We were on Deck 16, cabin 16000, which is a 2-bedroom Family Suite. We specifically chose this suite because it was supposed to connect to the Deluxe Owner’s Suite, # 16002. It doesn’t. Or, better said, it COULD, but only if you ALSO are the owners of Suite # 16004 on the port side. Buyer beware on this one, as we were definitely sold a “connecting” cabin but were unable to use it. I think it would really behoove NCL to make this clear on their deck plans, and honestly, to make more connecting cabins in general. We liked the décor of the suite. Some have described Epic’s overall decorating scheme as gaudy in places, but it didn’t bother me at all. I liked the pink accents on the bedding pillows and the pink glow on the light over the bed. The 2 BR family suites have a living room with a sofa, cube table, and chair, a small dining table with 4 chairs, a bar with refrigerator and coffee maker (no sink), a “master” bedroom with vanity and stool, a large master bath with big tub, huge shower with a “view”, and then a smaller bedroom with its own vanity, bed that is supposed to sleep two (we only had 1 so I can’t say how small the room will be if they fold that bed out at all), and a small bathroom in that bedroom (toilet/sink/shower). There are TV’s in both bedrooms and the living room. Almost forgot the balcony! The balcony was an OK size (I got spoiled by my aft-facing balcony last year so the size will never seem adequate after that!), but being in a front-facing room, while I loved the view, really spoiled the balcony experience for me. There is no “leaning on the railings” here. There are full windows around the balcony and, while we were fortunate to have two small sliding windows to open and let some of the breeze in, the reality is it does not feel like a real balcony. So keep that in mind if you enjoy a lot of time on your own balcony. This cabin also has PLENTY of storage, with a large closet in the master, a smaller corner cupboard, lots of drawers in the bathroom, and then all the closet space in the second bedroom.

We did the NCL excursion that went to Bobsled Jamaica and then Dunn’s River Falls. It was a great excursion and I would definitely recommend it. The most unexpected and pleasant part of the excursion was the chair-lift (Sky Explorer?) ride to the top of the mountain for the bobsled experience. It was about a 20 minute ride, so peaceful, amazing views – I loved it! (My sister-in-law, who is terrified of heights yet somehow wound up on this excursion with us, did not. So if you have a paralyzing fear of heights, probably best to skip it.) The bobsled ride had a bit of a line so we had to wait maybe 20-30 minutes before getting a “sled”. There was a beautiful infinity pool right next to where you load into the bobsleds, and it had a water slide as well, but no one ever suggested we could use the pool or the slide (although the NCL literature does speak about these features as though they are included). In any case the bobsled ride was much more fun than I expected – I thought I would be pushing the handbrake (you can control your own speed) the entire ride, but it turned out it was fun to let it go a little bit. It was like a make-your-own roller coaster. At the bottom the track pulls you onto a cable and then all the way back up the mountain again (picture the long uphill climb on a roller coaster). At the top of the mountain, you leave your sled and there is (of course) a gift shop and some artisans there, as well as some barbecue. You board the chairlift again to descend the mountain, and while it’s much less scenic than the climb (it’s a lot lower and sort of shaded by trees), it’s a lot cooler because of the shade! Next we were sent to buses that took us up the street (less than a few minutes) to Dunn’s River Falls. We were assigned a woman who took us into the site, got our wristbands, gave some instructions about lockers and such, and then turned us over to the line where we waited to be put together with our guide. The guide is the one who leads a large group of people (15-20, I’d say) up the falls. Typically they want everyone to hold hands. Side note, the sign by the lockers says NO personal effects, including cameras, on the falls, but when we got down to the bottom, everyone had their waterproof cameras with them, so I guess that should be noted as a SUGGESTION (I was very disappointed to have followed the “rules” only to find I could have brought it along). The lockers cost $8, $3 of which they give back when you return the key. I don’t recommend carrying anything else as it’s a fairly strenuous activity! Oh, and BRING WATER SHOES or you will have to buy them there. You can’t climb without them. I wasn’t sure I’d make it all the way up – I’m not in anything resembling good physical shape. The guide was very helpful and after the initial part of the climb, which was somewhat grueling, I inquired about departing and walking up the stairs that go alongside the falls. He assured me that the hardest part was over and that he would get me up! And he did. It took about an hour to climb the falls. All told this excursion is listed at like 3.5 hours but I think it took a bit longer, and could take longer still if you did much in the way of shopping in the markets. (Yes, the vendors at the artisans market after the falls are “pushy”, in the sense that they want you to buy stuff, but most were perfectly fine with a “no thank you” as you kept walking by. The sad thing is they all sell the same stuff.)

We did the NCL excursion on the Fury Catamaran – Snorkeling and Beach break. We still had windy weather, which made the air temperature somewhat coolish, but it turned out the water was very nice and the wind didn’t really make the snorkeling much more difficult. The main way we were affected was by the wind once we were wet – chilly! We snorkeled only about 20 minutes, I think – this is the downside of this excursion if you are choosing it for snorkeling. If you want a longer snorkeling experience, choose something else. This is great if you just want a taste of snorkeling and then some fun on the beach. Their private beach has lots of water slides, kayaks, paddle boards, etc., as well as a bar and grill. For us, with a young daughter, the amount of snorkeling was fine, but I just want people to be aware of the actual time spent doing it. I also want to note that you should BEWARE in the shops right at the port in Cozumel. There were many friendly vendors and not overly aggressive or anything; however, there were some shady ones as well. In particular the first store on the right when you cross the bridge to the mall had a wall full of shell-cross ornaments ... I watched someone BARELY touch an ornament on one end of the wall, only to have one on the OTHER END fall down and break ... they were clearly very loosely hooked on, very precarious, and one of the shop workers, who had been hovering and watching, promptly showed up with a shopping basket, picked up the broken ornament and placed it inside, and demanded that the browser pay for the item. I wanted nothing to do with that kind of store after that!! Bad business.

The 2 BR family suites have a living room with a sofa, cube table, and chair, a small dining table with 4 chairs, a bar with refrigerator and coffee maker (no sink), a “master” bedroom with vanity and stool, a large master bath with big tub, huge shower with a “view”, and then a smaller bedroom with its own vanity, bed that is supposed to sleep two (we only had 1 so I can’t say how small the room will be if they fold that bed out at all), and a small bathroom in that bedroom (toilet/sink/shower).The Epic Bounce, which my daughter was excited to do, was closed the last 3 days due to high winds so unfortunately we didn’t get to do it (lesson: do all outdoor activities any time you have nice weather!

Norwegian Epic Review

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Courtyard Villa with Balcony

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