EPIC REVIEW - Oct 2,1010(Western) Group Cruise ages 3-70 Extreme review with photos!

[#1TravelMom]

Arubamoose,

Several in our group had balcony cabins. They felt as if our cabin had a little more room to move around when set up for 4, but their cabin had more storage.

 

If budget is an issue, an inside quad is doable(is this a word?) - not luxurious and spacious, but doable.

[alemap]

What a great review-you are making me so excited for our upcoming trip! I also have DD almost 6, so I appeciate all the comments about what a wonderful time she had!

 

Was there a fee to reserve the chairs at Tropicante? We would eat and drink there of course-the menu looks great!

 

Pamela

[#1TravelMom]

Okay - here is my commercial. When we cruise-we want our children to understand how blessed we are to do so.

For months before we leave, we buy things each time we are at Walmart, etc. For example: pencils, toothbrushes, washcloths, bandaids, little toys, crayons, coloring books, and so on. Each time, I remind my little one that we are buying these for the upcoming cruise-to give to children who don’t have these things. I buy an old suitcase at a yard sale and fill it with gift bags. While visiting a port, we load everything into duffel bags and carry the empty suitcase. We give the suitcase to the first person who wants it-which is always the first person we offer it to. Then, while touring the island, we just choose an area to hand things out.

 

In Roatan, we stopped in a little neighborhood. As soon as we gave out one bag, the word spread and little ones came running. Our guide said this was more than they would get at Christmas. The kids were all so precious and the parents kept thanking us. If you’ve never done anything like this – you are missing a special experience. It is definitely better to give than receive! My girls have always helped make and hand out the gift bags. We think it’s a great reminder to them – to be thankful for all they have.

 

 

 

 

 

I just think if 10% of the cruisers tucked even 2 tiny gift bags in their suitcase-they could give children small gifts they may never recieve any other way.

[#1TravelMom]

alemap,

Tropicante does not charge any fee to reserve space for you. We've been to Costa Maya several times and this is the first time I've liked the place so much I wanted to write about them. The one guy even made my daughter a little necklace out of some kind of nut(or something) and gave it to her as a gift. She had a great time there. He also brought her a tiny dish of icecream(no charge)-made her day! They do not pressure you to buy food or drinks - but I'm sure it is appreciated. We also tipped "our guy"-Jorge. He was just great!

[#1TravelMom]

Roatan: I’ll just write a little here with a few photos. I’ll post more under the Ports of Call board – as soon as I get time. We used ronystours.com. Rony’s brother was our guide. Every time we are in Roatan we use Rony’s. His company is big enough that he can accommodate large groups, but his company is small enough that he really cares about each and every customer. He is very prompt at returning emails. We like his freestyle tour – just $20 per person(with a group of 4 or more)-kids under 5-free. That provides you a driver for the entire day. Stop for photos where you like. Stop at the monkey park, try the zipline, relax on the beach – all at your own pace. We can’t imagine better service than we’ve had with this company.

 

This monkey decided to sit on her head and eat a peanut.

She really likes hand-feeding the deer.

[alemap]

Your gift bags are a great idea! We visited Roaton a few years ago (before I had my children) and were in contact with an orphanage who needed supplies. We also packed our bags with tons of stuff for the kids. It was a good feeling to know that for something that took very little effort or $$ on our part made a child's day. You have just reminded me to make this a special part of my children's trip. Thanks!

[#1TravelMom]

The day we were in Roatan, we visited the monkey park, visited the local children, several zipped at the South Shore Canopy Zips $45pp(best zipline)-really fun, and headed for Infinity Resort. This place is absolutely gorgeous. $15 to use beach chairs and pool. They also have a place to order food and drinks(very pricey). As soon as we paid our fee – torrential rains and wind moved in. We tried to wait it out – no luck. Honduras has some of the most gorgeous beaches-we were sad our group missed them. Still, my little girl was glad we had a great time with the monkeys.

Rony’s brother was so upset that it rained. He kept saying he was so sorry and that Rony was going to be so sorry for the weather. We know there was nothing they could do about the weather – but it was thoughtful that he was so extremely concerned. Our group went with 4 different drivers – everyone raved about how great they were and that they had a good time-even with the awful weather.

It's hard to see in the photos, but it was raining really hard. My DD insisted on a dip in the pool anyway!

[#1TravelMom]

Well, that's it for the photo portion of my review. I have a paper(still yet to be unpacked) that has lots of randoms tips. I'll post them as soon as it's found.

 

A quick summary. For us, this was a spectacular vacation! We didn't have enough time to enjoy everything the EPIC has to offer. We would definately like to cruise at least another week on the EPIC next year. As you noticed in my review - for me personally, and my immediately family-there were no DADs(see first post if you have no clue what I mean). There were very few MADs and lots of NADs.

 

Within our group - aged 3-70, we had ratings from 5 to 10+++. The 10+++ ratings were from the 3-10 year olds - this waterpark and kids club can't be beat! The lower ratings were from older couples in my group. They are used to very traditional cruising-set dining time, Las Vegas production type shows(which I will interject-we are just tired of), and from year's ago - all restaurants included in the fare. They all did say they were glad they tried the EPIC and had a great time. 18 out of 24 said they would like to return to the EPIC in the future!

[#1TravelMom]

For those of you who are new to NCL - you choose your own debarkation time. The night prior - visit the area next to guest services. Choose luggage tags with the color that corresponds to your desired debarkation time. We were purple-scheduled for 9:30am. Purple was actually called at 8:50am. I am amazed how quickly they got everyone off this ship - best debarkation ever! Just a note: It is important that you get off at the gangway shown for your color or you will be in the wrong "luggage warehouse" area. No worry if you forget - just ask someone and they will direct you to the correct area. The luggage is all in the same warehouse, just different areas.

[alemap]

I have seen several ways to "do" Roaton...Victor Bodden, Rony's etc. Did Rony's charge you a set fee to be your drive, and if so, how much? Can our family of 4 go in one car? Did your DD zip? (Mine is on the fence!) We can't wait to see monkeys...any particular place besides Boddens?

[sdmike]

Thanks for the picture review! I recognize those places! :) That last one is Infinity Bay, and I was dying to use the pool (but we decided to spend our $ on lunch and drinks). It was gorgeous when we were there, so sorry you had bad weather. However, it looks like you made up for it at Costa Maya (we got shut out due to rough seas). Your daughter looks like she had the most incredible time, and it warms my heart to hear your "gift bag" story. We will do this on every cruise from now on. Roatan was amazing. The people were SO friendly, even those with next to nothing.

 

Mike

[sdmike]

I have seen several ways to "do" Roaton...Victor Bodden, Rony's etc. Did Rony's charge you a set fee to be your drive, and if so, how much? Can our family of 4 go in one car? Did your DD zip? (Mine is on the fence!) We can't wait to see monkeys...any particular place besides Boddens?

 

I don't know about Rony's, but we were able to put all 11 of us in a van when we used Victor's. I'm sure 4 won't be an issue. We paid $65 per person for our tour which included our driver for the day, zip lining at Victors, the monkey/animal park, and our trip to Infinity Bay. The Zipline at Victors is a 13 line smaller version of the others, but it was fine for our group ranging from 9 to 70

[#1TravelMom]

Rony's charges $20 pp for a family of 4 for the entire day in one car. I don't think you can beat his price for the level of service. The monkeys are at Bodden's. Even though Rony and Bodden are somewhat competitors, Rony still takes you there. My DD just loves it.

 

My DD didn't to the Zipline-although I know she would have loved it. It was raining and I didn't want her to go without me and I didn't want to go in the rain. Everyone that went said they can't wait to do it again.

[lynnquenby]

Fantastic review! our 2 week B2B is getting closer by the day..... although still 190+ days away....... your review just made it feel a whole lot closer! :)

 

Having already done 2 nights on the Epic (Rotterdam to Southampton Inagural) we have a feel of what's to come, but can't wait for the 2 weeks to really explore.

 

Thanks so much for bringing the ship to life with the photos/review.

 

:D:D:D

[#1TravelMom]

sdmike - thanks for your kind words and info on Victor's. The price is slightly lower for Victor. I guess the deciding factor may be which zipline they want to do. Everyone loved South Shore - it is rated 2nd best in the America's. I have just had spectacular service from Rony every time, Friends of ours had a huge snafu with Victor. He is a much larger company, so I think it's easier to "get lost". Though, I have heard lots of great things about his tours also. Rony still personally greets everyone, etc. That means a lot to us.

[pianoplayerla]

Thanks for an awesome review!!! We are doing the Eastern Carib. in 11 days!!!! Your review has me wishing we were doing a b2b!!! :)

[sdmike]

sdmike - thanks for your kind words and info on Victor's. The price is slightly lower for Victor. I guess the deciding factor may be which zipline they want to do. Everyone loved South Shore - it is rated 2nd best in the America's. I have just had spectacular service from Rony every time, Friends of ours had a huge snafu with Victor. He is a much larger company, so I think it's easier to "get lost". Though, I have heard lots of great things about his tours also. Rony still personally greets everyone, etc. That means a lot to us.

 

I completely understand. I think to visit the monkeys is just $5 plus any tips to the guides, even if you're brought there by another tour. So the big question is which zip line you want to do. We paid $65 inclusive, so you'd be in for $25 plus any zip cost with Rony. We were great with the smaller zip at Victors, but next time I'd want to go to one of the bigger facilities (now that I'm no longer a chicken. lol)

[r2mach1]

What a wonderful review!! Great pics as well! Our kids will be 8 and nearly 5 when we sail so its great to hear how much fun your DD had, she is adorable BTW...:)

 

Loved your "family pile" pic, I think we may have to try that one!

 

Anxiously awaiting written down notes...

 

What was your personal rating of the cruise?

[#1TravelMom]

I rate the ship a strong 9. But 5 in the group rated it a 10. I guess I want to leave a little room for improvement. There were so few things that really bothered me - the slippery pool deck and casino smoke - both of which they are addressing.I can't even tell you how much fun we all had on the water slides and the seeing the shows. I'm just not sure everything would have been so great with 700 more kids on board. I think there is a good chance we will sail again on the EPIC in the upcoming year - I highly doubt I would book "peak kid" weeks.

[jdl71115]

Travelmom,

AWESOME review. Thanks so much! I am glad that you comfortably fit four in your inside stateroom. We have 3 (myself, husband and 4yr old) Question, your beds were set up like bunk-beds, when you have 3 or four inside can the two lowers be pushed together w/ the upper one still out? I thought I saw a configuration like that on one of the reviews, but cant remember now????

 

Thanks for the great idea about the little goody bags. What a wonderful idea. We leave in 23 days, so I'm not sure that I can do as much as you did, but I would like to do something like that when we go.

 

Thank you so much for your review!!

[#1TravelMom]

Yes, when we cruise without our 21 year old DD, we have the steward put the beds together. My sister had their beds pushed together for this cruise - and they had 4 in their room also. Either setup works - it just seemed like we had better flow. They liked the beds together.

[pcreek]

Great review! Thank you!!

 

As you can see we're ready to go!! (but keeping an eye on the weather channel, as Roatan is getting pounded by rain).

 

Thanks again - just peaks our excitement even more reading your review & your great photos!

[pcreek]

duplicate post. sorry

[Sherry84]

Really enjoying your review and photos Travelmom, thank you!

[alemap]

I tried to Google Tropicante to find an email addy, but could not find it. Do you have the contact info? Looks like a great, casual beach place for us!