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Norwegian Epic Cruise Review to Caribbean - Southern
Contributor Level:
First Mate
Cruises: 7+ cruises
Reviews: 3
Helpful Votes: 76
7 Night Southern Caribbean (San Juan Roundtrip)
Sail date: March 06, 2022
Ship: Norwegian Epic
Cabin type: Suite
Cabin number: 9248
Traveled as: Family (older children)
Reviewed: 2 years ago
Review summary
All things considered, we had a nice time. We probably won't be sailing on Norwegian again. But, I never say never. I like Royal Caribbean better and even Carnival. They have more parties. But I must say that not having to bring any dress clothes is the best.Embarkation
We picked a set time to arrive, but sat for over an hour waiting. We were told that customs was going through the ship.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Manhattan Room: only did 1 dinner there. It was lacking organization. For instance, when we ordered dessert, we also ordered hot tea and coffees. The desserts came and we were done eating them well before our tea and coffees came.
Taste: ate there a few nights. Much better service than Manhattan Room. But we had to definitely explain we wanted our tea and coffee with our desserts.
Teppanyaki: Japanese place where they cook the food in front of you. It was entertaining and good.
Buffet: breakfast was awesome. No lines anywhere. Omelette station wasn’t even crowded. We actually went there for dinner too. They have soft serve ice cream there but also hand dipped.
O’Sheehan’s Irish Pub: this is open 24 hours. It’s the only place open for food 24 hours. I found it odd that it’s an Irish place. I’d rather have pizza. But that’s just me. And some hours you pay for the food there and sometimes it’s free (late night it’s free)
Moderno (Brazilian Steakhouse): It was an experience. They bring out the meat on skewers and cut as much as you want. There’s a salad bar that was pretty good.
Onboard Activities
Mandara Spa: We booked the Hydro Pool for the week. It was really nice. I recommend it.
My husband did 2 acupuncture treatments for his shoulder. He really enjoyed them and it seemed to help too.
Entertainment
The Epic Beatles shows were great. There are a few shows during your cruise. We only missed one of their shows.
The Barricade Boys were also great. 4 male singers. Super show.
Amy G Shameless Cabaret show. It was a one girl show. It was supposed to be funny. There were a few funny lines. But kinda like slapstick, which is not my thing.
We did the Deal or No Deal Game. That was fun but not worth the money. I’d rather just watch.
We did a few comedy shows. The best one was the Comedy and Magic of Fred Moore.
Burn the Floor was really great. Just lots of different dancers.
Children's Programs
We didn't bring any children this time.
Service and Staff
Our room steward, Johnson, was the absolute best. He always kept our room in order. He also stopped to talk to us. He was leaving the ship when we left also. He's headed home for 2 months to be with his family. All other staff members were also very good. They were always able to figure out what we wanted.
Ship Quality
There’s only 2 elevators. One near the front of the ship and one near the back. There is an escalator that goes up and down from the 5th and 6th floor. And there’s stairs.
The casino is well laid out. There is a smoking section off to one side. The casino goes around an area that is an open space to the floor above and below it. This makes the smoke smell almost non-existent. It was nice.
The ship was always kept very clean. The lady at the buffet entrance was happy every single day.
Cabin / Stateroom
Club Balcony Suite. 9248
Good size balcony. 2 chairs and a small table.
Has a mini fridge
Plenty of storage space. Most we ever had.
Huge shower (however some rooms have a tub that has high sides)
There are 3 nice hooks outside the shower. There are only 2 receptacles in the room.
Sink is in the room. Open concept. Needs to be a bigger sink. There is a really nice medicine cabinet.
Bed was short but comfortable. I'm only 5'3" and my feet hung over the end of the bed.
There are lots of mirrors in the room.
Lighting is very dim unless you open the curtain.
Doors are magnetic as well as the walls next to door.
Ship tip
I really don't think this room is any bigger than a regular balcony room.
Thumbs up
0
Ports of call
We stayed at the Hyatt House for 2 nights before our cruise. It’s a nice hotel. There’s a place that is really happening very close by. There was entertainment there, bars, restaurants, and the biggest arcade I ever saw. After our cruise, we did a ship excursion that included a tour of San Juan and then they dropped us off at the airport. It was just ok.
Since we were there before, we did Riu Palace Antilles. It’s an adults only all inclusive resort. It was ok. Being in March the water was cold in the pool and also at the beach. The water was clear and nothing on bottom like rocks or shells. The buffet was just ok. No desserts though. Buffets on cruise lines private islands are much better.
We were there before too. But decided to do the Hato Caves and City Center excursion from the ship. Cave wasn’t that big. And you had to walk up 50 steps to get to the entrance. Exhausting. The City Center was a walking tour. The bridge wasn’t working so we had to take a ferry to get across. It was ok.
we just got a taxi and the driver took us all over. Our 1st stop was a spice place. The man there showed us each of the spices. He grated some into our hands so we could smell them. It was interesting. Then we went to another stop that had spices and some parrots and also a beautiful waterfall. Then he was going to take us to the rainforest but it was really foggy so it would have been too dangerous. The roads there were narrow. It’s a wonder that there weren't any accidents all over. Then we went to Fort Frederick. That was interesting. The tour guide there was very nice. From the fort you can see the prison, the Parliament Buildings, the water and mental asylum that includes the old age facility. Interesting.
We did a ship tour, Soufriere & Diamond Falls. It was way too long and way too far. We stopped at a few places where locals were selling things. Then we saw the pitons which were very big. Then we walked through the Botanical Gardens. There were many varieties of flowers. There was also a mineral pool where we took a brief dip in. Further down the path was a beautiful waterfall. The roads here were too windy and we were going up and down and up and down again. And the turns had a sign saying “Hair Pin Bend”. Think about a hair pin and then imagine going like 40 or 50 mph around one. Scary. I wouldn’t recommend this tour.
We rode the Scenic Railway. Out of all the tours, this one was the best. It’s a double decker train. You can sit downstairs in the air conditioned car, which is very cold, or sit in the open air section upstairs. It was windy but warmer upstairs. So many people came out of their houses to wave at the train. That was nice, It seemed like a happier island. There’s beautiful scenery to be seen.
Disembarkation
It went very smooth. We met in the Epic Theater since we had an excursion planned.