Zimomiller

Pride of America – Port of Honolulu – 7/16/2011

I had arranged with Hawaii23 to be at the front of the Outrigger to pick us up at 10:30 am so we had a lot of work to do to get all our stuff repacked in time.

We arose 9 am Saturday morning fresh and rested after a great night of sleep. OK, Mom and I arose, took our showers made noise and then yelled at the kids until we coerced them out of their slumber into vertical zombies.

I left out a detail from yesterday evening. While the family watched TV and eventually drifted off to sleep, I took a bag of luggage full of dirty clothes down to the self-serve laundry on the ground floor and spent a lovely couple of hours drinking beer, smoking cigars and watching the dryers go round and round. They had machines that you could buy detergent and bounce from. I knew the laundry existed from my planning and wanted to mention it for those of you that may be cruising and then spending time on the island at the Outrigger after the cruise.

Miracle of miracles, we managed to organize all our belongings and met our shuttle to the pier promptly at 1030am. The trip is 20-25 minutes depending on traffic.

We arrived at a virtually empty port. I think there were maybe 1 or 2 taxis in front of us. We jumped out, grabbed our bags and dragged them to the terminal. We were quickly directed to the bag drop off point indoors and then pointed in the direction of the security line.

A couple minutes later we wandered in to the check in area which was still in the process of being set up. We posed for our boarding photo and then went looking for the portal to the check in booths.

Note: This is all located in a very large warehouse area. You can literally see everything the second you walk in, there are no barriers.

There was only one other family checking in so we wandered up to the first booth we saw, checked in and got our pics taken, room cards and then we were escorted to the VIP check-in lounge where we grabbed some nice chairs and waited for the arrival of the concierge and further instructions.

As I recall there were some water and coffee available and maybe some pastries, but I do not recall. They had a portable a/c unit keeping the lounge area comfy also. At this point I grabbed my camera and went back to take a photo tour of the check-in area so I could post the link in my review.

The timing of our arrival was almost perfect. There were maybe 20 other passengers in the general waiting area. No congestion, no hassle.

Tip #15 - If you can, arrive at the port at 11 am. You want to get the most out of day #1

They were just finishing setting up a big table loaded with Leis just before the embarkation picture station. I asked if I could get some for my family so they wandered over to the VIP lounge with Leis and bestowed them upon all of us Leiless passengers.

The concierge, Thomas Meier wandered into the VIP lounge around 11:40. It was starting to fill quickly as there were several like-minded families in suites that arrived early. He walked around introducing himself, asking questions and letting us know what was going to happen and where we would go.

Promptly at noon the conch shell horn was blown and that was our signal to gather up our carry-ons and to follow Thomas aboard to a forward lounge on deck 13. There was a group of about 30 passengers in this initial group and we arrive into the lounge (I forget which one) where we were promptly served champagne, water or orange juice while we relaxed very comfy cushioned leather chairs.

Thomas then gave a 15 minute lecture where he laid out the benefits that we VIP and suite passengers were entitled to. He made it very clear that we should not be waiting in lines and to contact him whenever we needed assistance. He explained that he would coordinate dinner reservations for us. He outlined the breakfast and lunch options available to us in the Lazy J steakhouse which were the best benefit of all in my opinion. Thomas also said that in the event we had another couple that we wanted to bring to breakfast or lunch with us at the Lazy J that was an option. Just contact him in advance and he would make it happen.

Whenever we arrived ate the Lazy J after lunch the first day, one member of our party would hand the hostess a room card and she would swipe it and then seat us. (Eventually the hostesses became familiar with us and did not require the card)

About 12:30 we were all escorted down to the Lazy J Steakhouse for our first suite perk of the cruise. The restaurant was of course not busy and snapped to attention on our arrival. We had a long leisurely lunch as the rooms would not be ready until 2-230.

My favorite meal at lunch was the Sesame encrusted Ahi Tuna burger- rare… I fell in love with these in the Epic Club on the Epic. The lunch menu is the same every day with lots of choices.

Tip #16 – Like carrot cake? The carrot cake at the Lazy J is to die for IMHO.

After lunch we wandered around but ended up on pool deck waiting for the clearance to go to the rooms.

I went back to the lounge on deck 13 forward to find Thomas and gave him our dinner reservation requests for the whole week and he said he would take care of it, but he immediately checked on Teppenyaki availability at the time we requested to insure it was all set. (By later that afternoon we had a letter in our mail slot from Thomas with all or dining choices and times as requested. Remember this fact as it is important for events the last night of the cruise!)

Tip #17 - Teppenyaki is the smallest dining venue. Book it early and first

As soon as the announcement was made that the rooms were ready for occupancy, I went to our aft facing suite and immediately took a photo tour before the family arrived, unpacked and transformed it from its pristine condition into our normal cruise cabin chaos.

Shortly after I finished with the photos the family invaded and the arguements over who got which room ensued. I headed to the balcony. You will see in the pictures in my link that the balcony on the category SH suites is HUUUUUGGGEEE. We could have had a party for 30+ out there.

http://travel.webshots.com/album/580716848mCvcrh Picture tour of suite 9198

When we arrived the mail slot above the door sign outside our cabin had several pieces of mail. Invites to latitudes events, meet the captain events, shore excursion tix for the one tour we bought thru NCL, information announcements from the concierge etc.

Shortly thereafter our luggage arrived and we spent the remaining time before the mustard drill (yeah I know I spelled it wrong, but humor me) putting it away. In 26 cruises that was the first time we were unpacked by the mandatory safety drill.

While we relaxed and got ready for dinner after the drill, my youngest daughter pulled one of the 2 bottles of champagne that was on ice out and took the wire off from around the cork and then promptly shot me in the back of the head with the cork on the rebound off the ceiling and TV. She of course indicated that it was an “accident”.

We dined in Lazy J’s the this evening as it has become a tradition on NCL ships for the past few cruises for our family to dine at Cagney’s the first night of a cruise. The surprise for the evening was that the cover charge was $15/pp the first night vs $25. We have seen this before, but knew better than to assume that would be the pricing for sure.

As we were finishing dinner, the ship was just nudging away from the dock and I managed to head back to our balcony to capture the sail away pictures that I love to take.

After sail away I wandered up to the Waikiki bar aft deck 13 and had a few adult beverages and a cigar or 2. This was the designated cigar bar and became the meeting place for drinks, smokes and stories about the day events with all my new cruise buddies and their spouses. The people that discovered this bar returned daily. This was a very fun and friendly place to just hang.

http://travel.webshots.com/album/580566085IvGWIl Embarkation, POA shots, room tour, sail away

Tomorrow Day 1 in Maui - Will we survive the Road to Hana? Stay tuned

Pearl Harbor and Harry Potter Friday 7/15/11

Long before we arrived in Hawaii my dear spouse figured out that the last of the Harry Potter movies was to be released to US audiences on Friday July 15, 2011.

Upon the discovery of this fact and the obvious conflict with our vacation in Hawaii, she immediately began lambasting me for once again scheduling a vacation that interfered with the release of a Harry Potter movie. (Note: This is the third time that has happened)

She conveniently ignored my objections that I had booked the cruise well over a year before the announcement of the movie release date.

Needless to say it was now my problem to deal with. Obviously JK Rowling and I had conspired to cause this calamity.

In mid-June I placed a call to the concierge desk at the Outrigger Waikiki, explained my predicament and then was given a personal recommendation of a movie theater to attend. The concierge pointed out that it was very nice, not very far away and it was the one she took her family to. SOLD

I then found the web site of the theater, found the link to the “specially priced “advance reserve seating tickets and then promptly picked our late afternoon 5 seats at the top back and center of the theater, paid by credit card and printed our ticket receipt. Problem solved.

Tips # 12 ALWAYS make sure the wife is happy.

We arose extra early on Friday because I wanted to make sure that we got to Pearl Harbor early in the day as the tickets to visit the Arizona memorial are first come, first serve.

We grabbed a cab from the Outrigger to Pearl Harbor and were there a little after 9 am. We got our tickets and were scheduled for the 11:45 am tour. This was the item on my bucket list.

http://pacifichistoricparks.org/pearl-harbor-hawaii.php Link to where you can plan for a trip to PH.

From our planning we knew that we would likely have a period of time to kill before the trip over to the Arizona memorial. Please remember that you cannot take any bags to the memorial.

We took a leisurely walking tour of the grounds and exhibits. We opted to pay $10/pp to tour the USS Bowfin, a WWII era sub on permanent display. It is a fun walking tour with a headset describing the areas that you are at. You just punch the number of the sign on the wall into the keypad of the unit attached to your headphones and it plays a script for you.

At 1145 am we entered a theater where we were shown a film describing events leading up to Pearl Harbor and then footage of the attack. We then exited to a large launch that whisked us over to the memorial.

It was a gorgeous blue day with blue skies and a calm harbor. The memorial was quiet and somber as expected, but unique and interesting as well. We all caught glimpses and pics of the oil tears that were still bubbling to the surface after almost 70 years. I took a lot of photos.

And just like that our 15-20 minutes at the memorial was over and we were speeding back to shore.

Tips #13 If you are on Oahu don’t miss Pearl Harbor and paying your respects at the Arizona Memorial.

We took a shuttle back to our hotel and grabbed a quick lunch at Dukes because we had a 4 pm movie waiting for us.

It was unique and memorable for all the family to take time out of our vacation to attend the Harry Potter movie in Honolulu. We will always remember where we saw the finale.

Tip # 14 - Finding something unique and memorable to do on your vacation is possible when the whole darn vacation is unique and memorable.

We cabbed back to the Outrigger after the movie and spent some time counting the number of ABC shops we saw as we walked down the sidewalks just watching the early evening nightlife shuffling by. We tired quickly after an hour of wandering so we headed back to the hotel.

Everyone wanted to get their stuff organized so we could crash early as we had a 1030 am shuttle picking us up for the trip to the port and the Pride Saturday am.

It was amazing to see how many iPods, cords, phones, charges, computers, cameras and clothing items were scattered about our room.

Surely we would never arise and get packed in time for our early arrival at the cruise port Saturday.

http://travel.webshots.com/album/580553289brqYXm Pearl Harbor Pics

Next installment – The Sweet Suite Life begins

Enjoying your review.

How did you prearrange the lei greeting? Was it very expensive?:confused:

We used this service. It was the cheapest I found and was satisfactory.

http://www.hawaiiactivities.com/us/hawaii/oahu/sg/2129/ag/8169/

July 14, 2011 The Outrigger Waikiki on the Beach

First off, thank you to our fellow members of Cruise Critic that took the time to post their plans and reviews after their Hawaii land and cruise experiences. Without their feedback we never would have been as well prepared for our trip, nor would we have found the Outrigger Waikiki on the Beach.

The Outrigger Waikiki on the beach is centrally located on Waikiki Beach next to the Royal Hawaiian. Great beach frontage, kid friendly pool, beach services. It really is a moderately priced family friendly oasis in paradise.

Tip #8 Cruise Critic is a great resource, use it. Then remember to pay it forward.

Mom and I awoke at 830 am from our airline induced travel comas. Our internal clocks reminded us it was 230pm back home. The kids were not happy with us because before we arrived in Hawaii we had told them they could sleep in to 2pm the first morning. Silly kids thought we meant Hawaii time…heh heh.

Tip #9 Being a parent has its rewards. Take advantage while they still live with you, trust you and depend on you.

After wrestling the three kids out of bed and finishing showers we headed downstairs to Dukes for the breakfast buffet. ($14.95 ea) It was the prefect start to our planned beach day. Everyone found something they liked. Dukes is located on the ground floor of the Outrigger overlooking the beach.

10 lbs. of bacon later, we staked our claim to 5 cushioned loungers on the large patio/deck area in front of the restaurant, just behind a wall that separated the beach from hotel property. There were some tall gorgeous palm trees in this area that deserved to have their pictures taken. I was shocked by the lack of chair hogs. Silly me, I forgot we were not yet on a cruise ship.

While the family slathered up in suntan lotions with SPF factors higher than the IQs of your average congressman, I decided to wander up and down the beach for a bit to scope out what services and activities were available.

On the east side of the hotel I found what turned out to be one of the oldest surf schools on the beach. The kids did not know it but I had put “learning to surf” on their bucket lists.

I dragged the three of them over, paid $30 / each for board rental and instructor for an hour , special surf shirt to wear for the lesson and then off they went for practice on the beach and then into the waves to use their newly learned skills.

I tried to follow them down the beach and out to sea so I could take pictures, but alas I gave up due to how far out they were and the multitude of others in the surf.

Or maybe it was the bar calling.

After 3 beers and an hour passing, I wandered back to the surf school just in time to watch the three kids dragging their tired bodies and slippery boards ashore having obviously expended their last remaining energy paddling back after very successful first surf.

They were very sad to learn that I had not captured their triumphs on film.

What they did not know was that this surf school employed a photographer with a high powered digital camera with a lens worthy of sports photographer shooting action at the Super Bowl from the roof of anearby hotel. The surf shirts they were given to wear made it easy for him to pick them out and capture several shots each of their triumphs and face plants.

They wanted $20/picture or you could buy the CD for $60. 5 minutes later I had a freshly burned CD with surf memories that would last a lifetime….and pictures that became Facebook profiles 7 hours later. (Did I mention the hotel has free high speed internet in the rooms?)

They were so proud of their pics and surfing performance and the instructor went out of his way to praise each of them.

Check that off their bucket lists.

Tip #10 Explore the local possibilities. Find more time to spend at the bar.

Smoking is prohibited pretty much everywhere in Hawaii. I like an occasional cigar or 4, so I asked around and eventually found a nice area set up by the hotel outdoors near the self-serve laundry facilities not too far from all the activities, but definitely in a place that would not offend someone of normal sensibilities.Of course there are always smoking ****s on the prowl.

After an exhausting afternoon at the bar watching the family spend an exhausting day in the sun, in the pool, in the surf and on the beach, we retired to the room to shower and relax before dinner at the Hula Grill.

I booked dinner at the Hula Grill on line a couple months in advance to insure we had seating at prime time. Glad I did as it was busy and the view was worth it.

The Hula Grill is located on the second floor above Dukes and offers a terrific dining experience with a fabulous sunset view. Lots of great seafood, beef and special choices. After an enjoyable meal we quickly found out we were beat, so we dragged ourselves back to the room and crashed early.

Tomorrow was going to be a busy day as there were two items to be crossed off of buckets lists.

Pearl Harbor and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II

Tip #11 Sleep is good for you.

Pics - Travel to Hawaii, and day one at the Outrigger http://travel.webshots.com/album/580544611GQvkmp?start=0

Pics - The Surfers http://travel.webshots.com/album/580544689VDfvxd

On the Road to Hawaii 7/13/11

Unlike most of our previous family cruise vacations, we were packed and ready to go a day or 2 before departure. On top of that our first flight was not until 12:30 in the afternoon. A huge luxury.

This was the result of a change in planning strategy on my part. I realized that we would be flying for 10 hours with a 3 hour layover so we needed to be fresh at the start of our adventure.

We usually are up late packing the night before our flight to our cruise port (which historically has been early the next morning) and therefore too wound up to sleep.

For this cruise, we arose relaxed, rested and ready to go.

Tip #4 Try something out of the ordinary when planning

8 full-sized bags, 5 carry-ons, 3 kids, 3 Labrador retrievers and 1 spouse all crammed into the minivan. We then made the labs get out of the minivan and then we said 1 more goodbye to the families 3 labs, 1 cat, 2 turtles, 1 cockatiel and 7 fish. Naturally we had a house sitter for our menagerie.

Tip #5 Beware stowaways

Off to the airport we went.

I don’t know about you, but I worry more about the trip to the airport before a cruise more than any other segment of our trips. A flat tire or a breakdown could really mess up your vacation and add stress to a stressful day of flights. Luckily, our trip was uneventful as was our check-in and departure.

Mom and Dad had seats in first class, a surprise for Mom, while the kids flew coach. (Nope, we did not forget Kevin at home) The first class extra space and treatment was a special treat for us, something I had always said I would do when we finally took a trip to Hawaii.

The flight was on time, uneventful with great weather and actually arrived a little early in San Francisco. We stretched our legs, had a relaxing dinner and then boarded our second 5 hour flight to Honolulu where we arrived at 9:20 PM Hawaii time.

Tip #6 Build time in your itinerary for relaxing a bit. Travel is stressful

I had a couple surprises for the family upon arrival in Honolulu:

1)I had a Lei greeting prearranged

2)I also scheduled a full size van to meet us and transport us to our hotel

The lei greeting was a hit.

I was surprised that the family enjoyed the lei greeting as much as they did. They quickly realized that there were very few people receiving a lei greeting. I later discovered that they all had an expectation of a lei greeting based upon what they saw in old films and were surprised it was not a continuing tradition for all arrivals.

Tip #7 Pre arrange a lei greeting. How many times do you go to Hawaii for the first time?

All our bags arrived undamaged, unopened and in a timely fashion.

When I turned on my phone we already had a message from Mark at Hawaii23 asking me to call him as soon as we were ready. He was running a few minutes late but it turned out not to be an issue.

It was rainy that evening in Honolulu. What we did not realize it at the time, but that was the most amount of rain we would see over our 11 days.

We arrived at our Hotel for the next 3 nights, the Outrigger Waikiki on the Beach. This was a terrific choice for us. The location was ideal; right on the beach in Waikiki and it had all the amenities we wanted on site. (Great beach location, fine pool, 2 well known terrific restaurants, lots of shops and even a self-serve laundry.)

The room we had a was a partial city view, but it also had a partial ocean view. Every time we looked, there were surfers on the waves.

We had a great sized room, 2 twin beds and a pull out twin couch bed. We wrangled all our bags into submission, caught our collective breaths, showered and hit the hay.

Day 1 could not have gone any smoother, a result that was repeated over and over on our vacation

Tip #8 See Tip #3 and then repeat

Prelude to a cruise

My plan for this cruise review is to write it from the perspective of a family enjoying the unexpected benefits of the Suite Life and VIP status on an NCL cruise. This will take a while to write so it will be coming in istallments.

Our family of five has been blessed to be able to take numerous cruise vacations together, including 7 cruises on the venerable Norway.

Our kids (who are now 18,18, 20) were born to cruise. I say that because they were souvenirs born 9 months after earlier cruises on the NCL Seaward and the RCI Majesty of the Seas. (They hate when I tell that story, so I tell it whenever I can)

Most all of our cruises have been to some corner of the Caribbean except for a 2 week cruise to the Med on the Jade a couple years ago that our eldest daughter chose as the graduation/vacation cruise.

Our twins graduated in June 2011 and over a year in advance I asked them where they wanted to cruise to celebrate their graduation. We had discussed a cruise to Hawaii for years but we had just kept putting it off. They could not make up their minds, so in March 2010 I secretly booked a cruise for the 5 of us on the Pride of America 7/16/11. Eventually they made up their minds. I was very glad I did not wait for them as the price of our cabin almost doubled from March 2010 to March 2011.

We are big fans of aft balcony cabins so it was a no-brainer to choose a Category SH on deck 9 (cabin 9198) on the POA. That is an aft facing family cabin for 5 with a ginormous balcony. That balcony is a truly wonderful place to see Hawaii from a cruise ship, especially Friday afternoon when the ship turns around and heads back on the Napali coast sail by. You have a front row seat to paradise for a few hours.

TIP #1 - Book far ahead if you can, especially if you are after a specific cabin location, like an aft facing balcony. My observations the last few years have been that pricing is best over a year away and the price just goes up from there unless the itinerary/ship has too much competition.

Fast forward to April 2011 when I found out that NCL had extended full suite privileges to our cabin. a happy dance was celebrated as this was an unexpected surprise. We have sailed the suite life a few times on NCL and it really is special.

TIP #2- Take a chance, sometimes ya just get lucky

Since we had never been to Hawaii, I started scouring the Cruise Critic Port of Hawaii board, roll calls for other Hawaii cruises, cruise reviews from completed trips etc to learn as much as I could from the experiences of fellow cruisers that had gone before us. This research confirmed that which I had learned previously on Caribbean cruises:

a) arrive a couple days before the cruise

b) book your tours and excursions in advance and save $$

c) don't plan too many activities

d) start watching airfare for a deal

TIP #3 - Plan , Plan, Plan

Here was our pre cruise plan:

1) Fly out mid-day 7/13 from Detroit through San Francisco with a 3 hr layover to relax/recover

2) Spend 3 nights at the Outrigger Waikiki on the Beach

3) Learn to surf

4) Visit Pearl Harbor

5) See the new Harry Potter movie when it was released 7/15

6) Eat at Dukes and the Hula Grill and experience the Hula Pie

7) Rest up and be at the cruise port 11 am Saturday to begin our cruise adventure to Hawaii

Our adventure begins in installment #2

We sailed the Sky and stayed in 9075.

Yes, separate bedroom, yes there is a door off the bedroom and the living room.

See the link to our webshots gallery in my signature and look for the gallery from our cruise on the Sky 1/4/04.

9075 is a mirror image of 9275

Even if you do notify your CC company of your travel plans, do NOT be surprised if they freeze your account when charges start showing up from some foreign location. They practice the art of ready, fire, aim.

Make sure you have the appropriate CC contact phone numbers with you just in case they have worn off the back of your card.

I'm pretty sure that if you charge your cruise or airfare on your credit card, you don't need to call your cc company to let them know that you'll be travelling and not to put a stop on your card. They already know.

Definitely not true.

The speed with which CC fraud is perpetrated has led to equally fast responses by CC companies.

They do not make any attempt to review your purchase history before they freeze your account if they suspect that some cc activity is fraudulent. They would rather inconvenience you than lose money.

The bigger issue is that some CC companies have set their sensitivity levels way too high and they are freezing activity for what you and I consider a regular recurring transaction.

Thanks for posting about your experience. We are looking forward to our day with Karen in July when we cruise to Hawaii.

Just uploaded to our Webshots galleries the vacation pictures from our cruise on the NCL Jewel in 2006. I thought we had lost them but I just discovered them in a file on my hard drive.

At the last minute we were upgraded from connecting oceanview rooms on deck 4 to side by side handicapped rooms with balconies on deck 9.

I figured someone might have an interest in the cabin pictures we took.

In my signature below you can fine a link to our picture galleries.

Look for the album entitled NCL Jewel 22606.

We sailed the Epic in a Penthouse suite aft. I am 6'4" and found the bed to be large enough for me and very comfortable.

The aft Penthouse suites are wonderful and we would book one again in a heartbeat. Whenever the ship is using thrusters to maneuver while coming in or out of port there is a bit of vibration that will get your attention, but not enough to avoid booking this category. I have never understood the concern and focus on this. Really not a problem, just a wake up call in the AM>

We sailed the Epic in August. We had an aft facing Penthouse and a connecting aft facing BA on deck 12. They were terrific.

Look for the link to my webshots galleries in my signature below. There you will find extensive video and photo tours of the 2 cabins.

Do you want an audience or do you want it to be a private event?

I have assisted others in the past.

For one event I was enlisted by a table mate to secretly videotape the proposal. The evening of the proposal I was in the requested Windjammer bar location and began taping when the groom to be came to me and told me that it was off for the night as the bride to be had received a horrible sunburn that day at Orient beach. ( I of course captured this on tape)

The next day things went off without a hitch and I captured the event live in a bar and also captured the reactions of the fellow passengers that were there at the time. Very cute and they got a big reaction and ovation. Then I snuck off and accidentally ran into the new couple as they came bouncing out to the atrium and taped the bride to be showing off the ring.

She never new about the taping and I mailed the finished tape with lots of other onboard footage to her groom to be after the cruise. He surprised her with it later and it was quite the hit.

Another time I conspired with a groom to be with the cruise director to enlist his help in a very public proposal. I was not present for the proposal, but the plan was for the CD to call the happy couple up on stage as part of a newlywed game show and when she protested that they were not married, he dropped to a knee and completed the deed. (Obviously he was very sure of the answer)

Good luck with whatever you do, but I would suggext enlisting someone to tape the event for you. It will be a terrific memory.

See my responses in caps below.

Zimomiller

What a fantastic picture and video show of the Epic. Your videos kept my interest for a long time. Great job!!!

 

THANKS, MY FAMILY THOUGHT I WAS NUTS DOIN IT. I DID IT FIRST THING BEFORE THE BAGS ARRIVED SO IT WOULD BE UNCLUTTERED.

 

I loved the pictures showing the Garden Cafe. It over looks the front of the ship and the view is quite something that NCL has not had in any other Garden Cafe before.

 

THE GARDEN CAFE WAS ACTUALLY FAIRLY NICE AND LAID OUT WELL. THE VIEW OUT THE FRONT WAS TERRIFIC.

 

I also loved the view from the Epic Club as you almost looked down towards the Disney ship.

 

YAH, WE WERE ACTUALLY LOOKING DOWN AT HER TOP DECKS.

 

Amazing! You did a great job with the tours. I also loved the way you opened up all the cabinets in the Penthouse to show all the storage. Bravo!

 

I SAW LOTS OF QUESTIONS ABOUT STORAGE SO I WANTED TO BE SURE I DID THAT, GLAD YOU LIKED IT. VIDEO DOES NOT DO JUSTICE TO THE EPIC CLUB AND COURTYARD.

 

Here are my questions.

What colors were you able to change the lighting in the penthouse?

 

REALLY NO COLOR CONTROL, JUST DIFFERENT SETTINGS FOR THE TIME OF DAY AND MOOD YOU WANTED. (PRESETS)

 

What was your favorite part of the ship and why?

 

HANDS DOWN IT WAS POSH AND THE COURTYARD POOL AREAS. THEY ARE BARELY USED AND IT WAS LIKE WE HAD OUR OWN PRIVATE SUNDECK AND POOL. THERE WERE SO MANY TIMES THAT THE ONLY PEOPLE THERE WERE MY FAMILY.

 

THE EPIC CLUB WAS FABULOUS AS WELL AS THE COURTYARD GRILL. (DO NOT MISS THE SESAME SEED ENCRUSTED SEARED AHI TUNA SANDWICHES!!)

 

WE ATE DINNERS IN CAGNEY'S, MODERNO, LA CUCINA, TEPPENYAKI, LE BISTRO, CIRQUE DREAMS AND THE EPIC CLUB. ALL WERE PRETTY GOOD BUT THE BEST WAS THE EPIC CLUB. THE FOOD AND SERVICE WERE OVER THE TOP. NEXT BEST WAS LE BISTRO, AND THE DINNER AT TEPPENYAKI WAS CRAZY AS THE CHEF BROUGHT OUT 5 EXTRA LOBSTER TAILS THAT WE HAD TO DISPOSE OF PROPERLY.

 

What did you like about the penthouse?

 

THE BED WAS ACTUALLY LARGE ENOUGH FOR MY 6 FOOT 4 INCH FRAME.

 

THE LOCATION AFT.

 

THE DVD PLAYER, REMEMBER TO BRING LOTS OF DVDS.

 

THE BUTLER, ALTHOUGH WE NEVER UTILIZED HIM AS WE SPENT ALL OUR TIME UP IN POSH OR THE COURTYARD

 

What did you dislike about it?

 

(ALL VERY MINOR DISLIKES)

 

1) THERE ARE 2 READING LIGHTS ON FLEXIBLE ARMS BY THE BED AND 2 FLOOR LIGHTS THAT HAVE BRIGHT BLUE BACKLIT CONTROL BUTTONS. THE CONTROL BUTTONS WERE TOO BRIGHT AND ANNOYING.

 

2) THE LIGHT IN THE BATHROOM IS SENSORED AND THE SLIGHTEST MOTION SETS IT OFF. IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT THAT WAS QUITE ANNOYING AS IT WOULD FLASH ON AND OFF. (EASY FIX, PUT A BAND AID OVER THREE QUARTERS OF THE LENS AND IT JUST PICKS UP THE MOTION AS YOU ENTER)

 

3) A/C WAS WEAK AT BEST. BUT THAT KEPT ME FROM FREEZING OUT MY SPOUSE AND HAVING A BIG FIGHT OVER THE THERMOSTAT SETTINGS....

 

I am also in a penthouse. I love the look but realize it is the smallest penthouse of any NCL ship. It also is the only suite on Epic to not have a separate tub and shower. It is also the only only suite in the Villa area that does not have any windows in the bathroom. In that regard, it does not give the most bang for the buck for suites.

 

AGREE WITH ALL YOUR THOUGHTS. BUT WHEN WE BOOKED, THE AFT PENTHOUSE SUITES WERE PRICED WAY LOW AND WE GOT A REMARKABLE DEAL WITH ALL THE SUITE AND VILLA BENEFITS. NOT SURE WHY THE WINDOW IN A SHOWER WOULD BE THAT BIG OF A DEAL. WITH THE ATTACHED BA WE HAD A SHOWER FOR THE BOYS AND A TUB/SHOWER FOR THE GIRLS AND 2 BATHROOMS.

 

 

Love to hear your thoughts.

 

Thanks again for sharing so much!

In the Penthouse suite bathrooms aft the lights are sensored. Truly a pain in the ass.

Especially in the middle of the night. They pop on when you walk in and will turn off after a few seconds, BUT unless you are motionless they will turn on again and off again etc...

I fixed our by putting a well placed bandaid over the sensor so it could only see you as you walked in or out.

I have uploaded photo and video tours of our cabins on the Epic from our cruise the week of 8/14-21. (See the link to our webshots gallery in my signature below)

We had an aft Penthouse Suite 10326 and the attached BA 10324 standard balcony cabin.

These cabins worked well for our family of 5, but I did find the BA difficult to navigate with other people and clutter in the room. The bathrooms and sinks were non issues.

Our other Epic photo galleries from the cruise include a photo tour of POSH, the Courtyard and other hidden gems for the Suite and Villa passengers.

I am still working on a review, but would gladly answer any questions that I can.

Gee did you get those souvenirs on one of the fun ships????:D:D

From our perspective, all ships are fun ships.

But to be specific, our first souvenir was a stowaway from the NCL Seaward.

The twins were surprise souvenirs from a cruise on the Majesty of the Seas. (her third cruise after launch)

Note: We did not sail Royal Caribbean again for many many years for obvious reasons.....

Thanks for a very enjoyable read on a Sunday morning.

It was one of the best reviews/writeups I have seen on CC. Cannot wait for your 'EPIC" photo montage.

Now I need to find a way to lower the level of my excitement as we do not board for 13 more days...

2 quick thing I noted after looking at the menu's

1) Cagney's - They were notorious for small side dishes on the other ships. On Epic the Cagney's menu specifically states that they are LARGE portions for 2 and you can choose two per person.

2) Chocolate Fondue in Le Bistro!

oh yeah, and don't review the menus on an empty stomach..........

Birth control.

We have 3 cruise souvenirs at our house ages 19, 17 an 17

I understand that some have taken offense to my 'jokester' posts.

I apologize for any offense taken.

Unfortunately, many have taken my posts in the wrong light as I was dead serious.....

Another forward for the Reverend

Forward for the Reverend

Thank you all for the feedback, but I am confused by the comments and amusement that my very serious post has elicited.