kingoftheicedragons

If Breeze doesn't get Pig & Anchor, I would imagine that it would keep Fat Jimmy's C-Side BBQ.

 

I've seen some people mention the Oceanside BBQ--I haven't been on a ship that has had it, but it sounds like it may have been interesting.

I don't think you need to worry about it. We used Port Canaveral for our recent Norwegian Epic cruise. I signed up for the 10 a.m. check-in.

 

I was running a little late. I thought we'd return our rental car at 9:30 a.m. at the Enterprise location next to the port. We didn't get there until 9:45. Because of the line of people waiting to use that shuttle, it was probably 10 or 10:15 before we left the rental location. It was close to 11:00 before we arrived at the terminal in the port.

 

If you plan on arriving at the terminal around 10:00, I'd probably try going around 9:15-9:30 to arrive by 10.

 

It could have been due to the ships in port that day--Disney Fantasy, Norwegian Epic, Carnival Magic, and Carnival Sunshine. So, even with staggered check-in, over 15,000 guests were arriving at the port and trying to get to their ships that day.

Yes, you should make reservations. For TheMode--that letter you are referring to is your muster station, not a tender assignment. The fact that you apparently were able to get off early based on that was likely a fluke and I wouldn't recommend people do that.

 

We tried making tender reservations when we first arrived via the TV and the iConcierge app, and it didn't seem to let us. We did go down to the box office during the evening hours of the first day, and we were able to get tender group A. They started tendering before the official arrive time, so we actually didn't leave the ship until they were calling group D.

Thanks for your feedback. Everyone gets to have their opinion.

 

We got off the Epic on 1/28, and the loungers or the Haven Suites aren't things that I'd complain about myself. The loungers were essentially the same ones that we've had on every cruise. Yes, other cruise lines may have areas with thick cushions that either 1) cost extra money, which I won't do because I'm cheap ;) or 2) so crowded and congested that it's practically impossible to find a place to sit there. And actually, Epic had this area, as well, up at the front of the Sun Deck (Deck 18, I believe) that was open to everyone. We walked through here a couple of times, but it was impossible to find an open place for two people.

 

Also, the Epic did have thick cushioned couches in a few places near the aft of the ship if you wanted them. Not only that, I was impressed that there was almost always some place to sit on a lounger on Epic--either on Deck 15 or on the forward Sun Deck.

 

I do agree that the bathroom layout in the staterooms on Epic was unusual at best. At least for the interior cabins, don't know how it was for other cabins.

 

If I had complaints about the ship, it would be that the forward elevators didn't seem to respond to the call button very well. The elevators would sit on the same floor for long periods of time (but when they did stop at your floor, if you blinked, you could miss them), and the DJ shouldn't be allowed to have any guest interactions because he's terrible at them.

We usually only eat in the MDR. The exception was our most recent cruise on the Epic. We had the four meals as part of our "free" package, and then we also ate at Shanghai's and O'Sheehan's one time each since they are complimentary dining options as well. That left one night left to eat in the MDR.

The NCL site still says they have the pins, but you have to ask for them. I'm disappointed to hear that they might be discontinued.

 

I enjoyed getting these from Carnival when Carnival had the pins for past guests. Then they changed it so that only Platinum guests get pins, but if I remember right, these aren't ship-specific pins any more. I can't remember what pins we got (if any) on our recent Carnival cruises. But I was really hoping to get a pin for the Epic in a couple of months.

You also didn't mention what cell service you have.

 

While I can't comment on how much T mobile charges while at sea (as we've never done that), it does have international data at no additional cost to you (so long as you can get service--I've found signal strength to be lacking in some countries) in many countries in the Caribbean, including the Bahamas and Jamaica. It does mean that we just wait until we're in port to connect with emails and social media, etc. (even from the ship) without paying for wifi.

Question on La Bistro--I know I've seen some menus that seem to list a lot of menu items with mushrooms on them, and we can't have mushrooms. I don't know if those menus were current or not.

 

Also, my wife is also not fond of beef, lamb, or duck.

 

So, I guess my question would be...would there be enough of a selection of either chicken or seafood dishes at La Bistro for us that don't have mushrooms in the dish?

Thanks for the info...it'll be useful for deciding where to make reservations for.

I have a question regarding Cagney's and the SDP dining plan. I'm pretty sure that whatever Cagney's has on their menu is fair game for the SDP dining plan--such as the lobster and surf n turf. I just want to make sure of this as I was looking at a (possibly) old menu that made mention that certain entrees had an upcharge to them. I'm assuming that this is when Cagney's was a flat fee instead of the a la carte, but before I make reservations for Cagney's, I just want to make sure that we could get the lobster, etc. with this.

 

Thanks.

Thanks BirdTravels and Quilting Cruiser for your answers.

 

I think I'll probably pass on the ice bar on the ship. Like I said, we have an outdoor one every year in February where the actual bars are made of ice and there are very nice and elaborate ice sculptures and ice benches that we have gone and taken pictures of during the day that are probably similar to what's in the ice bar aboard the ship, and I know the drink cups at our ice bar are also made of ice. And maybe I just don't fully appreciate the fact that we have an ice bar here every winter...I know that it will attract 10s of thousands of people to the event.

Never sailed on Magic, but I LOVED Sunshine. Would I book Sunshine again if it was going to ports I wanted? Absolutely, in a heartbeat. I would likely book Sunshine over most other ships if they were going on the same itinerary.

 

Since I'm a foodie and love having lots of food options, having sailed Sunshine sort of ruined the Conquest for me afterwards, simply because it didn't have the same amenities and food options that the Sunshine had.

I'm another vote for the Italian restaurant for embarkation day lunch. There will only be a few others up there, so service should be quick. Also a good day to do this versus waiting until later in the cruise.

Thanks Keith, that helps.

We will be going on the Epic in the second half of January, and I've been doing some research on the ship as well as on NCL in general as this is only our second NCL cruise. Our first NCL was on the Dawn, and I think the Epic is going to be a bit different from that experience.

 

Regarding the meals and shows, I know I can book those 90 days out, so I'm not too concerned about those right now.

 

1. What about the Headliners comedy? I read something about getting tickets for that as well--can you book those 90 days out as well, or do you need to book those on the ship?

 

2. I really hope to be able to see the Epic Beatles in the Cavern Club. Any tips to make sure this happens? Is this something to plan to do early in the cruise and how best can I plan to do this without it interfering with dinner or show plans?

 

3. Is the Ice bar free, or how much does that cost to get in. And if there is a cost, is it worth it? I'm kind of curious to see it, but we're not cold weather people--we have an outside ice bar during our city's winter festival that I would never even think of going to because of the cold, and I'm not really that big of a drinker anyway (I might have a drink or two and no more during a cruise).

 

4. I want to make sure we can do the Cirque show as well. Again, is it best to try to do this early on the week, or does it not really matter?

 

I'm more used to Carnival where you don't need to do so much pre-planning for a cruise...you don't have to really decide what you're going to do when until the actual moment.

I guess this would be more of a NCL Dawn vs Carnival cruise lines, but:

The focus on NCL tends to be on the specialty dining. You can't go anywhere without it being forced into your face (there are monitors all over the ship talking about how busy each restaurant is at what times).

I could say which buffet I like better, but some may say food is subjective (actually, everything is subjective--what makes a cruise bad for one person because of a, b, and c could be exactly what makes that exact same cruise the best ever, for exactly the same reasons). In any case: NCL seemed to have one big buffet with two sides to it. Things like burgers and pizza and pretty much everything that you're used to going to different restaurants for on CCL will be part of the buffet on NCL.

Same with entertainment. I think one line does this better than another and I know what I prefer. NCL (at least on the Dawn) seemed to tie their entertainment together better...meaning I guess that you got to know the entertainment performers and saw them more around the ship than you do on Carnival. But it depends on what you actually expect from the entertainment, too.

We noticed more supervisors and higher ups on NCL than we ever do on Carnival. We also thought that the piano bar crowd on NCL was a little bit rowdier than Carnival.

In the end, though, they are more the same than different. One line may do somethings better and the other line does other things better.

If I remember Belize right, they do make those without Carnival excursions wait a couple of hours. We also had a Carnival excursion here, so I don't know if they did give out tickets to non-excursion holders for the same time slots or not.

 

Tendering in Belize is a very slow, time consuming process.

I was excited to try American Table/Feast prior to our first cruise with it on the Breeze. I don't really care that there are no table cloths on the tables, as that is no longer a sign of elegance even in land-based restaurants. I wasn't too happy with the rolls and water just left on the table--probably because I could, for instance, get my water refilled previously without any problems. If people had problems with this before, they probably like the water right there.

 

If the serving style/table settings along with a new way for the menus to look were the extent of the change, I would have been happy. But the choices for each meal didn't even sound as appetizing as they used to, and I was often left wondering what to order and found myself ordering off of the every day menu, which is something that I never used to do.

 

If you haven't cruised for many years, I think you will like the American Table/Feast, and maybe even prefer it to what you remember.

I would have to say the Breeze is probably my favorite ship due to the amenities that it offers. I wasn't entirely sold on the layout, but the amenities--especially the food options--can overcome many other things. After the Breeze, I would have to say the Sunshine would be my second favorite ship.

how old are the kids? If they are old enough, they will likely enjoy the 4D thrill theater and the ropes course, in addition to the water park and the mini golf. There is also the dive-in movies, which are generally family friendly.

I tried this, and thought it was good. Definitely worth getting if you enjoy creme brulee type foods. You can just disregard the caramel corn if it's not your thing.

Are you talking about the Dive In Movies or the 4D theater?

 

The Dive In Movies are free and there are usually 2 movies per night, and the movies depend on what's playing across the fleet for the month you sail.

 

The Thrill Theater does cost, there are I believe four or five "different" movies playing--these consist of different short movies, usually 3, and they mix these up depending on what "different" movie you see, so if you see all the different movies, you will likely see each short twice. There was also the "special feature" about marine predators that was really only about 5 minutes long which wasn't included in any of the other movies. I wouldn't pay the price for one movie just to see this "special feature," but if you buy the package deal it's interesting. I think the package was worth it...about the cost of going to a regular movie in total, and it gives you something to do at times when you might not have anything else going on.

You can add me to the list of people who aren't a fan of the new site.

Definitely the Splendor because of the itinerary. I've never sailed that ship, though, so can't comment on her.

We just booked the Epic for next January, and it stops at Great Stirrup Cay...it'll be our first time at a private island.

 

Someone mentioned that there are "restaurants" to go to on the island, some of which are complimentary and others that aren't? Is this true? I was under the assumption that a BBQ was set up for lunch...so do we actually have options for what we want to eat when on GSC?