Our EPIC review - westbound transatlantic crossing 4th – 17th November 2018

[Sea saw 56]

Thank you for taking the time to post all this information.  We will be on the Epic for a 15 day TA in April, and I am happy to see postings of the menus, in fact I really hope they stay the same and don't change before we cruise.  There are several things that remain on the Epic's menu that have been removed from other ships offerings, such as Ribeye and Fried Fisherman's Platter in Cagney's, Pizza in La Cuccina (yeah, we actually have enjoyed it).

Hope you really enjoy your cruise on the Epic!

[tbo]

I just wanted to say thank you for posting the menus. Other reports have been that the ribeye is gone off of the Cagney's menu, but no pictures of an updated menu. Here's hoping that it remains the same for our cruise in January.

 

I hope you are having a wonderful time, again thank you for taking the time to report!

[cdnsteelman]

Hi Pete - if you see this question while you're still on board and you happen to be near the Cruise Next folks could you ask what the current bonus offer is on the Epic for Cruise Next Ultimate (i.e. buy certificates and book your next cruise on board)?  Either that or just enjoy your last night at sea 😉

[peteukmcr]

On 11/14/2018 at 10:15 PM, fabnfortysomething said:

great review and your partners blog too

we did the Eastern TA on Epic April this year

Andre was also the cruise director and a really entertaining guy[originally from South Shields]

his progressive trivia was hilarious as each daily winning team got to add a decoration to Marley the towel animal who ended up becoming Marlene by the end

did he do the same this cruise?

 

He did the same with Marley but as 1 team dominated the trivia, I don’t think he was decorated as much as he could have been. There was only 1 day when another team kept Marley. 

[peteukmcr]

11 hours ago, cdnsteelman said:

Hi Pete - if you see this question while you're still on board and you happen to be near the Cruise Next folks could you ask what the current bonus offer is on the Epic for Cruise Next Ultimate (i.e. buy certificates and book your next cruise on board)?  Either that or just enjoy your last night at sea 😉

As first timer on NCL I’m not that familiar with the next cruise deposit stuff, but this the flyer we kept receiving all cruise to try and entice us down! 😄 

 

As we’ve already got another NCL sailing booked for 2019 (plus another TA on another line) and 2020. 

[www3traveler]

Thank you for all your wonderful postings.  I hope you had a wonderful cruise.

[peteukmcr]

On 11/17/2018 at 1:00 PM, www3traveler said:

Thank you for all your wonderful postings.  I hope you had a wonderful cruise.

Thank you. We had a great cruise and love arriving into Florida without the dreaded jet lag! 

 

 

[peteukmcr]

Disembarkation

 

I have to say disembarkation was was painless compared to what we have experienced with other lines. Really appreciated being able to choose our tag colour and so our preferred departure time. 

 

We must have docked around 5:30 and were followed in by Disney Fantasy, Carnival Breeze and RCI Navigator of the Seas (which an ex colleague of mine was on). As Navigator had radically changed its itinerary due to Atlantic storms, Port Canaveral wasn’t a planned stop, and so US immigration weren’t expecting them, so they were in for a long wait to be processed for entry into the USA. 

 

We chose a departure time of 8:00 am and so awoke at 6 to have breakfast, which again surprisingly wasn’t manic as we’ve had on other lines. I suppose it helps having multiple venues open for breakfast. 

 

We left our stateroom around 7:45 and sat in Shakers at first, moving towards O’Sheehan’s later. 

 

Andre, the cruise director, had already advised that, due to US immigration, the delivery of all baggage was to be delayed by approximately 30 minutes, and so as a consequence, so was disembarkation. 

 

So so just about 8:30 our tag colour was called and we departed the ship from deck 6 forward, but there was also a gangway on deck 5 forward which helped tremendously in terms of crowd control. 

 

As as soon as we were in the terminal we spotted our bags and as we’d cleared immigration in St Thomas we were just waved through. 

 

My only disappointment with this process is the rudeness of the porters. Pushing their trolleys right across your path nearly tripping you up, shouting at you to move, especially at the exit. Perhaps it’s because we didn’t take up their offer of transporting our bags (or others who they touted their service to) which makes them display no manners. 

 

Anyway, we were soon on the Hertz car rental shuttle and could not believe it was the same driver that dropped us off for our Oasis of the Seas cruise in April this year! I suppose it’s not surprising as it’s his regular job! 

 

Thank goodness we we chose early disembarkation because the line was out of the door at the rental office, and grew rapidly. But with 5 ships in port (we spotted Oceana Insignia when we drove away from Port Canaveral) it was a busy day and the staff were bringing vehicles from another lot. 

 

However, my tip would be to make sure you’re enrolled in the frequent renter program of your car rental company of choice. This will usually help at pick up as most companies have separate lines for those members. Certainly helped on this occasion as we were on the road by 9:45. 

 

My other major tip, is pre book at Port Canaveral/Cocoa Beach, because the rental offices are small and as a result don’t have large fleets at their disposal. Turning up without a reservation will most likely result in disappointment. 

 

So off we set for our overnight stay at Universal Studios newest hotel, Aventura, where we arrived by 11:00. Obviously our room wasn’t ready as check in is normally 4pm. 

 

Anyway we were checked in, my telephone number taken as I would receive an sms message when our room was available. 

 

So we left our bags with luggage services and headed to the parks. We got a message at 1:30pm as we were having lunch, to say our room was available, so we headed back and were installed by 2pm! Result!

 

Anyway that’s not related to my cruise review, but I’m currently sat at Orlando Airport awaiting our homeward flight, I thought I’d give an update. 

 

Once we get get home I’ll provide the other  topics I promised of entertainment, activities and summary and conclusions. 

[www3traveler]

I hope your journey home is uneventful.

[peteukmcr]

Another instalment of my partners blog

 

https://highseasescapades.co.uk/norwegian-epic-antigua/

[peteukmcr]

Entertainment 

 

There are so many options it is difficult list them all, from the production shows in the Epic theatre for which reservations, although not mandatory, are recommended (Priscilla the Musical and Burn the Floor) to the entertainers at many of the lounges and bars around the ship in the evening. 

 

There are other shows performed in the Epic theatre, Headliners, Atrium, Bliss Lounge or the Cavern Club that don’t require reservations, but as the venues are relatively small for the number passengers onboard (for example the Epic theatre only holds 800 which is pretty small with the possibility of there being 4100 guests on board) it’s necessary to get there early to make sure of getting a seat. 

 

There are numerous ‘events’, weather permitting, in Spice H2O or the main pool deck. 

 

These range from 80’s & 90’s music parties to the famous NCL Glow party which was a great event with complimentary face painting before the start of the event.

 

However, unfortunately 5 minutes before the party was scheduled to start in Spice H2O, the heavens opened and so everyone (mostly dressed all in white) were sheltering undercover near the bar. The staff relocated the event to the Bliss Lounge, so it must have been quite an amusing sight to see lots of us working our way from deck 15 aft to deck 7 forward, dressed in white with painted faces, especially by those sat in Maltings, Shakers and O’Sheehans!

 

Every evening the Bliss Lounge hosts events too, turning into the main disco later until the early hours. 

 

All I would say is check the Freestyle Daily and the ‘At a glance’ sheet if you are given one at check in. 

 

As we’re not ‘show’ people we only saw ‘Priscilla’ and ‘Burn the Floor’ but can’t recommend ‘Priscilla’ enough. Absolutely fantastic, earning a standing ovation. 

[tbo]

I am so looking forward to our January cruise and I can't wait to see Priscilla-from the pictures it just looks so colorful and bright, I already love the costumes!

[marktwothousand]

Were the beds already pushed together when you checked in to your room?

[peteukmcr]

1 hour ago, marktwothousand said:

Were the beds already pushed together when you checked in to your room?

They were made up as single beds when we arrived and to be honest, there isn’t much room to separate them so they might as well be made up as 1 double/king (we wanted separate and to honest this is where I found the difference between NCL Epic and other ships, you can’t really have space between the beds, well not in a category BB mid ship balcony cabin). 

[peteukmcr]

Some more photos

 

[Oakman58]

Thanks for sharing your trip with the rest of us.  When I was on the Epic I thought Priscilla was an outstanding stage production and as good if not better than most land based theaters.

[peteukmcr]

Apologies but I omitted to mention our visit to Shanghai, we made reservations for 7:30pm as we were booked to see Burn the Floor later and didn’t want to rush a dinner at 8 or 8:30. 

 

Once again I’m not going to go into great details regarding the food as it’s subjective, but we did enjoy what we ordered. However, service was quite the opposite to Taste or The Manhattan Room, so quick it did feel rushed and we were out in just over 35 minutes. In future I’d ask them to slow it down, but not having been before we didn’t know it would be so quick. 

 

I’d recommend making reservations as it is extremely popular around 8pm and it is not as big as either of the other complimentary venues. 

[peteukmcr]

Other entertainment I omitted earlier included Comedy shows, Music renditions, Magic shows, Dance shows, ‘Howl at the Moon’, Hypnotists, Crew Talent shows, Cirque Dreams in the Spiegel Tent (fee applied for the dinner included) and the Epic Variety show. There were various ‘Beatles’ shows by the ‘Epic Beatles’ band too.

 

Next topic is:-

 

Activities

 

There were so many activities arranged that it was necessary to review the Freestyle daily closely to plan your day of you wished to take part.

 

Apparently there was some sort of ‘activity card’ you could get signed once you had attended or taken part in an activity, and on the last day of the sailing you could redeem the ‘points’ you earnt for prizes. 

 

A lot of the more popular activities would be highlighted in the Freestyle Daily such as Progressive Trivia (held each sea day from day 3 and ending on the final sea day) when the overall winner was announced and allowed to take ‘Marley’ the towel animal photo frame that had been ‘enhanced’ by each winning team who had ‘ownership’ of him overnight and were encouraged to dress him by adding things to him!

 

The cruise director also hosted various specific trivia games in the Atrium at 1pm such as ‘Super Heroes’, ‘Star Wars’, ‘Star Trek’, ‘Harry Potter’, ‘One Hit Wonders’, ‘Comic Books’, & ‘Hollywood Golden era’ to name a few.

 

There were various lectures held in various venues, culinary demonstrations, Ice carving, game shows, dance classes, ‘how to’ presentations, workshops and Q&A sessions following presentations (e.g. Ship technical presentation).

 

There were various activities where a fee was charged such as painting classes and Bingo.

 

Art Auctions were held regularly too.

 

As the weather improved more and more and more poolside activities/games were available such as Basketball, Pool Olympics, ‘Dash & Match Pool Game’, and Ping Pong tournaments.

 

As Epic has 3 water slides and a sports court there were many opportunities for enjoying yourself on the pool decks, especially as we headed nearer to the Caribbean and warmer climes.

 

Various activities were organised for ‘Friends of Bill W’, & LGBT+ etc throughout the sailing both hosted or not with the same time & location (where practical) being reserved for the duration of the cruise.

[SLYScorpions]

Following your great review, Thank you!

[peteukmcr]

Whilst I compile the Summary & Conclusions section I thought I’d provide some random photos 

[peteukmcr]

OK, so finally I've got around to writing our Summary and Conclusions. Quite lengthy though!

 

Summary & Conclusions

 

Taking into consideration we are NCL ‘virgins’ we would naturally make comparisons with the other cruise lines we have sailed on, as mentioned in the introduction (Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, MSC, Cunard, P&O). The following are purely our observations and may not impact others and so please do not take the negatives as criticisms, none ruined our sailing.

 

Positives

 

Freestyle Dining

 

There were a great selection of complimentary dining venues including the Garden Café buffet with indoor and outdoor options. Spice H2O also offered a reduced selection for breakfast and lunch.

 

Three main table service restaurants, The Manhattan Room & Shanghai (dinner) and Taste (for breakfast and lunch) with open seating and O’Sheehan’s Pub for table service snacks.

 

A numerous selection of speciality restaurants - Modern, Cagney’s, Teppanyaki, La Cucina, Le Bistro, Yakitori & Sushi Japanese & The Spiegel Epicurean / Cirque Dreams.

 

It was great to be able to dine when you wanted, and also not being pressured into sharing a table if you did not want to. Also, the layout of the tables for 2 was really good, not as some other lines where, although you are seated at a table for 2, they are so close together, you might as well be sharing a bigger table!

 

The opening times of the Garden Café and especially O’Sheehan’s (24/7) were really good.

 

Cabin

 

There were many nice touches in the category BB mid ship balcony cabin such as coffee maker, ice bucket replenished every day without asking, ample storage, lights in the closet, and a deep and roomy balcony with comfortable chairs. 

 

The door sign with its rotating indicator for ‘Do not disturb’, ‘Make Up Cabin’, ‘Turn down cabin’ or ‘Available’ indicators is a nice touch.

 

Venues

 

Numerous indoor venues for relaxing and entertainment such as Spiegel Tent, Headliners, Bliss Lounge, The Atrium, O’Sheehan’s bowling alley, Card Room and Library.

 

In terms of outdoor venues, Spice H2O was a great large adult only space during the day with its well-stocked and staffed bar and as mentioned before, providing food at lunch.

 

Pool Deck 

 

Obviously, there was the main pool area and sports court together with the 3 water slides which, once the weather improved, were extremely popular.

 

As we were not Haven guests, I can’t comment on that area but can report on a good quiet area on deck 18 accessed by elevator from the pool deck. As you exit the main doors of the Garden Café towards the pool deck, the elevator on the right is marked for Haven Guests only, but the one on the left is available to take you up to deck 18 and a spacious quiet area.

 

Staff

 

All staff were very friendly and helpful, the officers were also very visible, all of them greeting guests with a smile whenever passing you around the ship.

 

The Cruise Director (Andre Gaffney) and his team were fantastic and ensured that all guests were encouraged to attend.

 

Service

 

Bar service was very good in all venues we attended, despite being extremely busy at times, table service was also good. On the whole table service in the restaurants was OK, again considering the amount of people being served by the wait staff.

 

Good Laundry delivered ahead of time, wrapped in tissue paper in a wicker basket was a very nice touch.

 

Décor

 

The ship is attractive to look at internally, as are the cabin furnishings with many nice touches and so is pleasing to the eye and the venues have comfortable seating.

 

Bars / Lounges

 

A great variety of cocktails to try and a high proportion within the limits of the Ultimate Beverage Package.

 

Negatives

 

Cabin

 

The design of the cabin in terms of layout (separate toilet and shower just behind obscure glass) with the wash hand basin in the cabin is not the best, but this was not a major issue for us.

 

The main problems with the cabin was that the basin was far too small, the lighting abysmal and the location of power outlets, light switches and air conditioning control very awkward. 

 

The floor space was limited, but as only 2 of us it was manageable, but for 3 would be a little cramped in our opinion.

 

Although ample storage was provided, it comprised of many ‘hidden’ cupboards such as above one bed nearest the balcony, drawers under the sofa. One small closet near the balcony door had no hangers, so if you needed to use it, then you would have to request more.

 

Dining

 

We found service to be really ‘hit and miss’ in the complimentary restaurants. Breakfast in Taste could be quick at times but taking 55 minutes to receive your meal at other times. We think the issue with this is that we just order for example Eggs Benedict, and no ‘starters’ such as cereal or fruit plates, but it would appear that you to have to wait until the other tables your server has orders for have had their ‘starters’ delivered and then the ‘mains’ are arranged.

 

Lunch service on the whole was OK, but inconsistencies in terms of bread and water service. 

Dinner in Taste was again inconsistent, some days good, others awful to the extent I had to leave the restaurant to go to the Atrium Bar for beverages.

 

Having mentioned this to the door host, our next visit to The Manhattan Room, service was exemplary with the Head Waiter making sure everything was OK and sending a bottle of wine to our cabin.

 

Our biggest disappointment was the service in the speciality steakhouse Cagney’s for the upcharge paid. On our first visit the wine steward would not take an order for wine, so for the whole meal I had to go to the bar for glasses of wine. The dinner service was very slow showing that the whole restaurant is understaffed.

 

Despite reporting this to the door host, nothing was done until I reported it to Guest Services which resulted in the Maître D calling to apologise and ensuring us that our next visit would be better. Well, other than getting a window seat with a view of the wake, the service was only marginally better, but at least wine was served this time!

 

Due to the popularity of O’Sheehan’s at lunch, there were often long waits, even if you wished to share a table. However, the negative for us was Breakfast. Despite being very quiet no beverages (water or coffee) we offered, nor were orders taken despite waiting 15 minutes. This is acceptable when busy, but not when quiet.

 

We felt that although there was a variety of food available in the buffet choice was a little restricted meaning that we were eating the same things for lunch.

 

We also felt that fact that the Ultimate Beverage Package did not include coffee from the Atrium Café a disappointment, as the complementary coffee provided in the buffet, restaurants and beverage stations dotted around the ship to be awful. Far too strong and bitter. Only being available at the end of meal was a waste as we rarely wanted a coffee at that time.

 

Pool Deck

 

No enough upright chairs for relaxing in, the majority of seating was provided by sunbeds that do not offer enough support for those of us with back issues.

 

Promenade Deck

 

As above no seating and shuffle board took up all the width of one deck making you unpopular if you wished to relax on the non-smoking promenade deck.

 

Casino

 

The design of the casino on deck 6 meant that the whole of that deck stank of cigarette smoke making it an unpleasant area to walk through. This permeated to decks 5 below and 7 above sometimes.

 

Bars / Lounges

 

We feel due to the ship design, there are limited places to relax in a quiet environment.

 

Technology

 

Obviously due to the reliance on satellite communication, internet access wasn’t the best, especially for the price charged. 

 

Although there are several interactive screens located throughout the ship where some reservations could be made, it was a little frustrating to be unable to make bookings via the interactive TV in your cabin, nor order room service via the options available.

 

The Norwegian iConcierge app again was a little disappointing as it did not list all the activities available nor again could it be used to make reservations.

 

Conclusions

 

Did we enjoy the crossing? Yes, we did. 
Did we value what Norwegian Cruise Line offered for the price we paid, definitely.

Would be sail with them again? Yes, of course, we already have Escape booked for 2019!

Did we enjoy the company of our fellow sailors? Definitely, a great cross section of people, friendly and we enjoyed passing time with many of them.

 

So, despite our observations above, would we recommend NCL? Yes, because it has more similarities to the other mass market lines such as Royal Caribbean, Carnival and MSC. However, if you prefer the more formal atmosphere of Cunard and P&O, I wouldn’t recommend it.

 

 

[peteukmcr]

NCL Epic review.pdf

[20165]

Just got off Epic western Caribbean today and sound like a complete opposite from your experience. Probably the worst service we have every had on a cruise and we have been on quite a few.  I have to calm down and gather my thoughts before i write a review on this one...

[peteukmcr]

13 hours ago, 20165 said:

Just got off Epic western Caribbean today and sound like a complete opposite from your experience. Probably the worst service we have every had on a cruise and we have been on quite a few.  I have to calm down and gather my thoughts before i write a review on this one...

Oh dear, sorry to read that. I wonder if there was a big change in the staff once Epic returned to the US?

[peteukmcr]

Well finally the video of this TA is ready!

 

It covers pre cruise in Sitges and Barcelona, the ports of call in Madeira, Antigua (replacement for St Maarten) St Thomas, Port Canaveral (Orlando) post cruise. 

 

Keep an eye out for "Freddy Mercury" (6 mins 30 secs in) at the 80's party, some limbo exercise (9 mins 47 secs), the famous Glow party (13 mins 15 secs) that was relocated from Spice H2O to the Bliss Ultra Lounge due the heavens opening 5 mins before the start and the 'Ice Man Cometh' 16 mins 45 secs in!

 

There's also a good extract from our first Teppanyaki  dinner 4 mins 5 secs in.