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

[tomsuelaw]

My Favorite: the Cosmopolitan

 

 

 

DH's least favorite: Appletini

 

 

 

Tropical Island (forgive me the names are starting to blur by this point):

 

 

 

Mocha Espresso?

 

 

 

Chocolate Martini

 

 

 

Me, really enjoying the tasting

 

 

 

So much fun and such a great deal. If you like Martini's or want to learn to like Martini's, this should not be missed!

[tomsuelaw]

After our yummy fun, we headed back to the room to chill with DS who was in desperate need for some down time.

 

 

 

 

Dinner and Blue Men

 

We opted to dress up tonight and hit up The Manhattan, they were not able to seat our group of 9 but offered for us to go to Taste right away to be seated. We took them up on their offer.

 

We were surprised and how often we were able to be sat almost right away. Only one night did we have to wait longer.

 

 

After dinner exploring.

 

Tonight was Blue Man group for us. We were all really excited but the show wasn't till 10 so we had time to kill. I love the Lido decks at night so we headed there to explore.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[LrgPizza]

I'm enjoying your review. We loved the Epic, even more than the Getaway. Our son, at age 11, absolutely had a blast on this ship. The photos bring back good memories.

[tomsuelaw]

Blue Man Group

 

Everyone in our group enjoyed this. It was fun and very different for sure. I had never seen them before, so I didn't really know what to expect. DH absolutely loved it, I really really liked it. The rest of our group all enjoyed it. It is far more interactive and impromptu then I thought it would be, which was fun. Definitely the main entertainment highlight of the whole cruise for us.

 

After the show, they have a meet and greet with the Blue Men. DH and I had 2 sleepy kids by this point so we b-lined for our room while the others stayed back to meet the Blue.

 

 

Sea Day 2: waterside fun

 

We love watersides. We enjoyed these. I liked the purple one better then the green. Purple line was shorter and slide was faster.

 

As stated before, our only complaint was the chaotic lay out of the slides. They all started in a central local, but they all exit at different places that are obstructed from view and seem obscure. it was tricky with kids.

 

DD was tall enough to ride (have to be 42" I believe) but was too scared so she stayed in the kiddie section while me, DH and DS went big.

 

 

 

Epic Punge: so very fun but long lines.

 

 

 

 

 

[tomsuelaw]

Ice Sculpting by the pool

 

 

 

So, the lido areas has a stage where they do contests and performances throughout the day. I wasn't super fond of its local because the crowds would all swarm in front of the stage naturally.However, it would cause this huge blockage of the main artery to and from the lido pool to the lido buffet....the most popular area on sea days and they found a way to make it more crowded and congested.

 

I did really enjoy the live caribbean music from Jamrock though!

 

 

More pool fun and all you can eat snacking

 

 

 

 

Legends

 

After dinner tonight we had the Legends show. Our tickets were for the 9:30 showing and by the time 9:30 came around 5 out of 9 of us were too tired to go. I went with DH's parent's and DD. I wasn't too impressed overall, but the impersonators were very impressive in their own right. We had Jimmy Buffett, Adele, and Aretha Franklin. They were spot on. If you are a parrot head you would have loved it. If you are an Adele fan, it was amazing. My in-laws said Aretha was spot on. Aside from that though, the material was not much different then a production show on Carnival, a main singer with back up dancers.

Edited February 10, 2015 by tomsuelaw

[Demonyte]

Nice review, keep it coming, OP! :)

 

What comes to some Epic's design decisions, there are many good reasons why only one ship was built when they had ordered two and had an option for third one - design and customer opinion of it is one of them. ;)

 

While also big ships, Breakaway and Getaway have most Epic's faults fixed and are IMO totally different - I don't say that I hated Epic (disliked her though) but I can say that I loved Getaway.

[david_sobe]

Amazing photography. I love how your family is included in almost every photo.

Great job so far

[tomsuelaw]

Nice review, keep it coming, OP! :)

 

What comes to some Epic's design decisions, there are many good reasons why only one ship was built when they had ordered two and had an option for third one - design and customer opinion of it is one of them. ;)

 

While also big ships, Breakaway and Getaway have most Epic's faults fixed and are IMO totally different - I don't say that I hated Epic (disliked her though) but I can say that I loved Getaway.

 

So true about Epic being a single in her class.

 

Glad to hear you liked Getaway better. I would like to try Breakaway or Getaway sometime in the future, but will probably wait till the kids are older and able to play more independently on the Lido deck with more casual (not absent ;)) supervision on our part :cool: It looks like the Getaway and Breakaway have similar lido set ups, would you agree?

[tomsuelaw]

Amazing photography. I love how your family is included in almost every photo.

Great job so far

 

Thanks David! I appreciate the compliment and glad to hear our family fun adds to the pics :)

[missaud]

Thank you so much for the review!! We will be on the Epic this Sunday, flying in Saturday. Can't wait!! It is our first time on the Epic, and taking new cruisers with us. Hoping it goes well or they will never come with us again LOL!!!!

[Halftocruz]

Sue,

 

Thanks for the review on the Epic!! I am going on the Epic in May for a Med cruise. I have a question regarding the room layout. I know you weren't excited and I'm not really either but I have to deal with it.

 

There are 4 adults in a family mini-suite and one question is when the upper bed is pulled down from the ceiling, can you get out on the balcony?

 

Also can I ask the steward to put the bed up and down every day so we have more room to move around? Not sure if you had the bed left alone but just curious if you know or anyone else.

 

Thanks

[Ali70]

Thanks so much for your review. It's really detailed and I appreciate how much time it takes to do. I'm on the April 5th cruise and getting really excited.

[EasyPeasy]

Enjoying your review. Keep it coming! :)

 

You have a beautiful family.

[tomsuelaw]

Sue,

 

Thanks for the review on the Epic!! I am going on the Epic in May for a Med cruise. I have a question regarding the room layout. I know you weren't excited and I'm not really either but I have to deal with it.

 

There are 4 adults in a family mini-suite and one question is when the upper bed is pulled down from the ceiling, can you get out on the balcony?

 

Also can I ask the steward to put the bed up and down every day so we have more room to move around? Not sure if you had the bed left alone but just curious if you know or anyone else.

 

Thanks

 

Hi Halftocruz,

 

Yes, we were able to get out to the balcony with the bed down but we had to move the ladder...which is light weight and easy to move, but when up it blocked our path to balcony.

 

Yes, your room steward will automatically put the bed up in the day and bring it down again at night. You won't even have to ask :D

 

I hope you have a great cruise! I am sure you will have a good time.

Edited February 12, 2015 by tomsuelaw

[Dave85]

Loving your review! Amazing photos.

[plank]

Thanks for your review and fun pics. We are leaving next Sunday(my birthday) and look forward to the adventure! Glad you kept your sense of humor throughout your cruise and during the review. I can't wait for us to be able to take our grands on a cruise when they are a wee bit older:)

[tomsuelaw]

Grrrrr! Sorry Everyone. I am super excited to get onto Ochos Rios but Photobucket is being stupid and won't let me post anymore pictures despite my upgrade to Plus :mad: I keep getting a bandwidth exceeded message when I post, even though I paid for unlimited bandwidth.

 

Anyone have any experience with this?

 

Working to get this resolved but costumer service does not seem to be there strong point. Please stay tuned.

 

Thanks.

[motleyfan]

Grrrrr! Sorry Everyone. I am super excited to get onto Ochos Rios but Photobucket is being stupid and won't let me post anymore pictures despite my upgrade to Plus :mad: I keep getting a bandwidth exceeded message when I post, even though I paid for unlimited bandwidth.

 

Anyone have any experience with this?

 

Working to get this resolved but costumer service does not seem to be there strong point. Please stay tuned.

 

Thanks.

 

you can't possibly say anything negative about ocho rios. Jamaica is awesome.

 

Sent from my SM-G900P using Forums mobile app

[tomsuelaw]

Ochos Rios: Best Dang Day Ever with Courtney Taylor Tours

Ok, so this Port Day definitely makes my top 5 Best Port Days List. Here is my list just in case you want to know the competition with Ochos ranking #2.

 

1. The Baths, Virgin Gorda (via Tortola).

2. Blue Hole and Ochos Rios.

3. Cenotes of the Yucatan (Progresso, Mexico).

4. Scuba Diving, anywhere.

5. Paradise Beach Resort, Cozumel

 

 

Such a great day!

 

DS woke up and stepped onto the balcony to immediately alert of us of land ahead.

 

 

Pulling into port.

 

 

 

 

We ate a quick breakfast in my least favorite place. We got smart this time and took the long walk to the back of Garden Cafe, down the stairs and into the quiet respite of the Italian restaurant away from the mob. The Italian dining room is open seating for Garden Cafe people during breakfast and lunch...just not convenient seating to the food so with 2 kids its tricky but relaxing once settled.

 

After breakfast, we met up with our group of 9 and disembarked the ship.

 

 

 

 

After walking off the ship, we headed to the "Dispatcher" and told her we were here for Courtney Taylor. She radioed him and he came to the gate about 15 min. later and picked us up. There was one other group from Epic touring with him that day so we all piled into a van with them at 1st to drive to our private van for just us.

 

We had Kaci as our tour guide and David as our driver. They were amazing. SO sweet, always looking out for us and keeping us entertained all day. They really helped us maximize our fun that day. I would highly highly recommend Courtney Taylor Tours. http://courtneytaylortours.com

 

Ochos Rios is a beautiful port and the closest cruise dock in Jamaica to the main attractions. We were about 20min from Dunn's River and about 45 from Blue Hole. When I go back to Jamaica, Ochos Rios would be my preferred dock!

[tomsuelaw]

Dunn's River Falls

 

Our 1st stop was Dunn's River Falls in an attempt to beat the rush. We did a decent job of getting some pics of the falls before they became littered with people.

 

The Entrance

 

 

 

Empty Falls, it pays to be an early bird.

 

 

 

The Beach at bottom of falls.

 

 

So, you have to pay to get into the park. Once in, you can opt to go on a guided tour in a large cattle like group where you have to hold hands with strangers and risk other people being clumsy or stupid around you. Or, you can go on your own. We opted for the latter and went on our own. Good choice for us.

 

Huge crowds were already forming at the base of falls by the beach to climb. We opted to take the steps to try to get above them and entered above the beach.

 

We really had a blast and never once felt unsafe. Naturally with littles with us we had to be extra careful, but it was so fun and very doable.

 

Disclaimer: we are pretty laid back parents and all 4 of us are avid hikers and water sports buffs so this was not out of our normal activity range/comfort level as a family. Other families with small children may find this stressful and horrifying ;)

 

 

 

 

[tomsuelaw]

Ear to ear smiles on everyone, great family photo op.

 

 

 

 

 

The kids enjoyed the rock water slides.

 

 

Such an amazing time at Dunn's River, how can we possibly top this? Irie Blue Hole, baby!

Edited February 12, 2015 by tomsuelaw

[tomsuelaw]

Irie Blue Hole

 

Next on the agenda, Blue Hole. Most. Amazing. Fun. Ever!!!! Way better then Dunn's River , far more remote and less crowded for now....there is talk of the government taking it over and turning it into the next Dunn's River attraction....booooooo!

 

Once again, you must pay admission. Once in the park, you are assigned to a couple guides. These guys are amazing! I wish I could remember their names cause they were so awesome. They help you stay safe and maximize fun. They show you all the falls, jumps, and water slides, all while keeping a good an eye on your safety! If you come, be sure to bring lots of extra cash to tip these guys generously!

 

This place is so beautiful and practically empty compared to Dunn's.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These guys were so amazing with kids, so helpful!

 

 

[tomsuelaw]

 

 

We were surprised how big this place was. There were many different sets of falls and pools and we hiked a good portion of it. Not sure exactly how much time we spent here but it was at least 1.5-2hours. This place is insane. If you are an outdoor lover, do not miss Blue Hole!

 

After the falls we got back in the van and decided we were hungry and wanted to try some local cuisine. We wanted to try good jerk so the driver took us to the Island Grill (if I remember correctly). They accepted american $ and the food was so good.

 

After lunch, our guide suggested a scenic over look. They took us to a great spot high on the mountain that over looked the ship. My in-laws have some great pics from here and I will try post them later when I get them. For now, trust me when I say it was beautiful!

 

Back on Board

 

Once back to the port, we did a little exploring close by and then boarded the ship. It was time for another snack, so we enjoyed ice cream on the balcony with a great view.

 

 

 

 

 

[tomsuelaw]

 

Before we knew it, it was time for sail-away.

 

Farewell, Ochos Rios. Thanks for the fun, Mon. We will be back someday!

 

Side Thrusters are cool!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had side by side balconies but room steward refused to open balcony divider...boooo. But it did give us the ability to get pics like this.

 

[tomsuelaw]

More sail away shots

 

What a view!

 

 

And the sun sets on our most amazing day!

 

 

 

 

 

Dinner at Taste again that night. We liked Taste and enjoyed the more casual dress code so we ate here every night except for 1 in Manhattan Room.

 

 

 

DS is really good at entertaining himself during long formal cruise meals.