Our Not So Epic Adventure with Pics 1/11/15-1/18/15

[tomsuelaw]

There's no such thing as a bad cruise...

 

Apart from catastrophe (i.e. ship getting stranded, sinking, severe illness, or a hurricane), I do hold to this mentality. However, in all of our 8 cruises, this was the 1st time I had to remind myself of that often. If there is one thing I have learned from CC, it is that cruises, like most vacations, are what you make them. This one took a little extra work on our part. Overall, we had a good time, the pictures will surely prove that. To be fair, this assessment was mostly just based on our own subjective preferences in cruising and some illness that hit 3 out of 4 of us. So, there is a good chance that the Epic and this cruise will fit you just fine!

 

The Start: A pic of me pondering what this Epic week would have in store for us and already having to remind myself after some early set backs "cruises are what you make them".

 

 

The Result: us having a good time despite the set-backs

 

 

A much needed pictorial review.

 

I am doing this review because I haven't seen a pictorial review of the Epic since she returned from the Med. Normally, I do my reviews because I am so excited to share how awesome my vaca was. So this is a little different for me, but I will try to be as objective and as positive as I can. I really hope you enjoy the review and find it helpful.

 

Who we are

 

 

 

We are Sue (me) and Tom (DH), a couple in our 30's. We took this cruise with our 2 littles, ages 4 (DD) and 6 (DS), and some extended family.

 

Our Return to NCL: NCL vs CCL

 

Pre Epic assessment:

 

This was our 8th cruise, 4th with NCL. We used to prefer NCL, we liked the freestyle design especially with young kids and the entertainment onboard. But as CCL followed suit by offering an open dining option and offered us better prices with more itinerary options we took a break from NCL and tried CCL for 4 cruises. Over all, we found the 2 lines to be camparible.

 

One of the 1st things we missed about NCL was the entertainment options. CCL still relies heavily on production shows (with singers and dancers), this is not our cup of tea. So, NCL had their kids sale free sale and they made us an offer on Epic that we couldn't refuse, we jumped. We were excited about Blue Man Group and excited to return to what was our 1st love.

 

Post Epic Assessment:

 

After cruising Epic, we really miss CCL for a few reasons. We like their ship layouts/amenities and friendly onboard service. I will elaborate more on these things later. For now, in our current stage of family life, we feel like CCL may be a better fit for us.

 

Our Cruise Culture

 

I think in order to understand this review, it may be good to understand our family's cruise culture...you know what I mean? Every cruiser has one, its like having a world and life view.

 

For DH and I, cruising is all about quiet relaxation while we watch our kids have super fun. We cruise for ports, water sports, warm weather, and good food. Our favorite place to eat on ships is the MDR cause we hate the crazy cluster of madness at the buffet. Our favorite daytime on board activity is relaxing in lounge chairs next to a quiet pool or water slide area where we can watch our kids swim or go down slides while occasionally joining them in the fun, to then return to our relaxed state once we have had enough water fun ourselves. Our favorite evening activity on board is dinner in the MDR and non-production show entertainment or just an early bedtime because we are old, and have exhausting lil kids, Seriously, its ridiculous, we are sometimes in bed by 9pm on cruises, yes, we are that lame.

 

For DD, cruising is all about going to kids club and water fun. For DS, cruising is all about avoiding kids club like the plague and going on water slides like it's his job.

 

 

 

[brookie848]

We're on the Epic in a few weeks. I'm looking forward to your pictures and any information you can share -- especially about the ports!

[daisey22]

hope to here more sooon sounds like a good one. thanks I look forward to these!

[dolita22]

Looking forward to your review and pictures! I dig reviews with pictures. :) I was considering writing a review, but haven't found much time to do laundry since arriving home, so not sure I will get to it.

 

We sailed the Epic the week after you for the second time and loved the ship as much as we did on our first sailing! Already planning our next cruise. :)

[marciemi]

Also following since we leave for the Epic in 10 days! Appreciate you sharing both the good and bad so we can be prepared and sounds like you made the most of it!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[tomsuelaw]

Overview of the Hits and the Misses

 

Top 3 things that were a hit about this cruise for us:

 

1. The Ports! We made it to all 3 and had a great time at each port. Ochos Rios was the highlight of our trip.

 

2. The Weather! Leaving cold Ohio and experiencing warm sunny weather was amazing. For the most part, we were blessed with great weather.

 

3. Blue Man Group for DH and the chicken pot pie in O'Sheehans and soft serve ice cream for me.

 

 

 

Top 3 misses for us:

 

1. Layout/Design of the ship and staterooms. Poor traffic flow all over ship. Small staterooms with silly design making maneuvering difficult in rooms. Very few open decks with non-obstructed views of the ocean (even top decks had high wind protecting barriers of tinted glass almost everywhere). There were very few picture windows in common areas inside ship. It seemed like this whole ship was designed to point you back to the ship instead of pointing you to the beautiful caribbean scenery. I know all ships are designed for revenue but the Epic seems to take that to a whole new level. Everywhere you turn there is a venue or restaurant flaunted that costs extra, even the casino and art gallery you must walk thru to get places.

 

2. Not so friendly staff. These are hard working people but the majority of them were not friendly. The whole week we felt like they were annoyed and hated being there. There were a few exceptions to this but we all noticed it. We always tip extra to waiters and stewards on cruises but this time, there was little need to. We are pretty laid back and do not expect our butts to be kissed. We understand that cruise work is hard and thankless. We always walk on board and try to be a blessing to the staff, to be nice, to smile, to engage them about their families back home etc. But this staff were cold and distant, rarely smiled. Our room steward nightly took our dirty pool towels and would neglect to replace them. Multiple times we had to track him down to get fresh pool towels back...you know, the ones that you get charged extra for if you don't have that same number in your room at the end of the cruise? We talked to him multiple times, nicely, and this never improved. Seems like a basic room steward 101 skill to me.

 

Exceptions to the poor service were Joe in the lido bar area, Marciella and Garfield in the Taste, and "Milkshake" in the Splash Academy. These people all were not only friendly but also provided an extreme level of customer service.

 

3. Pool and waterpark area poorly designed for families with small children. It was impossible to keep an eye on kids effectively and relax at same time while using the water park area. Slides are laid out so poorly, the exits to slides are scattered and obstructed from view. The main pool/waterpark area is loud with constant loud music or contests going on. We prefer quieter pool areas where kids are aloud to go. We are all about "adults only" areas but on CCL there is always a loud pool area, a quiet area with pools or water slides, and an adults only area. We just couldn't find the right spot to accommodate our cruise culture, but we did our best to make do and have as good of a time as we could have.

 

 

 

So lets get on with this review already!

 

Pre-Cruise Fun!

 

We left our home at the ungodly hour of 5am on Saturday 1/10 and headed for CMH (Port Columbus International airport). T-minus 33 hours till we board the Epic.

 

We had a 7am Delta flight with a layover in ATL. DS and DD were pretty pumped to fly this time since we have drove down to FL the last couple cruises.

 

 

 

 

Remarkably, all our flights were on time and we landed in MIA around 1pm. We got our luggage and headed to the taxi line. We were staying at the Hilton Downtown Miami. Thankfully, I had researched earlier and was expecting cab fare to be about $24 from MIA. The cabby tried to charge us $41!!!!!!!!!! I argued with him for about 15 min in the car before I finally called the hotel in front of the cab driver and asked them, They confirmed that it should be at most $24. Quickly, our cabby began to sing a different tune and lowered the price to $30....Oh, pa-lease!! You have got to be kidding. We snapped a pic of his credentials to report him. I will refrain from posting that here for legal reasons.

 

"Ok, Sue, let it go. Hit the reset button and let it go so you can enjoy your vaca" 1st of many times I had to tell myself this!

 

Hilton Downtown Miami

 

We arrived at 2pm, an hour before check in. They took our luggage and told us our room was not ready but to enjoy the grounds. We headed for the pool, officially on vaca!

 

 

 

 

 

[tomsuelaw]

At 3pm, our room was ready. We got up to the 8th floor and found these amazing views from our room.

 

 

 

 

 

 

But wait! Behold, the best surprise ever, a port view!!!!

 

 

 

So, we had a the privilege of watching the ships turn around to leave port! What a treat for a cruise addict like me! Carnival Victory with NCL Pearl in the background.

 

 

[tomsuelaw]

B]We love the Hilton Downtown Miami, it was perfect for us. The kids really enjoyed the pool. We enjoyed the view and comfortable beds. This was a great find on hotwire secret deals for a great price. There was a Checkers, Burger King, and Publix super market just across the street and we were a couple blocks from the Metro Mover (free monorail thru Miami)[/b]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Pearl leaving port. The Pearl is the ship that got us and both sets of our parents addicted to cruising so she hold a special in all our hearts!

 

 

[Susie51]

I'm sorry this cruise didn't meet your family's needs. Many times it is not the cruise line, but the ship that counts. Even "sister" ships can vary.

 

Have you been on Carnival Victory? That traffic flow pattern is very bad. Out of 25 cruises 25 being the worst. Victory is 25. However, great 24 hour soft serve and pizza.

[tomsuelaw]

I'm sorry this cruise didn't meet your family's needs. Many times it is not the cruise line, but the ship that counts. Even "sister" ships can vary.

 

Have you been on Carnival Victory? That traffic flow pattern is very bad. Out of 25 cruises 25 being the worst. Victory is 25. However, great 24 hour soft serve and pizza.

 

Yes, I agree, NCL as a whole cannot be defined by one ship. We still like NCL, but we just think CCL has more to offer us at this stage of life. When our kids are older, I would happily sail the Epic or the Breakaway, et el. I think the Epic is a great ship if you don't have kids or for families with older kids.

 

We will be back to NCL for sure, just not sure how soon :D

 

I have never been on the Victory or any of her sisters. We really like the Dream class and Fantasy class on CCL.

[Solarad]

Looking forward to the rest of your review Sue. We're taking our first Med cruise on Epic after 5 cruises with Royal Caribbean. Reading lots of reviews to anticipate what to expect. Of course Europe is very port intensive, so maybe what's lacking on this ship won't be an issue. But having said that, I was looking forward to trying out a new line and hoping for a good experience.

Sonia

(also from Columbus. Great year to be a Buckeye!)

[GoAndHaveFun]

I also stayed at the Hilton Downtown when I took Epic for the first time back in 2013. I didn't recognize the hotel at first until I saw the picture of the Miami skyline and of the port and American Airlines Arena.

 

After having been on the Waterfront on the Breakaway and Getaway, it was definitely disappointing to see a completely obstructed view on deck 7 on the Epic. I also hear you on the not-so-friendly staff as when I was on the Epic a month ago, some staffers never smile nor greet us. I also thought casino counter staffers were a bit rude.

 

Your kids might like the ropes course on the Breakaway/Getaway if they aren't afraid of heights.

[Ali70]

I'm enjoying your review. I'll be on the Epic in April, do you have any dailies, I can't find any recent ones.

[BusyFLmom]

My dh and I are totally engaged in your review! What a cute family you all are!! We are anxiously awaiting your next post! We will be on the Epic soon with our 3 kids 11, 11, 16 :)

[BunnyLove123]

So looking forward to the rest of your review! This will be the first time for us on NCL, having cruised Royal & Carnival.

[david_sobe]

I don't want to sound pushy :eek: But I would love to read the rest of this review and see those great photos. I love ALL Epic reviews!

[BrittanyandBrodysMom]

Enjoying your review! Thank you!!

[bobbycruiser]

I love these photo reviews. And even more than that, I love that you still enjoyed your cruise even though everything wasn't perfect!

[cruizinrican]

We are boarding for a spring break cruise 3/29/15! We are booked in a mini-suite gty and can not wait to start this adventure! I am sorry the Epic didn't meet your expectations but still tried to make the best of it. You have a beautiful family, I am enjoying the pics and look forward to the rest of your review.

[Lostinthe50s]

:mad: I understand how you felt about non caring and rude staff. We are older cruisers and have always enjoyed CCL. The staff & Crew always seemed friendly and that they were having fun.

Our last cruise on the Gem from NY was a nightmare. Seems like they were understaffed and the specialty restaurants were poor. There were kids hogging the hot tubs the whole time even though its supposed to be adults only. We had to constantly ask for ice and clean towels in our cabin.

The balcony cabin on the carnival miracle is huge with a large balcony,this cabin was cramped and not much drawer space. Our friends took a mini suite which had way more room than this, the minisuite is no more than an oversized balcony cabin with a tub.

When you pat hard earned money for a cruise you expect to be treated like guests and not a bother to someone.

I have given up on Norweigan and going back to CCL or Princess.

[BunnyLove123]

PLEASE come back and finish your review! Don't leave us hanging!!:o:confused::(

Edited January 31, 2015 by BunnyLove123

[New2cruise1483]

I can't wait to read the rest of your review! I've been curious about the Epic, and am looking forward to your pictures :D

[fshagan]

 

Top 3 misses for us:

 

1. Layout/Design of the ship and staterooms. Poor traffic flow all over ship. Small staterooms with silly design making maneuvering difficult in rooms. Very few open decks with non-obstructed views of the ocean (even top decks had high wind protecting barriers of tinted glass almost everywhere). There were very few picture windows in common areas inside ship. It seemed like this whole ship was designed to point you back to the ship instead of pointing you to the beautiful caribbean scenery. I know all ships are designed for revenue but the Epic seems to take that to a whole new level. Everywhere you turn there is a venue or restaurant flaunted that costs extra, even the casino and art gallery you must walk thru to get places.

 

I totally agree with you on this point. The Epic is designed as if it is the destination rather than a great way to get to a destination. We had a hard time experiencing what we love about a cruise ... being on the ocean and hearing and seeing it. Without our balcony cabin it would have been difficult to see the ocean at all.

 

We're afraid to take the newer ships, the Breakaway and Getaway for this reason. While they don't have the goofy "wave" room set up and are more traditional, they are large ships and I'm worried that the experience will be more like Epic than the Gem class ships.

[kenlyn]

I am leaving on the Epic next weekend and would sure like to see the rest of your review and pictures!

Waiting patiently, soon to be snow bound! Yuck!!!

[BunnyLove123]

I get the feeling that the OP may not come back... I hope that I'm wrong!

 

Was her trip that bad?? YIKES:eek: