I would sail Epic again, but not for more than a few days. There just wasn't enough to do on board for free for 7 days, especially when 2 ports were skipped. They could do a better job an enforcing rules like no personal loud speakers and vaping in specified areas, as well as improving the pool bar wait times (put a bar on the 18th deck), but the food was decent, and the staff did their duties. No AFT balcony ever again, though.
Embarkation
3 out of 5
A little confusing upon boarding, with no crew members to help direct you where to go once on ship.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
Specialty dining wasn't worth it, but the restaurants were very nice with a good assortment of menu items. Buffet was... a buffet. With a different theme each night. Favorite part of the buffet was the Indian/Middle Eastern offerings. With a galley staff that may hail from the region, some of these dishes were the best I've ever had. Sadly it was only a small station labelled vegetarian, which not all dishes were, thank you very much! All that was missing was an assortment of Naan breads.
Onboard Activities
3 out of 5
Staying mostly in the "adults" sections such as Spice H20 and "The Quiet Zone", those areas were adequate. Not always a lot of lounge chairs to be found, and some guests ignored the "quiet area" vide and decided to bring their own portable speaker which disturbed us, especially when the staff did nothing to stop it. The bar at Spice was directly behind the smokers "pit", so you get to breathe in second hand smoke while waiting for a drink. Since the Forward "quiet" deck was also the home of POSH (a paid adults-only area), there was no bar or wait staff to serve you. The only way to get drinks up there was to go down 3 floors to the pool bars and bring it back up. Huge fail on Epic's part there.
Entertainment
3 out of 5
When it was dance club music, must of the on-board musical entertainment was very good, including the pianists at Howl at the Moon. The comedy shows for "adults" were too late in the evening. I think they could do some of those earlier and refuse children at the door, but whatever. The Beatles tribute was good to see and hear, but the musicians were not Liverpoolians, and appeared to be from middle eastern or south pacific nations. Their native accents were noticeable during the performance, which throws off the illusion.
Service and Staff
4 out of 5
The staff, when available, were cordial and helpful when they could be. The only complaint we would have is that, after numerous announcements by the cruise director, as well as a paper sent to each cabin alerting of a time change, apparently that didn't get down to the room service staff, who proceeded to deliver room service at 8 am when we had clearly marked it for 9 am. The spa staff were also problematic, and didn't provide the full services that were paid for. We're still waiting on a refund from NCL on that one
Ship Quality
3 out of 5
At 14 years of age, it seems "outdated" in many ways. Its cool that there are bowling alleys on a ship (at an additional cost), but very hard to use with a rolling ship. The open air "sports" area on top of the ship for basketball was just under the ship exhaust, so you get to breathe that in. And it didn't appear that the basketball court could be used for anything else. Maybe they should consider a few pickleball courts up there and increase its usability.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
Cabin itself was great. With the toilet separate from the shower area, it made getting two things done much easier. No problems with water pressure or lighting. The aft balcony was great, as the Epic has a flat-back aft, and you are not looking down into other balconies (or people looking into yours). The downside, as we learned, being this is the first time we were AFT, is that, apart from the engine purr while moving forward, the loud noise and excessive shaking while the ship either turned around or sidled into port was incredibly loud and disturbing. So if the ship arrives at port at 4 am, expect to be awoken by the earthquake and noise that you will undoubtedly encounter in the AFT.
Ship tip
No lounges on the pool decks? Take the stairs or panoramic elevators to the 18th floor and head to the forward of the ship. Remember, no bar service up there, so remember to bring your drinks. You're more likely to find a lounge there, though.
At the port, everything was great. Decide to walk around outside of the port area, and you will be met with all types of locals trying to get your business and then the area felt truly 3rd world. Its a shame an ECO-tourist area such as that does not have a more welcoming infrastructure. As we do not typically book excursions, we didn't know that the best thing to do at port is to get AS FAR AWAY FROM PORT as possible via an excursion. Sad but true.
Well, we visited this port twice, once unintentionally due to the Costa Maya port being skipped and once when we were supposed to. Cozumel is great compared to the more crime ridden areas on mainland Mexico. There is plenty to see and do without an excursion, especially if you like shopping and authentic Mexican culinary delights. We felt safe enough to walk around on our own, and were not harassed by locals as much as Roatan. There are major businesses there like Margaritaville, Hard Rock, and familiar restaurant names. Although we were disappointed to have to visit twice, it was still nice to disembark and not feel as if we needed to get back to the port to be safe.
The Epic was confusing to disembark. First there were the colored luggage tags and then you would be called. But there were no specific directions on what to do if you carried off your own luggage. When we were instructed to go to the 7th deck to disembark, one set of elevators didn't go there, so you had to go to 6 then back up to 7 across the hall (the reason became obvious later). Then there were crew there with very broken English trying to explain what to do and where to go. A few signs like "Self-Assist Disembarkation This Way" would have helped. So many people were confused and didn't know exactly what to do, as if NCL decided that everyone had done this before and knew what to do.
We were the cruise the week before you. I loved Deck 18, lounge chairs and quiet. There was always a waiter walking around asking if you wanted drinks. Unfortunate you didn't experience that. I do agree about embarkation, no clear direction where to go, and no 'wow' feature walking onto a glorious atrium. We also, did not mind the washroom/shower layout.
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