SMerritt

Came off on Saturday and this is who was on our sailing:

 

Hotel Director - Steven Jacobson

Assistant Hotel Director - Joao Paulo Miranda

F&B Director - Ludwig Lozano - left on Saturday for vacation, back in 2 mths

Executive Housekeeper - Nicolas Christopher

Cruise Director - Richard Abreu

Guest Services Manager - Claudia Condurachi

Executive Chef - Denton Laing

Beverage Manager - Mohamed Siyabdeen

Restaurant Manager - Gary Bryan

 

Bluejai

Ryan Ravi is the Haven Concierge - Ryan and his crew are the BEST

Flights are always cheaper on Tuesdays for purchase. They are also often cheaper 3-5 months out. There are several apps that watch and track flight prices.

I actually followed the above advice from a CC member......and will continue.

Scored First Class/NonStop Calif to MIA cheaper than most business class flights I have booked. It was a big treat ;)

It was better the second time around...

Brain Fart :o Can not cancel #2 Sorry all.........

Need another cruise FAST!

And if you cant find the sign , look for the lady with the clip board and she will send you where you need to be .

 

Just ask... ;)

Once you get through security just look and immediately head to your left, you will see "VIP CHECK IN" and a nice large room

Don't fret - it is hard to miss and year as mpk218 posted - clipboard lady is always right after security - you will be fine ;)

And if you cant find the sign , look for the lady with the clip board and she will send you where you need to be .

 

Just ask... ;)

Once you get through security just look and head to your left, you will see "VIP CHECK IN" and a nice large room

Don't fret - it is hard to miss and year as mpk218 posted - clipboard lady is always right after security - you will be fine ;)

No, but they do have one night usually where you can dress up for pictures if you want, but not necessary!

I have not seen one Tux on any of our NCL cruises - don't pack

As above, we will see suits/ties for photos, but rarely

Most of us do "clean up" in the evenings , collared shirts, nice shoes and slacks and the last night in the Manhattan Room

Which weeks are you looking at that really changes the price. The prices on breakaway range from around 6-700 for and inside but the week of the 13th an inside is over $1000. Sailed on the breakaway and it does have a lot for kids. Water slides a separate children's pool ropes course mini golf kids club basketball court.

The Breakaway has something for everyone, especially the younger children.

There is also a beach and park at Dockyard (the port) for members of your family that do not want to travel around the island a lot.

OK...Here goes

Sunday, 2/2/14 10:30 Flight Booked FLL-SFO

Disembarked the Epic, Port of Miami 8:00 AM

Cab Ride to FLL,

Arrived FLL approx 9:00 AM

I do have to preface this - we had priority disembarkation and everything else fell perfectly into place

Flight delayed 90 minutes!:rolleyes:

As many have posted here, the Epic January 25 8 day curise was EPIC

To top it off, our departure from St. Martin was delayed about 2 hours - rumors had it, the ship sucked up an old tire - anyone know?

Fortunately, we had our little “helmet cam” on, because I always love the Disney horns

This particular evening we all got an amazing show from Disney!

Video is little long, but watching the Fantasy sail away at night was so cool

Did you travel with kids? This will be our first with our 4 year old (he will be 5 when we cruise). Just curious of the activities he will be able to participate in. Glad you love her!

He is going to totally Flip Out over the Sponge Bob water park for kids!

no matter how watered down i make the coffee on NCL, it's still too strong....

 

any compatible coffee pods out there that are not from lavazza and perhaps another company?

 

thanks,

 

sonja

NCL has added more pods - usually they only have the "purple" pods for coffee, but now also "brown" pods that are more like regular coffee.

Have your butler help you with the numerous settings - you can customize the brew, or water your coffee down a little with the steamer. We do ask for larger mugs also.

This machine is FABULOUS but can be confusing at first - not just an espresso machine.

I LOVE LAVAZZA ON NCL! :D

Photos of Our Snowy Getaway Sail-Away from NYC...

 

We were on the 2/3-2/5 sailing of the Getaway from NYC to Nassau. Snowstorm him NYC on Monday morning. There were only about 400 to 450 passengers on board and we heard that just over 100 missed the sailing due to the snowstorm and shut down airports. I'll try to work on a more detailed review later (we had an awesome time and loved the ship), but wanted to go ahead and share these snowy photos...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you for taking the time to share these amazing photos! Something most of us will never see - loving the Snowy Scenes!

I am assuming that the Getaway Haven pool does not have a roof like the Breakaway??

Thank you for taking the time to post - we were on this cruise also, I am having fun reminiscing :)

Your mentioning "salty" food prompted this post - I too felt that many of our meals were way too salty, until your nicely detailed posts, I just thought it was just me, but a few items were inedible due to being over-salted. Third cruise on Epic, never had a food issue before.

As you posted, it was a GREAT cruise!

Bottom Line - the OP PAPPION, was too nice and courteous, I admire them

PAPPION needed one of the above "Desk Bangers" on their side when dealing with CS and Security :D

We thought we left the power cord to our net book at home - I would rather "disconnect" on a cruise, but our business requires checking in at least once a day.

DH checked with the Internet/Photo shop to see if one was available for sale, no luck, but the internet manager referred him to customer services :confused:

We discovered that all cords, chargers, etc. that get left behind and not claimed are neatly placed in box at the customer service desk for passengers to borrow!

We found a suitable cord (then found ours) but - HOW COOL IS THAT!?

You have great restraint

I am surprised NCL security was so aloof...

Possibly grab the camera and show security the photos taken with the creeps camera?

Have your camera ready to gather evidence?

I would write corporate - especially mention Customer Service treatment

Princess - beautiful ship, good food & services

NCL - We prefer "freestyle" and also, NCL offers more entertainment we like

We were in the Grand Suite on Princess, suite services and "perks" were not even close to the amazing NCL Haven Suite amenities

Opinions Vary......

I was in 16716 on Breakaway loved it

We were in 16716 also! It was the BEST Haven suite location ever!;)

We were on the Breakaway in Dec and Moderno was very good..Went on the first night of the cruise and they gave a complementary bottle of wine with dinner..Going on the Breakaway in two weeks and look forward to dinner at Moderno again.

We dined at Moderno on the Breakaway - OUTSIDE at sunset, it was fantastic and super fun!

I "bit" and was ready to "jump" :D

We were on the same cruise!

I felt good "Vibes" from the crew members, and passengers all week, no one complaining about anything on the elevators or just "hanging out" around the ship. A ton of laughs, giggles, and happy campers.

This was our third cruise on the Epic - It was Stellar!

We were very impressed by a shore tour operator - we rarely book ship tours, but decided on a helmet dive. The dive was cancelled due to winds making the water "muddy" and we would not see much, their honesty was appreciated.

All ports can be overwhelming on embarkation day.

Be sure you have your ships luggage tags FIRMLY affixed. I now do use the CC luggage tag holders on one handle and another on the strap.

Stay calm, take it slow, do not let anyone rush you

Make sure the porter places your luggage on the proper cart for your ship, again don't be shy or in a rush.

Tip and thank porter ;)

We used a ship-transfer on our first cruise, our luggage in Puerto Rico almost went on the wrong truck!

I even double-check the tags at the airport.

Check all parental consent forms for minors.......if there are "steps" involved, they will need extra "paperwork".

Thank you! Just last minute browsing before I hop on a plane then onto the Epic! I was fuming over the new "smuggling" inquiries....just thought you couldn't type/spell but opened the thread anyway!

Cute! Very Cool!:D

ACK!!!!!! Looking at my countdown clock - Missed my ship! heehee

I did Dolphin Quest in Bermuda.It is a little different from other ones.They try to do more educating about the dolphins and you don't ride them or anything like that.You are in the water with them and the handlers explain different things about the dolphins and show you things.You get to feed them and pet them and "dance" with them.I really enjoyed it because I learned so much about them,it was not just about swimming with them.

 

Laura

We did the Dolphin Quest in Hawaii and had the same great experience.

PLUS! It was the first time a mommy dolphin brought out her baby while guests were in the pool :o)

Thank you! Once again, I assumed, and...well...you know what they say about assuming. :o I'm glad that I asked! :)

 

We are land-locked Albertans, and the only seafood eater in our family is our 16-year-old son. He hasn't yet met a lobster that he didn't love! Because of him, lobster night is a highlight, and can't be missed.

 

I see that lobster tail and shrimp is on the menu at Cagney's, so maybe we'll book that for our first night.

I have seen lobster at the buffet on "seafood nights" on NCL, might be fun for a 16 year old.

Most ship lobster is steamed......as above posts have mentioned, nothing special *sigh*