Epic review 1/18

[TheWulf]

I know I like to read feedback before booking, so here is my take on the Epic 1/18 cruise. I'll write a full review when I get the chance, but here's a quick summary for now.

 

FWIW we are a couple in their 20s/30s and we were booked in room 11264 (MA).

 

Visually, the ship is beautiful. Everything is in very good condition, LED lighting everywhere, colours are bright and the trim is really nice.

 

Nicest stateroom I’ve ever had. Felt large comparing to other rooms I’ve had before, again really nice trim and finish, larger than most balcony.

 

The public spaces are hit and miss. LOTS of layout problems: very narrow paths to get around decks 5-6-7 and 4000+ people who seem to have a fascination with congregating in narrow areas. Lots of congestion. Just bad layout decisions in many cases, you can’t even walk 2 people wide sometimes in the main walking paths. In one example, the line for the specialty coffee shop runs 90 degrees into a one 1m wide walking path to the bathrooms. Very poor planning.

 

The casino is very intrusive. It takes up more than half of deck 6 and is open air to the main dining room and several specialty restaurants, as well as being open to adjoining decks half the time. That means smoke everywhere. Really bad layout again.

 

The headliner entertainment was the best we’ve seen at see as far as the shows go: Blue Man Group was fantastic. (This replaces the nightly shows, so you only get one evening show instead of seven, but the quality was worth it) We did not see the Cirque show as pricing was very high ($30-40pp). Other entertainment was laughable at best. It’s like they asked the crew to fill in because they forgot to hire singers: all of them were terribly off-key (cringe-worthy). They also had a “hypnotist” that was just overdone and repetitive.

 

The food was just awful. Usually over or undercooked, very inconsistent — two plates of the same order will look completely different and have different portion sizes, missing garnish, etc. Most food is very bland, no seasoning. It’s to the point where we had to try two of the specialty restaurants because the food was so unappetizing. We tried the noodle bar and the sushi bar. Both were passable, but they were buffet quality at best.

 

The service was very underwhelming. Most people seemed like they really didn’t want to be there and barely spoke to us (think grumpy diner server). A few people were really great, but it wasn’t the norm. It was frequent to have different people give contradicting information, especially when trying to book restaurant reservations. Stateroom service was good.

 

The outdoor spaces were ok. You could typically find loungers if you weren’t picky about where they were.

 

NCL did tone down the annoying “washy-washy” songs we often heard on the Dawn.

 

The new digital screens everywhere were convenient for making reservations or booking tender times (yes, you could book them! That was a nice surprise).

 

Alcohol policy: Instead of delivering your purchases to your room on the last day, they now make everyone line up on the top deck outside in a queue to claim them. Unbelievable to make the entire ship wait in one line for so long for something they had a perfectly good system for. Thankfully we did not have to wait in that line.

 

The Ice Bar was great! The bartender was the best one on the ship. He made sure you had a good time and was very generous in keeping your drinks topped up.

 

The crowds: lots of children, not very classy overall. No excessive drunkenness or belligerence, but just a lack of common courtesy and self-awareness.

 

 

Overall: NCL really feels like a budget line. If I can get a week on a balcony for $500, I would possibly book again, but it is going to be far from my first choice.

Edited January 30, 2015 by TheWulf

[ilovetotravel1977]

sorry to hear your trip wasn't very good...

[TheWulf]

sorry to hear your trip wasn't very good...

 

Not at all! A trip is what you make of it.

 

We had an excellent time in all ports and we typically make our own entertainment, so it was still a good trip. I'll cover the ports and everything else when I have time for the full review which I'll come back and link here.

[trish1c]

Glad you had fun.

 

Here's my review for the same cruise: http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=270260

 

The ship was just too big for us. We never got to see the Blue Man Group because I didn't understand that we should have booked in advance before we boarded. That level of scheduling really ruins freestyle for us & I don't care for it.

 

You have to tell me where you found lounge chairs. I had a tough time at 7:45 a.m. on the 1st sea day, no luck at all on the 2nd sea day. Believe me. I did laps at 9 a.m., after lunch & again around 3. I only wanted one chair for myself but couldn't find anything.

[TheWulf]

Glad you had fun.

 

Here's my review for the same cruise: http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=270260

 

The ship was just too big for us. We never got to see the Blue Man Group because I didn't understand that we should have booked in advance before we boarded. That level of scheduling really ruins freestyle for us & I don't care for it.

 

You have to tell me where you found lounge chairs. I had a tough time at 7:45 a.m. on the 1st sea day, no luck at all on the 2nd sea day. Believe me. I did laps at 9 a.m., after lunch & again around 3. I only wanted one chair for myself but couldn't find anything.

 

I have this OCD habit of doing everything online and clicking on every page in the MyNCL section. I found the BMG reservation link by pure luck, otherwise I wouldn't have known either.

 

We always found deck chairs on Deck 18 (outdoor elevators near the buffet entrance) and on the Freestyle deck. It was also more quiet there which was a bonus. Then again, we only really went there twice on the first two sea days. During port days we were too busy and by the last day we were burnt.

[trish1c]

We always found deck chairs on Deck 18 (outdoor elevators near the buffet entrance) and on the Freestyle deck. It was also more quiet there which was a bonus. Then again, we only really went there twice on the first two sea days. During port days we were too busy and by the last day we were burnt.

 

Those are usually my favorite "secret" spots to find chairs but I had no luck any of the 3 times I checked there either.

[Vacacrazy325]

My husband and I were on this same cruise as well. I was bit put off by all of the teenagers in the 18 plus clubs. I felt like I was at home with all of the children and I do not feel that the staff did anything to enforce the 18 plus rules. We were also able to find chairs on deck 18.

 

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[tinawhitecar]

I was also on the Jan18th sailing of the Epic.

 

We did have a great time.

 

My complaint was the 1000-1300 (different estimates) of children on the ship. Kids were rude/ parents were rude. A woman told my 79 year old mom (with a broken toe) to move in the Theater so her kid could sit down. (we did refused to move)

 

Screaming/Crying kids in the Dining rooms at 8/9pm. It was hard to have a peaceful meal. It would be nice is one of the MDR could be adults only

 

The kids were EVERYWHERE! It was like Lord of the Flies.

 

I will never choose a school holiday week to travel

[Love my butler]

We might be twins. I concur with just about every point you made. BMG was ok the first time, but repeats are just boring. I rate the Epic as the worst NCL ship by far. They tried some innovations and most of them fell flat.

[sekonick]

I was on this cruise as well and I concur too many unruly children. Other than that we had a great time. We always found deck chairs next to the pool whenever we wanted them. I won't hesitate to move a towel that's been sitting abandoned for hours. No one ever came back to claim them. We had the dining package so our meals were peaceful and we'll timed with the exception of Le Bistro. Cirque was great we went the first night and my husband was chosen to participate. We had a great time overall. That said because of the number of kids, unless we bring our own, our next vacation will be at an adult only AI resort.

[TheWulf]

I will never choose a school holiday week to travel

 

January 18th is a school holiday week? How do schools have a week of holidays barely two weeks after Christmas?

 

We chose that week because we figured kids would be mostly in school. I had a hard time figuring out why there were so many kids so soon after the holidays.

[Vacacrazy325]

We cruised this same week last yr and we didnt notice the kids. It was definitely hard to relax when I felt like I was at home.

 

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[GoAndHaveFun]

My husband and I were on this same cruise as well. I was bit put off by all of the teenagers in the 18 plus clubs. I felt like I was at home with all of the children and I do not feel that the staff did anything to enforce the 18 plus rules. We were also able to find chairs on deck 18.

 

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I remember when I was on the Getaway. under 18 kids would always try to sneak into Bliss Lounge after 11pm. Fortunately, the DJ would keep making announcements saying that one had to be 18 to be in Bliss Lounge after 11pm.

[Pailful in ohio]

We were also in the Epic this week. This was a good but not great cruise. I agree 100%.....the large group of un-supervised children and their rude and demanding parents made this a less than enjoyable experience.

 

The demands put on the dining room staff were horrible. Several staffers commented, "this cruise can't end soon enough". We left without completing our dinners several times. Good thing we had the buffet as a back up.

 

My husband and I booked this cruise as a last minute get-away. We've learned a valuable lesson, " buyer beware" and do your homework before booking.

[beerman2]

We were also in the Epic this week. This was a good but not great cruise. I agree 100%.....the large group of un-supervised children and their rude and demanding parents made this a less than enjoyable experience.

 

 

 

The demands put on the dining room staff were horrible. Several staffers commented, "this cruise can't end soon enough". We left without completing our dinners several times. Good thing we had the buffet as a back up.

 

 

 

My husband and I booked this cruise as a last minute get-away. We've learned a valuable lesson, " buyer beware" and do your homework before booking.

 

 

So that's 3 weeks in a row that there were issues with staff, cold or over-cooked food on the Epic. Maybe it's a coincidence, then again just maybe it's that particular ship.

 

We even witnessed a person in Cagney's with shorts and a t-shirt on, which we thought was a little strange.

 

 

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[ClaireAndMike]

MLK Jr day

 

January 18th is a school holiday week? How do schools have a week of holidays barely two weeks after Christmas?

 

We chose that week because we figured kids would be mostly in school. I had a hard time figuring out why there were so many kids so soon after the holidays.

[ClaireAndMike]

lolololol! I know my opinion of children is a very unpopular one, especially for a married woman in her 30s, but I do not care for children. Maybe it's more fear than anything else, I don't know. But too funny!

 

I was also on the Jan18th sailing of the Epic.

 

We did have a great time.

 

My complaint was the 1000-1300 (different estimates) of children on the ship. Kids were rude/ parents were rude. A woman told my 79 year old mom (with a broken toe) to move in the Theater so her kid could sit down. (we did refused to move)

 

Screaming/Crying kids in the Dining rooms at 8/9pm. It was hard to have a peaceful meal. It would be nice is one of the MDR could be adults only

 

The kids were EVERYWHERE! It was like Lord of the Flies.

 

I will never choose a school holiday week to travel

[eroller]

It's funny because I was on the 1/17 sailing of GETAWAY and kids were not an issue at all. There were not that many and those I did see were well behaved. It's interesting that on the same cruise line but with sailings only a day apart there were dramatic differences.

 

I do think the Breakaway Class is far superior to EPIC, but that doesn't explain the huge differences in the amount of kids. Perhaps EPIC was offering a better deal for families that week over GETAWAY?

[ilovetotravel1977]

 

We even witnessed a person in Cagney's with shorts and a t-shirt on, which we thought was a little strange.

 

 

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I believe you only need pants and closed-toe shoes for Le Bistro and the Manhattan Dining Room.

[debnjoe1438]

Just off the Epic today, great trip, not too many complaints':)

 

Don't like the new menus ( well just a couple of the changes). On the lunch menu in Taste was fried chicken. The first thing that came to my mind when I saw this was "Carnival" Before the changes Taste and Manhattan Room had a New York strip or Ribeye steak on the every night menu, that's gone. :( As "rumored" the lobster is also gone, however, it's no big deal to me.

 

Unfortunately, on the nights we went to Cagney's and La Cucina the cook didn't know what "medium well" is. :(

 

Food was good (service slow) Entertainment was great. Really enjoyed Nadine the hypnotist.

 

Crew and staff always friendly and helpful.

 

Used laundry service this trip (Platinum perk). Clothes came back the day after sending them out. Laundry service was great. The clothes which were pressed looked better than the day I bought them.

[Sweet7111]

Is there a place on Epic for adults only or someplace where a fee is charged to go?

[debnjoe1438]

Is there a place on Epic for adults only or someplace where a fee is charged to go?

 

Spice H2O on the back of the ship. No fee. I've heard tell a limited amount of posh passes can be bought. Posh being a private deck for those in suites

[dolita22]

January 18th is a school holiday week? How do schools have a week of holidays barely two weeks after Christmas?

 

We chose that week because we figured kids would be mostly in school. I had a hard time figuring out why there were so many kids so soon after the holidays.

 

We were also on your sailing and also picked that week thinking there would be fewer kids on board because Christmas break had been fairly recent. On our NCL excursion in Grand Cayman, we spoke with a woman from New Jersey and asked if she happened to know why there were so many kids from the east coast (her two high-school aged kids were with her). She said many of the Jewish schools in New York and New Jersey take a week-long break that week, since their kids don't have Christmas breaks. Not sure if that was the only reason or if people used the MLK holiday to take a week off, but we learned and won't be sailing that week again in the future! Too many unruly kids in general.

[galliegirlie]

Does anyone have scans of the freestyle dailies from recent Epic sailings? We will be on the Epic the week before Easter, so I would like to get a heads up on ship board activities. Much appreciated!

[Sweet7111]

Thanks. And it is only for people in suites? We will check out Spice H20.

Edited February 2, 2015 by Sweet7111