An Epic Review - Part One

I should have posted this one awhile ago, but you know how procrastination is. Anyway, Lisa and I boarded the Norwegian Epic the end of January for a week long cruise. This was our 6th cruise and the second on Norwegian. The Epic is the largest ship that we have cruised on and also the most different.

We knew we were going to be in for a different experience even before we got on the ship. The layout was completely different with no atrium in the middle and no middle elevators. We thought that would be different and it was, but it wasn't a negative at all. We were able to move about the ship without a lot of difficulty.

We had booked a balcony cabin (if you've never had one, once you've tried it you will be hooked!) and glad that we did. The cabin was definitely narrow. There were times that we had to move around to allow one of us to go where we needed to. However, the storage was amazing. The most storage room we've had on any ship. I know a lot of folks have complained about the way the bathroom was split, we found it useful as one of us could be in the shower and the other could be using the sink or toilet.

The food was excellent. Yes, we did eat at a number of the alternate restaurants that required a cover charge, but every one of them was worth it. We especially enjoyed Cagney's and Monderno's. Cagney's is Norwegian's signature steak restaurant and Moderno's is their Brazilian Steakhouse. The meat was amazing at both of those. We ate a number of times in the main dining room and enjoyed the food immensely. I do love the idea of being able to eat where we want, when we want. That is one of the hallmarks of Freestyle Cruising.

The Buffet was hit and miss. Sometimes it was difficult to find exactly what I wanted on the buffet, but they had enough lines so that there were never too many people waiting to get food and things moved pretty well. We found O'Sheehan's to be very convenient for those times we needed a quick snack. Being right in the middle of the ship made it very well situated for those times.

Views like this Sunrise off St Maarten are one reason we love
 having a balcony cabin.

We did some things on this cruise that we have never done before. Realize, we are both in our late 40s with our youngest child 21. We decided to join in the Pub Crawl with all of these 20-somethings. We had a great time chanting and shouting as we moved through the ship and trying things we never would drink on our own. It was a great way for us to get out and meet people.

We also did the Martini Tasting. If you ever do a Martini Tasting, I highly recommend splitting it. Four full size Martini's in 45 minutes was definitely a little much. The really odd thing was we met a couple that lives 5 miles from our house and knew our kids. Amazing how small the world is that you can meet someone like that in the middle of the Caribbean.

The Epic is about to head to Europe. It would be a great ship (or any of Norwegian's ships) to see the ports of Europe because of the Freestyle Dining. There is no pressure to get back to the ship in order to be ready for dinner. This fall the Epic is coming back to Miami to once again cruise the Caribbean. It is definitely not too early (don't for get Layaway Travel) to book one of these great sailings! Send me an email or give me a call if you have questions on an Epic sailing or a different cruise.

You can see some more pictures from our cruise here. Part 2 of the review will be coming soon and will cover the ports and the entertainment.