Epic Eastern Caribbean Review April 9-16

[shorebirdno9]

Lengthy review. Still reading? Here goes...

 

This was my 16th cruise, my 5th with Norwegian, and my 5th solo cruise. There is no better ship for solo cruisers than Epic, bar none. There are the specially designed and priced staterooms, the studio lounge for group gatherings or hanging out, and the inclusive events you can join if you wish to be with others. Not all the solo stateroom cruisers joined in the group events; you can choose to be as alone or as social as you personally desire. I chose to do a mix of alone time and group events. Every evening from 5:30 to 6:30 the solo travelers happy hour was held in the lounge, facilitated by a member of the cruise director's staff. Introductions were done on both the first and second nights.

 

But my solo adventure began with a flight into Ft. Lauderdale Saturday morning. I had purchased transfers to and from the port of Miami from Norwegian when I made my reservation. Usually I take my own taxi, but this seemed to be a better price, and less stressful. I was only right about the first half. My flight was on-time, but I did have a slight wait for my baggage. Before the bag search, I had noticed all the different cruise reps and their signs, but never did see one from Norwegian. Once my suitcase was in hand, I began the search in earnest. No luck. In desperation I approached two Princess and Carnival reps who had no customers with them. They assured me that the Norwegian rep had been there, but might now be outside. I briefly checked outside the terminal, but didn't see anyone. I went back inside and continued to look around. The Princess rep, bless him, must have noticed I was looking distressed by now. He went outside and came back in to get me. He had found the elusive Norwegian rep, on older gentleman. As I approached him with my transfer document in hand he began gesturing wildly and impatiently in the general direction of the buses that were lined up, and I found the whole encounter startling. I managed to find the correct bus by asking the driver. Although I was the last to board, we still had a five to ten minute wait while all the luggage continued to be loaded in. My message to the Norwegian rep is to either retire or find a job that doesn't involve customer service. It was a rather unpleasant start to a vacation, especially after being exhausted from beginning my day at 4 a.m.

 

Finally on our way to Miami, the driver was affable and of course there was the usual pitch for a tip. Once at the port, more porters, more tips. Keep those dollar bills in handy access. Didn't really mind, all our baggage except what we wanted to carry on was being taken care of for us, and we wouldn't see it until later that afternoon.

 

To handle the volume of passengers of this enormous ship, the terminal is divided into B and C entrances. Your assigned entrance is clearly marked on your cruise ticket, so take note. We had many C people being turned away and redirected from our B entrance, wasting time for all. Once in line, things proceed fairly quickly, and before you know it you're in line to have that first photo taken. Then it's onto the ship with music playing and hand-clapping staff lining the way hoping you will dance right into a good time. Whoo Hoo! Now where's that welcome aboard buffet?

 

Up to the bustling Garden Cafe on deck 15 was my first stop, famished from a looooong and busy morning. It was relatively easy to find seating, but later that week I learned that on a ship built for 4100 pax, there were only approximately 3200 of us on this sailing. There were times this was evident, such as at the shows, but at other times and places the ship still felt crowded, such as around the main pools. Really can't imagine what it's like with a full load.

 

After lunch I quickly changed into the suit I kept in my carry-on, and headed out to the pools to relax for a bit. Those main pools were already getting busy, so I headed aft to the adult-only Spice H2O area, where I had the small pool in front of the movie screen all to myself. It would be the only time I'd use it all week, as later in the week the water started looking cloudy. But it was certainly delightful on this first afternoon. Much has been made of the small size of this ship's pools. I agree that this one could and should be larger. Everyone forgets that the two main pools are small because so much room is used up by the three massive water slides. My own preference would be one slide and bigger pools, but the slides seemed to be very popular. The line calls this area the "Aqua Park", and there are many spraying fountains, loved by the children, around and between the two pools, in addition to five hot tubs. Spice H2O has two hot tubs also. There is also a cute splashing area for the littlest of tots, and it was designed to be mostly in the shade. Good job, NCL, protecting the babies's skin.

 

When the announcement came that the staterooms were ready I went to investigate my home-away-from-home. It wasn't easy to find the hallway doorways to the studio area, but finally I was standing in my tiny, futuristic-looking, mood-lit room. Wow. Loved that changing mood lighting. This could be adjusted to all white lighting by the controls over by the phone, if you wished. One word of warning: the showers are not designed for super-sized people. By carefully organizing my stuff, I was quite comfortable all week in what I called my "cruise cave", and my stateroom attendant kept the ice well supplied and everything clean.

 

The life boat drill was relatively easy considering the number of people to direct. You do not have to bring your life jacket from the cabin, which helps. Soon it was time for the sail-away party, then a shower, a brief stop in the studio lounge, and a quick dinner in the Garden Cafe. I had booked the 7 p.m. Blue Man Group show at home, but there were plenty of empty seats. It was the only show I pre-booked, and I easily got into all the shows I wanted all week, perhaps due to a less than full ship. I had never seen Blue Man before, and it was fabulous. I even played a tiny role, as this show has audience participation parts. It was great fun, and I happily lined up for a photo shoot during the meet-and-greet at the end of the show. The men stay in character and don't talk - that would come later in the week. I called it an early night, and was surprised to still be awake.

 

Second and third installments of this review to come. Hope there is interest.

[nathand95]

Great start! I did the Western itin the week before you! Gotta love those studios! I'm looking at the Eastern itin for next year, so this is really exciting.

Keep it up!

[shorebirdno9]

Great start! I did the Western itin the week before you! Gotta love those studios! I'm looking at the Eastern itin for next year, so this is really exciting.

Keep it up!

Thanks for the encouragement, Nathan. I've been following and enjoying your review as well.

[Journey11]

1st installment of your review was very interesting. Thank you.

[shorebirdno9]

I was quite content to have the next two days, Sunday and Monday, be sea days. There would be plenty of time for exploring, eating, relaxing, activities or whatever. Sunday morning was the Cruise Critic meet-and-greet in Bliss lounge, which was a little disappointing. It seemed that many who had signed up for it didn't bother to show. That was a shame, because the line had set up nice refreshments and sent a contingent of officers from various divisions on the ship to meet with us. Even they commented on the small size of our group and compared it to the previous week's large meeting. After the officers spoke with us and provided each of us with a list of phone numbers, they departed and I wandered away while the folks who had brought gifts for the exchange gathered together. It was time to explore and take some pictures.

 

I attended happy hour in the studio lounge that evening, and some of us got together and planned dinner in Taste, one of the two main no-fee restaurants, for 7 p.m. We had a good time and began to get to know one another better. I never did end up trying any of the extra-fee restaurants all week.

 

Monday was more of the same, poolside relaxing, eating etc. I tried lunch in O'Sheehan's, the 24-hour restaurant and bar serving pub-type comfort food. I enjoyed fish and chips and a milk shake, the milk shake being a few extra $. Blues legend, Slam Allen, gave a presentation about his background in the deck 5 atrium, with its two deck high movie screen, in the afternoon so I decided to check out his show in Fat Cats Jazz and Blues lounge that night. This music just isn't my cup of tea, but if it's yours this show is a don't miss. The man can make a guitar talk. I sat on the side so I could sneak out early. If you cross in front of the stage while the band is performing, they will stop playing and make a comment, but it's all part of the fun.

 

Tuesday was St. Maarten. I had booked the ship excursion "Discover St. Maarten Dutch and French" for the morning. I enjoyed this tour and if you're a member of the 55+ year old club as I am, you may too. Younger people maybe not so much, as it's basically a narrated bus tour with only two stops. One is a brief photo stop at Simpson Bay overlook, and the other is an hour stop in Marigot, St. Martin, French side. The highlight of the tour for me was my climb up to Fort Louis, which provided great views of the Marigot area. This climb can be done in an hour by anybody in reasonably good shape, but be sure to bring a bottle of water. I needed mine even though it was an overcast day without the heat of the sun. I had time to enjoy the views and be back down to go through one store. Many on the tour enjoyed their time wandering through the flea market booths in town. At the tour's end some of us got off the bus in Phillipsburg, St. Maarten, where the ship docks and others continued on directly back to the ship. After wandering around Philipsburg for a while I took a water taxi back to the ship. In the afternoon I had a hot tub in Spice H2O all to myself while many were still in port. Our sail-away that night was delayed a bit by refueling, which gave us a gorgeous, sun setting, night lights twinkling departure from St. Maarten. After two visits there the island doesn't really impress me all that much, but that night's sail-away was more than worth missing the evening's solo gathering.

 

I went to the Second City comedy show in Headliners at 9 p.m. that night. It was quite good and I'll never understand how they can be so quick with improv. But the most well-received bits were when they poked fun of various parts of the ship (stateroom size), ship staff, and the cruise experiences we all share that can be comical.

 

Wednesday was St. Thomas. I'd been here many times, had seen much of the island, had done two St. John excursions, so decided to wander off on my own to discover something new. I took a taxi to Blackbeard's Castle in the morning and seemed to be one of the first few guests on property. Now if you research this place, you'll know it's not a castle at all, but is a collection of historic buildings that have been put to a variety of uses for this tour, with an admission price of around $14. I walked through the upper gate, paid for my ticket, and had a one-on-one personal introduction to the place by one of the friendly guides. The first stop was the rum factory, which included up to six small samplings of the flavors of rum. It was only 9:30 a.m., but it was five o'clock somewhere, so tried a few. From here I could continue the walking tour on my own, so after a tee shirt purchase it was on to climb the tower, hanging tight to the railing after the rum, for the harbor views. Great photo opps from up there, plus some fun shots of all the pirate statues around, and my previous guide surfaced to take my picture with one. Following the map I continued through the property, taking in buildings including the Britannia House and the Haagensen House, historic homes with their furnishings. I met in the latter a large tour group going in the reverse direction, and was glad to be doing my own tour at my own pace. Since I have a fondness for amber, one of my favorite buildings was the Amber Museum, with its wonderful amber waterfall. Then it was time for a cool drink in the Old Kitchen Bar, part of the former Hotel 1829. The property also has a snack bar up by the tower, and two pools that can be used by ticketed guests. Once again, this tour may or may not be for the younger set, but I loved it. I walked back to the ship, maybe about a mile and a half? Something had to be done to work off all those buffets, and I'm not a gym person.

 

It was another relaxing afternoon on board, and a 4 p.m. sail-away which I watched from Spice H2O. Tonight we had reservations for a large solo group dinner at Manhattan, which was coordinated by our own cruise director's staff member, Natalie, who joined us as well. A particularly nice touch was that the Captain and another of his officers came and introduced themselves to us and spoke with each of our tables for a bit. Way to make us feel special, Captain Frank! Remember, we were not the big-spending suite guests, but the lowly single stateroom travelers. The only way this night could have been any better was if the dining room had given us a couple of large tables, rather than spreading us out in several small ones. It probably made serving much easier, but it limited the interaction we could have with each other.

 

Final installment tomorrow.

[Carnac767]

Enjoying your review. Thanks for posting.

[nathand95]

Great seocnd installment! Our meet and greet group was undoubtably a tough act to follow:)

Do you have any pictures that you could post, in particular of the ports?

[shorebirdno9]

Thank you to all who have taken the time to read this review. Posting photos is beyond my level of patience and expertise, so unfortunately won't be attempting that. Maybe some day.

 

Now to wrap up...

[shorebirdno9]

It's time for some general observations leading into Thursday, our last sea day. Some others have commented on the vessel's lack of sea views, but I didn't find this to be the case, with the exception of not having an open promenade outside of deck 7. Sure, you could peek between the life boats and glimpse the ocean, but it wasn't the same. However, for the best restroom views at sea go up to lido deck 15, the pool deck. The ladies' room is in back of Waves Pool Bar and the men's in back of the towel exchange. Check it out.

 

Other solos have been singing the praises of the group facilitator, Natalie, in their posts. While she was certainly adequate in coordinating our events, as the week went on I found her to be less and less enthusiastic, almost distracted, as if she would rather have been elsewhere. Early in the week she introduced us to her replacement in this position for the Epic's Mediterranean itineraries, which begin May 7, so she may have had her mind on her next gig, or perhaps a well-deserved vacation break. All staff members work very hard, with long hours. Overall, the crew members of this ship impressed me with their friendliness and eagerness to please.

 

It's hard for me to judge the quality of any ship's food, as this is such a personal preference thing, and I'm no gourmet. Using only free restaurants for the entire trip, I found the food to be good, not great. Some things were very good, others maybe less so. My simple tastes include these favorites: made-to-order omelets, chocolate croissants, cold fruit soups, vegetable wraps, salmon, the fries and sandwiches at the Great Outdoors pool grills, and for dessert bread pudding with vanilla sauce, and the made-to-order crepes.

 

Despite our less-than-full ship, it was sometimes hard to find a lounge chair around any of the pools or hot tubs on sea days. I'll never understand why people "reserve" a chair for the whole day, but only use it for a little while if at all. Except for my brief daily dose of vitamin D, I preferred chairs in the shade, and these could be found farther away from the pools. A nice, quiet area with plenty of chairs in both sun and shade was deck 18, reached by a glass elevator near the pool grills. This was not the extra-fee Posh club, which I now regret not sampling at least once. Deck 18 doesn't have pools, but has two mister showers to cool off in. There are also stairs leading up to the small, clothing optional deck 19.

 

Besides lounging around on Thursday, I attended the Blue Man Group's talk in the atrium in the afternoon. It was fun to hear the history of the show, learn the training involved for the acts, and just see the guys without their blue. Then later at happy hour in the studio lounge, Natalie arranged to have guitarist Kurt Hunter entertain us. His usual spot is in the Maltings lounge, and he is very good. That night I saw the Legends in Concert show. The three performers rotate in and out and will change with different sailings, but we had Janet Jackson, Neil Diamond, and Aretha Franklin. All three blew me away. Excellent show. I don't even care for Neil Diamond, and there I sat shouting "so good, so good, so good" during "Sweet Caroline".

 

Friday was Nassau. I had booked the ship excursion "Discover Atlantis and Beach Break" for the afternoon. We met in the Epic Theater, then headed outside where it got rather chaotic. We were kind of herded like cattle to the buses, but finally reached Atlantis where we were given towels (oh I didn't have to bring mine from the ship?) and lead to the beach we could use. By the map we were given, it seemed this piece of beach was just up from the Beach Tower building. Our particular ticket didn't allow us the use of any resort pools. But the beach was wonderful, and the weather perfect. My only surprise was to see that the resort allowed peddlers on the beach. They weren't overly persistent, but continued to circle around.

 

I finally reluctantly left the beach to see a little more of the resort. After changing clothes (glad I brought my extra towel after all) I went to see The Dig. I always enjoy aquariums, and did this one too, despite some shrieking kids who were resort guests without their parents who kept running through to hear their screams echo off the walls. Next I wandered through the colorful Marina Village, which was right where the shuttle was picking people up every hour to return to the ship. I decided not to wait until the last shuttle at six, and left at five. It had been a good day, but I was ready to shower and eat again. We literally sailed into the sunset from Nassau, and it was a little sad knowing it was our last night.

 

Tonight a group of us solos met outside the Svedka Ice Bar, donned our hooded capes and gloves, and headed into the cold. It's one of those experiences you do to say you did it. For the $20 admission you get two drinks that come in ice glasses. I quickly snapped pictures of the ice statues, ice seats, ice bar, and each other before my batteries froze, which they did. They thawed out fine later, and so did I. It was a small room, but a fun way to do something very different, and to end the cruise.

 

For Saturday's debarkation I grabbed a quick breakfast in O'Sheehan's, anticipating a crowded Garden Cafe. I was able to fill out my customs form there, which I had to pick up myself as my stateroom attendant had forgotten to leave me one the night before. Since I had the Norwegian transfer to Ft. Lauderdale, our color code was called early. Debarkation was well-organized and easy. Our luggage was waiting in the terminal to be picked up, then it was through customs, and out where reps were waiting directing people to the right bus when seeing our color coded tags. It was so much better than my experience on the way in.

 

I'm very happy I did this cruise. I would recommend the Norwegian Epic to young families with children, multi-generational families, young couples, and solo travelers of all ages. Older couples thinking about this cruise should be young at heart, mindful of the kind of entertainment offered, and not mind a ship filled with many children.

 

There were many things I didn't get to do on this ship, as there are so many offerings and only so much time. I tried to include the kind of information in this review that I would have found helpful before I sailed. Happy Sailings!!!

[LivingLifetotheFullest]

thanks for the great review. We're sailing the Epic next year and the same ports. We're thinking of the same Excursion in Nassau so glad to hear the Beach was good. What else is can you do at Atlantus?

Also, you mentioned having been to St. Thomas several times. Did you ever take a taxi to Red Hook? We're thinking about going there to do a private sailing day and worry about getting back to the ship on time.

thanks again for sharing your experience.

[shorebirdno9]

thanks for the great review. We're sailing the Epic next year and the same ports. We're thinking of the same Excursion in Nassau so glad to hear the Beach was good. What else is can you do at Atlantus?

Also, you mentioned having been to St. Thomas several times. Did you ever take a taxi to Red Hook? We're thinking about going there to do a private sailing day and worry about getting back to the ship on time.

thanks again for sharing your experience.

This particular excursion to Atlantis somewhat limits resort access. However, even if you take the last shuttle back to the ship at 6 p.m., you really only have time to enjoy the beach, wander through the property's different aquariums (access to The Dig is included on this tour), stop at some of the different lagoons to check out the inhabitants, and visit Marina Village which is worth at least a walk through. If you're a gambler you might prefer to spend some time in the casino. You might want to grab a bite at a restaurant or snack bar (bring your credit card - the resort is mostly cashless). Any of these activities will fill your afternoon.

 

I have not been to Red Hook in St. Thomas, so it looks like there are more new places for me to explore next time. If you go off on your own, you must pay attention to the time. The Epic has an early departure, 4 p.m., and they WILL leave without you. We left some passengers behind on our sailing, and it was the talk of the ship.

[retiring soon]

Hi all!

 

I really enjoyed your review & look forward to sailing in a studio 3 weeks from today!;)

That's nice that studio guests can join others in some activities, I hope that happens in the Med too. Thanks for the review.

 

~ Jo ~ :)