Just off Epic- aft penthouse suite 12318 4/13 sailing

[maja651]

I promise to write a full review later ( we're off to Playa del Carmen now) but I thought I'd post some random thoughts.

 

1. OMG the suite life on the Epic is AMAZING! We loved loved loved Leo our butler and Adrian and his asst Bowen in the Comcierge area. All made the cruise very relaxing and stress free.

 

2. We liked the penthouse room. It was cozy, but we liked that. Only complaint, wish it had a full wall of windows facing the balcony.

 

3. Loved the aft balcony, but, will book in the Haven next time. We didn't use the Haven at all because if our distance to it , but we did use Posh and the Epic Club and loved both.

 

4. I did not like the Cirque show . I was bored and the food was awful. I think if you have seen a Cirque

show before you will be disappointed. My hubby did like it though, so maybe I'm picky. :)

 

5. Didn't see any Posh wrist bands , so maybe they weren't selling for our sailing?

 

6. We had some glitches in service at Le Bistro, La Cuccina and Cagneys. All were at the beginning before the waiter approached us. After we were seated at Le Bistro, we waited over 10 minutes for anyone to acknowledge us, even though we had a bottle of champagne with us and told the hostess we needed to get it chilled. Service picked up after the waiter Finally acknowledged us, and that took prodding from my very upset hubby!. Not a good start to our anniversary meal. Cagneys and La Cuccina had similar issues. A standout though, was Shanghais, where we had the best by far, service of any meal on the ship!

 

That's it for now! I'll post more later and welcome questions!

[3DBeach]

Looking forward to the rest of your review. Have a wonderful time in Playa Del Carmen :)

[Godiva830]

I can't wait to hear more. I have this room booked for Feb 2014. Post pics if you can please :D

[maja651]

More random thought before we board the plane. :)

 

1. They're not kidding when they talk about the rattling and vibrations in the aft of the ship. Woke us up at 5 am this morning. Very loud and lots of vibration. One night the ship was swaying more ghZn the other nights and we had trouble sleeping. The room kept swaying left and right and something kept banging in the room. Actually had seasickness the next day. Lucky for us, Adrian took care of us and gave us the Mez tabs. They worked well.

 

2. The St. John champagne catamaran snorkel tour was amazing! The best snorkeling we have ever done. Just wish the tour was a couple of hours longer. Not enough time at the beach area.

 

3. We ate at o'Sheehans a couple of times and enjoyed it.

 

4. We didn't have a chance to try the 2 main dining rooms or the buffet. Just not enough time!

 

5. We got priority debarkation at Nassau. That was nice, but as others have said, we will stay on the ship next time. We were not impressed with that port.

 

6. 95% of the things we requested from the per concierge were ready and set up in our room when we got into it. Nice perk!

 

7. We did our own thing in St. Maarten. We took the water taxi to Phillipdburg, had a drink at the Hard Rock, went to Maho beach, and found some geocaches. Nice day and we loved the St. Maarten people! We took the local bus to Maho and it was only $2 pp each way. What a bargain!

 

8. We didn't end up gambling much on the ship. Again, just too much to do! ;)

 

9. We also went to the BMG and Legends shows. We loved them both! We were selected to be in the BMG show, so that was fun. We also went to the comedian magician show. It was pretty good.

 

10. We did not like Second City. We found their skit tasteless and tacky and left 15 minutes I to the show.

 

11. Loved Charlie Love and his band in Fat Cats. Hung out there 2 nights and really enjoyed ourselves.

 

Ok, that's it for now!

[maja651]

Looking forward to the rest of your review. Have a wonderful time in Playa Del Carmen :)

 

Thanks! :)

[david_sobe]

Welcome back and cant wait to hear the rest when you have time.

As I mentioned in my review, I also was disappointed with Cirque Dreams and the show is nothing like the original on the ship in 2010.

Agree with you about the penthouses and having too much wall towards the ocean view.

Glad you had a great time!

Have a safe trip home

[maja651]

Welcome back and cant wait to hear the rest when you have time.

As I mentioned in my review, I also was disappointed with Cirque Dreams and the show is nothing like the original on the ship in 2010.

Agree with you about the penthouses and having too much wall towards the ocean view.

Glad you had a great time!

Have a safe trip home

 

Thanks David. Based on your review, I think we have similar likes and dislikes. ;). Next time I book a new ship, I'll have to check with you first. ;)

[sdmike]

Welcome back and cant wait to hear the rest when you have time.

As I mentioned in my review, I also was disappointed with Cirque Dreams and the show is nothing like the original on the ship in 2010.

Agree with you about the penthouses and having too much wall towards the ocean view.

Glad you had a great time!

Have a safe trip home

 

Hi David -

What's the big difference with Cirque? While we could have done without the "story" back in 2010, the acts were amazing and the food decent.

[SissasMomE]

We had some glitches in service at Le Bistro, La Cuccina and Cagneys. All were at the beginning before the waiter approached us. After we were seated at Le Bistro, we waited over 10 minutes for anyone to acknowledge us

 

Yikes! A whole 10 minutes?!! :eek:

 

Were they busy? We didn't have any service issues at all (in any of the speciality and non-specialty restaurants) during the very busy sailing Easter week. I wonder what the issues were on this trip, especially since it happened in all 3 speciality restaurants. Le Bistro always is kinda slow, in my opinion.

[david_sobe]

Hi David -

What's the big difference with Cirque? While we could have done without the "story" back in 2010, the acts were amazing and the food decent.

You must have missed my review LOL

 

Its in here somewhere

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1791228

[jdvmd]

Glad you had a great time!

 

I have mentioned the horrible shaking/vibration thing I don't know how many times but people still want to book the afts. There is no way I would ever book one of these cabins.

[SissasMomE]

Glad you had a great time!

 

I have mentioned the horrible shaking/vibration thing I don't know how many times but people still want to book the afts. There is no way I would ever book one of these cabins.

 

It has never bothered me for some reason. For our upcoming Getaway cruise, we did book 2 mid-ship balconies because my parents are traveling with us this time, and I don't think they would enjoy being in the AFT.

 

What has bothered me, in every aft-facing balcony we have had, was looking down at the water while moving. It makes me somewhat dizzy if I look straight down at it, but only from the aft. Anywhere else on the ship, it's not an issue. Weird, huh?

[jdvmd]

It has never bothered me for some reason. For our upcoming Getaway cruise, we did book 2 mid-ship balconies because my parents are traveling with us this time, and I don't think they would enjoy being in the AFT.

 

What has bothered me, in every aft-facing balcony we have had, was looking down at the water while moving. It makes me somewhat dizzy if I look straight down at it, but only from the aft. Anywhere else on the ship, it's not an issue. Weird, huh?

Not weird! I felt the very same thing when looking off the back of the balcony. Thought I was going to pass out and had to move away from the edge quickly. We were doing a cabin crawl (no alcohol) and another two people said the same thing.

[SissasMomE]

Not weird! I felt the very same thing when looking off the back of the balcony. Thought I was going to pass out and had to move away from the edge quickly. We were doing a cabin crawl (no alcohol) and another two people said the same thing.

 

Needless to say, I didn't look down much!!

[maja651]

Yikes! A whole 10 minutes?!! :eek:

 

Were they busy? We didn't have any service issues at all (in any of the speciality and non-specialty restaurants) during the very busy sailing Easter week. I wonder what the issues were on this trip, especially since it happened in all 3 speciality restaurants. Le Bistro always is kinda slow, in my opinion.

 

To wait for over 10 minutes at a table, with a wine bottle needing to be chilled, and to watch many servers walk past you and not even acknowledge you is not acceptable. To wait to order, not a problem, we are really not that hard to please, but seriously to be completely ignored was upsetting, and I think anyone would have been upset about that. To imply I don't have that right to be upset is insulting. I am beginning to think you have an issue with me personally as you have also made insulting comments to other posts of mine. Please, just stop replying to my posts. Thanks

[maja651]

Glad you had a great time!

 

I have mentioned the horrible shaking/vibration thing I don't know how many times but people still want to book the afts. There is no way I would ever book one of these cabins.

 

Thanks. You're right! Guess we needed to experience it for ourselves. Lessons learned! ;)

[jdvmd]

How did the wine check work for you? I know you got the one from Brookstone.

[maja651]

How did the wine check work for you? I know you got the one from Brookstone.

It worked out great! We had a lot of heads turning with shock at how much wine we brought with us, but we were so glad we did! We ended up only drinking 10 bottles from the case (yes, I know, ONLY 10 lol), so Leo was able to get the cork fee removed from the 2 extra bottles we didn't drink. What a great service! Thanks again for the wine check tip :)

[HowardK]

Hello, looking forward to your review- I also liked Shanghai-I went the last night and it was empty and I really enjoyed the food- even though I ordered things I normally do; the food was different.

[SissasMomE]

To wait for over 10 minutes at a table, with a wine bottle needing to be chilled, and to watch many servers walk past you and not even acknowledge you is not acceptable. To wait to order, not a problem, we are really not that hard to please, but seriously to be completely ignored was upsetting, and I think anyone would have been upset about that. To imply I don't have that right to be upset is insulting. I am beginning to think you have an issue with me personally as you have also made insulting comments to other posts of mine. Please, just stop replying to my posts. Thanks

 

Nah

[MilliesMom]

You mentioned not using the Haven. I thought only those in Haven cabins had access. We are in an AFT penthouse and wasn't expecting use of the Haven area. Is it open to all suites? Can you give me a bit more details or did I misunderstand?

[Zimomiller]

You mentioned not using the Haven. I thought only those in Haven cabins had access. We are in an AFT penthouse and wasn't expecting use of the Haven area. Is it open to all suites? Can you give me a bit more details or did I misunderstand?

 

We stayed in an aft facing Penthouse on the Epic a couple years ago. We had Haven access and I believe this continues to be the case today. You are going to love The Haven, The Epic Club, Posh!

[MilliesMom]

We stayed in an aft facing Penthouse on the Epic a couple years ago. We had Haven access and I believe this continues to be the case today. You are going to love The Haven, The Epic Club, Posh!

 

 

We are on the Norwegian Pearl if that makes a difference. Will be nice to be able to access the Haven and other areas if available.

[maja651]

On the Epic, all suites have access to the Haven, Posh and Epic club. I believe this will also be true for the Breakaway and Getaway, but not for the older ships prior to the Epic.

[jdvmd]

We are on the Norwegian Pearl if that makes a difference. Will be nice to be able to access the Haven and other areas if available.

You will not have Haven access.