EPIC REVIEW B2B 9/18 to 10/02

[Medtech2]

Enjoyed your review very much. Brought back great memories of my B2B on Epic in Aug.

 

Going on Dawn this Sun. for the 12 night repo and our Belize stop has been replaced with Cozumel. Years ago did a snorkel on Palancar and found it quite a drift dive and also very very deep in places so not ideal for snorkeling. I was looking at NCL's shorex and saw that catamaran sail to Palancar. Could you give a little more info? How deep was the water? Did you see hard & soft corals and lots of fish? How was visibility? I realize it can change day to day!

 

We found Trunk Bay to be beautiful but the reef itself was pretty dead and well traveled. Upsetting to see people stand on the coral and kill it.

 

Did you snorkel at Tabyana? How was it? Was the snorkeling equipment included in the excursion? I generally take my own along but was thinking of only taking snorkel and mask this time and using their fins unless there's a charge....also often there's not much to choose from and I can't find my size.:eek:

 

Any further info you can provide would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Hi there, the water on Palancar ranged from 8 to 20 feet above the coral. Visibilty was good. We saw fish, 2 sea turtles and an eagle ray. There were a variety of corals but, quite frankly, ALL of the Caribbean Reefs are in bad shape. (Only Australia's Great Barrier Reef is still in good shape) We were in the water about 1 1/2 hours and I loved it. That particular boat had the best margaritas I've ever had, then dropped us at a beach party which was enjoyable and had food, more drinks, loungers, floats, kayaks, etc. We snorkelled Tabyana and I found it wonderful fun! If you face the ocean and go all the way left you'll find thousands of very small fish coming all around you. To the right is more of a small reef and larger fish. And what really amazed me were the people who just stood in the water drinking, not knowing what was swimming right by them. I was following a pair of very large (3 feet or so) silver bottom feeding fish amongst everyone's feet, asking the people occasionally if they knew what was going by them. I would both excursions again. I am very nearsighted and had a prescription dive mask made for this trip and prefer a dry snorkel so I took my own equipment, including fins. Equipment at both places was included though...

[cowbuoy]

Whats really difficult for me to understand is when the best free dinners are (lobster and steak) and when the best free parties are (white hot, jazz band, spiceH2o's biggest night) because i dont want to make reservations to pay restaurants and parties (cirque dreams, ice bar) on the coolest "free" nights!

 

What makes it worse is if you dont reserve quickly and pick dates without knowing youll miss out all together

 

Anyone have any advice ?

 

 

I'm confused.

 

Your original question answered by the OP (as well as the OP's original review) was pretty clear that reservations for dining and entertainment aren't really necessary and that the reservations they did make (Legends) they changed several times with no problem at all.

[Beanie01]

Whats really difficult for me to understand is when the best free dinners are (lobster and steak) and when the best free parties are (white hot, jazz band, spiceH2o's biggest night) because i dont want to make reservations to pay restaurants and parties (cirque dreams, ice bar) on the coolest "free" nights!

 

What makes it worse is if you dont reserve quickly and pick dates without knowing youll miss out all together

 

Anyone have any advice ?

I just happened to pick it right when I made reservations. What I would suggest is that you make your reservations, then right after you get on board, go to the Guest Services counter to see if they can tell you when certain events are. You really don't want to miss the White Hot Party or the Fabba party. If they can tell you, you can then change your reservations accordingly right away. All week long we kept hearing announcements about availability in lots of the shows, so it doesn't seem like anything was fully booked. Maybe Cirque, because it's a small venue. The Epic theater was filled in the mid-section, but empty in the right and left side seats.

[Medtech2]

Great review. Thanks for posting. We board Epic on Oct. 16th and it is wonderful to read nice things about the ship.

So when will we see your review? Have you posted it yet?

[coffeebean]

So when will we see your review? Have you posted it yet?

I'm working on my very long review. I'll be posting it in a couple of days. DH and I had a great time and we both loved the ship.

[cruiseclues]

Thanks for your fine review...we appreciate the details :)

[PathfinderEss]

Thanks for taking the time to post a review of your cruise. Glad you had a great time.

[Bra_BE2014]

Following is my review of NCL Epic. First, let me say we took a B2B, Western first, then Eastern. Upon arrival by taxi ($24) from the airport we were greeted by a friendly porter who took our bags and walked with us to make sure we went to the right entrance. He told us it was not necessary to tip him, which was quite a surprise, and, of course, we did. There were people stationed all along the way to point us in the right direction. Check in was quick, but then we were sent to a huge holding area, where it was confusing as to which side we should go.

 

Great review! Question: I noticed from your signature that this was your first cruise with NCL. Were you able to enjoy perks from lattitude membership on the second leg of your B2B? Thanks in advance!

[ChickonRules]

Great review! Looking forward to trying out Epic in 11 days!

[Medtech2]

Great review! Question: I noticed from your signature that this was your first cruise with NCL. Were you able to enjoy perks from lattitude membership on the second leg of your B2B? Thanks in advance!

Wow, this was a blast from the past!

Glad you enjoyed the review!

I do remember we were invited to some parties the 2nd week, but I don't remember if they were Latitudes...

What perks exactly were you looking for? Are you doing a B2B? I believe we enjoyed some chocolate covered strawberries as a result of that B2B status. And we had crew and officers stopping to chat a lot. It still remains my gold standard for a cruise!

[Bra_BE2014]

Wow, this was a blast from the past!

Glad you enjoyed the review!

I do remember we were invited to some parties the 2nd week, but I don't remember if they were Latitudes...

What perks exactly were you looking for? Are you doing a B2B? I believe we enjoyed some chocolate covered strawberries as a result of that B2B status. And we had crew and officers stopping to chat a lot. It still remains my gold standard for a cruise!

 

I'm planning to book either a b2b in jan/2015 in the Epic or 12 days on the Breakaway, not sure yet! I was wondering if the b2b would be percieved as one big trip or if during the second leg you were already a latitude member, earning points, etc. Thanks again and I hope the blast from the past brought good memories!