Semi-Live from the Epic | Transatlantic from Orlando to Rome | April 7 to 19, 2024

[OrcaGirl]

3 minutes ago, Mommapadraig said:

Im wondering if they will be able to make any significant changes to the bathroom layout during dry dock.

During the Q&A they just mentioned that it will be a refurbishment of “all cabins and public decks” but also that plans were still being finalized.

 

It would be amazing if they could update the bathroom but I imagine that might be structurally complicated.

[Mommapadraig]

Just now, OrcaGirl said:

During the Q&A they just mentioned that it will be a refurbishment of “all cabins and public decks” but also that plans were still being finalized.

 

It would be amazing if they could update the bathroom but I imagine that might be structurally complicated.

If they even get rid of the semi sheer glass surround it would be a huge improvement!

[OrcaGirl]

Good morning from somewhere west of Bermuda. 

 

I woke up around 9am (with time change factored in) after a restless night. My solo cabin was creaking LOUD last night. My one working sliding door kept sliding open and banging shut. At one point (I was possibly hallucinating) I could have sworn there were rats scuttling in between the ceiling and the next deck.

 

I got dressed and heading down to deck 7 for a little stroll in the fresh air. Judging by the crew member I saw scrubbing the carpeted stairs, I wasn’t the only one experiencing seasickness.

 

 

I had a half of a breakfast sandwich at the Local (sorry, O’Sheenan’s). The sandwich was delicious. Breakfast potatoes continue to be disappointing.

 

 

I swung by Starbucks for a coffee and took it up to deck 15. Enjoyed a good hour watching the pool water splash back and forth. At one point the lifeguard showed up for his shift, looked at the pools and just laughed. 🌊 

 

 

 

A little before noon I headed down to Moderno for the Wines of the World event. This is my third cruise as Platinum but first time I’ve made it to the wine tasting. And probably my last? 

 

The wines were okay, but I expected more of a sit down event with sommeliers telling us a little something about each wine we were tasting. But this was more: here’s a glass, line up for each wine, rinse and repeat.

 

 

 

I bailed after three wines and one breadstick.

 

 

Random observations 

 

No, the ship is not going to reschedule or add more Dinner with the Officers events just because you have a conflicting specialty dining reservation. The gall of some people.

 

Pro tip for people going on future transatlantics: know how to manually change the time on your phone before you sail. ⏰ We lost one hour last night, and I’ve been providing tech support for lots of people already. 🤣

 

I had a lovely conversation with one of the bar staff in the pool area. I surprised her by using the two or three phrases that I know in Mandarin and it turned into a long conversation about different places in China, the different types of Chinese food, homesickness, seasickness, etc. She wasn’t feeling great herself, but she said just chatting with someone made her feel better. 🥰

[schmoopie17]

The walls of your solo cabin remind me of a padded cell.

 

Don't ask me how I know this...

[OrcaGirl]

9 minutes ago, schmoopie17 said:

The walls of your solo cabin remind me of a padded cell.

 

Don't ask me how I know this...

They totally do! 🤣

[OrcaGirl]

Day 2 Transatlantic Daily

 

Epic-day2.pdf

[OrcaGirl]

Day 3 Transatlantic Daily

 

Epic-day3.pdf

[RNCheryl]

But I’ll give the Beatles a skip. Can’t wait for when the cruising demographic ages enough that it’s more fiscally responsible to have a Depeche Mode or The Cure tribute show. 

 

But, will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I'm Sixty-Four?

Hope you have a great cruise.

(We loved the Beatles on the Bliss)

 

[Panhandle Couple]

We have had some very good conversations with bar staff during slow times.  They have generally been everywhere, but still have family they miss back home.

 

I hate how some people here complain about them and staff in general. Get to know them, even on a minimal level, and you will get better service, and help them with a rather boring job.

[OrcaGirl]

I wasn’t feeling particularly hungry but figured a little food was a good thing so I headed up to the buffet and grabbed a hot dog, some fries and green beans.

 

 

I headed down to the Atrium to catch the 80s Awesome Trivia. My pet peeve is poorly-thought-out trivia, and this was certainly that. It wasn’t as bad as on my last Princess Cruise (Jurassic Park is not an 80s movie!) but it wasn’t super great. 

 

 

 

After trivia I headed up to Maltings for an Eastern Legacy and ended up having a nice chat with some people about past and future cruises.

 

I eventually excused myself to head to bingo. I had missed the bingo yesterday due to being collapsed in a heap on my bed, but to my surprise they still let me use my free bingo play. Bingo was held in Headliners, with a very different vibe than when it’s held in the theatre. I ended up one number away on the second and third games, but no $$$ for me.

 

 

After bingo I headed back to the cabin, where the steward was just finishing up making up my room. And the closet door was fixed! 

 

Once we was finished, I had the quickest shower ever and got dressed for dinner. I headed down to Headliners for the solo meet and greet, and snagged one of the last spots for the solo group dinner.

 

I think they had about 50 seats reserved for the solo group. Dinner was good and my tablemates were nice, although it was very loud and hard to hear everyone.

 

 

 

 

 

I missed my 7pm reservation for Burn the Floor so I’ll try to catch it later in the cruise.

 

Instead, once dinner was over I headed to karaoke. 🎤  The highlight was the dude who sang a kick-ass rendition of Sweet Transvestite from The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

 

 

Honourable mention goes to another older dude who rocked Katy Perry’s Teenage Dream.

 

The lowlight was the dude with more enthusiasm than talent who sang one song (very poorly) then — in direct contradiction of the hostess’s instructions that no one could sing twice unless they got through the entire line — signed up a second time under a different name and sang the worst version of Don’t Stop Believin’ I’ve ever heard. Even worse, he had his bare feet up on the table in between his songs. 🤢 

 

And of course, it wouldn’t be cruise ship karaoke if some dude didn’t sing My Way. 🤣

 

And now it’s time for bed. 😴 

 

Random observations

 

Random person in the elevator on my way to dinner: “Well you look comfy.” I’m going to take that as a compliment? 🤣 My dress does have pockets.

 

I don’t understand these light controls in my cabin.

 

 

And I won’t even tell you how long it took me to figure out how to turn off the light above the sink. 🤦‍♀️ 

[Mommapadraig]

The food looks delicious. I think we were at every Karaoke.Mainly such good singers….then we had “Screaming Rick”.

[DominicAUS]

Thanks for the review so far! Sorry you were sick but glad you’re feeling better. Look forward to reading more. 
 

Enjoy the trip. I love doing a TA but have always done it from Europe so we get 25 hr days. 

[missinver]

We are doing trans-Atlantic in November on the Encore so really enjoying your review.  Hopefully your sickness has passed now. 

[OrcaGirl]

Good morning from somewhere northeast of Bermuda and south of Newfoundland.

 

Feeling back to normal today. The ship continued to rock and the solo cabin creaked a lot, so finally I popped in some earplugs around 1am and slept like a baby after that.

 

I woke up sans alarm around 8am, and headed downstairs for a Starbucks and then breakfast at Taste. I was craving an Eggs Benny and it really hit the spot. (But the potatoes are still blah 🤣)…

 

 

Service was really fast. And I’m glad I went when I did, as the line was pretty long when I was leaving.

 

I popped back to my cabin to grab my laptop and then up to the pool deck. If one must study while on a cruise, you can at least enjoy the sunshine and a BBC while doing it. 
 

 

Random observations

 

Pro tip for future transatlantic cruisers: a little bit of masking tape would probably stop the closet doors and cabinet doors from sliding open and closed all night.

 

I’ve got the standard unlimited wifi package, and the speeds have been fine but unlike past cruises, I can’t access any video services, even slowly or with buffering. I was able to access my online course and complete a quiz, but not play the embedded video links.

 

[DCGuy64]

Enjoying reading your posts onboard the Epic. For some reason, my wife and I really liked that ship. We did a TA from Portugal to NYC. Anyway, I don't know what kinds of tastes you like, but if I were you, I'd request some hot sauce, lots of salt and pepper and anything else to put on top of those potatoes to make them less boring.

[schmoopie17]

1 hour ago, DCGuy64 said:

Anyway, I don't know what kinds of tastes you like, but if I were you, I'd request some hot sauce, lots of salt and pepper and anything else to put on top of those potatoes to make them less boring.

Or take some back to your cabin, cut them up into a million pieces and fry them up on a hot plate. Voila! Instant hash browns. Just one minor issue about sneaking a hot plate onboard...

[DCGuy64]

37 minutes ago, schmoopie17 said:

Or take some back to your cabin, cut them up into a million pieces and fry them up on a hot plate. Voila! Instant hash browns. Just one minor issue about sneaking a hot plate onboard...

I wonder if you could take a plate of potatoes to the omelette station (or someplace where there's a flat top) and ask the chef to jazz them up. Might be worth asking. No sense settling for 'bog standard' spuds on your holiday!

[tcmagnum]

9 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

I wonder if you could take a plate of potatoes to the omelette station (or someplace where there's a flat top) and ask the chef to jazz them up. Might be worth asking. No sense settling for 'bog standard' spuds on your holiday!

This is a great idea.  I wonder if it would work.  Worth a try!!

[OrcaGirl]

After completing my course module (Psychosocial Resilience in Disaster Management, super sexy stuff) and probably getting a little sunburn on one side of my body, I dropped off my laptop in the cabin and headed to the Atrium for Destination Trivia. Unfortunately every seat was already full or saved, and it was too warm there to stand. So I headed up one floor and grabbed a seat at O’Sheenan’s along with an Aperol Spritz.

 

 

I watched but didn’t participate in the trivia, instead using the time to look up an itinerary that someone mentioned to me yesterday than looks super tempting. Of course I’d have to pack like three times the Gravol Ginger.

 

 

Once that trivia was over, I took a few steps over to the casino to attempt to win the money to pay for that cruise. 😂 Alas, I blew through half of my free slot play in about five minutes. Oh well. 

 

 

Up to the buffet for a quick lunch. The pesto chicken, tempura vegetables and carbonara pizza were fantastic.

 

 

I got a bit of work done in the afternoon at Maltings, but the table height isn’t conducive to being on a laptop so I eventually retired to the cabin to finish up before getting ready for the evening frivolities.

 

 

Random observations 

 

There are not nearly enough seats in the Atrium for a ship this size.

 

I hate it when random old(er) people give me ***** for having a phone in my hand. You cruise your way. I’ll cruise mine.

 

I miss the Observation Lounge.

 

When new ships are designed, cruise execs should have to shave their legs in a mock-up of the shower, which is mounted on a gimbal that shifts at random intervals. 🪒 

[depplep]

I thought that about the atrium on the Encore. We were very disappointed. Loving the review. 

[OrcaGirl]

28 minutes ago, depplep said:

I thought that about the atrium on the Encore. We were very disappointed. Loving the review. 

Interesting, the Encore/Bliss is my baseline as a decent size of atrium for NCL. Although I do prefer the Princess atriums on newer ships.

 

[Mommapadraig]

7 minutes ago, OrcaGirl said:

Interesting, the Encore/Bliss is my baseline as a decent size of atrium for NCL. Although I do prefer the Princess atriums on newer ships.

 

I agree. The atrium on the Epic is so small. The only time I sat down there was to fall asleep during a movie. We usually sat above and looked down but couldn’t join in the activities.

[depplep]

That was our first NCL cruise so I could only compare it to Royal. 

[rbxlady]

I loved reading this so far, first because I would love to do a TA (actually I'd love to do a TA, hang out in Europe for a minute, then do another TA if I could work it out), and second because we just disembarked the Epic on Sunday. It was a FULL ship-- zero free staterooms. I'm sure 3680 feels empty in comparison, especially with very few kids.

 

I remember the casino being smoky (I only walked through, didn't play), but compared to the Getaway, I prefer the Epic layout with the smaller atrium because the smoke doesn't really travel to different decks. I can see why others would disagree, though.

 

My sister and I collect Starbucks "You are Here" and "Been There" mugs, so I bought one for each of us, even though she's never been on a cruise. All of mine are Disney World ones, so this is a new addition to my collection. Do I need that many coffee mugs? Absolutely not. Do I care? Absolutely not. I love them because they're adorable and hold a lot of coffee! They were announced last summer right before my brother boarded the Getaway, which I had been on in late 2022, so I was going to ask him to buy one for me. However, his cruise was a week or two too before they were actually available, so I didn't get one, but it's a good excuse to book more cruises!

 

I laughed because we ate at Taste one night, and I had your exact meal. That tiramisù was the best dessert I had on the ship! (It even beats the Haven decadent chocolate cake, and I'm a chocoholic.)

 

We also had "breakfast potatoes", and now I understand why people get up in arms over not having hash browns. I started calling them "sad potatoes".

 

Glad you are feeling back to normal and looking forward to reading more of your live, especially the ports!

[Mommapadraig]

We bid into the haven on our last TA on the Epic. They only had the sad potatoes in the Haven restaurant so we ate breakfast in the main dining room. One day the Maitre d’ came over and said we are happy to have you eat with us but can I ask why aren’t you eating in the Haven? I held up the round of hash browns.That may have been one of the last cruises that the hash browns were available. 

Edited April 10 by Mommapadraig