meggie711

Top of the Atrium.

Specialty coffee can be ordered with your dinner (not included in UBP)

Fist-bumping our server.

"Rules and regulations state that you must finish your meal or you have to wash dishes." :D

A little blurry, but I loved this moment! My DS being escorted to our table. :)

Szechuan chicken - GET IT.

Banana split for the DS..

Forgive all of the food and drink pics, but this was really a highlight of my trip! lol

The sweet lady working at the buffet made me a chicken ceasar salad, and it was delicious! I, of course, had to add the pretzel rolls. ;)

I loved the carpet on our deck.. lol So vibrant!

Ok, this was ONLY a part of our test of the UBP..... lol

Mango Madness from the balcony!

Pretzel rolls! Don't miss!

Mimosas at the Great Outdoors bar (best place to get drinks, was never too busy)!

This is what it looked like at 7AM on the Sky, every morning. :)

The coffee bar opens at 7Am, and is an awesome place to grab either iced of hot coffees. It's VERY quiet in the mornings. Grab a cup and head back to your balcony or the pool deck for quiet time!

I figured the picture thing out!! WOOHOO!!! lol More coming!

This is NCL Sky at GSC.

Cruisett.com is my favorite. We were surprised by an extra ship at Nassau on our last cruise, so be aware that the lineup can change the day of. :)

Is the snorkeling and the parasail included? TIA

As part of you cruise fare? No, you would purchase those as shore excursions. My hubby rented snorkle equipment once on the island for $30.

Hi

I just added a second leg to our 10-day Morocco/ Canary Islands trip, adding 12-day Western Med. for next March.

We have booked two large balconies, deck 12, our kids (teenagers) will be in one, with DH and I right next door.

We have sailed the Med before, on Celebrity, but have only sailed with NCL once (Panama Canal on NCL about 15 months ago Star).

So, does anyone have any tips, advice, suggestions regarding things we won't want to miss on Epic. My kids, twin boys and their sister will be sharing a cabin - any advice re: the cabin toilet / shower?

We haven't ever cruised for this length of time (12 days is our longest cruise to date) so if there is anything I should consider for a lengthy cruise, let me know.

Thanks in advance.

 

Also - we chose the UBP as our perk - seemed like the best bang for the buck as we can purchase UDP for considerably less than the cost of UBP. We aren't heavy drinkers at all but we typically purchase the soda package, so this seemed like a good choice.

We loved the bathroom setup on Epic! I loved having an actual shower door and not that curtain that likes to creep up on you. lol Not sure the age of your kids, but a lot of people suggest utilizing the balcony when the other person in the room is using the toilet. If I remember correctly, there was a curtain in the room that gives additional privacy for shower time.

Epic was a fantastic cruise for us, my favorite ship to date! We did the UBP on our recent Sky cruise. If you do choose to do specialty dining, I'd highly recommend Le Bistro and Moderno! We were very happy with the MDR's as well. We loved the Ice Bar and Blue Man Group (not sure if they're still on board or not). Great shopping on board. Didn't feel near as crowded as I thought it would. Also, embarkation and disembarkation was quick and easy. Have a great cruise!!!

Hope they like to sing to birthday boys like me. I am a big ham for all that kinda stuff. A lot of folks don't want to let anyone know in restaurants. Not me. I tell them up front, It's my birthday. Oh dear, the little boy inside the man.

Hahaha! Love it! Yes, they do sing to the birthday boys too, no matter the age! I appreciate how it doesn't interfere with the feel of the room like your typical local steakhouse. lol I'm trying to remember what they sang to the lovebirds the other night - maybe it was Let Me Call You Sweetheart..? Either way, it was a sweet moment, and I was impressed by the voice of those singing! :)

Thanks for the great review. I am planning on Sky on 27th of April on a four nighter. Looking forward to it. Birthday cruise for me. GSC sounds great. Never been to Freeport either, so that is appealing too. Thanks again.

Ah, happy birthday! Should be a great time for you! Also, I keep thinking of more details from our trip.. they still do the White Hot Party on the Sky. I hear it has changed to the Glow Party on a lot of the other ships. For White Hot, they recommend that you wear white clothing. They have live singing and dancing that night, and it's a good time. They do give out some of the glow necklaces to people that get out on the floor and dance. For those of you cruising with kids, you may want to buy some of the glow items at your local dollar store or Target. :)

Thanks. Doing honeymoon on Sky in July. First time on NCL.

Congrats!! The dining staff in the Crossings MDR love to sing love songs to sweethearts, fair warning. lol

Thank you for your review.... I had been thinking of booking May 2016 for my 40th birthday... Well I pulled the trigger and our TA is working on our booking now!

Do you have any pictures of the ship and cabin?

Thanks,

Brad

Bradley, I will work on getting some pics posted! I've never been good at that, so I will work on it! Make sure you check out the dining at Great Outdoors, located aft. It was a really relaxing and not-too-crowded area! I was pleasantly surprised that we never had to look for a table to sit at, always plenty available. Also, you can take your plate into Longboards at breakfast. Pretty view and again, not crowded at all. They had several sports channels playing for those who might be interested.

Was the UBP able to be used on the private island?

Sure was, and very easy to use!

Just a quick update! We cruised last week and it was an awesome experience! We told our 5 y/o DS when we arrived at the Port of Miami after an approximately 9 hour driving trip! We got him up at 3:30 AM, put him in the car, he slept for about 2 hours, and then was wide awake the rest of the trip. He made a few guesses about where we might be going (camping or to eat at Fishlips), but otherwise was very patient and relaxed. As we pulled up at the port and the porters began to get our luggage, we told him that we were going to be boarding the Sky. He was so excited that he began shaking! He said he had dreamed of this his entire life. lol It was an AWESOME trip, and he's ready to go again. :)

Please tell me more about your recent experience.

I was on the Sky from 3/27-3/30. I posted a review that gives more info. Let me know if you have any specific questions.

NCL Sky is a fantastic ship and their crew is phenomenal. Given your desire to remove DSC's prior to even stepping foot on a ship, I wouldn't recommend this one. The crew is too great to be treated as such.

It used to be so much fun to come to CC between cruises.. to plan, get fun ideas, secrets, tips, and research for the next trip. CC is a gigantic buzzkill at this point. Happy cruising, everyone! :)

We were in Nassau a few days ago, and we have also cruised in September. It's a toss-up, and cruising in hurricane season (or any other time for that matter) may yield beautiful or horrible weather. The water is beautiful, and the Atlantis aquarium is beautiful as well.

We felt very safe in Nassau, but it's important to be aware of your surroundings and to use your head no matter where you are. I live in a very safe town and there have been two armed robberies within walking distance from my work in the last week. I try to keep in mind that anything can happen at any time, any place. Just use your head, listen to your gut, and pay attention to what's going on around you.

Have a great cruise!

I was on the same sailing and agree with a lot of the positives you said. My main problems were the lack of buffet variety, and the horrendously slow bar service at GSC. We tried both bars and waited over 30 mins in line. Also-only certain drinks at each bar-not full service.

Aw, I hate to hear that! You tried the small green bar by the cabanas? I was able to walk up and order right away all day. The Bacardi bar was much less impressive as far as service and variety, and they even closed me IN the bar after we had waited in line for a really long time. They just decided to close the line behind me without warning. Kinda crazy.

I ate crazy-good food at the buffet on the ship, but could agree that if the items weren't your cup of tea one day, they probably wouldn't be the next either.

Thanks for your review! We are going on the Sky on Monday with 2 kids. I'm sure we will have a blast. Did you have any trouble getting bar service with the ubp?

 

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Absolutely not! A couple of tips for bar service: They didn't have a lot of servers walking around to take drink orders like we have always been used to. We saw one or two but it was rare. It seemed pretty clear that there have been cut-backs in this area. The pool bar was always pretty busy. We liked the bar back at the Great Outdoors. Always laid back and easy to order. Also, drinks at Lavazza (you can also order specialty coffee there, although it's not part of the package). They allowed us to use each other's card in addition to our own so that we didn't have to constantly take turns going to the bar or having to go as a group of three each time. At Great Stirrup Cay, if you go to the beach over near the cabanas, there is a small green bar there. MUCH easier to get service than at the Bacardi bar by the busier beach.

Also, something I forgot to mention! Free wi-fi at Diamonds International in Nassau. lol Walk to the back of the store and the password is posted there for your use! And they will let you use their restrooms! Came in handy with our 5-year-old. lol