Ohio boomer

Future EPIC passenger - there was one game on in the late afternoon in the Atrium….but don’t count on them having any type of game on as it being NYE, there will be more going on in the Atrium and few folks interested in the game. O’ Sheehan’s is your best bet…and I scoured the ship attempting to find a game or coerce a bartender to show it. There will be lots of fans for both teams in the bar so it was fun. Seemed odd with my college colors on yelling at the screen with fine tailored men and women dressed to the nines walking past for NYE. Have a good cruise. We have been on several NCL cruises and we really enjoyed this one. I hope your team wins.

I literally just got off the Epic 2 days ago and had the 11:55am Jet Blue flight back to Orlando. As long as you get off the boat before 8:00am…. It’s easy…. We got off at 7:30…. Literally walked off, and straight to a taxi and was at the airport and to the gate by 8:15…… the. Had 3 1/2 hours before our flight ,)….

All dailies as promised. A few shots of some menus….. they always change during the trip but are about 90% the same each day. Plus….. a pic of a nice selection of men’s fancy straw hats…. 😉 I posed the back page of each daily as well so the moms on this forum can see when the kids programs are available. Plus the pic with the current ships staff. Happy Cruising.

Ksss2013 - Yes…. There was a certain part of the audience that whispered the entire time and a few folks got up and left. It is out there, but very well done and quite a show production. Some final thoughts before my flight home. Turns out, the ship was almost completely full. (Confirmed by a cruise staff member) Remember though that this was the 9 day NYE cruise which typically sells out early, sails full, and is more expensive than the 7 day cruises during the months of January /February. CPT - with a full boat, if you decide to disembark at say, 8:00am - 10:00am and just can’t get enough of those Garden Cafe breakfasts and want one more “free one” before you leave, prepare to have long lines exiting the ship. DO NOT expect to have your breakfast brought to your cabin the last day at the time you have slated it for….. LOTS of activity is going on right outside your cabin when you leave with cleaning crews, etc. Our room service breakfast did not come this morning during the slated time. The earlier you leave before 8:00am, you generally will walk right off and into a taxi as we did. There was a long line of taxis outside waiting to take passengers away, it’s just snaking your way off the boat with packed elevators and passengers with their steamer trunks attempting leave that’s the challenge. Again, for all, I’ve saved all of the dailies and will post them once I get back home and have full access to 5 hamster-strength internet. Thanks for cruising along with me - Ohio Boomer

Of all of the over-the-top drag Queens dancing in the Australian Outback musicals I have seen, this was the best.

JesseB….. yes…. And getting ready to watch it right now 😉

All purchase liquor that was “collected” can be retrieved on the last day of your cruise, between 6-9:00pm, on the pool deck (deck 15) at the towel station.

Just finished Saint Martin and Sint Maartin. Lovely island with much shopping. The wife was on a journey to find a certain piece of clothing. Looking for an “authentic” island creation she found an authentic Saint Martin piece, designed in Mexico, made in China, and sold to her by a man from India. (Sigh)…. For liquor appreciators, there are many liquor stores that have quite decent stocks of certain brands that can be a challenge to find in the US at any price. I found a bottle of “Blantons” (Gulmohar’s whiskey Paradise) I had been looking for and the bar right across the street from this Liquor store will sell you a shot of Pappy to drink if you’ve never tasted…. No… they absolutely will not sell you a bottle at any price or even the empty bottle … but you can taste it….. and if you have ask me the price…. You shouldn’t be drinking Pappy. Bringing your liquor back onboard involves checking it (after security on the boat) with the liquor confiscation person (my name), that will store your bottle of liquor until the last night of your cruise, then you can go and pick it up and get it packed for when you leave the following morning. Fun fact about Saint Martin and Sint Maartin. Seems the French and the Netherlands had some disputes over the island and decided to split it with the French getting the larger piece. The Netherlanders we none too pleased with this and decided to put an extra “a” in their name for their side of the island just to irritate the French. Totally made up fact, but I’m running with it.

As a matter of fact yes…. I did detect some rust between Spice H2O and the pool area yesterday morning that had appeared from somewhere?….and wondered what it was?…. Must be what you are referring to. As always on the Epic, it was cleaned up within an hour.

All: Confirmed whiskeys available with the “Standard drink package” - Jack Daniels - Black Label - Jameson - Glenmorangil Tanquerie (sorry sp?) also included as well as various vodkas and the like. DCGuy64 - I consider Bud Light a “spacer” 😉 I’ve taken pics of the backs of the bars showing what is generally available so everyone can look at the pics once I post and not on hamster internet. Answering these questions has been like a scavenger hunt and yet one more reason to visit every…… single….. bar. Ships Crew question from earlier - I have taken a pic and will post of the current crew which was shown on a video screen in the hallway of the Garden Cafe. Hopefully that will give you the information you seek. Side note - I did not win at this mornings “Jackpot Bingo”. Frankly I had been counting on supplementing my retirement income with this. Fortunately - I see a possible retirement side hustle as a “pothole installer” as many of the islands seem to require these every 10 feet. Or the equivalent in metrics for our Canadian readers, 5 Kilos (estimated by an American with the typical American understanding of the metric system). Today is St. Maarten and St. Martin….. the island so nice they named it twice!

Vacation44….. yes Barbados…. Carlisle Beach is where your excursion ends. The beach where you end up is nice…. But has the typical “vendors” selling you all sorts of trinkets, cab rides, etc. to-be-expected at many of these types of beaches, none were overly intrusive. Also - only draft beers I can find are at O’Sheenhans and they are Bud Light and Stella. A Goose Island IPA is about as decent of a pint as I’ve found (bottle)…. there are your other typical light-ish beers in bottles as well they have underneath Heineken, Corona, etc.

Vacation44….. yes Barbados…. Carlisle Beach is where your excursion ends.

Spenecer - The onboard internet hamsters are still tired. I would give it one out of five hamsters. We have the unlimited internet as you mention, ought it for both of us. Expensive…. Yes…. Somewhat worth it. We brought our iPads as well and since you can only have one device at a time of each account…. You need to log out of your phone… then log into your iPad… and the process is not the most straightforward simple turning off the Wi-Fi on your phone does not log you out of the NCL system…. You need to manually log yourself out on the app, then log back into your other device. Now…. All that being said…. Emails and texts are easy for the some hamster to handle…. If you attempt to stream or YouTube or anything that requires bandwidth…. Well… you may want to wait till you get ashore. We have ATT and their $10 unlimited per day per device can be worth it. So…. As soon as we hit shore, ATT takes over and it’s all the data you want….. at slightly faster speeds …. Somewhat faster than the Epic….. think 2 hamster speed. Shore Excursion review - (NCL) swim with the turtles and beach day. This is our third snorkling day on this trip, and we rated this the highest. Boat wasn’t the nicest, “marina” we left from was nothing….. but…. We get to the first turtle swimming site… and turtles were everywhere…. And relatively close. One even surfaced just maybe 10 feet from me and was cool. A VERY large stingray was near us as well with a lot of oooohs….and aaahs…. From the swimmers. .Next dive site of a sunken ship had lots of fish to see and then they plunk you down on a beach , give you a drink of your choice, then you can buy your own food at all sorts at food trucks. Wife says it was the best out of the three trips we’ve taken for one simple fact….. saw cool turtles, rays, and fish up close… I did find that they won’t let you snorkel while wearing a cools men’s straw hat… but in my mind…. I was wearing it the entire time.

CPT (Cruise Pro Tip), when arriving in Barbados. You may dock at a pier that is far away from the check-in facility. (Which the Epic did today). You will want to allow extra time debarking as a shuttle service was needed to get cruisers to the facility where tours depart.

Trish4bruce, Crander and others - I will attempt to find the bourbons included in the “base” drinking packages, as well as the upgraded package. One unlisted excursion that is not found on NCL site is found in every port called “Carribean Taxi/bus ride” Description: Once stepping aboard your brand new yet seemingly covered by every inch in dents and scrapes bus/taxi, you will be delighted by your driver and/or your guide. Careening wildly over roads that are ridiculously narrow, potholed, and battered, you will wonder if this is one of the islands that “drives on the wrong side”. It’s does not matter what side you drive on! as any lane at any time will suffice. Marvel at how adept your driver is at dodging pedestrians, bicycles, local police, chickens, and other meaningless objects that come into sight. While this alone may have you intrigued, an added bonus is the drivers starting of from a dead stop, accelerating as fast as possible, travel approximately 1-200 yards, he will then notice, a person, wife, girlfriend, dog he knows, flash his lights twice, toot his horn twice, then slam on the brakes, yell something unintelligible out the window, wait for the other wife/girlfriend/person/dog to yell or bark back at them, then you are on your way. This process continues throughout your entire ride no matter the length. So sit back, and enjoy the ride as you can confidentially know that after this excursion, your spouse will never mention “how you drive” again. For those that wondered…. The new hat look has taken effect. I now have a slight Norwegian accent, and my “sea legs” and in fine form.

Today had us take the NCL “Beach day” in St. Lucia which was a 3-ish hour trip to Rodney Beach north on the island. as opposed to our other days of taking a catamaran onto and into the water with then drinks and food….. we decided to mix it up and go to a beach where we walked into the water… then had drinks and food. I feel we are really stretching ourselves. My expectation of the beach day: Wife and I all dressed in white running down the beach every now and then leaping into the air laughing while looking at each other then someone takes our picture. Reality: Me dressed in my swankiest Costco attire finding something in the sand saying “hey what’s this?”…. OK beach but the NCL folks all around us were fun and talkative so that made for a good time….. and plenty of time for the wife to finish a good book she had….

Cycling_fan - The Epic for this cruise left out of “Pan American Pier 1 East”. Google maps can show two NCL piers but this is where the Epic left for the 12/29/22 sailing. This is the pier located (somewhat) near the Sheraton.

Vacation44 - yes… the above dining times are from this trip, Day 2, and are essentially the same most every day. As I sit in my balcony - having just finished breakfast and having a cup of coffee… I’m watching the Epic pivot 180 degrees in this impossibly small harbor (always an impressive sight) while watching the “harbor pilot” boat up to the side, jump off, disappear inside, and hustle to the bridge. The air is warm, small houses of all colors are sprinkled over the hillsides, and I think this is the day I can finally pull off that look of a man wearing a fancy straw hat. (Wife says no). Lastmango212 - thanks for sharing. You more than anyone knows to soak up life while we’re here. Eat a little too rich of food, have that extra drink (no one is driving), sing along to songs a little too loud and please….. buy that fancy straw hat you are SURE you’ll look great in.

Vacation44 - as for the entertainment, there does seems to be plenty of options if this is a 7 day cruise. This is the 2 day longer NYE cruise so some things are repeated. During the nights you will have: - Priscilla queen of the desert - Burn the floor - The Epic Beatles (3 different shows) - Howl at the Moon - 70’s 80’s lounge singer that plays in Headliners - music in the Manhattan Room - various duo’s that perform in several bars across the ship. - pool deck bands that play at night and all throughout the day. - the comedian at Headliners - Karaoke in Bliss Lounge - dance parties in the Bliss lounge. - Casino - Bingo - all sorts of games being played in the Atrium. - and my favorite is an hour long session on the “history of the wristwatch”….. now who can turn THAT Down! (No…. I am not making this up…. You will see on the dailies I will post). I had assumed a person named “Timex” started it all. So…. IMHO the entertainment is OK for this trip…. And this (unusual for NCL) itinerary (Southern Carib). However if you have been on the Breakaway or such, those even larger boats do tend to have a few more options. After a long day in the sun, and on a catamaran, having beverages all day , having a great meal, and then taking in one of the above, we usually find that’s a fairly full day… but there is always something going on that will take you till midnight if you really want non-stop till you drop things to do. Once I post all dailies, you can see any and all options that were listed for this cruise . Again… all just my humble opinions. Just finished snorkeling in Grenada looking at the underwater sculptures. If you decide to book this trip, I recommend taking an early morning time as the water will be less murky. Roxette - your knowledge of current maritime shipbuilders is commendable… thank you for your update. This is what I get from receiving information from other cruisers who also have unlimited beverage service…

Day 5 - (Grenada today ). Hey…. This whole cruising thing is starting to take hold. I woke to the sounds of waves, beautiful sunrise at sea, I swear I’ve lost weight (no) and am better looking today than yesterday… (definitely not)…. But I feel I have so I’m doing something right. We saw Burn the Floor and the Beatles at the Cavern Club last night. Burn the floor was very good. When you hear the words “ballroom dancing” don’t be afraid…. It’s a “fusion -type” of dance that incorporated all sorts of dancing, even some rock music and the crowd ate it up. The “Epic” Beatles (Name of the band, get it?)…. At the “Cavern Club” were very good as well. All ages, singing along, dancing. They basically do three shows through the week…. The “early years”, then “touring” then “Sargent Peppers”…. We saw Touring last night. TIP - if you’ve read back through this forum and saw a recommendation to show up 30 minutes early to get a seat… last night you would have been standing the whole show. This is a VERY small venue…. Maybe 150 people. I’d recommend to grabbing a few drinks…. Get there 45 minutes early, find your seats and talk amongst yourselves… Dining - yes…. Make your reservations for all of the restaurants is best. You can do it on the NCL app or many other ways. TIP - if you show up at a “sold out” restaurant when it first opens (usually 5:30) they have always let us in… and we are in / out in 45min - 1hour…. So if you’ve been enjoying the unlimited beverage package a lot…. And have forgotten to make a reservation, you can usually get in. Gambling - nothing was busy…. At all. Table stakes are as low as $10-15 for BJ and $10 craps. Tables were open everywhere. Epic the ship possible fact - learned from a random couple that had been on the Epic when it was new. The builder of this ship built one…. Then went bankrupt. So the Epic is literally a one-of-kind design and unique. Granted the newer boats since then have ship design figured out better then the Epic so it’s not really a “NCL designs their boats strange thing”….just the nature of shipbuilding. I also learned that the coffee served onboard is also used to jump start the engines due to its powerful punch.

JesseB and others…. If you are a Haven person…. Walk to the front of the embarcation line…. And to the right…. There is a small sign that has a separate line for you…. You drop your bags…. Then go inside to wait….. and take care of your papers. You still may not be let onboard until they give the “all clear”…. But at least no wait in the miserable line. ksss2013 - your are correct…. Never doubt Google maps…. The road to embarkation is a 2 lane road…. No sidewalks… and you drag your bag some ways on the “berm”…. Not ideal for sure…. But once you see the line…. We knew we’d made the right decision… side note… booked the Delphi water sports catamaran snorkling in Aruba for $70 per person…. And was good…. All of these types of services are generally good but I booked through TripAdvisor and was easy as can be….2 snorkels… Atilla wreck and another site. Gave us some food and booze and was a good 3 hour trip. just got off the NCL “culture and sites?” Tour of Bonair…. Something to do as we’re only in port for about 6 hours and was not good…. Do something else.

Crander - The Epic has very few options for a “decent pint”…. few draft options and what you will find are an uninspired (think Heineken or a light beer of some type). I was able to find a Goose Island IPA at O’Sheehan’s. I will personally attempt to sample each beer…… just for you…. And report back. There is no brewpub or microbrew on board….. lots of bottle options though.

NYE - for those of you wondering, yes… you can watch the US college Football playoffs in O’Sheehans. That had both final games on. Mostly soccer is on at all other times as that more accurately reflects what the majority of cruisers (on this cruise) will want to see. NYE - is my most disliked holiday. But… for cruising, they have something for everyone that night…. Bands…. Food specials, comedy Clubs, their Beatles band did a special show…. You can stay up as late or as early as you want. Something for everyone. And…. As usual, the women all looked fabulous….and beautiful…. And the men looked like we are going to Applebees….

Lastmango212. - (were there really 211 previous usernames before of this spelling?), Embarkation - it’s lousy… so… as I said earlier, get there early and wait. First boarding times are at 11:00am I believe… and NO ONE gets on board at that time…. They didn’t even start to allow folks into the staging building until maybe 11:45?… by this time, the line was maybe 500 people long.. most of us waiting outside in the sun. By the time we boarded, the line was much longer. My recommendation is arrive early…. Know you are going to wait, and just know you will have an hour or more to stand there….. nothing you can do about it….. unless you are a “Haven person”, then you can go right in. One of the issues is getting to the pier….. this pier is near the Sheraton Hotel and the road leading to the drop off is WAY backed up. We waited 45 minutes at the Sheraton for a taxi.. only to grab an Uber…. Drive 200 yards, sit in traffic for 30 minutes and got out and walked the mile to the pier….. so…… you have been warned…. Personally, unless you are a “I have to take my entire wardrobe with me in a steamer-trunk” type of person, next time I would stay at the Sheraton and walk…. You can see the ship from the hotel. spenecer- we did not get the ultimate drink package but the “Standard” (booze) drink package. I’m a whiskey / bourbon person and am getting by with Jack Daniels. Wife is more of a Jameson person so we have no complaints. If you want say a Woodford, etc. , it’s an up charge. By the time I’ve had plenty of beer of all types during the day, I find my bourbon selection is less important in the evening….. be patient…. Be flexible…. And be on cruise time. also…. I will not be posting any more dailies until I get back….. the ships captain has called me asking me to stop posting dailies and said that every time I try to send A 5 mb file, the engine rooms strains and the ships slows….. so….

Joyous - pizza can be found in the Garden Cafe and they have veggie, cheese, pepperoni, of which the wife said were good…. Now remember though…. This is cruise ship pizza…. ice cream (hard) dozen flavors, can be found in the Garden Cafe, while the soft is easier found on the pool deck right outside the Garden Cafe on both side of the deck, right near the small outdoor dining area.