Just off Epic... short review

Just arrived back in Ohio today from our week aboard the Epic (March 22-29). We are a family of 4: husband 40 me 38 2 daughters 8 and 5. We cruise for the ship not really the locations. we started cursing on our honeymoon and have not stopped since!

I am not really sure how to do a review so I will just hit on things that impressed me/did not impress me.

We had a balcony stateroom on the 13th floor front of the ship... LOVED the location! 1 floor up to splash academy, 2 floors up for pool deck and buffet. We really only had to ever take the elevators for the shows. Which was a plus as the elevators were crowded and long waits.

Stateroom was OK... I HATED the bathroom situation... when the upper bed was pulled down in the evening it was awkward getting to the balcony, but manageable. Our stateroom attendant, Max did a great job, although it seems Norwegians hours are a little later than RC.

The first 2 sea days the pools and slides were crowded, but we got 5 chairs on the upper deck (my parents were also with us on this trip). My daughters, husband and my dad LOVED the slides! I must admit I only rode 2 and they were fun, however the "green" one made me quite dizzy! We stayed on the boat on Grand Cayman and Cozumel which made for less crowded pool time. However... that being said... the 2 "public" pools had only 1 operational pool those days... the one actually turned green... The slides were SLOW to open on Grand Cayman day, the body slides had no water in them and I am not sure if they ever opened that day. 4 of us got off in Jamaica and did the zipline adventure, and my mom and DD 5 stayed in the ship, and they had issues with pool openings...

The last sea day is was COLD... and by cold I mean less than 70 degrees and windy... People were on the pool deck in winter coats :confused: as a result the pools were CLOSED, slides were CLOSED... Spider Climb... CLOSED... Rock Wall..CLOSED... Epic bounce...CLOSED... which I know is a must... but trying to entertain 2 kids when the majority of what they wanted to do was closed was hard... luckily, there was a Nick themed game show for 45 minutes and back to the kids club! LOL.

Food... we did not ever eat in the dining room or specialty restaurants (except Cirque... which I will address later) We did buffet and O'Shehanns every night... I loved the burger at O'Shehanns. Food was Ok. I think this was the first cruise I actually felt full (I am extremely picky eater :p ) We had the UBP and that came in handy for all of us. Yes, there are still those people who cannot seem to understand a buffet line, and the workers tried to help but there were always "cutters". My 5 year old would often say (to us) No Cuts, not buts no coconuts!

Cirque show... This was maybe my least favorite thing we did all week... We had the standards seats, which is kind of a joke, as you are seated on the floor... in the back... thus you can see only a portion of the acrobat routines in the air... We were also seated with another couple (who were staying in the Haven... and made sure we were aware of it! LOL). They were a little on the odd side... to begin with we met the husband as he was dealing with a bloody nose... that bled and bled... He also lied multiple times to the servers to get more food... I was thoroughly embarrassed! The show was a little long, and like I said, the seats... left much to the imagination. There is also a whistle blowing "clown" that tried every last one of my nerves!

we did Blue Man, Legends, the hypnotist and the second city (which I am not a fan of improve) All were good shows.

Splash Academy... my kids loved it... I found the hours annoying... on sea days they are pretty much only open for periods of 3 hours and then close for 2 or so... having been on Carnival, RC and now NCL... I think that Carnival does the best job at their kids clubs, but my girls still love going there. The last night there was actually a wait!

I did the walk off so I could get my 9:20 flight out of MIA, and I got in line about 6:45... walk off started at 7:30 and I was in my cab by 7:45!

Overall, I loved my trip... all I wanted to do was sit... be warm... relax... read... and I accomplished that! I would like to think I am easily pleased, and yes there were things that bothered me... but did not ruin my cruise! I am sure I am leaving things out, but if you have any questions feel free to ask!

Thaks for your review.

Yes, there are still those people who cannot seem to understand a buffet line, and the workers tried to help but there were always "cutters".

I was of the understating that the buffet on the epic was made up of pods/ sections rather than it being one long line is this not the case ? :confused:

people can be very rude :(

We are a family of 4: husband 40 me 38 2 daughters 8 and 5. We cruise for the ship not really the locations. we started cursing on our honeymoon and have not stopped since![/Quote]

 

Thanks for the (unintentional) laugh! I can understand. I've been married 34 years and it can feel like that sometimes! (I think you missed an "i")

There are multiple sections... Its quite hard to explain... Let me try this... I was in line... for bacon and potatoes at breakfast... I can literally see the items I want... but cannot reach for it, as I am in line... However, there are many people who just come up and squeeze in for what they want...

Yep... guess I did miss an i... cruising (and cursing) too!

Thanks for your review...nice you enjoyed your trip. :):):):)

The last sea day is was COLD... and by cold I mean less than 70 degrees and windy... People were on the pool deck in winter coats

This part of your review has made me laugh :D here in the UK that is a good day in the summer

There are multiple sections... Its quite hard to explain... Let me try this... I was in line... for bacon and potatoes at breakfast... I can literally see the items I want... but cannot reach for it, as I am in line... However, there are many people who just come up and squeeze in for what they want...

 

Yep... guess I did miss an i... cruising (and cursing) too!

I'm glad you clarified that as I've always felt that walking around people who were waiting for an item I didn't want was the way to keep the lines moving. For instance, people are waiting for carved meat which I don't want. Past that item, no one is in line. What I want is further down so I walk around. I know what you mean as people do "cut" in front of those obviously waiting for the same thing. I'm sure some won't agree with my way. It seems like walking a balance beam between manners and keeping things moving. I always expect to spend a lot of time in the buffet lines, and as I like hot food to be hot, I only pick up cold foods at the buffet.

There's not much we don't like about Epic (no promenade) and are about to join her for the TA.

Thanks for your review. You took a lot of time to give readers great details.

 

My 5 year old would often say (to us) No Cuts, not buts no coconuts!

 

I love this as line cutting my #1 pet peeve. Ask your 5-year old if I may "borrow" the saying.