Thoughts on our Epic 4-night March 10-14 cruise

[taylor1293]

We just got off the Epic this morning. It was a four night cruise to Nassau and GSC.

 

A little background info. This was our third NCL cruise and our 15th cruise in total. I booked this cruise way back in November of 2016. The reason I booked this particular cruise was because we had sailed the Epic before and really enjoyed her and it was a week I knew I would be off of work.

 

I suspected that this sailing would have a lot more spring breakers, due to the timing and length of the cruise. However, when I booked, the price was only $299 per person for an inside cabin, including the drink package. I couldn’t pass it up. I’ll be honest though...after reading the reviews from last weeks 4-night Epic cruise, I was a little nervous that it might be a little too much of a party cruise!

 

The ports.

 

GSC - We did not get off at GSC because of the crowds. Which meant a very enjoyable, and crowd-free time on the pool deck :).

 

Nassau - Been there three other times so we just got off and walked around for about an hour. Weather wasn’t the best so we headed back to the ship.

 

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The great.

 

Teppanyaki - The meal was fantastic, the pacing was great, the chef was fabulous. It was a great experience. Sadly, there was a couple seated at our table who complained to the manager so they could get a free bottle of wine. They were ridiculous. [emoji849]

 

Debarkation - We self-disembarked today. We were in our car by 7:30 this morning and back at our house by 10 AM. It was the fastest time for us to ever get off of any ship.

 

Howl at the Moon - We love dueling piano bars and this did not disappoint. It was very entertaining.

 

Cirque - We had the standard seating in a booth. It was not sold out so we did not have to share a table. The artists were amazing and it was super enjoyable.

 

Our cabin - The last time we stayed in an inside cabin was 2013. I was a little concerned that we would not like it. But we LOVED our cabin. Having already sailed the Epic, I was aware of the weird bathrooms. And while I do not like the bathroom set up (and I would not share a cabin like this with anyone but my husband!) I was OK with it. We found there to be more than enough storage for the two of us and we absolutely LOVED how dark it was...we slept in every day!

 

Cabin Steward - He was friendly and kept the cabin very clean.

 

Internet - Worked great!

 

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The Good.

 

Embarkation - Walked right in and we were assigned zone 4 - on the ship by 11:45. My only complaint was that it was hard to hear what zone they were calling. Which caused lots of people to crowd around.

 

Cagney’s - We have eaten there three other times and it’s always been great. This time it was good...but not “wow”. And the service was very, very slow.

 

Le Bistro - It was delicious, but again, slow service.

 

Maltings - This was our go-to bar the last time we were on the Epic. This time we also found it was a great bar to spend time at. Our server was super fabulous. But it was often very crowded.

 

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The ridiculous.

 

Drinks - Come on NCL...if you are going to include the drink package for all your cruises then double the bartenders and servers. The wait times were insane at times. 20-30 minutes. And while we didn’t go to GSC, we heard from several others that the wait time there was closer to 45 minutes. Many of these people were first time NCL cruises and said they would never sail on NCL again due to the slow service.

 

Napkins - This may be trivial to some, but I found it annoying. Drinks were not served with napkins. Not at one single bar.

 

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Overall thoughts.

 

Overall, the cruise was wonderful. It was exactly what we needed, lots of rest and relaxation. And probably too much drinking and eating!

 

As for all of those spring-breakers (and there were a ton!), I have to say that most were very well-behaved and we only encountered a few (aren’t there always!) that were a little obnoxious.

[Keith1010]

I enjoyed reading your very balanced review.

 

Keith

[Carnac767]

Thanks for posting. We sail on her next month on the TA.

[jdvmd]

Thanks for sharing your comments!

Do you know why the couple complained to the manager about at Teppanayki?

[taylor1293]

Thanks for posting. We sail on her next month on the TA.

 

 

 

Have a great cruise!

 

 

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[BirdTravels]

Thank you very much for the review!

[taylor1293]

Thanks for sharing your comments!

Do you know why the couple complained to the manager about at Teppanayki?

 

 

 

Yes :). Our table had dinner reservations at 6:00. They had booked a show that started at 7:00. They were upset that they missed their show. Now...at the beginning of the dinner everyone was asked if they had been to Teppanyaki before and they said yes. So they understood that dinner normally takes more than an hour.

 

They first complained to the server. Then they complained to the manager. Then eventually he brought them a bottle of wine. [emoji57]

 

 

 

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[LD Silver]

Always enjoy reading reviews....thanks for contributing