Epic 10 Day Western Review

[nolansmama]

Hello all

I found so much useful info on this site prior to our cruise. Thank you all, and in return, I'm sharing my faithful review.

 

A little about us:

Party of 5, me (40), DH40, DS9, DD6, and my mom 69. This was our first NCL cruise. I have sailed Carnival (2000, 2001, 2004), RCL (2008), and Disney (2013, 2015, 2018).

 

Booking: we booked through an online agency, as I shopped around for the best OBC offer I could find. We had 2 adjacent Family mini suite cabins -10092 and 10094. Would have preferred adjoining but couldn't find any even though we booked almost a year out. No big deal - adjacent was fine.  This was one of those Destination cruises with some extra perks thrown in - airfare and hotel credits (useless), wifi and phone (useless to us), and extra shore ex credit (somewhat helpful).  

 

We sailed 3+2, so in our cabin with our daughter, we chose the family sail free and the UBP. We purchased the 4 night dining plan for the 2 of us.  My mom and son in the other cabin opted for the 4 SDP and Shorex credit.

 

Pre and post cruise transport: we used GoPort Canaveral for transportation and hotel package. VERY happy with them. We got our transfers and a precruise stay in the Embassy Suites all for around $400 (1 room, which worked for the 5 of us with the fold out couch). Very good value, very nice hotel, very prompt transportation. Will use again if we ever sail out of PC again.

 

Embarkation: GPC bus dropped us around 11:30.  Compared to Disney, the terminal was not well organized. People in a huge line snaking all over the parking lot and some confusion from the port staff. But honestly I don't think we waited outside more than an hour, and once we got inside, it was very quick. I think we were on the ship within an hour and a half.  Not great but not bad at all.

 

Staterooms: we did not mind the layout. we found them quite spacious and could never use all the storage.  I definitely was spoiled coming from the Disney bathroom with two separate rooms, 2 sinks and all tiled walls... you get what you pay for though, and we can't afford Disney's prices anymore. NCL are more like camper bathrooms. But it was fine, I just didn't love the smell situation.  Cabin location was great, near elevator, rarely noisy in the hall.  Our steward Dipesh was AWESOME, my mom's not so much. My one complaint was the bed was so hard. Ouch. Even with the egg crate Dipesh brought us it was quite uncomfortable for us. Princess and the Pea here, I guess. 🙂

 

Ship public areas: We loved the pool deck. Way better than the Disney pools. Helped that there were like 12 kids on this sailing -the pools were never crowded! And the water slides were SO MUCH FUN.  Unfortunately there was some construction where the putt putt golf and rock climbing walls are, so we did not get to use these features. Which was not a big deal.  My son used the sports deck a few times. He used the arcade WAY TOO MUCH! Check your stateroom balances periodically is my advice! OOPS.  We enjoyed the bowling, the casino (not overly smoky except maybe 1 day), the game/card room. Never made it to Spice H20. 

 

Ok I'll break here, and once I get photos uploaded will share a few along with my review of the dining, shows, and ports. Feel free to post any questions.  Back to the cold weather here, and who is making my dinner tonight? No buffet!?! 😄

 

 

 

[z4oslo]

Sounds like you and your family  had a great holiday.

 

 

[luv2kroooz]

Looking forward to your review. Epic is installing a scrubber system. We experienced construction on the sailing prior to yours. Didn't mind the roped off areas. The sawing and grinding on port day afternoons was a bit unfortunate, though.

[GetMeOutOfMN]

36 minutes ago, blcruising said:

Looking forward to your review. Epic is installing a scrubber system. We experienced construction on the sailing prior to yours. Didn't mind the roped off areas. The sawing and grinding on port day afternoons was a bit unfortunate, though.

Do you know when construction is expected to be done?  Is there a site or something to track that sort of thing?  We cruise in Mid-March.  Thanks OP for the review!

[sns1009]

thanks for the review!  We are considering Epic and it's nice to hear what others think.

[Phaedrus78]

Thanks for posting this. I was also on this sailing and am working on a detailed review as well. It’s been really interesting to see others points of view. 

 

Personally we loved everything but the boat itself, and even that was still not bad. 

[nolansmama]

9 minutes ago, Phaedrus78 said:

Thanks for posting this. I was also on this sailing and am working on a detailed review as well. It’s been really interesting to see others points of view. 

 

Personally we loved everything but the boat itself, and even that was still not bad. 

I look forward to your review as well! I think you summed it up perfectly. I would not intentionally sail the Epic again just for the ship, but for the perfect itinerary, I wouldn't avoid her either.  

[luv2kroooz]

28 minutes ago, GetMeOutOfMN said:

Do you know when construction is expected to be done?  Is there a site or something to track that sort of thing?  We cruise in Mid-March.  Thanks OP for the review!

I don't know. Outside of drydocks when a ship is removed from service,  I don't believe NCL publishes their construction schedules. I booked three days prior to the 1-12 cruise. NCL could have communicated to me at that time that they would be installing a scrubber system during my cruise, but chose to instead take my money without mentioning it.

 

I found out upon arrival in Tampa as a shoreside crane was lifting large supplies on to the ship. It was only noticed outside on the pool deck and only on port days when many guests were not onboard. I only really noticed it when the sawing woke me up from a nap. It was an inconvenience, but I didn't allow it to ruin an otherwise very average cruise.

[nolansmama]

2 hours ago, z4oslo said:

Sounds like you and your family  had a great holiday.

 

 

We absolutely did! We were so lucky with the weather, and so fortunate to be able to escape the Polar vortex here in Michigan for some Caribbean warmth and family fun.

[nolansmama]

Ok back to review some more.

Itinerary: day 1 embark PC, day 2 GSC (cancelled), Day 3 at sea, Day 4 Jamaica, Day 5 Grand Cayman, Day 6 at sea, Day 7 Belize, Day 8 Costa maya, Day 9 Cozumel, Day 10 at sea, day 11 return. 

 

Day 1: even though it was a little dreary in Florida, that didn't stop my kids from enjoying the pool deck! And my mom and I had a nice lunch in La Cucina. We did struggle getting an elevator once onboard - otherwise, we rarely had elevator issues. I made my mom climb 8 decks and she was NOT happy with me. Sorry Mom! 

 

We enjoyed exploring a bit, then our cabins were ready. A little more exploring, a few beverages, and then muster drill time. This was fine, a little confusing as to location but we met in the Speigel tent room.  

 

Some more exploring, and soon it was dinner time. I had booked Teppanyaki for the first night. It was very good! The "show" part was a little less exciting than a similar restaurant on land (i assume safety reasons) but the food was still very good. A fun experience, not sure we'd do Teppanyaki again but it was enjoyable. The Green Tea cake for dessert was really good!

 

Day 2: We were supposed to go to GSC, but due to swell they cancelled the stop. Oh well! We knew it was pretty likely so not too upset. A day at sea to explore our floating resort!  We started they day with great intentions - hubby and I went to the gym while my mom took the kids to breakfast. Gym was big, it was stupid hot in there though and PACKED, we obviously weren't the only ones with the same idea. We had to cut it short because my son decided to forget where his grandma was and instead of looking for her went to the arcade. Stinker!!

 

We had some fun pool time, and I think that night we ate in Taste.  We had really good service, even accommodating my husband and son having to leave for a bit which messed up the timing. Food was decent.

 

Day 3: another fun day at sea. I believe we had a relaxing day by the pool and around the ship (yay waterslides! never a wait for the purple or green, usually a short line for the "toilet bowl"), and I think we went bowling when we had enough sun. I can't recall what we did for dinner.  Some fun casino time, and that night i think hubby and I went to the Epic theater for some Karoake, followed by the comedy show at Headliners (very fun). We did wait in line for 30 minutes prior to door opening.  The show was fun and the drinks were tasty, I was loving the Caipirinahs.  We had a late night snack of wings at O'Sheehans. I think this was the latest we stayed up all cruise, barely midnight! LOL. Such party animals.

 

OK more to follow...

[nolansmama]

Day 4: Jamaica!  Myself, DH, and DS had plans to do the Mud Buggy and Dunn's excursion through NCL. My mom and daughter stayed on the ship most of the day, with a little port shopping.  

We LOVED our excursion! The Dunn's climb was AWESOME! (But would not have been good for my mom, too difficult.)  The only bad part was the "Gauntlet" to get out of the Dunns Falls area. HATE the way they don't take no for an answer. My husband was not able to fight them off and spent all our money on some junky carving. Shame on me for not training him better.  This meant we could not tip our guides for the next part of the tour and we felt bad about that. Oh well, lesson learned.  For the buggy portion, we were bussed to an adventure park. We had a blast racing though the jungle in Polaris side by sides.  Which were in questionable shape, mine stalled often, but they helped me out and I ended up with a 2-fer, got to finish the tour on a 4x4 because after a particularly huge puddle, my polaris decided it was done.  So the guide swapped rides with me, no problem.  Included a nice lunch (prior to the ride) on a beautiful site overlooking the ocean.  Very muddy! So fun!  Guide even had us smell some fresh allspice leaves along the way. Told my son it was poison ivy after he touched his nose, haha!  That was neat. 

 

Back to the ship to clean up and enjoy a few cocktails on the balcony. We loved our balcony and used it often.

 

I think we ate in Moderno this night. The idea was fun. but the service was lacking. took forever to get iced teas... and the meats all came at once and we waited forever for seconds but eventually gave up and ordered dessert. I would have liked a chance to have  a couple more bites of some of the items.  One nice touch was they did not charge my daughter even though she had the salad bar and a few bites of meat, and we informed them we'd pay the cover charge for her.

 

Overall Jamaica is one of my less favorite ports (just due to the pushy sales culture), but we had a great day and would recommend our excursion.

[z4oslo]

Thank you for taking your time to write this.

[nolansmama]

Day 5: Grand Cayman

We opted for the Turtle Discovery Center. Since the Turtles, Turtles excursion was sold out, we just opted to take a cab there ourselves. We had the first tender group. This was not organized well by NCL if you ask me. Everyone waiting in a huge line with people cutting in then finding out they were in the wrong tender group... all a lot of pushing and stress but then there were plenty of tenders and they moved really fast, so in the end i don't think all the fuss was necessary. oh well.

 

We walked out of the port to the taxi area. Then we sat in a cab for about 25 minutes waiting for them to find 4 more fares to fill the van. Kind of annoying! But then it was a quick trip to the Turtle Center. We opted for the full passes. Maybe didn't need them for everyone, and they were pricey, but it made life simple. The Center is really nice, with clean new restrooms and a very cool layout.  First we stopped at the breeding pools and saw the beach where they lay eggs.  Then we headed straight for the lagoon and got our snorkel gear (included). We LOVED snorkeling around in the lagoon! (well, me, DH, and DS. DD would not get in and my mom didn't want to either.)

We got really close to the turtles! When we had had enough, we walked over to the touch tanks, and then enjoyed the huge, lovely pool with waterfall.  We had a very good (but expensive) lunch there overlooking the turtle lagoon. Then we called for a cab back to port. Waited maybe 10 even though they told us 20-25.  Cab driver was a lovely woman who knew lots about the island.  

We did a little shopping just outside the port area, then back to the ship for some pool and cocktail time. I think we dined in Shanghai's this night.  It took a really long time to get a server, but once we had one, he was very nice.  The potstickers were really good. The entrees were decent, but tiny. Actually probably normal size but we were in cruise mode.  It ended up being plenty, just not the "wow" factor we are used to with cruise dining.  The chocolate cake was VERY GOOD! (and very unexpected as they called it 5 spice cake or something).   Sorry I have hardly any pictures of food. I'm typically too excited about eating it 🙂

 

[nolansmama]

OOPS a couple corrections for my own records! Day 3 we ate in Moderno, Day 4 we did Manhattan room. This was a nice meal, but took FOREVER to get water/iced tea/drinks. Otherwise the food was really good. So was they Key Lime Cheesecake! Yum!

 

That evening my mom and I saw Priscilla. We were in STITCHES!  The production was amazing, and oh my God the costumes!  They gave at least 4 very clear warnings before starting that this was adult content and NOT for people who can't handle "raunchy". If you attended and surprised by the content, then you must be really not paying attention.  

[cruiseratheart_09]

Thanks for your review! I will be on the breakaway soon with a child and I like reading reviews from another parents point of view!

[nolansmama]

Day 6: Sea Day, I believe.

Pretty sure we spent this day by the pool - doing waterslides, relaxing, eating, and drinking.  I think this was the night we had the Cirque Epicurean booked. We had premium seats and were in line early, so we got great seats right at the stage. 

We LOVED this show! We all, kids included, were enthralled with the performance. They are all so talented! And just the right amount of "danger" to make it riveting and thrilling! The dinner was also really great too, probably in the top 3 dinners food-wise. Zero complaints here, definitely recommend that you use one of your SDP credits here.

 

Day 7: Harvest Caye

We were pleasantly surprised with this stop! Since this was our first time here, we didn't book any excursions and just explored the island. Well, we did book 2 clamshells for some shade and a "home base". The beach rental hut is where you go to claim your clamshell. The lifeguard person asked whether we wanted beach or pool, and when we said both, he found us 2 right in a perfect spot in between them.  The water was a little murky in the ocean and let's be honest, kids just love pools. So we spent most of the time in the pool. It is just as gorgeous as the pictures, if not more.  We ordered a few drinks from the swim up bar which we found quite tasty.  We had lunch at the restaurant there - very good.  My mom had a salad that was HUGE! I had the fish tacos, excellent. My son ordered a giant double decked bacon cheeseburger and devoured the whole thing.  

At some point we did a little exploring. There is a kids splash park with a good sized waterslide, that was really fun for a while. Probably best for the 3-6 set but even my 9 year old enjoyed it for a while.  We walked down to the zip line, trying to find out how much it cost, but never did get any info from anyone (no one could answer our question, it was odd). So, we passed on that idea. 

We did some shopping - bought some souvenirs, and my daughter had a great time getting custom made flip flops. She thought that was just the cat's meow.  I tried not to cough at paying $25 for flip flops haha.

 

Back to the ship, then I think this day we maybe ate in O'Sheehan's. We had a REALLY long wait to get a waiter to come over, and then another really long wait to get waters, and another really long wait for our food. The food is tasty, but the service left something to be desired. The guys were nice enough, they're not lazy, there just seems to be a communication breakdown somewhere on who needs what, and who is covering which tables. The food was good though and even though the service was slow, it is really nice to have such a casual dinner option.   For realz, those are really good buffalo wings, like approaching Duff's in Buffalo level (ok not quite but getting there).

 

[nolansmama]

Day 8, Costa Maya

I did some research pre cruise, and decided to book Native Choice for the Chacchoben Ruin tour and Bacalar Lagoon stop.  Really happy with Native choice, highly recommend.

A couple of comments: its a much longer walk than expected. The pier itself is at least 10 minutes, then another solid 15+ to get from the port to Native choice. The Costa Maya port area is a labyrinthine area that I could not figure out how to exit! once we did, the walk to Native choice was fine, a little odd because for part of it there was no sidewalk but we never felt unsafe. Only one restroom though which led to a long restroom line - I suggest you go in the port area! 

 

The bus to Chacchoben was comfortable and our guide Enrique was extremely knowledgeable.  We really enjoyed the ruin tours. We had plenty of time to explore and take lots of pictures and did get to hike up one set of them.  The kids were not initally excited about this but I think they did have fun exploring and hopefully learned at least something.  I am defintely going to look for a good book on Mayan civilization, I found it so intriguing!  

The second portion went to Bacalar lagoon. This included lunch and kayaking/swimming in a freshwater lake. It was very pretty, and fun to kayak, but being from Michigan and living on a lake this didn't have the wow factor I guess i expected. But it was still fun, and no regrets but I don't see us repeating it. The one thing we are still talking about is the pineapple on the way back! The bus stopped and the guide asked if anyone was interested (zero pressure).  I and a few other pax said yes, it was only $1 per bag of several slices.  My family was like what is wrong with you why are you buying roadside pineapple, that is until they tried it! then everyone had to have their own bag! It was delicious, juicy, like nothing we have in the US. The pineapple corn bread also made a great snack after such a busy day.

The ride back was quiet and pleasant. We walked back to port and hung out in the port area for a while - there is a public pool there, and DS got an "authentic" Mexican taco, and hubby and I sipped some Tequila while the kids swam.  Eventually we were ready to return to the ship. I think we ate in the buffet this night, and made an early night of it with some very tired kiddos (and parents 🙂)

 

 

[Oakman58]

I'm enjoying your report and thanks for sharing your photos.

[GetMeOutOfMN]

OMG - the photos are keeping my soul alive right now!  We just got 8-10 of much-needed snow, but the temps are dropping and the wind is picking up and we are looking at -35 windchills again tomorrow.  Can you share how much the clamshells were?  Is there two loungers in each?

[nolansmama]

49 minutes ago, GetMeOutOfMN said:

OMG - the photos are keeping my soul alive right now!  We just got 8-10 of much-needed snow, but the temps are dropping and the wind is picking up and we are looking at -35 windchills again tomorrow.  Can you share how much the clamshells were?  Is there two loungers in each?

OH man we have had a lot of ice here but hardly any snow! It's just cold and miserable. The clamshells were maybe 35 or 40? Less than the $50 shore ex credit (my mom had double credit in her cabin due to this being a Distinctive Voyage promo cruise). Yes 2 loungers in each, and the row right in front of the clamshells were just regular unclaimed loungers, so we were able to get a 5th chair if needed. But we were out and about pretty much the whole day.

[nolansmama]

Day 9 - Cozumel

I have been to Cozumel on 3 other cruises, and my I had yet to take my family to Chankanaab park. I had such great memories of that place from 15 years ago, and even though it's built up more now, it did not disappoint.

 

We docked at Punta Langosta (there were i think 5 other cruise ships docked at the other pier).  We just walked out and got a cab for $18 total for all of us to get to Chankanaab. The driver warned us that the dolphin swim was unavailable. Which was a bummer because my son was looking forward to trying that, but hey what can you do?  

 

Anyway we weren't sure how long we would stay, so we got basic admission for all of us. Should have got the buffet, becuase we ended up paying additional for it and it's cheaper when you buy it at admission. Oh well!  We walked around a bit, and then because it was early and no one was there yet, DH and I walked right into the Tequila tasting and "museum" and had a great time learning about tequila and tasting some. We had the place to ourselves and enjoyed the private tour.  We did buy some tequila, probably too much 🙂 We left there and found my mom and the kids under a palapa with soft drinks. DS and I got snorkel gear on (you can rent there easily, we brought ours) and went out to explore the fish. Lots of fish there, it's really beautiful water with a coral shore. 

 

We snorkeled, sat in hammocks, had lunch, walked around the lagoon, saw the crocodiles, and finally decided to head back because my husband thinks 2 hours early is on time. Sigh. I would have liked to stay for the sea lion show (included) but oh well. We had a lovely time there, an easy cab ride back to the port, a little shopping, then back on the ship.

 

This night we dined in Cagney's, and it was the STANDOUT dinner of our entire cruise!  the Service was incredible! They brought delicious bread before we even knew what was happening, were fast with the iced tea and waters, and my cocktail, and poured me a VAT of wine LOL.  Salads were great, The steaks were enormous, and incredible. Sides were excellent too.  I had a Porterhouse, because when else am I going to order a porterhouse? Then, the coup de grace... the 7 layer chocolate cake! We actually ordered this to go because we all were too full and sometimes you just want to eat chocolate cake in your pajamas!   I cannot rave about the service enough. Our waiter was Raymart and he was absolutely top notch.

 

To top it all off, we had ordered my daughter a salad and cake a la carte (her dinner was kids menu) but they didn't charge her.  Honestly next time, we're booking Cagney's twice!

[CarrieAP]

6 hours ago, nolansmama said:

The one thing we are still talking about is the pineapple on the way back! The bus stopped and the guide asked if anyone was interested (zero pressure).  I and a few other pax said yes, it was only $1 per bag of several slices.  My family was like what is wrong with you why are you buying roadside pineapple, that is until they tried it! then everyone had to have their own bag! It was delicious, juicy, like nothing we have in the US.

 

Warning: you may find yourselves talking about that pineapple for years to come! My daughters still bring it up 2 years after our Getaway cruise. I admittedly was a little leery but oh my it was heaven and my daughter still berates me for not buying more lol.

[myjillian]

Thank you for sharing...let me say that I love you and your sons' freckles ....On my grand daughters 1st day in Kindergarten a boy came up to her and informed her that she forgot to wash her face because it had some mud on it.  My daughter-in-law- was curious because she didn't know what Jillian would say or do to this remark...Jilly turned to her mother and said " Good thing he's going to go to school because he didn't even know what freckles are " she's 13 now and still beautiful....LOL...just like her 71 yr old grandmother 🤗

[nolansmama]

1 hour ago, myjillian said:

Thank you for sharing...let me say that I love you and your sons' freckles ....On my grand daughters 1st day in Kindergarten a boy came up to her and informed her that she forgot to wash her face because it had some mud on it.  My daughter-in-law- was curious because she didn't know what Jillian would say or do to this remark...Jilly turned to her mother and said " Good thing he's going to go to school because he didn't even know what freckles are " she's 13 now and still beautiful....LOL...just like her 71 yr old grandmother 🤗

How cute! Ours were actually mud haha so that boy would have been right about us 🙂

 

[myjillian]

OMG I was wondering why they stopped at your hat line.....must be having a bad day