Norwegian Epic Christmas Review! looong

[susan41]

This was my second sailing on the Epic~ The first was three years ago and at that time, it was my first departure from RCCL. While we had a wonderful time, I think we’ve decided to head back to RCCL or Celebrity for our next adventure. That being said, it was not a “bad” cruise at all, so if you’re going, don’t be discouraged! We flew into Miami the night prior and stayed at the Embassy Suites near the airport. We didn’t arrive until midnight- so the surrounding area being reported as “sketchy” was less of a concern as we just needed a place to sleep! The hotel was fine- if you’re familiar with Embassy Suites, they always do a nice job. The rate was great and they had a shuttle to port for 10.00/pp that was very convenient.

The boarding process was very easy and went very well. We were there quite early and able to board by 11:30. Getting on a ship first is fun- it’s quiet, empty and the bars are all open J

We had two cabins, ours was a mini-suite- and previously we stayed in a typical balcony. There really was a difference in room size- as my boys had a regular balcony on deck 10 and our room was “longer” with a nice big shower. Enough has been said about the shower/toilet situation on this ship- it’s weird- it just is. You don’t have much privacy for the bathroom no matter how you try and work it out. ONE of you will most likely become familiar with another facility on the ship when necessary ;). Storage in both rooms beats RCCL hands down- but in the mini-suite, I actually had a lot of empty cabinet space- which is nuts. There were two full hanging closets and door after door of additional storage. Suitcases fit easily under the bed. The bed was comfortable, and if you open the hinged door on the back of the couch, you will find an extra down comforter and pillows – which helped me survive my husband’s love of cold air conditioning. Only complaint- it would be nice to have one more plug (only two, and that’s if you unplug the coffee pot) and move them ABOVE the counter, rather than underneath and inside a cabinet. Bring a power strip! Problem solved.

I also can’t address the “chair saving” issue very well, as we are up EARLY and get chairs, and then rotate breakfast in shifts. I understand the frustration, but you can’t sleep til 11 and then expect to get a chair right by the pool. That’s just not realistic. While I feel bad for newbies, especially those with kids, common sense would tell you it’s a huge ship with a lot of people, so you might want to drag yourself up if there’s a specific area you want to sit in all day. Pools were fine, full of kids and smaller in size, but there were other water features that could cool you off if you needed. I’ve also read people complaining about the crowd- but honestly, it’s obviously going to have a lot of people on it- the ship is huge. I have the same feeling about Disney- if you go in expecting a lot of people, you won’t be phased. If you want a smaller experience, don’t choose a mega-ship.

Disappointments: I couldn’t begin to tell you who our cruise director was, which was totally different than the last trip we took on this ship. The “assistant CD” was in charge of a couple pool games- and he was dreadfully slow in dragging things out. If there was a belly flop contest, I missed it, and the “Mr. Sexy Legs” or whatever went on forever…at first funny, then just annoyingly not so. I am officially missing the dining experience on RCCL- where you have a beautiful dining room- with the same wait staff who have a personality. We had horrible service in the following: Manhattan Room , Cagneys (so disappointed~ Christmas night and it took two hours for a basic dinner), and the one where they cut meat off for you at the table (can’t remember)…slow and zero personality. We had a great experience at Teppanyaki and our last two nights we got incredibly lucky with great service at La Cucina. This was the type of service you expect in ALL the dining rooms, so the person in charge there should be used to show the rest of the ship how to do it. On two occasions, I saw disgruntled staff, and that is not comfortable. While waiting for a spa appt., one of the women working the desk (obviously a supervisor of some sort) called a masseuse out and literally berated her for almost 15 minutes for making a mistake on a charge while I sat there wishing I could disappear. I found that incredibly unprofessional. Whatever mistake that poor woman made was clearly over shadowed by the behavior of her supervisor. Another time, in the Garden Café, I just wanted a diet pepsi refill, and the lady behind the bar was angry that her partner had left the area so she was complaining to passengers about being left there alone and she can’t do everything by herself…that was weird, also. That sort of thing- just not okay. We were there over Christmas, and thought the ship would be decked out- but other than a tree~ there were random cardboard cut-out things stuck up here and there, which I found comical, but certainly could have been more festive for the holidays.

Positives: Our room steward was great. He was quiet but very good at what he did. We never wanted for anything. The food, even though the service lacked, was actually quite good everywhere we went. We felt the food beat RCCL but the service did not. I’m not a “foodie” though, so I’m probably not a good reference on anything beyond meat and potatoes. Bar service was typically very good also. I wish they had more servers on the pool deck and assigned areas, so you could get to know your waiter on sea days—it was very random and never the same server twice. Pictures were very good and easily organized. Internet was slow, but accessible- I only needed to check my email to check on my dog- I don’t need to go on a cruise to log online, thank goodness.

We saw Blue Man Group and Cirque last time- both excellent (although I find Blue Man creepy). I warned my sister about the dinner at Cirque being horrible, but she reported this time it was very good! Comedy show was not that great, but Howl at the Moon was definitely the highlight of the ship every single night they were playing. VERY talented group of men…and such a fun time. You must go if you haven’t been… turns a little “more fun” after 10pm, but if you wait til then, seating is tough….so go early and plan to stay – it’s worth it. DO NOT MISS THIS SHOW!

I highly recommend the “spa pass” to the Courtyard Area (I forget what it’s called) – it’s 199.00 for the week but is the most relaxing area at the end of a long day with giant jacuzzi’s, steam rooms, saunas, heated stone lounges, etc. It’s also a great spot for a normal sized shower or bathroom. They only sell so many passes, so it’s never overly crowded and the large balcony on the back of the ship is a very peaceful spot to watch the islands disappear as you leave. I love this spot! It’s just so relaxing in there. I also had a “spa special” on one of the days that included a massage and mini-facial~ and unlike the experiences I have had on RCCL, the service was excellent but most importantly, she wrote down some things she would recommend for my skin but did not push AT ALL for the sale—so that was extra nice. She wrote down her list, handed it to me, and thanked me~ done! How refreshing. Beautiful room, also, with one wall all glass over the ocean.

Our ports of call were Bahamas, Jamaica and Cozumel. I’ve been to all three, but this time, we skipped the Atlantis (waaaaaay too crowded and although it’s obviously nice, it’s like a typical upscale resort you find here in the US) Last time I went to the Atlantis, I found myself in the water park, paying about 15.00 for a soft pretzel, unable to find a table to sit and slobs of mustard and ketchup all over the tables anyway- it felt like I was at Kings Dominion). This trip, we opted for the day pass at the British Hilton- within walking distance of the port and very nice. Since we were there the very first day after leaving, it was a nice relaxing pool/beach day. The beach area is fine, but not fantastic, but the pool was nice and there were tons of big “bed type” lounges if you wanted to relax. With your day pass (60.00/pp) you also received 40.00 pp in food & beverages- so for the four of us we had plenty of bar/lunch money. We left about an hour early and browsed some shops as we walked back to the ship. It was nice not to have to deal with cabs/busses, etc., particularly for our first day. We docked in Jamaica and had reserved a private tour through Marvyn’s Paradise Tours to go directly to Dunn’s River to climb the falls and then to the Blue Hole. We had seven total – with 3 “20 somethings,” so while we had previously climbed the falls, we wanted the kids to have the experience. Marvyn’s Tour was FANTASTIC. Felt completely safe and well taken care of the entire day. They got us to the falls before the giant crowds came- our group was one of the first up the falls for the day- and it was beautiful! Then, we went to the Blue Hole- and when you read it’s “off the beaten path”….. it’s OFF THE BEATEN PATH. Had I not read that prior to travel, I would have thought I was being kidnapped….but after our driver navigated the dirt road up the mountain – what an amazing place to visit! “Jason” was our guide at the top and he was amazing at helping us all up the falls where we climbed, jumped, swam, swung on rope swings and took BIG jumps at the end. He also showed us how the locals do some extra “tricks” – it was like an adventure with some circus acts thrown in- he was amazing, for sure! We called him “Mowgli” from Jungle Book, b/c he was so fast, and could run so easily up and down the falls, climb the trees, jump from cliffs…it was nuts, but so fun to watch. We all really liked this active day. We then had a little time left so we ended up back in town, grabbed some lunch in a shopping area that was really not our thing, but lunch was fine. Our driver got us back to the ship in plenty of time- no worries! I highly highly highly recommend Marvyn’s Paradise Tours. To get a private van with our own driver for the day was extremely reasonable ($175.00 for the driver, 20/ea. for Dunn’s River and 10/ea. for the Blue Hole).

Next stop was Cozumel ~ Where we went to Nachi Cocum for the day- a day pass spot that is all inclusive with a beautiful beach area, pool, restaurant, and bar. We had EXCELLENT service here, with a 36.00 cab fare each way for a van~ and 55.00 each for the day pass~ We thought it was a steal. Options were available for snorkel trips, paddleboards, jetskis, floating mats, etc., were there for an extra charge. We took the paddle boards out and loved it. I wanted to take a snorkel trip but they were about two hours and I didn’t want to give up that much of my beach time on a day trip. This was a nice spot! I’ve done Mr. Sanchos in the past and was not impressed, but I think it’s been updated and revamped since I was there, so it may be fine by now. We ate a lot and got our monies worth and then some at the bar J .

Last day at sea was uneventful….the last couple days were a little “rocky” on the ship, but my sister read that the western route this time of year tends to be this way- which I had no idea about. Some of the kids got a little queasy but Bonine came to the rescue. The movement doesn’t bother my stomach but makes me a little nervous, so I was a little uneasy. Didn’t seem to phase the staff or most people though, so I doubt in the scheme of people who cruise often it was much.

We did a walk off early departure to catch our flights back home. Leaving the ship was a breeze…. And although the airport was NUTS the weekend after Christmas, we got through fairly quickly and really have no complaints! American Airlines flights were even right on time!

If you’re going on the Epic soon- the ship is huge, it has a lot of people, don’t get irritated when you see them~ it’s what you sign up for on such a big ship. I was disappointed in what seemed like a decline in service though, particularly the lack of personalized service. Were my needs met? Absolutely, but did I feel like the staff were happy about doing it? Not very often.

Next on the list for me will be back to the Celebrity/RCCL family. I’m used to more personalized service, the grand dining room, and designated “formal nights” if I want to dress up. The freestyle idea is a good change, and the food was quite good, but I’m not a fan of the guy who wears his tank top and flip flops “just because he can” even when it’s obviously not appropriate. No armpit hair at the table, please.

Bon Voyage!

HIGHLY recommend Marvyn's Paradise Tours in Jamaica~ Check Trip Advisor Reviews ~ They did a great job for our group!

[rajones007]

Excuse me while I pick my eyeballs up off the floor.

[Mack704]

Excuse me while I pick my eyeballs up off the floor.

 

Agreed. It would be much easier to read with sentence breaks and paragraph breaks. As it appears, it's nearly too daunting to attempt.

 

Harvey

[ColinIllinois]

Fonts kind of small too or my eyes are getting worse.

[BusyFLmom]

Thanks for the review! You had some useful information....although it was a little difficult to read :p

[kenlyn]

Thanks for the review! I had no trouble reading it after I blew it up on my iPad. I am heading off on my Epic adventure in February and have been enjoying all these recent reports. I usually travel on the mid size ships so the Epic will be a new experience I feel I have to try once.

I have done my research so I feel like I know exactly what to expect, warts and all! I can't believe some of the reviews where people are still carrying on about the bathroom set ups! That should not be a surprise to anyone after 4 years!

Thanks again !

[autrucheplume]

Thanks for the review!! Agree with those above - the font was small, but all modern web browsers have zoom in capabilities, so after bumping the size up a bit, was perfectly readable :)

 

Glad you had such a good time despite the lack of great service sometimes. Here's hoping it's better when I go in a few weeks!!