Live(ish) Epic Transatlantic April 22-May 7

[depplep]

Thanks for taking us along on your land journey, I loved every minute of your travels.

[Clay Clayton]

2 hours ago, bluesea777 said:

Fantastic photos and reviews on the driving along the South Iceland including hotels! I've noted down the places and hotels you visited.

 

At lunch today (at our fave Italian, La Trattoria) I mentioned to DH that we need to do 2 NCL cruises in 2014 to use up our two CNs AND our two Diamond upgrades, and then plan the Iceland Circle and the side Faroes sojourn in 2025. 

 

Last July we stopped in Akureyri and I hired a car for the day - I thought driving up there would be more difficult nowadays that it's been 10 years ago but it was so easy driving in Iceland as the traffic was still so light.

 

Keep it up!

 

By the way, at Keflavik as we discovered, the check-in desks do not open for any flights until at the 3 hours mark (to our dismay!). Once you've checked in, make a bee line through security to the departure lounge via the Duty Free shopping area, and have a really nice (late) lunch in the Nord restaurant (13 on level 2). Then as soon as you've finished lunch you need to proceed toward your gate .... this is where you'll need to go through the Border Control (as you'll be leaving the Schengen area going to the USA) on your way to your gate. When we were there back in July the lines for the Border Control were so long, but luckily DH had broken toes and was on cane and received wheelchair assistance.

 

Maps of the Airport | Keflavik Airport (isavia.is)

 

Have a safe journey home to RDU.

 

Regarding hotels, we really liked Hotel Selja. Small rooms but well designed. Only 12 of them. Nice breakfast. Black Beach Suites is fine but overpriced I think. There are lots of nice looking places in Vik.  
 

Thanks for airport advice, we won’t be having lunch at the restaurant this time as we will be enjoying Iceland Air’s Saga Lounge. Thanks for the reminder about the three hour checkin time. We worried about that last time we were here but Delta’s line was so long it wasn’t an issue😳. Hoping that we won’t face that tomorrow given it’s later in the afternoon and it’s Iceland Air🤞

[bluesea777]

59 minutes ago, Clay Clayton said:

Regarding hotels, we really liked Hotel Selja. Small rooms but well designed. Only 12 of them. Nice breakfast. Black Beach Suites is fine but overpriced I think. There are lots of nice looking places in Vik.  
 

 

Thanks for the advice re:hotels. What about the AirBnB near Keflavik that you spent the first night in?

 

 

Edited May 16, 2023 by bluesea777

[Clay Clayton]

11 hours ago, bluesea777 said:

 

Thanks for the advice re:hotels. What about the AirBnB near Keflavik that you spent the first night in?

 

 

We liked it a lot.  If you just need a place to stay near the airport it is pretty perfect. https://abnb.me/keqwGIO0Rzb

[Clay Clayton]

Almost back to Reykjavik and the airport.  We stopped at Selfoss for a light lunch (we figure we will have a snack at the lounge when we get to the airport).  Our Icelandic hotdog for this trip. Look forward to having another when we are back in July-love those friend onions and sauce. 

[TayanaLorna]

Really enjoyed your Iceland trip.  Wasn't the glacier lagoon zodiac trip awesome and the basalt columns amazing.

[Clay Clayton]

1 hour ago, TayanaLorna said:

Really enjoyed your Iceland trip.  Wasn't the glacier lagoon zodiac trip awesome and the basalt columns amazing.

Yes and yes.  I suspect we were at a different lagoon than you…we went to the smaller one that is a little west of Diamond Beach.  #cheaper

[Clay Clayton]

Made it through security and into Iceland Air’s Saga Lounge. I like the ambiance but hate that the fireplace isn’t lit. Enjoyed a smoked lamb on flatbread while being amazed at who wears Juicy Couture these days 😳

[CCWineLover]

We'll be in that lounge in June!  Looks mighty nice - and the food too.  Let us know how the Saga flight goes.  Safe travels.   Hoping the airport lines were not too bad at KEF.

[TayanaLorna]

4 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

Yes and yes.  I suspect we were at a different lagoon than you…we went to the smaller one that is a little west of Diamond Beach.  #cheaper

We went to Fjallsarlon for iceberg Zodiac.  Saw the rock formations along the south coast of the Reykjanes Peninsula on a excursion that dropped us off at the airport.  

[Clay Clayton]

8 hours ago, CCWineLover said:

We'll be in that lounge in June!  Looks mighty nice - and the food too.  Let us know how the Saga flight goes.  Safe travels.   Hoping the airport lines were not too bad at KEF.

Lines were no problem but boarding was very disorganized.  

[Clay Clayton]

Back home after our 6.5 hour flight in Iceland Air.  Other than a disorganized boarding, the flight was great-I mean how bad can it be when the flight attendant wears a pillbox hat???

 

Food was tasty, service was even better and the buh-bye chocolates made it even sweeter.

 

Oh and we checked our all the “books” in the “Gin Library”😂

 

[Clay Clayton]

20 hours ago, TayanaLorna said:

We went to Fjallsarlon for iceberg Zodiac.  Saw the rock formations along the south coast of the Reykjanes Peninsula on a excursion that dropped us off at the airport.  

So the same lagoon.  For some reason I thought y’all had gone to Jokulsarlon. 

[Clay Clayton]

NCL Transatlantic Thoughts, Suggestions, Surprises, and Conclusions

 

While traveling is a highlight of our life, there really is nothing like sleeping in one’s own bed!  The second load of laundry is now in the washer, the clean clothes we came home with are hung, and Mike is back from the store so thought I would finish up this live thread. If you want to do so in the future, keep your eyes peeled over on the Viking board in mid-July as we will be sailing in July 19th from Reykjavik to Bergen for Mike’s 60th birthday. Thanks to all of you have followed along and offered encouragement along the way!
 

The Thoughts, Suggestions, and Surprises were complied as we sailed whereas the Conclusion was written yesterday on the plane trip home.  
 

Thoughts

Boarding 4000 is significantly less relaxing than on Viking. Lines at both MDR and often in the buffet. 

 

3820 on board

 

Ship is not very well maintained -rust and rails especially at the stern-related to scrubbers according to crew.  In anycase, doesn’t look like Epic is being cared for properly. 

 

Lots of wasted space ( Spiegel Tent, the Tunnel leading to Spice H2O, etc  and yet some crimp points also

 

Strange at early breakfast-hostess tells you only one side of buffet is open, but food is set up at all stations getting cold and cooks are standing waiting to make eggs etc. When after they wished me a good morning I mentioned that their colleague had said they weren’t open, they said that’s right only food on the other side.  So food is getting cold rather than being served. 

 

Saltines served with dessert cheese platter at Taste and even in Le Bistro and yet at the buffet they have these delicious seeded lavosh type crackers….just why?

 

Initially desserts everywhere seemed to be better than on previous trips -less mousses and more baked goods.  But by the mid point of the cruise desserts at the buffet had returned to being -meh 

 

Less corn beef than in the past in corn beef hash-still how I like it, crispy and not dog food like

 

The beds are truly awful for anyone over 5’-9” or so.  I ended up sleeping most nights by pulling the sofa mattress up to the bed, and sleeping perpendicular to the bed. My head and butt on the bed, my legs on the sofa.  Pretty ridiculous but it seemed to let me sleep.  

 

Suggestions

Have Taste and Manhattan daily menus available on the app

 

Have special events such as Lattitudes Wines of the World appear in my calendar in the app once signed up for and scheduled.  

 

Have the ability to add personal activities to the calendar in the app

 

Keep hamburger and hot dog rolls at the Great Outdoors wrapped to maintain freshness. Asking to have them toasted greatly improves them. 

 

Use crepe grills at lunch to make savory crepes

 

Have the tuna, chicken, egg etc salads currently only available at tea time also available at lunch. 

 

Surprises

Ability to send and receive iMessages to other iPhone users both on and off the ship without having to use wifi minutes albeit Glitchy.

 

 

Conclusions

We won’t ever sail Epic again.  The beds, lack of quiet spaces to enjoy being on the water, and general poor layout of the ship led to this conclusion.

 

The poor quality of the food in the buffet as well as it’s repetitive nature made us want to eat in Taste (could never get into Manhattan without a 45 minute wait) but in order to do so, one of us had to go get a buzzer and some nights the wait was just to long.  The alternative dining venues were all fine but none were outstanding and gosh none were worth the à la carte price-doesn’t anyone actually pay that???  

 

After experiencing NCL for the first time since 2018, we likely won’t be sailing them again unless it’s to a special cruise like this one with friends or a really good deal. Generally, we have found NCL’s pricing structure means that our cost ends up being comparable to what we can book on other lines which offer a product we much prefer.  For example, for a mere $11 more per person per day we could have sailed a transatlantic on Viking with only 928 other guests rather than 3278.  We would have had access to the Nordic spa which would have been extra on NCL. Additionally rather than $50 per cabin towards an excursion at each port, we would have both had an included excursion at each port. And the food would be better as would the stateroom…and less people!

 

Anyway, any day on a cruise ship is better than one at home but, for us, there are better options than NCL and much better than Epic. 

[depplep]

Thanks again for taking us along. What is the difference in the 3 MDR's and why is the Manhattan Room a 45min wait? I will be looking forward to your Viking review.

[bluesea777]

8 minutes ago, depplep said:

Thanks again for taking us along. What is the difference in the 3 MDR's and why is the Manhattan Room a 45min wait? I will be looking forward to your Viking review.

 

The Epic (NCL's first mega ship, built in 2010) has only 2 MDRs - Manhattan (more formal of the 2) and Taste. All the mega ships built after Epic have 3 MDRs.

 

 

[like2cruise33]

7 minutes ago, Clay Clayton said:

NCL Transatlantic Thoughts, Suggestions, Surprises, and Conclusions

 

While traveling is a highlight of our life, there really is nothing like sleeping in one’s own bed!  The second load of laundry is now in the washer, the clean clothes we came home with are hung, and Mike is back from the store so thought I would finish up this live thread. If you want to do so in the future, keep your eyes peeled over on the Viking board in mid-July as we will be sailing in July 19th from Reykjavik to Bergen for Mike’s 60th birthday. Thanks to all of you have followed along and offered encouragement along the way!
 

The Thoughts, Suggestions, and Surprises were complied as we sailed whereas the Conclusion was written yesterday on the plane trip home.  
 

Thoughts

Boarding 4000 is significantly less relaxing than on Viking. Lines at both MDR and often in the buffet. 

 

3820 on board

 

Ship is not very well maintained -rust and rails especially at the stern-related to scrubbers according to crew.  In anycase, doesn’t look like Epic is being cared for properly. 

 

Lots of wasted space ( Spiegel Tent, the Tunnel leading to Spice H2O, etc  and yet some crimp points also

 

Strange at early breakfast-hostess tells you only one side of buffet is open, but food is set up at all stations getting cold and cooks are standing waiting to make eggs etc. When after they wished me a good morning I mentioned that their colleague had said they weren’t open, they said that’s right only food on the other side.  So food is getting cold rather than being served. 

 

Saltines served with dessert cheese platter at Taste and even in Le Bistro and yet at the buffet they have these delicious seeded lavosh type crackers….just why?

 

Initially desserts everywhere seemed to be better than on previous trips -less mousses and more baked goods.  But by the mid point of the cruise desserts at the buffet had returned to being -meh 

 

Less corn beef than in the past in corn beef hash-still how I like it, crispy and not dog food like

 

The beds are truly awful for anyone over 5’-9” or so.  I ended up sleeping most nights by pulling the sofa mattress up to the bed, and sleeping perpendicular to the bed. My head and butt on the bed, my legs on the sofa.  Pretty ridiculous but it seemed to let me sleep.  

 

Suggestions

Have Taste and Manhattan daily menus available on the app

 

Have special events such as Lattitudes Wines of the World appear in my calendar in the app once signed up for and scheduled.  

 

Have the ability to add personal activities to the calendar in the app

 

Keep hamburger and hot dog rolls at the Great Outdoors wrapped to maintain freshness. Asking to have them toasted greatly improves them. 

 

Use crepe grills at lunch to make savory crepes

 

Have the tuna, chicken, egg etc salads currently only available at tea time also available at lunch. 

 

Surprises

Ability to send and receive iMessages to other iPhone users both on and off the ship without having to use wifi minutes albeit Glitchy.

 

 

Conclusions

We won’t ever sail Epic again.  The beds, lack of quiet spaces to enjoy being on the water, and general poor layout of the ship led to this conclusion.

 

The poor quality of the food in the buffet as well as it’s repetitive nature made us want to eat in Taste (could never get into Manhattan without a 45 minute wait) but in order to do so, one of us had to go get a buzzer and some nights the wait was just to long.  The alternative dining venues were all fine but none were outstanding and gosh none were worth the à la carte price-doesn’t anyone actually pay that???  

 

After experiencing NCL for the first time since 2018, we likely won’t be sailing them again unless it’s to a special cruise like this one with friends or a really good deal. Generally, we have found NCL’s pricing structure means that our cost ends up being comparable to what we can book on other lines which offer a product we much prefer.  For example, for a mere $11 more per person per day we could have sailed a transatlantic on Viking with only 928 other guests rather than 3278.  We would have had access to the Nordic spa which would have been extra on NCL. Additionally rather than $50 per cabin towards an excursion at each port, we would have both had an included excursion at each port. And the food would be better as would the stateroom…and less people!

 

Anyway, any day on a cruise ship is better than one at home but, for us, there are better options than NCL and much better than Epic. 

I have recently tried other cruise lines. Some you only had 2 breakfast and 2 lunches in a sit down restaurant - had to  use -huge lines- at the buffet.

Many actually had Lobster in the MDR and the buffet.

Some did not have made to order omelets in the buffet but could get what you want in the MDR (ok language barrier - but it worked sometimes)

Some service good/bad as in all lines 

 

Only NCL has the 24 hour sit down restaurant/bar.

Some ships had - pay for food in little cafes off the main strip.

On all ships some food great some not so great - but all edible.

Glad to hear that there are crepes at lunch - usually only after dinner when I am stuffed.

Not happy to hear that the ship looks tired. And of course I hate lines.

Some ships the main theater is so small that you cannot get into the shows. (but I learned you could get into the later show - sometimes. Some ships allow standees, some do not.

I just realized that since the planes from USA to Europe are at night I have to go another day earlier - just in case!.  I am doing the Mediterranean  from Rome to Israel. in Nov. Also now I will need to get absentee ballot.

 

The nice thing about NCL is that they vary their itinerary.

 

One of these days I will try Viking - never heard anything bad about them, but of course the price.

 

Loved the time and energy that you spent on your travel logs. You did not mention eating Puffin.

Also there delicious yogurt that can be used for breakfast (almost every day since I found out about it). or as dessert.

 

[bluesea777]

@Clay Clayton excellent reviews and photos! I have enjoyed this thread, and am sorry that it's ending.

 

We have been on the Epic 3 times, two of them were WB Transatlantic with 1/2-2/3 full ship, and they were good, but it was before the Breakaway & Breakaway+ class ships were built.

 

I notice in your signature you have not been on the Spirit, perhaps you should give her a try. We're on her at end of this month for B2B Alaska.

 

 

[Clay Clayton]

28 minutes ago, like2cruise33 said:

 

Glad to hear that there are crepes at lunch - usually only after dinner when I am stuffed.

 

 

 

 

You misunderstood (or I didn’t write clearly enough). They don’t offer crepes at lunch-I was suggesting it would be fun if they offered savory ones then. Like this one we had post cruise in Versailles 

[Clay Clayton]

25 minutes ago, bluesea777 said:

@Clay Clayton excellent reviews and photos! I have enjoyed this thread, and am sorry that it's ending.

 

We have been on the Epic 3 times, two of them were WB Transatlantic with 1/2-2/3 full ship, and they were good, but it was before the Breakaway & Breakaway+ class ships were built.

 

I notice in your signature you have not been on the Spirit, perhaps you should give her a try. We're on her at end of this month for B2B Alaska.

 

 

Will keep Spirit in mind, I know our friends love her. 

[PasadenaDave]

Clay once again thank you for taking us along.  I will see what land adventures that you and Mike get yourselves into on Instagram until July 19.

 

We just booked Auckland to Sydney on Orion December 19 to January 2.

 

We had strayed from Viking last September on HAL Quebec to Boston and concur about large ships.  Having sailed the Nile on the Ra last month with only 50 passengers, a ship of 900 will feel immense.

 

Thanks again

 

Dave

[TayanaLorna]

2 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

So the same lagoon.  For some reason I thought y’all had gone to Jokulsarlon. 

Yep.  Had lunch at the facility to top.  Mushroom soup was REALLY good.

[bedfordmom]

Fantastic review and I love your suggestions. They are simple cost little to nothing and would enhance the experience.