My Epic Review - Western Carribean 1/20/18

[rachelia160]

Hi All!

 

I just got back from my 7 day Western Carribean cruise on the Norwegian Epic out of Port Canaveral. I know how much I loved reading any review I could get my hands on over the past year of planning, so I thought I’d write my own.

I’ve cruised twice over the past five years on the Allure of the Seas and the Oasis of the Seas. When I was little, I went on a cruise with the Scintas (any Vegas people out there?) but I can't remember the cruise line, and another on the Big Red Boat (what a throwback!)

 

I cruised with my husband, and another couple that we’re best friends with.

 

It won’t be super comprehensive or anything – just my thoughts on a few things, and a long rambling story about my odd spa experience.

 

If you’re looking for information on ports and activities, this is not the place for you – my husband and I did virtually NOTHING on our cruise and didn’t even leave the ship once! We had planned on doing a few things, but we had too much fun just relaxing to accomplish much of anything.

 

In case anyone is interested, I saved all of my Freestyle Dailies. I don’t have a scanner so I can’t put them all on here, but if there’s a certain question you have or day you’d like to see, just let me know and I can take a picture of it or try to find an answer for you.

 

 

 

 

Go Port Canaveral:

During my research over the past year, I feel like I saw a ton of people requesting reviews and feedback about Go Port Canaveral, but not of lot of answers, so here I go!

 

Everything went totally smoothly for us with GPC. We booked the Fly, Snooze, Cruise package. For four people, the total cost was $306.88 (so $153.44 per couple), which included all transportation (airport to hotel, hotel to port, port to airport) and one night at the Hilton Homewood Suites Orlando Airport Gateway Village. There were definitely cheaper options, but we wanted to say somewhere with decent reviews – some of the hotels with the lowest prices look a teeny bit sketchy in my opinion. I was willing to pay an extra 50 bucks or so for a place that didn’t have the word “bedbugs” anywhere in their TripAdvisor reviews.

 

The shuttle to the port arrived at 11:30. It was a large charter bus. There were many people using GPC at our hotel, from Norwegian, Disney, and Carnival, so it took a little while to get everyone and their luggage loaded up. We got to the cruise port around 12:45. Luckily, Norwegian was the first stop. I probably would have been a bit antsy if I was on the second or third stop!

 

Ideally, I’d prefer to arrive at the port a little earlier than 12:30 – 1:00. That would be the only thing that might deter me from using them in the future (although I think even if I skipped the shuttle to the port and got a Uber or cab instead, the package would still be a good value just for the hotel and the shuttle to the airport).

 

After disembarking, the shuttle was very easy to find and we only had to wait about 15 minutes to get on the road. Easy-peasy.

 

Embarking:

From the beginning of the security line to walking up the gangway, it took us 1 hour and 25 minutes to get onto the ship. We arrived at about 12:15, and were on the ship by 1:30. Overall, I don’t think that seemed too bad, but some people were getting antsy kind of rude with the staff (which really grinds my gears - I mean, how fast can you expect the line to move when 4,000 people are trying to get to the exact same place at virtually the exact same time?) I think it actually would have been a little quicker, but one of the ladies working there told me that someone had passed out in line earlier and needed medical attention, so that held up the line a little bit. (That being said, it was pretty hot and humid in the cruise port building, even though it was only about 67 degrees outside. I recommend dressing in layers since you’ll be standing for a while.) But everything was well organized and moved at a steady pace, so no complaints from me.

 

The only time the ship felt crowded, or that we had any issues with elevators, was right after getting on the ship.

 

I know many people have asked about putting cash on their onboard account instead of a credit card. The NCL site seems pretty clear:

 

Traveler’s Check / Cash Procedures

A cash deposit may be placed on your onboard account in the following amounts:

7 day cruises - $300 USD per person

Less than 7 days - $150 USD per person

More than 7 days - $450 USD per person

Once you have exceeded the deposited amount, your account will be closed to further charges. You can deposit as much money as often as you'd like throughout the cruise, however, refunds cannot be made until the day of disembarkation for any excess.

 

…BUT, interestingly enough, that wasn’t the case for our friends. They were prepared to put down the $300 per person in cash on their account, but were told they could pay as they go. They originally put down just $140, and were notified when their account ran down that they needed to put more money on, and just added it as they went.

Before you rush to the comments to tell me “No way, that’s not how it works!”, I swear I barely believed it either! I’ve seriously asked her three times (and just texted to confirm before writing this) that that was the case. (“Are you suuuuuure you didn’t put down $600?”) I have no idea why she didn’t have to follow what the website shows as the Check/Cash procedure, and wouldn’t recommend counting on this to be the case for future cruisers – I wouldn’t want to steer you wrong based on one person’s experience. But I just thought it was interesting since it’s a much-discussed topic.

 

As for me, I didn’t mind putting a card on file, but still wanted to pay in cash. I bought two $100 onboard credit certificates on NCL.com ahead of time, and then added some more cash onboard at the cashier’s desk later in the cruise after I had decided to get a massage and wanted to spend a little more. I had some cash left over at the end, and went down to the cashier on the day before disembarkation, and was given the amount I had left over back in cash. I felt like I got paid at the end of my cruise! (Let’s ignore the fact that it was already my money.)

 

I checked the credit card on file, and as of two days after our cruise, the hold charge had already fallen off my card, so I couldn’t tell you how much it was. I was told it would be $300, which is what I planned on, and I’m pretty sure that was correct.

[Georgie562]

Following! Thanks for taking the time to review! Will be on the Epic in December, can't wait!

[rachelia160]

iConcierge

Since we were traveling with friends, the iConcierge was SUCH a huge help. It would have been really difficult to find each other when we were all running around the boat at different times, so it was awesome to be able to text each other. Definitely worth the $9.99 per week.

 

As many others have said, you don’t really get alerts when someone texts you, so it’s important to open the app every once in a while to check and see if you have any messages.

 

It was also great to use to call home without spending a ton of money. The rate info on the app said it would cost 79 cent per minute to call back home, but when actually doing it, a notification popped up that it was only 19 cents a minute. Way better than paying five bucks per minute to call from your room!

 

 

 

If you’re planning on using the app to call home, warn whoever you’re calling to look out from a Miami number – that’s how it comes up on the other end. My mom didn’t answer the first time I called because she thought it was a junk call.

 

Drinks and UBP:

 

Our group definitely likes our booze, so I did a lot of research on the UPB and drinks before leaving. Here are a few notes on questions I know I and others have had:

 

• You do get charged tax on your drinks when the ship is docked at Port Canaveral, even with the UPB. It’s really nothing to worry about – I think our total was about $6 by the time we left (and that was with lots of double Grey Gooses…Grey Geese?) Keep in mind that top shelf liquor = higher taxes than if you order well liquor. Our friend’s bill was only $3 or $4 because they mostly drank beer.

 

• You definitely can get doubles at the bar - but you don’t really need to. The pours are veeeery generous. Every bartender I saw used a jigger to pour liquor (which is 1.5 oz) but then continued to pour for quite a few seconds after it was full. They definitely aren’t trying to underpour you!

 

• You can definitely order two drinks at a time with one card. (A double, however, counts as two drinks – so you couldn’t order two double drinks with one card.)

 

• You can bring up someone else’s card along with yours if you want to order more than two drinks.

 

• It’s pretty difficult to get something that isn’t included in the UBP, unless it’s exclusively listed on the menu as being over $15. If you do order something that’s not included in the UBP, the server/bartender will definitely make sure you know that before they start making your drink – they’re not trying to trick you.

 

My friend ordered a drink at Maltings (it was either a Manhattan or an Old Fashioned, I can’t remember) that’s listed on the menu at $18ish dollars. The bartender told him that it would cost extra, but when she saw his hesitation, she offered to make it with booze that would be included in the UBP. So, if you want something on the menu that’s over $15, I think it’s worth asking if they can make it with different liquor that’s included in the UPB.

 

My favorite drink from the menu was the Rebellious Fish. I don’t like frozen drinks, or anything too sweet or fruity, and the fish was light and sweet, but not too sweet. Other than my vodka tonics, they were my go-to for the week.

I tried the famous espresso martini at Shaker’s. It was definitely super yummy, but I don’t really get why it’s $18 – it’s not super strong, and didn’t seem to have super fancy liquor in it. Oh well, it was still worth a try!

 

 

Food

During my research on the Epic, I read everything from “The food is amazing!” to “The food is horrible!”, so I went in with no expectations. After eating a LOT, I’m am solidly on team amazing! I didn’t have a single bad bite the entire time we were on the ship.

 

The buffet never felt insanely crowded – you could always find a place to sit, even when it was pretty busy. I feel like I heard a ton of stories about how crazy it is on embarkation day, but it totally wasn’t! There was no line at all and plenty of tables. We easily grabbed hamburgers and hot dogs. It was really nice having the outside buffet too to grab a quick bite for lunch while hanging out by the pool.

 

We went to taste two or three times, and everything was amazing. I really enjoyed the salmon and the grouper. One night they had fried brie as an appetizer and it was to DIE for – I could have eaten nothing but that for my whole dinner. The only thing that got a “meh” review from my husband was the steak that’s on the everyday menu - I think it was a New York Strip. He said it wasn’t awful, but nothing to write home about.

 

 

 

 

My husband was able to wear flip flops, shorts and a t-shirt into Taste. The dress code is very relaxed. If that bugs you, head on over to the Manhattan Room – they do have the pants and closed-toe shoe dress code for men there.

 

The definite star of the week was O’Sheehan’s. We ate there WAY more than I had planned because we ended up enjoying it so much. Our faves were the spinach artichoke dip (ordered it every single time), fish and chips (which I didn’t even know I liked before this trip, and I was obsessed), the salmon Caesar salad, the fajitas, and of course…the famous wings! They really are just as awesome as everyone says!

 

We never had to wait for a table. Even when it looked packed, there was always room somewhere.

One thing that was kind of funny was the order everything was served in. Most times we went it seemed to go in reverse – entrees would come out first, then salads, then appetizers. I think they crank so much food out of there that they just make everything constantly and your waiter grabs an order when it’s ready. It didn’t bother us as at all (spinach artichoke dip makes an excellent dessert!), but if you want things in a certain order, I’d ask your waiter just in case.

Edited January 31, 2018 by rachelia160

[rachelia160]

Bidding on an Upgrade

 

I originally booked an inside room, but was super excited when I got the offer to bid on an upgrade. I received my upgrade offer for my January 20 sailing on November 1, and bid right away. I bid $100 per person for a balcony (which was solidly in the poor range), and $135 per person for a mini suite.

 

I was assuming I wouldn’t find out if our bid had been accepted or not til at least a week before our cruise, since that seemed to be most people’s experience. Imagine my shock and delight when I was notified that my balcony bid was accepted on November 7 – ONE WEEK after I bid, over two months ahead of the cruise! I have absolutely no idea why it got accepted so quickly, and so far in advance of my sailing. When I posted about it in a NCL Bidding Facebook group I belong too, I had a few people imply that I was either a) reading the email wrong, or b) flat out lying (not sure what I’d be gaining by doing that), but it was the real deal. Some people said I must have bid really high, but I certainly didn’t. (I know a lot of people have gone from Inside to Balcony for just $50 per person, but I wanted to increase my odds a little.)

 

I’ve read many people saying that because of the bidding program, you can no longer call and ask to pay for an upgrade. That was definitely not the case for me. I called my cruise consultant several times to find out the cost of upgrading from my balcony to a mini-suite (I was getting stingy!) She told me it was absolutely possible and quoted me the price every time. I didn’t end up doing it because it was a little more than I wanted to pay, but again, you CAN call to upgrade if you don’t want to bid. Or, even if you had a bid accepted (like me), you can call to upgrade further.

 

Balcony Stateroom

We were upgrade to midship balcony 9209. We absolutely LOVED our stateroom. It felt perfectly spacious enough for two people, and the balcony was huge!

 

 

 

The amount of storage space is absolutely bonkers. I definitely overpacked, as usual. (Every vacation I tell myself “This time will be different!” Spoiler alert: it never is.) Even though I brought too many clothes, there was MORE than enough space for everything – two huge closets and three big drawers. There was a ton of space in the bathroom mirror cabinet – I was able to unpack all of our toiletries and medications. After storing every single thing I packed, I still had a TON of space left over – I didn’t even need to use the huge cabinet behind the couch, or the cabinet blow the counter that has two baskets. I know every “what to pack on your cruise” list has an over-the-door shoe organizer on it, but if you have a balcony room on the Epic – leave it at home, you won’t need it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’ve seen a lot of people talk about having an “exposed balcony,” meaning there isn’t a room directly above you, so other people can see down onto your balcony. Our balcony was, in fact, exposed, which I knew ahead of time. A lot of people seemed to get really worked up over the ‘lack of privacy’ and it made me kind of nervous, but I actually really liked it. It made it feel like we were really ‘outside’ when we sat out there without a roof over our heads. I suppose people above us could have looked down and saw us sitting there, but…who cares? I wasn’t planning on sitting out there naked anyway. So, in my opinion, an exposed balcony is nothing to worry about.

 

 

 

As for the MUCH debated and discussed bathroom/shower situation…I am one of the few but proud who actually likes this set up. (I can hear you GASPING from here!)

 

Look, let’s just say it – on a cruise where you’re eating and drinking 24/7, there’s going to be some tummy issues. On our last cruise, there was a lot of “Wait, don’t get in the shower yet – I think I might need to go in a minute!” It was really convenient to not have to worry about that on this cruise – I could shower whenever I wanted without worrying about hubby dearest having an immediate bathroom emergency.

 

I was really surprised that the cabin didn’t steam up at all when we took showers. I run my water HOT, and would sometimes be in there a while, and the mirror right next to the shower never even fogged up. It must be something about the pressurization of the room.

 

I suppose that, no, it might not be the ideal setup for someone you weren’t pretty comfortable with. But I think if you utilize the curtain (we didn’t bother) and the Do Not Disturb sign on the door to avoid having your room steward pop in, the “lack of privacy” really isn’t a huge deal.

 

Speaking of room stewards, ours was the absolute highlight of our cruise! His name was Adhian (pronounced AHH jee – or at least that’s how he introduced himself). He introduced himself to us right away. He asked to double check that I was Rachel and my husband was Corey (probably because Corey can be a woman’s name) and we told him, but jokingly said that he could call us either and we’d answer. He then said “Well in that case, you can call me Nicole!” It was too funny, and we really did call him that for the first few days!

 

Later in the week, for a reason I can’t remember, my husband renamed him Optimus Prime, and he dubbed us “Jack” and “Sparrow.” One time I ran into him in the hallway, and he told me “Jack, I almost couldn’t bring your ice today.” (We asked on the first night for ice in our stateroom, and it was always there.) I said “Oh that’s okay, don’t worry about it!” He said “No it’s not that…but I am Optimus and I’m afraid that if I touch water, I’ll short circuit!” I cracked up and he proceeded to do the robot. He was just too funny!

 

On the second night, I came back to the room with my friend to get something, and he was in the middle of turning down our room. We chatted for a few minutes, and at some point, I accidentally knocked over my cup of sangria. (That would be the ONE time I was drinking something that wasn’t clear!) Luckily there wasn’t too much left in my glass, but of course I felt awful and apologized profusely. He assured me not to worry about it and wiped it up right away. (I’m telling you, that bright red stain came right out – that carpet is magic!) After that, he asked “Are you drinking?” I felt so dumb, I thought he was asking if I was drunk! I said “I was before my clumsiness got in the way!” He held up a finger to tell me to wait a minute, stepped out of the room and came back with a bottle of sparkling wine for me! He just wanted to make sure I was a drinker before handing it to me. So let me get this straight – I make a mess on the carpet when he’s in the middle of doing his job, and he gives me a bottle of wine for it?! It was just such a sweet gesture.

 

 

Adhian/Nicole/Optimus Prime was absolutely the best. It’s amazing what a great room steward can do for your cruise. We named him our Cruise Hero for the week on the form they leave in your room.

 

 

Edited January 31, 2018 by rachelia160

[rachelia160]

Spa

This was the only borderline negative experience I had onboard the Epic, but it turned into a pretty funny story for the week.

 

Warning: this is long and rambling and probably not all that interesting, and doesn’t really contain any “revew” information that you need to know – I just want to rant about my experience for a few minutes, so feel free to skip if you’re not interested in anecdotes.

 

Off we go…

 

One of the spa specials listed in the freestyle was the Top to Toe special. For $149 (not including the 18% gratuity), you received a full body massage, scalp massage, and a facial massage, totaling 75 minutes. I thought this was a pretty good deal, and my husband encouraged me to go for it.

 

 

 

When I arrived, my therapist was named Hammad. As he lead me back to the room, he told me all about all the other cruise ships he’s worked on and that he was a skin expert. This was all fine, but kind of unusual based on my past spa experiences – the therapists usually aren’t so chatty. He sat me down in a chair first and wanted to talk and ask me questions. I sort of wanted to get on with it and didn’t want to waste time talking about my skin, especially when I was more excited about the massage and the facial was just kind of a bonus, but whaddaya gonna do?

He asked me when my last facial was, and I said I had never had one. He started telling (lecturing?) me on how important they are, how important skin is, everything they do for you, how important the products are, on and on for a good ten minutes. Okay dude, I get it!

 

He then began asking me if I had any concerns with my skin.

 

“Acne?”

“I get a zit or two every once in a while, but not bad.”

“Wrinkles?”

“Nah, not yet.” (I’m 26.)

“Under eye bags?”

“Not that I’ve noticed.”

“Oily skin?”

“Towards the end of the day, maybe, but not too bad.”

 

As you can see, I didn’t have too many concerns. I certainly don’t have an amazing complexion or anything, but all in all, my skin pretty much behaves itself. I was just soooo over talking about it. Again, wasn’t that concerned about the facial – I wanted that rub down!

 

We (finally) got started on my massage, and it was wonderful – no complaints there. I mentioned that my lower back was a problem area and he did a great job loosening it up. It felt like it lasted a good long time, too. The scalp massage was also amazing. (Is there anything better than someone scratching your head? Especially when you don’t have to beg your spouse to do it?)

 

Then came the facial. He started examining me under one of those really bright magnifying glass things.

 

You know how I said I didn’t have that many concerns, and that overall I thought my skin was pretty decent?

 

HOO boy, was I apparently wrong.

 

Hammad picked apart my face piece by piece. He told me how bad the blackheads on my forehead were. He told me about the horizontal lines on my forehead. He told me he can tell I don’t use eye cream because of ALL THE WRINKLES by my eyes. (Again, I’m 26.) He told me how oily my forehead was. That I have acne all over my jaw line (I had, like, ONE zit, so sue me). I should really get a facial once a month and come back later in the week so he could do a full facial with extractions. On and on and on.

 

I know I’m ranting a bit, but I can’t even remember everything he said. All I know is that it made me feel awful. I went to the spa for a calming, relaxing (and quiet) experience, and then basically got told, unprompted, how horrible I look. I’ve never had an experience like that before. Of course, I know he was saying all this to sell me products to solve all of my ‘skin issues,’ and to get me to come back and get a full facial later in the week, but I gotta tell you – even knowing that, it really didn’t feel great.

 

So he gets on with the actual mini-facial and it was nice and relaxing, although I could have done without having the products explained to me as we went. I just tuned it out.

 

At the end he handed me a mirror and said “See how much better you look? Imagine if you got a full facial! See how this blahblahblah cream really reduced the wrinkles around your eyes?” (I’m know I’m harping on the wrinkles, but, YOU GUYS, I have never seen a wrinkle by my eyes, before or since!!)

 

So after I get dressed, the sales pitch starts. Of course, I’m expecting this. I get that it’s part of the deal when you receive a spa service. I get it – it’s part of their job, they make commission, and that it’s probably how they make the bulk of their money. That’s all fine. I usually listen to the pitch, and then politely refuse. In the past, if I’ve turned the product down, say, two or three times, after one last “Are you sure?”, that’s the end of it.

 

Well, as I’m sure you’ve guessed, that wasn’t the case this time. I’ve never been pushed so hard by someone selling me a product. He essentially resorted to insulting me to try to get me to buy a $150 teeny tiny bottle of eye cream. Reiterating how bad my wrinkles are and how badly I need it. I just kept saying it’s not in my budget, it’s not in my budget, IT’S NOT IN MY BUDGET! He wouldn’t take no for an answer. After about 10 minutes I felt like I was being held hostage. I finally said “I’d want to talk to my husband before spending that kind of money.” (Not really true, I was just trying to get out of there.) His response: “I think it’s so silly when women say they have to ask permission from their husband to spend money. Don’t you work?” Um, excuse me?? I certainly did not say “ask permission,” and I don’t think it’s your place to tell me that communicating with my husband about finances is “silly.”

 

That was the last straw for me. I finally said “Look, I’m not interested, and I’d like to go now.” (Which is SO not like me, but I just didn’t know what else to do – politeness was getting me absolutely nowhere).

 

He lead me out the lobby and was certainly less sunny and chatty than he had been during my entire service. He handed me my bill to sign, and stood over my shoulder while I signed it. That made me extremely uncomfortable since there is a line to leave additional gratuity (on top of the 18%) – I feel like he was watching to see if I was going to leave anything. I didn’t, because I had been planning on tipping a little extra in cash, but I could just feel his annoyance as he saw that I didn’t write anything in the tip line.

 

I handed him an extra $15 in cash, and that seemed to cheer him up slightly. I’m still kind of mad at myself for doing that – I’m always a generous tipper, but after the experience I had just had, I don’t think I should have tipped extra on top of the 18%.

 

All that being said, I don’t think that’s the typical experience at the spa – I have an inkling that he is definitely just the really pushy type. He was also dressed differently than the other massage therapists I saw walking around, and seemed more like a salesman than a massage therapist. I wonder if the deals in the freestyle are more of a sales pitch than if you just signed up for a massage at full price? Or maybe he’s just too intense. Who knows.

 

Overall, I’m still glad I did it. The massage and facial themselves were wonderful. The pushiness was not.

 

Of course I told my husband all this, and he felt bad for me, but also thought it was kind of hilarious. The rest of the week, when I’d get ready for the night, he’d say “Babe you look great! Other than the fact that you need a whole new face!” Oh well. I got a good massage and a funny story to tell out of the whole thing.

 

One other thing I want to mention: every other time I’ve gotten a massage at a resort or on a cruise, I was given access to the thermal suite before and/or after my service. I had assumed I would this time, but that wasn’t the case – maybe you only have access to the thermal suite with the pass, not when you have a massage or spa service? Just wanted to point that out in case anyone was planning on booking a service to have access to the thermal suite.

Edited January 31, 2018 by rachelia160

[rachelia160]

Disembarking

Our flight didn’t leave until the following day, so we weren’t in a big hurry to get off the ship. We decided to self-disembark anyway, just so we wouldn’t have to deal with baggage claim. We got to deck 7 near Bliss around 8:30 am, and it was definitely pretty crowded. Even so, we fell in line and everything moved along smoothly. From getting in line to actually stepping outside after customs, it took about 30 minutes total, so not bad at all – definitely quicker than I was expecting. The line never stopped moving once, we just walked along steadily. It’s really nice to not have to fill out a customs form anymore – they just check your passport and off you go!

 

Final Thoughts

We had a great, lazy time on the Epic. She gets a lot of flak for a lot of things, but I sure didn’t find anything to complain about. I love Royal Carribean too, but you can’t beat the value of Norwegian with the free perks, and the quality is on par, so we’ll definitely sail NCL on our next cruise. We’ll probably try a different ship just so we can try different things, but I’d certainly sail the Epic again in the future.

[rachelia160]

Following! Thanks for taking the time to review! Will be on the Epic in December, can't wait!

 

You'll love it! Let me know if you have any questions!

[mcmomny]

You'll love it! Let me know if you have any questions!

 

 

Love the review! Thank you!

 

We sail on the 10th and can't wait! I also agree about the bathrooms, much prefer the setup!

 

I had one question for you, room temperature on the ship? Will I need light weight sweaters in dining rooms and shows?

 

We were on The Epic once before but I don't remember the inside temps.at night.

 

Thanks again for the great review!

[rachelia160]

Love the review! Thank you!

 

We sail on the 10th and can't wait! I also agree about the bathrooms, much prefer the setup!

 

I had one question for you, room temperature on the ship? Will I need light weight sweaters in dining rooms and shows?

 

We were on The Epic once before but I don't remember the inside temps.at night.

 

Thanks again for the great review!

 

Thanks for your kind words!

 

I brought a sweater just in case and never took it out of the closet. I thought the temperature around the ship and in the dining rooms was very comfortable. That being said, I wasn't in the theater, but I can't imagine it being too drastically different.

[Clarea]

Very nice review, thanks much!

[Skubi]

Loved the review, thanks so much. Will be on her in 17 days, so excited.

 

Since I'm a fair bit older than you, if I choose to do the specials in the spa. I may just skip the facial, since if I got your massage therapist, he'd have a field day with my wrinkles, and I certainly would need a "new face" :D :D

[CANBRFAN]

Great review, thank you for all of the information! I know you said you didn't get off the ship but I was wondering if your ship docked in Falmouth and if so, did you speak to anyone who toured the island, wondering if there were any safety issues?

[fabnfortysomething]

wincing about your spa experience but am sure you will be able to laugh about it later

 

I have had some good experiences with the specials but have always had really friendly[female] therapists who didn't give a hard sell

I know they get commission on sales but no need for aggressive/insults

 

I am 55 so they have plenty of skin issues they can point out!

 

I ask them to write down the products so my daughter who gets staff commission can get them for me-actually true in my case but you can always prepare in future

 

I wouldn't have given an extra tip and would have asked to speak to spa manager and report his approach

however hindsight is wonderful and understand how easy it is to be "guilted" into just signing to get out of an uncomfortable situation

[bluehawks47]

Thank you for the review. We will be on the Epic in March. Looking forward to it.

 

Kathleen

[llollipoppi]

Hey did you guys have stickers on your cabin door with rachel and corey on them? If so we were just along from you :)

 

This is a great review I would agree with absolutely everything you have said. My first time NCL and never encountered a problem getting more than one drink at the bar etc. Also paid the extra above UBP for quite a few expresso martinis.

 

Spa: I also got the massage special, mines was done by a girl called wenyelene (apologies if this is an incorrect spelling) and she was absolutely fantastic. the full massage from tip to toe was amazing no talking throughout, only to ask if the pressure was enough. She dd however give me an additional treatment during my facial for my eyes as I had ticked the dark circles on the questionnaire (if there was an emoticon on this thread I would roll my eyes at this questionnaire because its essential purpose is to give them ideas as to what ailments they can sell you products for). At the end she also gave me a mirror and said look at the difference in your eyes, I just said write down the name of the product and I'll speak to my husband then gave her good feedback about how good she was. Essentially if anyones reading this I would highly recommend her!

 

I also had a thermal suite pass for the week, it was amazing, I went in every day to use the steam/sauna/pool to rid my self of the toxins from the night before. On one morning however my self and my friend went and the pool was closed for maintenance, found this a bit annoying given that its the main feature and we had paid £149 for it.

O' Sheehans: the food was nice but yeah we had mains come out then appetizers on more than one occasion and one time waited minutes for a drink. It didn't really seem that busy so I have no idea what was going on. I think they need to think about how the restaurant side is operating.

 

Anyhoo I did enjoy the ship, plenty to do for my age group (was there for my 40th but i'm still 30 at heart and like late nights too) and have already booked to go on the bliss in January 2020 :)

[Tiggertastic]

I don’t seem to be able to see your photos. Great review

 

 

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[cincicruisers]

Thank you for sharing your review. How was the entertainment on board?

[BirdTravels]

Great review. Great photos!

[alalone1017]

Oh my sweet Jesus...you poor thing. It would have been hilarious if you would have just busted into tears and acted like you gave a poo about what he was saying. Men don't know how to react to a woman crying...lol.

 

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[Gimmiethebeach]

Thank You for the review! We are going on the Epic in March and it’s been hard to find actual reviews that don’t tear the ship apart! Glad you had such a great time, wrinkles and all! [emoji6]

 

 

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[collie1228]

Nice review. We have a spa mini-suite on Epic in 24 days. We probably won't leave the ship either, except for maybe Great Sturrip Cay. We cruised on Epic out of Miami in 2012, so we know our way around. Looking forward to a relaxing trip.

[Victorious8]

Thanks for the review, hopefully you can get your pictures working! My friends and I (age 29) will be sailing her in a week. How were the evenings on the ship? How did your friends like the trip? Thanks for the review!

[JenneeWood]

Enjoyed the review. Can't wait to get on her in 58 days.

 

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[bmwman]

iConcierge

Since we were traveling with friends, the iConcierge was SUCH a huge help. It would have been really difficult to find each other when we were all running around the boat at different times, so it was awesome to be able to text each other. Definitely worth the $9.99 per week.

 

As many others have said, you don’t really get alerts when someone texts you, so it’s important to open the app every once in a while to check and see if you have any messages.

 

It was also great to use to call home without spending a ton of money. The rate info on the app said it would cost 79 cent per minute to call back home, but when actually doing it, a notification popped up that it was only 19 cents a minute. Way better than paying five bucks per minute to call from your room!

 

 

 

If you’re planning on using the app to call home, warn whoever you’re calling to look out from a Miami number – that’s how it comes up on the other end. My mom didn’t answer the first time I called because she thought it was a junk call.

 

Drinks and UBP:

 

Our group definitely likes our booze, so I did a lot of research on the UPB and drinks before leaving. Here are a few notes on questions I know I and others have had:

 

• You do get charged tax on your drinks when the ship is docked at Port Canaveral, even with the UPB. It’s really nothing to worry about – I think our total was about $6 by the time we left (and that was with lots of double Grey Gooses…Grey Geese?) Keep in mind that top shelf liquor = higher taxes than if you order well liquor. Our friend’s bill was only $3 or $4 because they mostly drank beer.

 

• You definitely can get doubles at the bar - but you don’t really need to. The pours are veeeery generous. Every bartender I saw used a jigger to pour liquor (which is 1.5 oz) but then continued to pour for quite a few seconds after it was full. They definitely aren’t trying to underpour you!

 

• You can definitely order two drinks at a time with one card. (A double, however, counts as two drinks – so you couldn’t order two double drinks with one card.)

 

• You can bring up someone else’s card along with yours if you want to order more than two drinks.

 

• It’s pretty difficult to get something that isn’t included in the UBP, unless it’s exclusively listed on the menu as being over $15. If you do order something that’s not included in the UBP, the server/bartender will definitely make sure you know that before they start making your drink – they’re not trying to trick you.

 

My friend ordered a drink at Maltings (it was either a Manhattan or an Old Fashioned, I can’t remember) that’s listed on the menu at $18ish dollars. The bartender told him that it would cost extra, but when she saw his hesitation, she offered to make it with booze that would be included in the UBP. So, if you want something on the menu that’s over $15, I think it’s worth asking if they can make it with different liquor that’s included in the UPB.

 

My favorite drink from the menu was the Rebellious Fish. I don’t like frozen drinks, or anything too sweet or fruity, and the fish was light and sweet, but not too sweet. Other than my vodka tonics, they were my go-to for the week.

I tried the famous espresso martini at Shaker’s. It was definitely super yummy, but I don’t really get why it’s $18 – it’s not super strong, and didn’t seem to have super fancy liquor in it. Oh well, it was still worth a try!

 

 

Food

During my research on the Epic, I read everything from “The food is amazing!” to “The food is horrible!”, so I went in with no expectations. After eating a LOT, I’m am solidly on team amazing! I didn’t have a single bad bite the entire time we were on the ship.

 

The buffet never felt insanely crowded – you could always find a place to sit, even when it was pretty busy. I feel like I heard a ton of stories about how crazy it is on embarkation day, but it totally wasn’t! There was no line at all and plenty of tables. We easily grabbed hamburgers and hot dogs. It was really nice having the outside buffet too to grab a quick bite for lunch while hanging out by the pool.

 

We went to taste two or three times, and everything was amazing. I really enjoyed the salmon and the grouper. One night they had fried brie as an appetizer and it was to DIE for – I could have eaten nothing but that for my whole dinner. The only thing that got a “meh” review from my husband was the steak that’s on the everyday menu - I think it was a New York Strip. He said it wasn’t awful, but nothing to write home about.

 

 

 

 

My husband was able to wear flip flops, shorts and a t-shirt into Taste. The dress code is very relaxed. If that bugs you, head on over to the Manhattan Room – they do have the pants and closed-toe shoe dress code for men there.

 

The definite star of the week was O’Sheehan’s. We ate there WAY more than I had planned because we ended up enjoying it so much. Our faves were the spinach artichoke dip (ordered it every single time), fish and chips (which I didn’t even know I liked before this trip, and I was obsessed), the salmon Caesar salad, the fajitas, and of course…the famous wings! They really are just as awesome as everyone says!

 

We never had to wait for a table. Even when it looked packed, there was always room somewhere.

One thing that was kind of funny was the order everything was served in. Most times we went it seemed to go in reverse – entrees would come out first, then salads, then appetizers. I think they crank so much food out of there that they just make everything constantly and your waiter grabs an order when it’s ready. It didn’t bother us as at all (spinach artichoke dip makes an excellent dessert!), but if you want things in a certain order, I’d ask your waiter just in case.

 

A great review.

 

The tax issue on drinks in port is interesting - on the UK UBP we were never charged tax so maybe it is a change in your tax law. In any event in Europe up to Brexit no tax can be charged to UK UBP in or out of port.

 

Just for record O' Sheehans is not Fish and Chips as we know it in England and we invented it. Suffice to say even one of their former F & B directors said they know it is nothing more than a battered piece (finger) of processed fish with a few fries. For u brits we like a whole bit of Cod or Haddock in batter and some proper chunky chips. Not saying did not like but it really is not Fish and Chips to us.

[Keith1010]

Have really been enjoying your review.

Keith