Somewhat Live from the Epic - 3/6/22 Sailing

[Daddyrob81]

Good Morning All from Curaçao.

 

I wanted to just make a quick post on our current Epic sailing out of San Juan so far and see if I can answer any questions that y’all may have.

 

Embarkation in San Juan was a breeze. Have your Vax card ready to be examined a number of times before being allowed onboard. But the offsite testing before boarding that I saw referenced on other posts has been eliminated. We were on board by about 10:30 am, and no, I am not a haven guest. 
 

Departure was 2 hours later than originally scheduled at 7, so there was no real sail away event. 
 

For anybody inquiring Victor is the current CD.

 

The staff has by far been the best part of this sailing, with food right behind them. Special recognition to Ms. Janet, one of the hostesses at O’Sheehan for what I can only explain as exemplary customer service! There were a lot of new staffers who join onboard yesterday in Aruba, so we will see how this continues.

 

I am not a super picky eater so the food for me has been perfect. There was only one item that my traveling party didn’t care for, which was the ravioli in lobster sauce in the MDR. Le Bistro was perfect as always. MDR meals are good, hot, tasty. Buffet is the typical offerings.

 

Spa was great, had a 1.5 massage for the cost of 55 minutes, which was a port day special. Avoid the after massage sales pitch while you’re slightly captive in less clothing than you would be at Target.

 

The PAX count is approximately 1500. Makes

for quite the nice experience on the ship. Not so busy, elevators never packed.

 

Ok, so now the meh stuff.

 

You can see the age of the ship. More rusting spots, internally things just out of place, broken, etc.

 

The Internet works when it wants, which isn’t super frequently. Not sure if it’s the WiFi network or the ship’s other equipment but you’d be hard pressed to get internet at night. Would be nice to use my internet package.
 

The navigation channel was stuck with the ship in the wrong position for 12+ hours and as of last night, it’s just down now.

 

If you’re familiar with the studios, you’ll recall that the light in the toilet cubicle was motion sensor based and would turn on and off, in my room that was replaced with a light switch, at 6+ ft up the wall. I can reach it at 6’4 but others may not be so lucky. Corridor lights that burn out aren’t being replaced or are being replaced with white lights, so the studio corridors now look like some scene from a zombie movie.

 

TV in my stateroom has been constantly rebooting itself since embarkation day. Not that much time is spent in there, but at night I like to have noise while showing and tend to leave the TV on at night. 
 

My parents first time on the epic and their balcony room is perfect.

 

Latitude Rewards. As Gold, and my parents as Bronze, we’ve had some different experiences. They had boxes of water in their room, bubbly, chocolate strawberries, cookies. They have been showered with love. I can’t even get an ice bucket. It’s the oddest thing. I feel like I’m sailing as a first timer with NCL. Don’t pin this on the Studio, this is my 4th studio sailing, most recently on the bliss and I had these previous positive experiences. 
 

My stateroom is clean, Turndown is nice, but that’s about it with regards to the room. No towel animals at night. 

Shows are still limited. Priscilla is still dark, which was one thing I was really hoping to see again.
 

if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask. 

[son3cruisers]

Thank you so much for posting! We are on the Epic on Sunday. Your ship review is so great to hear.

Have you been able to get off the ship in each of the ports? I realize it’s only been a few days. Curious as to what that looks like now, thinking masks and restrictions. 

[Daddyrob81]

23 minutes ago, son3cruisers said:

Thank you so much for posting! We are on the Epic on Sunday. Your ship review is so great to hear.

Have you been able to get off the ship in each of the ports? I realize it’s only been a few days. Curious as to what that looks like now, thinking masks and restrictions. 

We are currently standing off ship In Curaçao waiting for our excursion. Here the requirement is face masks in Inside venues, stores, restaurants. Bring your Vaccination cards as well, as we are being told those will be examined.
 

Yesterday was Aruba which we also were off the ship, no mask requirements.

 

2 of our 5 excursions have already had time changes. One family wasn’t quite happy to have booked 2 excursions on the same day only to have one of the AM tours cancelled and rebooked in the afternoon… can’t be on 2 excursions at the same time Shorex. Get it together.

[son3cruisers]

Thanks so much for your reply! Ok, good to know - will be making extra paper copies of our vaccination receipts, as I usually just show mine on my phone. Enjoy your day! Are you on a beach excursion? Or just touring the beautiful island?