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

[room with a view]

Now that you are heading towards Madeira .... how are your thoughts about the ship ?

 

the lines for the comp. restaurants and the availability of shows .

 

Dirt from the stacks.

 

The ship is sailing under capacity ...would a full capacity ship cause more problems?

 

thanks for your observations.

[gregluk]

15 hours ago, mking8288 said:

DW and her sister went up 2 decks to bring back whatever they spotted in the buffet to bring back ... eat it, skip it or go get something else yourself.  Complaints not taken, period 😁😁😁

 

As for O'Sheehan's, menu options got butchered & uprooted entirely, even more simplified than a year ago ... either put up with things or shut up 🫢 

 

We ordered onion rings but ... And the beans were drowning in its own sauce and, not the wait staff's fault. I will check for you.  Maybe it's on the late night only ... for your (in) convenience.

What's the menu for O'Sheehan's now ?

[mking8288]

@dexddd - I think you asked this question earlier, see image below ... couldn't convince DW to be the model behind the curtain loo in person, but this is what it looked like with the light on.  Revealing somewhat and you can tell someone inside is standing or sitting 🫢 😳 

 

The other problem is for anyone of a sizable bulk or width - sitting position isn't very comfortable and for anyone 5' 8" or taller (being 6' here) bending in the forward tilt risk banging head against the thin non-metal wall panel.  

 

Good thing that we didn't have plans to use any magnetic hooks to hang or put things on the wall.  The non-metallic floor in the toilet closet and shower closet, both flex a bit, maybe from years of heavy pounding ... as we know, substantial # of American pax on cruises are "above" average in poundage or weight before embarkation: and said to gain 10 lbs on a 7 night cruise - not us, sticking to more fish & cooking light entrees. 

 

We came with our own shower caps, disposable slippers and even plastic hangers ... should keep our fly home checked luggage before the 44 lbs per bag limit on our BCN-JFK flights via Lisbon, once we are done with certain items like the above.

 

The stationary shower panel is held against movement & rattling with a folded piece of paper 😬🙄 - and it isn't a (paper) duck that folks hunt for.  Maintenance must be short of simple handyman fixes or awaiting for some sort of waterproof adhesive.  Just doing the critics part while cruising - balcony floor is wet this morning, maybe they are washing the deck above b/c it's nice & sunny and hadn't come across any big waves that splashed up to Deck 8, 9, or 10 at all - let alone ours on 13 - seasoned crews said this is one of the smoothest recent crossing.  That's a blessing, always 

 

 

 

Edited April 30, 2023 by mking8288

[mking8288]

This is the first eggs Benedict on this cruise for me as breakfast in the MDR, and the Pretzel egg sandwich roll is one of the 2 specials for today only.  

 

We missed the singing pastry parade at breakfast, coming around with the sweet & cute pieces. 

 

La Cucina menu on the Epic, we decided to book this instead of Le Bistro that we cancelled earlier. Stay tuned - 6 pm tonight. 

 

Tonight's 2 Beatles show cancelled & postponed for a few days, one of the performers said to not feeling well ... Godspeed to him & get better soon. 

 

Passing the card room at 10:30 am, there's at least 6 mah jong tables going inside already, and more across in Le Bistro - busier than the casino table games 😆😆😆

 

 

 

 

Edited April 30, 2023 by mking8288

[mking8288]

Menu for Shanghai Noodles Restaurant, which is quite spacious with good # of tables & chairs - apparently quite popular, despite it average and at best, IMHO, medicore choices & quality in taste, subjectively, of course 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ATM, right by the down escalator in the casino - it will also break your $100 and $20 bills.

 

Unlike newly *Away ships, cigarette smoke from the casino apparently not a problem when seated inside Shanghai Restaurant, unless you are near the counter by the Noodles Bar or entrance 

Edited April 30, 2023 by mking8288

[The P]

Henry, I noticed a few pages back that your Latitude pins and cards don't match. Did the ship run out of Lat supplies? No difference in the card offerings?    Sharon

[dexddd]

Looks like sunny day.  Thanks for the updates.

 

Was that Captain Morgan on F-591?

 

The picture in port inspired me to make hamburger on plate, no sides, for dinner tonight.  Keto friendly.

 

Let us know if champagne options change tomorrow for the PP package.  Lots of discussion on that.

[AtSeaAlways]

12 hours ago, mking8288 said:

 

 

 

Unlike newly *Away ships, cigarette smoke from the casino apparently not a problem when seated inside Shanghai Restaurant, unless you are near the counter by the Noodles Bar or entrance 

I am pleased at the minimal 

lobby smoke unlike the Breakaway which was grim. 

 

It seems the English Muffins are toasted in the MDR not in Garden Cafe.

 

We found two cabin features we like - the cute stalk reading lights are useful and the smoked plastic toilet room door provides  mood lighting.  

 

We skipped the 230 cheese scones but did enjoy Yam Cake at lunch.   If you look carefully there are good vegetarian choices.  

 

Art tables on the dance floor - some lost points.  But the dancing has been excellent.   Cha Cha is not in our contract and our Nightclub Two Step is hazy.   Waltzes are sometimes Viennese.  

 

The dinner pagers work from far (five decks at least) away.  The Hostess crew in Manhattan are troopers- keeping it together and cheerful.  They and the bands need Vacation Hero cards at least.  The food is excellent and the word is out.

 

This is a good ship for a long voyage.  Lots of features you discover over time.  The open walking deck is minimalist but works.  

 

We talked Lumpia with the Barber Shop crew.  Who knew there was a vegatable type?  And a variety not even fried?  They liked the Azores as a crew shore leave port.  Reason #17 to go on a Transatlantic cruise.

 

Edited April 30, 2023 by AtSeaAlways

[mking8288]

We had a very nice Italiano dinner using just 2 dining voucher for 3 of us at La Cucina, plus an extra a la carte order. Service was excellent, food served hot & tasted fine, and portion size adequate, with a great forward view, deck 14 with direct accessible entry instead of down the stairs via the Garden Cafe. 

 

There is no minimum per person dining charge when not using a voucher or credit.  SIL could just order a soup, salad or pizza, and not obligated to get an entree or secondi 

Edited April 30, 2023 by mking8288

[mking8288]

Earlier today at lunch, pork chop in the MDR, a repeated entree was very good, again ... as was the dessert.

 

OMG, tomorrow is going to be Day 10 - time to do 2 more full bags of laundry. Barcelona, we are coming - tours reconfirmed and pickup info outside the cruise terminal emailed to us, going to use WhatsApp on any last minute changes. 

 

 

 

Edited April 30, 2023 by mking8288

[mking8288]

Sunset on the Atlantic Ocean, nearest to Funchal, 100 nm to our east - pix set 1 of 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 30, 2023 by mking8288

[mking8288]

Atlantic sunset on the Norwegian Epic - 2nd batch of pictures 

 

Seas are unbelievably calm and smooth with a light breeze - the angled secret large balcony, helps ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 30, 2023 by mking8288

[mking8288]

13 hours ago, room with a view said:

Now that you are heading towards Madeira .... how are your thoughts about the ship ?  the lines for the comp. restaurants and the availability of shows .

Dirt from the stacks.

The ship is sailing under capacity ...would a full capacity ship cause more problems?

 

Q & A time - just finished remotely checking into home security video cameras ... 5 hours behind, still raining & flash flood warning in effect for NY area.

 

A busy day at sea ... didn't want to answer or comment until I get the chance to open the Chromebook, it's almost 11:30 pm ship/Funchal time now - about 70 nm remaining to port, cruising slowly at just 11 knots, felt as if we aren't moving b/c the ocean is super silky smooth, no waves or swell that we can feel on Deck 13 Fwd/Mid ... air temp is about 69 degree F, tomorrow will be about 75 and partly sunny, nice weather.  Scheduled to arrive at 8:15 am - good chance we will arrive before 6 or 7 am at the current speed and gangways cleared shortly.  Alarm set up for 6:30 am ... breakfast & then get ready, and plan to be outside by no later than 8:45 to 9 and pickup our Hop On Hop Off Yellow Bus at the port after 9:15 am'ish.  

 

For a 12 - 13 years old mega ship, she is still, overall speaking, given us impression of a younger big ship, not as fancy with extra bells & whistles like the Joy or Bliss & Encore (not yet sailed on these 2 ... or the Prima)  Signs of wear & tear (loose cabinet hinges) can be seen if you look closely, the railings on the balcony are worn & overdue for a fresh coating of varnish or clear coating, spots of rust from exposure to sea salt spray day & night, but nothing serious in terms of safety.  

 

We haven't spend time up on Deck 15 AFT / Spice H20, now that we are in warmer weather & ports ahead, will have a closer look & perhaps find a spot on our next/last sea day (after Funchal) to check things out.

 

First impression counts - right - the buffet is not well utilized and organized, tables & chairs including spacing and layout could be better set up and positioning ... seen solo cruisers and sometimes 2 or 3 pax taking up large and larger round booth/table with seating for up to 8 or even 9, 10 - and, such as waste.  Results, others cannot find a spot to sit and eat.  Clusters and groups of friends traveling turning sections of the busy buffet into their all day club to socialize ... the new buffet hogs, inconsiderate & a few of them with poor manners.  

 

Not happy about the limited availability of major shows, tonight is the 2nd repeated sequence of Burn The Floor while the Beatles show was cancelled & postponed to May 2nd.  Knowing this is likely when we booked last minute, not upset but disappointed, annoyed a little.  Overall, this TA has been good as a whole for what we paid - we aren't going to jump to another line b/c of the shows.

 

Spoke with some of the crew about it - this seemed to be an one-off situation with this TA and the subset of passengers onboard, not a problem before with children & families at higher occupancies.  

 

The wait in the MDR is, I feel, a by-product of these unique sub-groups currently onboard, the wait at and for O'Sheehan's aren't bad, usually none or no more than 5 to 10 minutes.  Plan C for us in the morning with a port of call, heck - pay that $5.80 ($4.95 + 20%) for hot breakfast room service & get it delivered, solution for a problem that we can evade. 

 

 

@gregluk  greg - it's been shortened further for sure, even when compared to what we had this January on the Getaway, i.e. Irish stew (or something like it) as a soup is gone - not even an every day soup like chicken noodles soup, instead it is just one and only - whatever the "soup of the day" is - ask your friendly server ... black beans soup 2 or 3 days ago. 

 

We haven't been back but will get the full menu, post update here as a follow-up 

Edited April 30, 2023 by mking8288

[PistolPete13]

15 minutes ago, mking8288 said:

 

Q & A time - just finished remotely checking into home security video cameras ... 5 hours behind, still raining & flash flood warning in effect for NY area.

 

 

Heavy downpours the last two days here in NYC, expecially today, Sunday.  Full weekend washout.

Surprised at the size of the Shanghai Noodles.  I just realized that on the Getaway it was called Shanghai Noodles "Bar" and thus smaller.  That was constantly way too packed for me to try when the buffet was always right there for me.

[mking8288]

@meatball_nyc  Haven't seen you on this board in a while, all is well & busy ... regards.  Any thoughts about planning to and taking a TA in the near future.  

 

@The P  So, are we getting you to consider taking one of these - do a one-way and fly the other direction ... some saying eastbound is easier.  If the price is right, Susan said - just book it and let's go.  Maybe, get her to downsize to just a 22" rollerboard & stick to carry-on ... she now sees 23 kg or 44 lbs plus a smaller hand bag/item combined as too heavey - yeah.  Anyway, we'll chat about this via email later ... as for the Platinum pin & other materials, maybe it was due to SIL's "silver" tiered - not sure, I'll go back to have a look at the earlier posts.  Thus far, we are getting our Sapphire benefits or rewards just fine.  

 

@dexddd  Want to hear what you ended up doing for your meal.  The 12" veg pizza we ordered at La Cucina tonight was excellent & yummy, thin crusted & baked just right - a meal by itself, works for me.  Beef tenderoin, medium, cooked almost perfectly.  

 

As for the navy ship captain seen on deck of the F-591, Pixel 7 Pro's 30x failed to positively AI ID-d him, going to submit a feedback to Google that their hardware isn't good enough, reasons for them to grant a free upgrade to the newest Pixel 8 Pro coming out soon so that I can field test with user's report.  

 

As for the sparkling bubbles, not sure if we can help as I hardly touch that stuff but will see if DW can find out anything ... wait, tomorrow is May 1st and a new month, is it going to be a case of SHTF ?? or NCLH earnings related.  Maybe that's one reason that the Epic left 50 crates of what not on the pier, although delivered by tracter-trailers that day, but longshoremen never moved them onto the ship, despite leaving Pier 88 ... 45 minutes later than scheduled.  

[mking8288]

@PistolPete13  We, too, were surprised at the size - most of it hidden from view - the bigger space is "behind" and further inside, past the Noodles Bar (with seating for less than 20, maybe 15 at most)  In one of the two photos, there's 2 smaller private/VIP ? dining room, hidden by the almost closed red curtains, that can seat maybe another 20 to 30, possibly 35 additional)   The open kitchen is super busy and hectic both times we ate there, non-stop cook-to-order.  Menu choices really isn't much more than the Noodles Bar on the other mega ships.  

 

Word of caution, the beef chow fun came out more like beef pad thai, sweet & somehow soggy, neither dry or nothing like hor fun with black bean sauce.  Toss a slice of lemon & sprinkle some chopped peanuts, they can call it beef Pad Thai.  Part of the challenge is the difficulty of hi-temperature wok cooking, without using & high flame.  Rice noodles were used in the early days as chow fun noodles, now they adapted the dry & thin hor fund noodles, but, still come up short.  They probably failed to keep some of the better chef from the Joy that was targeting the Chinese/Asian market in 2017-18 when the ship launched initially.  

 

Both the spicy seafood noodles soup and the cha siu noodles soup are good & acceptable, the cha siu is closer to Japanese ramen style, minus the rich broth.  Bean sprouts and green onions are missing.  Spring rolls are edible as are the pan fried pot stickers (steamed ones not as tasty for some reasons) - these are the most reliable comfort food staples for SH onboard ... and we do / will go there for these as an option or alternative.  

 

Keep your eyes on TA leaving from or ending at NYC, both this Fall & next April - May, last minutes should and can be found ... there are empty Inside cabins on this sailing. 

[mking8288]

@AtSeaAlways  Good observations and nice additions to impressions onboard, we are not spending much time in the buffet and open decks above - with 5 days ahead, will try to check things out. 

 

Reasons #17 B - about 3 or 4 blocks from where the Epic was docked, one of the souvenir & gift shop is also kind of a Dollar/Euro convenience store, selling lots of inexpensive products appropriate & needed for cabin living below the pax decks - slippers, hair & personal care products, clothes, underwears, socks, and other essentials - and a full selection of iPhone cases covering probably iP 5's all the way to iPhone 14 ProMax with all the variants and Samsungs' assorted models - these are preferred by crews.  

 

I spotted a 220v to 110v adapter plug with an On/Off switch for 2.50 Euro & picked one up for use, never enough of these - fit perfect into the desk/counter with the hidden outlets. 

 

Maybe, if we see them for sale in Funchal in the morning while out & about, roaming in town - will pickup several more as gifts for our cruising friends that didn't come along, surely they'll appreciate it at their next cruise.  

Edited April 30, 2023 by mking8288

[meatball_nyc]

@mking8288

 

Loving your report and glad for the favorable weather you’ve been having. Great pics and information. Thank you. Last time we were in Europe was many years ago... Madrid and Paris.

 

Looking forward to more. Enjoy your crossing. Safe travels. Pouring buckets of rain here in NYC, plus more thunderstorms to arrive shortly. 

 

Have the Joy booked to Bermuda for July with immediate family, so looking forward to that. Not thrilled with the choice of ship, but excited to be back in BDA. We are on deck 10, starboard. I know the NCL deck plans are wonky, because my reservation confirmation says enclosed balcony. I say no way.

 

All is well. Thank you. Safe travels to you and yours.

 

 

Edited May 1, 2023 by meatball_nyc

[mking8288]

 

We are at Funchal,  Portugal - almost but not docked yet.  Good morning 🌄 sunrise coming up shortly - local time 6:55 am

 

 

 

Edited May 1, 2023 by mking8288

[YVRteacher]

Have a wonderful day!

[mking8288]

7 minutes ago, YVRteacher said:

Have a wonderful day!

Have a great 15 days on your cruise with dad turning 80, will be following along and we will be home in NY next week while you are at sea. Bon Voyage & safe, healthy and happy cruising, calm seas and great weather.  There's no going back, my dad would've been 103 this year ... smiling w mom together at peace as they both are free. Cherish and you'll look back years & decades later with fond memories. 

[mking8288]

Now, we get a solid 5G cellular signal. Shutting down WiFi until tonight 😎

 

 

Edited May 1, 2023 by mking8288

[mking8288]

We are off the Epic, walked 20 minutes over to the Marina & waiting to get on the next Hoo on-off yellow bus route.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 1, 2023 by mking8288

[room with a view]

Probably a bit late with this information .....

 

Have a look at the Black Scabbard Fish in the Municipal Fish Market ....then eat it fresh with banana in one of the many restaurants in the Old Town. 

 

Ride the cable car up to Monte .

[dexddd]

23 hours ago, mking8288 said:

@dexddd - I think you asked this question earlier, see image below ... couldn't convince DW to be the model behind the curtain loo in person, but this is what it looked like with the light on.  Revealing somewhat and you can tell someone inside is standing or sitting 🫢 😳 

 

The other problem is for anyone of a sizable bulk or width - sitting position isn't very comfortable and for anyone 5' 8" or taller (being 6' here) bending in the forward tilt risk banging head against the thin non-metal wall panel.  

 

Good thing that we didn't have plans to use any magnetic hooks to hang or put things on the wall.  The non-metallic floor in the toilet closet and shower closet, both flex a bit, maybe from years of heavy pounding ... as we know, substantial # of American pax on cruises are "above" average in poundage or weight before embarkation: and said to gain 10 lbs on a 7 night cruise - not us, sticking to more fish & cooking light entrees. 

 

We came with our own shower caps, disposable slippers and even plastic hangers ... should keep our fly home checked luggage before the 44 lbs per bag limit on our BCN-JFK flights via Lisbon, once we are done with certain items like the above.

 

The stationary shower panel is held against movement & rattling with a folded piece of paper 😬🙄 - and it isn't a (paper) duck that folks hunt for.  Maintenance must be short of simple handyman fixes or awaiting for some sort of waterproof adhesive.  Just doing the critics part while cruising - balcony floor is wet this morning, maybe they are washing the deck above b/c it's nice & sunny and hadn't come across any big waves that splashed up to Deck 8, 9, or 10 at all - let alone ours on 13 - seasoned crews said this is one of the smoothest recent crossing.  That's a blessing, always 

 

 

 

So the SIL gets the stolen buffet chair?