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Epic- Live December 23-30th. Merry Christmas

BermudaBound2014

By BermudaBound2014,
in Norwegian Cruise Line

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BermudaBound2014 Great Review Rare

BermudaBound2014

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Sitting at the airport. We've been bumped from first class- WTH. Waiting to see what they offer us to fly coach. I'm not opposed to flying coach, but I am opposed to paying for an upgrade and getting bumped. Serious first world problems.

 

Not sure what happened to the day yesterday. I climbed in my shell around 8:00 and at about 1:00 DH tossed a swordfish sandwich at me (they deliver food right to Posh- apparently DH has been eating it regularly, who knew. I ate half the sandwich (DH scarfed rest) and then POOF- it he sun was setting. I think the clamshells have a time warp.

 

The sea was glass and the view spectacular.

e223be227e31e5e93d00abf44c985e62.jpg

 

We did more of the same last night except this time it was DH who wanted the buffet because it was seafood night. The shrimp was HUGE, boar line jumbo. On the getaway and breakaway they also had a lobster pasta but the epic only had shrimp for their Alfredo- I think it was better than the lobster.

 

Burn the floor was good. Howl at the moon was a bit lame last night. Quest was quest. We called it a mildly early night. Got up this morning and packed. Left the room around 9:00. Went to o'sheeans for breakfast (the buffet and o'sheeans serve until 9:30 on debarkation morning). We left the ship around 9:45. Took about 30 minutes to clear customs and immigration. Went to area "b" where we were told to meet Contrans. Unfortunately that was bad info as Contrans was at the other end of the port. Humped it to the other side, found Contrans, 50 minutes later we were at the airport.

 

Don't underestimate the cluster called Orlando international. Looks simple on the map, in person not so much. Remember my experience on arrival? It wasn't as bad, but it still wasn't good. One thing I did not like about Contrans wAs that they only drop off at terminal a. We needed to get to terminal b. Down, up, over, down, tram, gate. I felt bad for the family making the trek with us as they had little ones with lots of stuff trailing along. Another first world problem I know.

Edited by BermudaBound2014
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katiecat

katiecat

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Posted
Jamrock was the name of the band at the pool 34fa0d073488542fef23a747c85e2b13.jpg

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Thank you for that info but don't recall that band though. :(

You mentioned earlier in your review people were dancing in the wheelchairs so they must of been alright. lol

Thanks again it been fun tagging along with you for the week.

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bklynfinest77

bklynfinest77

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Sitting at the airport. We've been bumped from first class- WTH. Waiting to see what they offer us to fly coach. I'm not opposed to flying coach, but I am opposed to paying for an upgrade and getting bumped. Serious first world problems.

 

Not sure what happened to the day yesterday. I climbed in my shell around 8:00 and at about 1:00 DH tossed a swordfish sandwich at me (they deliver food right to Posh- apparently DH has been eating it regularly, who knew. I ate half the sandwich (DH scarfed rest) and then POOF- it he sun was setting. I think the clamshells have a time warp.

 

The sea was glass and the view spectacular.

e223be227e31e5e93d00abf44c985e62.jpg

 

We did more of the same last night except this time it was DH who wanted the buffet because it was seafood night. The shrimp was HUGE, boar line jumbo. On the getaway and breakaway they also had a lobster pasta but the epic only had shrimp for their Alfredo- I think it was better than the lobster.

 

Burn the floor was good. Howl at the moon was a bit lame last night. Quest was quest. We called it a mildly early night. Got up this morning and packed. Left the room around 9:00. Went to o'sheeans for breakfast (the buffet and o'sheeans serve until 9:30 on debarkation morning). We left the ship around 9:45. Took about 30 minutes to clear customs and immigration. Went to area "b" where we were told to meet Contrans. Unfortunately that was bad info as Contrans was at the other end of the port. Humped it to the other side, found Contrans, 50 minutes later we were at the airport.

 

Don't underestimate the cluster called Orlando international. Looks simple on the map, in person not so much. Remember my experience on arrival? It wasn't as bad, but it still wasn't good. One thing I did not like about Contrans wAs that they only drop off at terminal a. We needed to get to terminal b. Down, up, over, down, tram, gate. I felt bad for the family making the trek with us as they had little ones with lots of stuff trailing along. Another first world problem I know.

Loving the pics you posted so far can't wait to see more!!!

 

Sent from my SM-G930T using Forums mobile app

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ellenw

ellenw

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Sitting at the airport. We've been bumped from first class- WTH. Waiting to see what they offer us to fly coach. I'm not opposed to flying coach, but I am opposed to paying for an upgrade and getting bumped. Serious first world problem

 

Stinky way to finish a great trip. Curious as to what airline, why you got bumped, and what their offer was.

 

Thanks for taking the time to post. Very enjoyable.

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london_girl

london_girl

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BermudaBound2014 - Thank you so much for reports! We are scheduled to take the exact same cruise over Christmas 2017. Can you elaborate a little more on Christmas onboard? Did they do a good job of making you forget that there wasn't snow outside? Did you miss not having a tree?

 

Thanks for the info!! Your trip report got me very excited for next Christmas! [emoji4]

 

 

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Binturong

Binturong

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Posted (edited)
BermudaBound2014 - Thank you so much for reports! We are scheduled to take the exact same cruise over Christmas 2017. Can you elaborate a little more on Christmas onboard? Did they do a good job of making you forget that there wasn't snow outside? Did you miss not having a tree?

[emoji4]

 

 

I was on the Epic Christmas cruise... report to follow.

 

Did they do good job of making me forget there isn't snow outside? Not really. The ship was sparsely decorated. There were two large displays, one in Taste, the other outside the buffet. A few other decorations scattered throughout the ship, and near-constant Christmas music piped throughout.

 

Several folks decorated their cabin doors. The doors are magnetic, so that may help you plan for next year (suggest you bring rare-earth magnets to affix stockings to doors. Tape does not work). Also saw wrapping paper, etc.

 

Speaking for myself only, I did not miss having a tree. As I see it, summer-like temperatures make up for not having a tree... You won't forget you are on holiday, and you also won't forget it's Christmas time.

 

Lots of families on the trip.... kids everywhere (including my own).

 

Also... noticed that you joined in 2009... and your first post in 2017... That took first post took a long time!!! ;)

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Niffernay

Niffernay

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Posted

 

Did breakfast in the Mdr so handsome hubby could get his salmon eggs benedict. He loves it. I had more traditional eggs and bacon and gave away my toast so I could indulge in a mid morning mudslide. Whenever I anticipate bad calorie decisions in my near future I justify them by limiting toast. Denial is an amazing thing.

. . .

 

I should mention that Service everywhere has been great! One thing I've learned to maximize enjoyment on the mega ships is to ying while everyone else is yanging, zig when they zag, ding when they dong. So far neither one of us have waited long at any bar (and we've tried one or twenty). Nor have we waited for dining service anywhere. It takes a bit of practice but we've turned avoiding the crowds on mega ships into an art form.

. . .

 

Speaking of service, my two cents on tipping. Disclaimer, I put myself through 12 years of college pouring drinks in a nightclub so I'm openly prejudice. It's hard work and I believe in tipping those who provide an extra touch of service (but don't tip extra than the dsc for marginal service). This year I wrapped a few dollars and tied them to candy canes with cute xmass ribbon. DH rolled his eyes too. Let me say they have been a huge hit!!! Maybe candy canes are harder to come by in other countries- but our servers light up when receiving. I wish I brought more (we travel with carry on only). I only have two dozen and I've already given out half.

 

An example of what I mean by an "extra touch" was the bartender who wrote my name In chocolate sauce on my morning mudslide. Bam- candy cane cash! Or the coffee refill lady at breakfast yesterday who offered to get me a coffee cup because I forgot mine. Life saver. IMO- rewarding exceptional service encourages more exceptional service :::::steps off soapbox::::::

 

 

Love your attitude about toast!! :)

 

A little more on the Yin/Yang, Zig/zag, Ding/Dong please? We are going on the Epic in December and we've only been on smaller ships (Gem and Dawn) so I'm a bit apprehensive about the "mega-ship" experience.

 

I couldn't agree with you more on the tipping. I always bring tons of singles, fives and tens for tipping. I just believe that good service deserves a reward. (I too was a bartender for many years, so my standards are high). I also believe that tipping gets their attention. Never waited for a drink on our last cruise; our guy would have new ones ready before the last ones were gone.

 

I love your candy cane idea. Our cruise is on 12/9, but I think that's close enough to Christmas. Did you have the regular size ones or the mini ones? Hubby is a beer salesman (Budweiser etc) so I'm making him collect some hats and other swag to give out too.

 

Thanks for your review!!

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RobM88

RobM88

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Posted (edited)

My wife, teenage daughter, and I were also on the Epic Christmas cruise. This was our first time being a "repeat customer" on any ship - we had been on Epic once before back about 5 years ago.

 

Thanks for sharing your perspectives! Some of my highlights would echo things already mentioned:

 

- Quality of food in the buffets and "included" restaurants was great. The sliced turkey on the first day was cooked perfectly. Prime rib TWICE. Seafood buffet was excellent! We even ate two dinners a couple of times because of this.

- Weather could not have been better, except for the wind that kept us from Jamaica. I guess eventually I will get back there, but was hoping to check that off my list this time!

- We really enjoyed the "Priscilla" show. Loved the costumes and the music and energy of it. (I am stuck in the 80's anyway.) I had also liked "Rock of Ages" and "Legally Blonde" on other ships. I liked the "Burn the Floor" on either Breakaway or Getaway better - the theme of this one was darker and I was just a little more impressed before. Still very good! The Christmas extra show was a nice surprise, with very strong singers and it was just the right length to rev up the holiday spirit.

- I wasn't a big fan of the singers on the pool deck, in particular the featured female singer. I think she sang a lot of the songs phonetically, made up words, etc. vs. really knowing the songs. And after a while, I found her voice shrill. Anyway, this was not a big deal, but sort of stuck out to me.

- Service was generally excellent all around! Did receive $18pp refund I assume from Jamaica port charges.

- We learned we should have arrived earlier at embarkation as we were stuck in the very long line and when the computers shut down. Didn't let it bother us as we knew they couldn't leave without us, but next time we will try to be early and enjoy more time on the ship.

- Debarkation was a breeze! We did the self-carry off all luggage.

- Still miss the Oreo Cheesecake from Cagney's. I can't believe they took it away, as well as the trio of duck at Le Bistro. That was our favorite meal previously. Now the duck dish is like pulled pork texture.

- Casino was as expected - a "donation" - but fun. Nice to have part of it non-smoking but some people didn't pay attention to that.

- Activities were fun. We won the scavenger hunt with the photos!

- Tons of families onboard as expected, we were happy to meet some new friends!

 

Looking forward to our next cruise - planning for Bermuda from NYC on Breakaway in June!

 

RobM88

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BermudaBound2014 Great Review Rare

BermudaBound2014

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Stinky way to finish a great trip. Curious as to what airline, why you got bumped, and what their offer was.

 

Thanks for taking the time to post. Very enjoyable.

 

Firstly, sorry for taking so long to reply. AHBL once we got home. Just getting caught back up. I was very pleased with Delta compensation. We were placed in Delta Comfort (instead of first class). We were given $350.00 per person voucher to be used within one year. We made out financially, and Delta is our chosen airline so we'll most certainly be able to use the voucher. The rational given was a computer glitch. I think the agent was surprised how chill we were about the whole thing.

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BermudaBound2014 Great Review Rare

BermudaBound2014

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BermudaBound2014 - Thank you so much for reports! We are scheduled to take the exact same cruise over Christmas 2017. Can you elaborate a little more on Christmas onboard? Did they do a good job of making you forget that there wasn't snow outside? Did you miss not having a tree?

 

Thanks for the info!! Your trip report got me very excited for next Christmas! [emoji4]

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Hi London, sorry it's taken me so long to reply. Please don't let me discourage you, but I was not all that impressed with NCL decorations and the xmass music piped throughout the ship got a bit old after the first two days. I didn't miss the snow, and I didn't miss the tree, but it did felt 'strange' for a northern girl. Are you taking kids? If so, they seemed to LOVE it!!!

 

I do think NCL did a nice job incorporating christmas activities for those that wanted to participate. They had christmas caroling on Christmas Eve, santa showed up, there were special photo opportunities, etc... The kids seemed delighted. I'm absolutely glad we traveled at Xmass to give it a try, but I am very glad we didn't pay a premium for the holiday sailing. We booked after final payment was due for everyone else and the Epic was not selling well so the deal was there.

 

I hope I don't discourage you! I"ll post some photos of the Christmas decorations. By all means, I think everyone should try a holiday sailing at least once :). I did like the no-holiday drama stuff and with this sailing returning on the 30th we still had the 31st and 1st to spend with family to celebrate the holidays. Enough for me :).

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BermudaBound2014 Great Review Rare

BermudaBound2014

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Love your attitude about toast!! :)

 

A little more on the Yin/Yang, Zig/zag, Ding/Dong please? We are going on the Epic in December and we've only been on smaller ships (Gem and Dawn) so I'm a bit apprehensive about the "mega-ship" experience.

 

I couldn't agree with you more on the tipping. I always bring tons of singles, fives and tens for tipping. I just believe that good service deserves a reward. (I too was a bartender for many years, so my standards are high). I also believe that tipping gets their attention. Never waited for a drink on our last cruise; our guy would have new ones ready before the last ones were gone.

 

I love your candy cane idea. Our cruise is on 12/9, but I think that's close enough to Christmas. Did you have the regular size ones or the mini ones? Hubby is a beer salesman (Budweiser etc) so I'm making him collect some hats and other swag to give out too.

 

Thanks for your review!!

 

Hello! I do like the mega ship experience because there are many choices. I would highly recommend getting either Posh or Thermal passes. Both places are adults only and as you read, were my refuge. Without Posh and Thermal, I'm not sure I would have enjoyed the Epic as much.

 

One thing about the Epic is that the elevators situation is terrible so choosing a deck where you can walk is important. We were on deck 10 so it was an easy 4 flights up to the thermal suite and 5 to posh (where you are forced to take the elevator to 18). 3-5 flights down to the evening entertainment. I traded stilettos for cork heels to avoid all elevators. They were that bad.

 

The ying/yang thing... my recommendation is to book your shows EARLy in the cruise. Many people wait until later in the cruise to book. I made reservations for 7:00 shows, but we missed burn at 7 and had no problem making the 9:00. If you are eating at the buffet, go early or late. The buffet food is best early (imo), and crowds aren't bad. Another tip is that we simply do not fight the crowds to debark. We plan to leave the ship after everyone else. Many people wait in the interior areas, so you'll get a few extra hours outside without all the crowds. Do the slides while in port also. If something looks crowded, be prepared to abandon ship and select something else. I think being flexible with plans is really important :).

 

Enjoy your trip!!

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BermudaBound2014 Great Review Rare

BermudaBound2014

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My wife, teenage daughter, and I were also on the Epic Christmas cruise. This was our first time being a "repeat customer" on any ship - we had been on Epic once before back about 5 years ago.

 

Thanks for sharing your perspectives! Some of my highlights would echo things already mentioned:

 

- Quality of food in the buffets and "included" restaurants was great. The sliced turkey on the first day was cooked perfectly. Prime rib TWICE. For real, and wasn't it delish?? Seafood buffet was excellent! Agreed, I'll post some pics of the shrimp We even ate two dinners a couple of times because of this.

- Weather could not have been better, except for the wind that kept us from Jamaica. I guess eventually I will get back there, but was hoping to check that off my list this time!The area around Falmouth isn't fantastic, so when you go back you'll be in a better area :)

- We really enjoyed the "Priscilla" show. Loved the costumes and the music and energy of it. (I am stuck in the 80's anyway.) I had also liked "Rock of Ages" and "Legally Blonde" on other ships. I liked the "Burn the Floor" on either Breakaway or Getaway better - the theme of this one was darker and I was just a little more impressed before.Interesting, here we differ. I liked burn better on Epic and did not like Pricilla (mostly due to the music). I suppose I"m a darker 80's gal :) Still very good! The Christmas extra show was a nice surprise, with very strong singers and it was just the right length to rev up the holiday spirit.

- I wasn't a big fan of the singers on the pool deck, in particular the featured female singer. I think she sang a lot of the songs phonetically, made up words, etc. vs. really knowing the songs. And after a while, I found her voice shrill. We talking about the short short short blonde hair? agreed Anyway, this was not a big deal, but sort of stuck out to me.

- Service was generally excellent all around! Did receive $18pp refund I assume from Jamaica port charges.Us too, but 18 seems low, I still want to research that

- We learned we should have arrived earlier at embarkation as we were stuck in the very long line and when the computers shut down. Didn't let it bother us as we knew they couldn't leave without us, but next time we will try to be early and enjoy more time on the ship.

- Debarkation was a breeze! We did the self-carry off all luggage.

- Still miss the Oreo Cheesecake from Cagney's. I can't believe they took it away, as well as the trio of duck at Le Bistro. That was our favorite meal previously. Now the duck dish is like pulled pork texture.

- Casino was as expected - a "donation" - but fun. Nice to have part of it non-smoking but some people didn't pay attention to that.

- Activities were fun. We won the scavenger hunt with the photos!Congrats

- Tons of families onboard as expected, we were happy to meet some new friends!

 

Looking forward to our next cruise - planning for Bermuda from NYC on Breakaway in June! Overall I do like breakaway better! I'm a huge fan of eating outside on the waterfront and made full use of the bars on the waterfront in the evening. The epic is a bit dark and enclosed. I think you'll appreciate the breakaway for the exterior, (and her slides are amaxing!). If you golf, I highly recommend Port royal in Bermuda.

 

RobM88

 

Enjoy!

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