My non-haven, non-posh Epic TA review

[Indykitten]

Inspired by Sally's live thread which was a great read.

 

We were not in a haven, we don't gamble, and with the exception of seeing Sally at sailaway on the pooldeck and at meetup I don't think we even visited the same areas of the ship! So I thought I'd offer a different perspective for anyone curious.

 

First of all, I have to confess that this was my first cruise. Already a few people have suggested that perhaps I didn't have the right to offer up my opinions because of that. :rolleyes: But I'm gonna call BS. We travel as much as possible, have been to several AI's, including a more upscale one and a more "budget-friendly" one. We'll stay anywhere from 5 star resorts to local B&B's. Also, I am not a complete moron so I can tell the difference between good and bad service. I will also fully confess that I have previously avoided cruises because I kinda thought they were the "Walmart" of vacations. :o I have (mostly) changed my mind about that.

 

Read on if interested. :cool:

 

Embarkation in BCN. Not bad at all. We accidentally got there an hour early because I spaced it on the time change. Oops. We dropped off our luggage and found our line. I was confused with the number of people that were lugging large items of luggage with them. I can understand wanting to take some stuff that you will need in the next couple hours, but even on my first cruise I knew they delivered your bags to your room. For free, ya'll. Fo' free.

Line moved a little slow. Lots of people didn't have their documents ready to go. By the time we got to the front of the line we had passports, health questionnaire, credit card, etc in hands. Check-in took all of 2 minutes for us. Then on to the next queue. Where the aforementioned people had to stuff all their ridiculous carryon through the x-ray machine.

 

Finally, on the ship! Down to Taste for some lunch. This is where things started to go a bit sideways for me. Food was good. Nachos and fish n chips. I'm fancy like that. I don't like to brag, but I'm kind of a nacho pro. These were acceptable. Staff was fine, maybe a little slow but it was first day and they were sorting everything out. The problem came with my fellow guests, seated at two tables near us. Very demanding, very privileged acting. And we were going to be trapped on a ship for two weeks. I leaned into my husband and said, "I think I've made a terrible mistake". He replied, "Too late now, give it a chance". He's wise like that.

 

Which meant it was time for the first cocktail.

[Indykitten]

Cocktail time! Up to O'Sheehans to check it out. Went fine, it was still a bit quiet. Had a cocktail or two. Unfortunately O'Sheehans turned out to be one of my biggest disappointments for the cruise, somewhat due to my own expectations. I fully expected it to be my favorite place on the ship, the place that felt like home. The hubby and I love craft beer and hanging out in our favorite pubs at home. We are sit at the bar, chat with the bartender people and not table people. We tried it several times but it just never felt comfortable to us. Too loud, too close to the casino, barely no windows, too busy, and service was never as good as other places. Honestly I think they were just understaffed and over-customered most of the time.

 

So off to explore more of the ship. We walked around for a while, figuring out where things were and then finally up to the pool deck to see the port and the water. Found deck 18 forward, which gave us a fabulous view for sailaway. Sailaway was delayed just a bit as they were still provisioning. Still an amazing experience watching Barcelona fade away in the distance.

 

Dinner was in Wasabi that night. As my hubby said, "The fish isn't getting any fresher, it's not like they're trawling lines off the back of the ship". Wow. Blown away. Best meal we had, and we had many good ones. For some reason we were the only guests eating there that night, although I never saw it busy. Probably due to the a la carte pricing. We had a 6 meal UDP so we gladly paid the upcharge. Everyone from the hostess, our waitress and the sushi chef were fantastic. Recommending rolls to us that seemed to never stop. I'm embarrassed to say I can put away quite a bit of sushi. And the shaku shaku cocktails were also one of my favs. Later on I may have realized I had one too many.

 

And that brings us to Howl at the Moon. Lots of fun, have been to piano bars before and these two were very talented. Sipping yet another cocktail. So yeah, I knew the demographic of this cruise would trend older than myself and that does show itself in the music requested and played. I got a little bored, so if you were there, I was the drunk girl dancing to Lady Gaga.

 

End of first day. This will likely not be a day to day review, unless I can get my hands on my husband's log. Lets just say some of the days started to blend together after a while. :D

[BlueJai]

Thanks for sharing your views, I look forward to reading more and I hope you had a great time!

[Misty girl143]

Question is would you go on another Cruise????

 

 

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[nimiq]

Following thanks

 

 

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[Indykitten]

Question is would you go on another Cruise????

 

 

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Short answer? I hope so since I bought two deposits!!:D

 

Long answer is it will definitely be itinerary-based decisions for us. I think Alaska and Panama canal are made to be seen from the water. Maybe the baltic, too. I loved the sea days on the transatlantic, so relaxing, I read 4 books! I don't know if a Caribbean or Med is in our future. Port days just felt rushed and I could have stayed in the Canary Islands for months. But maybe that aspect was worth it, for now I know I want to return to Tenerife! I have two vacations currently planned, Cuba and Hawaii - both land-based.

 

TL;DR: Cruising will likely not be "our thing" but it will be one of the things we do along with our other adventures.

[luckyinpa]

OP who told you that you had no right to do a review. i hope not the jerks on this forum. some just love to impart their words to build post counts and be negative towards others. it's their hobby.rather than post answers to questions they post things like ' why don't you just search for yourself'

 

so if you run into any of them, just ignore :)

 

you mentioned nachos in taste but did you have osheehans? i was very disappointed in those with their liquid cheese. if you ever are in bermuda go to the swizzle in and get those nachos. dang they were good

[mom for life]

Thanks for posting your review...nice to see a NON haven, NON posh based review~! :)

[SuiteCruiser]

Cocktail time! Up to O'Sheehans to check it out. Went fine, it was still a bit quiet. Had a cocktail or two. Unfortunately O'Sheehans turned out to be one of my biggest disappointments for the cruise, somewhat due to my own expectations. I fully expected it to be my favorite place on the ship, the place that felt like home. The hubby and I love craft beer and hanging out in our favorite pubs at home. We are sit at the bar, chat with the bartender people and not table people. We tried it several times but it just never felt comfortable to us. Too loud, too close to the casino, barely no windows, too busy, and service was never as good as other places. Honestly I think they were just understaffed and over-customered most of the time.

 

So off to explore more of the ship. We walked around for a while, figuring out where things were and then finally up to the pool deck to see the port and the water. Found deck 18 forward, which gave us a fabulous view for sailaway. Sailaway was delayed just a bit as they were still provisioning. Still an amazing experience watching Barcelona fade away in the distance.

 

Dinner was in Wasabi that night. As my hubby said, "The fish isn't getting any fresher, it's not like they're trawling lines off the back of the ship". Wow. Blown away. Best meal we had, and we had many good ones. For some reason we were the only guests eating there that night, although I never saw it busy. Probably due to the a la carte pricing. We had a 6 meal UDP so we gladly paid the upcharge. Everyone from the hostess, our waitress and the sushi chef were fantastic. Recommending rolls to us that seemed to never stop. I'm embarrassed to say I can put away quite a bit of sushi. And the shaku shaku cocktails were also one of my favs. Later on I may have realized I had one too many.

 

And that brings us to Howl at the Moon. Lots of fun, have been to piano bars before and these two were very talented. Sipping yet another cocktail. So yeah, I knew the demographic of this cruise would trend older than myself and that does show itself in the music requested and played. I got a little bored, so if you were there, I was the drunk girl dancing to Lady Gaga.

 

End of first day. This will likely not be a day to day review, unless I can get my hands on my husband's log. Lets just say some of the days started to blend together after a while. :D

 

LOVE that you're doing this. I feel badly because my time is spent in only a few places onboard, and my blathering doesn't give a true picture of the whole cruise experience.

 

When I started cruising, I went to the shows, trivia, checked off half of the items on the daily, but I've become boring in my old age :)

 

Can't wait to read more, and I agree, anyone telling you not to do the review are not worth listening to.

[Misty girl143]

I loved your review. I hope you go on another cruise. February will be our ??26. You will love Hawaii. One of my favorite trip. Again thanks for your review.

 

 

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[Indykitten]

LOVE that you're doing this. I feel badly because my time is spent in only a few places onboard, and my blathering doesn't give a true picture of the whole cruise experience.

 

When I started cruising, I went to the shows, trivia, checked off half of the items on the daily, but I've become boring in my old age :)

 

Can't wait to read more, and I agree, anyone telling you not to do the review are not worth listening to.

 

Oh good, I'm sorry, I certainly don't want you to think I was putting down your review - it was great! Just a little light hearted ribbing. :D The Haven will most likely never be in my future and I'm okay with that. I bring the good time with me wherever I go.;)

[Dogstar]

First of all, I have to confess that this was my first cruise. Already a few people have suggested that perhaps I didn't have the right to offer up my opinions because of that. :rolleyes: But I'm gonna call BS. We travel as much as possible, have been to several AI's, including a more upscale one and a more "budget-friendly" one. We'll stay anywhere from 5 star resorts to local B&B's. Also, I am not a complete moron so I can tell the difference between good and bad service. I will also fully confess that I have previously avoided cruises because I kinda thought they were the "Walmart" of vacations. :o I have (mostly) changed my mind about that.

 

 

 

Read on if interested. :cool:

 

Very interested. Great style, fresh & open minded! [emoji106]🏻

 

 

 

 

The problem came with my fellow guests, seated at two tables near us. Very demanding, very privileged acting. And we were going to be trapped on a ship for two weeks. I leaned into my husband and said, "I think I've made a terrible mistake". He replied, "Too late now, give it a chance". He's wise like that.

 

 

 

Which meant it was time for the first cocktail.

 

 

Great solution. Works wonders in these situations. [emoji6]

 

 

 

 

F So yeah, I knew the demographic of this cruise would trend older than myself and that does show itself in the music requested and played. I got a little bored, so if you were there, I was the drunk girl dancing to Lady Gaga

 

 

Awesome. Looking forward to more of your reviews.

[Indykitten]

OP who told you that you had no right to do a review. i hope not the jerks on this forum. some just love to impart their words to build post counts and be negative towards others. it's their hobby.rather than post answers to questions they post things like ' why don't you just search for yourself'

 

so if you run into any of them, just ignore :)

 

you mentioned nachos in taste but did you have osheehans? i was very disappointed in those with their liquid cheese. if you ever are in bermuda go to the swizzle in and get those nachos. dang they were good

Lolz, well I didn't keep track of who was CC or not, lets just say there was a couple times that I complimented the service and was told that basically I didn't know better because it was only my first cruise. Some people. I swear if heard the word "PLATINUM" one more time I was going to bash my skull in on a bulkhead...

 

But yeah, nachos. O'Sheehan's sucked, Taste was acceptable. Steak fajitas in O'Sheehans were also not bad. Maybe order both and do some magic? Actually, the one thing I really, really missed on the ship was Mexican food. One day for lunch there was a Mexican buffet in the Great Outdoors that was really, really good with steak fajita meat and grilled peppers. I ate the crap out of that. Thanks for Bermuda rec. We had nachos in Cocoa Beach at Coconuts when we disembarked and those were pretty delicious!

[zencruisers]

Enjoying the review. We sail on The Epic next November.

 

 

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[bazbov]

Hello and thank you for your thoughts and experiences so far. I'm pleased that you are enjoying the cruise. As for those who suggested that your thoughts aren't valid because you are a first time cruiser, how dare the. Your viewpoint is just as relevant as theirs.

 

I love reading about different peoples perspectives and experiences. Thank you again and Happy cruising. :)

[rayness]

Well I think your review is great and I'm glad you decided to post it. I'm sailing on her in December.

 

 

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[JillL]

following... :)

[cbtravel1]

Good review, keep it coming!

[luckyinpa]

Lolz, well I didn't keep track of who was CC or not, lets just say there was a couple times that I complimented the service and was told that basically I didn't know better because it was only my first cruise. Some people. I swear if heard the word "PLATINUM" one more time I was going to bash my skull in on a bulkhead...

 

But yeah, nachos. O'Sheehan's sucked, Taste was acceptable. Steak fajitas in O'Sheehans were also not bad. Maybe order both and do some magic? Actually, the one thing I really, really missed on the ship was Mexican food. One day for lunch there was a Mexican buffet in the Great Outdoors that was really, really good with steak fajita meat and grilled peppers. I ate the crap out of that. Thanks for Bermuda rec. We had nachos in Cocoa Beach at Coconuts when we disembarked and those were pretty delicious!

 

speaking of taste, did you try the potato skins with crab. i was shocked it was real crab, not the fake red and white kind. we ordered a few more

[Sissaaaaaa]

OP who told you that you had no right to do a review. i hope not the jerks on this forum. some just love to impart their words to build post counts and be negative towards others. it's their hobby.rather than post answers to questions they post things like ' why don't you just search for yourself'

 

so if you run into any of them, just ignore :)

 

you mentioned nachos in taste but did you have osheehans? i was very disappointed in those with their liquid cheese. if you ever are in bermuda go to the swizzle in and get those nachos. dang they were good

 

I noticed that on your other post. They are the lonely kids in the school yard ... :cool:

[SquishTheWhale]

Enjoying your review so far! I also posted a review of my first cruise (also on the Epic!) and actually it seemed very welcome in that people are sick of hearing those who have been on 8000 cruises nitpick everything and moan about the free-flowing champagne stuffed lobster they got in 'the good old days'! So I'm sure everyone is looking forward to reading about your perspective too :)

 

I also like the Canary islands, I've been to Lanzarote once and Tenerife twice for land based trips, and enjoyed our cruise stop in Tenerife as it was the opposite side of the island from where I have been before! Looking forward to hearing about what you got up to on your port stops.

 

If you like craft beers maybe you should spend one of those future cruise credits on the Escape!

[Indykitten]

Day 2

 

Woke up and hubby made us coffee in the dinky coffeemaker using the pods which we sipped on the balcony, watching the Med slip by. Coffee. Yeah, about that. I'm pretty frugal in most things but we live by the motto that life is too short for cheap coffee or cheap beer. So in a moment of duh-speration I spent way too many Euros in Barcelona for a bag of ground Starbucks Sumatra, thinking we could find a way to brew it on the ship. Incorrect and next time maybe we'll bring a french press. We asked our steward if there were any filters we could use but alas the answer was no. We even considered slicing open a pod and replacing it with the good stuff. However we heard the ship ran out of pods and honestly it was too much trouble to try. We were on vacation after all.

 

I heard lots of complaints about the weird cabin design. It was ok. Separate shower and toilet was a bit weird. Would have preferred a proper door instead of pooping in a telephone booth. For couples I think it's fine but I could see how it would be awkward for others or difficult with more than 2 in a room. Separate sink seemed totally normal to me as that's how almost every hotel room in the US does it.

 

Up to the Garden Cafe for some breakfast. Just like a resort the breakfast buffet is the same every day, although this one was pretty extensive. I had my first of many made-to-order omelets. Oh those yummy bright orange egg yolks from Europe, full of good for you Omegas. I like to start my day healthy and then crash and burn on booze and bad decisions.

 

Sat outside to eat at the Great Outdoors. This gets pretty crazy at breakfast and lunch, but sometimes you want to see the water and feel the breeze. My biggest complaint about the Epic (said by so many on CC, so it's not like I didn't know it going in) was the lack of outdoor spaces. I'm no sun goddess, I just burn and feel miserable, but there were some shady spots available if you're willing to look, or stake it out early and then never ever leave it like it is your childhood teddy bear.

[Indykitten]

It was Halloween so I put on my cat ears for the day.

 

Off to the CC meetup. Hubby is not the social animal I am so he took his binoculars and book back up to deck 18 forward to look for dolphins and such. I enjoyed meeting some of the officers, and regretted that hubby did not attend, as he would have enjoyed that. We were both fascinated by the "ship" aspect of the cruise, how it is run, etc. It really is an amazing operation. Anyways, Richard the hotel director cracked me up when he said that they definitely read CC but sometimes didn't think they were on the ship. Boy would that become evident to me later. Some people are not happy unless they are complaining.

 

No recollection of lunch whatsoever. I know we stopped by the bridge viewing room, as we did every day, to check out the radar and AIS. Hubs and I are learning to sail so we geeked out about the boat stuff. In fact, the reason I chose this cruise as my first is that sometime we hope to do this crossing in our own sailboat so we thought it'd be interesting to do it first in a big ship.

 

I had made absolutely no plans for the evening, no dinner or entertainment reservations. Tonight was going through the Straights of Gibraltar and we didn't want to miss it. I was afraid we wouldn't make it as we'd left BCN a bit late and then the time change. But I have to give the captain credit, we hauled butt to make it there before sunset - 24 knots! And it was an amazing view, our first glimpse of the African continent and the rock itself.

 

Dinner at the Manhattan room. Hubby decided to be a good sport and donned his Halloween costume - bunny ears to go with my cat ears. Ugh, why did I not take pictures of everything?? Oh well, I was trying to live in the moment, phone off, disconnected. Don't remember what we ate, it certainly wasn't bad, but not amazing either if I don't recall. Apps came very quick, main course was a little delayed but my water glass was always full, so waitstaff service was good.

 

We went to the comedy magic show in Headliners that night which was quite entertaining, and I even drank less this day.

[SolidGoldCruiser]

I am enjoying your review, and your writing style is refreshing. You tell it like it is ("phone booth toilet" - hilarious).

 

In January, we sail on the Epic for the first time, and any helpful hints are appreciated. Re: coffee pot - I was planning on bringing my own favorite coffee and the 4" filters. Would that work?

 

The constant complaining from other passengers really irritates me too. I love your solution. I plan fully utilize the drink package!

[Indykitten]

Enjoying your review so far! I also posted a review of my first cruise (also on the Epic!) and actually it seemed very welcome in that people are sick of hearing those who have been on 8000 cruises nitpick everything and moan about the free-flowing champagne stuffed lobster they got in 'the good old days'! So I'm sure everyone is looking forward to reading about your perspective too :)

 

I also like the Canary islands, I've been to Lanzarote once and Tenerife twice for land based trips, and enjoyed our cruise stop in Tenerife as it was the opposite side of the island from where I have been before! Looking forward to hearing about what you got up to on your port stops.

 

If you like craft beers maybe you should spend one of those future cruise credits on the Escape!

Squish, your review was incredibly helpful to me in planning this trip. And also so entertaining to read! I see that you're booked on the Escape now. The District Tap (and the waterfront) calls to me but I'm afraid we'd never leave to see anything else!