Honestly we were a little nervous when we booked this cruise because of the negative reviews we had read. But the Epic exceeded our expectations! Yes, the cabin layout is a little funky, but we didn’t mind. The different kinds of lighting in the cabin are amazing. There is an incredible amount of storage so there is a place to put everything to be able to keep you cabin tidy. The bed was very comfortable. The balcony is huge and I love how there is a sliding door out to it compared to a door. I loved having a coffee maker in the room so we could enjoy coffee on our balcony in the morning.
Even though it’s a mega ship, the only time i felt that was on the pool deck. You do need to go early to find a chair on the main deck, but being able to use the Spice H20 area was nice. We didn’t discover this until the last day, but on Deck 18 there is a sun deck. You just need to take the outside elevator in front of the outdoor cafe to get up there.
We saw Burn the Floor and Priscilla. Although they were amazing performances, they just weren’t our cup of tea. But they were very well done. Our favorite show was the Epic Beatles Band. They were spot on and amazing! We saw them 3 times! Go a little early if you want a seat, though.
We didn’t do any specialty dining, but were very happy with Taste and The Manhattan Room. If you don’t make a reservation, just go during non peak dining times so that you don’t have to wait in line. We only had reservations twice and never had to wait more than 5 minutes when we didn’t. The only item I didn’t care for was the sugar free brownie. Other than that, our food was delicious! O’Sheehan’s (open 24 hrs) has good, pub style,happy hour portions food. We loved the fajitas and fish and chips as a late night option. The room service continental breakfast is free and we ordered that several times. Pretty good variety I thought. Otherwise the room service charge is $7.95.
The Garden Cafe buffet had a different theme every night and an amazing variety of food. We were never disappointed. When it’s closed between meals, there’s always food available at the outdoor cafe.
Our favorite bars were the Atrium Bar and O’Sheehan’s because they were more personal than the Waves Bar on the pool deck.
We loved the amount of activities offered and wished we had 2 more days to squeeze in all that we wanted to do!
I’m sure there is no perfect cruise/ship, but even with a couple of quirky things, our experience was amazing and can’t wait to go again!
Embarkation
5 out of 5
We arrived early for our 10:30 check-in and were assigned to Group 2. We were onboard by 11:30 and were in our room by 2:00 as promised! Went very smoothly! My only advice would be to let them handle all your luggage and only bring a small shoulder bag or backpack with your swimsuit, sunscreen, etc. If you do an early check-in. I didn’t realize that we couldn’t get into our room right away and had to lug around our carry-on until we could get into our room and drop off our carry-ons. No big deal, but lesson learned!
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
5 out of 5
We did not eat at any of the specialty restaurants, but heard that Cagney’s Steakhouse was amazing and so was the Cirque Dream dinner. Overall we felt like the complimentary restaurants were really good. Taste and Manhattan had plenty of options and I never had an entree that disappointed. We made reservations the first 2 nights, but the rest of the week showed up during non peak times and never had to wait more than 5 minutes! Shanghai’s was okay, but nothing to write home about. The Buffett had a different theme every night and my hubby’s favorite was Seafood Night with shrimp galore! There was a great variety of other ethnic foods each day and a pretty good selection of gluten-free/no sugar added items for people with dietary restrictions. O’Sheehan’s is the only place to get food 24/7 and had great pub style food with Happy Hour portions, perfect for late night! Our favorites were the fajitas and the fish and chips! Room service is also available 24/7 but for a $7.95 charge. BUT you can order complimentary continental breakfast (the night before) which had cereal, fruit, coffee, tea, pastries, and yogurt as your options. We did that several times so that we could enjoy our morning coffee on our balcony. Overall we were very impressed!
Atrium Bar
5 out of 5
The bartenders here were very friendly as well as at O’Sheehan’s bar and we felt like the drinks were less bulk-like in these bars compared to the Waves pool bar.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
Climbing Wall
5 out of 5
The staff working the wall were very friendly and helpful. Being this was my first time, they gave me great advice and I was able to make it to the top! They were very patient and helpful when others were having difficulty on the more difficult wall.
Spice H20
4 out of 5
This was a great option to get away from the crowded main pool area. It had its own bar and for the post part, plenty of seating. It was relaxing and more or less quiet. The only reason I didn’t give it 5 stars, is because on one of the sea days there was no water in the pool. That didn’t make sense to me.
Entertainment
4 out of 5
We saw Burn the Floor and Priscilla. Although the performers, production, costumes and makeup were top notch, we just didn’t care for the provocativeness and edgy storylines. Great performances, but not our cup of tea.
The Epic Beatles band was our absolute favorite in the Cavern Club. We saw them 3 nights! They were spot on and put on a great, interactive show. I give this 5 stars! Just wish it was in a bigger venue!
Children's Programs
No kids on the cruise
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Overall the service was great! We had brought our own coffee French press and it was mistakenly removed from our cabin by our steward because he thought it belonged to the ship. Long story short, it was returned to us by the end of the day! We had some friendlier staff than some of the others, but never had bad or rude service.
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
Overall we liked the layout of the ship, but I felt like for a ship that size, there should have been either larger or more hot tubs. The ship seemed very clean and maintained to me.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
We kinda liked the funky, wavy design of the cabin. It was a little narrow, but not that big of a deal with there just being 2 of us. We were hardly in our room so we didn’t mind. The split bathroom did not bother us too much either, but I can see how if you were in mixed company, it could be awkward. I loved the creative lighting. There was a light for everything! The amount/kind of storage was Absolutely amazing and helped keep our cabin tidy because there was a space for everything! The balcony was very spacious and I loved how there was a sliding door. Even though we weren’t in our cabin, much, we spent the majority of our time on our balcony! We found the bed very comfortable and Junaida kept our room very clean!
Ship tip
Enjoy everything that this mega ship has to offer. There is so much to see and do. Just be smart about when you show up for meals if you don’t have a reservation. Go during non peak times and you won’t have to wait. But be sure to make reservations for the shows to make sure you can get in!
The port itself is beautiful. There is a very nice shopping area. We went on the Dunn River Falls/Bamboo Beach VIP excursion. We had to travel at least 45 minutes to get tot the Falls. Our tour guide, Marshalee was awesome. She pointed out things along the way and gave us a lot of Jamaican history and taught us some Jamaican phrases. The drive is not that pretty, but you do get to see a little bit of real Jamaica. Be sure to bring your own water socks otherwise you are forced to spend $10/pair on their water socks. They will not let you climb unless you have these. Also, be sure to have a waterproof pouch for your cellphone if you want to take pictures. Otherwise you can buy one for $15. Trust me, you WILL get wet! The
falls are pretty but you are pretty much herded
through with many people. I think it’s one of those things though that you should do at least once in your life. You are hounded by vendors at the end, so be prepared for that.
After that, they took us 15 minutes away to Bamboo Beach Club. We were there for only 1-1/2-2 hours. We were served lunch tapas style. The food was pretty good. The drinks were ok and included in our tour. If you don’t have the VIP tour, you have to go up to get your food and drinks and stand in the lines. The beach is very rough and you definitely need water socks or rafting sandals. The surf was very rough. Overall it’s not that nice of a beach, but the water was refreshing.
If I was to do it again, I would have not done a combined excursion because of time lost in traveling. We were gone most of the day but only spent about 3 hours actually doing something. Try to find an excursion right in Falmouth.
We booked the Stingray City Sandbar excursion through NCL. Being with the stingrays was an amazing experience. I would definitely NOT book this excursion through NCL simply because of the number of people and size of our boat trying to jockey for a position at the Sandbar. Because our boat was so big and there were 5 cruise ships in port that day, we had to wait forever to get a spot at the Sandbar to actually get out and be with the stingrays. The crew did not interact with us at all traveling to and from the Sandbar where you could tell that the other smaller boats interacted with their people more. What was suppose to be a 2-1/2 hour excursion, turned into 5 because of having to wait so long. We were only in the water with the stingrays for 1/2 hour which was plenty, but made for a long day overall. I would definitely bring your own snorkel mask so that you can see the stingrays swimming at the bottom of the bar. We even saw a few other fish too! All in all, you must see the stingrays, but find a smaller excursion to do it through.
This was hands down our favorite port! Not knowing what to expect, we didn’t get on an early tender. If you don’t reserve an early tender just show up after 9:30 and you won’t have to wait long. It’s only about a 5 minute ride to shore. The only problem with waiting is that you won’t find a beach lounger. We just found a spot on the beach to the left of the main area where it was less crowded. Highly recommend renting or bringing your own snorkel gear. We saw hundreds of fish! Definitely the highlight of our day. If you have the UBP, the drinks are included. There is a complimentary lunch served as well but only from 11:30-2:00. I unfortunately fell asleep on the beach and missed the food. But according to my hubby it was very good. There were ribs and other barbecue items plus a taco bar.
It was a very relaxing and fun day and we ended up staying way longer that we had planned. There is a straw market but we did not stop there.
Because our flight wasn’t leaving until later that night, we chose to carry out our own luggage. We took our time and enjoyed a long, leisurely breakfast in the buffet. It probably took us about 20-30 minutes to get off the ship and were off by 10. We only had to wait about 20 minutes for our shuttle to the airport (previously arranged through Cocoa Beach Shuttle).
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