OH NO! Another Epic Trip Report w/pics

[Oakman58]

December 12th Second Sea Day

 

This morning the skies looked promising but the wind was still blowing hard. Regardless, I drank my cup of coffee on our balcony. The wind was still very strong but I refused to let that chase me inside. As I mentioned before, I love watching the ocean roll by. I don’t think I would go on a cruise if I couldn’t have a cabin with a balcony.

 

 

While my wife was enjoying her morning cup of tea I decided to talk a walk to check out the “secret stairs” at the back of the ship I had read about on Cruise Critic. I was surprised at how large and empty those areas were. The best of those areas was on Deck 14 on the port side. There was a beautiful view of the ocean. I actually stayed here a bit enjoying the view and the solitude.

 

 

 

We ate breakfast at the Garden Café. I am a breakfast person so having so many choices for breakfast is like a little bit of heaven for me. We picked a table near the front of the ship even though the motion of the ship seemed to be much more pronounced there.

 

 

After our breakfast we decided to roam the ship. Even though the skies were partly sunny the sun decks and deck 7 were still closed. The outside elevators to deck 18 were roped off too. It wasn’t until this second sea day that I realized the two towers by the Great Outdoors were actually elevators to deck 18. The port side elevator was for the Haven guests only and opened into a Haven area. The starboard side elevator was for the rest of us second-class passengers and opened in the public area of deck 18.

 

 

One of the elevator towers by the Great Outdoors.

 

 

To be continued.

Edited January 1, 2017 by Oakman58

[Oakman58]

How did that work out? We are on the Epic in Feb. what were the temps like? Beach day? We are still not sure what we will do.

 

 

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The temps were great but the morning we arrived in St. Thomas the skies ranged partly cloudy to overcast with light rain. By the afternoon it was very sunny and very warm in the shade to hot in the sunlight.

Edited January 1, 2017 by Oakman58

[ShipsAhoy508]

I'll be on the Epic in about a month and I like reading your review. Thanks for taking you time to write about it and the pictures are great.

[Oakman58]

December 12th Second Sea Day Continued

 

We ate an early lunch in the buffet and then met up with J & M who were already on the loungers by the pool. There was a strange elevated area with loungers that I never did understand. It reminded me of the elevated area on a city transit where the wheel wells extend into the passenger area. Perhaps the Epic was equipped with paddlewheels in case the diesel engines failed. It was certainly a high step up to the loungers on that elevated area.

 

 

One of the scheduled activities in the Atrium was Chinese lessons at 1 PM. My wife and I will be visiting China in March so J & M decided to join us and sit in on the lessons. The four of us headed down early so we could get a seat close enough to see the entire big screen in the Atrium.

 

 

After becoming fluent in Madarin Chinese, at least in saying hello and goodbye, we headed back up to the pool deck to enjoy an adult beverage and the warm weather. It was crowded so we ordered our drinks at the Waves Bar rather than wait for a server.

 

The bands by the pool as well as the DJ played some great tunes. For that matter, I thought all of the bands and musicians on the Epic were excellent. The cruise staff did a good job getting folks involved in the poolside activities. I think it’s interesting when they have dance lessons by the pool it’s always the women who join in and very few men. It really should be the opposite because most men (including myself) can’t dance worth a hoot.

 

 

After our drink we headed back to our cabin to rest up a bit before meeting up with J & M again at 5 PM in O’Sheehan’s for appetizers. We would be eating dinner later than we normally do because we had 7 PM reservations to see Priscilla Queen of the Desert. I ordered the chicken wings which are very small with a mild hot sauce but very, very good. The two celery sticks that came with the wings were laughable.

 

 

Although we had reservations for the show that only got you into the theater, it was still open seating. We wanted to be sure to sit together so we were in line before the doors opened.

 

EDITORIAL NOTE: When I booked this cruise I thought it would be a matter of more passengers…more and bigger venues. Not so! The Epic Theater had less seating than the Star, the Dawn, and the Jade that we had cruised on previously. I will say the seats in the Epic Theater were much more comfortable than those other ship.

 

 

The theater seats were equipped with cup holders which was a nice touch. It was strange though, the cup holders had a slight tilt forward. If you ordered a drink that came in a long stem glass like a martini and put it in the cup holder, the liquid would spill out.

 

Priscilla was the best stage production I have ever seen on a cruise ship. The costuming was outstanding, the songs were great, and the entire cast was excellent. There was one scene with ping pong balls that had me in stitches. If you’re going to cruise on the Epic make a point of seeing Priscilla.

 

WARNING: Priscilla is an adult themed production. The basic story is three drag queens travelling in their bus through the Australian Outback to do a show in a small resort town in the desert. During the show the “F” bomb is dropped so be forewarned. Twice before the performance began an announcement was made that the show was adult and it wasn’t for those easily offended. Even so, some people walked out.

 

After the show we ate dinner at the Taste Restaurant. During our cruise we never experienced bad service in any of the restaurants.

 

After dinner we headed back to our cabin and called it a night. This was our towel animal that night.

 

Edited January 1, 2017 by Oakman58

[Linda the Book Lover]

"We ate an early lunch in the buffet and then met up with J & M who were already on the loungers by the pool. There was a strange elevated area with loungers that I never did understand. It reminded me of the elevated area on a city transit where the wheel wells extend into the passenger area. Perhaps the Epic was equipped with paddlewheels in case the diesel engines failed. It was certainly a high step up to the loungers on that elevated area."

 

Needless to say this Epic trip we will not enjoy the pool area especially the elevated seating area. After falling from the steps to the garage attic and having stuff fall on top of me and then to add insult to injury a couple of hours later even being careful I did it again!:eek: My poor DH was trying to get down the steps to help me the first time but the second time the garage fridge caught me with one of it's handles.;) No elevations for me! LOL

[Oakman58]

"We ate an early lunch in the buffet and then met up with J & M who were already on the loungers by the pool. There was a strange elevated area with loungers that I never did understand. It reminded me of the elevated area on a city transit where the wheel wells extend into the passenger area. Perhaps the Epic was equipped with paddlewheels in case the diesel engines failed. It was certainly a high step up to the loungers on that elevated area."

 

Needless to say this Epic trip we will not enjoy the pool area especially the elevated seating area. After falling from the steps to the garage attic and having stuff fall on top of me and then to add insult to injury a couple of hours later even being careful I did it again!:eek: My poor DH was trying to get down the steps to help me the first time but the second time the garage fridge caught me with one of it's handles.;) No elevations for me! LOL

 

Jeez Louise, I hope you weren't hurt Linda. Falling is not a good thing, especially twice. Not to worry about the pool deck, there are plenty of other areas around the pool where stepping up or down isn't required to use the loungers.

 

[Linda the Book Lover]

Jeez Louise, I hope you weren't hurt Linda. Falling is not a good thing, especially twice. Not to worry about the pool deck, there are plenty of other areas around the pool where stepping up or down isn't required to use the loungers.

 

Hit my head, scraped my knee, and slammed my hip. More scared of a hurt hip and not taking my cruise than anything. LOL I hurt but ibuprofen and some wine (not at the same time) took care of that. I am ready to get on the Epic!

[Barbiegator]

I can't make up my mind. Is it a good sign or bad sign that a casino ship can't afford routine maintenance? They need a big banner that reads, "we can't afford cosmetic fixes because our slots are so loose!"

 

Enjoying your stuff, you grumpy old man. :)

FYI she is going into drydock tomorrow and be back in 2 weeks. Victory II will take her place until she returns. Slots actually pay better than a cruise ship.

[debnjoe1438]

Enjoying your review and pictures as I get ready for my third trip on the Epic. Seeing things in your pictures I hadn't seen or noticed before. I have not found the secret stairs, never notice the elevator tower or the elevated area on the deck. I'll be keeping my eyes open on this next trip. :D

[Oakman58]

December 13th Tortola, B.V.I.

 

We ate an early breakfast at the buffet and grabbed a table by a window so we could enjoy the view as we entered the harbor at Tortola. After breakfast we went back to our cabin to relax until it was time for our excursion.

 

It was just before 8 AM as our ship began maneuvering up to the pier so I made cup of coffee and stood out on the balcony to watch. The wind was no longer an issue and the skies were partly cloudy.

 

 

Our shore excursion today was the 4 hour Tortola Party Tour which would provide us with spectacular views of the island. I was hoping this would be a sunny day but as I looked out toward the ocean I saw what looked like rain headed our way.

 

 

Soon after we docked passengers were already departing the ship. I don’t know why but I always feel obligate to take pictures of people who ignore caution signs. Hmmm, which side of that red line aren’t you supposed to cross?

 

 

Before we left the cabin for our tour it had already begun to rain. Bummer, in the tour description it said our tour transportation would be in open-air safari type vehicles.

 

 

We had a meeting time of 8:45 in the Epic Theater for our excursion. J&M were going on this tour also and met up with us in the theater. As we sat in the theater waiting for our excursion to be called they announced a Catamaran Sailaway Tour had been cancelled. That didn’t sound promising.

 

Finally our excursion was called and we were escorted out of the theater via an emergency exit on deck 5 and then down the stairs to deck 4 and through the security check out. I was happy to discover that as we exited the ship the rain had stopped. It was a long walk to the end of the pier and to our transport vehicle for the tour. It was a pleasant surprise to see we would be in a small bus so we would stay dry.

 

 

As per the tour description we were greeted by our guide as we boarded the bus with a rum punch. Nothing beats drinking rum at 9:15 in the AM. Oh well, as the song says, It’s 5 O’clock Somewhere. The bus had a giant water cooler on board with punch and the driver had three huge bottles of rum we were expected to empty during the tour. Alrighty then, now I know why it’s called the party tour.

 

 

To be continued.

Edited January 2, 2017 by Oakman58

[Oakman58]

December 13th Tortola, B.V.I. continued.

 

It didn’t take long before our bus was out of the port and driving into the mountains. The roads were steep, two lanes, poorly maintained, and since it had start to rain again the blacktop was slick. Having already had my second rum punch I had full faith and confidence in our bus driver.

 

Our first stop was at an overlook somewhere on the island and fortunately it had stopped raining once more. Our guide pointed out what islands we were looking at and their names but I forgot to take notes. Had the sun been out the view probably would have been spectacular but it was still quite beautiful.

 

 

We made a couple of more stops and the views probably would have been great but it was raining again and with the water on the windows I didn’t bother trying to take pics. When we arrived at an overlook of the harbor the rain had diminished enough to open the windows and take a few pictures.

 

 

I know the horizon in that last picture looks slanted but that’s the way the world really is shaped and it has nothing to do with the rum punch on the bus.

 

After about an hour and a half of this tour we made a much needed potty break. The bus stopped at a little roadside bar that was close to public restrooms. Some folks went into the bar and others walked up the road about 50 yards to the public restroom.

 

 

Our next stop was at a beach where we were provided with the included lunch of a salad, BBQ chicken (leg or thigh), and beans and rice. The tables in the eating area had a roof so everyone was able to stay dry with the on again off again rain. There was also a small bar that sold beer and mixed drinks. It was a beautiful beach but the weather really put a damper on things.

 

 

There was a campground that adjoined the beach and thank goodness it had a bathroom. There was also a johnny-on-the-spot by the bar but with the rain it was in a huge puddle of water that was at least 4 inches deep. Before leaving everyone visited the campground bathroom. Ya gotta love campground bathrooms. The sign by the door reads, “Won’t flush? Don’t blush just pour a pail of water into the bowl.”

 

 

Back on the bus and heading to our next stop the rum was really getting passed around. Folks were beginning to get very friendly and I thought for sure a Karaoke session would break out on the bus at any moment.

 

It was quite a drive to our final lookout point and there just happened to be a bar there. It was just as well though since it was time for another bathroom break.

 

 

To be continued.

Edited January 2, 2017 by Oakman58

[Oakman58]

December 13th Tortola continued.

 

The view at this last stop was really beautiful and the clouds were starting to break up. We stayed here long enough to have a drink and for everyone to answer the call of nature.

 

 

 

It was a long ride back to the port and it gave everyone the opportunity to finish off the rum. It was a very good tour and worth the money but it could have been so much better had the weather been cooperative. There were a few shops inside the port so before we boarded the Epic we did a bit of shopping. Now that the tour was over it was becoming a beautiful day. On the walk back to the Epic I took a quick photo of it. The Epic looks better from the rear than it does from the front, my opinion of course.

 

 

After passing through ship’s security we were back in our cabin by 2:30 PM. After relaxing for a bit I headed down to deck 7 to take a look at the jogging/walking track on the starboard side of the ship. I thought I’d walk off a little of the rum but after one lap I quit. Wow, that is the dreariest and most boring track I’ve ever seen. The lifeboats block off a lot of light and for the most part there isn’t a view of the ocean. It was very boring walking back and forth on one side of the ship.

 

 

I walked through the ship to see the other side which is dedicated to deck games, shuffleboard, etc. It was just as dreary.

 

 

We met up with J & M again at Shaker’s Bar for a pre-dinner drink and then went down to the Manhattan Room for dinner. This was the only meal I had on the ship that I considered bad. I ordered the Chicken Kiev and it was incredibly disappointing. While the crust was nice and crispy the chicken was very dry and I think the chef forgot to put in the garlic butter sauce. I probably should have sent it back but instead I just filled up on desserts. My philosophy is, give me a lemon and I’ll turn it into Limoncello.

 

After dinner we said goodnight to J & M and decided to try to get into the show at the theater. The show that night was The Magic & Comedy of Christian Miro. We didn’t have reservations for the 9:30 show but we did manage to get in as a standby. The show was good and Christian had some pretty good illusions.

 

We left the show just a couple of minutes early and hit the jackpot. As we walked out of the theater one of the elevators had just dropped off passengers and we were able to hop right on and head up to our deck.

 

Here’s the towel animal our room steward left us that night.

 

Edited January 2, 2017 by Oakman58

[Crzy4my2]

love your TR, we cruise on the Epic in Feb.

[CoffeeGoddess]

That party tour sounds like it's right up my alley. I'll have to check it out next time I'm on ship going to Tortola.

 

Loving the review!

[cecil89]

Love your review and pics!!! Thank you very much.

We will on the epic February 28th, for a btb. Can't wait.

This'll be our 4th time on her, have always enjoyed our cruises.

[Oakman58]

December 14th St. Thomas

 

I was on our balcony as we entered the port in St. Thomas. The NCL Gem arrived ahead of us and was still maneuvering to the pier.

 

 

Sitting on the balcony and enjoying the view of the harbor I was deep in thought. Where did we go last night? It’s just 25 miles between the ports of Tortola to Charlotte Amalie why did it take 13 hours to get here? Why didn’t we stay in Tortola longer or arrive in St. Thomas sooner? Was the ship temporarily lost at sea? Those questions remain unanswered.

 

Our tour today would be the St. John Island Tour and we had a meeting time of 8 AM in the Epic Theater so we went to the Garden Café at 6:30 for an early breakfast. One thing I missed seeing all week at the buffet was a crew member with a coffee cart refilling passengers’ cups.

 

After breakfast we went back to our cabin, collected our gear and excursion tickets and headed down to the theater. While sitting in the theater waiting for our tour to be called, my wife realized she didn’t have her purse with her ID. Oh nuts, they were supposed to call our tour in 10 minutes. There was no way I could do the round trip in 10 minutes if I used the elevators so this old man shot up the four decks to our cabin using the stairs. My plan was to take the elevator down but after waiting a minute and not one elevator was close to our floor I hoofed back down the stairs. I managed to do the whole round trip in 7 minutes. I was mad at myself for not bringing my Fitbit with me. What a waste of exercise.

 

When they called our tour we were led off the ship and down the pier to the ferry boat for the ride over to St. John’s Island. As we walked along the pier toward our ferry I was surprised to see RC’s Grandeur of the Seas at anchor. I have no clue when she came into port.

 

 

It was about a 40 minute ride over to St. John’s and along the way we saw some beautiful homes and scenery on some of the islands we passed.

 

 

A Brown Boobie also followed alongside our boat on the way over to the island.

 

 

The boat’s first mate continually reminded us to be back at the pier tour no later than 12:00 for our return ride to St. Thomas. He gave us that reminder over and over and threatened if we didn’t make it back on time we would be left behind. As we approached St. John’s a rainbow appeared in the sky. It was quite beautiful but I remember thinking, please no more rain.

 

 

Sixty percent of St. John’s is national park and the ferry boat docked right at the National Park Visitor Center.

 

 

Continued in next post.

Edited January 2, 2017 by Oakman58

[Oakman58]

December 14th St. Thomas continued

 

Our transportation for this tour would be one of those open-air safari type vehicles. A heads up here, if you have knee or hip problems these vehicles are hard to get into because of the high first step. This is especially true if you end up sitting over the wheel well.

 

 

After boarding our tour vehicle we drove out of the port and across the street to the national park visitor center. We were informed that it would be quite a while before we have a bathroom room break so we should take advantage of the bathrooms here at the center. I was surprised that vehicles drive on the left side of the road instead of the right. This must be the only place in the United States where cars drive on the left.

 

Our drive took us to many beautiful overlooks of the island. Along the way our tour driver gave us a history of the island.

 

 

I was glad I had a long zoom lens on my P&S camera because on the far side of Caneel Bay you could just make out the wild donkeys that inhabit the island.

 

 

CANEEL BAY

 

THE DONKEYS

 

Wouldn’t you know it, about an hour or so into our tour it began to rain. Argh! I didn’t get out of the vehicle at this overlook to take a photo of this beautiful beach. I think this was Trunk Bay but don’t hold me to that.

 

 

Thank goodness the rain didn’t last too terribly long. We stopped at quite a few beautiful overlooks of various bays. I lost track of which bay was which but here’s another bay with a beautiful beach. Possibly Lienster Bay.

 

 

Continued in my next post.

Edited January 2, 2017 by Oakman58

[Oakman58]

December 14th St. Thomas continued.

 

Our final stop on the tour was the ruins of the old Annaberg Sugar Mill. This was a self-guided tour with signs informing you what the purpose of the various buildings were.

 

 

 

 

In one of the building there was a volunteer in traditional dress demonstrating how the plantation workers made Dumb Bread.

 

 

Free samples of the Dumb Bread were available for the taking.

 

 

The Sugar Mill was located high on a mountaintop and there was another beautiful overlook.

 

 

Continued in my next post.

Edited January 2, 2017 by Oakman58

[OceansOfTravels]

I am enjoying your review of Epic! I have been wanting to cruise NCL for a long time now, and I am just waiting for a good deal to come by to splurge on. I love your writing style as well, thank you for taking the time to do this! :D

[Oakman58]

December 14th St. Thomas continued

 

We drove back to the pier from the sugar mill and we arrived back at the port about 45 minutes before our deadline of 12:00. The sun was getting hot and thankfully there was a shaded area with benches to sit on while we waited for our ferry to return. And we waited…and waited…and 12:00 came and went…and we waited. Finally at 12:35 the Island Girl Ferry showed up to take us back to St. Thomas.

 

 

We were told the ferry was running late because it had to wait for a Princess cruise ship that was running late. What the heck, the first mate was going to leave us behind if we didn’t make the 12:00 deadline but he was willing to wait for passengers from the Princess. I felt so unloved.

 

As we were arriving back at St. Thomas the Coral Princess was tied up at the pier too.

 

 

The ferry passed right by the Epic on the way to the dock so I snapped a photo of the bump out where our cabin was located. The red arrow points to our balcony.

 

 

We were back on board by 1:30 and since we hadn’t had a lunch yet we headed directly to the buffet. The buffet was packed and we did have to hunt a bit to find a table inside. This was the only time we had trouble finding a seat in the Garden Café. After eating we headed to our room to relax for the rest of the afternoon.

 

At 2:30 our ship departed St. Thomas for our next port at Great Stirrup Cay, Bahamas. We were quite a distance from St. Thomas when I noticed that Brown Boobies were following the ship. As the bow of the ship crashed through the waves flying fish would periodically fly out of the ocean. The Brown Boobies would dive down trying to catch the flying fish for a quick meal.

 

I believe we might have taken a short refreshing nap that afternoon. Old people are prone to do that occasionally. Later we went to Spice H2O to have an adult beverage and enjoy the view at the back of the ship. The movie on the big screen at Spice was Top Gun and it didn’t draw much of an audience.

 

 

The setting sun provided a much better show.

 

 

We met up with J & M at 6:30 in the Maltings Bar for drinks before heading to the Taste Restaurant for dinner. I was impressed that even with the large number of passengers on this cruise we never had an issue with slow drink service. I really liked that the servers would bring snacks along with the drinks when we were in Shakers or Maltings.

 

We finished the evening in the Cavern Club listening to the great tunes the band Sligo was knocking out. We got lucky when we arrived and were able to find a place all four of us could sit. By my count the capacity of the Cavern Club is just under 100. The Epic had some really great bands for this cruise.

 

 

Edited January 3, 2017 by Oakman58

[Oakman58]

I am enjoying your review of Epic! I have been wanting to cruise NCL for a long time now, and I am just waiting for a good deal to come by to splurge on. I love your writing style as well, thank you for taking the time to do this! :D

 

Thank you for the kind comments. I appreciate it.

[ggTexasGal]

"At the break of Dawn one January morning we were Sky high and in the Spirit to find a Gem of a cruise so we chose to Escape on the Epic hoping our Getaway would turn out to be pure Joy and a Pearl of a cruise."

 

The beginning above captured me... love your sense of humor! Great review. Thank you for the fun and photos.

[sweetlillym]

DH and I were on this same cruise with you, so far everything you have written about it is a ditto from us, DH had a hard time shaving by the dim light over the sink.

We had the Epic booked again for Mar. 2017 but I canceled it when we got home, I also already had it booked for Dec. 2017 as we are only 1 1/2 hrs from PC, hopefully by then we will have forgotten what we didn't like and give her another try.:)

 

When in December are you going? December 9th will be our first time on the Epic.

[easyboy]

You really do take very nice photos!

[Aturnee]

Really enjoying your EPIC review and brilliant pictures! Can you shed light on where the Spice H2O bar is located!

 

 

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