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Epic Review - November 16-23

soccersharon

By soccersharon,
in Norwegian Cruise Line

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soccersharon

soccersharon

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Epic2013197.jpg

 

Epic2013198.jpg

 

Coki is a fairly small beach, unlike Sapphire. We were content to have some drinks and food, and relax. The curried chicken was delicious here too!

 

Interesting point about Coki. It appears that there are 2 restaurants, each with their own set of waitstaff. There is no designation of which chairs belong to which restaurant, so they compete for business. We ordered from Pearl, but our friends ordered from the other competing restaurant. Both women had words with each other over this, which made us feel a little uncomfortable. I think there needs to be a better system in place, to avoid these sorts of situations. Overall, a great day with our new found friends. We all enjoyed Sunny's Tour. I'm still humming his tunes :)

 

Back on the ship

 

Epic2013204.jpg

 

Epic2013211.jpg

 

Epic2013212.jpg

 

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soccersharon

soccersharon

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Thanks for posting the review and pictures. Makes me want to pull out the photo album :)

 

Hope your mom is doing well.

 

Thank you! I've always wanted to do a review as I enjoy other people's so much :)

 

My mother is doing very well. Thank you so much for asking.

 

Hope you're having a wonderful Thanksgiving.

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dreamr

dreamr

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Loving your review!

 

I had a great time on the Epic last year and will be going for round 2 in 8 weeks! Can't wait!

 

Btw, whenever you get a chance, could you tell me a little more about the Sunny Liston tour? I have been considering that one, but I'm not 100% sure yet. Did you go to Mountain Top and taste the "World Famous Banana Daquiri"? lol

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sbrocket52

sbrocket52

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soccersharon, since you just got off the Epic, what was your experience with the crew and general customer service? I'm hoping that the most recent reviews are just the few inevitable disgruntled people venting, not reflecting an actual drastic change in quality of the Epic crew. We are sailing on 12/6 so I'm a bit worried!

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Ah Sue

Ah Sue

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Sharon & Mike’s Epic Adventure!

 

Brief introduction: Sharon and Michael, from Montreal, Quebec. Previous cruises: 4 with Carnival (and loved each one!)

 

This cruise was originally booked for my mom, Carol and I. After losing my grandmother earlier in 2012, my mom and I decided that we needed some dedicated mother-daughter time together. As we both love cruising, this would be a perfect vacation – just the two of us.

 

We chose the Epic as neither of us had cruised with NCL prior – and the Epic looked awesome! I had seen the Epic in POM as we returned from one of our Carnival cruises in March 2012. At that point, I decided I wanted to plan a trip on that ship! This special cruise seemed like the perfect opportunity.

 

As it turned out, NCL was offering a half-price deposit special, and $100 OBC. We’re in! We doubled our Latitudes points for this sailing, as we booked at least 9 months out (more like 15 months, but who’s counting?).

 

We booked this cruise on August 18th, 2012 – a mere 418 day wait. I’m the planner, researcher, and acting TA for this trip. And so it began early.

 

Fast forward to a month prior to sailing…

 

My mom started complaining of chest pains on Thanksgiving Monday, and was immediately brought to the Montreal Cardiology Institute. After some tests, she had a stent inserted into one her main heart arteries. All went very well and she reported feeling great! Sadly, after speaking with her doctor, she would not be able to sail. We were so relieved that my mom was well, which was our most important concern.

 

What to do about the cruise! I considered going solo. My mother had purchased NCL travel insurance, so she would be reimbursed for her cruisefare. But to keep my cabin, I would have to pay the solo supplement. After a quick phone call and a couple of texts to my TA, I was relieved to hear that we could change mom's reservation, and that my husband, Michael, could join me! I quickly made flight arrangements for hubby, and everything was set!

 

Pre-stay hotel:

 

I had originally booked the Hilton Double Tree downtown. We opted for a 2 double-bed room, complete with a balcony to enjoy the view. The plan was to grab a taxi to Bayside, do a little shopping, and have dinner. Well, unfortunately, this was changed too.

 

I ended up booking the Best Western Plus in Hollywood for $104.99 (plus tax) on Priceline. King bed and breakfast included. We had previously stayed here, so we knew what to expect. I changed our SAS pick up, so we were all set.

 

Nice room for the price:

 

Epic2013001.jpg

 

Pre-cruise reservations:

 

We hit the 45 day mark on October 2nd (finally!). We decided to book Cagney’s for our first dinner aboard the Epic. Getting spoiled our first night sounded great! We didn’t mind missing the lobster in the MDR J We also reserved the Blue Man Group, as they were a “must see” for us.

 

Excursions:

 

On our last trip to St. Thomas, we really enjoyed Sunny Liston Tours, so we decided on his “Sightseeing and Beach” tour. 6 fellow roll callers joined us!

 

We hadn't visited St. Maarten since 2008, and have read good reviews about Bernard’s Tours. We had 26 folks from our roll call booked for the same tour. We nicknamed our bus “the party bus”.

 

Nassau. No real plans.

 

Roll Call:

 

Great group and very active! Really helps to pass the time (especially booking 418 days out!). We had quite a bit planned: informal meet ‘n greet, slot pull, cabin crawl, formal meet ‘n greet, and gift exchange. We were fortunate to have some seasoned NCL cruisers on the RC. They were always helpful – and we appreciated all the valuable information. Made some great friends!

 

Friday, November 15th

 

A fellow roll call member suggested a local Cuban restaurant for dinner. Las Vegas Cuban cuisine is located on Stirling, almost right across the street from the Best Western. We enjoyed our meal. Service and atmosphere was great! We ate dinner, and headed back to the hotel to get a good nights’ sleep.

 

Saturday, November 16th – Cruise Day!

 

SAS picked us up, on time, at our hotel. As luck would have it, some our fellow roll call members were also staying at the same hotel, so we all piled into the van together. After a quick ride to POM, we were dropped off, and handed our luggage to the porter. He was very friendly and welcoming, so we tipped a little extra. We made our way over to Terminal C. Went through security, had our embark picture taken, and waited for about ½ hour to board.

 

There she is!

 

Epic2013008.jpg

 

First impressions of the Epic…beautiful, modern, tasteful, and very grand!

 

Our cabin was not ready, so we headed to O’Sheehan’s for our first meal. Not sure why, but we could not order any alcoholic beverages, so we opted for iced tea instead. We started with the warm spinach and artichoke dip. Mike had the chicken pot pie, and I had the fish and chips. Decent meal and we’re off to a good start.

 

Bowling alley:

 

Epic2013009.jpg

 

Soon came the announcement that cabins on deck 10 were ready. Our first impressions of the cabin – awesome! We were very pleased with the amount of storage space and lovely colours of the cabin. Mini-suites offer extra cabin room, and we snagged a cabin with the bed by the balcony door. (Thanks to SDMike for all the information regarding bed placement and everything else Epic!). We absolutely loved the cabin, enjoyed our balcony and the layout. Did not miss the Carnival orange Naugahyde one bit!

 

No issues with the funky bathroom layout, either. I only wish there had been a little more light over the vanity area. No biggie, though!

 

cabin_10082.jpg

(Had to borrow this photo of cabin 10082 from Cruise Deck Plans. Michael has the cabin pics on his phone).

Hi soccersharon,

i dont have so much cruising experiences, just once to europe, and

im planning to take NCL epic to carribean this xmas.

Based on your knowledges and past cruising experiences, how are the weathers on the islands, like bahama and mexico? My friend is telling me that december is a raining and typhoon season for carribean area....Is that true?

By the way, i really love your pics :)

 

warm regards,

susanna

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Zeta3

Zeta3

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Thank you so much for sharing! We leave next Saturday, 12/7, and you know how it is when you're getting close, it is great to see the recent reviews...and pics!! Thanks again!

 

Hi, not sure if you have made it over to our roll call yet but we have an awesome group with lots planned for the 12/7 sailing. Come on over and say Hi :)

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=40820754#post40820754

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soccersharon

soccersharon

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Thank you for sharing, we leave Saturday and I am SO excited. A little nervous about seasickness, but I have candied ginger, ginger pills and some other liquid behind the ear stuff ready.

 

Sounds like you are well prepared :) Apples can help too. Note that not every cruise experiences less than calm seas.

 

I wish you a great cruise!

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soccersharon

soccersharon

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Great review and pics, thanks for taking the time to do that! We're first time NCL'ers too, trying the Epic over Xmas. Sounds like everything was great on your cruise!

 

We did have a great time! Met a lot nice folks from the Ottawa area as well :) They were on our "party bus" :)

 

Have a great cruise! Please post some pics when you get back :)

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soccersharon

soccersharon

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Loving your review!

 

I had a great time on the Epic last year and will be going for round 2 in 8 weeks! Can't wait!

 

Btw, whenever you get a chance, could you tell me a little more about the Sunny Liston tour? I have been considering that one, but I'm not 100% sure yet. Did you go to Mountain Top and taste the "World Famous Banana Daquiri"? lol

 

Funny story, which I should have included in my St. Thomas portion of the review.

 

We stopped at the Mountain Top, and as I was shopping, I asked my husband to buy us a couple of banana daquiris. The woman who served him asked if he was here with his wife, to which my husband replied yes. She then proceeded to pour a triple-shot of rum into my drink! I knew something was up, because after my first sip, I could feel the alcohol in my knees! It wasn't until after I had completely finished my drink, that my husband told me the story. Great drink!

 

Sunny Liston is wonderful. He is high energy, and gets the bus singing (still humming a few songs in my head!). Sunny is professional, and I would highly recommend him. You can book his tours directly through his website here: http://www.sunnylistontours.com/

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soccersharon

soccersharon

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soccersharon, since you just got off the Epic, what was your experience with the crew and general customer service? I'm hoping that the most recent reviews are just the few inevitable disgruntled people venting, not reflecting an actual drastic change in quality of the Epic crew. We are sailing on 12/6 so I'm a bit worried!

 

The service was adequate on the ship. From what I have read, it seems there was a big staff turnover after the TA crossing. Coupled that with the disaster in the Philippines, and I believe this did impact the mood of the ship. We were never mistreated in any way, but I did find that overall, the staff was not as friendly as I had read here in the past.

 

I'm hoping the situation changes for your sailing. We are very much "a cruise is what you make of it" kinda folks, and we don't let minor things get in the way of our good time.

 

I'm sure you will have a wonderful time!

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soccersharon

soccersharon

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Hi soccersharon,

i dont have so much cruising experiences, just once to europe, and

im planning to take NCL epic to carribean this xmas.

Based on your knowledges and past cruising experiences, how are the weathers on the islands, like bahama and mexico? My friend is telling me that december is a raining and typhoon season for carribean area....Is that true?

By the way, i really love your pics :)

 

warm regards,

susanna

 

Hi Susanna,

 

We have sailed to Cozumel twice, once in November, and last December. We experienced good weather both times (luckily). Hurricane season is over by December, so you should be fine in that regard. I think Cozumel is experiencing a rainy week, but that may not be the case for you.

 

The weather last Friday in Nassau saw some rain, but as I recall, it cleared up, and ended up being a nice day.

 

I enjoy taking pictures, and should probably upgrade my camera at some point. I just use a Nikon Coolpix :)

 

Have a wonderful cruise!

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BlueJai

BlueJai

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Hi Sharon, we are heading on the Epic for the first time in January. I am pretty nervous about going on such a large ship and your review is certainly helping! I see you were in 10082, we have 10080 booked.

 

Can you tell me about the balcony? Was it a good size? In talking with NCL, my PCC indicated that the B6 cabin balconies are anywhere from 90 - 150 sq ft. Is it large enough for a lounger (assuming that is possible?)

 

Thanks so much and I am really looking forward to more of your review!

Jai

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sunbird21

sunbird21

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Hi,

 

I usually dont comment on reviews,but in addition to liking yours,I think its appropriately timed,as there are several threads on here either trashing the Epic or panicked about going on her(upon reading the first). I think your review is interesting,positive and balanced,and I think a few(myself included) have directed people towards yours in order to offset some of the negativity.

 

That being said,looking forward to reading more! I don't know why,but your balcony pics are luring me into upgrading on my cruise...

 

Stacey

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