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

[spenecer]

Here is the Freestyle Daily for Day 5. All the afternoon events involving gambling have been cancelled and replaced with other events (seconds ago) because you can’t gamble in Bonaire waters. I guess this also means that the casino is closed. 

Freestyle daily 5.pdf

[spenecer]

Day 5, Drink #4 - Blue Lagoon (maybe?)

 

 

I’m not sure what I am drinking. I asked the waiter for the drink that was blue.  I can taste Lemonade in it so I am guessing it is the Blue Lagoon. 
 

I have been very bad up on the secret sun deck. My lounger was formerly located in the front of the deck but it is too sunny there and a bunch of us have dragged loungers over to the next area which was empty because all the loungers were tied up. So, a dozen loungers just went AWOL into the shade. 

[spenecer]

Day 5, Bonaire

 

I pre-booked the Bonaire Marine Park Snorkel and Klien Beach Break through the NCL website. You meet at the end of the pier, sign liability waiver and get wristbanded (or as I like to think of it, tagged like deer).  Then you are led through the little set of port shops and a street to another pier where you get on a catamaran. And, if you are super lucky, the coast guard will drive up in their boat and demand to see your documents (well, the catamaran’s documents).  One of the Coast Guard guards (person? sailor? cop?) was wearing body armor. My daughter thinks he just wanted to look fierce. I’m wondering if he really thought a bunch of tourists were really smuggling dope in our waterproof knapsacks and, since a lot of us were Americans, a semi-automatic if we were denied our snorkeling trip. Anyways, all our papers were in order and our catamaran was allowed to sail off toward the Marine Park. We did not have a shootout Die Hard-style.
 

The excursion provides snorkel equipment and fins. The catamaran comes with a marine toilet (bonus!).  The first bottle of water is on them. Additional water, soft drinks, beer, canned cocktails are available for purchase after the beach portion of the excursion. Don’t damage or lose your provided snorkel or fins, there is a replacement charge. Today’s masks had a very wide rim, there was additional instructions on how to wear the face mask, and they sprayed the inside of the masks with baby shampoo. This means that 1. My mask did not fog (the Curaçao Turtle Bay people need to get in on this baby shampoo biz), 2. My mask did not leak for the first time in my life and 3. I snorted baby shampoo up my noise (but I only had to adjust my mask once so I consider it a win). I did not tear but I could taste baby shampoo in my mouth. Not a taste sensation but I would do it again because today was really windy and there may also be a current in the marine park and if I had to be adjusting my mask all the time, I would have been swept out to sea. 
 

There was a lot more people on today’s excursion so they had guides (waving pool noodles) herding us and the guides sort of said things but mostly we swam around and looked at stuff. 
 

I did figure out today how to take pictures with my phone in the bag. My pictures are all blurry because my AF Lock kept coming. I think if you want great pictures then don’t buy this bag (JOTO Universal Waterproof Phone Pouch Cellphone Dry Bag Case), get an underwater phone case. 

We saw a turtle today as we were returning to the catamaran. It was busy eating fish. There is a very blurry turtle-shaped dark smudge in the middle of the photo (just trust me that it is the turtle, I did just write that the bag didn’t work very well for photos).

 

After maybe 45 min-1 hour, we got back on the catamaran and went to Klien Bonaire where it was recommended that we drift snorkel or as I thought of it, get sand in our suits and try not be be dragged out to sea.  We had 1 hour at Klien Bonaire. You could beach but the catamaran does not drop you on the beach, you have to swim over from the boat. 
 

I could tell that we were in a Marine Park. The quantity and density of life was much higher on the reef and shore/beach today than yesterday in Curaçao.  I really enjoyed the snorkeling even with the baby shampoo up my nose. Worth it. Totally worth it. You can, of course, rinse out the baby shampoo from your mask but I wanted to see clearly. Not fogging was a much higher priority to me than the baby shampoo up my nose. 
 

I would highly recommend this excursion through NCL if you like wildlife and swimming. Do not do this excursion if you want to go to the beach. 

Edited March 30, 2023 by spenecer

[Pat.D]

2 hours ago, spenecer said:

a ‘technical issue’ is keeping us in Bonaire

 

I can think of much worse places to be stuck in 🙂

 

7 minutes ago, spenecer said:

I could tell that we were in a Marine Park. The quantity and density of life was much higher on the reef and shore/beach today than yesterday in Curaçao.

 

Glad to hear you enjoyed snorkeling there!  I've scuba dived many times in Bonaire, the amounts of wildlife under water is really impressive.  I even snorkeled on my own off the tiny beach right next to the cruise ship pier and saw TONS of life, from moray eels to turtles and tons of fish.

 

[GALSews]

24 minutes ago, spenecer said:

Day 5, Bonaire

 

 One of the Coast Guard guards (person? sailor? cop?)  In the US, members of the Coast Guard are Coasties or Guardians, (One of the parents in our troop when I was a Boy Scout mom many years ago, had been a Coast Guard rescue diver and then became a pastor. The man went from saving lives to saving souls.) 

 

[spenecer]

The captain just came on the tannoy(sp?) to announce that the Chief Engineer and his staff have changed out a pipe for the steam system and now ‘everything is in excellent working order’. We are preparing to sail!

[spenecer]

The little boat is back and the last lines are being thrown in the water! Almost on our way to St. Lucia.

[chrisdar1]

1 hour ago, spenecer said:

The captain just came on the tannoy(sp?) to announce that the Chief Engineer and his staff have changed out a pipe for the steam system and now ‘everything is in excellent working order’. We are preparing to sail!

Glad you’re on your way!  
 

What time did you actually end up leaving Bonaire?  I’m curious if it will be full steam ahead to St. Lucia and if you’ll be able to feel any increases in speed?

 

 

[Seas2mountains]

11 hours ago, spenecer said:

Can you recommend a gin cocktail?

I liked the Basil Cucumber Twist 

or a simple Gin and Tonic

or Gin and Club soda with extra limes  

[spenecer]

29 minutes ago, chrisdar1 said:

Glad you’re on your way!  
 

What time did you actually end up leaving Bonaire?  I’m curious if it will be full steam ahead to St. Lucia and if you’ll be able to feel any increases in speed?

 

 

We left at 6:30pm. As I was getting Drink #5 (Lavender Patch), the captain or Daniel the Cruise Director came on to announce that St. Lucia would be cancelled and we would have an extra hour in St. Kitts. We will be arriving at 8:00AM instead of 9:00AM. 

[spenecer]

Fellow passengers seem very upset about the cancellation of St. Lucia but it’s the only port where I didn’t have anything planned. I didn’t book any excursions because it seemed like we wouldn’t be there very long in the daylight (sunset being around 6:30). I’m trying to claim that I saw the future but my daughter claims not. 

[Aauclair]

6 minutes ago, spenecer said:

We left at 6:30pm. As I was getting Drink #5 (Lavender Patch), the captain or Daniel the Cruise Director came on to announce that St. Lucia would be cancelled and we would have an extra hour in St. Kitts. We will be arriving at 8:00AM instead of 9:00AM. 

Yikes. That does not seem to be a fair trade. So you have an extra sea day tomorrow?
 

We loved our day on St Kitts, so you have a fab day to look forward too. 

[Aauclair]

1 minute ago, spenecer said:

Fellow passengers seem very upset about the cancellation of St. Lucia but it’s the only port where I didn’t have anything planned. I didn’t book any excursions because it seemed like we wouldn’t be there very long in the daylight (sunset being around 6:30). I’m trying to claim that I saw the future but my daughter claims not. 

( we did not have a great St Lucia excursion or experience…chaotic pier experience, weird excursion transfer, a barely okay activity…our bus nearly got hit by a truck…I would have preferred a sea day;)).

[spenecer]

50 minutes ago, Aauclair said:

Yikes. That does not seem to be a fair trade. So you have an extra sea day tomorrow?
 

We loved our day on St Kitts, so you have a fab day to look forward too. 

The original schedule for St. Lucia was 1pm - 7pm so really we spent almost our entire time allotted for St. Lucia sitting at the Bonaire pier. 

[gotscrapz]

On 3/4/2023 at 6:37 AM, Green4me said:

Seven days to sail on the Escape!  🙂 First time on NCL and can't wait.

 

On 3/28/2023 at 8:45 AM, Miss_Mono said:

Hope you get Shania! 

I am excited for you! I hope that you have a blast! 

It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks of your vacay - only what you think.

We live in a good amount of snow and my dd and I are sailing up to Canada in Mat when everyone around says go tropical - we don't care lol. We cruise a ton and last year we did this spring cruise in April toward the cold up to Canada and loved it! We had done so many tropical cruises and land vacations that we decided to do this quick 5-day cruise and found that I was relaxed. I wasn't too worried about port days and staying up late dancing and drinking... we booked a Haven suite and enjoyed just spending time together (she was 19 so it's a blessing) and I found that I really had time to relax and recharge rather than run around like crazy. I still totally enjoy that part of warm weather cruises, but have found I like this slower pace too. My daughter says I wear her out so she is about this northern relaxing cruise lol.

While the Escape wouldn't be my 1st choice due to the smoking areas and the bathroom - if the itinerary and price and dates worked out, I would not hesitate to book on her. 

Also, my daughter picked that bus tour in Aruba and I already prejudged it thinking it was dumb, but I wanted her to pick our excursion and so I pasted on a smile and went along. WE HAD A BLAST! So much so, that not only did we fall in love with Aruba, she chose Aruba as her high school graduation trip 2 years later and we booked the nighttime party bus since she was legal to drink lol.

 

Edited March 31, 2023 by gotscrapz

[spenecer]

Day 5, Drink #6 - The Aviation

 

 

This is a bit of a cheat because we are at dinner at the Manhattan Room and I spilled my Lavender Patch all over my lap. I had only drink half of it. 

[gotscrapz]

Sorry for my lack of paragraphs geesh!

 

 

[gotscrapz]

13 minutes ago, spenecer said:

Day 5, Drink #6 - The Aviation

 

 

This is a bit of a cheat because we are at dinner at the Manhattan Room and I spilled my Lavender Patch all over my lap. I had only drink half of it. 

I hope you're having a blast! Please have a lemon drop me lol!

 

[brookie848]

St. Lucia is our least favorite port. I would have been okay with missing it when we were on this itinerary.

 

Our sailing next year has zero sea days, but we are stopping in St. Lucia, so that will be our sea day.

 

Enjoy the last couple days of your cruise!

[gotscrapz]

32 minutes ago, brookie848 said:

St. Lucia is our least favorite port. I would have been okay with missing it when we were on this itinerary.

 

Our sailing next year has zero sea days, but we are stopping in St. Lucia, so that will be our sea day.

 

Enjoy the last couple days of your cruise!

Would you mind saying why? I have been all over the Caribbean, but somehow never to St. Lucia and it's somewhere I think I'd really like to go at some point. However, I recently started going to Europe and so have been focusing my money there.. but keep thinking I need another Caribbean cruise so I can go to St Lucia so I would love to hear the pros and cons.

 

Sorry for the slight hijack!

[genealogyfan]

On 3/29/2023 at 7:10 PM, oldsouthcruisingfamily said:

Well that's a bummer... with only 2 weeks until our sailing I've been checking for reservations at Shanghai's and they're still showing "Reservations are not offered" (Shanghai's and Shanghai's Noodle bar) and "Not available to book" (Shanghai's Chinese restaurant).

 

If you hit up Wasabi (which I know doesn't take reservations) I'd love to hear about it!

I was told by an NCL employee on the phone that only 20% of the dining reservations are available to book online ahead of time. I would suggest you make reservations the day you board.

[Seas2mountains]

1 hour ago, spenecer said:

Day 5, Drink #6 - The Aviation

 

 

This is a bit of a cheat because we are at dinner at the Manhattan Room and I spilled my Lavender Patch all over my lap. I had only drink half of it. 

How did you like the Aviation? I forgot that was the other mostly gin based drink. 

[spenecer]

 

Aperol Spritz (#7) in the very dark Bliss Lounge where the first couple singing the Love Shack were accompanied by ‘chipmunk’ backing vocals and then a poor guy named Bob stepped up three times and each time they were experiencing ‘technical difficulties’ and could not play his song. He finally sang the Star Spangled Banner a capella and the whole room sang with him. This is a very drunk, curse word-filled Adult Karaoke Madness laden with ‘technical difficulties’.

[spenecer]

So, the Maitre D at the Manhattan said that if you are having trouble getting reservations once you are onboard, you can contact her directly. She also manages Shanghai’s. Her card:

Edited March 31, 2023 by spenecer

[spenecer]

1 hour ago, Seas2mountains said:

How did you like the Aviation? I forgot that was the other mostly gin based drink. 

I’ve had the Aviation before and I’ve made my own. This one is with a London Dry Gin and is a bit more junipery.  I like making the Aviation with Empress 1908 Gin for both the color and the more herbal nature. 
 

I had to think up a drink to give the waiter in the Manhattan Room wasted the Lavender Patch on my lap. He noticed my empty glass when I asked for a new napkin. I was very sad because the Lavender Patch was very tasty but I’m not repeating drinks.