Cruise Review for March 18, 2017 Sailing of the Epic From Port Canaveral

[Traveling Fools]

Cruise Review for March 18, 2017Sailing of the Epic

7-Day Eastern Caribbean FromOrlando (Port Canaveral)

Haven Suite 17030

 

Pre-Cruise:

 

Stayed at Patrick AFB...Had 2 BR unit on theBanana River, very economical and convenient.

 

Getting to the Pier:

 

We drove and parked in the lot adjacent to thepier. Hit traffic backup to the Port at 1045, about100 yards away from the rampexiting to the cruise terminal. It took about 30 minutes to reach parking facility.

 

If you are handicap and meet the following criteria parking fees are waived.

 

DISABLED PARKING spacesare available and the fee is waived for vehicles transporting

certain persons who have disabilities that:

 

· Have specialequipment, such as ramps, lifts, foot or hand controls for use by a disabledperson;

· Displaya Florida Toll Exemption Permit as explained in s. 316.1964, Florida Statutes; and

· Displaya Florida Disabled Veteran (DV) license plate issued under s. 320.084;s.320.0842; or s. 320.0845, Florida Statutes.

 

Parkingagents will not grant parking waivers for any other reason than the ones listedabove.

 

Unless, you want covered parking, you can andwill probably find a spot directly across and 20 feet from the baggage droparea. It is easier and takes less time to park there and roll/carry your bagsto the porters, than to wait in line in your car to be directed to a drop offpoint, unload your baggage, drive into the covered garage, find a parkingspace, park, and then walk to the first boarding screening station.

 

Boarding:

 

We were Haven guests, so boarding was expeditedallowing us to skip long security and check-in lines. We found theboarding/check-in crew to be professional, friendly, and helpful!

 

We were traveling with our 4 and 7-year-oldgrandchildren. In addition to passports and picture identification, NCL has thefollowing requirements If you are traveling with minors unaccompanied by aparent our legal guardian:

 

Travelingwith Minors Unaccompanied by Parent or Legal Guardian*:

 

Thefollowing documents must be supplied at the pier during check-in:

1) Downloadand Complete the Parental Consent Release form (PDF)

Minors orthe same parent(s)/legal guardian(s) may be listed on the same form

 

2) Copyof both parents/legal guardians Driver’s License or other Government Issued ID

 

Adoptiveparents, legal guardians or persons separated or divorced are advised to keep legaland other relevant documents available in order to clarify custody rights.

 

*If travellingto Canada, you’ll the following document in addition to items #1 and 2 (Alaska,Pacific Coastal, and Canada/New England Itineraries):

 

Canadianentry requirements stipulate that a child under the age of 18 traveling alone, orwith person(s) other than both parents, should be inpossession of a letter (preferably notarized) from the parents or legal guardiancontaining:

 

1. Authorizationfor the child to travel with another person and to be outside the country;

 

2. The nameand a 24-hour contact telephone number of the parents or guardian;

 

3. The destinationand length of stay in Canada.

 

As apersonal note, I would recommend the NCL form be notarized with bothparents/guardians signatures.

 

Once cleared to board we were"escorted" to an elevator that was to take us to the Haven. Forwhatever reasons, we waited for an excusable amount of time to time for thededicated elevator to pick us up and take us to deck 16. I think the cause fordelay was because the steward on deck 16 wasn’t responsive to the lift requestscoming from the pier. To put into perspective, all our NCL experiences afterbeing cleared to board have been a hell of a lot less complex and timeconsuming as this one. E.G. We went thru security, checked in, and wereescorted to the onboard concierge deck/waiting-area and from there onboard toeither Cagney's or our suite; end of story. Regardless, it all worked out.

 

Accommodations:

 

We were in Suite 17030, a deluxe owner's suitefacing the pool area. The reasons we selected this large of cabin were:

 

1. There would be 4 of us in the cabin, us old fartsand our very active grandkids.

 

2. To minimize the effects of cabin fever. (Yes,I know some people say you never spend much time in your cabin, but that isn't truewith everyone. If, for whatever reason, we want to stay in the cabin we don'twant to feel confined. We do like our elbow room. And, if you are cruising withfriends or family the extra space makes for an excellent venue to meet, discussplans, have a drink, or maybe a meal.)

 

Now down to the meat and potatoes of the suiteitself. 17030 is, in my opinion, very well positioned.

 

1. The balcony is very spacious and offers viewsof the pool deck, port (left) side of the ship both broadside and oblique viewsforward. Because the balcony is facing aft, there is very little wind effectfrom forward movement. I know some previous occupants have been critical of thenoise generated from entertainment on the pool promenade. We found it providedgood background noise during the afternoon and early evening. Entertainment onthe pool deck shuts down around 6 P.M. and is not an issue during the rest ofthe night. Further, if you keep your balcony doors closed, it isn't an issueduring the day. We recommend NCL consider putting a small table with 4 chairson the balcony to better accommodate passengers who want to have a meal ordrink outside. There is ample room for this modification.

 

2. The only noise complaint we had occurred onthe last night of the cruise. During sleeping hours, the crew was draggingchairs and furniture around on the haven’s sun deck, which was above our suite.It woke us up and prompted a call of complaint.

 

3. Heavy crosswinds the last day of the cruise, blewexhaust fumes our way. This couldn’t be avoided, but is a word of advice forfuture cruisers to be mindful about leaving your balcony doors open on windydays.

 

4. We didn’t find the couch bed to verycomfortable even with the egg shell pad.

 

5. At 854 sf, the suite itself is very spaciousand pretty well laid out, but, from a passenger's and not a designer'sperspective, I would suggest the following modifications:

 

a. Move the sofa/sleeper off the wall and repositionit facing the balcony.

 

b. Reposition the dining room table to runparallel to the suite's exterior wall to the passageway and make it a 6-persontable vs a 4-person table.

 

c. Totally redesign the "dressingroom" and reallocate space to dining or desk space. There is way too muchwasted space in the current dressing room!

 

d. Reconfigure the suite's lighting system. Thecurrent one, um sucks! It is complicated to understand and operate; and inrespect to the "dressing room" is very dark and completely inadequate.

 

Dinning:

 

 

Breakfast:

 

DW and I almost always have breakfast in our suite and traveling with two younggrandkids we figured it would be less of a hassle to continue our tradition.This proved to be a very good decision. We had breakfast one morning in Haven’srestaurant and decided it was less of a hassle to have breakfast in our suite.

 

Lunch:

 

With one exception, we had lunch in the Haven’s restaurant. On our second dayat sea we thought the instant gratification the buffet offered would be easierthan waiting for service in the Haven. The buffet was an absolute madhouse, soall other lunches were taken in the Haven. We loved the lunch menu!!

 

Dinner:

 

One of the booking perks we had were 3 dinners in specialty restaurants. Weelected the Teppanyaki for boarding evening, Le Bistro for our second day atsea, and La Cucina our last night at sea. And, we paid full boat for premiumseats for the dinner show Cirque Dreams.

 

The only reason we selected the Teppanyaki restaurant is because we have onehere in town and it is the kids’ favorite. The steak was excellent, but theshow and other protein and veggies, been there done that too many times.

 

We were not impressed with the La Cucina. I don’t understand why NCL considersit to be an Italian venue. It seems they serve steak, steak, steak, and maybeshrimp. We ordered Lasagna for the kids and it was excellent. The Tiramisu wasto die for!!

 

Le Bistro…..we could go there every night.

 

Cirque Dreams’ menu was fixed and consisted of a tenderloin steak. Very goodmeal and a great show! Don’t miss it!

 

All other dinners were taken at the Haven. The menu was great, but service forthe children's meals slow resulting in the kids filling up on bread and beingfidgety while the adult meals were being served. We remedied that situation bytelling the wait staff to serve the kids immediately.

 

NOTE: All the kid menus on-board are the same. NCL needs to offer more mealchoices on these menus, especially in the specialty restaurants. Selectionsshould include child size portioned meals relative to the cuisine relative tothe respective restaurant.

 

Shopping:

 

DW and I browsed thru the shopping arcade onDeck 7 several times. We weren’t impressed with the inventory and didn’t buy athing, not even for the grandkids.

 

Gambling:

 

Although we are not gamblers, we are not strangersto casinos. I was impressed with size of Epic’s casino and the crowds itattracted. When opened, I thought I was walking thru a Vegas casino. The slottourney seemed to attract a lot of participants.

 

Bar Service:

 

In the Haven, great! On the pool promenade, veryspotty! Many passengers elected to stand in lines at the bars to get theirorders rather than wait for bar staff to get their orders.

 

Photo Service:

 

Not impressed.

 

Elevator Service:

 

Inadequate! The poorest of any cruise ship wehave been on. I attribute much of it to ship design and positioning of theGarden Café (buffet) at the forward part of the ship. Being forward, it was toofar away from the aft elevators; and, oh by the way, there are no mid shipelevators that take you to Deck 15. This architecture/engineering flaw for aship that can carry 5,000 plus passengers is inexcusable.

 

NCL’s UBP:

 

Kudos to NCL for eliminating the tedious, andunnecessary requirement for passengers who have the UBP to sign for each drinkordered. That old policy did nothing but create doubt and suspicion that NCLwas out to screw the passenger. It also just generated a confusing andunnecessary paper trail.

 

Shipboard Activities:

 

Our focus this cruise was on our grandchildren.Ergo, about the only adult activities we engaged in was having cocktails andtaking a dip in the pool and hot tub.

 

 

Concierge,House Keeping, and Haven Food Service Staff:

 

We didn’t interface with Concierge David and his staff on this cruise as muchas we have with Concierges in previous cruises. That said, when we did contacthim or his staff they were always professional and responsive.

 

Our Butler (Mr. Maxi) and Room Steward (Michael) did an all-around Yeoman’sjob! We always depend a lot on our Butler and Mr. Maxi performance wasflawless. He served us breakfast in the room all but one day, got the kidsapple and orange juice whenever asked, brought us a kettle of warm milk everynight for little guy, organized a spontaneous in-room dinner with items not onthe menu one evening when the kids were too tired to eat out, deliveredscrumptious afternoon snacks including peanut butter and jelly sandwiches forthe kids, etc., etc., etc. Steward Michael must have a radar beacon that detectedwhenever we had vacated the suite. He kept the suite clean and orderly (not aneasy thing to do with two young children and the stuff they tend to strewaround) and kept us stocked with fresh towels. Kudos to both of them.

 

Matri de Fox and his staff in the Haven also performed flawlessly. They got toknow us all and engaged the kids in conversation. They were responsive tospecial requests (escargot), peanut butter sandwiches, extra orders of theirdelicious Seafood Fritto Misto appetizer at lunch and Divers Scallops lunchentree. You never had to worry about how full your wine or cocktail glass would be.

 

All those Haven staff really helped to make this a special cruise!

 

Activity Staff:

 

We were very impressed with the professionalism of the Activity Staff. They werequick to shut down activities if weather or sea conditions deteriorated makingthe activity unsafe to engage in. This included slide and climbing walloperations and closing the swimming pools.

 

Babysitting:

 

We were disappointed to be told there was no babysitting service available andinstead we were drop the kids off at the Splash Academy. The hours for splashacademy are 9 A.M.-11:45 A.M., 2 P.M.-4:45 P.M., and 7: P.M.-10:30P.M. Exceptfor the night we saw Cirque Dreams, our 4-year-old grandson was fast asleepbefore 7 P.M. rendering the availability of Splash Academy in the eveningsuseless for us. Thus, we were forced to cancel our reservations for PhyllisQueen of the Desert.

 

Splash Academy:

 

The kids enjoyed the times they attended, but hated the bracelet they wereforced to wear. Seems, NCL could integrate the information on the bracelet ontothe kids’ key card. Duh!

 

Canvas By U:

 

When they canceled our stop at Grand Stirrup Key, they revamped the daily activityprogram and included the $20 pp Canvas By U activity. Ihad alerted the Concierge that we wanted to sign up our 7-year-oldgranddaughter for the program. The Concierge confirmed with us twice she wassigned up for the activity and would have to be escorted by an adult. When mywife and granddaughter arrived, they were told there was no reservation made.My wife questioned the staff and asked them to contact the Concierge. The staffmember rudely told my wife there was no reservation and they she had “to leavethe area”. By time DW was able to get the Concierge the reservations, theactivity was half over and our granddaughter was unable to participate.

 

Shows:

 

Burn the Floor: Started off OK, but seemed to dragon. Even the kids lost interest. Little guy fell asleep.

 

Cirque Dreams: Worth every penny to see!

 

Passenger Load and Issues:

 

There were 4,600 passengers aboard this cruise. A fair number of them were collegekids on spring break, 400 plus from Clemson. I never observed any college agekid misbehaving and only observed one drunk guy walking the deck and he was nota college kid.

 

Because we were anchored with grandchildren we spent most nights after dinnerin our suite and did not visit the night time venues.

 

I know on separate days two passengers fell on the pool deck and sustainedinjuries requiring stiches. I witnessed one of the falls. It was an elderlylady cutting between lounge chairs. She either slipped or tripped and fellforward smacking her head on a hand rail. The thud sounded like a melon hittingthe floor. I used my portable cabin phone to call 911 and, as a retired lawenforcement officer, was impressed with the competency of the operator. Sheasked the appropriate questions and kept me on the line until a respondingship’s officer confirmed with her that he was on site.

 

We only observed one encounter of rudeness when a party of 4 tried to cut inline before us.

 

While we enjoyed the ship (Haven especially) and the cruise, DW and I share theopinion that these ginormous class(es) of ships and the crush of passengersthey carry take away some of the charm of cruising.

 

 

Disembarkation:

 

For some unexplainable reason, we thought wewere returning to Port Canaveral on Sunday March 26th. Thank goodness our younggrandson usually wakes up between 6 and 6:30 A.M. Soon thereafter he wakes upeither DW. Sand very soon DW wakes me up and informs me we are docked at PortCanaveral. I sprung out of bed, checked the itinerary, and discovered thecruise was over. This was truly an ah S**t minute. We had not packed and ofcourse not placed our luggage out the night before for collection. We scrambledto get everything into the suitcases, and rolled them out to the elevator(thank God for rolling suitcases!). We found that between DW, 7-yearold GD andI that we could handle the luggage. Caught the express elevator to Deck 7,disembarked, cleared Customs, and was in our car headed home by 8:00 A.M. So,forgetting to pack and put our luggage outside proved to be a positive thingand a nice way to end the cruise.

 

 

 

Feel free to ask any questions.

[ColeThornton]

A whole bunch of your words are running together. You may want to try and edit that while you can.

[DMH15]

Lucky you! We had Maxi last month and he really enhanced our trip.

 

We also loved Kelton Fox and waiter, Rodney. They were our guys!!!

 

I agree with many of your observations, like the elevators!!! I usually try and do stairs, but found myself needing to go 10 or 11 stories my knees could not take that and elevators were slow and jam packed.

 

Many, many comments made when I pushed 16 or 17 :)

 

You had more on board thsn we did. And yes, common areas were crowded and loud.

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[RedRover96]

A whole bunch of your words are running together. You may want to try and edit that while you can.

The problem comes in when you compose in MS Word and then paste into CC. I think it is really a CC issue not the OP's

[DMH15]

The problem comes in when you compose in MS Word and then paste into CC. I think it is really a CC issue not the OP's

 

 

That is what happened to me. I typed in WORD and then cut and pasted. Luckily I noticed what happened in time to edit. But it was a PITA.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Traveling Fools]

That is what happened to me. I typed in WORD and then cut and pasted. Luckily I noticed what happened in time to edit. But it was a PITA.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Yes, that is the issue. I started trying to upload it last night and encounter problems. I proofed it at least 3 times before uploading it today. The problem lies with CC.

 

By the way DMH15 Rodney was our guy too.

[iaswam]

That is what happened to me. I typed in WORD and then cut and pasted. Luckily I noticed what happened in time to edit. But it was a PITA.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Exactly the same thing happened to me. Total PITA...