The Wait Is Over! A review of the Epic's maiden crossing June 24th - July 1st

[Cubechick]

As the Epic’s maiden crossing included no ports, we decided to make some stops of our own. After booking the TA, the trip evolved to include days in Iceland and London respectively. I have to review the land portion as well (in another forum), and am feeling the pressure! So many reviews to write, so little time…but in the interest of well, the interest that everyone has in the Epic, I’ll start backwards with the Epic.

 

First let me say that as we approached the cruise terminal in Southampton we were amazed that we were actually boarding the ship as planned. Her “setbacks” shall we say during the build had us greatly concerned at times (for the unaware, a broken engine and a few fires had caused a few hiccups!). I’d been concerned enough that I had at least two contingency plans in place in the event that the cruise was cancelled. Even as we approached the ship, I wondered if our cabin would be available as the reports from her cruise from Rotterdam to Southampton indicated that the courtyard was not finished…we of course were staying in the courtyard in an A3, in an area affectionately known as “the hat” among our CC roll call members. Oh and on the cruise from Rotterdam she experienced a propeller shaft problem, arriving hours late in Southampton, and leaving a day late for the schedule travel agent cruise. Seriously, we never thought this cruise was going to happen!

 

The morning of the cruise, we awakened in Southampton (Jury’s Inn, 69 GBP including breakfast) and immediately checked a blog being written by fellow cruisers. Yippee! A very early riser had posted a picture of the Epic arriving in Southampton at 5:30 in the morning. Yes, she had arrived and was waiting for us; her first passengers for a full-length voyage.

 

I think my first words upon seeing her at the pier were “Holy cr*p!” I wished I been more eloquent, but I was stunned by her size. Truly a floating city and thankfully more attractive than the early drawings made her appear. She’s huge, but more balanced than I thought she would be. Is she elegant (from the outside)? No. But none of these mega-ships today are. She is well-proportioned and definitely catches your eye.

 

The cruise terminal was holding everyone at bay until 11:00 am when they’d begin getting us all through security. They tried to get us to go to another building to await being called (and quite a few obedient folks did leave), but they weren’t going to budge us. We’d waited a long time for this moment and wanted to be among the first processed (plus we were still wondering what cabin we would have!).

 

From the moment that they gave us the go sign and “released the hounds” until the moment we were seated in the VIP area, 30 minutes passed. Not too shabby. Concierges extraordinaire, Karan and Anshuman were there to greet us and give us our keycards. I didn’t know if they’d be set up for anything yet, but had a list of the dinner reservations that we wanted to make just in case. Of course Karan took it from me speaking his catch phrase in the making: “No problem”.

 

As we waited for boarding to begin we touched base with folks that we only knew from Cruise Critic (it’s wonderful to put faces with names) and the time passed quickly. DH thumbed through the Freestyle Daily and realized that the back page was perforated. You can now just tear off the strip with the day’s events on it rather than carting around the whole thing. Good idea! When we were called to board, we all surged forward, so anxious we were to finally be on this much anticipated ship!

 

Our key cards were quickly scanned by the bar code instead of being swiped through the reader. A small time savings that will make a big difference I think on port days. We entered the ship on deck 5 and found ourselves in the atrium. Would you believe that we’d been on board for about 10 seconds when the power went out? The emergency lights kicked on but it was a disorienting 30 seconds or so. I’d studied the deckplans and knew which way to head but was a bit daunted to find that the power outage had knocked the elevators out of service. The crew didn’t realize this as they continued to direct us to the elevators. Well, we sucked it up and climbed the eleven floors to our floor! Thank goodness we’ve been working out!

 

At last we arrived in our stateroom (it was ready as we were the first ones to use it!). A bit more narrow than the A3’s on the jewel class ships, a nicely sized and appointed stateroom nevertheless. We had the small second bedroom that we’d assign to our luggage.

 

A small dining area with a bar area (dark wood and yes, the Lavazza machine!), a leather sofa and chair in cream with deep pink accent pillows.

Beautiful, bright Asian influenced artwork, a bed with slightly rounded corners and pink accent lighting above the bed. Marvelous bath with 2 sinks and floor-to-ceiling windows at the deep tub

and wonderfully large shower.

 

Ship mail was already in the room…one envelope containing all of our platinum perks. Yes, we’d be able to have laundry done and a behind the scenes tour was offered (we just hadn’t wanted to count on anything with this being her first real cruise). There was also a letter apologizing for the courtyard fitness area not being ready. As a result we were getting a very generous future cruise credit. Thanks, NCL!

 

Edited to add I don't know why I can't upload my photos...will work on that!

[Cubechick]

(I had split this into two posts thinking I had pictures to add...in the meantime here's my flickr link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/39515557@N04/)

 

We walked around the courtyard, so big! Two hot tubs and a small pool. Chaises in black wicker with cream colored cushions. Very elegant and calming in appearance. NCL really pulled out the stops with the courtyard area. The suites now have their own restaurant (the Epic Club) and two bars (just on the main floor). Saunas and steam rooms and a nice fitness center (once it’s finished) and the only outdoor space at the front of the ship is reserved for the suite guests.

 

Of course we were going to dine at the Epic Club for lunch and joined our new friends from CC. The menu is basically the Cagney’s lunch menu so I had my beloved asparagus salad and the bruschetta. DH had corn chowder and the seared scallops. Service was slow but we were the very first people eating at this restaurant. They hadn’t even gotten it set up in time to do rehearsals with the crew. In fact we found out later that the outdoor bar area (red cushions on the black wicker, more red Asian art) had been empty just that morning. The crew didn’t think there was any way the space would be ready in time for our arrival.

 

The life boat drill, as reported, no longer requires you to cart around your life jackets! Yay! But this European sailing had them giving all of the instructions in four languages, so the drill took quite a while. Once that formality was completed we darted up to the deck 18 forward area that I mentioned before. It’s tricky to get to as you have to go through the changing areas to find the secret stairs, but oh what a view!

 

Klaus Lugmaier the master of bringing out new ships for NCL and temporarily one of the hotel directors on board, came by and watched some of sailaway with us saying it was the first time he’d stopped for five minutes since he’d been on the ship. Seeing everything they’d done (and the work that we continue as we sailed) I believe him.

 

The sun was shining as we pulled away from Southampton. Oh what a sight! There’s nothing like pushing away from that first pier after you’ve boarded a ship. We were finally on vacation. And despite all of our worries, we were right on time and in the cabin we’d originally booked. Going back to our room to dress for dinner we discovered the first issue. Our key cards didn’t access the courtyard area! Sean Wurmhoeringer (the other elite HD who will take over the ship once she gets through this “roll out” period) was at the concierge desk and personally took care of us getting new cards. (I’d see many replacement cards issued over the first couple of days!)

 

Our first dinner was at Cagney’s…it feels so weird to have Cagney’s be on deck seven and at the back of the ship! I didn’t realize until we arrived that Cagney’s and Moderno (the Brazilian steakhouse) formed a circle overlooking the Manhattan room. I knew that the dance floor in the Manhattan room was surrounded by two floors, but I’d erroneously thought that the Manhattan room was two floors. Dinner at Cagney’s was as great as always. Loved the crab cakes and the steak (and lamb) were perfect.

 

After dinner we experienced our first truly “epic” moment. We went to Fat Cats and discovered the Slam Allen Blues Band. It reminded me of hole-in-the-wall clubs I’d been to in Vegas years ago (minus the cigarette smoke) and Slam and his band are a seriously talented group of guys (we’d later find out that Simon Murray discovered them in Nashville). It was truly the best hour and a half or so that I’d ever spent on a ship entertainment-wise. WOW! And even looking back at all that we experienced, they remain my favorite entertainment experience in all of my many cruises.

 

Back at our cabin we found that our room had never been turned down. I can’t say I was upset though. I am perfectly capable of taking the decorative pillows off of my bed and I figured that with the courtyard having just been opened, a routine had yet to be established. I’d also heard murmurs of no air conditioning, no phones and no TV so my issue was slight at best.

[sjn911]

Thank You!!

[Cubechick]

DH got me out of the beta test flickr is running so I am able to upload. Here are the first sets of pictures I had tried to post:

 

Epic in Southampton

 

 

 

Courtyard Villa Pics:

 

 

 

 

 

[Cubechick]

The Epic Club:

 

 

The outdoor bar and seating area of the Epic Club:

 

 

The Epic Lounge:

 

 

Bird's eye view of the Courtyard:

 

 

Cagney's:

 

 

Best band at sea...Slam Allen:

 

 

 

Hopefully the rest of my review will be without a glitch!

[FLAHAM]

Not that I don't enjoy reading how a Courtyard Villa passenger enjoyed the ship, but I'd like to hear more about shipboard life for the 90 percent of passengers who are not in suites.

[sinclaj]

Oh my ! your pictures are wonderful.

 

I won't be in a suite either, but I'm sure enjoying your pictures and your descriptions. Thanks so much for sharing.

Judy

[SnootieTootie]

Thanks for posting. We enjoyed peeking into the Epic.

 

Can't wait to see her in person in September.

[BarbCT605]

Not that I don't enjoy reading how a Courtyard Villa passenger enjoyed the ship, but I'd like to hear more about shipboard life for the 90 percent of passengers who are not in suites.

Cagney's and Slam aren't in the Courtyard. She's not done posting yet as she indicated she'd continue her review. She wrote: "Hopefully the rest of my review will be without a glitch!"

 

Sheesh.

[NCL_Cruiser]

To the OP:

 

Thank you for the review. I am probably as relieved as you (if not more so) that the maiden crossing went as smoothly as you've reported.

 

So glad to hear you had a great time (so far)...

[kjquilts]

Cubechick, very much enjoying your review and your photos - they are amazing. Looking forward to more.

[DMH15]

Not that I don't enjoy reading how a Courtyard Villa passenger enjoyed the ship, but I'd like to hear more about shipboard life for the 90 percent of passengers who are not in suites.

 

I guess I better not read anybody's review of of inside rooms.

[sjbdtz]

For those yet to enjoy the Epic...I have this same Pharo shower system at home, and the handle in the front is so that you can raise/lower the entire shower system. It's great for us short people who want the water closer, and you can aim the jets whereever they're most needed.

 

Seriously..the whole shower tower raises / lowers.... do it gently though....

[time2cruise1]

For those yet to enjoy the Epic...I have this same Pharo shower system at home, and the handle in the front is so that you can raise/lower the entire shower system. It's great for us short people who want the water closer, and you can aim the jets whereever they're most needed.

 

Seriously..the whole shower tower raises / lowers.... do it gently though....

 

Gently is key or like me you could end up holding the whole thing covered in soap and shampoo with all six jets running. :eek:

 

 

 

We now return you to the current review :D

[Cubechick]

Thanks for the lovely comments (even the criticism that I was in a suite...even suite folks can experience, and report on, the rest of the ship!).

 

 

Day Two…at sea…(you’ll notice a pattern here!)

 

Breakfast at the Epic Club. Same menu as the suite breakfast at Cagney’s. DH had the filet and eggs, I had the warm banana pancakes. The side buffet is extensive with the best fruit selection I’ve ever seen at sea. The old favorites were there, including melon and pineapple, but there were also fresh sliced strawberries, blueberries, and plump blackberries and raspberries.

 

After breakfast it’s tradition for us to walk off some of that meal, so we went to the jogging track. This is the only space on the Epic that I just don’t like. This is an area we use extensively on other ships and to have it be so limited is an extreme disappointment. Unlike on other ships the Epic’s promenade doesn’t circle the ship. The ships I’ve sailed on recently have a jogging track for runners and the promenade is left for people to walk, stroll and relax. With the Epic, one side of the promenade is for shuffleboard and the other side for jogging, with two narrow lanes painted on the deck that direct you to run in a loop. This is a tight area when you have walkers, joggers and runners all vying for space. This morning it was made even tighter by a “promenade zamboni” driving up and down the area, cleaning the track. To top it off the lifeboats hang down parallel to the promenade so your view of the ocean is severely hampered. A view people without a balcony will sorely miss on this ship.

 

On a comical note (to me anyway) 3.8 loops makes a mile…which makes this track just a smidge bigger than the promenade on the Majesty which was ¼ mile even. The Epic, the second largest cruise ship in the world, truly is a big lady.

 

 

A quick dash back to the room for a shower. We had a meet and greet to attend! This was the most active roll call we’d ever been part of and around a hundred folks had signed up for the meet and greet which was being held in Le Bistro at 10:30 am. We arrived a few minutes early and grabbed what we hoped was a good spot. One of our roll call members had made the most amazing nametags with our names, pictures of the Epic and the date of our sailing that she’d laminated to be worn with a lanyard. Just receiving that keepsake made attending the M&G worthwhile! Of course it didn’t stop there. NCL really makes a nice effort with these gatherings, putting out juices, coffee, water and pastries. The real bonus comes though when members of the senior staff show up. Knowing that Klaus and Sean were heading things up, we knew this would be well-attended and we were not disappointed. Captain Trygre Vorren is very engaging with a wonderful sense of humor and welcomed us with a nice speech and jokes about him too not having telephone, television or computer service!

 

 

Klaus and Sean were of course there along with Simon Murray (some may recognize him as the cruise director from the CNBC special about the Pearl…he’s now the Entertainment Director) and a surprise visit from Sponge Bob and Dora the Explorer! Klaus as always gave out his phone number and the numbers of the rest of the officers (except the Captain!) and he means it when he says he wants you to call if you have any problems. He also stayed around until the last guest left addressing any and all concerns on the spot.

 

Now we begin our first real exploration of the ship. Not that we didn’t look around that first day (and take plenty of photos!) but now we’d start to really look at the Epic’s public areas and take note. First let me say that she is nothing like any other ship we’ve been on so we carried around our ship map for the first 4 days we were on board. Even after that we’d refer to it to make sure we knew where we were going.

 

The Garden Café is an amazing buffet. Enormous and gorgeous, she easily accommodated the 3,500 or so passengers sailing with us. The space is run as efficiently as the Secret Service. A crack team wearing headsets patrols the seating areas, scanning for vacant tables, directing customers and reporting back to a central person who is stationed at the main entrance. He or she then lets customers know which way they can find seating. At no time did we have a problem finding a seat during the week. Of course the Epic can hold about 1,700 more guests than we sailed with so it’ll be interesting to read what future guests think!

 

 

The pool deck has the much-talked about and anticipated Epic Plunge plus two additional waterslides, which complete the water park. There are two pools in this main area plus a pool in the aft of the ship at Spice H20. (Although I have to admit I only saw this pool empty being used as a stage for performers, so I’m not sure how that will work.)

 

 

There is an area called the Marketplace that was being finished. I can only guess that some shopping will occur there? You have the giant rock climbing wall and the repelling wall.

 

The space is so large, they even have signposts directing you (you’ll find the signs on deck seven as well where the shops are…I have to say they were very useful in getting your bearings!).

 

 

 

 

By now we decided to take advantage of the Courtyard and veg out for a bit before dinner. The Courtyard was breezy but sunny and we relaxed for an hour our so in this very comfortable spot. I realized around now that I hadn’t received a confirmation for our dinner requests. Turns out that computers weren’t working and Anshuman and Karan didn’t have printers. That would explain it! I couldn’t remember what I asked for (I’d written it down so long ago!) but they looked it up for me and wrote it down the old fashioned way…with pen and paper.

 

Dinner tonight would be the Epic Club. No reservations required and currently only open to suite guests. The menu is a bit different from the other restaurants (but did I take a picture of this? No, of course not!). I had a shrimp entrée that was simply delicious and the rest of our party had the duck, which they enjoyed tremendously.

 

After dinner we popped into Fat Cats again to see Slam and then just walked around the ship. The next night would be Cirque Dreams and we couldn’t wait for this new experience!

[Cubechick]

Gently is key or like me you could end up holding the whole thing covered in soap and shampoo with all six jets running. :eek:

 

 

 

We now return you to the current review :D

 

I was wondering if you'd see this...:D

[fi'fi]

(I had split this into two posts thinking I had pictures to add...in the meantime here's my flickr link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/39515557@N04/)

 

We walked around the courtyard, so big! Two hot tubs and a small pool. Chaises in black wicker with cream colored cushions. Very elegant and calming in appearance. NCL really pulled out the stops with the courtyard area. The suites now have their own restaurant (the Epic Club) and two bars (just on the main floor). Saunas and steam rooms and a nice fitness center (once it’s finished) and the only outdoor space at the front of the ship is reserved for the suite guests.

 

Of course we were going to dine at the Epic Club for lunch and joined our new friends from CC. The menu is basically the Cagney’s lunch menu so I had my beloved asparagus salad and the bruschetta. DH had corn chowder and the seared scallops. Service was slow but we were the very first people eating at this restaurant. They hadn’t even gotten it set up in time to do rehearsals with the crew. In fact we found out later that the outdoor bar area (red cushions on the black wicker, more red Asian art) had been empty just that morning. The crew didn’t think there was any way the space would be ready in time for our arrival.

 

The life boat drill, as reported, no longer requires you to cart around your life jackets! Yay! But this European sailing had them giving all of the instructions in four languages, so the drill took quite a while. Once that formality was completed we darted up to the deck 18 forward area that I mentioned before. It’s tricky to get to as you have to go through the changing areas to find the secret stairs, but oh what a view!

 

Klaus Lugmaier the master of bringing out new ships for NCL and temporarily one of the hotel directors on board, came by and watched some of sailaway with us saying it was the first time he’d stopped for five minutes since he’d been on the ship. Seeing everything they’d done (and the work that we continue as we sailed) I believe him.

 

The sun was shining as we pulled away from Southampton. Oh what a sight! There’s nothing like pushing away from that first pier after you’ve boarded a ship. We were finally on vacation. And despite all of our worries, we were right on time and in the cabin we’d originally booked. Going back to our room to dress for dinner we discovered the first issue. Our key cards didn’t access the courtyard area! Sean Wurmhoeringer (the other elite HD who will take over the ship once she gets through this “roll out” period) was at the concierge desk and personally took care of us getting new cards. (I’d see many replacement cards issued over the first couple of days!)

 

Our first dinner was at Cagney’s…it feels so weird to have Cagney’s be on deck seven and at the back of the ship! I didn’t realize until we arrived that Cagney’s and Moderno (the Brazilian steakhouse) formed a circle overlooking the Manhattan room. I knew that the dance floor in the Manhattan room was surrounded by two floors, but I’d erroneously thought that the Manhattan room was two floors. Dinner at Cagney’s was as great as always. Loved the crab cakes and the steak (and lamb) were perfect.

 

After dinner we experienced our first truly “epic” moment. We went to Fat Cats and discovered the Slam Allen Blues Band. It reminded me of hole-in-the-wall clubs I’d been to in Vegas years ago (minus the cigarette smoke) and Slam and his band are a seriously talented group of guys (we’d later find out that Simon Murray discovered them in Nashville). It was truly the best hour and a half or so that I’d ever spent on a ship entertainment-wise. WOW! And even looking back at all that we experienced, they remain my favorite entertainment experience in all of my many cruises.

 

Back at our cabin we found that our room had never been turned down. I can’t say I was upset though. I am perfectly capable of taking the decorative pillows off of my bed and I figured that with the courtyard having just been opened, a routine had yet to be established. I’d also heard murmurs of no air conditioning, no phones and no TV so my issue was slight at best.

thank you for the review and the pics

[time2cruise1]

Dinner tonight would be the Epic Club. No reservations required and currently only open to suite guests. The menu is a bit different from the other restaurants (but did I take a picture of this? No, of course not!). I had a shrimp entrée that was simply delicious and the rest of our party had the duck, which they enjoyed tremendously.

 

 

You did not but Petra did :)

 

[Cubechick]

You did not but Petra did :)

 

 

Thanks so much for posting this! We tried so hard to be diligent and take pics of everything, but failed! I just need you to post the pic of the inside of the Epic Plunge and I'll be good! ;)

[kerrytens]

I'm thoroughly enjoying your review and all of the pics. Thanks for posting.:)

[time2cruise1]

Thanks so much for posting this! We tried so hard to be diligent and take pics of everything, but failed! I just need you to post the pic of the inside of the Epic Plunge and I'll be good! ;)

 

Best I can do is me in the Epic Plung

 

[Cubechick]

Best I can do is me in the Epic Plung

 

 

Thanks! I knew I could count on you! :D

 

How did you manage to keep your hat on??? LOL

[time2cruise1]

Thanks! I knew I could count on you! :D

 

How did you manage to keep your hat on??? LOL

 

I think it was frozen on :D After 3 runs I looked like a member of Blue Man

[coka]

Hi Cubechick, I am enjoying your review and pictures. At first sight I thought what a bummer about the promenade...but then thought with a ship so big, it will be fun walking the stairs, decks, and basically all over. Regarding the upper deck above the pool area where the water slides are...can one walk all around with more space up there...or is it cut off too by the courtyard? I guess I am asking if there is any outside deck area where one can walk from front to back to side and front to side again. Thanks in advance and look forward to reading more!

 

Time2cruise1, I enjoyed seeing your Epic plunge pic !

 

coka

[suz1607]

Thank you so much for posting! Which A3 were you in? Are they all decorated the same?