Last Minute Advice for Epic

[Sailing12Away]

Looks like you went in with the right attitude and had a great trip as a result. Hopefully others can learn from this and focus more on what is great and less on minor complaints.

[MikeC1610]

Thanks

I was on the Epic last April and thought that 4 Blue were incredible.  I had forgotten the bands name until I read your review.  I'm pretty sure it was 4 Blue.  Were they a group of Columbian guys with a great guitarist/singer that plays long guitar lead breaks and walks out into the crowd?

If that was them they were very versatile and could play anything from Frank Sinatra to Metallica and really hit the spot.  I spent many nights in the Cavern Club listening to them and drinking way too many Guiness'.

[aants69]

this will be my first cruise and those tips are really useful thank you very much for an honest and concise post

[bostonfred]

Anyone outdoor spots besides spice/h2o for outside eating or drinking and enjoying the ocean views....thanks

[taraavo]

Thanks so much for coming back to post your tips after your vacation. These are extremely helpful as we head out for our first cruise(ever) on the Epic in March. 

[Paelos]

13 hours ago, MikeC1610 said:

Thanks

I was on the Epic last April and thought that 4 Blue were incredible.  I had forgotten the bands name until I read your review.  I'm pretty sure it was 4 Blue.  Were they a group of Columbian guys with a great guitarist/singer that plays long guitar lead breaks and walks out into the crowd?

If that was them they were very versatile and could play anything from Frank Sinatra to Metallica and really hit the spot.  I spent many nights in the Cavern Club listening to them and drinking way too many Guiness'.

Yep that's them, a group of Columbian guys that can range from pop to metal to swing. It's pretty amazing. 

[Paelos]

4 hours ago, aants69 said:

this will be my first cruise and those tips are really useful thank you very much for an honest and concise post

Great you're welcome! I hope you have fun, and remember to just ignore the complainers. There are some on every ship and if we sat near them we'd just move rather than letting them bring us down. You'll find 10 ppl having a great time for every 1 guy pouting on the Epic

[Paelos]

4 hours ago, bostonfred said:

Anyone outdoor spots besides spice/h2o for outside eating or drinking and enjoying the ocean views....thanks

The best area for views is to grab 2 drinks, go to floor 17 on the forward elevators Starboard side, walk up 1 flight to deck 18. Head to the very front of the boat. There's a cool lounge area up there where you can see everything. Great for sunsets if the boat heads west. 

 

Otherwise they set up a full outdoor eating area near the pool called the Great Outdoors buffet. You can eat out there and get food from inside or outside and eat there. 

[Vyhanek]

We really liked the Cirque dinner show.    Booking this show the first night of the cruise, they offered a discount and we took it.   It was fun and better food than most any other night of the cruise.

 

We liked the sushi bar, the green tea martini, the green tea cheesecake.    Also liked the noodle bar.    

 

The hypnotist was a great show, you'd book this once you got on the ship.    Sometimes they even do two different shows - like one general show and one that focuses on hypnotism and weight loss!    That and Howl and the Moon were my favorite shows.   I thought the other main theater shows all sucked actually.    I don't like in your face homosexuality and you better like it for this theater group.

 

My favorite first drink is the half pina colada half strawberry daiquiri or the mudslide.    All included with the drink packages and better than NCL's desserts so drink up!

 

I didn't like the private island, not at all.    We took it as a day to enjoy the ship.    The private island is very crowded, the sand is minimal and the hard, sharp coral is plentiful.   This time of year the ocean water will be frigid.   The other islands make better beach days.

 

 

[amyh13]

43 minutes ago, Vyhanek said:

We really liked the Cirque dinner show.    Booking this show the first night of the cruise, they offered a discount and we took it.   It was fun and better food than most any other night of the cruise.

 

We liked the sushi bar, the green tea martini, the green tea cheesecake.    Also liked the noodle bar.    

 

The hypnotist was a great show, you'd book this once you got on the ship.    Sometimes they even do two different shows - like one general show and one that focuses on hypnotism and weight loss!    That and Howl and the Moon were my favorite shows.   I thought the other main theater shows all sucked actually.    I don't like in your face homosexuality and you better like it for this theater group.

 

My favorite first drink is the half pina colada half strawberry daiquiri or the mudslide.    All included with the drink packages and better than NCL's desserts so drink up!

 

I didn't like the private island, not at all.    We took it as a day to enjoy the ship.    The private island is very crowded, the sand is minimal and the hard, sharp coral is plentiful.   This time of year the ocean water will be frigid.   The other islands make better beach days.

 

 

Did you pre-book Cirque before you left or did you do on board?  We are looking to do it.  But I'll wait if I can Night 1 discount.

 

[davidpariani]

Couldn't agree with you more about 4 blue. We saw them almost every time they played. Thank you my friends and were 4 Blue from Colombia,Raul would say.

[riddle]

Epic now on its way back to San Juan for repairs

[MarkMark]

Paelos - thanks for this information and all the good tips.  I know it's a bit of work, but hoping you get a chance to post the dailies this week.

 

Thank you - Mark

[Jerseygich]

22 hours ago, Vyhanek said:

We really liked the Cirque dinner show.    Booking this show the first night of the cruise, they offered a discount and we took it.   It was fun and better food than most any other night of the cruise.

 

We liked the sushi bar, the green tea martini, the green tea cheesecake.    Also liked the noodle bar.    

 

The hypnotist was a great show, you'd book this once you got on the ship.    Sometimes they even do two different shows - like one general show and one that focuses on hypnotism and weight loss!    That and Howl and the Moon were my favorite shows.   I thought the other main theater shows all sucked actually.    I don't like in your face homosexuality and you better like it for this theater group.

 

My favorite first drink is the half pina colada half strawberry daiquiri or the mudslide.    All included with the drink packages and better than NCL's desserts so drink up!

 

I didn't like the private island, not at all.    We took it as a day to enjoy the ship.    The private island is very crowded, the sand is minimal and the hard, sharp coral is plentiful.   This time of year the ocean water will be frigid.   The other islands make better beach days.

 

 

The first drink is called a Miami Vice. Love that drink

[Paelos]

OK I'll try to post the Freestyle Daily here not sure if it will work or not.

Epic Freestyle Dailies 2-2-19 Eastern Sailing.pdf

[MarkMark]

That worked!  Thanks so much

[NutsAboutGolf]

That's for the tips, have a couple of questions

Any hidden/uncrowded locations for sail away?

For breakfast was o'sheehan's or the buffet are faster?

 

[Paelos]

We went to H2O for the Sailaway party so I wouldn't know. We like crowds for that kind of thing. 

 

The buffet is likely faster than OSheehans but we usually did Taste for breakfast because they had the most interesting stuff on the menu. 

[cmecruise1962]

Thank you!!  Next month can't come soon enough!!

[Paelos]

I'll remark on a few more tips things I forgot:

 

1 - The library is extremely well hidden. You'll never accidentally walk past it unless you know where it is. It's on Deck 5 down a lone hallway next to the Game Room. This hallway is basically right next to the huge Photo area on Deck 5, and connects to the forward stairwells on that side. However, they hand out free crosswords there daily, which I enjoyed.

2 - When you get on the ship for Lunch, Taste was open at noon and wasn't crowded. It's a good option to lounge there while you wait for your room rather than the buffet. If you're on earlier than noon, O'Sheehans is probably your best bet because it opens earliest.

3 - The welcome aboard show is actually pretty cool, and gives you snippets of each performer on the ship. You'll see the Epic Beatles and the Burn the Floor crew perform. I found it more enjoyable than Carnival's silly thing.

4 - The Cruise Next people will absolutely hound you daily about putting down deposits for more cruises. Make sure you understand the terms, because it's not as big of an advantage as you think buying more deposits. Only one deposit can be used per room, unless you're buying higher end rooms, then you can use 2 deposits. That being said, don't plop down a bunch of money to suddenly realize you're locking yourself into 2 or 3 more cruises than you intended.

5 - Bingo is a TERRIBLE bet on any ship, but it's especially bad here. The payoffs don't come close to matching what you have to put in to play. It's $39 just to get started, and up to $69 for the "best package." If you love it, play it. However, you're better off playing odds in the Casino because Bingo is a sucker bet.

6 - If you have the Ultimate Beverage package and both of you are there getting drinks, always ask for doubles. You're allowed two drinks per card, so getting a double pour or two drinks at a time is the best way to go. This works really well for wine pours, as they'll give you a double pour, and you'll get a full wine glass to go wandering around the ship with.

7 - If you're new to cruising, just know that anytime they put something in the Freestyle Daily that's free, like "free liquor tasting" or "free spa consultation"  you're basically inviting yourself to a high-pressure sales pitch. If you can handle that, great. If you hate that, be wary of those kinds of things and don't go.

8 - Bring your own lanyard, and don't bring one of those that has the clear pocket on it. They always want to swipe your card, so you're best with a simple lanyard, and going to the Guest Services desk to have them hole punch it.

9 - Remember that anywhere the Ship recommends to go shopping, they are being paid by the shops to tell you to go there. Not because they have the best prices.

10 - When disembarking they will put luggage tags down in a holder near the wall by Guest Services, you don't have to ask for tags. Simple go there, figure out which time you want, and get the tag you want. Your luggage has to be outside your door the night before by 11PM or whatever time they indicated on your Freestyle Daily. You also have to be out of your room by 8AM, but you can take your carry-ons with you to Breakfast and relax there until your luggage color is called.

Edited February 13, 2019 by Paelos

[pehlibaar]

Thanks so much for all the great info! We sail end of March and super excited. A few of quick questions:

Are any of the shows kid friendly? Is the Pricilla show adult only? 

Did you do bowling(sorry if you mentioned it, I may have missed it)

Did I read correctly that you have to sign up for a tender to GSC? We sailed on NCL about 10 years ago and don't recall having to sign up. 

 

Thanks again!

[Oakman58]

Those are more great tips Paelos.  Thanks for coming back after your cruise to pass on those tips to others.

[Paelos]

1 hour ago, pehlibaar said:

Thanks so much for all the great info! We sail end of March and super excited. A few of quick questions:

Are any of the shows kid friendly? Is the Pricilla show adult only? 

Did you do bowling(sorry if you mentioned it, I may have missed it)

Did I read correctly that you have to sign up for a tender to GSC? We sailed on NCL about 10 years ago and don't recall having to sign up. 

 

Thanks again!

Most of the shows I found to be not kid appropriate. I wouldn't take kids to Priscilla at all (and it's recommended you don't in the freestyle daily). Howl at the moon is really late and semi-raunchy at times. Burn the Floor is the debatable one. If you don't mind your kids watching people effectively dry hump each other across the dance floor in Catholic mini-skirts with open shirts revealing their bras? Go for it. Personally I wouldn't take kids to any of those. The music performances are mostly kid friendly, except they are almost all in bars.

 

We didn't go bowling but it's in O'Sheehans and very accessible. They have shoes for you and everything there. I think games are $7 per game per person.

 

Yes, you do have to sign up for a tender to GSC if you want to go before 10AM. If you don't care about getting there early to stake out a chair, they will open up tenders starting around 9:30 to 10AM. First tender for us was at 7:30AM.

[pehlibaar]

7 minutes ago, Paelos said:

Most of the shows I found to be not kid appropriate. I wouldn't take kids to Priscilla at all (and it's recommended you don't in the freestyle daily). Howl at the moon is really late and semi-raunchy at times. Burn the Floor is the debatable one. If you don't mind your kids watching people effectively dry hump each other across the dance floor in Catholic mini-skirts with open shirts revealing their bras? Go for it. Personally I wouldn't take kids to any of those. The music performances are mostly kid friendly, except they are almost all in bars.

 

We didn't go bowling but it's in O'Sheehans and very accessible. They have shoes for you and everything there. I think games are $7 per game per person.

 

Yes, you do have to sign up for a tender to GSC if you want to go before 10AM. If you don't care about getting there early to stake out a chair, they will open up tenders starting around 9:30 to 10AM. First tender for us was at 7:30AM.

 

Thank you so much for all the info! 

[Abm234b]

Wonderful tips! We're on the Epic in March (unless that hole doesn't get repaired in time?)