TheWulf

You really missed out by not going to the Cirque show, it cost extra for a reason it was amazing. It's definitely more of an adult show no nudity or anything but very sexual.

Sounds interesting, but the main reason we didn't go was that we heard several comments that the food served was sub-par. My gf is also not a big fan of these types of shows.

Thanks for the comments on why there were so many kids! Shall keep this in mind for next year, I never thought about jewish schools being on a different schedules but that explains a lot.

I will never choose a school holiday week to travel

January 18th is a school holiday week? How do schools have a week of holidays barely two weeks after Christmas?

We chose that week because we figured kids would be mostly in school. I had a hard time figuring out why there were so many kids so soon after the holidays.

Glad you had fun.

 

Here's my review for the same cruise: http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=270260

 

The ship was just too big for us. We never got to see the Blue Man Group because I didn't understand that we should have booked in advance before we boarded. That level of scheduling really ruins freestyle for us & I don't care for it.

 

You have to tell me where you found lounge chairs. I had a tough time at 7:45 a.m. on the 1st sea day, no luck at all on the 2nd sea day. Believe me. I did laps at 9 a.m., after lunch & again around 3. I only wanted one chair for myself but couldn't find anything.

I have this OCD habit of doing everything online and clicking on every page in the MyNCL section. I found the BMG reservation link by pure luck, otherwise I wouldn't have known either.

We always found deck chairs on Deck 18 (outdoor elevators near the buffet entrance) and on the Freestyle deck. It was also more quiet there which was a bonus. Then again, we only really went there twice on the first two sea days. During port days we were too busy and by the last day we were burnt.

We started our trip at 1.21, which was already pretty bad.

Imagine my surprise returning to a Visa bill with an exchange rate of 1.27... :eek:

I really need to start buying USD when it's cheap!

sorry to hear your trip wasn't very good...

Not at all! A trip is what you make of it.

We had an excellent time in all ports and we typically make our own entertainment, so it was still a good trip. I'll cover the ports and everything else when I have time for the full review which I'll come back and link here.

I know I like to read feedback before booking, so here is my take on the Epic 1/18 cruise. I'll write a full review when I get the chance, but here's a quick summary for now.

FWIW we are a couple in their 20s/30s and we were booked in room 11264 (MA).

Visually, the ship is beautiful. Everything is in very good condition, LED lighting everywhere, colours are bright and the trim is really nice.

Nicest stateroom I’ve ever had. Felt large comparing to other rooms I’ve had before, again really nice trim and finish, larger than most balcony.

The public spaces are hit and miss. LOTS of layout problems: very narrow paths to get around decks 5-6-7 and 4000+ people who seem to have a fascination with congregating in narrow areas. Lots of congestion. Just bad layout decisions in many cases, you can’t even walk 2 people wide sometimes in the main walking paths. In one example, the line for the specialty coffee shop runs 90 degrees into a one 1m wide walking path to the bathrooms. Very poor planning.

The casino is very intrusive. It takes up more than half of deck 6 and is open air to the main dining room and several specialty restaurants, as well as being open to adjoining decks half the time. That means smoke everywhere. Really bad layout again.

The headliner entertainment was the best we’ve seen at see as far as the shows go: Blue Man Group was fantastic. (This replaces the nightly shows, so you only get one evening show instead of seven, but the quality was worth it) We did not see the Cirque show as pricing was very high ($30-40pp). Other entertainment was laughable at best. It’s like they asked the crew to fill in because they forgot to hire singers: all of them were terribly off-key (cringe-worthy). They also had a “hypnotist” that was just overdone and repetitive.

The food was just awful. Usually over or undercooked, very inconsistent — two plates of the same order will look completely different and have different portion sizes, missing garnish, etc. Most food is very bland, no seasoning. It’s to the point where we had to try two of the specialty restaurants because the food was so unappetizing. We tried the noodle bar and the sushi bar. Both were passable, but they were buffet quality at best.

The service was very underwhelming. Most people seemed like they really didn’t want to be there and barely spoke to us (think grumpy diner server). A few people were really great, but it wasn’t the norm. It was frequent to have different people give contradicting information, especially when trying to book restaurant reservations. Stateroom service was good.

The outdoor spaces were ok. You could typically find loungers if you weren’t picky about where they were.

NCL did tone down the annoying “washy-washy” songs we often heard on the Dawn.

The new digital screens everywhere were convenient for making reservations or booking tender times (yes, you could book them! That was a nice surprise).

Alcohol policy: Instead of delivering your purchases to your room on the last day, they now make everyone line up on the top deck outside in a queue to claim them. Unbelievable to make the entire ship wait in one line for so long for something they had a perfectly good system for. Thankfully we did not have to wait in that line.

The Ice Bar was great! The bartender was the best one on the ship. He made sure you had a good time and was very generous in keeping your drinks topped up.

The crowds: lots of children, not very classy overall. No excessive drunkenness or belligerence, but just a lack of common courtesy and self-awareness.

Overall: NCL really feels like a budget line. If I can get a week on a balcony for $500, I would possibly book again, but it is going to be far from my first choice.

The MDR busy times tend to be 7-8pm. If you show up around that time, you may get a beeper.

Max I've had to wait was about 30-40 minutes. Sometimes you'll go right in, other times it'll be very busy. Overall not a big problem, it's just one of the pitfalls of freestyle dining.

It's slightly worse on NCL than other cruise lines because NCL is exclusively freestyle, where as other lines most of the ship is on traditional dining so the freestyle waits tend to be a bit lower (I've never once waited more than 5-10 minutes on Princess).

Overall not a big deal for us though. By the time dinner time rolls around, there isn't much else to do that we need to rush for in the evening. The only exception is if you have a show reservation, in which case just go off-peak hours and you're fine.

Don't break the ship, getting on her on Friday!

Thanks for reporting the news though!

Regular credit cards work fine. If stolen, you are protected.

True, BUT:

When the CC company finds the fraud, they will immediately cancel the card and ship you a new one. This leaves you without that card for the rest of your trip, which can be a problem for some.

I will strongly advise not to use cards in the caribbean except for major purchases. You'll also find that if you do major purchases in cash, you'll be able to negotiate a better price.

Don't be afraid of cash! Just be smart about it. If you insist on using a CC, make sure you have one card for your island purchases and one card safely locked up in the ship's safe.

I see you're on the same sailing as we are.

Check the roll call thread - there is a trip to Blue Hole planned out with lunch afterwards; $40/pp. I believe there are 3 spots left.

To be honest, the Collectivo is dead easy and only $3. Most of the vans are brand new, clean and very comfortable, and they run often.

It really is the easiest way to get around and drops you right downtown PDC.

Of course if you want to do it the fun way, take the ferry over to Cozumel, spend the day and then take one back to PDC. Only $10 each way and a fun side-trip.

> wondering if the balcony large bed can be separated into two singles?

All cabins should offer this. I've never seen it not done.

> Is the cabin worth the extra cost over a large balcony

Since you didn't specify the category, it's hard to say. Looks like M9 from the deck plans which is a Spa Mini Suite. Whether is worth it is entirely personal preference. I personally wouldn't but if you spend your entire cruise in the spa, perhaps it is.

> If they sell 120 Spa passes, and there are X amount of cabins, will everyone be able to use the spa?

Depends on the definition of "use the spa". You can still book treatments but you can't walk in and use the pass privileges without either a pass or a spa suite. Neither has priority as far as I know, first come first served.

> does the spa have an area like that with a bartender (or server)?

I have never seen a bar in a spa. And I don't think you could drink anywhere within the spa anyways.

Hope this helps!

You can pre-book some through MyNCL, however this is not a comprehensive list of what is offered on board. I've tried calling in to book as well, but they could only pre-book what was on the website.

All other items must be booked on board.

I'm in the same boat (both figuratively and literally!).

Booked early, ended up missing out on the best promo.

We did manage to get a BA > MA upgrade for cheap during an earlier promo, but there's no way they would allow us to grab this latest deal - my TA checked.

I'm happy with the rate, but I never expected them to offer UBP for free. Now, knowing that this happens, I am very likely to wait until this promo is up before booking again - provided I do; NCL is on thin ice after my previous cruise on the Dawn.

From what I've been seeing, the best deals are about 5 weeks out.

Did you have to pay 3rd passenger rate for your little one? I had another thread going this weekend about the cost of traveling with under 2 year olds and was so disappointed to find out we would have to pay close to adult fare for our twin grandchildren.

Watch for Kids Sail Free promos. They come around a few times a year and it's a significant savings.

One more tip: Get some of those diaper bags to seal up messy diapers. It will make the room so much more pleasant.

#1 reason why I recommend balcony or higher when sailing with kids. It makes such a difference.

Most of Norwegian Cruise Line ships are equipped with a water slide with the exception of the Norwegian Pearl. She had her water slide removed to allow for more deck space as this ship is constantly used for music charters.

Dawn also does not have one.

Can confirm, basically a just slightly undersized Pack & Play, no issues with quality.

Tip: Get at least a balcony cabin. You will want the "fresh air".

We had no problems using the regular sheets, but we did bring along a warmer blanket as well.

Also tip: umbrella stroller. The large ones are a massive PITA to move around the ship (cabin doors and boarding ramps are smaller than normal sized ones) with and to get through security when coming back from the ports.

If you're going to stick with a resort for the day, I would just find one in Cozumel. Why spend 2 hours of your day on the vomit comet to and from PDC?

I can't recommend specific AIs on either side but if you're going to make your way to PDC (as we will be doing), there are a ton of other things worth seeing!

Quinta Avenida has a ton of things to eat, drink and buy

Avenida Juarez has more local shopping with far cheaper prices, and taco carts (seriously amazing) and very decent restaurants.

Both are walking distance from the pier.

I know that if you get right off the pier and hang a left, there is a massive resort there. Not sure if it's any good. I'd head over to trip advisor.

Is the stern really bouncy compared to the aft?

:confused: :rolleyes:

(the stern is aft)

The bow and stern are always more prone to motion than mid-ship. If you're sensitive to that, don't book it. I personally love it.

It is, but there may be a delay before the cabin is released and someone else may snap it up before you can. I've had this happen before with flights, not sure if cruises are the same. Best to call and ask.

If they had needed it, they wouldn't have put you in it. If they do end up needing it, they will move you again. I wouldn't worry about it

Exactly this.

If nobody needs an accessible room, why should it sail empty? More often than not, they are not needed. You can be sure that if they do need it, they will re-assign you.

They do offer air credit for european bookings instead of UBP.

May be a glitch with the site thinking you're in europe for some reason.

I had IPA on Seabourn Legend 2 years ago out of St Thomas. It was the St. John Brewer's Island Hoppin' IPA contracted at Shipyard.

Seabourn vs NCL... :cool:

Yikes. That's a depressing list. Not an IPA in sight. Ah well. Sam Adams Boston Lager at least has flavor... So that is always an option...

Are you really surprised? :P

You may be interested in this: http://www.tripadvisor.ca/Restaurant_Review-g150812-d2443012-Reviews-Club_de_la_Cerveza-Playa_del_Carmen_Yucatan_Peninsula.html

I did Belize on my last NCL cruise. It wasn't very memorable. There isn't much around the port area. Slightly sketchy, locals are a bit aggressive. No problems if you take standard precautions though.

Roatan on the other hand looks like we docked in a slum. Very pushy locals. Not aggressive though, overall nice, just trying to make some money. Drugs everywhere.