Epic Review February 24 thru March 4 2017

[Momofpuppy]

We are a couple in our mid to late 60s. We have cruised about a dozen times withvarious cruise lines.

 

We booked this through CAS for an invitational slottournament.

 

We flew from NH to Orlando. Took the hotel shuttle to Radisson at the Port in Port Canaveral for ourstay the night before the cruise. Thehotel staff were very friendly and accommodating. This is a very large hotel and was bookedsolid. While our room was very clean andquiet, it was a long distance to the hotel lobby/restaurant/pool area.

 

Embarkation Day: All shipsdocking in Port Canaveral that morning were delayed due to fog. Our check-intime was originally scheduled for 10:30 AM. We received a text from NCL advising us to delay our arrival at the pieruntil 12:30 PM. We took a taxi from thehotel to the pier. Traffic was anightmare due to passengers debarking and embarking from at least 4 differentships. We arrived at the pier at aboutnoon, dropped our luggage with a porter and were directed up an escalator intothe terminal building. This is whereeverything came to stand still. We hadto line up and stand to wait to go through security. The line quickly filled up and many peoplewere lined up outside the building. There were no chairs to sit on, no water and no rest room facilitieswhere we waited. The security peopletried to update the people in the front of the line about the delay but with somany people in the waiting area it was difficult to hear. We did see a couple of the security peopleprovide stools for a couple of elderly people who found it too difficult tostand for such a long time. From wherewe were standing we could see that the terminal check in area was full ofpeople seated in chairs but there was no movement or people in actual check-inlines. Evidently the room was full withHaven/suite guests or people that had arrived before noon and fire departmentregulations would not allow additional people into the terminal. Therefore we had to wait in line outsidesecurity. We were finally allowed to go through securityand check in at about 1:45 PM. NCL needsto provide better communication and facilities for people who have to wait inthis area.

 

Check in was smooth and we proceeded directly to Taste forlunch. Our cabins were ready at about2:30 PM.

 

Cabin: We were incabin 8200. This is a balcony cabintoward the aft section of the ship. Wehad read on Cruise Critic about the lack of a true bathroom in the cabins butthought we would give it a try. We didnot like the layout for all of the same reasons that many have previouslylisted. We did like the storage in thecabin and the large balcony. Bring anold or expired card to put in the slot inside the door to allow the lights towork. We did have an unobstructed waterview from the balcony and it was only a short walk to the aft elevators.

 

Food: We ate atTaste, The Garden Café, O’Sheehan’s, La Cucina and Le Bistro. Overall the food was good. The Garden Café we found to be crowded andchaotic, but we always found something we could eat. We did not experience slow service in O’Sheehan’s. Ordered the same dishes in LeBistro and LaCucina as we have had on the Gem and the Dawn and while good, they were not as goodas on the other ships. For the mostpart, the food in Taste was very good.

 

Casino: We liked thecasino. Would have wished for additionalLet it Ride tables. Other than that, theCasino seemed well run and organized.

 

Entertainment: Wewent to the Epic Beatles show in the theater and it was excellent. We went to Howl at the Moon in Headliners andenjoyed it very much. We did not see anyother shows.

 

SPA: We loved thethermal spa area and used it daily. Weliked the layout with the quiet areas provided. The temperature in the therapy pool was just right and veryrelaxing. We booked this on line beforethe cruise and feel it was well worth the cost.

 

Ports of Call: Wehave been to both St Thomas and Tortola before so this time we did not do anyshore excursions, we just did some shopping. We did take a tender to Great Stirrup Cay. We had rented a Clam shell and were lookingforward to exploring the island as we have not been there before. Unfortunately, it was windy that day and 30minutes after arriving on the island, we were all called back to the ship becausethe Captain felt that the seas were getting too rough for the tenders and therewas a rain storm moving in. We wererefunded the cost of the clam shell.

 

Staff/Service: Thisis where the Epic really shines. Withfew exceptions the staff on this ship could not have been more friendly orhelpful. One drink waiter in the casinowent to 3 different bars in an attempt to get my DH his preferred drink. The first night that we ate dinner in Taste,we were seated at a table that seemed to be in the main walkway for servers anddiners. Each time someone walked by mychair they would accidently kick or hit the back of it. I tried moving the chair but this did nothelp. We expressed our concerns about thisto the hostess, Mary Grace. Subsequently,without any prompting from us, Mary Grace made sure to seat us at or near a windowout of the line of traffic every time we dined in Taste. My DH drinks a mixed drink made with Gallianoan Italian Liqueur. The first night thiswas difficult to get. Thanks to CruiseCritic we attended the meet & greet the first sea day of the cruise. My DH was able to speak to the beverage manager,Zdravko Kojakovic. In my DH’s presence,the beverage manager made a phone call to order Galliano be made available atall bars on the ship. My DH never againexperienced a problem getting his drink for the entire cruise.

 

Debarkation: We optedto take the post cruise shore excursion to Kennedy Space Center because we hadnever been there and because this excursion also transported us and our bags tothe airport in Orlando. We were givenblack luggage tags and told to put our bags outside of the cabin the nightbefore debarkation. We were told toassemble in Cagney’s at 8AM debarkation day. NCL had a staff member there to greet us and direct us to our tourbus. We were led into the baggage areaoutside the ship where our luggage was easily found. We proceeded through customs and were takendirectly to our tour bus. This tour wasthrough a company called Sunward Tours. The tour guide was named Doug and the bus driver was named Lourdes. The tour was very informative and the tourguide was very knowledgeable. We would recommend this excursion.

 

Despite the issues we encountered we did have good time onthe cruise.

[BirdTravels]

Thanks for the review!

[easyboy]

Glad you had a good time! Thanks for the feedback.

[ladyref]

Keen to know your thoughts on the Kennedy space Tour - worth it, did you have enough time? We are considering something like this, thank you.

[samsam22]

I have not taken the shore excursion tour, but I have been there many times. I can't imagine getting off a boat, doing the tour and getting to a plane. It's a one-day place, but if you really want to see the cool stuff, you want to just GO on your own. There are special tours you can sign up for to see things not in the regular gig, and they are some of the best parts of the day. It's not a dawn to dusk place, but I think if you got there when it opened and wanted to do a special tour and see everything, you would need the whole day. The "Explore Tour" is similar to a tour I did once and it was very interesting. I think your best bet is to stay an extra day or go a day early if you really want to see KSC. You can purchase the extra tours in advance I believe. Ask what is included, as there are "free" bus tours as well, and sometimes the paid tours end at one of the remote locations covered in the free tours, so you don't need to do the free tour. It is an amazing place that makes you wish you had tried to be an astronaut.

[Momofpuppy]

If your goal is to thoroughly explore Kennedy Space Center then you would need more time. Our goal was to see what we could of the place and then be transported back to the airport. We were pleasantly surprised at what we did see during our 4 and one half to 5 hours there. We felt it was a good value for the two of us. Others may feel differently.

[cincicruisers]

Thank you for sharing your review with us.

[Clarea]

Excellent report, thank-you.

[jenseib]

I was there that day. I arrived really early just to do a prearranged tour of the ship. It was crazy. We were the first to be let in the port then the first to be allowed on the ship. The whole waiting area was jammed full and then there a medical emergency on top of all that. It was super super hot in there and a lady started to pass out. She was only a few seats down with me from another tour group visiting the ship.

 

Sadly because we had to be off the ship by 2:30 I didn't get to see as much as I had hoped to but I hope you had an amazing time. We did eat a quick lunch and it was tasty.