Hi Gang:
Hedy and I returned from a seven-day Caribbean cruise on NCL's newest
mega-ship, The Epic, this past Saturday and a number of members of this group
-- most of them Harrah's players -- have asked me to do a report on the trip
so I'm going to give it a shot.
A warning, however. I'm only going to touch on the casino and VP
inventory, since there's not a lot to report. I'll concentrate mostly on the ship
and what it offers. Hence, the XVP tag in the subject line.
THE SHIP
The Epic is NCL's answer to Royal Caribbean's Oasis and Allure, but it
doesn't compare, really. It's big ... 153,000 gross tons, 19 decks, 4,100
passengers, 1,690 crew members ... but it has a lot of structural flaws and, in
our opinion, lacks the elegance, warmth and personality of the RCCL duo.
There is very little artwork adorning the ship, with mostly mirrors at
each level on the staircases, and it only has two sets of elevators, one
forward and one aft. There are two escalators mid ship, sandwiching the Taste
Dining Room, but the down one was out of service when we got aboard and
remained that way all week. It is hard to believe that a multi-billion dollar
corporation like NCL couldn't get an escalator on its signature ship fixed
all week.
There is no formal library or card room on board, amazing for a ship of
that size, but they try to compensate for that with an area in the Bliss
Ultra Lounge with four shelves of books that can be borrowed and returned. A
staff member told us during the cruise that the company had gotten many
complaints about not having a library with sofas and chairs where people can sit
quietly and read a book and that they were in the process of having one
built onboard.
The elevators were color coded, blue on the starboard side and red on the
port side, but when you pressed the up or down buttons they didn't light up
so you weren't sure if they were working. When the elevators did stop on
your deck there was no noise announcing their arrival so if you weren't
paying attention, they came and went while you stood around chatting,
daydreaming, or deciding where to eat your next meal. There seemed to be only one,
large private lounge, the aforementioned Bliss, and it seemed as if
everything was staged in there ... the Newlywed Game Show, The Dating Game, The
Quest, 55 To Stay Alive (a version of TV's Minute to Win It), Trivia sessions,
dance classes, karaoke ... and there wasn't ample seating for many of the
more popular shows.
The central Atrium area, which featured a giant LED screen, seemed to be
the only other venue which hosted things. It had a dance floor and things
like Dancing With the Epic Stars and interviews with the captain and his
staff, and members of the Blue Man Group were staged there. Again, seating was
at a premium and many people had to stand to attend these events.
THE CABIN
While all the things I've mentioned so far were somewhat trivial, yet
annoying, the size and design of our cabin was our main disappointment. We had
a balcony cabin and assumed it was in one of the better cabin categories on
the ship. Our main problem with it: IT HAD NO BATHROOM! Upon entering, to
our right was a small enclosure with a toilet (think airplane lavatory). On
our left was a small shower enclosure, also with a sliding door. Then, a
few feet past that was a sink on the countertop with a mirror, right out in
the middle of the cabin! When I stood in front of it to shave, my right leg
was just about touching the end of the bed and when I splashed water,
everything in the general vicinity, including the bed and the wooden floor in
the entranceway, got wet. All we could think of was, whoever thought up this
design should be fired immediately. Just about everyone onboard that we
talked to was in agreement. Most complained about the lack of privacy, others
complained about the inadequate lighting in the cabin. Others weren't
happy with the small pathway between the bed and sofa which couldn't
accommodate two people at once. It was trying, to say the least.
THE FOOD
At last, a positive. We found the food and service personnel onboard to be
very good to excellent. Both main dining rooms, Taste and the Manhattan
Room, featured a wide variety of appetizer, entree and dessert selections
daily and one dish was better than the other. We hooked up with a waiter named
Edelberto in Taste later in the cruise and he was super attentive to our
needs. One night we got to the dining room at 5:30 and told him we had
tickets to see a show at 7. Within an hour he served us our three courses and
the food was just the way we ordered it and delicious. The two times we went
back after that we made sure we asked for him. He made dining at Taste a
pleasure. The Manhattan Room also had a unique feature, a band, singer, and a
sizable dance floor that was very popular with the diners.
We tried one specialty restaurant, La Cucina, and loved the Italian food
it offered. The service there also was top notch. The 15th-deck buffet, the
Garden Cafe, also was excellent. We ate breakfast there every morning and
most lunches. Again, the variety of food was great (we loved the freshly
cooked turkey burgers) and Hedy raved about the way they made omelettes in the
morning. The service personnel also was terrific up there, clearing away
dirty plates almost instantaneously and getting you drinks or coffee with a
smile. There were also plenty of tables so you didn't have to walk around
like a zombie balancing your plate for a half hour waiting for someone to
get up.
O'Sheehan's, a 24-hour sports bar, in the middle of the ship on Deck 6,
also had a very nice, but limited, menu, for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and
was our favorite stop for a little dessert and coffee later in the
evening, usually a yummy brownie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
THE ENTERTAINMENT
This was another big positive. The main shows onboard were Blue Man Group,
Second City and Legends in Concert. Hedy and I had never seen Blue Man
Group and were a bit hesitant about going to the show because we had heard
mixed reviews. Well, all I can say is that we loved it. We both thought it was
clever, funny, creative and extremely well done. The audience participation
parts were particularly entertaining. I must admit, though, that we both
wore earplugs which filtered out about 40 percent of the noise so the
percussion parts didn't bother us at all.
The Second City troupe onboard also was excellent. We saw three of their
shows and one was better than the other. We first saw them do a Murder
Mystery Lunch in the Spiegel Tent ($20 per person, by the way) and loved it. The
food was very good, too. Then, we attended one of their evening improv
shows and laughed our heads off. Then, the last night (Friday) we saw an adult
show they did at 11 p.m. and it was extremely well done. The one show that
was a little disappointing was Legends. The three performers impersonated
Janet Jackson, Neil Diamond and Aretha Franklin. Janet Jackson was good,
not great; Neil Diamond had a good voice but tried a bit TOO HARD to sound
like the real Neil Diamond; and Aretha Franklin had a very powerful voice but
wound up screaming a lot of her lyrics. The other show we saw -- Cirque
Dreams and Dinner -- another $20 per person charge, also turned out to be a
bit of a downer because we got seats under and in the back of the Spiegel
Tent so all we saw most of the time was the dangling feet of the aerialists
doing the stunts. Dinner was just OK but it all ended well when we
complained the next day and were refunded half of our $40 charge because we didn't
really SEE the show.
THE CASINO
This was another strange configuration in that the casino was not in one
contained area. It stretched all the way from one side of Deck 6 to the
other, along a main walkway. It also surrounded an open area, so smoke from the
casino could waft down into the Taste dining area below on Deck 5 or up to
the Asian restaurants and lounges on Deck 7. There were many slot machines,
craps and blackjack tables spread over the area and a number of
multi-game, multi-denom video poker machines. The best pay table we saw was 9/6/4
double bonus and Hedy and I played some each day either on single-line or
triple-play. We both hit royals ... Hedy on quarters for 1K and me on dimes for
$400 ... but wound up losing for the trip. Our play earned a whopping $32
off our bill at the end of the cruise. Being Harrah's guests we also got
free drinks in the casino and at the casino bar so that was a nice perk for
us and our friends who were traveling with us.
It was also nice to meet another couple from VPFree, Dave and Jeannie, and
hook up again with our buddies, Bob Dancer and Shirley. On the final night
of the cruise, in fact, Hedy, me and our traveling companions enjoyed a
wonderful dinner in the Manhattan Room with Bob, Shirley and their two
guests. We also were treated to an elegant display of tripping the light
fantastic by Bob and Shirley. Hedy and I got up for one slow dance as well and the
two new hips worked just fine!
OVERALL
Despite the flaws in the ship we had a very nice time and were genuinely
impressed by the friendliness and efficiency of the members of the crew. We
attended trivia almost every day and the cruise staff people who conducted
the sessions couldn't be nicer. The ports were good ... Costa Maya, Cozumel
and Roatan .. and the ship was clean and well kept. Would we go back on
her in the future? Probably not, knowing what we know about the Oasis and the
Allure, but the price was right and getting out of the snow, ice and cold
in the Northeast for seven days was just what the doctor ordered.
Regards,
CoachVee & Hedy
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