Yet another EPIC review!!!!!

I was going to piggy back on one of the other EPIC review threads but figured it would be unfair to the OP of those threads.

Just returned from an April 30-May 7 cruise.

A bit of a prologue, I'm not one who has any loyalty to one cruise line over another. I don't see enough benefits sailing as a "dedicated" RCCL/CCL/NCL, etc member. Plus, I do believe that it's next to impossible to have a bad time on a cruise, and that they're much more alike than different. So, as such, I won't be doing much compare and contrast with the other ships/cruise lines I've been a customer of. I sail on itinerary and price. I've never been disappointed by doing it that way. Even older ships (which I haven't sailed for awhile) are all beautiful.

Onto the review.....

Sailed with my GF. She's never cruise before. So, it was fun just to see her face lite up as we got to the pier.

Not that it matters. but we're both non-smokers. And, we had zero problems with smoking, with the only exception being when we went through the smoking section of the casino. Even then, it wasn't bad and we strolled past in less than 15 seconds. I'm not a vehement "anti-smoking" zealot. I take the attitude of co-existence. You want to smoke? That's your business. Don't blow it in my face, and we'll be fine.

We flew into Miami last Saturday. It was a direct flight, but I didn't have much wiggle room if we were somehow delayed. But, I figured it's spring. Weather is good this time of year. And, it's only a 2 hour flight (from OH). I was pretty confident. My confidence paid off. We were right on time getting into Miami.

We gathered our checked bags. Hopped in a taxi right outside the airport. $25 + tip, and 20 minutes later, we were at the pier. It was about 1:00 p.m. as we entered the embarkation center. Walked right in. No wait. Headed to the check-in agent....sign and sail cards done. We're headed onto the ship within 30 minutes of leaving MIA airport.

There was singing, dancing, just a complete party atmosphere from the crew as we stepped from the entrance onto the ship. This is a good way to start a cruise.

First, the EPIC is a beautiful ship....probably the nicest ship I've ever been on, and that includes some nice ones from CCL and RCCL. It is indeed huge. It would be about 45 minutes before our cabin was ready (10274 balcony). So, off to the Garden Cafe for a bit of lunch. First impression was the food was very fresh, as I mainly hit the salad area. The GF got a hotdog, which looked to be beefy and in a large proportion. Tough to mess up a hotdog, and this one she said was no exception.

As we walk around, we realize this is a new ship. But, a couple of things strike us. First, this ship is very, very clean. 2nd, there are an awful lot of crew that are there to greet and help (or just say "hello" as you pass).

We went for a stroll around this ship. Kids areas are, as expected, around the main pools, which do seem a bit small. Still, as an adult, I wouldn't want to hang in that area, anyway.

As mentioned, I'm not going to do much compare/contrast, but will do a bit. This is one of those times. I like all cruise lines. I believe they all put out a good product. There are minor differences, though. I enjoy RCCL as much as I do any other line. IF I have a beef with them, it's the fact that their boardwalk feels like a mall.

Epic has their shopping venues on deck 7....not the main part of the ship. And, they aren't pronounced. I like that. Not that RCCL is bad the way they do it. It's just not my preference.

Cabin's ready....we take a gander. Very nice cabin. Yes there are life boats beneath us. But, unless you're really interested in looking down all the time, it's not an issue. We looked out into the horizon....clear view all the way.

We plop on the bed....very comfy. We have no problems with the sink, toilet and shower layout. They're all separate from one another. We like it that way, as one person can be shaving or brushing teeth or using the toilet, while another person can be showering.

Everything's going in the right direction and we haven't even hit the muster drill, yet.

Will continue later.........:D

Yay another cruiser from my sailing! I look forward to reading the rest of it.

I was on your sailing. How long did it take you to get off the ship? We did walk off - over an hour and a half between getting off and getting through Customs.

Sounds like so far you are enjoying yourself.

What part of Ohio are you from? I'm from Ohio too. :)

I was on your sailing. How long did it take you to get off the ship? We did walk off - over an hour and a half between getting off and getting through Customs.

From what I've pieced together on other review threads on this sailing, it was a Customs debacle. We had same experience with the walk off option. Started waiting in the line at 8:30 or a little earlier, and didn't get into our vehicle until 10:30.

We did walk off. WE stayed on board until we HAD TO LEAVE (having breakfast in the Garden Cafe) at 9:00 a.m. Took us about 45 minutes by the time we were out of customs. I head it was a customs issue, too.

What the issue was, I'm not sure. I know one of the customs ladies directing us into the lines was a real PITA. she did more harm than good getting us through. At one point, the escalator in customs quit working, too. It was a mess in customs.

 

What the issue was, I'm not sure. I know one of the customs ladies directing us into the lines was a real PITA. she did more harm than good getting us through. At one point, the escalator in customs quit working, too. It was a mess in customs.

Did she have dark hair pulled back? There was one that I wanted to kill too!

Yes, we heard that there were only half the customs agents available.

Had that not happened - disembarkation would have been great. Wish that all cruiselines handled it like NCL.

Sounds like so far you are enjoying yourself.

 

What part of Ohio are you from? I'm from Ohio too. :)

Hi Mitsu....I'm from a northern suburb of Cincinnati. How about you?

A word about the cabin. I know I've read some people don't like the layout and the sink, and the toilet. Frankly, we didn't have any problems with any of it. Unless you're really used to filling up a big sink full of water to do....well....whatever you need to do, it's fine. I brushed my teeth over it, and shaved over it....no problems at all.

My GF used the mirror by the bed to put on makeup as it was closer to the natural light of the balcony door. So, that worked perfectly for her. The shower is big enough for two (yes, we had to prove it to ourselves ;)).

The bed is really comfortable and was oversized vs my queen bed at home. There are cabinets galore for storage. If you sail in a balcony cabinet on the EPIC, make certain to try to open any flat surface you see, as most revealed storage space behind them.

We could make the room as cold, or as warm as we wanted it, at any time. So, ventilation is great. I've stayed in a suite on Carnival. The balcony room on the EPIC was every bit as good (sans a bath tub).

If you're into watching TV (as we did every morning while showering or shaving) since I found out the U.S. finally got to bin laden while we were cruising), it's a nice HD flat screen (SAMSUNG, I believe). You can review your charges at any time, make restaurant reservations, make excusrion or show reservations, too. You can even see a map of the ship's course.

The muster drill is what it is. Nothing really to report about it except we did it and it didn't take long.

We had not received our luggage yet after the muster drill so we went to the sail away party. We actually were about 45 minutes to an hour late getting under way. I heard the Captain come over the PA announcing our tardiness, but didn't hear the reason.

No matter, we were headed to the party by the pools either way...and what a sail away party it was. Met some great people, at all of the pools, including Spice. Drank....well....more than we should have. Danced our tails off. When we were finally under way, we did it all again.

Fact is, it was 10:00 p.m. by the time we realized we hadn't eaten dinner, and were swaying (not because of rough seas, either). I do recall it was a grand sunset, but only because I have pictures of it on my camera.

Since we really didn't know our way around the ship yet, we were like the blind leading the blind. We went up and down the elevators, peaking outside every floor to see what was there. Finally, we settled on the "Noodle Bar". It was very, very good. But, don't ask me what we had.

I had this brain storm that it was time for me to head to the casino. Fortunately, my GF appealed to what little sense I possessed at the moment and asked me "do you really think you're going to win anything right now?"

"Probably not!"

We then realized we hadn't even checked to see if our luggage was delivered. It was. Probably had been there for several hours as it was 11:30 by the time we headed back to the cabin.

GF wanted to get organized. I procrastinated and sat on the balcony for a bit, listening to my iPhone and my newly acquired blue tooth speakers. While I asked her NOT to unpack my bag, being as diligent as she is, she did it anyway. bless her soul.

We collapsed into bed!

Great first day!

Will post more later!

Hi Mitsu....I'm from a northern suburb of Cincinnati. How about you?

I'm from Columbus (Grove City actually which is the southern part of Columbus outskirts of 270, but still within the same county). Hi neighbor! :D

Thanks for your review. I really enjoyed reading the initial segments. I look forward to the other parts. We were on the Epic last year. I would like to go again. We felt like we did not get a chance to explore everything.

Thanks for your review!! Looking forward to more!

Hey - I'm enjoying your review! I had the same feelings about posting one of my own - I'm at the point where I'd basically be agreeing with everything folks say (although I hated the beds - they were hard as rocks and I didn't sleep well all week. Of course, we had spent the night before the cruise at the Marriott Biscayne Bay, which had the most comfortable bed either of us ever slept in, so maybe Epic's suffered a bit in comparison.)

Keep it coming!

willysgrandma....yeah, the customs agent with her hair pulled back was really more of a hindrance than a help. She held up Customs procedures. And yes...they were short some Customs agents. Don't know how that happened given that it couldn't have been a surprise that a huge ship would be docking, dislodging thousands of passengers at customs, right on schedule. It's not like they didn't expect us. No matter. We made it through.

Mitsu, depending on the part of Columbus, I'm about a 2 hour drive away. Close enough to be Buckeyes:D.

More cruise....

Woke up on Sunday a.m. feeling better than we had any right to. There was a knock on the cabin door. We had drawn the drapes over the balcony door, so I had no clue what time it was. A small side note, the edges of the drapes have magnets in them so they stay closed against the frame....nice touch.

Opened the cabin door and a big smiling face greeted me..."Hello Mr G, I'm Patrick, your Cabin Steward. I did not mean to bother you. I'll come back later."

"Hi Patrick....what time is it."

"It is almost 10 a.m. Mr G.".

WOW! I haven't slept that late in awhile.

While there is a coffee maker in the room, it is one of those "mini" Mr Coffee jobs. And, I'm particular about my coffee. If you've ever been to Costco or Starbucks and see those little instant coffee packets, grab them. They're so much better than hotel room (or cruise cabin) coffee. If proceeded to make some hot water, gently nudge my GF awake, wash my face, brush my teeth, and head to the Garden Cafe to get some breakfast.

I'm trying to think of anything I would have wanted that they didn't have there. There were the requisite scrambled eggs, sausages, bacon, toast, gravy, biscuits, bagels, smoked salmon, yogurt, cold and hot cereals, fruit, omelet stations, crepe stations, etc. I could go on. But, you get the picture. You can get just about anything you want. I know this is a buffet. But, it's good buffet food. The fruit is fresh. The food is hot, and prepared well.

I loaded up and took it back to the cabin, where my significant other was moving slowly, but moving nonetheless. We sat on the balcony, enjoying ourselves, our good fortune (good enough that it allowed us to enjoy such a cruise), and nibbling on breakfast.

After an hour of that, we donned our bathing suits and headed to the pools. By this time it was about 11;30. As expected, the kids pools were the most crowded. We found some chairs, but only stayed around the area for about 30 minutes as we really weren't in the mood for the whole "kid" thing just then.

We headed to Spice H20, and parked oursleves there for a couple of hours watching the big screen they had there. It's amazing to me how such a large screen, in such bright sunlight, is actually watchable, but it is.

Again, we marveled at our good fortune to be able to watch the ocean go by, while having someone serve us drinks, while watching a huge video screen, in the middle of the Caribbean.

There's a small pool at Spice. And, there are to "hot" tubs on either side of the area.

While none of the pools are big enough to swim laps in, what did peak our interest were the water slides.

The line for the biggest water slide (the one where you shoot down a tube into what can best be described as a funnel) looked pretty long. We decided that Sunday was not the day to try the water slides.

Once we had had enough sun, it was time to explore.

We went back to the cabin. Patrick had made it spic and span again. My GF said she almost felt guilty about taking a shower and messing it up again. Didn't stop her, though.

WE finally made ourselves presentable and headed to explore.

We looked at the myriad of restaurants.....Taste, Moderno, the afore mentioned Noodles, Tapanyaki, Cagney, etc. They all seemed like places we would want to eat. We also doubted we'd get to all of them.

Going to make another side note here. Not only on our first day, but throughout the cruise, we were amazed the the number and friendliness of the staff. This was the best I had been treated on any cruise I've ever taken. And, help was never far away.

I know the Epic is a training ship, but I don't remember waiting to get help from anyone, anywhere...even guest services. If someone at the desk wasn't open, someone approached us in the (short) line we would form.

We had missed lunch. So, we headed off to what would be our meting spot throughout the cruise....O'Sheehans. They had standard pub fare, but that's all we were looking for. I got some mozzarella sticks. My GF ordered chips with artichoke dip, and we shared a Chef's Salad.

O'Sheehans overlooks the main traffic area of the ship one floor below. It also overlooks yet another huge video screen. It's perfect for people watching while grabbing a drink and/or a snack (and yes, the snacks are free).

Will update more later......

While it's not as obvious as the main pools and the Spice area, there are more chairs on the upper decks (namely 14). We went exploring there. It was usually fairly empty. But, if you don't care about pools, about a huge video screen, etc, that's the area to be.

You can relax, overlooking the Caribbean, working on your tan, read a book, listen to your music, all in relative quiet.

WE also looked at the "for fee" spa area, where there was little cabana types of chairs areas, a whirlpool, and in close proximity to the spa. I believe it was $120 for the week for the both of us. Frankly,, we thought $120 just to hang out in a whirlpool, and some admittedly nice deck chairs, was steep. So, we declined.

We never had a problem finding deck chairs to use, so the money wasn't worth it to us.

I did check out the gym, which was on the same floor as the spa. I will say that in general, cruise ship gyms are among the best I've ever used. The Epic's gym bettered even those. Nice, sturdy, high end equipment. I never had a problem using the cardio equipment (bikes, elipticals, treadmills. Every once in a while, I had to wait for one of the weight machines to free up, but it never took long.

As usual, the gym overlooked the aft part of the ship. It was a real treat to work out there. They even had TVs mounted to each of the cardio machines (i prefer listening to my ipod, though).

Time to book excursions. We decided that Costa Maya wasn't where we wanted to do an excursion. Instead, we chose Roatan, and the Tibyana beach experience. While I had seen Tulum before, my GF had not. So, we booked an excursion to Tulum/Playa del Carmen when we ported in Cozumel.

Next, we booked our entertainment. Luckily, we were able to get into the late showing of Blue Man Group on Sunday evening. We booked Cirque du Soleil for Thursday evening.

We wandered around in the on board shops (on deck7?). They were unobtrusive, as I mentioned before. I like it that way. Typical cruise fare....booze store, higher end jewelery store, designer jewelry store, perfum store, sundries store and a Barber Shop. I believe that about covers it.

While jewelry prices on board aren't bad, if you're a shopper, you can find better deals on line. What you can't beat is there booze prices.

Word of advice about booze....they sell out fast. Make your purchases the first cruise day at sea for best selection. While they won't let you take it back to your room, if you ask, they will let you come the day before disembark and pick it up. At least you get one day with your alcohol on board.

I decided to hit the casino before dinner. My GF decided she wanted to look at the stores more in-depth. So, we parted ways agreeing to meet up for dinner.

Another hint in the casino, if you want into one of their TX Hold'em Games, don't bother. Their rake is too large to really give you much of a chance to win anything sizable.

I stuck to 3 card poker and Blackjack. Broke even at both of those games maybe $20 down). But, I made it up at the craps table, pulling in about $320.

Smoking in the casino.....there's an area they allow you to smoke, and a non-smoking area. I saw maybe 6 smokers in the smoking part of the casino the entire trip. And, the ventilation on the ship was outstanding. When I passed through the smoking area, I could tell it. But, outside of that area, not at all.

So, if smoking offends you, stay out of the smoking area of the casino. Or, at worst, just pass through it and don't tarry.

GF and I finally met back up, went to the room to shower. We changed...her into a dress, me into a dress shirt and nice pants. We headed to the Manhattan Room for dinner.

Gonna take another sidestep here. Freestyle cruising is the only way I will go from now on. And, NCL has this style of cruising down to a science. I no longer will take a suit with me. I will no longer have to do "formal" nights. I will no longer wait in lines for one seating to clear while the other congregates en masse at the front door. It's casual for me from this point forward. If I were Carnival and RCCL, I'd move to Freestyle on all of my ships, as fast as humanly possible.

I had a pretty basic steak, potato, salad. The GF had salmon, salad, and not sure what else. All was excellent. And, going with my first impression, everything was very fresh tasting. Just a very good meal, with once again, excellent service.

We finished up just in enough time to see Blue Man Group. It was every bit as good as the Blue Man show I had seen in Vegas (and on their DVDs). I highly, highly recommend it. The "Bllue Men" came out to the lobby after the show for picture taking with the audience, too, which I thought was cool.

This was, by far, the best show I've seen on any cruise, on any cruise line, on any ship.

WE made one more stop at O"Sheehans for a nightcap and to chat with our friendly bartender, then called it a night. While I THINK it was around midnight, I really don't know, and really didn't care. That's the sign that the cruise is going well.

Will update later.

You are like me with the coffee, LOL.

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I know the Epic is a training ship, but I don't remember waiting to get help from anyone, anywhere...even guest services. If someone at the desk wasn't open, someone approached us in the (short) line we would form.

 

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I'm curious about what you mean by this comment.

The EPIC is typically where the best-of-the-best of the entire fleet have been transferred. At least that was what I had been led to believe.

I'm curious about what you mean by this comment.

 

The EPIC is typically where the best-of-the-best of the entire fleet have been transferred. At least that was what I had been led to believe.

Ditto and the Epic was added to the fleet last June so it's not like the crew is still training either.

 

 

We never had a problem finding deck chairs to use, so the money wasn't worth it to us.

 

I'm glad there is someone else out there that didn't have any problems. We never had any problems what so ever, but everyone else has complained about the "chair hogs" and no place to sit.

 

Smoking in the casino.....there's an area they allow you to smoke, and a non-smoking area. I saw maybe 6 smokers in the smoking part of the casino the entire trip. And, the ventilation on the ship was outstanding. When I passed through the smoking area, I could tell it. But, outside of that area, not at all.

 

They must have changed this since I was on. We didn't find any area in the casino that didn't have ashtrays and you could smoke anywhere.

 

 

 

Gonna take another sidestep here. Freestyle cruising is the only way I will go from now on. And, NCL has this style of cruising down to a science. I no longer will take a suit with me. I will no longer have to do "formal" nights. I will no longer wait in lines for one seating to clear while the other congregates en masse at the front door. It's casual for me from this point forward. If I were Carnival and RCCL, I'd move to Freestyle on all of my ships, as fast as humanly possible.

 

EXACTLY. I almost booked with Carnival this time around, but all I could do is think about the freestyle way of life now. I just can't go back to scheduled dining or the other option they had to just "show up" and hope for a place to sit or whatever they call it.

 

We finished up just in enough time to see Blue Man Group.

This was, by far, the best show I've seen on any cruise, on any cruise line, on any ship.

 

I agree! When I started looking for a ship and found out Blue Man was going to be on this ship when it came out....I immediately decided this was the cruise for me! :D

 

Great Review...keep it coming

I'm curious about what you mean by this comment.

 

The EPIC is typically where the best-of-the-best of the entire fleet have been transferred. At least that was what I had been led to believe.

It was obvious that they did indeed have "the best of the best" on the EPIC. However, I did hear some of the more senior members giving instructions to what seemed like junior members of the staff, or perhaps new employees.

I made an assumption that they were training them for the trans-Atlantic voyage the Epic is sailing now.

Another side step....my 4/30-5/7 cruise was the last Caribbean cruise the EPIC will be doing for awhile. They are en route to Barcelona right now, to sail the Mediterranean through September/October. Talking to the crew, most were quite excited for the Trans-Atlantic.

The crew I had personally interfaced with were all very senior to NCL. Matter of fact, there was one steward that said he had worked for NCL for 35 years........35 YEARS!!!!!!! Amazing! One of the bar tenders at O'Sheehans said he was on his 9th contract with NCL. Figure, that's about 7 years.

Their experience showed in their exemplary service and the jobs they did.

Mitsu.....I've heard varying degrees of people's experience with smoking in the casino. I can only report what I experienced. That is, in the smoking areas, there were ashtrays (and smokers). In the non-smoking areas of the casino, there were no smokers, nor ashtrays. I played in the "non-smoking" areas and had no issues.

Next up, Costa Maya.

The previous day, my GF had mentioned to our room steward, Patrick, that she liked ice water handy in the cabin. Further, she had been suffering from some planar faceitus (sp?). And, that she had a gel pack she wanted to freeze and use in her shoe to make sure it didn't flare up.

Before we went to bed, we noticed that the water pitcher was filled with ice water, in addition to the ice bucket being totally full. On top of that, PAtrick had placed my GF's gel pack, frozen, on a towel next to the bed. He found a way to freeze it for her. Now, that's service.

We decided to have room service on Monday for breakfast....omelet with everything, fruit plate, OJ, bagel with smoked salmon. I called to place the order, jumped into the shower, as soon as I was out of the shower, dried and dressed, room service knocked on the door. Perfect timing!

It was delivered hot, and the order was spot on. We ate on our balcony, while leisurely listening to people scamble off at the pier.

We finished and headed to the disembark floor.....deck #4. We disembarked. Talked to a few of the people and cabbies offering tours off-ship. None of them really appealed. So, knowing we would be doing the Mayan ruins excursion when we hit Cozumel, we decided just to wander around the shopping area just off the pier. I won't bore you with details because the shopping was pretty uneventful. We wanderer around for awhile and decided to head back to the ship for lunch.

We went to Taste and had a wonderful lunch. Kudos to the Epic chefs. Even their free dining venues offered great meals. Again, the service was wonderful, too.

The ship was relatively empty, so we decided to hit the water slides. We had an absolute blast on all of the water slides for the afternoon.

After a few hours of that, we ponied up to the pool bar and chatted with some new people we met. Before we knew it, the Captain was announcing we were leaving Costa Maya. WE had a great afternoon.

We decided to hit the cabin, grab a shower, and check out the Martini Tasting. I know people have raved about the Martini tasking, but I was ambivalent. Maybe, it's because I'm not a big martini fan. But, my GF does drink them and she said the martinis seemed mediocre. The bartender who was giving us the "educational talk" about martinis was attempting to be humorous, but ended up being kind of silly sounding. Fact is, we only drank probably only a 1/4 of each martini since we didn't care for them. Live and learn. We did meet some nice people while at the tasting who suggested we go to the ICE BAR, which was right next door to the Martini Bar.

We took them up on their offer.

If you aren't familiar with the ICE BAR, it's really and truly a bar, built in a frigid room, with the actual bar made of ice, chairs made of ice, and the actual drink glasses made of ice. It's a vodka bar.

We had a blast. Understand, if you're wearing shorts (as we were, you WILL GET COLD. Even with the heavy parkas they make you wear, you will get cold. Still, it was a unique and fun experience.

We were ready for some dinner. We decided we wanted to check out what the Garden Cafe was like for dinner. So, we headed there. Once again, it was a buffet, but it was also a very good buffet. The Epic chefs do a wonderful job. Plenty of crew there, too...fetching drinks, cleaning tables and buffet tables, sweeping floors. The Garden Cafe was impeccably clean, as was experienced throughout the ship.

I hit the salad bar, had some chicken curry, over ride. Very good meal that once again tasted fresh, and was delicious.

We ended up watching "Legends" after dinner. These folks are really good. It wasn't as much fun as Blue Man, but we enjoyed it nonetheless.

WE met up with our "ICE BAR" friends at O'Sheehans and chatted over nightcaps for an hour or two and decided to call it a day.

Once again, we went out on our balcony, reviewing a day where we planned nothing, but still had a lot of fun...all while watching the inky black Caribbean in the distance.

Another great day.

Will update later.

I agree with you about the smoking in the Casino - I also didn't think it was that bad. I did not reek from cigarettes walking through. Of any ship I've been on that permits smoking in the casino, I felt this one smelled the least of smoke.

I was wearing long pants, socks and sneakers in the Ice Bar and froze my butt off. Didn't last the full time, that's for sure - I downed those drinks really fast!

Another sidetrack, and more of an opinion than anything else.

Veteran cruisers know that those alleged jewelry seminars they do on ships are little more than advertisements to get you to shop at specific stores once on shore. It's also no secret that the cruise lines get "kick-back" from these stores for pointing cruisers to visit their stores, usually in the form of a free, cheap trinket giveaway.

This being my GF's first cruise, this was all new to her. As I mentioned, the prices on board the ship's jewelry stores aren't bad. Matter of fact, given that they're duty and tax free, you might be able to score some pretty decent prices. Same goes for the "ship sponsored" shops at the ports.

My GF attended one of those quasi-seminars. She came back talking about "Tanzanite". The seminar leaders tout is as rarer than diamonds. I don't know enough to refute that claim. However, every cruise ship I've ever been on, touts Tanzanite, as do the stores in resort and cruise ports. So, it can't be all THAT rare.

Plus, I've yet to find someone who would prefer tanzanite over say, a nice pearl, or ruby, or emerald, and certainly not a diamond. So, if tanzanite is "your thing", a jewelry store on a cruise ship, or a ship sponsored resort store (usually Diamonds International) seems to be a good place to buy it.

I question its real value and worth, however.

I'm something of a watch hound. On board the Epic, they featured Tags, Tissot, Movado, and some other lesser known brands in their high end jewelry store. Again, prices weren't bad (less than U.S. MSRP). And, without having to pay duties and taxes, perhaps the "deals" they offered were kind of good.

But, I know I can beat their prices (regardless of what they guarantee) at stores in the U.S. (and almost always online).

The art auctions are even more "hinky". There was some brouhaha a couple of years ago regarding the authenticity of the art that ships sold on board. Needless to say, if you don't know anything about art, caveat emptor. Who knows whether you were overcharged, got a good deal, or even have an authentic art piece.

As such, I stay far away from the high end jewelry stores and art auctions on board. I will ship in the jewelry stores at the ports, but am even more diligent and cautious there.

If you have any tinge of doubt, don't buy.

Just like the alcohol on board, the ships make a ton of money on their art auctions as well as their fine jewelry. I don't begrudge a profit to anyone. But, when you're touting your jewelry and art to be rare and highly valued, when there's no reasonable basis of that in fact, I do take exception.

I agree with you about the smoking in the Casino - I also didn't think it was that bad. I did not reek from cigarettes walking through. Of any ship I've been on that permits smoking in the casino, I felt this one smelled the least of smoke.

 

I was wearing long pants, socks and sneakers in the Ice Bar and froze my butt off. Didn't last the full time, that's for sure - I downed those drinks really fast!

LOL! It was quite cold. We drank our drinks pretty fast in there, too. But, that was part of the fun of it.

I take it you didn't avail yourself to the $19.99 watch sale? I happened to be walking through the deck when it happened and it was as bad as the $5 t shirt sale. People would have killed to get their hands on those crappy $20 watch/necklace/earring sets. The "original" price on those watch sets were $99.99 and I was laughing my head off thinking that anyone could actually believe that was a real price.

I never saw so many boxes squirreled away on the floor, on tables, on desks - holy cow! They were the worst looking sets I ever saw.

can anyone tell me how much of a hold they put on your credit card? I have read that it is $100 per day per person AND I have also read that they only hold $300 per person. thanks everyone