NCL epic delays

[prwilson33]

The Mrs. and I were on the EPIC last week and everything was smooth and I plan on writing an in-depth review or our week, but here are some quick highlights.

 

-Arrived at Port Canaveral 9am Saturday AM, doors opened at 930AM, was checked in a seated by 945 am with a group 1 boarding pass.

 

-Boarding started a little passed 1130am, I was standing at guest services at 1142am. We were probably around the first 20-30 people on board and I am not priority, yet.

 

-Got POSH passes - worth it since the ship was sailing at capacity ($118 for the two of us for the week).

-We were delayed due to medical emergency and according to a person in the affected party, it was a legit emergency. We pulled out at 8:03 pm. Did not affect anything, except a few dollars of taxes on the alcohol we consumed while still in port and a one hour late arrival to GSC, but the Captain extended our stay in GSC by an hour, so nothing lost. There were actually two more medical emergencies on our trip. One was handled when we arrived in Jamaica (we passed the EMTs walking up the gangway as we left the ship). There was also one in Grand Cayman that delayed tendering a little.

-We made it to GSC and that place is awesome.

 

-For us, tendering was smooth because we had excursions in all ports, so had priority for tendering. I noticed at Grand Cayman the line for the tender was quite long.

 

-Service was top notch. I never encountered a bad attitude and was always taken care of. Granted, it will take a lot to get my ruffled when I am on vacation.

 

-Food was good to great. I made all my reservations online, went to headliners to make a couple of adjustments. Never waited for a table. Highlights were Moderno (a favorite of ours), the sushi (best I have had), Shanghai's, O'Sheehans wings and the burger and the prime rib the last night. We only ate in the Buffet twice for lunch and once for breakfast - everything else was a sit down. Side note: I live in Charleston, SC and consider myself a foodie as we have an embarrassment of riches here in Charleston for food.

 

-There was never an issue with engines. The last night we were doing 22kts.

 

-When not using the Bar in Posh, I never waited longer than 5 - 7 minutes for a drink (including pool bar and the atrium bar).

 

-Boat was spotless. Room was spotless (Aft Balcony 13282).

 

-Disembarkation: We decided to do the 9:30 am luggage tags. Got a great breakfast in taste and then we were in the lobby waiting at 8:20 am. (side note: this is a great place to people watch with guest services and people freaking out over what seems to be insignificant.) We got antsy and decided to walk off 8:45 AM. Was off the boat in about 10 minutes, as they have seemed to really work this issue out. There was a defined line to walk and staff spaced all throughout the walk to get off the boat. Found a porter, slipped him a $10 and we were in our car ready to pull out about 9:05 am.

 

More to come in an official review, but I will say that with all the "bad press" the EPIC got the last 30-45 days, that my experience was complete opposite and it seems the crew and NCL corporate has been listening to the common complaints and has worked really hard to address them.
 

Edited April 15, 2019 by prwilson33