NCL Epic Review - Spring Break 2015

[Nanookz]

Background-

I find that people’s backgrounds can shape the review and the experience of the cruise. We are mostly a make the best of the situation type family. Our opinion is any day on a cruise is better than a day at work. We have been on 15 cruises, mostly with Carnival but we have also been on Disney, Princess, and Holland America. I don't know that I've met a cruise that I didn't like. Yea there are some things that happen on a cruise that I didn't care for but I don't let it ruin the experience. We've seen too many people get upset on cruises over what we consider to small items and let that ruin their experience. This is the first cruise that we have taken over the Spring Break holiday so we didn't know what to expect as far as number of people and amount of kids. This is also our first cruise with NCL. This is also my first review and is a bit long.

 

Arrival and Embarkation-

We flew in from Baltimore on Saturday afternoon and stayed at a hotel in Miramar that I got through Hotwire. Okay place but a little more expensive than I would have liked but that is what you get for going on Spring Break. We rented a car with Budget picking up in Fll and returning to the facility on 2nd street. This location has a free shuttle that takes you to the pier. We had to wait for 2 shuttles to fill before we were able to get on but that took about 1/2 hour. But for free it was worth the wait. Next time we might return the car to the Miami airport because they have free shuttle as well. We arrived at the port at 11:30. There were no lines to get to the check-in counter. 10 minutes later we were on our way to the boarding waiting area. Once upstairs we waited for our boarding group and the first boarding started about 11:45. We were on board about 12:30. Went to lunch at Taste to avoid the crowds. Lunch was good and could tell right away that there was a quality difference in the food between Carnival and NCL. After lunch we went to drop our stuff off in the room. We headed up to the pool area to get on the slides. We learned that the slides were not open yet so we just hung out around the pool before the mandatory life boat drill. Most of our past lifeboat drills have been outside where everyone is jammed together waiting to finish. Epic boat drill had us sitting the in the casino and was rather quick. You have to check in with staff so they can cross you name off the list. Looks like if you miss the drill you have to make it up later according to the daily guides.

 

Room -

We had cabin 13187 inside cabin about the midway point in the ship. This trip we opted to get an inside cabin for the 2 adults and 2 children under 11. The last time we did an inside cabin was about 6 years ago on carnival and the kids were much smaller. Back then we had to contend with strollers and other little person items. This room was a little smaller than other inside cabins that we have stayed in but it was fine. Our general cruising idea is to only sleep and change in the room so size isn't that big of a deal for us (except for Alaska). On past cruises I hung out on the balcony in the morning, naps, and evening when the kids are sleeping. The split design of the shower/sink/toilet worked out good for us. We were able to have people change clothes in various places. The only crowding times for us came when everyone was dressed and waiting to leave the room. Solution that I found worked for us was to have the kids get up on the bunk beds to stay out of the way. When we first got in the room we didn't think that there was going to be enough room for all of our stuff. This room's storage is very deceiving. We were able to unpack all of our items and still have a drawer unused. The only items that I left in the suitcases under the bed were the snorkel gear so I didn't have to look at it all week. A room on deck 13 worked out great. 2 flights of stairs to the garden cafe buffet and pool. One flight of stairs for the kids club and fitness center.

 

Crew-

My wife and I noticed that the crew were not as friendly as other lines but not rude or bad. There were exceptions to this but for the most part they would just hand you things and not say much. This being said I didn't really mind and didn't really notice until my wife brought it up. Our cabin steward was not the best. There were nights that he forgot to lower the beds from the ceiling for the kids. Our room would not be made up until 3 or 4pm and the turn down (lowering of the beds) would happen at 9:30 or 10pm. With having kids we would sometimes be back in the room around this time . Occasionally so I would have to find the steward to lower the beds.

 

Ship-

The ship was at full capacity with about 4000 people. We received an email prior to the sailing that said that because we were traveling during spring break that then kids clubs may reach capacity and they would not accept any more kids. Because of these factors we thought it was going to be wall to wall people with kids running everywhere. We were pleasantly surprised this wasn't the case. We saw a few kids in the halls but not a whole lot. The ship is so large that I didn't really notice the people except for 2 times. If you go to the buffet after Taste is closed for breakfast or for lunch it gets a bit crowded.

 

I felt that the smaller venues for the shows were nice. Seemed like the shows started and ended at different times relieving some of the congestion around that area. You do need to make reservation for all the shows. We made ours before we set sail for blue man, cirque, and legends. My family loved blue man and cirque. We didn't make it to legends because dinner ran long. We also saw the family friendly second city show as well as the murder mystery lunch. Both were good. My kids are 8 and 10 and they said that they liked the improve type shows but they didn’t seem to laugh much. We like the food that was served at both the mystery lunch and the cirque show.

 

Other reviews mentioned that the elevators were packed all the time. We didn't find it any busier than other cruises. We have been on some of the larger ships over the last 10 years so we may be used to it. There were some elevators that we had to wait for the next one like after a show but that is to be expected. If our rooms were say 10th floor I can see where you would have a bit more of a wait for the elevators. When we cruise we try to take the stairs a lot.

 

On deck 13 they have a room that allows you to view the bridge of the ship. You can watch them drive the ship and was pretty cool. We went back a few times. They do close at various points when docking or leaving port.

Wanted to do rock wall but never got around to it. Too much to do.

I heard one person say that the ship was overwhelming. We didn't find it so. I like the size of the ship and the amount of activities offered.

 

Dinning

The first night we went to O'Shehans for dinner because they were serving prime rib. That was not very good. The service was not good at all. We didn't go back there. We did have prime rib later in the week at Taste and it was very good. So I don't know what the problem was at O'Shehans but we were not going to risk dinner there again.

 

We went mostly to Taste for our meals and found it better than main dining on Carnival. We came to like going without a set time. Some people don't like the fact that they have a different waiters every time but we were okay with it. We did find one that we like and requested to sit in Ruby's section 3 times and they were happy to accommodate. We did not eat at Manhattan because they required you wear long pants and a collared shirt. I was determined not wear more than shorts for the vacation. I like this very much and wish other lines would to this. NCL had a venue if you wanted to dress up and one venue if you didn't.

 

We only at one of the specialty restaurants (besides the mystery lunch and cirque show). Noodles was very good and about $4 an entry. The couple of times we at the buffet we thought it was ok but preferred Taste. Never had to wait for a table at Taste but we did see a time when we were leaving about 7pm where people were waiting to get in. It was nice not to have the stampede of people hitting the main dining room when it opens like traditional set time dining rooms.

 

Tech-

I’m in IT so this type of thing catches my eye and why my writing skills leave much to be desired. There are touch screen TVs at various spots around the ship that will give you information on the restaurants and other ship info. This will allow you to make reservations with scanning your card. Not the best touch screens. We used the iConcerige app for our iphone, android, and ipods. This was very helpful. The app is free to download and use. Download before you get on the cruise otherwise you have to get a data plan to download the app from what someone told me. This app lets you check your account, book reservations, check daily events, and look at menus. For an extra $8 a device you can enable the text and calling feature. This allows you to call or text anyone on the ship that has enabled this feature. We used this with our 10 year old on her ipod and was great. She was able to add her friends from the club to text them. It was very useful to use on the ship for meeting up with others in our group. We found the calling feature hit or miss and ended up using the texting more. It is a glitchy program and required reboots of the phone and program but was better than walkie talkies. My wife's iphone would not get Wi-Fi service in the room if the phone was away from the door while my android phone would work about anywhere. So if it doesn't work try moving to another spot.

 

Ports -

Jamaica

We used the tour operator Peat Taylor to take us to the Blue Hole and tubing down the White river. This was awesome. We got to Blue Hole with the idea that we were not going to let the kids jump off any of the cliffs/water falls. By the end we were jumping off 25 ft jumps and swinging on rope swings. After doing a few little ones you get a better feeling about the whole thing. The pools you are jumping into are deceptively deep. It was raining off and on while in Jamaica but we didn't mind since we were doing water events all day. However when we got back to port we just got on board and skipped the shopping because of the rain. When we boarded the ship it began to down poured.

 

Grand Cayman

Tendering was a bit of a cluster. You needed to reserve at time for the tender (though the tv or app) but when you got there you waited in line to eventually sit in the dining room. There you waited for the tender to come. It felt as though this was the first time the staff had done this tendering method. We eventually got to Grand Cayman. We walked to the bus station by the library where we took the city bus for $2.50 a person to Cemetery Beach. This was very nice but there are no facilities or anything. Just a beach but not crowed and there were 4 ships in port that day. I snorkeled and was pretty good when you got out by the reefs. Not as good as other places like St. Johns. Afterwards we went back to the main road and caught a bus back after waiting a few minutes.

 

Cozumel

We went to Paradise Beach where we have been to a few times before. It has been a couple of years and they have made some changes. Paradise Beach now has a pool and other water playground items. The cost is $3 to get in and $15 for the water activities. They also ask that you spend $10 a person in food and drink. So even when you add it all it is still cheaper than an all-inclusive place. We don't drink or eat enough to make those places worth it. The cab ride was about $32 for the 6 of us each way. Next time we go to Cozumel I think we will try something different.

 

Kids Club-

 

My daughters are 8 and 10 so they were in different kids clubs. The would occasionally have different locations for the different age groups but there would be other times where they were all mixed together. Convenient for dropoffs. My 10year old could check herself out after 2 hours of being in the club. This is where the app was useful for her. The older group would go on trips to the sports deck to play games like dodge ball. Kids liked the club but mentioned that they like the Carnival clubs better. They said that they had more structured activities and less "free play" with Carnival. However Disney trumps them all.

 

Debarkation-

This was the best debarkation from any cruise that I can remember. NCL has you pick what time you would like to leave while other lines assign you a time. We choose the first debarkation time. We went to breakfast at Taste and they called our tag color. Epic has 2 debarkation locations and after breakfast we walked right out. From breakfast to customs in about 15 min. We took the Miami airport shuttle for Thrifty car rental and returned the car to Ft. Lauderdale airport hours later. When we got the car the desk attendant asked us if we wanted the toll pass because the highways had built in electric tolls that you cannot avoid. Not knowing if this was true we did not get this feature and set google maps to avoid toll roads. This might have taken us a few minutes longer to get places. When we picked up the car with Budget at beginning of the trip they didn’t mention this. Thrifty said that if you didn't get the toll service there was a $15 admin fee for paying the tolls. I don’t know how much the Thrifty toll service was but I would consider it next time. When we got home I got an email from Budget stating that we passed an electronic toll. They charged the toll plus a $3 or $5. Which is way more reasonable than the $15 by Thrifty. Something to consider when renting in Miami/Fll.

 

We liked NCL and would cruise with them again. Pros and cons to NCL like all lines but very good cruise especially when we factor in the Spring break. If anyone has any questions post away.

Edited April 20, 2015 by Nanookz

[KweezyCruiser]

I'm sorry. You are entirely too sane and reasonable for this forum. You'll have to leave. ;)

 

I'm glad you had another nice trip. :)

[naagnel55]

Did the $8 add on feature for the app to text and call those on board affect your actual wireless plan and usage? Did the texts on board count toward your text through your cell company and charge extra since you were out of the country?

[mickeysgal]

Did the $8 add on feature for the app to text and call those on board affect your actual wireless plan and usage? Did the texts on board count toward your text through your cell company and charge extra since you were out of the country?

 

Great question. I'm interested in this too.

 

Thank you for your fair and balanced review. Glad you enjoyed your trip.

[Nanookz]

The texting and phone plan only work for people on the boats Internet. Those calls and texts don't leave the boat. Our phones were in airplane mode with the WiFi turned on for the while cruise. It does not touch your cell phone company and is totally seperate.

[naagnel55]

The texting and phone plan only work for people on the boats Internet. Those calls and texts don't leave the boat. Our phones were in airplane mode with the WiFi turned on for the while cruise. It does not touch your cell phone company and is totally seperate.

Thanks! So do you have to purchase the boats internet/wifi plan to participate in this then? You can't use it without using data from the boat?

[Nanookz]

You can just pay the $8 a device to use the service. You do not need to purchase the Internet plan. If you choose to not get the phone and texting plan you can still use the iconceirge app to look at ship info, account charges and tours.

[Mistizoom]

Thanks for the review. We are doing A similar itinerary next year on Getaway. Will look into the Blue Hole excursion. Sounds exciting!