I Wanted to Love Epic but Didn't

[conandrob240]

Writing this while it is still fairly fresh in my mind. All will be here in one post- not a fan of the multi- post reviews but happy to respond to any and all questions and I may post some pics later. I'll also do a separate review of the ports.

 

We sailed on Epic from Barcelona on August 19. Myself and husband (40 yrs old) and our 13 yr old nephew. All have sailed Disney before. Husband and I did Mexico cruise on Princess yrs ago and I did Alaska on Princess with my parents and more recently NCL Jade to Egypt, Turkey, Greece also with my parents. I like cruising but don't love it, husband is lukewarm about it and nephew adores any kind of travel. We did a week on land visiting Paris, Girona and Barcelona Spain. Then the Epic cruise.

 

Overall exterior impressions: As we pulled up to the pier and saw her for the first time. I thought- that is one HUGE, ugly ship. Not very appealing from the outside but size is very impressive.

 

Embarkation: we arrived around 11:00am. This seemed very crowded and disorganized. Small area for check- in. Not the huge, soaring terminal buildings I am used to. Nowhere to sit. Even though it seemed crowded, we were checked in almost right away (maybe a 5 min wait). Check- in was very easy. I was a wreck worrying over the paperwork for my nephew whose father has sole custody. Shouldn't have spent even one second worrying- they looked at and asked for nothing other than his passport! After check- in, there are some duty free liquor shops before you board. We bought a bottle of vodka, baileys and 2 bottles of wine which we placed in our hand luggage. No one checked the hand luggage after the initial security check before you get to the check- in lines. They started calling numbers about 5 minutes after we checked in. We had #5 and it was about a 30 minute wait until we were called to board.

 

Initial Impressions: while very nicely designed, no " wow" factor. I missed the soaring multi- story atrium and "wow" of Disney's ships. But, I think the Epic was very tastefully designed with great colors, fabrics and furniture throughout.

 

Pool/ Slides: Upon boarding, we went right to the pool deck in the hopes of checking out the slides before they got crowded. But we found the slides to be closed until after the lifeboat drill due to some maintenance/ cleaning work. Disappointing. Pool area was nice, plenty of chairs, pool itself was nice but seemed really small ( only to seem much, much smaller as the week wore on) and even though we had just embarked and were among the first in the pool, it was dirty and the water was almost hot. They had most of the "water features" around the pools off and they would remain off ( or they'd have one per day on) for most of the cruise. On all days except the last two, the water in the pool was so dirty you couldn't see your feet. In addition, it was so overcrowded, it was unbearable on many days especially sea day and Marseilles day but even on the other days, it was really crowded. Lots of infants in the pool, clearly not potty trained many without even swim diapers on ( and a few completely naked). No one enforced the no babies in the pool rule. Kids in the pool were mostly out of control with jumping, splashing and playing. No one said a word to them even when the jumping was clearly dangerous ( for example, jumping from first water bench to next and then into pool- I thought someone was going to smash their head open). Needless to say, the pool was never refreshing or relaxing but we did have a chance to enjoy it for an hour or two if we arrived when it opened or later in the evening. However, pool & slide hours were limited. Most days hours were 10am- 7pm which seemed a little short to me. Chairs weren't an issue and always seemed to be available even long after noon.

 

Slides were really fun especially the toilet bowl slide but the lines for that slide were always at least 30 minutes long. I got to ride it at 9am sea day opening a few times when it was empty but other than that, always a line. Lines for the other slides ranged from 5-15 minutes wait. The green slide was very fast and really fun. We visited the adult pool a few times and it was much more relaxing over there. However, that pool was horrible. Deep, steep ladders, teeny square box of a pool. Disney surely has NCL beat in the adult pool area.

 

Room: we had a balcony cabin which was ready at 12:30pm. I really liked the room layout. Balcony was nice and roomy, lots of good storage space, very modern design. I liked the sink area outside the bathroom and I actually found the shower/ toilet space to be fine even for the three of us. Beds were comfy and our room steward was awesome. If the room had been about 2 ft wider, I think it would have been perfect.

 

Food: mixed bag here. Buffet was actually very good- best on any ship i have ever been on. But While the buffet was very good, it seemed they wanted to push everyone to eat there for breakfast and lunch. An alternate dining option (Taste) was only available one day (sea day) for lunch and Taste had very limited breakfast availability- 8am until 9:30 am. I am not a huge fan of buffets and would have preferred a nice sit- down option for lunch and breakfast. And the buffet is where the ship volume really showed up- it always felt claustrophobically crowded in the buffet.

 

The main dining rooms were fair. We sometimes had a good meal and sometimes had a bad meal- nothing was ever more than good.

 

Moderno and Cagneys were excellent. Le Bistro was good but, IMO, not much better than the main dining rooms. We didn't feel our meal,there was worth it. Service was excellent in speciality restaurants, decent elsewhere. No one was rude but no one gave exceptionally good service either. English was sometimes an issue.

 

The pub was okay. Decent pub fare but horrible burgers.

 

Bars: with the VAT and gratuity added in, I thought the drink prices were absolutely insane. The drinks you got for the price weren't even very good. If I pay $12-13 for a drink, I expect it to be hand- crafted, top shelf and amazing. None were. They were just okay. Never any drink specials anywhere either. We were happy to have what we brought and just drink our own.

 

Entertainment: overall, good. We all loved BMG. The Spanish Ballet and Los Locos were also excellent. Not sure what all the fuss over Howl at the Moon is all about- we didn't really think they were very good. There was a guitarist and piano player some evenings who were very good. Charlie Love was the main attraction in the jazz club and he and band were also very good. There was a duo- Twice as Nice- which we both thought were terrible and they seemed to be everywhere! DJ was good. Spanish duo performed by the pool were also very good. Legends wasn't very good. I thought the Elvis guy was laughably bad and the other two seemed adequate singers/ performers but not really great impersonators. Bingo sucked- ridiculously low payouts.

 

I felt the big screen was very underutilized with 1 or 2 movies a day and 1 HR of Wii and the rest of the time weird travel scenes flashing on it. I found the Headliners club to be a horrible venue in terms of seating- a bunch of bar stools all lined up in a row. Line of sight with the columns in there made seating terrible. The Fatcats jazz club also had terrible seating with the rows of high backed chairs. Why was it set up like that? Why not have comfy couches and intimate seating like you are supposed to have in a jazz club?

 

Charging for things like darts and pool was silly and really turned me off.

 

I was often bored and wished they had more activities going on during the day. The schedule was filled with spa demonstrations and assessments, overpriced Bingo but little else.

 

I am a fan of casinos and indulged a little on Epic but not as much as I planned to. Payouts were terrible and the choice of slots was pretty limited. On the plus side, I have no idea what the whole " smoke" fuss is all about. I found nowhere in the casino to be very smokey.

 

Teen Club: 13 yr old nephew LOVED this club. He met some amazing kid's from all over the world. He was dying to get in there at opening every day and wanted to do every activity which he described as " awesome" and much better than Disney's teen program. He did the activities until midnight or 1 am each night and had the time of his life.

 

Overall: we enjoyed the cruise and had a great time. Too many disappointments to say I loved the Epic but I definitely liked it. But it was a mixed bag. It always seemed just very, very crowded. Itinerary was excellent. Food was so- so. Design features were mixed- some great, some not so great. Teen program gets high marks.

[david_sobe]

Welcome home and thanks for the detailed review. Maybe your expectations were too high? Epic is definately designed without those huge atriums on other ships. I think the chadalier area was meant to be their "wow" factor ;)

[conandrob240]

I knew it didn't have a big atrium but it was one of those things where you get it when you see it and, for me, it made me lose the " wow factor" I feel when I board other ships. The chandelier was not , IMO, impressive.

[time2cruise1]

People think NCL is tough on liquor. I sailed out of Barcelona on RCI for the first time in July. All those that stopped at the duty free shops were shocked to see a scanner set up on the promenade deck as your boarded with the sole purpose of detecting the duty free purchases.

[weltek]

Thank you for the review.

 

I have not been on the EPIC and was surprised about your lunch comment. From NCL's Freestyle Dining Guide, it looks like Taste and O'Sheehan's are sit-down options every day for lunch on the EPIC. But you said Taste was only open one day? That's odd and would bother me if that indeed is the case.

 

Did you try O'Sheehan's? My understanding is that it's a lot like the Blue Lagoon on other ships, which I enjoy when I am feeling casual, but not in the mood to use the buffet.

[conandrob240]

Yes, Taste was only open for lunch one day- sea day. It was closed every other day. A few times we tried and found a " closed for private function" sign. We did notice a large group or two on our cruise ( they weren't noticeable other than a reception table for them- I think it was a sales award retreat type event) so maybe that was the reason Taste was closed.

And, yes, it bothered me very much.

 

Yes, O' Sheehans was always open. It was okay but to us, more of a snack place than a place to take a meal.

[conandrob240]

I wanted to add that unless you ate before 7pm, there was always a 20-30 minute wait for the main dining room especially the Manhattan room. For the wait, you were offered free champagne (which made us happy !) but there was a wait every night we tried.

 

And the fear of tons of announcements was unwarranted. Don't know what people were talking about but we found announcements to be extremely limited and non- intrusive. Announcements that ship had cleared in the morning and where to disembark and then once after all-aboard announcing the various activities, parties, sales for the night. That was really all we noticed.

[meltingmoments]

Thanks for your review. We left the Epic the day you boarded!! :(

 

I'm surprised to hear that Taste wasn't open for lunch each day! The only days we were actually ON the ship for lunch were the sea day and the Marseille day......we chose not to get off.....Taste was open both those days, so I guess I assumed it was always the case?

 

I also agree that the ship could feel crowded, but we always managed to find a quiet place.....usually deck 17....plenty of beds!! :)

 

As for the pool being dirty.......never experienced that at all....we found it very, very clean! Someone spilt a drink at the side of the pool on sea-day afternoon........the area was cordoned off, cleaned thoroughly and re-opened within minutes.

We all have different experiences, and that's what's great about CC........we can all learn about others experiences!

Glad you enjoyed your trip! :)

[njhorseman]

Thank you for the review.

 

I have not been on the EPIC and was surprised about your lunch comment. From NCL's Freestyle Dining Guide, it looks like Taste and O'Sheehan's are sit-down options every day for lunch on the EPIC. But you said Taste was only open one day? That's odd and would bother me if that indeed is the case.

 

Did you try O'Sheehan's? My understanding is that it's a lot like the Blue Lagoon on other ships, which I enjoy when I am feeling casual, but not in the mood to use the buffet.

 

 

This is a fleet-wide policy change. The MDRs are generally now only open for lunch on sea days, although ship management has the right to open one on port days if they feel it's warranted. This brings NCL's practices in line with those of the other mass market cruises lines, which generally don't open an MDR for lunch on port days.

[meltingmoments]

I wanted to add that unless you ate before 7pm, there was always a 20-30 minute wait for the main dining room especially the Manhattan room. For the wait, you were offered free champagne (which made us happy !) but there was a wait every night we tried.

 

And the fear of tons of announcements was unwarranted. Don't know what people were talking about but we found announcements to be extremely limited and non- intrusive. Announcements that ship had cleared in the morning and where to disembark and then once after all-aboard announcing the various activities, parties, sales for the night. That was really all we noticed.

 

Again, only a week previously, our experience was different! We were only given a pager and free champagne once........and even then, the pager went off before we had drunk it!! We DID notice long lines when we came OUT of Taste or Manhattan though.......many Spanish people on our cruise.....they generally eat later??

We were not going for our dinner till around 8:00/8:30 btw!

[conandrob240]

Perhaps I remember incorrectly but I am pretty sure I ate in a main dining room for breakfast and lunch every day on a DCL cruise except for Castaway Cay day where lunch was offered on the island. If this is a fleet wide, permanent change, it sucks.

 

Yes, all entitled to opinions although I am not sure how a pool being so dirty you couldn't see your legs or feet in it is an opinion? It was what it was. The last two days, I noticed more water features on and the pool was much more clear and much cooler too. Perhaps there was a problem with it after you sailed.

 

Taste was not open on Marseilles day ( we also remained on board). We also only went to Pompeii on the Naples top and were back early and looking to enjoy Taste but it was also closed then.

 

We experienced lines for Manhattan room 4 nts out of 7 and we generally ate around 8-9pm. Our other nights we at elsewhere but still noticed the long lines.

[NYGirl1002]

Thanks for the great review showing the pros and the cons.

[meltingmoments]

Perhaps I remember incorrectly but I am pretty sure I ate in a main dining room for breakfast and lunch every day on a DCL cruise except for Castaway Cay day where lunch was offered on the island. If this is a fleet wide, permanent change, it sucks.

 

Yes, all entitled to opinions although I am not sure how a pool being so dirty you couldn't see your legs or feet in it is an opinion, but okay. It was what it was. The last two days, I noticed more water features on and the pool was much more clear and much cooler too. Perhaps there was a problem with it after you sailed.

 

Taste was not open on Marseilles day ( we also remained on board). We also only went to Pompeii on the Naples top and were back early and looking to enjoy Taste but it was also closed then.

 

We experienced lines for Manhattan room 4 nts out of 7 and we generally ate around 8-9pm. Our other nights we at elsewhere but still noticed the long lines.

 

I'm sorry if you mis-interpreted what I said..........I actually used the word * experience* not *opinion *

I agree that your experience with the pool being so dirty that you couldn't see your feet or legs was un-acceptable.....but that was not OUR experience.....the pool was always clean.......very busy.....but clean :)

[conandrob240]

Fair enough. I wonder with the closure of the slides for 5 hrs one day and the fact the water features were off most days, if there were having a problem with the pools/ water system? It was actually pretty gross.

[meltingmoments]

Fair enough. I wonder with the closure of the slides for 5 hrs one day and the fact the water features were off most days, if there were having a problem with the pools/ water system? It was actually pretty gross.

 

Sounds like it could have been something like that, which is a shame, especially for those that love the water slides.....me???......too big a coward.....I'm scared of water.....don't swim well........

 

Cruising on the open seas???.......LOVE IT!! :confused:

[dalgirl]

Welcome back and thanks for your review. Since you are not a big fan of cruising, but really enjoy Disney cruises, I think it was very balanced. We were on Epic out of Barcelona last fall (and will be again in Oct 2013). We have cruised this itinerary (with a few minor changes) four times, all on different NCL ships. Epic is definitely not for everyone as you found out - it is not my favorite NCL ship either, but my dear mother who loves the single cabins will only sail on it until the Breakaway sails. I wish they would bring the Gem back to sail out of Barcelona - that was my favorite for this itinerary:)

 

A few things that may help those on the fence for this itinerary on the Epic:

 

As you said the ship is not very attractive and is way too big - if your cabin is in the middle of the ship, it is a hike to the elevators. Our upcoming cruise next year our cabins are closer to the elevators. I am glad that the split bathrooms worked for you, I thought it was just OK and fine for DH and myself. Storage is excellent.

 

As for the liquor: If you drink beer, the pub had two for one drafts during our cruise - DH would purchase his beer there and take it into the jazz club. And I am glad that you discovered the duty free bottles of liquor and wine that you can take onto the ships in Barcelona - it does cut down on the drink tabs considerably;)

 

Did you see Blue Man or do the Circus? When we sailed Fat Cats had several couches along the perimeter of the club - get there early and you get a comfy seat. But the chairs are not the best for relaxing and enjoying the music. Agree, Howl at the moon was just OK. And the Legends show - the "stars" portrayed on our cruise were very questionable as "legends" - we didn't bother.

 

Food as you said is good - but since I like good food, I really couldn't complain:) The food quality on NCL ships has been talked to death - our first NCL cruise DH commented that it was not as good as RCCL, and since then it seems to have gone down even more, but it is still good and I agree that Cagneys is very good.

 

Overall, I think that some of the problems you experienced may have had more to do with the location of the cruise instead of the ship - Europeans seem to eat later than US folks so you have fewer people eating at 6pm -the port days are intense so those coming back from excursions may want to rest a while before dining - after 7pm it was hard to get into most restaurants. And the buffet is always crowded, but I agree that it seems to be more of a zoo on this cruise - more cutting in line and less polite behavoir.

 

I hope that NCL is taking notes of your complaints of the pool area - what we saw of that area was clean, but that was October - in August a dirty pool is not acceptable.

 

Your review was very balanced and I am glad that you enjoyed your cruise for the most part - I hope that others will read it and perhaps look at a different ship - Epic is not for everyone which is why there will only be one of it:)

[conandrob240]

Yes, I like cruising but don't love it. My husband doesn't like cruising and this cruise did nothing to change that. Again, he had a good time, but the crowds were too much for him. We frequent AI resorts in the Caribbean, mostly Jamaica and I will say that I definitely prefer hat type of vacation- much more relaxing. but there are times when we want a very active itinerary and since it was my nephew's special trip & first to Europe, we wanted him to get a little taste of everything.

 

I am biased towards Disney not because I think DCL is THAT much better but because I am a huge Disney- freak so that also needs to be taken into consideration.

[Ciref]

I am cruising on Epic in December and I found your review to be very helpful. Thank you for taking the time to share your experiences.

Eric

[Cruiser Bruiser]

As I'm seriously considering this itinerary as my one-and-only cruise in 2013, I appreciate your detailed description of your experience aboard the Epic. I'm anxious to sail the Epic for myself, but it's interesting to hear how the presence of so many Europeans on board may take the experience a little outside many Americans' comfort zone. Also, the logistics of having so many long excursion days seems to have a real impact on folks' dining schedules. Lots to consider, it seems.:confused: Cheers.

[njhorseman]

Perhaps I remember incorrectly but I am pretty sure I ate in a main dining room for breakfast and lunch every day on a DCL cruise except for Castaway Cay day where lunch was offered on the island. If this is a fleet wide, permanent change, it sucks.

 

Yes, all entitled to opinions although I am not sure how a pool being so dirty you couldn't see your legs or feet in it is an opinion? It was what it was. The last two days, I noticed more water features on and the pool was much more clear and much cooler too. Perhaps there was a problem with it after you sailed.

 

Taste was not open on Marseilles day ( we also remained on board). We also only went to Pompeii on the Naples top and were back early and looking to enjoy Taste but it was also closed then.

 

We experienced lines for Manhattan room 4 nts out of 7 and we generally ate around 8-9pm. Our other nights we at elsewhere but still noticed the long lines.

 

Disney is not considered a mass market cruise line. They only have four ships and their prices are generally much higher than Carnival, NCL and Royal Caribbean.

 

NCL's decision to in most cases not open a dining room for lunch while in port just brings its practices in line with what Royal Caribbean and Carnival have been doing for years. The vast majority of passengers are not on board the ship on port days, and the dining room would be practically deserted. It makes little sense to staff that operation when almost no one uses it.

[conandrob240]

Not sure about the " comfort zone" comment. I travel extensively, have spent long work periods all over Europe, in Singapore and in India. I think I am pretty comfortable with Europeans and other cultures. Other than the dining times, with Europeans generally preferring to eat later, which is also our preference, I didn't see anything impacted by cultural differences. It is a very crowded ship. Pools are really, really crowded and rules such as no infants in pools and no jumping/ diving aren't enforced. And, believe me, I am all for a good jump in a pool by a kid but when dozens of kid's are jumping on slippery, hard benches over my head into the pool, it stands tom reason that someone from NCL should have enforced some rules before someone got hurt and tom restore a little order to an already crowded and chaotic pool experience.

 

Staff is mediocre at best and not the experienced service industry professionals I have experienced on past cruises and land vacations. Food is good but not great and the push to the overly crowded buffet with few other daytime options rubbed me the wrong way. I had no issues with other guests other than a few instances of cutting lines at the buffet and the way some of the children behaved in the pool

[conandrob240]

Well. Whatever the reason for the decision on the lunch dining, it is a poor one. There were thousands of people using the buffet at lunch every day. I find it hard to believe that a decent number wouldn't have used a sit down dining room if given the option. I like a civilized lunch a few days of my cruise and to be waited on not bouncing up and down to eat at a super over- crowded buffet.

[time2cruise1]

Well. Whatever the reason for the decision on the lunch dining, it is a poor one. There were thousands of people using the buffet at lunch every day. I find it hard to believe that a decent number wouldn't have used a sit down dining room if given the option. I like a civilized lunch a few days of my cruise and to be waited on not bouncing up and down to eat at a super over- crowded buffet.

 

I never missed the main dining room at lunch port days that were closed on my RCI Med cruise last month. Like almost everyone onboard we were exploring those ports That said I can't imagine half the passengers (thousands) staying onboard in the Med. for lunch with all the wonderful food experiences available on shore.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk - Jim

[conandrob240]

Sigh. It is a shame some people can't handle a mixed review and want to call personal opinions into question. Look, it is a cruise. Much of that is subjective, some is not. I tried to present my opinions along with some of the reality of what our cruise was like. Other people will have different experiences, that's what makes the world go around. Don't read reviews if they are going to upset you. Personally, I love all reviews and i decide for myself what is important and what isn't- I don't pass judgement and question the reviewer's opinions.

 

I did not attempt the buffet on two of the port days (Rome & Livorno). I did attempt it on every other day and can tell you it was very, very crowded even on port days. Perhaps the mix of Europeans was such that they used the cruise more as a cruise and didn't care about the ports (much like many of us Americans would on a Caribbean or Bahamas itinerary). I certainly didn't count them but it seemed to me thousands were in that buffet at lunch regardless of port day or sea day. I am glad that you didn't miss the sit- down dining option on your cruise- good for you. I, on the other hand, missed it very much on my cruise as it was important to me.

[Justness]

I don't think anyone is questioning your opinions. You seem to be taking some posters comments to heart when they are either just agreeing or giving their own opinion also.

 

I'm not sure if you just want people to read your post and say nothing?

 

My first cruise is next week on the epic and appreciate your review but also the replies of others giving their opinions too, that balances it I think.

 

Personally, I take most reviews with a pinch of salt.