EPIC March 14 to 17- Our first NCL Cruise

This was our (wife and I- mid 50's- but don't act it) first cruise with NCL (6th overall) and I have learned alot from other's posts- so I want to do some bullet points of what questions I have previously seen. We can only do vacations during certain times due to the dang jobs, so we choose from what's available during those time frames and try to do different lines or ports.

Staying near the Port- our previous cruises have all been in October and i usually make reservations, but this time wasn't sure how far we'd get so skipped making plans- MAJOR Mistake! everything was sold out- ended up in a smoking king (non smokers) on Merritt Island- guy was very nice and actually cut me a pretty good deal since it wasn't what we wanted in spite of it being his last room ( two people called while I was paying and he told them he was sold out) He said to always have a reservation in March and April!

Embarkation- we chose 10 to 10:30 as our check in time, but arrived around 9:30, parked, walked up as they opened the doors, check in complete at 10:00. Were then told it would be around 12 before we could board, no big deal, got choice of seats, near plug ins for phone, and Boarding Group 1. Called Group 1 around 11:30 and were eating lunch and having a Bloody Mary at Sheehans by 12:00. They do check your carry on bags if you want in the Bliss Lounge (i think). Made reservations for Shows in the Headliners for the rest of the cruise

UDP- would give us 2 drinks per card, never gave us anything to sign, usually didn't have to wait too long, does work on Great Stirrup Cay

Spring Break- yes a bunch of kids, young and college, none were too bad- the out of control groups were Moms on Women's Long Weekend Cruise! good for them!

Specialty Dining Pkg- we spoke to several people on board who had Spec Dining but didn't make any reservations ahead of time, they were not happy because there was slim to none left- i had read this and made reservations pretty much as soon as they were available. We did Teppanyaki- very good, Epicurean the next night, food was good show was very good and Cagney's the last night- also very good. Was curious how Cagney's would work since it is a la carte' but we ordered what we wanted, the bill totalled it all up and then 100% comped. Epicurean was a small upcharge that I paid when I did the reservations.

Garden Cafe- we ate there for most of the other meals- i thought it was pretty good, enjoyed it much better than what we ate on the Oasis last October.

Room- balcony on the 10th floor in the back behind the life boats so we could see the water and still near the elevators (room 10280- there's a You Tube video with a young English girl- i think- giving a tour if you want). strange layout, very little room, sink basin is tiny and usually made a mess-

Ship- I'm usually pretty good with directions and finding my way around but was lost the entire time on decks 5,6, and 7 and never did "get my bearings"

Steward- never introduced themselves, not even sure who it was, but room was made up, towels exchanged, and cleaned every time we were out, which is fine with us

Casino- $10 craps was lowest minimum, was fairly busy, $25 table was empty first 2 nights and then it was $10, lowest minimum Blackjack was $10, I think Roulette was $5, wife reports that the machines were "stingy"

Shows- Production Shows were light years ahead of Carnival, and I thought were also better than RCCL, The Beatles show was a blast and Howl at the Moon was great and a lot of fun, saw the female comedians (Julie and Allison) and thought they were both pretty good. Didn't get a chance to go to the Glow Party or the 80's Party.

Disembarkation- did the self assist- left the room at 7:30 and was on the interstate by 8. Did see multiple County officers with people pulled over right outside the port.

Overall- would i do this cruise again? Sure would!

Thank you for your well written report.

Keith

Glad you had fun!

Thank you for taking the time to share your experiences. We have been on the Epic several times and love the ship.

thanks for all the details - sounds like you really enjoyed the trip!