OH NO! Another Epic Trip Report w/pics

[tombec1]

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

 

Deck 15.. walk all the way to the back!

[Aturnee]

Thanks! Looking forward to visiting H2O in February!

 

 

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[Oakman58]

You really do take very nice photos!

 

Thank you for the comment. I take pictures of our trips so I can remember what we did a year later. As an old man I suffer from CRS (Can't Remember Stuff).

[Oakman58]

Deck 15.. walk all the way to the back!

 

 

Yes but you do have to walk up the steps to what I think would be considered deck 16. The bar was on the starboard side. Great bartenders there.

[Oakman58]

December 15th Sea Day

 

We woke up to a beautiful morning and the seas were calm. After a leisurely breakfast in the Garden Café we explored the ship and I took a few more photos. While the port side of O’Sheeehan’s Bar and Grill was more like a restaurant, the starboard side had the bar area and quite a few tables to play games.

 

 

 

We had flight reservations on Southwest Airlines and we wanted to be able to print out boarding passes before we left the ship so we checked out the Internet Café. I use that term loosely because there were only four computers in the Library Room available for the 4000 passengers. There was a printer so printing boarding passes wouldn’t be a problem.

 

 

My wife felt like having a mimosa so we went back up to deck 15 and the Spice H2O area. One thing I like about cruising, you can start boozing in the morning and no one throws a critical eye your way.

 

 

I had yet to take any photos of the sundecks on decks 18 and 19 so that was our next goal. There were plenty of loungers available on deck18 but very little shade. It’s a perfect area for those sun bunnies who want a quieter area to bake their bodies.

 

 

 

When I went to the front of deck 18 I was shocked to see there were much nicer padded loungers available. There was even a small bar up front. I thought for sure I had entered an area that was taboo for 2nd class passengers but no, this was a public area for everyone.

 

 

To get to the sundeck on 19 you had to take the stairs from 18 and my wife didn’t want to do that so I went up by myself to take a few pictures. WHOA, WHOA, WHOA, NO, NO, NO!! There was only one person on the very small deck 19 and that was a completely naked woman. Not just topless, naked, as in birthday suit. I was quite shocked and found myself staring at her.

 

Immediately my mind came up with three options.

 

First Option; pretend like everything is normal and take a few photos. I ruled this out because it’s very hard to act normal when your eyes are the size of saucers and your jaw has dropped to the floor and I was still staring…stop staring old man, stop staring.

 

Second Option; take my clothes off so she wasn’t uncomfortable with a fully clothed man in her presence and take my pictures. I ruled this out because I feared the act of taking my clothes off might be misconstrued.

 

Third Option; forget about taking some pictures and turn around and leave.

 

I chose option three. Sorry, I don’t have any photos of deck 19. If by chance that naked lady is a member of Cruise Critic, and if by chance she is reading my trip report on this forum, then all I can say is, thank you, thank you very much.

 

Continued in my next post.

Edited January 3, 2017 by Oakman58

[Oakman58]

December 15th Sea Day continued.

 

The weather and seas were perfect today so we ate lunch at the Great Outdoors. J & M met up with us sometime at 1 PM. We grabbed a table in the Great Outdoors that was in the shade and played the game Left, Right, Center again. I was hoping to win some of my money back from my sister. Well that didn’t happen, her luck continued and she took even more money from us.

 

At one point during the game three of us ordered bushwackers and each one came with a different chocolate design. The bartenders on the Epic really know how to make a great bushwackers.

 

 

Having been wiped out financially by my sister, we headed back to our cabin around 3:30 to chill out for a bit. On the way back to our cabin we passed this room.

 

 

If this was your cabin then as a fan of the St. Louis Cardinals I want to say this to you. BOO! HISS! There, now I feel better.

 

Late afternoon I decided to take a walk on the track at deck 7 but again after just one lap I quit. I don’t know whose bright idea it was to put the jogging/walking track on deck 7 but it was a dumb idea. I will say this, in an emergency it looks like it would be very easy to board the lifeboats.

 

 

I went back up to deck 15 and watched the rock climbing wall for a bit. These are the times I wish I was a younger man so I could try some of these activities. The guy in this photo was really good at climbing the wall.

 

 

Deck 17 had the Epic Bounce Bungee Experience going on. Oh to be a kid again.

 

 

We met up again with J & M in Maltings Bar for a couple of drinks before dinner and then went to Taste again for our evening meal.

 

We had reservations for the 9:15 show of Burn the Floor in the Epic Theater. This is a high energy show of sexy dancing and required quite a bit of athletic skills on the part of the dancers. If you enjoy watching very talented dancers, this is the show for you.

 

I really don’t like the idea of needing reservations to see the shows on the Epic. I really think it flies in the face of Freestyle Cruising. I thought Freestyle was supposed to be do what you want when you want. Reservations…not a fan.

 

After the show we went back to our cabin and called it a night. I didn’t notice our towel animal that night until I looked up, we had a bat hanging from our ceiling.

 

Edited January 3, 2017 by Oakman58

[ashjt44]

I am laughing hysterically at the naked lady! And i can actually hear Elvis saying Thank you, thank you very much!

Edited January 3, 2017 by ashjt44

[Delta Dear]

Yes but you do have to walk up the steps to what I think would be considered deck 16. The bar was on the starboard side. Great bartenders there.

 

 

Are steps the only access ? Husband uses a mobility scooter. We may have to skip it.

[hhalliv]

Are steps the only access ? Husband uses a mobility scooter. We may have to skip it.

 

Not 100% positive, but I believe I recall reading a review that said there was one elevator that goes up there. I'm sure someone else can give you a positive answer.

[tombec1]

I am laughing hysterically at the naked lady! And i can actually hear Elvis saying Thank you, thank you very much!

 

He was lucky. :D

 

My wife wanted to rest, so I went exploring with my 16 yr old daughter. As I walked up that last flight of stairs, there was a naked man laying there.. so I told my daughter to head back down. She would have been embarrased as hell.

As we were going back down, another guy was about to walk up, and he asked if the naked guy was still up there.. and we said yes. He said the guy's been up there all week.. and so he went back down the stairs too.

 

It's definately a tough place to find, so I can see why the naked people hang out up there. :D

[cdngooner]

Oakman, how did you get to the padded lounger area on Deck 18? Is it easily accessed from the main sundeck areas on the port and starboard sides, or is there a separate entrance?

 

Hilarious review, by the way. I'll be sure to check out Deck 19 myself.

Edited January 4, 2017 by cdngooner

[cecil89]

Omg oakman , u make me laugh!! Love your review.

Looking forward to more.

Thank you

[luvcruises1105]

I love this review, look forward to more! The naked Lady had my husband and I laughing hysterically!! :D Thank you for all the great photos, when we go in 11 days we are going to have to check out Deck 18 fwd with all the cushioned chairs and a bar!!

[Oakman58]

I am laughing hysterically at the naked lady! And i can actually hear Elvis saying Thank you, thank you very much!

 

I was hoping when people read that line they would read it with Elvis in mind.

[Oakman58]

He was lucky. :D

 

My wife wanted to rest, so I went exploring with my 16 yr old daughter. As I walked up that last flight of stairs, there was a naked man laying there.. so I told my daughter to head back down. She would have been embarrased as hell.

As we were going back down, another guy was about to walk up, and he asked if the naked guy was still up there.. and we said yes. He said the guy's been up there all week.. and so he went back down the stairs too.

 

It's definately a tough place to find, so I can see why the naked people hang out up there. :D

 

YIKES!! I guess I was lucky I saw a woman and not a man. I think some folks take the Freestyle thing a bit too far. :eek:

[Oakman58]

Oakman, how did you get to the padded lounger area on Deck 18? Is it easily accessed from the main sundeck areas on the port and starboard sides, or is there a separate entrance?

 

Hilarious review, by the way. I'll be sure to check out Deck 19 myself.

 

Once you're on deck 18 you'll be on the starboard side and just keep walking forward to the front of the ship.

[Oakman58]

Omg oakman , u make me laugh!! Love your review.

Looking forward to more.

Thank you

 

Thank you, I really appreciate the comment.

 

I love this review, look forward to more! The naked Lady had my husband and I laughing hysterically!! :D Thank you for all the great photos, when we go in 11 days we are going to have to check out Deck 18 fwd with all the cushioned chairs and a bar!!

 

Thank you for the compliment and I hope you have a great cruise and great weather.

[Oakman58]

December 16th Great Stirrup Cay

 

I was thankful this was another beautiful morning. Our excursion today was Stingray City and I had been praying all week that the weather wouldn’t cause our excursion to be cancelled. Back in 2011 we were on a Carnival Cruise and the stingray excursion we had booked for the Cayman Islands was cancelled because of the weather.

 

The Epic was scheduled to arrive at 9AM and soon after the announcement was made that tender operations had begun. We grabbed our backpacks with our snorkel gear and towels and headed to deck 4. Our meeting time was 10:15 at the Stingray Booth on the island. I was surprised how large the tender boats were. The tender we boarded had a capacity of 450 passengers.

 

 

A quick FYI and any newbies that might be reading this; your excursion ticket is your tender ticket. There is no need to get a reservation for a tender.

 

The tender boats were unusual in that they looked like they were Navy surplus landing craft that NCL converted for use as tenders. Here are a couple of pictures of those tenders. The first one is for passenger use and the other type without the upper deck was used for supplies.

 

 

 

The tender boats weren’t very fast and they seemed to be susceptible to wave action so it was a slow and rocky ride to the island. On the way to the island I took a picture of the Epic.

 

 

We arrived on the island by 9:45 and walked over to the booth and signed in for our excursion. That gave us time to look around the island for a bit. There were some booths selling hats, T-shirts, souvenirs, etc.

 

 

The water and the beach were absolutely stunning and it looked like there was a sea of empty beach chairs available for guests. At the time I remember thinking we would have no trouble finding a lounger when we returned from our excursion.

 

 

Continued in my next post.

Edited January 4, 2017 by Oakman58

[Oakman58]

December 16th Great Stirrup Cay continued.

 

After reporting back to the Stingray booth we were escorted to the other side of the island where we boarded small boats for the ride to the stingray area. If you have any back issues try to grab a seat at the rear of those little boats. We sat in the front and even though the water was calm we were bounced pretty good a couple of times during that ride.

 

 

When we arrived at the dock for Stingray City we were given a safety briefing. There were also snorkel gear and life vests for those who wanted them. It was high tide so the water was deep at the dock and we had to swim a short distance to where you could stand. It was a bit longer swim for my short little wife.

 

It was a little freaky being in the water with the stingrays especially when the rays would swim by touching your legs. A few folks were really freaked out at first but with assurances from our guides everyone calmed down in short order.

 

Our guides were excellent and before allowing anyone to hold a stingray they demonstrated the proper technique. They made sure that everyone who wanted to hold a stingray had the opportunity to do so. They also showed us the proper way to hold the shrimp and calamari to feed the stingrays. My wife actually surprised me when she said she wanted to hold one of the stingrays. Here’s a photo of my wife with me behind her as she held the stingray.

 

 

I have a cheapie underwater camera that has an LCD screen that is almost impossible to see in daylight so when taking photos I just aimed the camera in the general direction of the stingrays. I was thrilled with how some of the pictures turned out.

 

 

 

 

 

Stingray City was an awesome excursion and well worth the cost. We were in the water for about an hour with the rays and we loved every minute of it. I highly recommend taking an underwater camera if you take this excursion.

 

Continued in my next post.

Edited January 4, 2017 by Oakman58

[Oakman58]

December 16th Great Stirrup Cay continued

 

By the time we got back on the island it was getting close to noon so we headed over to the building where lunch was being served. We knew the food was complimentary but we were expecting to pay for a drink and were surprised when we were told beverages were covered by our unlimited beverage package.

 

We had no problem finding a picnic table to sit at under the pavilion while we ate our lunch.

 

 

After eating we grabbed another beer and walked down to the beach to look for J & M. Holy cow, all those empty loungers I saw earlier were all taken. We also gave up looking for J & M in that sea of humanity.

 

 

We found a spot on a rocky little ledge that was in a little shade and enjoyed the view while we finished our beer. I took a quick selfie trying the get the Epic in the background.

 

 

After finishing our beer we decided to take the next ferry back to the ship. We wanted to be back on the ship in time to use the Internet Café and do the online check-in with Southwest Airlines when the 24 hour window opened at 2:20 PM.

 

Even though there were only four computers in the Internet Cafe there was one available for us to use and we had no trouble doing an online check-in. When we got back to our cabin we left a message on J & M’s cabin phone to meet us at Maltings at 6:30 for drinks. We did a little packing for our departure tomorrow and then relaxed for the rest of the afternoon.

 

I was on the balcony when the last tender of the day headed back to the ship and it looked packed. At 5:30 we were underway and headed back to Cape Canaveral.

 

 

We met with J & M for drinks and then ate dinner in the Taste restaurant. After dinner my wife and I went back to our cabin to pack in earnest.

 

Here’s a pic of our final towel animal.

 

Edited January 4, 2017 by Oakman58

[zencruisers]

Thank you for the great review. How were the water temps?

 

 

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[Oakman58]

Thank you for the great review. How were the water temps?

 

 

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I’m going to have to give you a non-answer. My wife and I thought the water was just a bit on the chilly side when we got in but it we quickly adjusted to it. My sister and her husband said it was too cold. Sorry I can't give you a better answer.

Edited January 4, 2017 by Oakman58

[Oakman58]

December 17th Port Canaveral

 

On mornings when we have travel planned I’m always too wound up to sleep so I was up very early. As we were maneuvering up to the pier I took this picture of the Disney and Carnival ships already in port.

 

 

We would be doing a walk off with our luggage and went to the breakfast buffet very early. The buffet was already very crowded so it was obvious we wouldn’t be the only ones doing a walk off.

 

After breakfast we went back to our cabin, grabbed our luggage and then tried to catch an elevator down to deck 7. The elevators don’t hold a lot of passengers when everyone has luggage with them. We finally got on an elevator going up so that we could go down.

 

Debarkation was scheduled to begin at 7 AM and when we arrived on deck 7 at 6:45 the line was already half way through the ship. The funny thing is when we found the end of the line to get off at the front, there was a growing line of passengers with their backs to us to get off at the rear of the ship.

 

It didn’t take long for the two lines to meet effectively turning it into one continuous line throughout the ship with half the passengers facing one way and the other half facing the other way. It was all very confusing for folks who arrived after the lines merged and were trying to find the end of the line. I found it quite humorous.

 

The lines started moving just before 7 and for the most part continued to move until we were off the ship. I thought they did a great job getting passengers off. Inside the terminal the line was very long in the customs area but again the line continued to move. We were outside the terminal building by 7:45 and walking to the pickup point for the Cocoa Beach Shuttle.

 

Our shuttle was a passenger van that was towing a small enclosed trailer for the luggage. I think we had 12 passengers going to the Orlando Airport. We were the last ones to be dropped off at our airline and WHOA! What the heck? There was a huge line of people for the curbside check-in at Southwest. As we were walking into the terminal some of the folks outside were laughing at us and some yelled, “You’ll be sorry.”

 

Once inside it was another Holy Cow moment. It was a mass of humanity. Rather than go back outside we got in a long line just to drop off our luggage. I was glad our flight wasn’t until 2:20 PM so I wasn’t stressed about the long line or the line to get through security.

 

 

So to make a long story short, our 2:20 flight was delayed twice due to bad weather moving across the country and we finally departed at 4:35. Arriving in St. Louis it was 20 degrees outside with sleet or freezing rain falling so our plane sat on the taxiway waiting for airport equipment to spread de-icer on the pavement. After a 30 minute delay we finally had to be towed to our gate.

 

We experienced more delays waiting for our checked luggage to show up. And then another delay as we missed the shuttle bus to the hotel where our cars were parked. When we finally got back to our car at the hotel I had to scrape about a quarter of an inch of ice off the windows.

 

I knew the roads for the drive home would be treacherous and I debated spending the night at the hotel but I just wanted to get home. As it turned out, road crews had done a good job on the highways so the drive home while slow, wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.

 

That’s the end of my report. Thank you for taking the time to read it and all the nice comments.

Edited January 4, 2017 by Oakman58

[Mzsnap]

I thoroughly enjoyed your trip report...I'm really kind of sad that you've finished! ☹️ Thanks for putting in the time and effort to keep us all so entertained!

 

 

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[ShipsAhoy508]

Great review. Could I ask what shuttle service that you used? Would you recommend them?