Epic, the epic, Part 3
The next morning after breakfast we resumed our tour of the Norwegian Epic. A thorough tour of the ship and all its facilities would take about a week; we had 36 hours.
The Epic has all the facilities and conveniences known to woman and man, including a barbershop/beauty salon. The portraits hanging on the wall are of people whose hairstyles have not walked the earth since the 1970s, so I’m hoping they are there for atmosphere and not as samples of the staff’s aesthetic handiwork.
According to the website the Mandara Spa aboard the Epic is the biggest spa at sea. I believe it. It is certainly bigger than any spa I’ve seen on land.
The Spa Staterooms have private access to the Mandara Spa so you could spend the entire cruise getting massages, facials, the whole range of treatments. You might not want to get off the ship at all.
We tend to think as cruises as something seniors do after they’ve retired, but in recent years more and more families and people in their 20s to 40s have taken to cruising as a convenient and comparatively stress-free vacation option. The Epic has a partnership with Nickoledeon so there are all sorts of activities and entertainments to keep your spawn brats offspring occupied while you de-stress. Think about it: you only pack once, you get to visit a lot more places without having to book connecting flights, you don’t have to plan for meals because there are two dozen restaurants of various culinary persuasions on board, and everything’s included in your fare.
You like going to the spa? You can live in the spa. And if you’re too lazy to traverse those few meters between your Spa Stateroom and the Mandara Spa, look what’s in the corner of your suite.
Your own jacuzzi.
The Norwegian Epic offers “freestyle cruising”, meaning you can choose from a boggling assortment of restaurants and cuisines—Asian fusion, French gourmet, classic Italian, Tex-Mex, American steaks, Brazilian churrasco, and more—and you can dress up or dress down as you wish. Of course if you like those old Hollywood movies (An Affair To Remember? Now Voyager? Titanic?) you will want to dress for dinner.
We had lunch at Teppanyaki, the excellent Japanese grill, then dessert at La Cucina.
If you have breakfast, lunch and dinner at a different restaurant every day, it will take you a week to try all of the Norwegian Epic’s dining outlets. Boredom is forbidden on this cruise.
The Lounge
Answers to questions you might be asking, unless you wandered onto this site purely by accident >>>
August 2nd, 2010 at 14:51
Did you get to see the Courtyard set up? Apparently, if you book a suite, and with the exception of dinning, you don’t have to mix with the poor people!
August 2nd, 2010 at 16:49
Very nice! You’re right, cruising is not just for seniors/retirees anymore, but could be dangerous for single women, cruising alone.
I love that “An Affair To Remember” dressing for dining, and dancing after.
August 2nd, 2010 at 17:20
Going on a cruise alone is perfectly safe. Much depends on the traveler’s demeanor and street smarts. For instance one does not go to Rome solo and then run into a police station screaming, “Carabinieri! My ass has been/has not been groped!”