Epic Review - 1/11/14 -- 1/18/14

[danh78]

Just got back from our honeymoon. Overall, I'd say it was a good trip. Any specific questions let me know. We did this exact same cruise in April 13.

 

Embarkation

 

Easy. We flew in Friday, stayed at the Downtown Hilton. Short cab ride to the pier, we got there a little early and walking through check in was easy. We were on before noon and went straight to Taste.

 

Stateroom

 

13030. Room itself was a pretty typical balcony room. Bathroom set up, blah blah blah. Balcony was huge. We had 3 chairs, a lounger, small table and still plenty of room to hang out.

 

Dining

 

We ate at Manhattan a couple times. Food was good, service was nice. One night, there was a 20-30 minute wait. They gave us a coupon for a couple glasses of champagne, that was nice and unexpected. They easily could have just said there was a wait too bad so sad.

 

The buffet was always solid. Crowded, but that's to be expected. Lots of choices.

 

On to my one complaint of the cruise. Taste. Food was ok at best. Service was pretty awful. Once they take your order, you hardly see your server. We went for breakfast one day and probably waited 45 minutes for our food after we ordered. The manager/supervisor came around and gave the worst non-apology I've ever heard. Something along the lines of "We're very busy today, you understand"

 

Moderno was awesome. My wife prefers medium/medium-well, so the servers would ask what she wanted, then take it to the kitchen to give it a couple extra minutes on the grill. After we got a taste of everything, the servers made sure to check on what selections you wanted more of.

 

Tepanyaki was good. Last time was better. I think our chef was not as experienced as last time, so the entertainment part was not as good as last time. The food was tasty though.

 

Entertainment

 

Blue Man Group was lots of fun.

 

Legends was ok. Steven Tyler was good, Elvis was good. Katy Perry...meh. According to my wife she neither looked nor sounded like Katy Perry.

 

Second City was ok. My wife really liked it, I just thought it was alright.

 

My wife really liked the game shows and little staff functions.

 

We did Q&A with Senior Staff and Blue Man Group. Both of those were fun and enlightening. Sr. Staff was Chief Engineer, Hotel Director and Chief Officer. Guests are VERY interested in the toilets. Weird!

 

I know I said "One Complaint", I guess I have one more. The musicians. The piano player in Shakers and guitar player in Maltings weren't very interesting. They reminded me of cheesy Vegas lounge singers. No biggie, it's not like there weren't lots of other places to go. The band that played out by the pool during the day was pretty rockin, so I'll give them credit there.

 

Um, I think that's it? Weather back here in Chicago is pretty awful, I'd much rather be back on the boat.

[dlynn0366]

Welcome home & congratulations to you & your wife! Thank you for posting your review so quickly. I'm heading this Mar back to the Epic for the 3rd time. I've never tried Taste or Manhattan...no particular reason just never have. We stay in the Haven & just once had a breakfast in the Epic Club. If we don't eat in one of the specialty restaurants I actually really like the Buffett :)

[anandaindonesia]

Thank you for sharing your experience.

Happy honeymoon!

[N747KT]

Thanks for sharing. I'll be in my honeymoon too on epic in march.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[SouthernChef]

Congratulations!

 

My wife and I were onboard with you for this trip.

 

Our biggest complaint was the sheer amount of rude people in the ship. I don't think that I've ever been on a cruise with so many impolite people.

 

We actually found Taste to have better service than Manhattan. I rarely eat in the MDR, so it was a non-issue for me. I also have to agree with you about the "lounge singer" acts in the dining room. There was one day on the pool deck that the Manhattan band played, and the singer fell flat with his story telling and shtick. He talked more than they played.

[JKHawaii]

I was on the same cruise ................ must say, the weather was just about PERFECT!

 

I highly recommend the Ultimate Dining Plan ............... for $119 PP, you can eat at Cagney's, Moderno, Teppanyaki, La Cucina, Shanghai's, or Le Bistro every night of the cruise. That meant for us great food, great service, great atmosphere, and no waiting.

 

As far as the rude people, I didn't really encounter this other than the handful of people I encounter on every cruise ................ I guess most of the rude people the OP encountered were at the other end of the ship.

[crazydaisy90]

Congrats on your wedding! Can you tell us where you went and the excusions? We are going in March.

[3DBeach]

Congratulations! Thanks for sharing your review.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[abbo1963]

We were on the same cruise and we found the other guests to be really amazing . We always dined as a couple and every single night we ended up in conversations with the couples sitting around us . Everyone we met in the bars were also very friendly. sorry you had a bad experience

[danh78]

I was on the same cruise ................ must say, the weather was just about PERFECT!

 

I highly recommend the Ultimate Dining Plan ............... for $119 PP, you can eat at Cagney's, Moderno, Teppanyaki, La Cucina, Shanghai's, or Le Bistro every night of the cruise. That meant for us great food, great service, great atmosphere, and no waiting.

 

As far as the rude people, I didn't really encounter this other than the handful of people I encounter on every cruise ................ I guess most of the rude people the OP encountered were at the other end of the ship.

 

I agree. Weather was great.

 

Wasn't me that had a problem with rude people. I mean, you get that anywhere, but overall I thought most people were nice.

[danh78]

Congrats on your wedding! Can you tell us where you went and the excusions? We are going in March.

 

Stops were St. Martin, St. Thomas and Nassau.

 

We didn't really do any excursions this time around. In St. Martin we took a water taxi across the bay and walked down the beach till we found a spot we liked. $20 got us 2 chairs, an umbrella and a bucket of beer. Then lunch at the Blue Bitch.

 

St. Thomas we walked around, then took the sky tram up to Paradise Point. Pretty cool view of the island.

 

Again in Nassau, we just hopped a cab to Cabbage Beach. Not bad, but the beach in St. Martin was definitely better.

[cruisingcasinos]

Thanks for the review and CONGRATS on Your Marriage. Much happiness!

[samiams2]

Good review. Thx.

 

I was on the same cruise ................ must say, the weather was just about PERFECT!

 

I highly recommend the Ultimate Dining Plan ............... for $119 PP, you can eat at Cagney's, Moderno, Teppanyaki, La Cucina, Shanghai's, or Le Bistro every night of the cruise. That meant for us great food, great service, great atmosphere, and no waiting.

 

As far as the rude people, I didn't really encounter this other than the handful of people I encounter on every cruise ................ I guess most of the rude people the OP encountered were at the other end of the ship.

 

 

Could you eat lunch at the teppanyaki with UDP?

 

Does the OP or any other returning cruisers have a copy of the dailies or at least the "the look at your week" handout that's passed out at the Beginning? Someone posted a set from beginning of December but it was a diff itinerary/days.

 

We r trying to figure out some reservation for the first couple nights. We sail 2/9

 

Tia

 

Sam

[Sauer-kraut]

Could you eat lunch at the teppanyaki with UDP?

 

Teppanyaki isn't open for lunch

[BBT]

Good review. Thx.

 

 

 

 

Could you eat lunch at the teppanyaki with UDP?

 

Does the OP or any other returning cruisers have a copy of the dailies or at least the "the look at your week" handout that's passed out at the Beginning? Someone posted a set from beginning of December but it was a diff itinerary/days.

 

We r trying to figure out some reservation for the first couple nights. We sail 2/9

 

Tia

 

Sam

 

I have all of the dailies from the Jan. 4 week. Same itinerary so I doubt much change. I will try to scan the covers in & post them sometime later today.

 

To the OP, I think sometimes the musicians at the quieter venues like Shakers & Maltings play to a certain cruise line expectation - be there, play & privide background sound but don't over do it. Jim Capik the guitar man at Maltings is a HELL of a harp player! I'll bet this is his primary musical ability. He rocked it when he joined the Bart Walker Band in Fat Cats a couple times.

[samiams2]

Teppanyaki isn't open for lunch

 

 

Well....

Look under the heading "the best way to fill your afternoon" ....this is from a daily that Out To Sea posted from the epic beginning of dec. and when I went on the gem 4 yrs ago we could do Teppanyaki for lunch. Not every day but they do make it available on a couple at sea days.

[samiams2]

I have all of the dailies from the Jan. 4 week. Same itinerary so I doubt much change. I will try to scan the covers in & post them sometime later today.

 

 

 

To the OP, I think sometimes the musicians at the quieter venues like Shakers & Maltings play to a certain cruise line expectation - be there, play & privide background sound but don't over do it. Jim Capik the guitar man at Maltings is a HELL of a harp player! I'll bet this is his primary musical ability. He rocked it when he joined the Bart Walker Band in Fat Cats a couple times.

 

 

If you could post them that'd be AWESOME!!!!

[BBT]

CC doesn't make this easy, but here are the dailies from the January 4, 2014 Norwegian Epic cruise.

 

They'll be in 3 posts.

 

 

 

 

 

[BBT]

 

 

 

 

 

[BBT]