Our Epic first time cruise- photo review- 3rd Jan Canaries/Spain

[DrDivyne]

I am thoroughly enjoying your review, thanks for all of the info! My friends and I are on the Epic in May for our first NCL experience, I can't wait!

[SquishTheWhale]

Thanks for the comments!

 

When I left you last we were in Loro Parque. I won't tell you about every animal there, but I will mention the shows- they were really great, funny and informative. The Orca show especially was fantastic- but watch out for that splash zone!

 

 

You see how nobody is sat in those bottom rows, and even in the next section everyone has blue ponchos on? I was sat in the middle section further up than the poncho crowd, a good couple of rows beyond where the splash zone was marked, and I still got a bit wet! So beware!

 

A tip for the Orca show- we unintentionally went to the stadium a sneaky way (we were just following signs!). If you walk through the jellyfish exhibit there is a back entrance to the Orca stadium. We got there 30 mins before the show and was surprised nobody was queueing, but when us and the few others waiting were let in, we saw floods of people coming in from the other direction. So if you go the jellyfish way you dodge the crowds.

 

A few more loro parque pics for your viewing pleasure:

 

 

 

 

 

 

That last picture shows just what a beautiful day it was with a clear sunny sky! You can tell the park has been designed around hot Canarian summers, as most of it was in shade and covered by trees, and all the stadiums had extensive shade.

 

For lunch we had a sandwich and coffee in a little tree top cafe which was lovely (shame some woman sat next to us and started smoking- eww, that's one thing I hate about Europe!). It was very reasonably priced- in the UK they know when they have a captive market and charge extortionately in attractions like this. There was also a couple of restaurants serving bigger meals, however they didn't open until 12 and we needed to have an early lunch to make the 12.45 orca show. Because we only had a short port day, we had to leave at 2.30 and were limited to which show times we could catch.

Edited January 28, 2016 by SquishTheWhale

[SquishTheWhale]

On the way out they have a little shop where we bought a fridge magnet, as we collect these from places we visit. They also have offers on for reduced tickets to visit their sister park, which is Siam water park in the south of the Island. Not much use for cruise passengers, but just thought I'd mention it! If you do fancy Siam park, you'd need a longer port day as it's a longer drive away, and we didn't consider it because we didn't know if it would be hot enough for a water park in Jan. However we are going back to Tenerife in September for a cheap week in the sun so will be visiting Siam park then, and we might even go back to Loro Parque as it was so good!

 

The other thing they sell is the picture which they snapped of you with some parrots on the way in. We really liked the photo, and as it was only 6 euros (again, would have been £20 in the UK!), we bought it.

 

 

Photos are always my fave souvenir as they last a lot longer than a soft toy or a t-shirt :)

 

We were back by the coach 10 minutes before the deadline so chilled out in the sun for 5 and then reluctantley got back on board. The driver announced that he was going to take a slightley different route back to let us see a little of the local area, which was met with approval from everyone on board except one lady, who we will call Panic Lady.

 

Panic Lady started to freak out and have a very loud conversation with her husband and companions over the aisle about how we were going to miss the ship, because all aboard was at 3 and the ship sailed at 3.30 (god only knows where she got that from). F had fallen asleep so I muttered to myself about how all aboard was actually 3.30 and sail away at 4, so we would be back in plenty of time.

 

As the trip went on she got louder and more highly pitched, shouting things like 'the ship will be sat there waiting for this one coach! Everyone's going to hate us for making it leave late!' 'We'll have to run down the pier! Do they know they're missing 70 people?' 'What if they start taking our belongings off board! How long will they wait?!' Her companions didn't bother to correct her, but just sat there ignoring her. I could have told her, of course, but she was providing my in-coach entertainment. She also complained loudly about why we left Loro Parque so 'late', and that 'surely everyone was done hours earlier and we could have left early and had time to shop in the port'. Now you know that I'm a keen shopper, but when I've paid £50pp for an excursion I want to stay at that place as long as possible- and we could have happily stayed hours more. I most certainly would not want to miss out on an hour in Loro Parque to browse the tat stalls at the port. However Panic Lady decided that she was speaking for everyone apparentley.

 

The journey took another eventful turn when a young toddler decided to throw up all over his dad. Dad stood up to try and clean up, bus driver shouted for him to sit down, Dad shouted that he had baby puke all over him. After a bit of a stand off where the bus driver threatened to 'turn this bus around', Dad had to sit down covered in baby puke. Now I'm assuming that the baby was sick from something it ate, or too much sun, or just because babies are sick a lot, but we dubbed it Noro Virus baby. Eventually we got back to the port about 3.15, and Panic Lady started to run off, screaming at her group to follow 'before we are left!!' when she realised that there was lots of other coaches also pulling up, and the 'welcome aboard' team were still out front.

'Well, maybe all aboard wasn't at 3?' Panic Lady ventured to her friends, who just glared at her. Noro baby was sick again on the gang plank onto the ship and the parents decided not to tell anyone and just let everyone walk in it.

Edited January 28, 2016 by SquishTheWhale

[SadmanCruiser]

Thanks for making me laugh - noro baby & panic lady have made my day!

[Quilting_Cruiser]

I LOVE Panic Lady! I watch for her on all my cruises, and she cruises a lot! LOL. Loved your description. Felt a little sorry for father of Noro Baby and all those around, but great description on your part. :p

 

I'm very happy we finally got to see a photo of your elusive self! Now I can picture the storyteller as I read.

 

Continuing to enjoy your engaging review. I review my spreadsheet (where I have my plans and notes for my upcoming Epic cruise in only 38 days!) to see what I'll be doing in the ports and hoping we'll have as nice of weather as you experienced!

 

Thank you again for the great review!

[SquishTheWhale]

I LOVE Panic Lady! I watch for her on all my cruises, and she cruises a lot! LOL. Loved your description. Felt a little sorry for father of Noro Baby and all those around, but great description on your part. :p

 

I'm very happy we finally got to see a photo of your elusive self! Now I can picture the storyteller as I read.

 

Continuing to enjoy your engaging review. I review my spreadsheet (where I have my plans and notes for my upcoming Epic cruise in only 38 days!) to see what I'll be doing in the ports and hoping we'll have as nice of weather as you experienced!

 

Thank you again for the great review!

 

I'll have to make sure I'm wearing sunglasses in any pics I put up so I can remain at least semi elusive ;)

 

I bet there's a panic lady on every excursion! Although I have to say if we actually were going to miss the all aboard I would have been worried too, even though we were on an NCL excursion! But at least get your facts right before you panic lol.

 

Sadly we never saw Noro Baby and family again so I'm not sure if he recovered or if dad ever got the puke off. But every time we saw a baby of the same age on board we had great fun clutching each other in fake terror and whispering 'its Noro Baby! Run for your life!'

[Quilting_Cruiser]

I'll have to make sure I'm wearing sunglasses in any pics I put up so I can remain at least semi elusive ;)

 

I bet there's a panic lady on every excursion! Although I have to say if we actually were going to miss the all aboard I would have been worried too, even though we were on an NCL excursion! But at least get your facts right before you panic lol.

 

Sadly we never saw Noro Baby and family again so I'm not sure if he recovered or if dad ever got the puke off. But every time we saw a baby of the same age on board we had great fun clutching each other in fake terror and whispering 'its Noro Baby! Run for your life!'

 

 

I want to sail with you and F some time. That would be fun. But...I'm certain that I'm easily old enough to be your mother so might not be so much fun for you. LOL.

[Quilting_Cruiser]

Hmmmm. Now that I posted that, I realize it sounds a bit stalkerish. :eek: I assure you I have absolutely no stalker tendencies and it was simply my way of saying you and F sound like you're a lot of fun. :o:o:o

[suron]

It's a shame you hated the Epic! I hope that you can overlook it and enjoy your next cruise :) I don't mind big and impersonal, but the crowds and number of people on board could get a bit much.

 

Was on the same sailing as jodieh12 (Jo) for the Christmas cruise. She worked hard in organising a great M&G and those of us who attended had a lot of fun. Had a studio cabin which was very good (no dreaded single supplements!!) This was my second cruise on Epic and I too was very disappointed - standards have certainly slipped since my first cruise on this ship - my review will give you some idea of the problems we faced on that trip and Jo reported that on the second stage of the B2B the ship actually ran out of several drinks - stocks failing to be replenished back in Barcelona - just sheer bad management. It would have to be a very good price and an interesting itinerary to lure me back on Epic (or another other NCL ship for that matter) even with the compensation I have been offered towards another cruise following my letter of disapproval to NCL London Head Office.

 

Let's hope you will find things OK. The link to my review can be found at http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=521975. From this you may be able to appreciate the problems we encountered.

 

Suzanne (Bristol, UK)

Edited January 28, 2016 by suron
Information omitted

[kathybelcher2433]

It's just disappointing to be reading a really positive and fun review and then get the posting above. There must be better places to voice complaints.

[FloatYourBoatSince2003]

Panic Lady started to freak out and have a very loud conversation with her husband and companions over the aisle about how we were going to miss the ship, because all aboard was at 3 and the ship sailed at 3.30 (god only knows where she got that from).

 

Her companions didn't bother to correct her, but just sat there ignoring her. I could have told her, of course, but she was providing my in-coach entertainment.

 

You are so very wicked Squish ! :D :D

[jodieh12]

It's just disappointing to be reading a really positive and fun review and then get the posting above. There must be better places to voice complaints.

 

I don't think Suzanne was voicing her complaints, just backing up what I'd said earlier in the thread, I think she's just catching up with this thread and reading from the beginning.

 

I agree it's a fantastic review and I'm enjoying each post.

 

Liverpool Jo

[funnybunny70]

It's just disappointing to be reading a really positive and fun review and then get the posting above. There must be better places to voice complaints.

 

 

I agree with you there is a place where you can put reviews ( as Suzanne has done ) and I think it's a bit below the belt to hijack someone great and helpful review. As she's said she's complained and got some compensation move on and stop putting the dampener on some else's experience !

[SquishTheWhale]

Hi guys,

 

Sorry about my lack of updating- it was F's 30th Birthday on Sunday, so we went to London for the weekend to see The Book Of Mormon :D Now that's a musical that I bet we'll never see on a cruise line...

 

Hmmmm. Now that I posted that, I realize it sounds a bit stalkerish. :eek: I assure you I have absolutely no stalker tendencies and it was simply my way of saying you and F sound like you're a lot of fun.

 

You don't sound stalkerish at all lol, don't worry! And I'm not sure if you're old enough to be my mother, but I've had some of my best trips with my good old mum :p

 

So at my last update I think we were back at the ship after an amazing day in Loro Parque. I think this was our fave port day of the whole cruise! I can't wait until we are back in September.

 

And now for the evening... which I'm ashamed to say is a complete blank! I've been relying on my photos to remind me what we did each day, and for some reason I have none at all from this evening! Oh yes, I just remembered the reason- F took about 8000 pictures in Loro Parque, killed my camera battery and I didn't recharge it in time for the evening. So I've failed you!

 

I'm wracking my brains and I *think* we were pretty tired so we decided to hit the buffet for dinner. It was a chinese night special and the food was pretty good! I did pick up this cheesecake for dessert (I love cheesecake) and it tasted weird and gross. I took one bite and then pushed it aside. When the crew member cleared up the plates he said that nobody likes that cheesecake, not even the crew! That night might have been our second burn the floor viewing as well, we saw both Burn and Priscilla twice.

 

Sorry for that rubbish update. But next, Madeira!

Edited February 1, 2016 by SquishTheWhale

[SquishTheWhale]

Day 7, Funchal, Madeira

 

Some dailies for you!

 

 

 

 

 

Laundry offer in the daily- they also offered this earlier in the cruise

 

Edited February 1, 2016 by SquishTheWhale

[bostonfred]

Hi guys,

 

Sorry about my lack of updating- it was F's 30th Birthday on Sunday, so we went to London for the weekend to see The Book Of Mormon :D Now that's a musical that I bet we'll never see on a cruise line...

 

 

 

You don't sound stalkerish at all lol, don't worry! And I'm not sure if you're old enough to be my mother, but I've had some of my best trips with my good old mum :p

 

So at my last update I think we were back at the ship after an amazing day in Loro Parque. I think this was our fave port day of the whole cruise! I can't wait until we are back in September.

 

And now for the evening... which I'm ashamed to say is a complete blank! I've been relying on my photos to remind me what we did each day, and for some reason I have none at all from this evening! Oh yes, I just remembered the reason- F took about 8000 pictures in Loro Parque, killed my camera battery and I didn't recharge it in time for the evening. So I've failed you!

 

I'm wracking my brains and I *think* we were pretty tired so we decided to hit the buffet for dinner. It was a chinese night special and the food was pretty good! I did pick up this cheesecake for dessert (I love cheesecake) and it tasted weird and gross. I took one bite and then pushed it aside. When the crew member cleared up the plates he said that nobody likes that cheesecake, not even the crew! That night might have been our second burn the floor viewing as well, we saw both Burn and Priscilla twice.

 

Sorry for that rubbish update. But next, Madeira!

can you pleas tell me where Loro Parque is and what you did....thanks!!

[SquishTheWhale]

can you pleas tell me where Loro Parque is and what you did....thanks!!

 

It's in Tenerife, we took the NCL excursion there. If you go back a page or two you'll find all the details!

[SquishTheWhale]

We had decided to DIY Funchal, as we weren't planning on going too far from port and our main objective was to ride the cable car. NCL will try and sell you lots of excursions including the cable car, but unless you're interested in the rest of the excursion then don't bother as it's so easy to get to.

 

It's really easy to find your way to the cable car- just walk out of the port, take a right and keep walking along the sea front until you hit it. It took us about 45 minutes but we kept stopping, you could do it in 15.

 

Funchal is really beautiful- there's green everywhere! It has a really unique feel unlike anywhere else I've visited. Here's a few pics to get us started:

 

The port

 

Start following this path and you can't go wrong

 

Here I am modelling the scenery for you. These gardens run along the sea front. As you can see it was nice weather! We were lucky- we met a German couple in the cable car who arrived yesterday and it was chucking it down and freezing cold all day! And then today it was in the twenties and sunny. I've heard that Madeira has a micro climate and the weather can be pretty random so this seems true! It's not really a beach destination- there isn't any proper beaches on the island as far as I know. However there is a nearby island called Porto Santo that they advertise day trips to which looks like it has the most beautiful beaches. Sadly I don't think you could ever fit the trip into a port stop on a cruise unless you had an overnight.

 

 

 

The cool castle type building in the last picture is actually a little way beyond the cable car- we walked down to check it out and then back to the cable car station. You can't miss it, it's a big glass building with cable cars coming out of it (duh).

 

 

Next to the 'castle' there was a lovely hotel and all these cute little lizards were chilling on the hotel wall getting some sun. There was loads of them all along the wall!

Edited February 1, 2016 by SquishTheWhale

[FloatYourBoatSince2003]

Hi guys,

! I did pick up this cheesecake for dessert (I love cheesecake) and it tasted weird and gross. I took one bite and then pushed it aside. When the crew member cleared up the plates he said that nobody likes that cheesecake, not even the crew! That night might have been our second burn the floor viewing as well, we saw both Burn and Priscilla twice.

 

!

 

That's the second time I've read that someone mentioned the "buffet Cheesecake" was not good... Mental note - don't pick up cheesecake from the buffet!!!

 

Quick question - did you book the shows twice? I've booked them each once online, but it never occurred to me to go twice.

[SquishTheWhale]

That's the second time I've read that someone mentioned the "buffet Cheesecake" was not good... Mental note - don't pick up cheesecake from the buffet!!!

 

Quick question - did you book the shows twice? I've booked them each once online, but it never occurred to me to go twice.

 

You're only supposed to be able to book them once, but the system let us book them twice on my ncl, and all our reservations were intact once on board. I don't think you can do it once on board though- if you have Priscilla booked once and you book again I've heard it cancels the first one.

 

If you don't manage to get reservations and want to see it twice then just arrive early (30-45 mins before) and get in the standby queue- you will get in! We did that with our second Priscilla viewing (we missed the 2nd booking we had) and they let the standby queue in as soon as they let the booked people in. I think people did get turned away when they showed up 5 mins before the show and tried to get in on standby though.

[Quilting_Cruiser]

You don't sound stalkerish at all lol, don't worry! And I'm not sure if you're old enough to be my mother, but I've had some of my best trips with my good old mum :p

 

Well, that's good! I thought I sounded a little creepy. LOL. And yes, I'm old enough to be your mum. ;) I have kids from 20 to 33. :o

 

Still loving your review! I leave one month from today, so this is fun! I'm planning to ride the cable car in Funchal so looking forward to your pics of it. Since you didn't mention it, I take it you didn't ride the toboggans?

 

I have yet to have buffet cheesecake on a cruise ship that has any flavor at all an they usually have the oddest texture. Yuck. But, I'll be looking for those cookies you talked about!

 

I've got Priscilla booked twice, and so far the booking has remained. Hoping it's still there when I board!

[SquishTheWhale]

Still loving your review! I leave one month from today, so this is fun! I'm planning to ride the cable car in Funchal so looking forward to your pics of it. Since you didn't mention it, I take it you didn't ride the toboggans?

 

Nope we didn't ride them- I'll elaborate a little in the coming posts!

 

So this was the inside of the cable car building- as you can see there was a bit of a queue, but it only took 5 mins to get through it.

 

 

You can buy tickets from either the manned desk or there's a machine, we used the manned desk. There is also toilets in here that are free to use and clean- wish we had known that before we decided to buy a drink and make a bathroom stop in the cafe next to the station as they were non too clean!

 

 

Here's the tickets- we bought a return for 15 euros each, I think one way was about 10 euros if you are planning on taking the toboggan down.

 

 

This is what the cars look like- they are very modern and felt very safe. You can probably get 6 people in there, but both journeys we shared with just one other couple.

 

A views from the ascent with the Epic in shot! I took better pictures going back down, I'll post them when we get there.

 

Edited February 2, 2016 by SquishTheWhale

[SquishTheWhale]

At the top they offer you a chance to buy the picture they took of you when you first get in the car. It's 10 euros, comes in a nice folder and you also get a DVD of the cable car and a free keyring and wine tasting at the shop. So obviously we bought it!

 

 

And here's the free keyring

 

 

 

 

Once at the top you will reach the village of Monte, where you can find this lovely church, the tropical gardens, a few cafes and shops and also the start of the toboggans.

 

 

 

 

To reach all this, head right from the cable car station and follow the path. It can be a bit hairy as it's a narrow road where lots of people are walking and also cars are driving down! As you can tell from the picture of the church you can climb up to the top- this is a narrow spiral stone staircase with no room for passing, and not suitable for those with limited mobility, even I found it a little steep and scary. I think you can sometimes go inside the church itself, but it was shut when we were there.

 

 

One point about Monte as well- it may seem obvious as you've taken the cable car up a mountain basically, but it was a lot colder than down in Funchal. Even if it's a sunny day take a jumper!

 

If you want to ride the toboggan, this goes from the base of the church (this photo is taken looking down from the church).

 

 

 

 

We didn't ride this. Why not? Well, let's just say that if F had a super hero alter ego, he would be Captain Safety. He's the one who is always asking if you have your seatbelt on in the car, calling taxi drivers out on bad driving or refusing to get in anything that looks remotely like a death trap. In his book, the toboggans fell firmly into the death trap category. I didn't argue as they are fairly expensive to ride (I think around 20 euros per person), and I was happy riding the cable car back down and getting the views again. The toboggans also don't even take you all the way down the mountain- only about half way, and then you have to get a taxi. Are they death traps? No, probably not- thousands of people ride them every year without incident, however there are also accidents. If you google it you will easily come across the story of a cruise ship passenger being involved in a serious accident in one. They also travel down the main roads- meaning the same roads that cars are using, so I had to agree with Captain Safety in this instance. I don't want to put anyone off riding it, but make up your own mind!

 

After walking around a little and deciding not to pay for the Tropical Gardens (they didn't actually look as tropical as Loro Parque where we were yesterday), we headed to the shop to redeem our free keyring and wine tasting. The shop is to the left of the cable car station down some steps. They have a good range of tat, but also a large amount of traditional Madeira wine, rum, cake, sweets, biscuits etc. We ended up spending 45 euros but got loads of presents for back home. A small bottle of wine will cost around 4 euros, a larger bottle of passionfruit and honey rum was 8 euros. Then it was time to go back down! Here's some views:

 

 

 

 

Saw this swanky house with the large garage full of luxury cars...

Edited February 2, 2016 by SquishTheWhale

[SquishTheWhale]

We see you Epic!

 

 

Once we were back down it was firmly lunch time. We decided to try one of these little stands which serve traditional Madeiran bread snacks

 

 

 

We made a rookie error when ordering- we chose one with cheese and bacon, and one with garlic butter as I had heard that it's traditional to have garlic butter. Well, they put garlic butter in the cheese and bacon one anyway! And the plain garlic butter one was double the size and way too much bread to eat.

 

Cheese and bacon

 

Garlic butter

 

They were good, but so strong that my breath stunk of garlic for about a week afterwards. After them we grabbed a gelato from the cafe next to the cable car station, before deciding what to do next!

Edited February 2, 2016 by SquishTheWhale

[suron]

I don't think Suzanne was voicing her complaints, just backing up what I'd said earlier in the thread, I think she's just catching up with this thread and reading from the beginning.

 

I agree it's a fantastic review and I'm enjoying each post.

 

Liverpool Jo

 

Yes Jo I was backing up your comments and reading the thread through. I apologise if my post has upset some . This review is great and I am pleased that you have not experienced any problems.

 

Suzanne