Epic

[Justaddvodka68]

Many have detailed the Epic so I won't go into everything. I'm going to give my quick impressions of Epic.

 

First I'll start by saying we had a great time! How can you not right? You're on a cruise. Find your fun and have it!

 

That said, I would not choose to sail the Epic again. Some of the things I encountered I did know going in were Epic issues. I booked this trip rather last minute, deciding on a family holiday cruise when I was able to pick up some super cheap ($50 R/T) airfare from Niagara Falls to Orlando, which made the trip a great deal! I choose the Epic because the dates fit our needs and I thought the kids would like the waterslides and other kid friendly features.

 

First thing straight out of the gate, our one traveling teen didn't have the beverage package on her card even though we'd purchased it. Service desk line huge. Went to beverage desk and just purchased it and figured we'd take care of it later. Onto the cruise!

 

Things I liked about the Epic:

 

The various venues, like Headliners and the Cavern Club and the breadth of entertainment options.

 

The teen club and activities planned for the kids.

 

The cruise director, Scott, who was friendly and upbeat and seemed to be everywhere all at once.

 

The staff, many of whom I've sailed with before on other ships and who remembered me by name, many months later. A special shout out to my favorite bartender on the high seas, Norman Maningat, who I've sailed with twice before. He was working at Maltings, and makes the best cocktails with the best service.

 

The pool deck and sundecks, which always seemed to have space available to sit or lounge, even with a very full ship.

 

Although it's a huge ship, most everything is on or accessed from 6, 7 and 15, so it was very easy for the kids to find us when they wanted to.

 

The glow parties - based on the white hot party. Although nothing will beat the white hot party around the Spirit pool with the CD staff in angel wings dancing on the edge of the pool - they did a nice job with the glow parties, breaking it into a family party on the pool deck, then separate teen and adult parties following.

 

Quick entertainment review:

 

Howl at the moon - fantastic - caught part of the show both nights they played. It's mostly requests so it's always different. They play from 9:30 - 1am, and at times it's hard to get a seat, but if you keep checking back, something will open up.

 

Two out of three of the comedy acts were really great. The third wasn't bad, just not my thing.

 

The rock band that played most nights in the Cavern Club was really good.

 

The Cirque show was great. Premium seats in the balcony are great for viewing, but premium floor is best for being part of the action. Very well done, funny and entertaining all around. Pre-fix menu was a Caprese salad with prosciutto. Filet and shrimp surf & turf for the main course and a dessert trio. I enjoyed it, but the kids didn't. But you're there for the show and we did the 9:30, and encouraged the kids to eat ahead of time.

 

Burn the Floor was excellent. Great dancers, excellent performance.

 

Priscilla was horrible. It was probably because they had to keep it tame for an all ages show - Drag shows should be raunchy and over the top and this just wasn't. The storyline was rather lame too. I really wanted to like this show, but it just fell flat.

 

Things I didn't like about the Epic:

 

The Thermal Spa - so much so, that I'll be giving a full review in another post.

 

The disconnect from the water. I felt like I was inside, in a big resort most of the time, not sailing. Even when you're on the pool deck, you don't feel like you're on the water unless you're standing up looking out. The lack of the promenade deck was really noticed.

 

There's no big bar like Spinnakers or Galaxy with comfy seating and big windows where you could watch the water. I really missed this. There are plenty of other spaces where they hold things like bingo and the newlywed game - some in the Cavern club or Headliners or the Atrium, but I enjoyed the larger comfy space that accommodated more people. It was difficult to get a seat in Headliners and the Cavern club, especially when you're a true freestyler and don't want to have to plan ahead with reservations and being there right on time, etc.

 

There was a nightclub, but it was mostly karaoke and dancing with a DJ and not the same vibe as Spinnakers. These spaces are also all interior spaces, small, dark and without a view.

 

Spice H20 - As a pool deck for adults only is probably fine. I didn't like how many of the evening entertainment parties they held up there, like the glow party - it should have been held in the night club. It was always windy at night and I didn't want to be outside. The disco dance party and other things that I usually really enjoy in Spinnakers were all held up there and I just didn't want to be outside that late. Plus the teens couldn't attend, and while they had their own dance thing going on in the teen club, sometimes the teen club was at capacity. On Gem & Spirit they could have just attending the dance party at Spinnakers/Galaxy, as only the nightclub is off-limits to under 18 after 11.

 

The casino layout is odd with most of the table games in the center of a what felt like a long hallway. It didn't feel intimate like in a regular casino with people, including kids walking through, behind your seats while you were playing. The service was excellent and the dealers were great. Just the location and layout were strange.

 

Our balcony stateroom, in addition to the odd bathroom layout which we were prepared for, also had very little storage. The stateroom the teens were in had a double closet with shelving. Ours was a single, no shelves.

 

I never once saw my cabin steward. Our cabin was well taken care of, but he or she never came by to introduce themselves and we didn't have a reason to call for service, so we just never met. Felt odd.

 

We had a hard time finding our way back to our room the first night because they close these huge doors that lead to the hallway we needed. Never had that before, so when we'd come to the closed door we thought we missed our turn and would go searching some more. Finally figured out we needed to open that door and made it home! (there may have been alcohol involved!)

 

The size of the ship - we booked this huge ship because we were taking our 4 teens, but the kids didn't make use of the rock climbing, basketball courts, pools or slides, (except once because I wanted a photo) or any of the things you book these huge ships for. There were 700 teens onboard, so I'm sure being on the big ship made the teen club experience more fun for them than had we been on a smaller ship, but over-all, the reason we choose the big ship was for not, since the kids didn't use those extras the big ship affords. (totally on them that they didn't use these facilities, just saying, since they didn't there was nothing on Epic to make me go back.)

 

The constant rumble of the engines. The engines on the Epic must be huge, of course, and you can feel them rumbling anytime you're mid-ship towards aft. Even all the way up on deck 14 aft in the spa. It's just a non-stop constant vibration. The ship is very stable and we had very calm seas so I didn't feel much ocean motion, which I personally enjoy - but you feel that vibration and hear the rumble of the engines all the time.

 

Some things are my own fault. We didn't sign up day one for tender tickets, because we usually don't get off until around 10 and by then it's usually open tender. With so many more passengers, open tender didn't happen until 11, so we were waiting a while and by the time we got on GSC, all the loungers were full and the $30 shade things were sold out.

 

Mini GSC review - crowded - not enough shade. Not enough chairs, even at the Bacardi bar, there were bar height tables that would fit 6-7 around them and only 2 chairs per table, so of course everyone stole the chairs from other tables, leaving 3 tables with nice umbrellas but no chairs to sit on. The lines for drinks were long. They wouldn't give us soda for the kids at the Bacardi bar, they had to walk to the other side of the buffet station to the drink station for soda. The buffet was rather lame - but whatever, we can eat later.

 

 

Bottom line, had this been my first NCL cruise, I would have come away with a great impression. The service was great, the entertainment excellent, the food was good and plentiful. The drinks flowed. But since I've sailed the smaller ships, the Spirit and the Gem, I've got that comparison and would prefer to stick with the smaller ships with more connection to the sea and the larger bar.

[Justaddvodka68]

My title didn't post right and I can't seem to fix it. Anyone know how? '

 

It should say:

 

Epic mini review Dec 17-23 A quick good/bad

[Kova15]

Thanks for the review, we are sailing the Epic in March. My Brother how has never cruised picked it and I am super anxious about the ship. Ive read a lot of reviews and pretty much everything I have read is: Too Crowded, Venues too small, No where to sit, Good shows.... Im having a hard time getting excited about it.... :confused:

[sid_9169]

I was on the Epic for the first time the week before you... I agree with the disconnect from the sea. Just feels like a giant indoor mall/hotel. And while the service, food, and drinks were good, I don't think I would ever choose to sail her again...

[Justaddvodka68]

Thanks for the review, we are sailing the Epic in March. My Brother how has never cruised picked it and I am super anxious about the ship. Ive read a lot of reviews and pretty much everything I have read is: Too Crowded, Venues too small, No where to sit, Good shows.... Im having a hard time getting excited about it.... :confused:

 

Don't worry, we had a great time! It's a fun ship and there are good points. It's just not for me.

[Mrschip]

I'm new to Norwegian... can you explain the need to get tender tickets? How does that work? Thanks for the review! Very helpful!

[Sissaaaaaa]

Thanks for the review, we are sailing the Epic in March. My Brother how has never cruised picked it and I am super anxious about the ship. Ive read a lot of reviews and pretty much everything I have read is: Too Crowded, Venues too small, No where to sit, Good shows.... Im having a hard time getting excited about it.... :confused:

 

Epic is a great ship. We are leaving Friday for our 3rd trip on her - she is one of our favorites!! It is one of the larger ships that I have never felt crowded on. The layout works, and it works well!

[Justaddvodka68]

I'm new to Norwegian... can you explain the need to get tender tickets? How does that work? Thanks for the review! Very helpful!

 

It depends on your itinerary. If you need to tender, like at GSC, you need to get a tender ticket/reservation the day before. Puts you in line to get off the ship.

[jaxw17]

Thanks for the review, we are sailing the Epic in March. My Brother how has never cruised picked it and I am super anxious about the ship. Ive read a lot of reviews and pretty much everything I have read is: Too Crowded, Venues too small, No where to sit, Good shows.... Im having a hard time getting excited about it.... :confused:

 

i agree we are going in May with sister and Partner they have never cruised before I am not really looking forward to it after some of the things I have read

[BirdTravels]

Thanks for the review. We have sailed on the Epic 6 times (12 times total on NCL mega ships) and understand your comments. We still love the ship and tolerate some of the challenges of a big ship for all of the additional things to do and see on a larger vessel. We would not hesitate to sail on the Epic again.