Dame@sea

its also good enough for the ships officers!! They were always stopping by to grab a cup. I think its the best coffee on the ship including the atrium!

I plan to work on my travel journal in the lounge, so good coffee is great and men in uniform is just a bonus!

Thank you so much. One more reason for me to be excited for Epic Adventure!

How is the quality of the coffee from the machine in the studio lounge? Is the room service coffee good? I like a good smooth cup of coffee and since I don't really drink cocktails, I'm willing to pay a little bit extra for a good cup of coffee on a cruise. Thanks.

Thank you for the answer and the photos! :)

Long time lurker and seldom poster here,

Is the outside deck on The Epic thermal suite open the entire time that the thermal suite is open or do they close it at sundown?

Thanks,

I selected the excursion credit package. I'm not a big drinker, my cruise is very port intensive and as a solo cruiser I want to do the ship's excursions because they guarantee that I won't get left behind in port if the tour is late. That perk made the most sense to me. But for someone who just wants to hang out by the pool with a drink or wants to try all of the specialty dinning venues they might pick a different package.

As a former restaurant manager, it seems that NCL is trying to get food waste under control.

My restaurant had a salad bar and it's very frustrating, when clearing tables to see full plates of food left untouched. The guests paid their $7.99 for the salad bar so they had the mind set of "it's free, I can take as much as I want and it doesn't matter if I waste it." I wouldn't care if the guests took and ate seven plates of food. Most land restaurants are on a very small margin of profit, so waste drives us crazy.

I can see passengers on holiday having this same "it's free" mentality. I've seen posts here that say "order as much as you want. It's free." I'm sure that when the room service was free, many (intoxicated) people would order food and not eat it because "it's free." Passengers taking food from the buffet, but not eating it because "it's free."

The reasons some places "nickel and dime" their patrons is because the patrons are wasteful. How much ketchup do you take when it's free vs when you are charged for it?

A cruise ship is a floating restaurant with an extra burden. Not only do they need to plan and purchase the food for a week, they also need to pay for the fuel to hall the tons of food around from port to port. Every ton they don't have to load on the ship will save them money and fuel.

Now I'm sure I'm going to get flamed for this, but ask yourself, "Can you afford to take a holiday?" If the answer is yes, then you are a lucky minority on this big blue planet. Stop complaining that and just be grateful that you have a choice on when and where you are going to eat.

Thanks everyone!

I was on the fence about Playa Mia. I think I want to do the cooking class, but since that port is toward the end of the cruise I was going to wait and see if I made a friend who might want to explore together.

I've finally booked a studio on The Getaway for next April and got the awesome excursion credit promo. As a woman traveling alone, I had planned to do my excursions through the ship anyway as a safety net against being left behind in port. This is my first cruise but I'm a seasoned traveler. I've traveled all over the US and Europe on my own, but there I don't run the risk of my hotel leaving without me, if I'm late getting back. :)

So how do other solo travelers handle the excursions and ports? I'm going to GSC, Ocho Rios, George Town and Cozumel. Any tips or tricks for these ports?

I'm totally new to cruising and as a single traveler, I'm drawn to NCL for the studios. I'm really interested in Getaway, but I've also been looking at the not even built yet Escape. It seems they are going to have the same itinerary.

http://escape.ncl.com/#itineraries

Getaway was built with a Miami theme to have a permanent home in Miami, so does it seem possible that Escape will also have the home port of Miami? Does anyone have any inside information about NCLs plans for Escape?

Escape has the studio rooms on three floors, so that must mean they are selling well. Cheers for the solo adventurer! :)

Thank you for the quick reply and the answer that I wanted to read. I did notice that Blue Man Group has been on Epic since she started her tour, but I thought that might be because it is a suitable show for a multi-lingual audience and Epic spends time in Europe.

How often does NCL change the big shows on their ships? I've never cruised but I'm looking at Getaway because of the studios and Legally Blond but I won't be able to get away :rolleyes: until next year. I'm a major theatre geek and this isn't a show I've seen but I've very interested in it.

Thanks