splinkaone

I believe I saw that the Epic has a 2 level casino that is open to the floors above, it also looked like there was a bar on a level above exposed to this open area. Am I mistaken? Also, does the cigarette smoke travel? On RCI one of my favorite bars is near the casino and on our last cruise the cigarette smoke was worse in the bar then the actual casino. We couldn't enjoy any of the activities, trivia, piano bar because it was so bad.

Thanks, we're booked for next February, may still change ships. The bathroom is not a deal breaker for us as long as everything else on the ship is a win. Just wish we could have the balcony divider open with the cabin next to us, like we did on RCI.

Whats with the cabin bathrooms on Epic? Opinions?

We're cruising on Epic for the first time February 2018 out of Port Canaveral, eastern Caribbean. Any tips, must do's, tips on the ship and ports (Tortola, St Thomas, Great Stirrup Cay). Can we use our Ultimate Beverage package on Stirrup Cay?

I really think it comes down to how firm a mattress you like. We have a sleep number bed at home and like a soft mattress, so the combination of the Amazon air mattress and the mattress topper made the firm mattress work out. And yes, the air mattress is pretty narrow,but it made the difference for us.

Hmm, I will have to check my cc since we returned. There were 2 large bottles of water in our cabin on a shelf, we left them there of course.

We were just on Liberty 1/22-1/29. We were planning on having the mini bar fridge emptied by our cabin steward, it was already empty and the fridge was off. We called the customer service desk thinking it was broken, and were told they no longer stock the fridge and that it now is used like a cooler if you put something already cold in it it will stay cold. Not true. They did ask us if we had medication that needed to be refrigerated, we didn't. We just asked our cabin steward to fill our ice bucket every day and kept it in the fridge, it worked pretty good. So if you need refrigeration for meds, or anything else plan accordingly.

Just off last week. We requested a topper and received and it was on the bed when we got to our cabin. The bed felt great with the topper, but after sleeping on it for 2 days our backs were killing us. If you like a firm mattress you may be fine. Fortunately I had read reviews about the hard beds and purchased these air mattresses Klymit Static sleeping pads from Amazon. Boy am I glad I did. They are lightweight and blow up with 10-15 breaths. We just put them between the mattress and the topper, it made a world of difference. I do wish they were a little wider, but they only come in one size. Yes, they are a little spendy, but we travel frequently and feel it was a good investment.

We had my time dining last week on the Liberty, we never made a reservation. There are 2 lines, one is for those with reservations, the other is for those without reservations. If you don't have a reservation and it's busy, they take your cabin number and give you a pager that works anywhere on the ship. We never waited more then 10 or 15 minutes. We have done my time dining in the past and had very good service, this cruise we found the service in the dining room to be very poor. There were no shows requiring reservations. We did find the food in the windjammer to be pretty good in that we were always able to find something we enjoyed (made to order omelettes, fresh stir fry, and COOKIES the oatmeal raisin and ranger cookies were awesome, the last sea day they had shrimp cocktail and lobster) there were items that we did not care for also, the food in the dining room was hit and miss. We did first night done right at Chops, the food was excellent. We had the filet mignon it was amazing, and the forest mushroom soup was incredible. Sorrentos always had sandwiches and salad and pizza plus a few puddings (our go to was the subway sandwich and chop salad) I didn't like the pizza at all. Promenade Cafe was good for morning coffee and pastries, they also had a few sandwiches in the evening but we never tried them. We didn't purchase the cafe select card, but if you are really picky about your coffee you might want it, we found the included coffee to be acceptable most of the time, occasionally it was mud from sitting too long. We didn't do the drink package, and we're glad we didn't. The drinks were strong so we didn't need very many, Edward at the Solarium pool bar was awesome. And I recommend the Texas Tea at sail away to start your vacay off right, ask for a little more Texas and a little less tea 😁.

2! Expecting gale force winds in Galveston too, oh joy.

I personalized our door decoration so it's less likely to be stolen.

So we found a liquor store near our hotel, any recommendations on good wines available in Texas? We are not wine snobs, my husband likes sweet whites, I usually drink a red blend (Chateu St Michelle Indian Wells Red Blend). But I do like whites on occasion. Thanks

Galveston Express, we booked online for $25 per person each way.

Anyone with any experience packing wine in their checked bags when flying? We have a couple of those sealable bubble wrap wine bags, my husband thinks they will work fine, I'm nervous they might break and leak. Any suggestions?

When did you receive your rendezvous instructions? We're 6 days out and still nothing.

We are flying in the day before (George Bush airport), staying at a hotel near the airport with a free shuttle to and from the airport. On cruise day we go back to the airport and take Galveston Express (pre booked) to the port.

Sailing Liberty next Sunday, our TA put in a request for us and I followed up with a request for a topper via email, only got an automated email saying they received it, nothing more yet. We did purchase the air mattress' because we travel often and even some hotels have terrible (to us ) beds. So hoping for a comfy bed and the air mattress will stay in the suitcase.

7! Next Sunday on Liberty!

Thank you, we sail next weekend.

I hope you don't mind a few questions. How/who was the cruise director? Did they offer the drink punch card at all during the cruise, usually day 3 or 4?

Thanks all. I did request and received from my TA my gust booking invoice from RCI. And it does show our OBC. I feel much better now.

Thanks for the tip

We booked a cruise leaving January 22 iin October of 2015 when RCI had a sale with substantial OBC, We used our regular TA who also gave us OBC. I know it doesn't usually show up until day 2. My question is, we called RCI to confirm our onboard credit and they were able to verify the purchased onboard credit from the TA but not the promotional OBC from RCI. They said only our TA could verify it, which we have several emails from the TA stating we have the credit. Is this normal, or should RCI be able to see it already? Am I worried for nothing? I'd just hate to find out on the ship that someone messed up.

Thanks everyone. We have first night done right so chops will be a bargain. Still haven't decided about Giovannis, especially after hearing all the good things about Sabor. We will be celebrating our anniversary on the last night of the cruise.

Sailing on Liberty in 2 weeks, was planning on doing Chops but have been hearing a lot of Negatives about the food lately. We have never eaten at Giovanni's or Sabor. We are doing first night done right, and will probably do a specialty restaurant on the last night (our 33rd Anniversary).

It also states on the beverage pkg page that none of the beverage packages work for Starbucks.