Epic hopes...

[PokerDave]

Well from the reviews the innaugural on the Epic was certainly EPIC!!! With parts Epicly bad apparently...

 

Review of selected issues:

 

Embark was a disaster

General confusion and some comments of poor crew attitude

Ship not ready

- Shower fixtures and/or plumbing not working

- Phones not working

- TV's not working

- "Hat" not open

New bathroom design a huge issue for some

New rooms too narrow

Generally cold/foggy weather made the outside areas not very usable - pool area in particular

Expectations for an innaugural to be "special" ( or even not just a delivery ) didn't seem to get met

Debark was a disaster

 

I could easily see how someone could get off to a bad start and not recover on the TA. But do I panic for my cruise in Dec?

 

If I go throught the list and mark off the things that COULD not be issues on my cruise, the list gets pretty small... If I can deal with the room I am pretty much good...

 

My biggest likes on cruises are:

Casino - Epics seems similar to others except bigger, more variety, and half non-smoking, all good for me.

Dining - pretty good reviews on food so far. And I prefer free-style. And my favorite land restaurant is a churrascaria so I was thrilled to read lots of good reviews there...

Ports/Excursions - this will be a new itinerary for me, so good there...

 

So no negatives for me from Epic on my top concerns list...

 

I usually don't do many shows ( for sure not the Broadway style ones after I had seen some on cruises ) so entertainment isn't usually something I have found to be very different between the lines I've been on. But have seen and loved Blue Man Group in Vegas and looking forward to doing that with the kids. And the other entertainment will also drag me out of the casino, I believe. I plan to do Cirque, Legends, Howl at the moon, Fat Cats, 2nd city, probably even freeze my butt in the Ice bar...

 

All the negatives have been concerning and have likely convinced me to NEVER take an innaugural on any line, but I still feel there is room for hope that after they break things in and get some things fixed that I could have a cruise on Epic in December that I will find MUCH better than say doing the same on the Pearl... The reviews in the next couple of months should tell the story...

 

I will say to those who just cruised the TA that I am shocked NCL didn't do more to compensate for what was clearly a ship that wasn't ready, but one that they felt like they had to get out of France...

[orangegrove]

 

I will say to those who just cruised the TA that I am shocked NCL didn't do more to compensate for what was clearly a ship that wasn't ready, but one that they felt like they had to get out of France...

 

That I believe hits the nail on the head! ;)

[Bars7816]

I'm with you on not taking an inaugural cruise. If you've ever moved into a brand new house, you know how these things go. My husband is going on the Epic mostly for the Blue Man Group! :cool: