My Epic thoughts 9/25

[iceman2a]

OK I’m back, well I’ve been back since Saturday but have done nothing.

I am not going to write a full review, It would just repeat a lot of what others have posted.

I will just post my thoughts and experiences.

First I am happy that everyone got a laugh from my toilet paper comment on my “1st impression” thread, got the result I hoped for!:D

 

So let’s start with Fri. 9/24

Arrived @ FLL a few minutes late as we had to circle to wait for weather to clear!

Called Steve @ SAS, van was there to pick us up in 5 mins.

Took us to the Intercontinental, we got a great room on the 26th floor with a bay view! I had previously stayed at the Holiday Inn POM, This hotel was much better!

 

Sat. 9/25

My daughter woke me up at about 5:10am to tell me she thought the Epic was coming in

Took me about 3 mins for me to pick out the lights coming slowly down the channel. Watched it for about 30 mins as it turned and docked!

About 10:30 took a cab to the terminal where we waited for my Sil & Bil to arrive, they were driving from Cape Coral. Met them, checked in, waited about 20 mins before starting to board. We went directly to Taste for lunch. Lunch was great, a good kick off

To the cruise! We explored the ship for a while, ending up on deck 14 @ the SPA and gym. This is where we get separated, it was a little after 2:00 and they hadn’t announced that the rooms were ready yet, but I headed to deck 12 and found our cabin. Well you know the first thing I had to do was right, but just before that my wife calls on cell to find out where I was, I told here where I was and why. I figure out the light switches for the bath room and shower, I sit down and well you can figure out what happens next. My wife opens the door and her, my DD, Sil, Bil and everyone else in the corridor gets their first look at the “innovative” bathroom! They would have been rolling on the floor laughing their asses off, but there was no room on the floor for anyone to roll!

 

So the cruise kicks off with us all laughing, smiling and would basically remain that way for the quickest 7 days of my life!

 

Now let’s get to the nitty gritty:

 

The food, I know food is subjective but here are my thoughts.

 

Taste the food was very good it exceeded my expectations after what I had read.

Same for Manhattan and the service was good in both. I had planned on 4 specialty restaurants but cut that down to 2 after trying both MDRs.

Garden Café can’t really comment since I ate breakfast there only once and that was average!

O’Sheehan’s was ok to good, service there was spoty, great choc fudge brownie sundae!

 

La Cucina was great!

Cagney’s was Outstanding!

More to come!

[iceman2a]

Cabins, what were they thinking?

My thought is that someone stoll this design from an RV or Motorhome.

The problem there is that an RV or Motorhome is a good 12 to 16 inches wider!

Plenty of storage space but not much living space. We had a standard balcony on deck 12. Too small for 3 of us but we made it thru. It had NO impact on our vacation.

This was the biggest complaint from most people I spoke with on the ship.

 

Bathroom, shower, sink, it is what it is and this also had NO impact on our vacation.

My il’s inside stateroom on deck 8 seemed to have a bit more room, it was perfect for them!

 

Everyone else I traveled with did the slides and had a blast. My daughter did get “bumped” out of her tube on the plunge!

 

Entertainment: This time NCL get’s it right, it is “the best at sea”. Seven days is not enough to see all you want to see.

Blue Man Group was great, did get to see that twice!

Cirque I did not see but reports from my wife and daughter was that it was very good and the food wasn’t that bad. They had standard seating and went upstairs and sat opposite the stairs as some else here had suggested.

Presumed Murdered was good and the food ok!

Howl at the Moon was great!

Legends was good!

Jeff Hobson was pretty good!

Did not get to Fat Cat’s

Second City was ok, would like see some scripted skits mixed in with the improv.

 

So now, the ship!

What were they thinking?

Although the “flow” (people moving from where they are to where they want to go) improved over time, it’s still messed up! To go from the Garden Café to Spice H2o on deck 15 is a pain! Having to go thru the Casino to get just about anywhere is a pain! Deck 7 is the easiest way to get to and from front to back!

Anyone who sez there is no queit place on the ship to read or relax, play cards is “lying”!

I found places, especially on deck 7 near “Shaker’s” and the entrance to the “Humidor”

I pointed this out to a gentleman who was making this complaint and he said “yes, I found that too but sometimes a guy comes out and starts playing a guitar for a couple of hours” I just shook my head and walked away! Some people will always complain no matter what!

 

Oh! Something I forgot to mention! Maintenance issue! Day 2, my wife goes to take a shower before dinner, the shower door will not close, will in fact not budge, seems the previous user opened it too hard and it got stuck on the stop. Wife calls guest services, they say some one will be there in 30 mins! Maintenance shows up in 5 and fixes problem in 3!

[pcreek]

Enjoying reading your impressions of EPIC! Can't wait to see for myself!

 

I have a couple of questions for you..

 

We are booked at the Intercontinental for 2 nights prior to cruise. We have never stayed there before. Can you give me a mini review of the hotel?

 

How as the SPA on the ship? (we're in a spa suite, planning on spending a LOT of time there!)

 

Thank you! :D

[iceman2a]

Enjoying reading your impressions of EPIC! Can't wait to see for myself!

 

I have a couple of questions for you..

 

We are booked at the Intercontinental for 2 nights prior to cruise. We have never stayed there before. Can you give me a mini review of the hotel?

 

How as the SPA on the ship? (we're in a spa suite, planning on spending a LOT of time there!)

 

Thank you! :D

 

The Intercontinental is a really nice hotel in a great location. It has many different rooms. We had a room with 2 double beds on the 26th floor with a great view of Biscayne Bay. Clean comfortable beds. Bayside mall with lots of shops and eateries is a short walk thru Bayfront Park. Always taxis waiting to take you where ever you want to go! Did not use the Spa at all, though it looked nice when we walked thru on embarkation day!

[pcreek]

Thanks for the info!

Glad you enjoyed your cruise!:D

[pianoplayerla]

The Intercontinental is a really nice hotel in a great location. It has many different rooms. We had a room with 2 double beds on the 26th floor with a great view of Biscayne Bay. Clean comfortable beds. Bayside mall with lots of shops and eateries is a short walk thru Bayfront Park. Always taxis waiting to take you where ever you want to go! Did not use the Spa at all, though it looked nice when we walked thru on embarkation day!

 

Iceman, glad you enjoyed your cruise. Just wondering if y'all did any kind of excursion in Miami?? We fly in early the day prior to our cruise and are also staying over the night we return. We are also booked at the IC, glad to read the good review of the hotel also.

 

Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us!!