Semi/Live: an "Epic" TA, 15 nights NY to Barcelona 04/22/23 - 05/07/23

[mking8288]

@PistolPete13. Inside cabin prices dropped 2 to 3 weeks before sailing, low as $549 to $599 with Free At Sea, $649 highest & solo supplement ...   Booking code LatDblx promo points still valid  (total of 3 points per night or 45 Latitudes points) and don't recall now - possibke to use 2 CruiseNext Certificates)   And, NCLH shareholder $250 OBC, submit at least 15 days prior to sailing.  

 

You do the math, isn't that a steal since you travel solo & happy with Insides.  One-way air isn't expensive and you can fly back in the afternoon if disembarkation from Barcelona ... or, extend time in Spain. 

 

Insides Sailaway actually dropped to $499 within the final few days since NCL wanted to fill the remaining cabins.  If you are flexible, these deals can be found again. 

[mking8288]

Day 2 - we didn't book any restaurant for dinner and lines everywhere, decided to give Shanghai Restaurant/Noodles Bar, next to & behind the casino a try for a light supper.  It's basically the noodles bar menu, plus 3 or 4 entrees, like Kung Po Chicken and Orange Beef.  Given a pager with 45 minutes wait, seated in about 30 minutes - ordered several familiar items.  Good enough as comfort Asian food at sea.  Panda salad & pudding to round up the evening, took a walk thru Deck 7 and passed the spacious duty-free & gift ships area. Teppanyaki wasn't busy ... hmmm 🤔

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 24, 2023 by mking8288

[mking8288]

Good evening, CC addicts 🤗 - midnight local/ship time & 11 pm EDT, coming to you live again, about 9 hours out from Dockyard with a scheduled 9:15 am arrival, 178 nm to go on a southeast heading, speed up to 21 knots - going to be barely on-time or behind.  Just 3,970 nm to Barcelona, our disembarkation port on May 7th.  Look for us in the morning as we approach St. George & guided to sail thru the coral reef channel - after picking up the pilot boat.  

 

All abroad is listed now on the FSD as 4:30 pm (5:00 pm sailing) - Freestyle Dailies for Day 3 - listed just 1 free NCL ferry run at 9:45 am to St. George, returning at 1:30 pm.  

This isn't the originally port time for leaving Bermuda ... it's not a problem for us, not sure if all the passengers onboard are aware of & alerted to this.  I might've missed any announcement from the captain or the bridge today, certainly - there is no written notice or letters distributed to all the cabins (like Sunday, some guests said they didn't receive the card in their stateroom about the time/clock change of moving ahead 1 hour overnight.)

 

Our plan, sleep in a little late - O'Sheehan's for a good breakfast.  Scroll in & around the Dockyard & Clocktower Mall area only ... was going to take the local ferry into Hamilton & do a little walking on our own, then come back leisurely in the afternoon or maybe even ride the #7 bus back for a scenic trip.  Nope - we'll do that some other time.  The shortened time is probably going to result in a # of unhappy campers onboard - similar to what happened on our Getaway 12 nights Caribbean cruise ... oh, well - yeah, the cruise contract, sure.  

 

EMC's onboard satellite WiFi speed, tested them this late evening, results consistent with what I shared/reported earlier.  I am now on my light touch-screen Lenovo Chromebook, yes - successfully connected.  SSiD for the ship didn't come up and had to manually add it to the WiFi tab, once connected using the "digitalseas.io" link, the shortcut to bypass some of the NCL webpages.  Speetest results is still good, a little slower as it could be CB's "older" hardware/modem chipset - but over 6 Mbps down & 3 Mbps upload is good, better than what I've seen on the Joy & Getaway - especially for this 13 years old Epic, with its share of overall wear & tear.

 

A few loose thoughts before they slip off:

 

With around 3,900 pax onboard, there seems to be lines & crowds at meal times and the wait is longer than expected, and we've sailed with full NCL ships before, pre-Covid and this is like our recent Getaway cruise ... except this sailing is basically fully staffed.  Some of the crew will be on vacation after we reached Barcelona & going ashore - good for them to go home & see their loved ones, families, parents, children, friends, etc. etc.  

 

The garden cafe is too small, our impression, and too crowded - packed with folks hanging out as it is a sea day and there aren't many public places to sit, gather & socialize, etc. Haven't gone out to Spice H20 yet but heard about the soot/dust & rust issues - will check it out.  Passenger mix - many nationalities onboard & languages spoken, including a sizable # of Asian pax, apparently mostly Cantonese dialect (Chinese) bilingual speaking ones, not sure where they are from - overseas, Canadian Chinese or from elsewhere - in the MDR and also in clusters upstairs in the buffet ... 

 

Elevators - it's probably a design issue.  At times, the wait is long and crowded, packed full & hardly anyone wearing a mask anywhere onboard, maybe 5% at most, probably less than that.  Washy washy - not really happened nor strongly encourged, noro-virus & alike ... stay away, don't need it and don't want to find out about elevated numbers onboard.  

 

Crew members as a whole are good to very good, some are excellent - anyone truly going above & beyond and earn our "vacation hero" honor badge or card write-up ... none yet, TBA later on as the cruise progress.  Our room steward has been good, friendly & always say hello when we met in the hallway outside - took him a while to get to our room, in the mid/late afternoon for that 1x daily services.  He took care of our "requests" yesterday and today, cheerfully & left us extra clean towels.  Both evenings, FSD and other items are left outside our cabin's slot. 

 

Our sofa bed is left in night/sleeping mode - pull to slide it all the way out to make full use of the single bed.  Access to our large balcony is quite a challenge - solution during the day - push the sofabed into its recess, pull it out for naps & night-time sleeping.

 

As far as the unique & sometimes hated or dislike toilet and shower stalls and handwash sink in the room - we find that acceptable & fine for 3 adults sharing.  Except, the loud noise when the toilet flush is hit and sound is annoying, not sure if NCL can and will come up with any sound-proofing or noise-reduction solutions, ever.  The sliding curtain for privacy while dressing or changing is fine - should / need extra hooks or towel bars.  

 

That's a partial write-up for now, end of Day 2 ... surely, more will come up.  Epic is going to stay in Europe to do cruises, not going to affect most U.S. cruisers in the near future.  

 

To be continued - time to sign off & get some zzzz's  - a short but maybe busy day ahead, then 4 full days at sea before we reach Ponta Delgada.  Yes, Dine With Officers confirmed for Tuesday, a sea day - also doing the comp'd BTS tour to see things below the pax deck, since this ship was designed/built in France vs. Italy (other NCL ships)

 

 

[mking8288]

Bermuda - today's port time as scheduled on the itinerary.  Apologize & I self-correct the post above. We were scheduled to leave at 5 pm and all abroad is correct at 4:30 pm.  Don't need or want unfounded rumor to get spread. 

 

Remains to be seen whether our updated 9:15 arrival will be good or not, sure hope so.  Weather is said to be good at 77 degrees F.  Good thing is that we didn't plan for or booked any Shorex.

 

The bigger concern ahead is the brewing storm systems in the North Atlantic, which affected the Dawn - and we might be intercepting the path as we continue eastward ... yike.  Going to be looking at data, forecast & checking the Windy App.  It is what it is, and against mother nature calling it.  No semi or live report or posts on CC ?

 

Got ginger candy in our bags too. 

 

 

 

Edited April 24, 2023 by mking8288

[YVRteacher]

The Dawn had two ports cancelled on this TA cruise due to the storm.

[bluesea777]

6 hours ago, YVRteacher said:

The Dawn had two ports cancelled on this TA cruise due to the storm.

 Not quite a storm, but icebergs! Both ports and their vicinity aren’t quite free of ice.

 

A bit early in the season to sail that far northerly across the pond via Iceland, imo.

 

[bluesea777]

6 hours ago, mking8288 said:

Bermuda - today's port time as scheduled on the itinerary.  Apologize & I self-correct the post above. We were scheduled to leave at 5 pm and all abroad is correct at 4:30 pm.  Don't need or want unfounded rumor to get spread. 

 

Remains to be seen whether our updated 9:15 arrival will be good or not, sure hope so.  Weather is said to be good at 77 degrees F.  Good thing is that we didn't plan for or booked any Shorex.

 

No, it’s gonna be 70°F today, partly cloudy. 
 

[mking8288]

1 hour ago, bluesea777 said:

No, it’s gonna be 70°F today, partly cloudy. 

Good morning.  We see Bermuda ... hmmm, in our distant starboard side on the balcony. 

 

10x zoomed in photo and 1x photo.  

 

Seas are near perfect and calm.  Capt just announced that we will be arriving late, missed the exact time ... but I say at least another hour to 90 minutes before we can dock & join the Pearl. 

 

FDS said 77 degrees F 😎 - got lazy & didn't look up Bermuda gov't forecast. 

 

8:45 am local/ship time now.  No cellular signal yet 🛳️

 

 

[mking8288]

We are getting closer and slowing down, on the lookout for the pilot boat ... a small fishing boat, starboard side.

@ 9:11 am 

 

 

Edited April 24, 2023 by mking8288

[genma803]

16 hours ago, mking8288 said:

Cloudy afternoon, on the windy side out in this angled secret large balcony.  There's room out there for at least 2 loungers, or a table plus an extra chair for breakfast 😁😁😁   We can get really creative next ... 

 

Mini refrigerator emptied out so we can store our own stuffs, including ice in the bucket, and coffee/hot water maker with the set-up, and 3 cups. 🫢

 

Key numbers - speed at 19.2 knots, 328 nm to Heritage Wharf at Dockyard at 4:45 pm ship/Bermuda time.

 

 

 

 

New brand of coffee pods in stock now. 

Thank you for the live stream. Great to read! Quick question- did you bring that one cup coffee maker on board or did your room steward provide it for you? What kind of pods does it use?

[mking8288]

Processing along the coral channel now toward Heritage Wharf at Dockyard as we do breakfast at O'Sheehan's. 

 

Expecting a rush to go ashore in about an hour or 11'ish.  

 

 

 

10:20 am  - almost ... 

 

Edited April 24, 2023 by mking8288

[mking8288]

Just pictures - Dockyard ahead with the Norwegian Pearl at King's Wharf

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 24, 2023 by mking8288

[AtSeaAlways]

2 hours ago, genma803 said:

Thank you for the live stream. Great to read! Quick question- did you bring that one cup coffee maker on board or did your room steward provide it for you? What kind of pods does it use?

Housekeeping provided this for us.  Uses packs about 2.5 inches in diameter.  If anyone is angry at cruise lines for skipping Bermuda in heavy weather, the coral is serious on the edges of the narrow channel.  

 

Edited April 24, 2023 by AtSeaAlways

[mking8288]

More pix  # # # - all abroad time extended to 5:30 pm to sail at 6 pm

 

 

Edited April 24, 2023 by mking8288

[mking8288]

Views of Dockyard ahead as we get near. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

11:00 am - finally docked at the pier. Turned 180 facing out.

Edited April 24, 2023 by mking8288

[mking8288]

4G LTE signal / coverage here in Bermuda - 

 

[PistolPete13]

Watching on the Bermuda port webcam, what a beautiful day!

[room with a view]

Hi MKing 8288  on your photo post #84 ...from your fabulous balcony can you see into the balconies to your left ? ...thanks

[mking8288]

Heritage Wharf ... and ship photos.  Horseshoes Beach transportation $7 pp shared ride. 

 

VIC is closed inside the arrival building & look at what's back & docked nearby. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 24, 2023 by mking8288

[mking8288]

Lunch at Clocktower Mall, anyone ? 

 

Norwegian Pearl at King's Wharf

 

Inside the mall

 

 

Seemed like 1/5 of the crew got some time-off and either shopping here or online with free local WiFi.  

Edited April 24, 2023 by mking8288

[Clay Clayton]

4 hours ago, mking8288 said:

Heritage Wharf ... and ship photos.  Horseshoes Beach transportation $7 pp shared ride. 

 

VIC is closed inside the arrival building & look at what's back & docked nearby. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes, per Roberto Pearl is why we don’t have continuous ferry 😢. She has all the other times booked.  
 

Wonder why she didn’t show up on the CruiseShip calendars🤔

[mking8288]

1 hour ago, room with a view said:

Hi  ...from your fabulous balcony can you see into the balconies to your left ? ...thanks

You could if you try hard and stretch, but not easy & potentially unsafe or dangerous, I don't recommend doing it. 

[mking8288]

Unique photos - 

 

 

Useful ? 

[bluesea777]

As taken from our place in Southampton … Pearl (L) and Epic (R) side by side … you can compare the size and differences between the Meyer Werft and some French builds. 
 

Enjoy the rest of the day!!

 

 

 

[mking8288]

@dexddd This is an exclusive free shopping mall shuttle stop, and I paused for a moment.  It is for your convenience 😁😁😁

 

 

Off-season maintenance ?