Epic Christmas cruise 2010 in a spa suite

[erdoran]

DH and I flew to Miami the morning of our cruise - our flight left Philadelphia at 6 am and we landed in Miami around 8:45. Even though we took our time getting our luggage and a cab to the cruise port ($24 flat rate) we were still there by around 10 am. I had to show DH the Epic first from the outside, since we had time to kill. and we watched hordes of people continuing to disembark.

 

We went into the terminal about 10:15 am. Although there was a sign saying that people could start checking in at 10, nothing really moved until about 10:30. There were only a handful of people, mainly people on B2Bs and us. We finally made it through security and since we were in a suite, we were pointed towards an office right after the security screener, so instead of standing in line in front of a counter, we sat in two chairs while a woman on a computer TRIED to check us in. She seemed to be having all sorts of trouble with her computer, and it probably took ten minutes! At one point it looked like she had an IT person come in and check something. Anyway, we finally got our keycards and an envelope with a note inviting us to the Epic Club after we boarded, and then we were walked to the "VIP lounge" to wait - which was just a sectioned off area in the corner of a large waiting room. There seemed to be at least two waiting rooms, both huge. The first one was very crowded before boarding, and the one we were in was not quite as crowded, and then we were off in a corner of that room. There were pitchers of juice, water, tea and coffee, and a couple of trays of finger sandwiches.

 

Evidently there were three weddings on the Epic that day. We saw crowds boarding around 11:15 and started asking when we could board, but they didn't let us on until almost noon...and I almost got arrested before boarding! The person swiping keycards couldn't get mine to swipe and after another five or so minute delay asked me for my room number - I told her and DH and I started towards the Epic. She came running after me, grabbed my wrist and pulled me back towards the screening station and showed me a picture of someone else and said "that's not you, is it! How do you explain this!!!" I offered my ticket, my ID, and even DH who DID pass screening but nothing was good enough for her!! I guess finally someone else came over to her terminal and they figured out what the problem was, and I finally was free to board.

 

DH and I went to the Epic Club on our own - no escort, no directions, I'm just glad I knew my way around the Epic! There was a big crowd of suite folks up there. Florentina, the concierge gave us the usual welcome speech and showed us around the CY area. There is the large courtyard that most people have seen pix of on the 16th floor. In either corner is a locker room (single sex) with a sauna and steamroom in addition to standard locker room stuff.

 

On 17 there's a reasonable gym (doesn't hold a candle to the main gym by the spa, but it is decent otherwise). There are some treatment rooms as well. There were a couple of spa people at the welcome meeting offering to set up appointments for services in the CY area, so we didn't have to go to the spa. We weren't interested because we were in a spa suite anyway and were closer to the spa than the CY!

 

There is a hidden staircase that leads to a private sundeck--well, two --one overlooking the CY pool, the other on the very front of the ship. That one is HUGE, with lots of clamshell chairs and loungers.

 

After that everyone descended on the Epic Club for lunch. Florentina had said that people could probably drop stuff in their rooms, even if they weren't ready, but for us the doors to the stateroom hallways were locked, so we had to wait for the announcement to drop off our stuff.

 

This is getting too long already, I'll continue in another posting.

[erdoran]

There was a sailaway party at Posh with free champagne and a few canapes, not too many. it was relatively crowded there already. The viewing was decent, a great view all along the ship and to the back, and some view towards the front, but DH and I headed for the sundeck on the bow for the best sailaway viewing!

 

We were exhausted from getting up at 2:30 in the morning to catch our flight, so we decided to have dinner at the buffet rather than the Epic Club and make an early night of it .... that is, after a stop at Howl at the Moon, which was both of our absolute favorite entertainment! Oh--our bags didn't arrive at our room until I think dinnertime or even a little later. We weren't singled out, it was like that throughout the ship, we saw empty hallways until dinnertime.

 

More later, when I get a chance.

[cmdchiefthom]

Please Edoran, continue!;)

[lovetoreview]

Please tell us more about the spa suite. Can't wait. Thanks for the reviews so far!!

[erdoran]

We were in 14133, which is the most forward of the spa suites. it's still quite a hike to the CY, and a bit of one to the spa, but manageable for both!

 

When we were finally able to get into the room, the toilet didn't flush! There was a note on the counter with the butler's phone number, so I called her to tell her about the toilet...an hour later a workman showed up to fix it.

 

There was also a plate of about six canapes waiting for us - they were on cookie-size circles of what seemed like white bread, with various toppings. I remember one had I think prosciutto, another a shrimp, another a little roast beef, and I think salmon mousse--and I forget what else. There was a restaurant-type wine cooling bucket full of ice, a bottle of mineral water and a bottle of sparkling wine.

 

There are lots of pix & videos of spa suites, so I'm not going into a lot of detail, you can see that all over the place. My items of note were that the bed is unbelievably comfortable, one of the best ever! it's round and plenty long enough for DH and me. The balcony is large enough for two chairs AND a lounger and a little table. DH is a smoker and we kept an ashtray on the balcony for him. We were able to sit on the balcony whenever we wanted, even when the ship was moving, because it's deep enough for us to just sit back a bit and not get too much wind. It is tighter than I thought it would be between the bed and the wall, but there is room on either side of the bed so DH would go past the bed on one side and I would on the other.

 

The bathroom is behind the bed. The Elemis toiletries are wonderful! I loved the shower gel, it smells like peppermint. The cream rinse left my hair really nice, much better than store-bought stuff. These come in little hotel-size bottles and we asked the steward for more bottles when they got low.

 

The butler stopped by to introduce herself and show us the coffee machine and lights fairly late in the afternoon. I asked her to bring DH a piece of chocolate cake and some milk every night, and a fruit & cjeese plate for me--that whole discussion is in another thread, along with some questions about butler expectations, so I won't rehash it here. She was good about having the minibar stuff removed from the fridge and keeping milk for DH, also about taking care of the coffee machine. I found the machine a bit confusing and had to get a second lesson a few days later before I caught on!

 

Epic was about 15 mins late leaving Miami. Captain announced that a pax had to be taken off the ship because of a medical emergency and that was the reason for the late departure.

[erdoran]

Day 2 the seas were rough and Captain closed Deck 7. DH and I were oblivioius, we were exploring.

 

Breakfast at Epic Club - I asked for & got a beautiful table for two at a window with a fabulous sea view! I had the fruits de mer eggs in brioche, which is a slice of brioche bread with a well filled with a very little bit of scallop and lobster in a creamy sauce, topped with a poached egg and a chorro sauce - like a spicy Hollandaise. DH had bacon & eggs, made the way he wanted. He thought they were too greasy and asked in the future for eggs with minimal oil and that is exactly what he got!

 

We had the M&G at 11 in Bliss, without very much turnout. We had over 100 people rsvp and I was really disappointed! NCL staff came out in force and chatted with people individually, and left their contact info. NCL also provided hot drinks & pastries (I think - I didn't really get close enough to see). Met some of the roll call characters, especially LWCalif and Rockchick! Also met Simone (I forget cc name), DH and adult children day before waiting to board, and kept running into them all week - lots of fun!

 

We also at some point during the day tried out the spa, which is lovely and was full but not overcrowded (unlike the maiden TA)! but the seas were so rough that the water kept sloshing out of the thalassotherapy pool. I heard that eventually they drained it!

 

Went to the martini tasting at 4, ran into LWCalif and had a great time trying out the martinis. DH started skeptical and grudgingly agreed to share with me, and by the end of the tasting decided he liked it enough that we were going to go to every one!

 

I had forgotten that there was the Captain's Cocktail Party in Epic Club that night - we got there about at the end of the party, but we managed to get a couple of glasses of wine before dinner. The Club and bar are beautiful and elegant, and the service is superb! For dinner I had shrimp cakes, salad, and the grilled shrimp, and so did DH (Epic Club. of course). The shrimp was very tender, and he's used to well-done rubbery shrimp so he didn't like it very much. I thought it was OK.

 

After dinner was Blue Man Group, and then I think we stopped by Howl - how fast we forget!

 

We weren't booked for Le Cirque, but we did hear an announcement that because of rough seas they were cancelling the show and refunding everyone, but they were welcome to go to the spiegel tent anyway for the dinner for free.

[erdoran]

Day 3 was Costa Maya. We had booked Native Choice to Chachoben and weren't disappointed. Very worthwhile! The weather was beautiful, 70's, dry and not a single bug to be seen, which is very rare. Was pleasantly surprised with the port area also, there is a really NICE pool in the shopping complex, which I didn't expect to see. it was too chilly for me and I hadn't brought a suit, so we ended up back on the Epic in time for lunch, spa, and CY time.

 

We did the buffet for several lunches and it was really good. I really enjoyed their Indian & Chinese dishes, their calzone, muffaletta sandwiches, and great olives! DH stuck to the pasta. We seemed to always get to the buffet around 2 so we didn't have to fight crowds. We had lunch a couple of times at the Epic Club, but just as often we'd do the buffet. I even did Spice H2O once and had some other sort of Indian food, which was decent.

 

For dinner that night we went to Manhattan Room so we could see Legends Unplugged. The dinner was decent and service fast, which is unusual for them! The show was so-so, and we were in a corner so we couldn't really see.

 

Day 4 (Tues) was Roatan. The port wasn't much, but there is nice shopping on the street leading to the port and some touristy shops inside the port area. We had booked a Victor Bodden tour. Our driver was not very dynamic. She was nice enough and answered questions but not up to the native choice guide!

[erdoran]

Another note about Roatan - we went to Bodden's Monkey Jungle, which was so crowded we couldn't really enjoy it. Anyone who goes there, have the driver take you there FIRST! We got there around noon and it was a zoo, and it could have been really great. I had a monkey holding hands with me through the cage, and another one sitting on my head, but there were big crowds and long waits to get into the cages, and the parking lot was so crowded people couldn't get in and out. it is definitely worth going to, but be smart about it! There were also great views at some of the Roatan stops. We had brought school supplies for the children, and I had many old pairs of glasses that we also donated.

 

When we got to Cozumel on Thursday, I had come down with bronchitis and just didn't feel well enough to do what I had planned - a prepaid :< swim with manatees and swim with sea lions at Chankanaab! So we lay around all day and had the run of the courtyard! I spent quite a bit of time in the spa herbal steamroom, which was very helpful.

 

When I did the Epic TA last June I noticed that Howl at the Moon had various people jamming with them. I mentioned this to DH because he's a percussionist and I knew he would love it. There was a 12 yr old girl drummer from the audience who had played a few numbers with them at another show we were at, so I fgured there had to be a way...and sure enough one of the players let it be known that for a decent tip anyone could jam with them - so DH had his chance!

 

Tuesday night the Eagles were playing (they were postponed from Sunday because of the snow). We went down to O'Sheehan's, hoping to see them on the big screen in the atrium, but they had a small music group and snowflakes there instead :<--they were oth the TVs in O'Sheehan's minus the sound, so we ordered dinner there and ate that during the first half, then raided the buffet for pizza, brought it back to the room and watched the second half there!

 

New Year's Eve: parties everywhere! Epic Club had a special menu, absolutely wonderful. After dinner we wandered the ship. We ended up at midnight in Posh, overlooking the Deck 15 pool/buffet/bandstand area that was absolutely jammed. We had the best seat in the house, all the music and only a handful of people--ran into Simone & DH there and we all celebrated midnight together. I was a little disappointed that CY didnt do their own party, or at least have free champagne, but not a biggie.

 

Other suite notes:

 

Concierge escorts suite pax to shows 50 mins early. We get in just before everyone else, so get first pick of seats.

 

Epic Club will fix or order in whatever you want. DH didn't like epic club food (he's very very picky) and only would eat spaghetti with red sauce, so they ordered that in for him every night. He was super-impressed with the maitre d' making those arrangements for him.

 

Epic Club has a small but amazing breakfast buffet which you can eat in combination (or instead of) menu items. Every morning I would have prosciutto, brie, freshly baked whole grain French bread, or sometimes fresh blackberries, raspberries & strawberries with yogurt. There were also excellent pastries including the infamous chocolate croissants, lots of other fruits, meats, fish & cheeses, cereal, milk...

 

Debarkation - Epic Club serves breakfast till 9 am supposedly-I say that because we got there a little before 9 and it was jammed, so I assume they would have kept on serving. After breakfast we went to concierge lounge and concierge took us down in groups right past all the lines...that is, until we hit the Customs line! next year we'll be even later going down.

 

 

Any questions? Ask away!!!! This was my second sail on the epic, and I have two more coming up later this year.

[familyof4cruising]

Thank you for your review.

 

What time did you have dinner in The Manhattan room in order to see Legends Unplugged? and where is the best place to sit for a good view?

 

The concierge took you 50 min early? to all shows or Cirque and BMG? What time did the doors open for the shows?

 

What time did you have the concierge walk you down for disembark? Usually their last walk down I thought was 9:00? I have a 1:00pm flight and would rather stretch as much time on the Epic that I can.

 

Thanks

[erdoran]

Thank you for your review.

 

What time did you have dinner in The Manhattan room in order to see Legends Unplugged? and where is the best place to sit for a good view?

 

I think we showed up about 9 and the show was 9:30 but not 100% sure. It was 30 mins before the showtime. You want to be as close to the dance floor as possible. Or--you could probably see it from Cagney's or Moderno. We didn't try this, but if you want to, check them out during the day. The show is on the dance floor by the band stage.

 

The concierge took you 50 min early? to all shows or Cirque and BMG? What time did the doors open for the shows?

 

We just went to Legends and BMG, but I'm sure it is Cirque as well. Doors open 45 mins early.

 

What time did you have the concierge walk you down for disembark? Usually their last walk down I thought was 9:00? I have a 1:00pm flight and would rather stretch as much time on the Epic that I can.

 

Thanks

 

We probably walked down about 9:30 or even 10, and there were lots of folks still eating breakfast when we did go down. Our flight was 2:45. Next time we'll show up for breakfast promptly at 9 and take our time.

 

Do allow lots of time for customs. For us, from the time we left the Epic until we arrived at our gate was 2 hours. I think it was a good hour to go through customs! For a 1 pm flight, I might plan on leaving no later than 9:30; no way of knowing how crowded the airport will be.

[familyof4cruising]

Thank you for your responses. One night I made my reservation 2 hours 15 min from the start of the show. I guess that is not enough time. If you have a reservation until what time will they let you enter before they start giving it to standby?

 

We usually get off at 9:00 with the concierge and never have an issue with lines. This time I don't want to rush and get to the airport. Maybe I am better off at the airport then I am standing on line. I guess i will decide that morning depending on how tired I am.:)

[erdoran]

Thank you for your responses. One night I made my reservation 2 hours 15 min from the start of the show. I guess that is not enough time. If you have a reservation until what time will they let you enter before they start giving it to standby?

 

We usually get off at 9:00 with the concierge and never have an issue with lines. This time I don't want to rush and get to the airport. Maybe I am better off at the airport then I am standing on line. I guess i will decide that morning depending on how tired I am.:)

 

I've heard different figures, mostly 5 or 10 mins. You should ask the concierge, I don't know how good my facts are. Keep in mind all seating is open so the later you arrive the worse your seats will be. I don't know about reserved seating for suites, you would have to ask about that.

 

Re Customs waits - I was chatting with one of the Customs folks monitoring the lines, and she said that you are best to be one of the first or one of the last off - the 9 am time window is about the busiest for them! For myself, I'm nervous about airport checkin lines. Last year we flew US Air home and got stuck in one of those lines where there was one person at the check-in counter and a huge line that just didn't move at all. We got really lucky when another agent showed up and pulled everyone on our flight out of that line and into another line - perhaps that was because they had cancelled the two flights after ours, and every single person in line might have been trying to rebook. Who knows...but after that I allow LOTS of time for checkin!

[familyof4cruising]

Legends in Concert is in the Manhattan room right? If you have show tickets for 9:45 do they start closing off a section off the Manhattan room to dinner guest?

[erdoran]

Legends in Concert is in the Manhattan room right? If you have show tickets for 9:45 do they start closing off a section off the Manhattan room to dinner guest?

 

No. Legends IN CONCERT is in the Epic Theatre. That is what tickets are for. Legends UNPLUGGED is in the Manhattan Room. It is a completely different show and not to be missed. No tickets, no reservations, and no closing anywhere off to dinner guests.

[familyof4cruising]

No. Legends IN CONCERT is in the Epic Theatre. That is what tickets are for. Legends UNPLUGGED is in the Manhattan Room. It is a completely different show and not to be missed. No tickets, no reservations, and no closing anywhere off to dinner guests.

 

 

Thanks

 

So if I go to dinner at the Mahattan room at 8:30 thats a good time to see the 9:30 Unplugged?

 

Where is BMG?

[erdoran]

Thanks

 

So if I go to dinner at the Mahattan room at 8:30 thats a good time to see the 9:30 Unplugged?

 

Where is BMG?

 

BMG is in Epic theatre, same place as Legends in Concert. 8:30 dinner should work on timing but I have no idea how crowded it will be there or whether you'll get a decent seat.

[mejo]

Thanks for the review. We are staying in 14133 March 12 and would love to have any other info about the room. Was it loud with the pool above? Any other tidbits would be appreciated. Thanks in advance

[erdoran]

Thanks for the review. We are staying in 14133 March 12 and would love to have any other info about the room. Was it loud with the pool above? Any other tidbits would be appreciated. Thanks in advance

 

The balcony was noisy at times with the music and loudspeaker from the pool deck; other times it was very quiet and peaceful. You could definitely hear running/walking on the deck above and in the early morning you could hear the crew hosing down the deck. Having said all that, it wasn't terrible, but you definitely did notice the noise.