Just Off the Epic...LOVED It!

[canuckgal33]

We just arrived home after an Eastern Caribbean cruise on the Epic...since I had done so much research and appreciated the reviews prior to my sailing, I thought I would post a review/pictures.

 

We had 5 in our group - myself (40), husband and 10 year old daughter, my mom and my cousin (21). We've cruised before - Disney and last year on the Pearl over Thanksgiving. We aren't picky and more of a "go with the flow" kind of family, so I don't have many complaints! I'd rather be on a ship than at home! LOL!!

 

We had two different rooms (booked 6 months apart) so we couldn't be close to each other. We were in 10308 and my mom and cousin were in 9239.

 

We arrived the day before and stayed in the Hampton Inn Blue Lagoon Miami South. It's a great hotel...Walgreens and Rite Aid are right across the street. They have a free shuttle to and from the airport. Great hot breakfast and even have a little sack breakfast you can take with you if you don't have time to eat. We took the shuttle ($10 per person) to the port.

 

Embarkation was super easy....we got separated from my Mom and cousin as they had to go to terminal B and we had to go to C....she's kind of a nervous Nellie and my cousin is legally blind/deaf, so she was a bit worried and I was worried for her...LOL! She said it was super easy for her and they were on board in about 10 minutes as they moved them into some sort of "fast lane" (her words...LOL). It took us about 45 minutes or so and we were on the boat!!

 

It was huge....I really couldn't believe how big it was! You enter right into the casino, which is huge too! I wasn't bothered by that...I've heard people complain that it was smokey...but during the whole cruise, we walked thought there and I never really found it terribly smokey.

 

We went to the spa right away and got the spa passes with three days at sea I wanted to be able to relax...and then we headed to eat lunch.

 

We ate lunch at the buffet....LOVE the pretzel bread! I was disappointed they didn't have it at breakfast...LOL! Just the rolls at lunch and the sticks at dinner. I could have had those rolls at every meal! At least it forced me to try other foods! We aren't picky and we were always able to find something good at the buffet.

 

Our room was good...we had the bed by the door. It was a bit tight to pass each other when someone was standing at the sink...but it wasn't a huge problem.

 

 

 

 

No problem with the sink spraying (just don't turn it on full blast). No big issue with the separated shower/toilet. I actually liked it because someone could shower while someone else could use the sink/mirror and then the toilet area would be free. They have a curtain to pull across if you wanted some more privacy. The beds were short, but I didn't have any trouble sleeping. My daughter said the couch was comfortable. The only problem I had with the room was that the shower wouldn't drain. So if you had a shower longer than about 10 minutes the water would come dangerously close to sloshing over the side lip of the shower and spilling onto the floor. I told the room steward twice, but he wasn't the greatest...and it was never fixed. The first night the room was turned down, but the couch only had a bottom sheet and a pillow...no sheet or blanket for my daughter. My husband asked him for a sheet and he said he didn't have any extras and would it be ok to share for tonight. LOL...share a sheet? In two different beds. hahahha...whatever. But we made it work. He also forgot to give us our freestyle dailies on two nights, when I asked him for one, he said he didn't have any. It's ok though...the room was clean and we got towels. I'm sure it's a really really hard job....so I try to cut him a little slack.

 

Loved the balcony...ours looked directly down onto the room below us. But unless you were standing up looking directly down to their balcony it wasn't a problem.

 

View to the side:

[canuckgal33]

Sorry...the above pictures were HUGE! I'll try to make them smaller in this post.

 

We had two sea days in a row. Loved that...time to relax and explore the ship! I spent about an hour each day in the spa...LOVED it! Totally worth the money. The only issue I had is that people save chairs. There were towels saving the heated chairs and the loungers in the back of the boat for quite a while and no one ever used them during the hour I was there. It was kind of busy on sea days and after we left the ports, but I could usually find something to do to relax.

 

We loved the pool deck area. I never found it super crowded. Sometimes there was a line to do the Epic Plunge, but not more than about 30 minutes. I went on all the slides...the green one was super fast and I didn't really like it. LOL...all the others were great. Always able to find a chair in the pool area. It was an AMAZING pool area...so much to do!!

 

 

My daughter loved the spider web:

 

The trampoline thing:

 

and the rock climbing:

This guy (Jergen) remembered her and her name from last Thanksgiving on the Pearl (where she lived at the rock climbing wall). I was totally impressed with that and she thought it was cool her remembered her.

[crzysttchr]

I am going on the Dawn in 16 days... LOVE your posts and keep the pics BIG... love the amount of detail to be seen.. I am so glad you enjoyed it. It will be my first cruise with my 17 yr old son (and my sister and her family's 3rd cruise)... after seeing YOUR cabin.. our little tiny inside one looks small.. but I am sure we will be doing lots of things and not in there much!

 

Lynn:D

[canuckgal33]

FOOD:

Ate in the Manhattan Room once, O'sheehans a few times (great fish and chips, wings and mozzarella cheese sticks)...all the other times we ate in the buffet...so it must have been good. It was actually really good. I never went hungry. My daughter missed the chocolate fondue (on the Pearl) but liked the ice cream choices on the Epic. We had MANY of these drinks:

 

ENTERTAINMENT:

We saw BMG (superb), Legends (twice in the same night, as my daughter wanted to go back)...Steven Tyler, Lady Gaga and Elvis. They were fantastic. That Steven Tyler was spot on! He looked just like him and sounded like him too. Loved Elvis...they were all great! We saw Second City one night too....that was good! We did lots of other activities during the day...Name That Tune, Pictionary, Crafts, family karaoke. My daughter wasn't a huge fan of the Kids Club...she said it was boring. I think she was ruined by Disney Kids Clubs and will always compare it to that, and in my opinion you just can't beat Disney. We did watch a few movies on the big screen during the day while eating at O'sheehans.

 

SHIP:

Didn't mind the layout...I heard lots of complaints about the elevators, but I didn't have a problem...the walking helped with the consumption of all those pretzel rolls. It never felt like there was that many people on board. It never seemed really crowded. I did miss having an inside lounge to kind of hang out as a family and watch the world go by (we spent a lot of time at the Spinnaker Lounge on the Pearl).

 

STAFF:

Amazing...super helpful, polite, always willing to go the extra mile. I'm amazed how they are able to recall names. My cousin was thrilled that the cruise director saw he make i to the top of the rock climbing wall and then congratulated her again the next day using her name. Everyone was fantastic (except maybe the room steward, but hey...everything can't be perfect right??).

 

I forgot one thing about the room...there was SO MUCH STORAGE SPACE! It was great! I usually bring a little hanging shoe holder to keep everything in one place, but I didn't even use it this time...there was a spot for everything.

[canuckgal33]

PORTS:

Our first stop was in St. Maarten. We had booked a tour with Bernard's Tours. It was FANTASTIC! Easy to locate right by the information desk. We had Rudy as our guide...he was great. Drinks and water and rum punch were supplied. He was funny and very knowledgeable about the island. Great with kids too! We stopped at a little spot where you could hold some sea creatures (star fish) and a look out area. It was so beautiful:

 

 

We stopped at the Orient Beach next for about 1.5 hours. He did warn us that part of it was nude and if anyone objected, he could drop them off at a different location. No one wanted to. It was quite a sight as when we pulled up there was one elderly man standing right there buck naked with his hands on his hips! My daughter said she was "scarred for life" Hahaha...so there is full nudity if it bothers anyone.

 

Loads of places to rent chairs (ours was $7 per person which included a drink). Great beach...beautiful warm clear water!! Could have stayed all day!!

 

Up next...MAHO!!!!

[canuckgal33]

I am going on the Dawn in 16 days... LOVE your posts and keep the pics BIG... love the amount of detail to be seen.. I am so glad you enjoyed it. It will be my first cruise with my 17 yr old son (and my sister and her family's 3rd cruise)... after seeing YOUR cabin.. our little tiny inside one looks small.. but I am sure we will be doing lots of things and not in there much!

 

Lynn:D

 

We hardly spent ANY time in our cabin, so you will be fine! Good thing about the pictures as I can't figure out how to re-size them! LOL!!!

[jdvmd]

Thanks for providing such a great, detailed review!

[Julienatul]

Great review! Glad you loved it, we cant wait to sail her in March

[canuckgal33]

Next stop was Maho Beach. We were supposed to stop at the Marigot Market, but our bus decided not to stop there (if we stopped there, we would have only had 40 minutes at Maho). We were at Maho from 1-3.

 

We ate lunch at the Sunset Beach Bar. Food was great, reasonably priced. It's a great beach....kind of wavy so my daughter loved riding the waves! We could have stayed a lot longer here and I'm glad we decided to not stop at the Marigot Market. I did feel bad for the rest of the group, I guess they didn't like it as much as we did...and had been looking for us as they wanted to leave early. They didn't end up finding us until about 2:45 when we came back to the bar to go to the washroom and head back to the bus, so I felt bad they had wanted to leave earlier and were stuck waiting around and obviously had wanted to leave way earlier.

 

They have the times of the flights on a surf board which was neat:

 

We were lucky enough to see a big plane lane which was seriously the coolest thing EVER!! It was right over head and my daughter loved it!

 

Did a little shipping around the pier and headed back onto the ship! I highly recommend Bernard's Tours....it was a great tour and very reasonably priced.

 

Our next stop was St. Thomas. We didn't do an excursion...just took a taxi to Magen's Bay. We were off the ship by about 8:30 and at Magen's Bay by about 9:00. I had a hard time picking a beach to go to, and I'm glad we ended up at Magen's Bay...It was beautiful. Very clean, calm water. A little snack bar, clean washrooms. We had a picnic table under the shade and kept our stuff there. The beach was empty that early:

 

But around noon it started getting busier. Not super busy but a little crowded. They have chairs you can rent and put where you want, but if you get there early enough you can get a picnic table for free. We took a taxi back to the pier and did a little shopping. It was funny though...when you cruise you think of all of these foreign countries but when you get off the ship in St. Thomas and there is a Payless Shoe Store and Wendy's. LOL!! There is LOADS of shopping at the pier...we had wanted to take the gondola, but ran out of time! It's a beautiful island....I look forward to going back as there is so much more we can do there.

 

[canuckgal33]

Our last port was Nassau. We've been there before (just shopping around the port and the Blue Lagoon). This time we went to the British Colonial Hilton. It's very close to the pier - next to Senor Frogs...it took maybe 10 minutes to walk there.

 

The only thing was that there was garbage EVERYWHERE! And I mean everywhere. I couldn't believe it. I thought maybe it was because of the recent fire, but I am not so sure. It looked terrible and I'm sure it will give people a bad impression of Nassau. Which is too bad because it really is beautiful there. It wasn't like that the other times we have been in Nassau. It was lining the streets:

 

 

We booked through Island Marketing as there were so many ships in port, I was worried that the day passes might sell out. I can't remember how much it was per person...maybe $50 and $25 for my daughter. It did include vouchers for lunch - total of $105 for all 5 of us. We ate lunch right by the beach. Typical bar food - sandwiches, burgers, salads. It was good.

 

View from the ship of the hotel:

 

 

It's a nice place to just relax. The water was a bit cold...but they have a pool which was warmer. They have nice chairs with covers on them, so you aren't in the sun.

 

 

 

Great spot to get pictures of the ships in the port!

 

I'd go back here again. It's a nice place to just hang out and relax. We did a little shopping before heading back to the ship.

 

A tiny bit of boat envy when we saw the Disney Dream...LOL!

[canuckgal33]

Debarkation was easy! We carried our luggage off, but my mom and cousin had signed up for the BAGS program, so we waited with them until they were able to leave. We were in line for maybe 10 minutes to get off the ship and another 10 minutes in customs. We took a taxi to the airport and were there by about 9:30.

 

It was a great cruise! We booked another with the $250 deposit and $100 OBC, so I'm already planning our next one! I love NCL! I like the laid back atmosphere (freestyle is totally for our family). I like being able to eat when we want. I don't like having to eat with strangers....LOL!! I love all the activities they have for families to do. The few things that bothered me (people saving loungers/heated chairs in the spas), clipping fingernails at the table during breakfast, people pushing/shoving to get to seats when the doors open to the Epic Theatre and in the stores...those things have nothing to do with NCL....just rude people and you will get that anywhere, on a ship or not. LOL!!

 

My mom had seen a bracelet and wanted me to pick it up for her during some sale the store on the ship was having. It started at 11:00 and she was having a massage. I told her I would go, thinking it would take me about 5 minutes to go in, get the bracelet and pay for it. Boy was I WRONG! It was like Black Friday at Walmart in there. LOL!!

 

 

I loved the ship and would definitely go on it again. I'm not super picky on the ships, I base my cruise selection on the ports, so if it was the right itinerary, I would go back on the Epic for sure!

 

Now I need to decide what our next one will be! LOL!!

[gelo7]

Great review.

[HazyDavy]

Thanks for your review and great pictures!

 

You are much more laid back than I am. I would not have been happy with the room steward and probably would have made more of an issue with it than you did. Overall, I think your attitude is probably better since you were able to have a great time anyway. Good for you!

 

Thanks for sharing.

[M3Power13]

Loved your review! Refreshing compared to those who whine and cry about a ship/line over silly things.

[sdmike]

 

 

 

I simply LOVE this picture

[wacopolumbo]

I love the review and pictures. We were on the same sailing and seeing the pictures just brought it all back. It was a good ship, I was prepared to not like it, but actually did really like it. Only a couple draw backs. The cruise Director's voice would grate on my nevres. But, like you said, you can't have everything!

 

Fun times.

[farmgirl63]

Great review! Makes me get even more excited for our Jan. Epic cruise. Do you know when lobster night was in the main dining rooms?

 

Thanks!

[catgags]

Great pics!! Thanks for the info on Magen's Bay and the Hilton. February can't get here fast enough!!! We were on the Epic last Feb. Loved it!!

[happy cruzin]

THANKS for sharing!!!

We go in 46 days and it will be our first NCL experience. ;) :D

[quercus alba]

I simply LOVE this picture

 

I agree--you should send it to NCL for their Freestyle Fan of the week contest!

[debnjoe1438]

Thanks for the review and sharing the pictures. Can't wait until my turn:D

[sdmike]

Thanks for the review and sharing the pictures. Can't wait until my turn:D

 

5 1/2 weeks...but I'm SURE you're not counting. :)

[mbarnaby99]

Great review. It makes me miss my time on the Epic. Before I went I was not sure how I would like such a big ship but I loved it and can't wait to go again.

[akupupule]

I simply LOVE this picture

 

 

Great photo. you ought to enter it in NCL's photo contest!

[debnjoe1438]

5 1/2 weeks...but I'm SURE you're not counting. :)

 

Me-counting, of course not :rolleyes: Well, maybe I am a little. :D