Epic Cruise - January 22, 2011, Western - mother/daughter cruise

[Zeno]

Yes it had shade as well as sun depending on the angle of the sun. Not only that, but one day we had an afternoon rain shower for about an hour, then sprinkles for another hour. The balcony is so large, you can still be on it and we never got wet from the rain.

 

Lovely! My kind of balcony!

[stormcastle]

I enjoyed your review--very well written and captured more "atmosphere" than many reviews do.

 

My husband and I are taking my mother on the Epic next week--looking forward to it even more after reading your review.

[Why Knot Me]

:)I really enjoyed your post as I am taking a mother/daughter cruise in October on the Epic as I will be celebrating a big birthday (with a zero on the end!) whilst away and she will be 18 the week we return home.

 

She wanted to go to the white hot party but we were not sure if there was an age restriction. I presume as no one mentioned anything to you that there isn't so she is really pleased.

 

Did you both take in any spa treatments? We have a Spa balcony and we are looking forward to a mother/daughter massage and wondered if you had any other recommendations.

 

Sounds like you had the catch up /bonding holiday we are so looking forward to. As you say with life, work, sixth form, exams etc its nice just to make a special time to just be with each other as they grow up so soon.

 

We did not do any spa treatments so I can't comment on that. You asked about other recommendations... I don't have specific things that you should do, but all I can say is that my daughter and I encouraged each other to step outside of our comfort zones with each other and our traditional cruise mode. For example, I hardly ever get in the pool anywhere, hotel or cruise. It's just usually not my kind of thing. However, my DD encouraged me too and we ended up having a blast together and we spent hours and hours in the pool just cooling off or being silly. Likewise, playing ping pong or getting her up on the dance floor at the White Hot Party. These were the things that created great memories for us.

[Why Knot Me]

Thanks for your epic review!

You mentioned that your daughter had lactose free desserts every night. How did you arrange for that...did you just ask each night, or was it pre-arranged? I am also lactose intolerant :mad:

We would love to see pictures of the pottery you bought in Roatan! We also buy a piece wherever we go, and have yet to visit Roatan, so I'd love to see what they have available there!

 

You can call the special needs department in advance of your cruise and let them know. We found it wasn't necessary. Everyone was very accomodating. My DD would ask about certain dishes if they had dairy. The waitstaff would always check with the chef and often they'd come back with recommendations of dishes they could prepare without sauces etc. The dessert thing happened because of a very kind Maitre D', Sanja who found out about DD being lactose intolerant. She arranged to have a dessert each night, usually it was something with apples... apple tart, apple crisp. We learned though that there was always sorbet available too, although not on the menu... just ask. Kiwi was not so good though, the others were delicious.

 

Even though my DD manages her diet very well and on her own, she did slip one night because she couldn't resist the biscuit/cheese/roll type of thingy that is served at Moderno. She got sick from that, but it was her own doing!!

 

I'll try to remember to take a picture of the pottery and get it posted here.

[Why Knot Me]

I enjoyed your review--very well written and captured more "atmosphere" than many reviews do.

 

My husband and I are taking my mother on the Epic next week--looking forward to it even more after reading your review.

 

Glad you enjoyed my review.

[Why Knot Me]

Thanks for the GREAT review! You mentioned that you had afternoon naps on your balcony. Were there lounge chairs on your standard balcony? I am boarding EPIC in 3 weeks!

 

There were two chairs that recline.

[Tideone]

Thanks for your great review.

My wife and I sailed on the Epic at Christmas and had such a great time, we just have to go back. We will be sailing on her again next month and even though we were on the Epic, I found your review to be quite helpful for some things that I missed.

We are also long time NCL cruisers, finding freestyle to be just what we wanted when we cruised.

We have also done the penthouses but did an aft balcony on the Epic and are doing an aft balcony again. Actually, we will be staying next door to the room we had Christmas.

Once again thanks for writing such a great review.

We love the Dawn, especially when Hugo is on board.

[wiselindag]

Thank you for this great review. I love your positive outlook and the way you used this week to strengthen what sounds like a very wonderful bond with your daughter.

 

I am about to post a review of my 1/29 cruise on the Epic, and although I enjoyed my week very much, it will have more critical commentary than yours. I think that is because you have been cruising exclusively on NCL, and because I spent quite a bit of time viewing this ship from the perspective of an older person and the viewpoint of a number of those much older than I who were also on board. I have no doubt that a 13 year old girl would love this ship and because she was your focus, you would enjoy being with her on Epic. I had the pleasure of spending time with another mother-daughter combination on my cruise, and although they were different generations than the two of you, they too, had a lot of fun. They were in spa cabins and used the spa as a focus throughout the week for some great mother-daughter time and a chance to visit since they live in separate states. Whatever the age, ships are a terrific place for families to spend some quality time together and your review was a pleasure to read. I still remember sailing with my grandparents when I was five and I'm sure your daughter will remember this trip for the rest of her life. Thanks again!

[Why Knot Me]

Thank you for this great review. I love your positive outlook and the way you used this week to strengthen what sounds like a very wonderful bond with your daughter.

 

I am about to post a review of my 1/29 cruise on the Epic, and although I enjoyed my week very much, it will have more critical commentary than yours. I think that is because you have been cruising exclusively on NCL, and because I spent quite a bit of time viewing this ship from the perspective of an older person and the viewpoint of a number of those much older than I who were also on board. I have no doubt that a 13 year old girl would love this ship and because she was your focus, you would enjoy being with her on Epic. I had the pleasure of spending time with another mother-daughter combination on my cruise, and although they were different generations than the two of you, they too, had a lot of fun. They were in spa cabins and used the spa as a focus throughout the week for some great mother-daughter time and a chance to visit since they live in separate states. Whatever the age, ships are a terrific place for families to spend some quality time together and your review was a pleasure to read. I still remember sailing with my grandparents when I was five and I'm sure your daughter will remember this trip for the rest of her life. Thanks again!

 

I just finished reading your review and thoroughly enjoyed it. Thanks for taking the time to provide so much detail. I also enjoyed your writing style.

[Why Knot Me]

One or two of you wanted to see the pottery that I purchased in Roatan. I finally got around to getting the pictures.