Epic review--Southern Caribbean RT San Juan

[quercus alba]

15 hours ago, LarBear said:

Wonderful review, very detailed! We're scheduled on the same cruise leaving January 23rd, this review is extremely helpful.  Thank you so much for taking the time, it is very much appreciated.

My pleasure--always works out to be something of a travel journal for myself, too. 

[rmandmm]

Great review, @quercus alba! So nice to meet you and Mrs. Q. I was so surprised that we never saw you again on the ship after that first dinner but then again we were so focused on maintaining our relaxation that I suppose it's really not so surprising. 🙂

 

For all the other readers: we had a 10:30 check in time and arrived right at that time to the pier where we dropped our bags and went through the process as described herein. It also took us about an hour (48 minutes to be exact) to both get our negative results after the test. After that, we were pretty quickly through security then Haven check in and escort to the ship. My text record says I was onboard, had been given a Haven tour and were in our room at 12:12 PM. So arrival to well onboard within an hour and a half. We also had a fantastic cruise and could not believe how amazing our first trip in the Haven turned out...that DOS is just something else. Anyway, sorry to hijack! Great cruise and great review!

[OurAnniversary25]

Thank you so much for posting this review!  Our luggage tags arrived yesterday and we are ready to head to San Juan on the 6th, cruising on the 9th.  Glad you and Mrs. Q had such a wonderful time!

[Jjscd]

Thank you so much for your review! It was a delight to read and we can't wait to sail.  We are on the Jan 9th cruise and booked some of the same tours you talked about. So happy that you enjoyed them.

[Nclcruise1415]

Fantastic review! We were on the last Epic cruise from San Juan prior to the shutdown. You really brought me back to a wonderful time. We have the Bliss coming up to the Mexican Riviera in February. I'm really looking forward to that regardless of the masking situation. 

[billslowsky]

On 12/23/2021 at 6:01 PM, quercus alba said:

 

*Every island has its own signature brewery--My ratings:

1) Montana Black Beer, Curacao

2) Carib lager, St. Kitts

3) Montana Blonde, Curacao

4) Piton pilsner, St. Lucia

5) Balashi pilsner, Aruba

Don't agree? Conduct your own tasting!

 

 

 

 

And Carib is cheap too!  I liked Piton as well.  Some year I will try the Montanas.

[KathyJL]

On this this cruise in March. Thanks so much!!!

[cruiser123!]

Thank you!!

 

A few questions for you.    Did you have to test to leave the ship?  We'll be flying back to lovely ol' MSP ourselves.   I wasn't sure if PR is considered part of the US for covid related testing (ie not needing to test to get back in).

 

Do you have any of the dailies?

 

and of course.... did they bring the towel animals back ? ; -)

 

 

 

[quercus alba]

2 hours ago, cruiser123! said:

Thank you!!

 

A few questions for you.    Did you have to test to leave the ship?  We'll be flying back to lovely ol' MSP ourselves.   I wasn't sure if PR is considered part of the US for covid related testing (ie not needing to test to get back in).

 

Do you have any of the dailies?

 

and of course.... did they bring the towel animals back ? ; -)

 

 

 

You do not have to test to leave the ship or return to the US mainland. Or I should say WE did not have to. Seems the guidelines are changing weekly! Hopefully by the time you sail, omicron has burned itself out? Good luck.

 

Interesting story--as you'll find out, PR requires you to register your negative test and vaccination status before entry. Since our return 10 days ago, we've had daily emails from the PR Dept of Health to report any symptoms. Well, I’ve been answering them honestly—holiday headaches and fatigue, taking ibuprofen and tylenol as usual... So I was treated to a nice long phone call follow up yesterday morning from them inquiring about my status! Well now the thing is,  I’m back to work on a hospital unit with COVID + patients all around me now, so if I test + next week I doubt that I caught it from Epic or SJU!

 

I do have Dailies, but since the itinerary seems to change each week, I don't think it's that beneficial to scan them all. If you have a couple of specific questions, I'll answer. I will say--watch for Don Juan's performances, Sabor Latino if they are still on board, and Priscilla, of course--but I'm not sure if the experience of our week will be the same across all the Southern Caribbean itineraries.

 

No towel animals, sorry. I suppose you could talk your steward into making you a couple if it's super important to you, though. I just was happy to have clean towels all the time. 🙂

 

(Since you're local --or maybe just connecting thru MSP?--feel free to reach out privately if you like: saoakman at gmail dot com)

Edited December 31, 2021 by quercus alba

[sseknichols]

Great review!  We are booked on similar itinerary in March.  

 

This will be our first cruise with NCL and thus the Epic.  Any suggestions or pointers from the OP or anyone else?

[quercus alba]

1 hour ago, sseknichols said:

Great review!  We are booked on similar itinerary in March.  

 

This will be our first cruise with NCL and thus the Epic.  Any suggestions or pointers from the OP or anyone else?

Relax.

Don't get bent out of shape about the small stuff.

If you can't decide between two starters on the main dining menu, don't be shy about asking for both--they'll usually be happy to give them to you. 😄  Same with dessert, if your spouse will let you. (Don't like the dessert choices on the menu? There will be more options up in the buffet if you look there, too!)  

Martini flight tasting--if you're not sure of your drinking capacity, you can share a flight with your spouse...(or a new friend, but don't tell your spouse! 😜)

The better coffee is in the machines in the Great Outdoors, port side, next to the pool bar.

The fishes on the carpet all swim toward the front of the ship. The buffet (Great Outdoors) is at the front --Deck 15. Main dining rooms are aft. 

 

Enjoy.

[Goldconnection]

Apparently everyone disembarking in San Juan is automatically enrolled in Sara Alert. All cruise lines are required to supply their passengers contact information. We boarded the ship on 12/5 in New York and disembarked on 12/26 in San Juan of course. We started receiving emails from Sara Alert the second day of our San Juan stay (we stay in San Juan three days post cruise). We had no advance warning from NCL about being monitored. We are still receiving daily emails asking that we complete the daily report. Not sure how long we will be monitored. I have attached the daily email and the daily report we are ask to complete. Both my husband and my report reminder comes to one email address since we only provide NCL with one email address.

Edited January 2, 2022 by Goldconnection
Correct date

[CiaraMissed]

11 hours ago, Goldconnection said:

Apparently everyone disembarking in San Juan is automatically enrolled in Sara Alert. All cruise lines are required to supply their passengers contact information. We boarded the ship on 12/5 in New York and disembarked on 12/26 in San Juan of course. We started receiving emails from Sara Alert the second day of our San Juan stay (we stay in San Juan three days post cruise). We had no advance warning from NCL about being monitored. We are still receiving daily emails asking that we complete the daily report. Not sure how long we will be monitored. I have attached the daily email and the daily report we are ask to complete. Both my husband and my report reminder comes to one email address since we only provide NCL with one email address.

I think this is from the barcode you provided at the airport to exit, not NCL. I think it's two weeks of monitoring?

[quercus alba]

13 hours ago, Goldconnection said:

Apparently everyone disembarking in San Juan is automatically enrolled in Sara Alert. All cruise lines are required to supply their passengers contact information. We boarded the ship on 12/5 in New York and disembarked on 12/26 in San Juan of course. We started receiving emails from Sara Alert the second day of our San Juan stay (we stay in San Juan three days post cruise). We had no advance warning from NCL about being monitored. We are still receiving daily emails asking that we complete the daily report. Not sure how long we will be monitored. I have attached the daily email and the daily report we are ask to complete. Both my husband and my report reminder comes to one email address since we only provide NCL with one email address.

Yep—this is from PR Dept of health and has no connection to NCL. 
As I said above, I honestly reported my headaches, fatigue, and ibuprofen usage for them and was treated to a 5 minute phone call from a lovely DOH rep. Since Mrs. Q has been consistently symptom free, she is no longer getting the report requests (14 days post return) on our joint email, but they still ask me every morning. I’ve been back to work this weekend in a hospital teeming with COVID, so when they asked me if I’d been in contact with anyone…geez. 
Anyhow, I thanked them for their vigilance, put on my masks, and keep on curtailing my social life. Sure am glad we got to cruise when we did!

[KathyJL]

What time was your departure time from SJ? Ours is 7pm and we were wondering what time we'll be allowed to start boarding.

[blueslily]

Wonderful review!  I'm so glad that you chose to vacation and that you and your wife had a great time!  Thanks for sharing. 😁

[quercus alba]

2 hours ago, KathyJL said:

What time was your departure time from SJ? Ours is 7pm and we were wondering what time we'll be allowed to start boarding.

You choose a check-in time when you complete your eDocs final registration 3 weeks before sailing.

I think the earliest ones were for noon? No--I see folks reporting in on (other social apps) that they were in line for testing around 1100-1130...
We scheduled at 130 pm--got to the pier a little after 100, and spent ~2 hours going through the transfer to the Sheraton, testing, waiting, return to terminal for check in, and boarding as described above in posts #4 & 5 . We were walking up the gangway at 330 pm. Drinks in hand by 3:50. 😁🙃

[odie1024]

I checked in a few days ago for the 1/23 sailing and check in times started at 10 which is what I chose. I was planning to get there shortly before that to begin the testing process. All I know is we cannot wait as we are doing a B2B.

[Viajera7]

On 1/5/2022 at 8:26 PM, odie1024 said:

I checked in a few days ago for the 1/23 sailing and check in times started at 10 which is what I chose. I was planning to get there shortly before that to begin the testing process. All I know is we cannot wait as we are doing a B2B.

Did the Epic resume sailing ? Is your 1/23 trip still on? I was on the 12/12/21 sailing too and also the 12/19/21.  
Thanks quercus alba  for the review.

A few observations: I was on the first bus to the Sheraton for the test so maybe that’s why it didn’t take me an hour after I returned to the pier to enter the ship. The music was pretty good all around the ship. I went to all the shows except Priscilla because I had been on Epic 2 times already and I had seen it so I went to a comedy show. Supposedly, a performer had an accident and the show was cancelled the next time. There was a lady that was angry because she couldn’t see the show on my second cruise. I booked an excursion every day and it rained on 3 different occasions in the morning so I took the free rain poncho with me and that helped. Just so you know and be prepared.

[odie1024]

23 minutes ago, Viajera7 said:

Did the Epic resume sailing ? Is your 1/23 trip still on? I was on the 12/12/21 sailing too and also the 12/19/21.  

 Yes trip is still on as its been sailing since you got off.

[Viajera7]

I am glad for you and I hope that the Priscilla show is back. I stayed 2 1/2 days in San Juan after I disembarked on the 26th. I watched the local news and they said that there were new requirements for people arriving in PR. They needed to test 48 hours before arriving and that 11 cruises were cancelled. It was probably the cruises that made a one day stop in Puerto Rico and not the ones departing from there. 😋