LIVE from the most hated ship in the NCL fleet, Epic, March 26-April 2

[Pat.D]

12 minutes ago, GALSews said:

This looks right up my alley, especially if it lacks the booze.

 

Mango Meltdown (aka Mango Madness) contains plenty of rhum and amaretto, but you don't taste it because the mango masks the booze.  They do make a delicious virgin version that tastes exactly the same. 

[amygutman]

10 hours ago, spenecer said:

It was decent but made with ginger ale. It would have been a lot better with ginger beer. 

Agree completely. 

But still...if I can contribute in even a small way to your amazing drink adventure that just happens to be on a cruise, I am happy 🥰

Warmest, Amy

[spenecer]

2 hours ago, GALSews said:

I decided to prep a list of what I might try. This looks right up my alley, especially if it lacks the booze.

I think it did have booze but you can ask for a virgin. This did not have very much booze. 

[spenecer]

Day 3, Drink #4

 

Champagne (Moët)

 

We are at Taste for dinner and they are out of both Champagnes offered by the glass on the menu. This was offered as a substitute. I asked if there was any Moscato by the glass, but the answer was no. 

[spenecer]

In more mistakes made today, my daughter took the second pill in the seasickness packet which she claims is a different color and now she’s very groggy so we abandoned dinner before dessert (and I love dessert) so that we can catch the Titou, the Comedy Magician. And I forgot my unfinished champagne on the table!  

[broberts]

1 hour ago, spenecer said:

And I forgot my unfinished champagne on the table!  

 

😱😭

[spenecer]

Day 3, Drink #5 - Macallan Quest

 

I wanted to see if the Quest lived up to the hype. Sadly, no.  The 35 year is better. 
 

[spenecer]

Day 3, Drink #6 - Honey Lemonade

 

We are off to hear the dueling pianos / Howl at the Moon.
 

[spenecer]

Day 3, Drink #7 - Eastern Legacy

The bar line at Headliners is really long and now that the hour is later, there are many empty seats, so I snuck off to Maltings to get a drink. My daughter has abandoned the field for bed. It turns out the 18+ really means that all the songs were written decades before she was born and she didn’t recognize anything. On the hand, I could sing along. 

[Aauclair]

4 minutes ago, spenecer said:

Day 3, Drink #7 - Eastern Legacy

The bar line at Headliners is really long and now that the hour is later, there are many empty seats, so I snuck off to Maltings to get a drink. My daughter has abandoned the field for bed. It turns out the 18+ really means that all the songs were written decades before she was born and she didn’t recognize anything. On the hand, I could sing along. 

You mean SHOULD sing along;)…

[spenecer]

Day 3, Drink #8 - Pineapple Gin Collins

 

I haven’t had a good gin drink on the Epic yet and sadly this isn’t it. 
 

 

 

It is impossible to sing along with Howl at the Moon without a drink. 

Edited March 29, 2023 by spenecer

[spenecer]

Belated Review of Shanghai’s Noodle Bar

 

We are at Shanghai’s Noodle Bar on Day 2 but I wasn’t able to live blog due to my daughter interdiction against blogging at the dinner table (or bar in this case).  There are almost no recent reviews of Shanghai’s Noodle Bar. We showed up at Shanghai’s at approximately 5:30 to see if there were any tables. There was a line which moved quickly and revealed that there were no tables available at the restaurant, only the bar. As sitting at the bar is not one of my daughter’s favorite activities, this put our visit to Shanghai’s at the deficit immediately. 
 

The menu at the noodle bar is done on the dim sum style where you mark the items on the menu that you would like except you are limited to a single main. This was not a problem for us as we did not order any mains. 
 

Sitting at the bar at most noodle joints means that you can watch the chef’s cook and you are served over the bar. Unfortunately, the Shanghai cooks are assembly line prepping dishes so it isn’t very artistic or interesting. When we arrived, there were a dozen bowls of the Seafood Udon sitting on the counter (A dozen pork char sui noodle bowls were on the other side of the counter) and we got to watch the chefs just heat them briefly in a pot of water/soup and then put them in a heated holding area until waiters could take them to passengers. It was fast and let them serve many passengers at once but it wasn’t interesting to watch. Other passengers definitely did not seem to want to sit at the bar. I saw one group leave when they were told only the bar was left and they could not get the restaurant.

 

As for the food itself, somehow my Seafood Noodle bowl came without all the components. Since I could see all the bowls being prepped, I know that each bowl was supposed to receive 1-2 pieces of imitation crab, one piece of squid, 4 shrimps and a cups worth of noodles. My noodle bowl had one mouthful of noodles (about 4 pieces), one piece of squid, two shrimps and no imitation crab. Fortunately, I was very full from the surfeit of food from other meals so I didn’t miss the imitation crab. My daughter’s bowl was very filling. the food was tasty but my daughter said she would only go back if the restaurant was available; she would not do the bar a second time. 

The venue is very small and reservations for Shanghai’s Noodle bar and Restaurant can be made ahead on the NCL website or app.  We did not make reservations. We walked up asked if there was a spot for 2.

[spenecer]

Day 4, Curaçao 

Drink #1 - Grande Caramel Macchiato 

 

I didn’t make it to Starbucks this morning until almost 8.  There was no line and two items: caramel ribbon crunch and peach green tea lemonade were marked as sold out. 

And this morning, my drink was taken back right before being handed to me and whip cream was added even after I changed it up on them by getting a grande instead of a venti. After last night, I didn’t think my bladder could handle a venti this morning. 
 

Howl at the Moon got more and more raucous as the night went along which means the more you drank, the more fun it was but I don’t think we’ll do it again as they performed mostly older songs. There was a short bit of dueling pianos which was fun but it was mostly alternating song requests. My song suggestion was not played. I’m not sure if they knew it. It is newer and I chose it because then my daughter would know it. I also didn’t turn it into a request with a tip because I’ve figured out how to use the safe and I left all my cash in the safe. 

[spenecer]

Day 4

I left my sunglasses at home so when we got to San Juan, I stopped at Sunglass Hut to look at another pair of Raybans. My daughter very quietly excoriated me for considering spending $400 on a pair of sunglasses so I ended up getting a cheap pair at CVS on Sunday morning before we embarked. I am pretty sure I have lost the cheap pair of sunglasses somewhere yesterday between the glass of Champagne and the Eastern Legacy. And now we all know why excessive drinking is bad for you.  Am I going to stop, no, because I have three days left on this cruise. My cruising co-worker also told me that a drink package wasn’t worth it because there was no way to get 5.3 drinks in the evening after a day on land. I am sure proving him wrong!

Here are two photos of Curaçao taken from Deck 15. I’m writing this post on my AT&T International Day pass as I wait for the girl to rise. She was pretty crabby yesterday during the excursion because we got up early for an 8:15, so today we have a late (11:00) excursion.  I would walk to the city and see the pretty buildings but I’m afraid to leave her on the ship since it is a ‘remove from cruise’ offense to leave a minor on the ship by themselves. And they definitely flagged her yesterday when we got on/off the ship. As my daughter says, ‘I have no rights yet.’

We are booked for the Snorkel Trip to Turtle Bay through NCL so I think all of my views of the town will be long distance.  

[mking8288]

That noodles soup serving at Shanghai do look "petite" - more of a starter sized soup than as a full size bowl.  What works for us, on the Getaway & Breakway, is when we placed our orders - ask for extras or noodles to be doubled (true also when it's available in the buffet) ... they're using bigger soup bowls, and that helped.  Looks funny & small when they barely put any noodles in it.

 

Pictures look great for the islands and you have nice weather to go with it.  Thank you for taking the time to share & post.  Enjoy your day ashore. 

[Aauclair]

18 minutes ago, spenecer said:

Day 4

I left my sunglasses at home so when we got to San Juan, I stopped at Sunglass Hut to look at another pair of Raybans. My daughter very quietly excoriated me for considering spending $400 on a pair of sunglasses so I ended up getting a cheap pair at CVS on Sunday morning before we embarked. I am pretty sure I have lost the cheap pair of sunglasses somewhere yesterday between the glass of Champagne and the Eastern Legacy. And now we all know why excessive drinking is bad for you.  Am I going to stop, no, because I have three days left on this cruise. My cruising co-worker also told me that a drink package wasn’t worth it because there was no way to get 5.3 drinks in the evening after a day on land. I am sure proving him wrong!

Here are two photos of Curaçao taken from Deck 15. I’m writing this post on my AT&T International Day pass as I wait for the girl to rise. She was pretty crabby yesterday during the excursion because we got up early for an 8:15, so today we have a late (11:00) excursion.  I would walk to the city and see the pretty buildings but I’m afraid to leave her on the ship since it is a ‘remove from cruise’ offense to leave a minor on the ship by themselves. And they definitely flagged her yesterday when we got on/off the ship. As my daughter says, ‘I have no rights yet.’

We are booked for the Snorkel Trip to Turtle Bay through NCL so I think all of my views of the town will be long distance.  

There can be no crabbiness while swimming with turtles, I promise you! I hope your girl loves it! I loved hearing my almost 6’ 14 year old screaming underwater when the turtles swam to, under and by him:). 

[Pat.D]

27 minutes ago, spenecer said:

I ended up getting a cheap pair at CVS

 

Probably better off that way.  I no longer bring my "fancy" raybans on cruises, only cheap knock-offs I order off amazon.  I had one pair of expensive sunglasses stolen from my lounger on a ship years ago so now they stay home. 

(Darn, now I'm humming ZZ-Top's "Cheap Sunglasses" 😉  lol!) 

[Miss_Mono]

7 hours ago, spenecer said:

Belated Review of Shanghai’s Noodle Bar

 

We are at Shanghai’s Noodle Bar on Day 2 but I wasn’t able to live blog due to my daughter interdiction against blogging at the dinner table (or bar in this case).  There are almost no recent reviews of Shanghai’s Noodle Bar. We showed up at Shanghai’s at approximately 5:30 to see if there were any tables. There was a line which moved quickly and revealed that there were no tables available at the restaurant, only the bar. As sitting at the bar is not one of my daughter’s favorite activities, this put our visit to Shanghai’s at the deficit immediately. 
 

The menu at the noodle bar is done on the dim sum style where you mark the items on the menu that you would like except you are limited to a single main. This was not a problem for us as we did not order any mains. 
 

Sitting at the bar at most noodle joints means that you can watch the chef’s cook and you are served over the bar. Unfortunately, the Shanghai cooks are assembly line prepping dishes so it isn’t very artistic or interesting. When we arrived, there were a dozen bowls of the Seafood Udon sitting on the counter (A dozen pork char sui noodle bowls were on the other side of the counter) and we got to watch the chefs just heat them briefly in a pot of water/soup and then put them in a heated holding area until waiters could take them to passengers. It was fast and let them serve many passengers at once but it wasn’t interesting to watch. Other passengers definitely did not seem to want to sit at the bar. I saw one group leave when they were told only the bar was left and they could not get the restaurant.

 

As for the food itself, somehow my Seafood Noodle bowl came without all the components. Since I could see all the bowls being prepped, I know that each bowl was supposed to receive 1-2 pieces of imitation crab, one piece of squid, 4 shrimps and a cups worth of noodles. My noodle bowl had one mouthful of noodles (about 4 pieces), one piece of squid, two shrimps and no imitation crab. Fortunately, I was very full from the surfeit of food from other meals so I didn’t miss the imitation crab. My daughter’s bowl was very filling. the food was tasty but my daughter said she would only go back if the restaurant was available; she would not do the bar a second time. 

The venue is very small and reservations for Shanghai’s Noodle bar and Restaurant can be made ahead on the NCL website or app.  We did not make reservations. We walked up asked if there was a spot for 2.

Definitely try to get back to Shanghai! We loved it and only had it our last night and wished we had it sooner! 

[spenecer]

Day 4

 

I’m seated at the buffet on the port side waiting for my daughter to wake up and come eat. She needs some protein before we go off to snorkel with torkels (I mean, turtles).  I’m watching people walk down the pier through the really blotchy windows.  All the windows on the Epic are heavily salt-covered. With the employee shortage, I’m not sure how they could manage to clean the windows regularly when we are on the ocean and get new salt every day but it is definitely not a view you want to take photos through. 

[spenecer]

On 3/27/2023 at 7:46 PM, spenecer said:

Mandara Spa Massage Review

 

Yesterday, Mandara Spa held a raffle for spa services (must be present to win!) and as a consolation prize, all the (losing) attendees present were offered the chance to purchase the Manager’s Special for $149 (but now, book later). The Manager’s Special consisted of a 75 minute Swedish massage with hot oils, hot stones, foot massage and hand massage.  As I almost never have time to get a massage during my normal work week nor do I have a good masseuse, I decided to take the discount and experience a cruise massage. 
 

 

As I’ve had a lot of bodywork done in the past and I have severely tight muscles in my shoulders and neck, I wasn’t expecting much from a cruise ship massage.  I now have very soft skin but my neck and shoulder muscles are still tight. This is about what I expected. It was relaxing (I feel asleep twice!) but my muscle problems are too severe.

 

My recommendation is to go the raffle on the first day and get in on the Manager’s Special.  The massage is nice but even nicer is not paying full price. 

As a followup, I paid $179 for my spa treatment which is the same price as a port day special. I’m fairly certain that this was not the ‘special’ price given by the manager but the time to dispute the charge would have been before I signed the receipt so it is too late now. Getting a massage while drunk, don’t do it if you intend to argue about cost. 

[cruiseny4life]

On 3/27/2023 at 7:16 PM, spenecer said:

My daughter claims she is too young for Elton John so I’m seeing This One’s for You alone.

I'm with your daughter on this one! She seems to be a smart girl. 

 

On 3/27/2023 at 7:46 PM, spenecer said:

My recommendation is to go the raffle on the first day and get in on the Manager’s Special.  The massage is nice but even nicer is not paying full price. 

Shhhh! I don't mention these raffles in my reviews. I don't want any competition as I try to claim one of those gift certificates! Four cruises. Four raffles. No certificate. I will say on my last cruise, the massage was dreamy. One of the best ever! I have never fallen asleep during a massage, but I did during that one. Portia from Joy was phenomenal! 

 

On 3/27/2023 at 8:59 PM, broberts said:

 

😂 Brings to mind a conversation with my nephew many years ago. Apparently the Beatles were not that popular, certainly not a mega band.

We skipped out on the Cavern Club as my husband doesn't even know who the Beatles are. And I, well...I do know that yellow submarine song. 🙂 Just not for us! Fast forward to 2010 and One Direction. That's a Brit Band I'd love to hear covers from onboard. 

[cruiseny4life]

23 minutes ago, spenecer said:

As a followup, I paid $179 for my spa treatment which is the same price as a port day special. I’m fairly certain that this was not the ‘special’ price given by the manager but the time to dispute the charge would have been before I signed the receipt so it is too late now. Getting a massage while drunk, don’t do it if you intend to argue about cost. 

This is what I get for not reading the whole thread before responding. This is exactly what happened to me in my above-mentioned massage "special." I signed up, and paid for the $149 special. Upon entering the room for my massage, the therapist wrote $179 + 20% gratuities. As I was sober, I told her to hold up, I was only supposed to pay $149. She left the room for five minutes, came back and agreed that I had pre-paid for a $149+20% gratuity massage. Of course this five minutes counted against my 75 minute massage...but I sure wasn't going to get conned out of $30. 

 

Sorry to hear it's a trend on NCL, rather than a one-off. Ugh NCL, why do you do this? 

 

Totally different topic - I am absolutely loving your review! The mischief you get yourself into is hilarious. Thank you for sharing! I bet you're a blast to be around, even if it is embarrassing to your daughter. She'll remember the good times....in 30 years. 🙂

Edited March 29, 2023 by cruiseny4life

[Pat.D]

1 hour ago, cruiseny4life said:

Sorry to hear it's a trend on NCL, rather than a one-off.

 

Sadly it's not a NCL thing but a cruise ship thing in general.  I had a similar issue on Carnival.

 

Most people don't realise that spas on almost all cruise lines are not run by them, they contract it out to a company called "One Spa World".  It's the same subcontractor for Virgin, Carnival, NCL, Royal Caribbean as well as all their parent companies.

 

https://onespaworld.com/at-sea/spas-at-sea/ 

[mjkacmom]

12 minutes ago, Pat.D said:

 

Sadly it's not a NCL thing but a cruise ship thing in general.  I had a similar issue on Carnival.

 

Most people don't realise that spas on almost all cruise lines are not run by them, they contract it out to a company called "One Spa World".  It's the same subcontractor for Virgin, Carnival, NCL, Royal Caribbean as well as all their parent companies.

 

https://onespaworld.com/at-sea/spas-at-sea/ 

Yes, I believe a third party vendor “leasing” space on cruise ships.

[cruiseny4life]

29 minutes ago, Pat.D said:

 

Sadly it's not a NCL thing but a cruise ship thing in general.  I had a similar issue on Carnival.

 

Most people don't realise that spas on almost all cruise lines are not run by them, they contract it out to a company called "One Spa World".  It's the same subcontractor for Virgin, Carnival, NCL, Royal Caribbean as well as all their parent companies.

 

https://onespaworld.com/at-sea/spas-at-sea/ 

Yes, you're correct. Ok, I won't blame NCL! But I will blame One Spa World. I'm just glad I was sober enough to catch the "mistake!"