Day Tour of the Epic

Hi all! I had the opportunity to tour the Epic in Port Canaveral in Feb. I usually write trip reports of my experiences but since this was just a day tour I am only going to post the segment about our tour on the ship...it is in my trip report form though.

A little background.... I had a conference in Orlando at Universal Studios in Feb. I arrived a few days early to do some other things and then asked NCL if it would be possible to tour the Epic while down there. They finally gave me the final OK the Wed. before. A friend/co-worker was coming with me to tour.

You will see references to DCL (Disney cruise line) and also some pictures of the Fantasy. We are both HUGE Disney fans and love DCL. That being said, I have sailed NCL 3 times and have enjoyed all my cruises on their ships.

I am going to start my review right from the morning which helps give the details as how the day progressed. We had been staying at Springhill Suites at Flamingo Crossings near Disney World but today we were checking out and moving on.

I hope you enjoy the review....it will be picture heavy.

May 25, 2017, Saturday

It was my last full day before our work event started…but we still had work plans today. I got up early and got showered and ready.

I went outside and thought……Wow, it’s pretty foggy today.I was a little shocked. I have never been to Florida really when the fog was heavy, though I know it happens and I always love seeing pictures of people at Disney with thick fog trying to capture the castle or some other icon.

I met up with Lenora and we got some breakfast and got packed up and I took my bags out to the van.

Going through the pool area was the fastest route.

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I believe I pulled the van around the front to pick up the rest of the bags and Lenora and then we programed our phones and headed off. We were actually leaving a little later than planned and Lenora was worried about that, but I knew we would be fine.

We chatted away as we drove and before long we could seethe ships as we approached. Now we were heading to tour the NCL Epic……but the Fantasy was also in port….and I may have been a bit more excited about that. LOL.

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We pulled up and told them we were coming to tour the Epic and we were not sure where to park. We got lucky and they directed us to just park in the employee parking lot. Yay!!!!

Hello Epic!

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And of course….Hello Fantasy!

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We had to walk a little ways, but it wasn’t bad.

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As we walked to the terminal and tried to figure out where to check in at we noticed that people were still getting off the ship. I made a comment that that was kind of late for them to be getting off. It was about 10:15ish and usually they will try to have the ship cleared out by then. We walked up and asked someone where to go and they pointed us to someone else. Lots of confusion and no one seemed to know anything.

We finally found someone who told us to wait there and a lady said she had a group touring today as well and to just stick with them. We found out she was a BDM (Business Development Manager) for NCL and she had a group coming in by bus. She said that because of the fog this morning, the ship was just starting to disembark as it only arrived just a bit ago. Aha! That explains why people were coming out….and I never even put 2 and 2 together when I saw the thick fog this morning. Well that sucks! But there was nothing we could do abouti t. The BDM was a little gruff, but I think that was just her personality. We chatted with her a bit and then just kind of waited to be called. Usually they take touring groups in a back way but she insisted on going in the regular way as it is so much easier and they said yes, but then they had to go search for our names to be sure we were on the list as well. I am really glad we found this lady as we would have never known to find this back way area to board on our own.

After a bit, the tour bus group arrived….they had been stuck in traffic trying to get into the port…sounds like we arrive right before the backup started…and once they all gathered we were let into the Terminal. We had to have our name checked off a list and hand over our passports till we got back off the ship. Lenora and I were told we had to have passports to get on, but I was pretty sure we could have with a license and birth certificate and sure enough most of the bus group just has a drivers license.

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The Terminal was pretty empty, so we took pictures.

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I was surprised at how nice it was. In my experience every other Terminal I havebeen in besides Disney’s one in Port Canaveral has had more of a warehouse feelto it.

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You could see the walkway to get off the ship through that window and every so often we would see groups of people getting off.

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We were told we would be going in through the Haven Entrance and eventually would be called to wait in there..oh good! They have snacks in there!

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But somewhere along the line someone changed their mind and we never did go in there. Dang!

They had us all sit in an area and we took up a couple of rows of chairs. They asked that we stayed together so that when we were called we could easily make our way on. We would be the first group on, but it could be an hour or 2 yet. UGH!.

We used the bathroom and made camp in some seats.

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The majority of the bus tour group were elderly people,mainly women with a few men in tow. We started talking with a couple of the ladies who were friends and they were hysterical. They were starving and they were going to have a sit down lunch and they couldn’t wait to get on. I knew the feeling. I was getting hungry too.

They eventually started letting the rest of the passengers into the terminal too and it became very full and loud.

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We just made the best of it.

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We decided once we boarded we would head to the buffet and get lunch. We already knew we would not be able to see all the rooms now and time on the ship was not going to be nearly as much as we originally planned as they told us we had to be off the ship by a certain time (I believe it was 3)

Every so often we would see more people go through the hallway to get off the ship. And then it started being 1 or 2 here and there. Seriously? You are hours late to get in port and you still can’t get your butt off the ship in a timely fashion. One lady was walking so slow like she hadn’t a care in the world…then her slower friend comes up behind her and they stop every so often to take selfies. Good grief!

It was also really hot in the terminal. I thought that was strange and wondered why they hadn’t turned the air on or up with so many people in there. It was hot before all the people arrived. After a bit, one of the ladies from the bus group started to not feel well and before you knew it she passed out. NCL seemed slow to respond but I guess they hadn’t gotten word, but a couple of passengers were EMT’s and they helped her more than anything. One NCL person did tell someone else to go and be sure the air is on and up as it was way too hot in here. I felt bad for the poor lady.

Soon after that we got the OK to be let on the ship. I later read that others were mad that “some group” got to board before the Haven Guest did. LOL. I am sure they were only minutes behind us.

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We were given 2 names to ask for to help us get set up.We had been asking for these 2 people since we arrived, only to be told they were on the ship. If we had not found this group, we really would have been lost trying to get on and where to go.

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This is where the boarding picture is taken.

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With NCL you board outside and not into the Atrium like you typically do with Disney. We made our way and just followed the group.

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And we finally found the person we were supposed to meetup with. She gave a list of rooms and room keys for each room. She told us to go to the Haven first as those people would have access to their rooms shortly…so we headed to the elevator and told the man manning it we were headed that way to tour it and he took us up.

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For those that don’t know, The Haven is like the concierge type rooms on NCL. The rooms are nicer, they get extra perks, and they usually have a private pool and inmost cases a whole private area as to where their rooms are. They are pricey, but some of the perks you get are worth it if you watch the prices. Always compare when pricing a room out because the extra cost to go to the Haven may be worth it.

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The Epic is a somewhat newer ship, so it was built with the Haven and it is really nice.

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We were told if the doors were open to the rooms we were to inspect then that meant that the passenger’s had not arrived yet.

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I don’t have my list with me (it’s in a folder somewhere)so I can’t remember each type of room, but some are more “fancy” than others.Now I will also say, that NCL’s decorating is totally different than some other lines, especially Disney. So it might not be for everyone, however the price compared to Disney is usually much cheaper.

Room #1.

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Not too bad for a cruise ship room….eh?

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You get upgraded toiletries too.

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How about waking up to that view daily?

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We wouldn’t mind being “stuck” in this room.

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Room # 2.

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Room # 3.

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Well well well….look at the view from this balcony.

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Me likey!!!!!

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And another view of the Haven pool.

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And here is a common area where you can play games or whatever you want to do.

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We really enjoyed the Haven and both of us would love to sail in this area someday. On my last NCL cruise, I was on the Jewel and I got what is called a Penthouse Suite. It was not located in the Haven, and for the most part I did not have access to the Haven, (except when we sailed to the glacier and had an invite to see it from there) but my room was bigger than most rooms and I had many of the other perks that Haven guests get…but it was at a better price. If the Haven is out of your price range, but the ship you want to sail has a penthouse suite….go for it. We still had some great perks and a super roomy room.

I'll be back to post more later....but it's time to cook dinner....

Love it! We will sail on her in March.

I ❤ the post and I look forward to seeing more!

Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk

Love it! We will sail on her in March.

Thanks. Now I think the ship has some quirks, but as long as you know going in (the bathrooms are just not for me) then you won't have any issues. otherwise it's a fantastic ship.

I ❤ the post and I look forward to seeing more!

 

Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk

Thanks

Ok, we were starting for fade away from hunger, so we went in search of the buffet. We kept getting ourselves backwards and couldn’t remember which way the ship was facing. LOL.

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Aha! Here it is.

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It wasn’t too crowded in here yet.

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Pizza was going fast, but I did find fresh pizza on the other side later.

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We found a spot to sit and loaded up our plates.

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And the view from our table.

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Lenora mentioned she would go get us drinks….um remember….we aren’t sailing…we can’t get “free” drinks….Oh yeah. But they should have some basics like lemonade and tea and she found something and brought us each a glass.

We enjoyed lunch and went up for 2nds and it really hit the spot. There is something about vacation where you get a “vacation stomach” and you just need to eat every 2-3 hours. Even on work trips!

We finished up and got ready to leave so we could see just a bit more before we had to get off the ship when we hear“Lenora!!!!!” It was the people she had sat by on the plane. Holy cow! What a small world. They seemed really nice and she chatted with them a few minutes and then we headed off.

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We still had a list of regular rooms to visit but with such limited time we did want to see some of the common areas as well.

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Such a beautiful view.

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