Review from first cruise on Epic

Hi, we're just back from our first ever cruise, on the Epic. Since we got very useful info here pre-cruise, I'm going to post some insights from our cruise, which may be useful to others planning a trip on Epic. We embarked in Barcelona on June 5th.

First, a 'profile'. We are a couple with two teens, son age 16 and daughter aged 14. It was our first time to cruise so we didn't really know what to expect. We are a fairly easy-going lot and since we were on a budget, we did our own thing in each of the ports and didn't take any NCL excursions, which seemed very pricey for what they offered. However, from being on this site and NCL's site, there were several things we already knew before we boarded:

1. The ship is BIG, VERY BIG. Although we knew this, nothing quite prepares you for how big! There will be crowds.

2. The bathroom layout in the cabins is not to everyone's liking

3. The internet is very slow, very expensive and not worth buying

4. The drinks are very expensive and it is worth having the UBP if you can

5. It is best to pre-book the shows (see 1. above). However, we saw many empty seats in several of the shows we visited.

Here goes: a day by day account to follow....

Beautiful start! Thank you for sharing your experience.

Cruising on Epic in December. Looking forward to your review.

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Tell us more about what you did in each of the ports.

Looking forward to reading about your adventures! Hope you had a great time.

Bluejai

Following

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Following :p

We got a taxi from the airport to our hotel, Hotel Canton, which was just off La Ramblas. The taxi was €33. The hotel was small and quite basic, with a fairly meagre continental breakfast, but at €70 per room it was very good value and fine for our needs, as well as being very close to the port, only a 5 min stroll to the port bus.

The port bus leaves from near the Colombus monument at the bottom of La Ramblas, and is €3 single or €4 return, so its best to get return tickets, especially if you have a group. The bus service is very efficient and took us smoothly to our ship at about 12.00. Although the terminal was very busy and there were large queues everywhere, the lines moved very quickly and we were on board by 12.30.

Cabins were ready by approximately 1.00. We had a family balcony on deck 14 forward, just one deck below the buffet. This proved to be a good location, as we were very close to the buffet. The gym, which our son used often, was also on Deck 14. We didn't notice any noise from overhead at any stage. The cabin was certainly a tight space for 4, but we had always expected that we wouldn't be spending a lot of time in the cabin, at least not all at the same time, and everyone was aware in advance that it wouldn't be like a bedroom at home, or even like a hotel bedroom. We set a few ground rules at the outset to ensure that we could move about comfortably, and this worked well. It was nice to have the balcony, and it was useful when we needed to get out of each other's way.

Overall we had no complaints with the cabin. The separate shower and toilet arrangement was a little unusual, but was fine for us, as we all live together and are used to sharing our space. It might not suit if sharing with someone you dont know so well. There was a curtain that could be pulled across to separate that area from the rest of the room, and there was a little wheel outside on the room number that could be set to 'do not disturb' if we didn't want visitors, so we had no problems.

The shower was good and quite spacious. Shower gel and shampoo/conditioner are provided. Hand soap is also provided. The shampoo is not great, so bring your own if this is important to you. The only surprising thing was the industrial strength flush in the toilet, which was very loud, quite similar to that on a plane, and not to be done during the night if your fellow passengers are light sleepers. The sink is small, but adequate for what you need, but not suitable for laundry. We tried washing a few small items during the week as we were travelling with carry on bags only, but the stopper doesnt work well and the laundry was a partial failure! The clothes line in the shower is tiny, you would fit about two pairs of socks on it!

We found that there was enough storage, albeit quite spread out around the room, with several nooks and crannies. We needed some more hangers and the room steward brought them promptly. The suitcases fit under the bed. The bed itself is short but wide, as wide as it is long. I am 5ft 6 and my feet went to within a few inches of the end of it. A taller person would 'overshoot' the bed. However, we found the bed to be comfortable, and the teens were also happy with the couch bed and the pull down bunk bed. Sharing a family balcony is fine if you are prepared to compromise, and give each other space, however, if you need a lot of room to spread out it is probably not for you. For us it was a good choice because it made the holiday affordable.

Some mention has been made on this site about problems with the lighting in the room. This may have been fixed when the dry dock upgrade was done last year, because we found that the lights over the two mirrors were fine for make-up etc. There was a very bright blue light over the balcony door that we couldnt figure out how to switch off initially, but we discovered the switch on the light itself. There is an explanatory sheet in the magazine rack over the bed explaining about the lights and the storage options. In fact, many of the things that are mentioned in negative reviews here are explained in the NCL literature, so it is worth taking the time to read that stuff, and it is worth spending a bit of time exploring the room to figure out where everything is, including light switches etc. There are limited electrical outlets and we found it very useful to have a power strip for charging all the paraphenalia. A hair-drier is provided.

After getting settled into our room we ate our first meal on board at the Garden Cafe. There was an extraordinary array of food, definitely something for everyone, and so much choice, both healthy options and the more indulgent stuff. The area covered by the buffet is vast, you could almost get lost. The quality of food was very good and we had no problems getting seated. We ate in the buffet a number of times and never had a problem getting a table, usually up at the front of the ship. There is also overflow seating one floor down in La Cucina, which can be accessed from the stairs at the front. Its difficult to see how anyone could fault the buffet, there was just so much choice and excellent quality food.

After lunch the teens went off to explore, the adults took the ship tour, which was a quick orientation tour of decks 5 6 and 7. Useful but not essential. The drill was at 4.30, there were multiple announcements and much shepherding of people into designated areas, which seemed a bit OTT, since it was really just an instruction on how to put on a life jacket and was all over in a few minutes.

We had dinner early at 6.30 in the Manhattan room, which was quiet at that time. The Manhattan band was playing and we were seated aft with a good view for sailaway. We found service to be efficient and food very good. The only exception was the flourless cake. I need to eat gluten free and this was the gluten free option, but it was very eggy, almost like scrambled egg, and not recommended, otherwise everything else was very good. The men both had steak diane and were very impressed.

We were leaving the dining room around 8pm and there was a line for tables at that time. The teens went to the Entourage club at that stage, there was a short signing in process for that. This is definitely a good idea for teens, on the first night they got to meet others of their age and made friends that they hung out with all week, definitely recommended as a good way for getting them inducted. They get a sheet on the first day with a list of everything that is scheduled for them during the week, like a one-page 'daily', only it covers the full week.

Afterwards we saw a little of Howl at the Moon and also Paolo on guitar at the Maltings whiskey bar. Husband knows a bit about guitar and pronounced Paolo a maestro, returning to hear him most nights. I know nothing about guitar, but couldn't help noticing that his lyrics were not quite accurate a few times! Howl at the Moon was good fun, however, they were not subtle about letting you know that they wanted tips with the requests for songs, which was a little irritating. This show was not at all full, there were plenty of empty seats well into the night.

That was about it for day 1. Bye for now!:)

So far so great. Keep them coming!

Mallory

Enjoying your review.

I'm on this cruise in a couple weeks.... Thank you for the details!

Glad you had a good time, now you know the ropes and can be more at ease next time.

You can tell it was all new to you, maybe next time you will research more. :cool:

Day 2 was a sea day. As anyone who has teens knows, they have a different body clock, and like to sleep when adults are awake, and vice versa. Since there were no ports we did not wake them early and we all went for breakfast at O'Sheehans at 10am. The Freestyle Daily letter that is delivered to your room each night has information about what dining options are available each day for all meals, and at what times. It is worth consulting, because there are usually a few options other than the buffet, which may suit you better if the buffet is not your 'thing'.

We would not recommend O'Sheehans for breakfast. We ordered their 'country platter' which is like what we call at home a 'full Irish', with bacon, eggs, sausage, hash browns etc. The scrambled eggs had an odd texture, which I believe is due to them being reconstituted. The coffee was really bad, and the gluten free breakfast, which I had pre-ordered the night before with the special diets guy Kent turned out to be the normal breakfast minus all the parts that had gluten, instead of having gluten-free substitutes, which was disappointing. The bacon was not to our taste, more fat than bacon. Overall we all agreed that it fell far short of the buffet experience.

For anyone who is gluten free or has other dietary needs, you can notify NCL before you travel and they will accommodate you. We met two people with responsibility for this area, Kent and PJ (?) who were both friendly and helpful. If you know where you are going to eat the following day they will take your order in advance and arrange for gluten free options where possible, or point out what is already gluten free. (but evidently not in O'Sheehans - see above). Clearly this prevents spontaneity, but is probably very valuable/essential for people who are coeliac and for whom it is a medical necessity to avoid any hint of gluten, which it wasn't for me. Instead I tended to go for options that I knew to be gluten-free, which was very easy to do in the buffet. There was so much food there that it was no great hardship to forego some of the options. I believe it was possible to get gluten-free cookies etc in the buffet but I never saw them and forgot to ask for them.

After breakfast we all went separate ways to explore the ship and get our bearings. It is SO VAST, like being in a large town, and always busy in the public areas. That said, there are several areas where you can go for quiet time if that is what you prefer. There was generally not much happening in the Bliss Lounge during the day, and it had nice comfortable chairs if you wanted to just chill. Also there is a library on deck 5 forward, which again is quiet and comfortable. There are books you can check out during the open time which is about an hour morning and evening - the times are on the Daily, and crosswords/suduko to take away throughout each day.

The outdoor pool area was very busy on the sea day and all the sunbeds seemed to be taken. There is a towel station on the pool deck where you can check out towels. They will charge a €25 deposit to your cabin which they refund when you return the towels, which seems like a good system. None of us were sun-worshippers so we didn't avail of the sunbeds. The teens used the pools and waterslides, but surprisingly, not very much. They thought the pools too small and always packed with little kids. Our older boy enjoyed the hot tubs and hung out there quite a bit with his new friends. The rock climbing wall is open from 4-6pm each day - the times are on the Daily. Our 14 yr old girl tried this towards the end of the cruise and enjoyed it but it wasn't a big favourite.

If you want a more chilled atmosphere, you can go up to deck 18 via the lifts/elevators just outside the Garden cafe - one is marked Haven only but the other will take you up to 18, where there are plenty of free sunbeds, and right at the front, soft comfortable loungers, some of which were free. I wondered how a sea day would work on this ship in a colder weather cruise - there were such large crowds outside that if it had been cold or raining it would have been hard to accommodate everyone indoors and there wouldn't be so much for them to do. Although we had generally nice weather 17-22C/ 65-75F, it felt cool outside on some days and was sometimes windy.

Just a note on the AC. We come from a cool climate where AC is generally not needed or used. I packed for warm conditions and was very surprised at how cold it felt indoors - I know I seem to feel the cold more than most. A few nights in the dining rooms I needed to go for a wrap/extra layer to keep warm, which was a surprise.

The Daily has several 'seminars' listed on topics such as 'Detox for Health and Weight Loss', 'Look 10 years younger today' etc. I went along to a few of these, thinking (naively) that they were educational/enrichment lectures. They are just thinly disguised sales pitches for Spa and Fitness Centre products and services, like skin treatments and Body Analysis etc. Some of the 'lecturers' take a little longer than others to let you know that they're after your money! I had not come across the term 'Nickel and Diming' until I visited Cruise Critic - I guess this is what they meant. However, there was no pressure to partake and they were easily avoided, but don't expect to have enrichment lectures with guest speakers on this cruise, it isn't part of their agenda.

During the sea day I visited the shops. There is plenty of jewellry for sale, and very expensive watches, as well as perfume, bags, some clothing, souvenirs and a small section of esssentials, like personal products etc. If you are on a budget, bring your own OTC meds, personal care products etc - they are about 3 times the regular price if you need to get them on board. On the last night there was a sale and some of the jewellry was greatly reduced, however it still seemed overpriced to me, especially since some of it was only costume jewellry. I just got a few small souvenirs of the ship.

We had lunch at the buffet, and as always there was a huge selection of all kinds of food, including steaks, shrimp, lamb chops, burgers, hot dogs, asian, Indian, salads etc etc. All I can say is that if anyone has a problem with the food in the buffet they must be used to eating at very high-end restaurants all the time, because we found the food to be very varied and of a consistently high quality, we couldn't fault it. We had the UBP as part of our package, and the teens had the soda package, so we were able to avail of some nice glasses of wine with lunch. For us having the drinks package was essential, we could just order whatever we wanted whenever we wanted without having to worry about the high drinks prices and the added gratuities. If you have the soda package it includes a complimentary thermal mug which you can pick up at the Atrium cafe - we discovered this on a beverage leaflet towards the end of the cruise. The Atrium staff were not helpful in this regard and seemed reluctant to explain this feature or hand over the mug!

After lunch I got an iron from housekeeping and pressed a few items. You just dial 00 and they bring it promptly with ironing board to your cabin.

Many people comment on the amount of space taken up by the casino. We don't gamble so we didn't use it, but it did seem to have a lot of space devoted to it, and was often very empty or unused. We noticed that you are allowed to smoke there if gambling, you would notice a slightly smoky smell while walking through it, but the smoke was not particularly noticeable or oppresive. There are good orientation diagrams outside all of the public elevators, which show you where you are and what facilities are on each deck. Some people complain about the elevators being slow and not enough of them. We didnt find this to be a problem. Clearly if you go for the elevators outside the theatre when a show is finishing there will be 600 other people looking for them at the same time, so it is only common sense to go somewhere else for 10 minutes or go to the other end of the ship to beat the crowds or wait for the rush to be over. We were lucky to be near the stairs and only one deck away from the buffet, so we used the stairs a lot, and took the stairs down most times if there was a delay on the elevators. Understandably, this would not work for anyone who has mobility issues.

We like to eat early, so we all had dinner in Taste restaurant about 6.30. The menu was quite similar to Manhattan. Two of us had a risotto starter which was quite bland and a bit tasteless, Husband had swordfish carpaccio which was very tiny! We ordered a few starters which seems to be a cruise thing, however, I was uncomfortable doing this and felt (maybe it was just me) that the waiter had a judgemental air about it. Instead I would suggest that if you need larger portions or just want to try a variety of things the buffet is a better option, because its easier to try whatever you like. The mains and desserts were good all round. We had Shrimp Parmenteria, Beef Wellington and the Chicken dishes.

After dinner we caught the tail end of Ancora Pop Opera, when they were singing Nessum Dorma as their grand finale, they sounded magnificent and we intended to go back to see the full show later in the week but never made it back. We had pre-booked Burn the Floor on MyNCL before travelling, and got good seats towards the front about 20 mins before the start - you need to go early as it fills up quickly - it is free seating, first come, first served. It was busy and there was a full house by the time it started. It was a high energy dance show with very skilled dancers, which we enjoyed. There didn't seem to be a particular storyline, or if there was, it went over our heads, it seemed to switch from one scene to another with no great continuity, but it didn't really matter much, the music and dancing were very good. Afterwards we went back to our new friend Paolo on guitar in the Maltings bar.

The staff in Maltings were particularly friendly and always quick with service. Overall, we didn't experience any delays in getting drinks in any of the bars. In general about 90-95% of the staff we met were friendly, polite and helpful. The only exceptions were two ladies in the Atrium cafe who were quite rude and abrupt and the restaurant-booking hostess, whose default face was scowl, and whose face for guest-asking-a-question was severe frown!! :( We didn't take it personally, but is was very noticeable, even my 14yr old daughter commented on it.

The 14yr old went back to Entourage after dinner and took part in their organised activities, which she enjoyed. The 16yr old hooked up with the teens he had met on the first night and they did their own thing. There might have been a little romance - we weren't told!!

Thats about it for Day 2. Day 3 in Herculaneum coming up.

Following!

Will try here to attach some pictures:

1. at sea en route to Naples

2. Beef Wellington in Taste

3. Shrimp Parmenteria in Taste

4. Paolo on guitar in Maltings

Looks like I can only attach 4.:confused:

Tried to add a few more pictures but upload keeps failing. :eek: Does anyone have any advice?

Tried to add a few more pictures but upload keeps failing. :eek: Does anyone have any advice?

I found its easiest to have your picture site open and this site open. Right click on picture copy and then paste in the box that comes up when you click insert image. Just make sure it doesn't have http twice.

Thanks, but I wasnt using a picture site, I just have them in my laptop. I was using the attachment option that appears below this window when you scroll down a bit further :confused:

Thanks, but I wasnt using a picture site, I just have them in my laptop. I was using the attachment option that appears below this window when you scroll down a bit further :confused:

Sorry! I can't help with that :(

Thanks so much for posting your review! We leave in 16 days, (eek!!) also with two teens, and I was just wondering this morning if I would need to pack an extra cardigan for the dining rooms. It sounds like I will if they have the AC cranked.

I can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip!

I think there's a limit to how many photos you can upload in one post.

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Thanks so far. I'm enjoying the review. We were passengers a few weeks before you and I wish I had been able to read your review before boarding. We discovered too many things on our own, or not. Your advice to RTFM is spot on.

Thanks for your review JadeCruise. So interested since we will be aboard Epic for the Transatlantic cruise in October. Keep em coming!

As I've mentioned, we are independent travellers/savvy shoppers/cheapskates (take your pick) so we didn't do any of the ship's shore excursions. On Day 3 in Naples we had a leisurely breakfast in the buffet and our gym bunny did his thing in the gym. We left the ship shortly after 10am. Remember to bring your keycard with you, you will need it getting off and getting back on.

We went to Herculaneum via tram and train. It is quite easy to do on your own. When you disembark just walk all the way forward until you reach the main road, there will be a coffee shop/tabac there where you can buy a combined tram and train ticket for €3.20pp one way. Then just turn right, you will see the stop for Tram no. 1 in the middle of the street. Make sure to validate your ticket on the tram. The tram heads along parallel to the shore and after a few stops it turns left and next stop is The Porta Nolana train station - it is easy to see. This is the terminal and the best place to get on, otherwise you will probably be standing. Take the train in the Sorrento direction. Again, validate your ticket on the train. The stop for Herculaneum is Ercolano, 'Scavi' is written on a separate brown sign under the main signs on the platforms, it is approximately 8-9 stops, doesnt take long to get there. Once you exit the station at Ercolano Scavi, turn right and almost immediately left. You will be looking down a long street and the entrance is via large gateway at the very end of the street, not a very long walk, maybe 10-15 mins. There are lots of cafes and pizza places enroute.

Once you go through the gateway continue on to the ticket office which is further on in a red brick building. Entrance was just €11 per adult and under 18s were free. There was just a short line of 4 people in front of us. We joined with them to avail of the services of a guide, at €10 per person. We were very lucky with our guide, who was very knowledgeable and interesting and brought the whole thing alive for us - I would highly recommend getting a guide, it is well worth it. The tour was meant to be for an hour but it went on for easily 1.5 hours. The site was not busy and had plenty of shade, so it was very manageable and we thoroughly enjoyed the visit, it was just right for us, but if you are particularly interested you could easily spend far longer there.

After our visit, we walked back up to the train station and had some Neapolitan pizza on the way. I dont remember the name of the place, but there are lots to choose from. The ticket back to Porta Nolana was €2.50pp and the ticket office in the station was open. The total cost of our trip was €16.70 per adult, not including lunch, which was pretty good value. Using the public transport was a novelty for the teens since we live in a rural area at home and there is no public transport of any kind - this may be hard for some city dwellers to believe! The only hitch in our plans was when we got back to Porta Nolana it was raining and the tram we took broke down or got stuck in some way about half way back to the port. There was a bit of confusion so we just got off and walked the last bit, which took 15 mins or so. We also had to have the obligatory stop for WiFi as we had some people having withdrawal symptoms from not being able to connect since we left Barcelona on Sunday. We were back on the ship at about 6pm, having had a very leisurely day.

We ate in the buffet, where it was Italian night. There is a different theme in the buffet each night, although the variety of food there is so vast every day that the themes don't seem to matter much. Again, the food was consistently good.

After dinner the teens went off to meet their new friends and Husband went to the Karaoke in Bliss. I just went to the cabin and had a leisurely read for a few hours.

Thats about it for day 3 - next up Civitavecchia. :)

Tried again to upload a few photos from laptop but I keep getting an 'upload failed' message. If anyone has any insights on what I might be doing wrong please advise:o