dawnster1014

I lifted and shifted our June 21 cruise on May 21, and STILL have not received credit back from our drink packages, shore excursions or lunch that we purchased.  Am on the phone with them now.  It's taking a while.  I feel bad for these customer service reps, and hope to get this resolved.  I would be ok with them just lifting and shifting these purchases, but they didn't offer that as an option....so I wait.  

We have been on both ships. The design differences between the two was immense! The Oasis was very large, and had so many beautiful and varying places, including the boardwalk, Central Park as well as the Promenade. The promenade alone made that ship easier to navigate. The Epic, even though it was a little less expensive for us, was the worse design of a ship we've ever been on, and we've been on Holland, Celebrity, Princess, Norwegian, Disney, Carnival and Royal.

Everything on the Epic cost more, with the exception of the three free restaurants. We love the main dining room experience we've had on other lines, but if that's not important to you, then Norwegian's Freestyle may be a better fit. We found that since you never have the same waiter, you never develop that "relationship" that you find on other lines. A lot of the people working on that ship were very detached and the whole feel was impersonal. The only saving grace we found on the Epic was the spa pass, which was $200 per person. If we would not have splurged on that, that cruise would have been a complete bust. You could never find a place on the pool deck, the entertainment was just ok, even the Second City and Blue Man were not that impressive.

We're not hard to please, but I would recommend the Oasis over the Epic. We did eat at Giovanni's for lunch one day on the Oasis, and it was the best $15 we have ever spent for an extra restaurant. Norwegian has so many extra fee restaurants, and even the ice bar cost to go into. If you are seriously considering a Norwegian cruise, I would suggest any ship over the Epic. There are many posts about the terrible design of the ship. It was hard to get around on, and the entertainment venues were choppy and it was hard to find seats.

If you've never experienced the Oasis class, the ship is an adventure in itself. We loved it, and look forward to sailing on her sister Allure some day. I would highly recommend Oasis over the Epic, or any ship over the Epic for that matter. Enjoy!

I have cruised both Epic and the Oasis. We weren't able to get those Posh passes, even though we were in the first boarding group. There was no room on the pool decks unless you were up at dawn. Ended up spending $199 each for a week long spa pass, which was incredible, albeit expensive. The Solarium area on the Oasis and Freedom class ships is our favorite area of the ship and I feel will fill that "Posh" need very nicely. I also felt as though there was much more room on the Oasis than on the Epic. We LOVED the Oasis and did not enjoy the layout of the Epic. We didn't really feel there was a need for a "Posh" area on the Royal ships as there was plenty of room at the Solarium and we are not early risers. Enjoy! Hope you enjoy Royal as much as we do!

Just off the Epic cruise March 15-22nd. We were booked in an interior room and knew we probably wanted to try to get Posh passes and if not those, Spa passes. First time on Norwegian, but we wanted Posh or Spa as I had read that the pool deck is nuts on sea days, which it was, as well as on port days when people dropped their stuff off on chairs before they left to go to the port...not kidding...and no staff moved anything. We were in boarding group 1, and we practically RAN to customer service to get Posh passes, but they were sold out by a huge group that beat us to the front of the line. So, we decided to try the spa pass, which never did sell all the way out. BEST DECISION of our cruising life! We would have hated the cruise otherwise. We weren't sure about spending $398 for the week, but it was worth it! Just get there early, and yes, there were still passes available and it was a sold out cruise. Good luck and enjoy!

The ranger cookies are the BEST! Not sure if those are what everyone is referring to as coconut cookies, but what they have labeled as ranger cookies are great. Delish!

I get motion sick in the car, travel, etc, but LOVE to cruise. Have found the perfect solution for me is one Bonine in the morning and a capsule of Ginger Root. Has worked like a charm! Bonine is a preventative, to be taken prior to getting sick, but have found ginger to work before and during any motion sickness. Also, if you start to get nauseous from motion sickness, get something in your stomach, even if you may not feel like it. And I dislike green apples, but they also help an upset stomach from motion. I've never felt any drowsiness from Bonine, but did with the patch. Good luck!

Richard Spacey....Best Cruise Director EVER!

I suffer from motion sickness and have found that one a day Bonine along with a capsule of ginger does the trick for me. The patch and other meds make me sleepy, and everyone is different. If you get motion sickness during the cruise, green apples and ginger.... and make sure you've got something in your stomach, which is easy to do on a cruise!

Barry was just a guest with his 7 yr. old son Brandon. When Solstice found out he had booked the cruise two weeks before we sailed, they invited him to be a part of the "entertainment". I asked Christina, one of the cruise director's staff and she told me that before his Thursday night show. He did a few performances/presentations/q & a sessions. It was fun to see him on stage and then run into him on the ship as another passenger. He even spent time playing tag with his son in the family pool one afternoon.

Ship -Solstice

Deck - 6

Cabin # - 6158

Class – 2C

Starboard or Port Side - Starboard

Bed near?(balcony or bath) – Bath

Connecting cabin, no noise from hall, only banging of next door shutting and some conversational noise through the walls, otherwise quiet.

Balcony View - Classified partially obstructed, orange life boats at the foot of the balcony floor. No other obstructions to the horizon, but looking down you see the life boats and deck 5. All balconies in this section of the ship look down on the same thing, regardless of the floor number and class. There is no looking at the water. Cabins next to us had big white posts holding the lifeboats, but nothing in front of our balcony.:)

Balcony Size? Normal or oversized for class? - angled, but normal size

Was wind a problem? No

If an aft cabin, was soot a problem? N/A

It is located near the front elevators, which was great! Close to pools, theater and casino. Had to walk to the other side of the ship for food. I liked the location!!! Room was kept very neat, huge shower, not bad getting into the closet with the room set up. Overall, a nice room.