8/28/10 Epic Review

[goyanks]

We were on the 8/28/10 Epic sailing, with our 22 month old daughter.

 

Notice was given about change of itinerary at the pier, although NCL did call the night before warning us about a possible change. Didn't bother us very much, and was just happy to be on vacation.

 

Embarkation went fairly smooth, had to wait about 15 minutes, and then we were let on. The first place we saw was O'sheehan's, so we ate there as we were starving. Food was good, and went back a couple of more times during the week for snacks.

 

Ship: We thought the ship was fantastic and for the most part well laid out. Everything happens on decks 5,6,7 and 15, all other decks except for 14(spa/recess) are cabins. We loved the touchscreens at all of the elevator banks to help you locate and navigate to where you want to go.

 

The only issue we had with the layout of the ship, was the lack of a midship elevator. It would not have been a huge deal, except that we had our daughter in a stroller and it made it a bit difficult to get around.

 

Food: We ate dinner at

Manhattan Room - Good food, service a little on the slow side.

 

Taste - Same menu every night, same as Manhattan Room. We had an issue with the service and mentioned it Maitre D, Vincent, and instantly we got free wine and the service perked up.

 

La Cucina - Ok food, nothing great. Waitresses were great and were very nice to our daughter.

 

Cagney's - Food was good, service was great.

 

Sushi - went twice. Sushi was great. Service was fantastic. Maitre D Ana was amazing, and brought my daughter extra avocado, which she loved. When we went back they know Samantha and even walked around with her.

 

Teppanyaki - Food was good. Our chef didn't do much in the way of a show, but otherwise a good meal.

 

Room: We had a Family Deluxe Balcony #12082, with tub. First impression, was that the room was very small to be called deluxe. After a couple of days I realized that the room was big enough and very comfortable. There were cabinets, closets and drawers everywhere, even above the bed to store everything. Even the back of the couch had storage in it.

The bed is extremely comfortable. My daughter slept in a pack and play near the balcony door and it was not a problem. Bathroom is a little odd at first, but then we realized that it was very functional. The bathtub/shower was very big compared to other cruises we have been on and the shower had a nice rain shower head. The sink did make a little bit of a mess, but nothing too terrible.

 

Shows:

Blue Man Group - Fantastic.

Legends- Very good and a lot of fun.

Nick Slime Time Live - Very good

We didn't get to any of the other shows, although I caught a few minutes of dueling pianos - which was also very good.

 

Pool towels: There are pool towels in your room, and a card stating that you have to return to your room every day otherwise you will be charged $25 per towel. At first, I thought this was ridiculous, then I realized that this cuts fown on people leaving towels on chairs and walking away. Now they have to take their towels with them to not be charged.

 

We were very impressed with the ship and loved the technological advances including the touch screens, room phones, flat LCD's in room, and photo gallery. The room was a nice change from the typical cruise stateroom and extremely functional.

 

We did have a few things that we thought could have been improved:

- Previously mentioned mid ship elevator

- There was no Water/Iced Tea/Coffee area near the kids aqua park, only near the front of the pool area. It was a bit of a pain to walk all the way through the pool to get water, but not the worst thing in the world.

- Every day at 4:15 assistant cruise director, Michael, would announce Bingo starting in 15 minutes in Headliners. This wouldn't be a problem if the announcements were made in a normal volume, but they were blaringly loud and woke up my daughter for her nap every day. Other people mentioned that all announcements were very loud.

- Music by the pool was also very loud to the point where you couldn't talk to someone without screaming. Some people just want to relax by the pool, without feeling they are at a concert.

- Children's area, Recess, starts at 2 years old, so we just missed the cutoff. There is no place to play with the kids inside. Recess is kids only and parents can not play with children.

 

I did hear a lot of people complaining that they didn't know they could book entertainment and restaurants before the cruise. We pre-booked all of our dinners and shows and couldn't believe that people were unaware of this. I think NCL even sends out emails to tell you about this feature.

 

Hope this helps. We had a great time and loved the Epic. We even signed up for the cruise rewards on the ship for a future cruise. I think will be hard to go any ship that is not as current and advanced as the Epic.

 

If you have any specific questions, please feel free to ask me.

[orangegrove]

Thanks for posting your review. Nicely done! :) I can absolutely see how not having midship elevators would be a pain with a stroller. We constantly used the escalators and the steps. Soon you will not be taking a stroller as she ages and most all ships have a mid-ship elevator.

 

We also buy the future cruise deal. I think it's a great deal and have now used it 3 times without any issues.

 

Thanks again for your thoughts!

[fatcattravel]

Thanks for your nice review. Going on the Epic in 5 days!

[goyanks]

Thanks for your nice review. Going on the Epic in 5 days!

 

Have a great time.

[coffeebean]

RCCL's Voyager and larger class ships do not have a mid ship elevator and stairs. That would ruin the continuity of their Royal Promendade. DH and I are Diamond on RCCL and have cruised several times on their ships with no mid ship elevators and stairs. Epic will be no different in that respect.

[db1234db1234]

Great review. What is the future cruise deal they offer?

[AussieKathy]

thanks for taking the time to right a review sounds like you had a lovely time!

[mitsugirly]

Thanks for your great review. I will be on the Epic in 4 more days. I can't wait. You made me excited all over again. :)

[2010_cruisers]

mitsugirly, we will be looking forward to your rveiuw that is for sure.

 

and

goyanks (nice review) thank you for sharing.

[justschuttme]

Our family is traveling (us, husband's brother's family and parents) with 2 two year olds and one six year old, so my question is do you have any other helpful hints for folks traveling with kids? Anything would be helpful. Thanks so much and glad you had a good time, we are so exited for January to come! :)

[goyanks]

Great review. What is the future cruise deal they offer?

 

The deal they offer is put down $250 for a future cruise(book within 4 years, fully tranferable) and receive $100 on board credit now.

[goyanks]

Our family is traveling (us, husband's brother's family and parents) with 2 two year olds and one six year old, so my question is do you have any other helpful hints for folks traveling with kids? Anything would be helpful. Thanks so much and glad you had a good time, we are so exited for January to come! :)

 

You can put your kids in the 'Recess' kids area all day if you would like. We weren't able to do that since our daughter is less than 2. You will also be allowed to pay for evening babysitting after 10:30pm.

 

As for travelling with kids, we brought along crayons, books and a portable DVD player which kept Samantha busy especially at dinner.

 

We would take her for walks around the jogging track in the afternoon and she would take a nice long nap, so we could rest even for a short period.

 

I will definitely ask my wife if she has any other hints.

 

Enjoy your trip.

[Charity0000]

goyanks - i am traveling with my 19 month old in a couple weeks... did you take your daughter to any shows? how did she behave? i am thinking she is too young for bmg since i have heard it is very loud, but maybe she might enjoy legends or cirque.

 

Did you find it hard to keep her entertained during sea days? i am trying to figure out how many toys i need to bring..

 

any other tips?

 

thanks!

[goyanks]

goyanks - i am traveling with my 19 month old in a couple weeks... did you take your daughter to any shows? how did she behave? i am thinking she is too young for bmg since i have heard it is very loud, but maybe she might enjoy legends or cirque.

 

Did you find it hard to keep her entertained during sea days? i am trying to figure out how many toys i need to bring..

 

any other tips?

 

thanks!

 

We took her to both BMG and Legends. She lasted about 30 minutes in each. We sat in the back to the right of the sound board and light guy in the back row. You could easily escape by going under the railing, it worked out perfectly both times.

My wife left with her during BMG, but for Legends I just stood up behind the sound board and she was fine.

I think Cirque is 2 hours, and I heard that you can't leave. The Spiegel tent is quite small. There is no way my daughter would have sat for that long.

During Sea days, we would go for breakfast until about 9:30/10, and then go in the kids aqua park or the pool for a while. By 12, we were already hungry, so we would go eat for an hour or so. Of course get some ice cream. Then maybe we would go inside for a Nickelodeon Meet and Greet or Nick Slime Time Live, or go check out pictures.

Then by 1/1:30 I would go for a stroll with her and she would nap for a couple of hours.

 

There are so many things to do on the ship, you can just walk around for hours.

 

By 4pm, it was almost time to go in and get ready for dinner, which basically meant we would have to eat something before eating dinner. Isn't that what you do on a cruise. We would go to O'Sheehans for a snack.

 

We would go eat at 7, unless we had a 7pm show and the we would eat before. We went to the sushi bar one night around 5:30 and then went to BMG afterward. The baby ate the Yakitori sticks and if your child likes Avocado like mine, ask Ana the MaitreD for Avocado. Tell her Samantha sent her. Ana was fantastic and would carry my daughter around.

 

The days go fast on vacation.

 

Also, Recess will give you some toys. They don't have much, but it is better than nothing.

 

Samantha really liked the kids aqua park and could play in there for hours. We also met a lot of other couples with kids there, so it was nice to talk to other adults.

 

I hope that helps.

[goyanks]

goyanks - i am traveling with my 19 month old in a couple weeks... did you take your daughter to any shows? how did she behave? i am thinking she is too young for bmg since i have heard it is very loud, but maybe she might enjoy legends or cirque.

 

Did you find it hard to keep her entertained during sea days? i am trying to figure out how many toys i need to bring..

 

any other tips?

 

thanks!

 

We didn't bring any toys, except my daughters ball and elmo. We completely forgot toys but it worked out ok for us.

[Mikedc9]

Was the bed close to balcony or close to cabin bathroom

[goyanks]

Was the bed close to balcony or close to cabin bathroom

 

Bed is closest to the balcony