Epic is a great ship! We have sailed on her 6 times and would not hesitate sailing on her again.

 

Cavern Club has great music.

 

Book your shows and dinners exactly 90 days before cruise. (100 days if you are in the Havens).

 

Cagneys and Teppanyaki are our favorite restaurants and are the most popular. They will sell out quickly during prime time. We also like the Cirque, which is an additional charge.

 

On St Thomas, we like to go to Megan's Bay. Just a beach day.

[Eleteace]

!!!! She appears to have been designed with random pieces from here and there, and as a result has the sort of looks only a mother could love.

 

 

She looks like she's got sunglasses on I always think....

 

Agree about howl at the moon! Not to be missed :-)

 

 

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[gerimay1964]

I just got back from sailing on her over St. Patrick's day. We have cruised 13 times and this was our best cruise ever. I strongly urge you to book your specialty restaurants and shows online before you go. La Bistro and Cagney"s are very good. I don't recommend the prime rib in Cagney's. You might like it but to me it seemed more like a prime rib steak rather than a slow roasted prime rib. The filet mignon was over the top good. The food in the MDR is outstanding. The penne pasta with meatballs and the lamb shank were to die for. Lunch in the MDR on sea days was fantastic. When you go to any show, especially the Epic Beatles in the Cavern club show up an hour early. We would get a nice big drink and wait in line. Then we would get another when we went in. An extra five or ten dollar tip to your bartender early in the trip goes a long way. We did this the first day and they took great care of us the rest of the trip. I highly recommend excursions in every port except GSC. GSC is beautiful and has great snorkeling. If you can do it get a corner seat at the pool bar on the ship. That area stays the coolest. Jam Rock plays up there and they are great, for that matter all of the entertainment is some of the best we have seen on cruise ships. Make sure you check out "The Survey Says" and "Deal Or No Deal" it is a real hoot. We showed up at the port at 12:40 and basically walked right on. We were sitting at Matling's at 1 O'Clock having our first drink. On the last day make sure you go down to guest services and get your luggage tags. If you sleep late like us on Debarkation day you will regret it. We left our cabin at 9:15 and it took us forever to get off the ship. Search the forum for Epic tips, there is a bunch of good information here that really helped make our cruise special. I envy you, I wish I was going again today.

 

Here is a link for the tips and tricks http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2388683

 

 

We were on the same cruise and agree with all of the above and especially the bit about disembarkation it was really bad I think it took most people over an hour to get of the ship not sure if it was because of Spring Break. We spoke to someone that has done 55 cruises and they never experienced disembarkation like it. Saying that we had a really enjoyable cruise and if we sailed from Port Canaveral again would stay on the ship as long as we could before disembarking in the hope that most people would already be of the ship.

 

 

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[Love.II.Cruise]

We don't plan to book restaurants until we are on the ship. We are in the Haven and have a huge amount of OBC to spend. Do you think it will be a problem booking restaurants for our entire cruise the day we board?

[ClevelandCruisin]

Jost van dyke in BVI

 

We'll be on the Epic as well in March for the first time too!

[mscdivina2016]

We're cruising on Epic for the first time February 2018 out of Port Canaveral, eastern Caribbean. Any tips, must do's, tips on the ship and ports (Tortola, St Thomas, Great Stirrup Cay). Can we use our Ultimate Beverage package on Stirrup Cay?

 

Book another ship!:D

 

For us it was too big. What good is freestyle if you need to make reservations?

 

Way to many people. Took forever to disembark. Lines everywhere. Funky bath layout.

 

But a cruise is a cruise. The food was good, Casino on three levels with escalators near it. Shows were ok, and yes we got charged a tax at GSC but UBP was valid there.

 

The ports...depends on what you like to do.

[owlgirl31]

We don't plan to book restaurants until we are on the ship. We are in the Haven and have a huge amount of OBC to spend. Do you think it will be a problem booking restaurants for our entire cruise the day we board?

In Haven should not be a problem, just have concierge take care of it.

[tombec1]

We don't plan to book restaurants until we are on the ship. We are in the Haven and have a huge amount of OBC to spend. Do you think it will be a problem booking restaurants for our entire cruise the day we board?

 

We were in the Haven on the 12/10 sailing. The concierge can get you reservations to the specialty restaurants and reservations to shows like Cirque... no problem. To be honest, though - the Haven restaurant is excellent. We only used one UDP dinner, and we decided not to bother with the other specialty restaurants because the Haven was so good - and you can just walk in anytime. Enjoy!!

[fshagan]

I think your level of enjoyment depends on who is in your party. If by "we" you mean a couple you will probably have a great time!

 

If by "we" you mean two adults and two teens, or unrelated but not intimate adults, you may have a more challenging time in a balcony or lower category due to the bathroom set up and each individual's degree of modesty. The cabins are smaller than the Jewel class ships and the toilet and shower are on either side of the door, with translucent glass. You can easily observe your cabin mates taking a shower (yay!) or sitting on the toilet. Here's a photo from one of the many YouTube videos about the Epic:

 

 

 

 

 

The ship is also focused on the inside of the ship, and like most large cruise ships, has very little opportunity to see the ocean except from your balcony and the very top decks. Most people don't care about this, and they like the "Vegas Resort" feel the ship gives.

 

The food was very good on our cruise, Howl at the Moon (dueling pianos show) was very entertaining, and the other entertainment was top notch. NCL does a lot of things right on this ship, but the design is not to my liking.

[Stinkybaby]

We're cruising on Epic for the first time February 2018 out of Port Canaveral, eastern Caribbean. Any tips, must do's, tips on the ship and ports (Tortola, St Thomas, Great Stirrup Cay). Can we use our Ultimate Beverage package on Stirrup Cay?

 

My husband and I are also going to be on the Epic in February 2018! Our first time also and same itinerary! Are you guys going the week of Valentine's Day?

[softl]

I've sailed Sky twice and wasn't charged any taxes for Great Stirrup Cay. Any others?