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The rooms were so spacious in The Haven!!! I can't get over how large the bathroom areas were and the balcony views weren't too bad either. We're not big cruisers but we are talking about taking a cruise to Alaska in the new few years. Would you recommend a specific cruise line for that type of trip?
The rooms were so spacious in The Haven!!! I can't get over how large the bathroom areas were and the balcony views weren't too bad either. We're not big cruisers but we are talking about taking a cruise to Alaska in the new few years. Would you recommend a specific cruise line for that type of trip?
Alaska is so beautiful! I think you could be on a dingy and love it. DCL is great but the price is so high. We did it on NCL and we loved it. We did the Jewel, but if we did NCL Alaska again we would do the Pearl for her itinerary. (Glacier Bay). Or we would do Princess. Princess is supposed to be one of the best lines to cruise Alaska on.
Compare pricing and perks.
Quote:
Originally Posted by pamcarey
It's great to see a NCL ship in detail, as I'm thinking about cruising on NCL next year!
I have sailed on 3 and I have enjoyed all of them.
Ok, we were starting for fade away from hunger, so we went in search of the buffet. We kept getting ourselves backwards and couldn’t remember which way the ship was facing. LOL.
Lenora mentioned she would go get us drinks….um remember….we aren’t sailing…we can’t get “free” drinks….Oh yeah. But they should have some basics like lemonade and tea and she found something and brought us each a glass.
We enjoyed lunch and went up for 2nds and it really hit the spot. There is something about vacation where you get a “vacation stomach” and you just need to eat every 2-3 hours. Even on work trips!
We finished up and got ready to leave so we could see just a bit more before we had to get off the ship when we hear “Lenora!!!!!” It was the people she had sat by on the plane. Holy cow! What a small world. They seemed really nice and she chatted with them a few minutes and then we headed off.
Being on the ship really made me feel sad I was not sailing this trip. I just love cruising….but I guess if I couldn’t sail…at least touring a ship would be 2nd best.
We then made our way down to tour some more rooms. Sadly most of our keys no longer would work in the doors as I assumed it was close to the time guests could go to their rooms. So we did the next best thing….if a room door was open, we just stepped in and took pictures.
Now I knew the Epic had some weird set ups in their rooms. Some people don’t mind it while others complain about it quite a bit. I for one am not a fan at all.
Yep…..I am sure you can see it….The DOOR is right next to it….it is not in its own room. So the people in your room can see your shadow showering as well….and if you have a visitor while you are showering….well you better warn you family members not to open the door.
And the sink and toilet are across from that….again, the toilet door is NOT solid…it’s that foggy glass…..Um…I like complete privacy when I do my business.
Soooooo….. I can see the toilet in this next picture….so you know will be able to sort of see a person in there too. I think I would have to kick everyone out of the room when I used the toilet. LOL.
And the next room….as you can see with the wavy floor plan the couch which turns into a bed is on a curve. I have heard from some this is not comfortable for adults, but kids seem to be ok with it.
I totally laughed at seeing this plate out in the hall. There was a big issue with room service trays and plates being left in the hall and not getting picked up and NCL tried to change some policies, including charging now for room service.
Yeah…Disney clubs usually win hands down….that being said, the best time Claire ever had in a club was on NCL….so that just shows that you can have a lot of fun without “stuff”.
The Epic also has a unique feature…it has rooms for singles at a cheaper cost. They have their own little area and even a little club like place where they can hang out and meet each other. I really wanted to check that area out so we headed that way.
Now these rooms are very small, but for a single person they are perfect. I have actually heard of couples getting 2 of these rooms at a cheaper cost than a regular room….so always price both options out if this area interest you.
We went in a couple of the rooms and they were all pretty similar with some having different glowing lights. I am not sure if they always glow like that or if it is a setting for embarkation day.
And time was ticking and we figured it was time we should head off the ship. I am sure we could have stretched it a bit longer but we didn’t want to take a chance and really to look around more would take up more time than we had.
We made our way off the ship and we of course were like salmon swimming upstream to get off. We stopped and asked where we needed to get our passports from and a lady went into the locked room to get them. It had one of those mirror windows so I peeked in and I saw her going through a pile if driver’s license…all probably from the bus tour…and only about 4 passports sitting off to the side. I tried tapping on the window and kept saying “passports!” Finally she saw me and realized what I meant and brought those out to us and we then exited. There were still a ton of people coming and boarding. Quite a few for this time of day for sure.
So my thoughts on the Epic…..It is a nice ship and I love sailing out of PC, so that’s a plus right now for it. I liked the food and the ship looks to have a lot of activities and I wish we could have done more exploring, but we were very limited on time. But would I sail on her….yes and no. If I was in a Haven room I would have no issues at all sailing her….but the regular….um that is really iffy. The whole bathroom set up is just not for me. I really like privacy and the see through door for me is a game changer. If it was just Claire and I….maybe? If Skip was with us…no way in heck!
If I were to sail alone I would not mind those single rooms at all. Those were nice and compact and perfect for one person.
I know these issues may not be for everyone but for me it would make me really think hard before sailing on the ship, which is a shame. Hopefully some day they change the bathroom set up…and maybe put a wall that isn’t just foggy glass and then I would feel more comfortable sailing on her.
We walked out of the terminal and headed back to our van. We noticed a girl sitting against the wall with her luggage…I guess someone forgot to pick her up after the cruise? EEEK!
We walked around the building and had to take one last picture of the Fantasy.
Yep…I love to sail on other ships, but Disney is still my passion and I think their ships are just the prettiest!
We headed out then and made our way to the closest gas station to get gas. I figured we would fill up before we left for the airport to return the car and then take our chances as to how much we had used. I know from past experiences that the stations near the airport can charge a whole heck of a lot and I didn’t want to get stuck there.
I think we picked up some drinks too and I paid with my debit….and that is the last I ever saw of that card…but I didn’t realize it till days later. My guess is I set it down and it fell in a crack and I never noticed it.
On the drive back we both got texts from Universal welcoming us and letting us know where to pick up the shuttle. Universal charges for their shuttle to their hotels, but with our event it was included and we wanted to try it out. We had put in flight info that would have us arrive about the time we had planned to be done with the ship tour….which ironically was my original flight. Lenora went and looked at which flight she could put in and low and behold, the fake flight she used actually connected in Columbus and would put her on the same flight as me.
We arrived at the airport and returned the van and it was still showing a full tank of gas!!! Yay! Of course I always feel rushed when I return a car, with me trying to be sure I have everything and they are inspecting it all as well. Well, as I now know, I must have left my debit card in there.
We made our way over to the terminal area and we were going to take turns checking in at the Universal shuttle desk and the other was going to watch the luggage….so we didn’t have to drag it all over….but I was kind of tired and I told Lenora if they let her check me in too, then by all means do it.
It seemed like she was gone a while and I tried texting her and got no reply and then I got worried she got lost and when I was just about to give up hope and try to drag all the bags to find her…I got a text with my shuttle info. Ok, she must have been able to check me in then. Yay! Soon she came out and told me where to go and we went and waited for the shuttle.
When you take the shuttle and arrive between certain hours, they give you this folder which will have your different package elements in it…tickets, dining vouchers, etc.
He messed up every single name he said….and no one was replying. He said my name….and I am not sure how you can butcher Jennifer, but her did. He was even worse with Lenora’s name. I think one other lady’s name was Deborah and that was totally butchered and he said one other name and no one answered and we had no clue what it was.
He had no personality either. I think he may have been new? Just my guess, but he was not very good at his job.
We loaded up and then he said we had to wait for one more person coming….ok….then someone walks up to his window to ask if they can get a ride for their family. The driver talks them to a bit and I think he directs them where to go….and we take off. So much for waiting for someone else.
Off we go!
As we got closer we saw Volcano Bay still being built…and wondered how it would be done before the May opening….and just an FYI…it was technically not. They made it seem like it was but many things were not finished and as I write this it is still opening week and stuff is broken down constantly and the crowds are insane. I am sure they are still working out things and it will get better.
So we pull into Hard Rock first…Lenora and I give each other questioning looks as we know the other lady is not going there either. Lenora asks the driver why we are stopping here when no one is getting off and he says yes, one passenger is staying here…..um no, none of us are and we name the resorts that we are staying at…and he says yes, but the 4th passenger, Lisa, (I think that was the name but he butchered it) was staying here. Lenora tells him there are only 3 of us in the van…he looks around totally shocked. OMG!!!
Lenora thinks the other lady that had been standing at the bus stop…even before we got there was the lady that was missing. She couldn’t understand the guy naming the names and I think she was a bit timid and just never spoke up.
9 of us would be coming to Universal today, and 8 of us were staying at Cabana Bay. Michelle, our boss, was staying at Sapphire Falls. We had 3 rooms total at Cabana Bay, with 2 being suites, so 3 of us stayed in each of those rooms and then 1 standard, where Stephanie and Lisa were staying together for the night.
Lenora and I were staying with Patty tonight. Patty had just gotten off the Carnival Vista that morning in Miami and her family dropped her off in Orlando as they drove back home.
We had requested to be near the 3 others who were in a suite, Carol, Pam and Wendy, and Patty had texted us to let us know we were actually in a connecting room …. Yay! Patty said for us to just head to the desk and they would have our keys waiting for us. So we did just that.
With our keys in hand, we headed to our room, which was on the 3rd floor.
We made our way to the 3rd floor and made our way to the room…which was further down that I expected and on our way we met up with the other girls who were coming back from the pool. We all were chatting a mile a minute and this was the first time Lenora was meeting them all.
We got settled in and I had volunteered to take the sofa bed, as I had stayed here just a few months ago and had a regular bed. Claire had had the sofa bed and complained it was not comfy and I of course wanted to prove her wrong as well.
In all our excitement I didn’t take a single picture of the room…I don’t think I actually ever did….so I am going to post pictures of the room I stayed in last Oct., which is identical in looks to this one.
So there you go…now I don’t feel so bad for not taking pictures this time around.
One of the girls had a cute Cabana Bay cup and I decided I needed one so I headed downstairs and took some pictures and then headed to the pool bar to get a drink. Some of the gals were going to shower and get cleaned up for the evening.
I asked what was going on and they told me they are building a quick service location at this pool. Currently there is one at the other pool and inside the resort, but I guess people complained about there not being one over here too. Good idea!
I couldn’t find a drink that was really calling to me so I ordered something and asked for it in the cute cup.
The drink was just ok. I can’t remember the name, but it had an orange flavor, but just not a strong enough orange flavor for me to really like it.
I headed back to the room where we started discussing dinner plans. Now we always have a hard time deciding where to eat as a group. We are a lot of chiefs with no Indians. We also didn’t have a reservation anywhere…but at Universal that isn’t always a bad thing as they take a lot of walk ups.
No one could decide where to go and we just kind of kept chatting. I think Patty started looking online and then I decided to call. They told me what had little to no waits so we decided to head over to City Walk, with Margaritaville being the top choice. Yes..I had just been there a few nights ago, but I really like it so I didn’t mind at all.
Michelle wanted to join us, so we said we would head over to Sapphire Falls across the street and then go from there with her. Stephanie had been at the Magic Kingdom today with friends in town, but she messaged that she would try to meet up with us over there as well.
So we all trudged out and walked down the driveway of Cabana Bay and we thought the sign looked so neat lit up and we took several pictures.
I saw an RV parked…which was kind of weird as I had just read a few weeks ago that they did not allow RV parking directly at the hotels…I guess that person was wrong.
We were surprised to see that there wasn’t a crosswalk here and actually there were signs saying not to cross….but lots of people were doing it and so did we. Of course, it was later tomorrow that we found out that if we had followed the sidewalk to our left there was a bridge across the street that would have been much safer. The thing is….it was quite a ways down and then you would have to walk back to Sapphire from there. It wasn’t the easiest route to take and the signage was very poor.
We checked out the menu and it had something we would all eat…but we hymn-hawed around. No one wanted to be the one to make the deciding factor. I finally put it out there….If you really want to eat here then say yes now, or we move on….no one said yes…so we headed to the boat launch.
You do have to go through security to get on the boat as it drops you off in City Walk….and anyone in City Walk has gone through security at some point already.
I believe we had about a 20 minute wait or so and we just kind of hung out and some of us looked through the store as well. Lots of cute stuff in there!!!
We then got called in and seated. There was a girl walking around on stilts.
Our waitress came over and I did a double take….Were you working at the bar on Thursday evening…..Yes I was….and you ordered the Club….Yes I did! What a small world.
I thought it was good. Pam also got it and she said she didn’t care for hers. She said hers had a weird taste…so I am not sure if there was something different on hers than mine, but mine was fine. I still probably wouldn’t order it again…only because I really like the Club there and the Nachos as well…so those probably would win over this.
Stephanie arrived at some point and we pulled in another chair and she made a quick order and we all had a good time talking and eating.
We were getting tired so we paid our bills and then headed back towards Cabana Bay. Actually a couple of gals wanted to go buy something and they were going to meet us, but we were so slow they ended up beating us there.
Since we had come from Sapphire Falls via boat, I had to remember how to get back to Cabana Bay, which is by bus. I did remember and we made our way, but the signage is poor once again and if you weren’t somewhat familiar it would be easy to miss. Luckily between me and some of the other girls who had been over to City Walk earlier today, we found our way to the bus.
We headed back and everyone was so tired and were heading back to the rooms. I made a stop outside before heading in to call home and talked to Skip for a bit. Once the call was over I headed into the lobby to find all the girls talking and Lisa had finally arrived as well. So then we talked there for a bit….then we decided to go back to our rooms…wait lets get a drink…oh there is the Starbucks…so snacks and/or drinks were purchased by some….and more talking.
Finally we couldn’t last any longer and all headed to our rooms to get ready for bed. I pulled out the couch and turned on the TV to watch for a bit. Patty said she was going to read on her phone and to let her know if the light bothered us….but I said I was going to have the TV on a bit…so no.
Well, Claire wasn’t lying….that couch bed is not the most comfy thing. I tend to have a bad back anyways and am pretty picky with beds….but this was too hard and too thin. I could handle it for one night, but for me I couldn’t do a few nights on that bed.
Good thing I was super tired! I didn’t watch TV for very long and then I turned it off and went for some much needed sleep!
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What a fun evening out with the girls!
But that bus driver ... my goodness- it's one thing to have such poor ability to read names, but to miss someone entirely ?! Sheesh! His counterpart was the hostess at Tony's Town Square in November. The only good thing about it is that it brought guests together because we all had to help each other try to decipher what name she was calling.
I love the decor and colors in Cabana Bay.
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Don't let your heart be filled with sorrow, for all you know, tomorrow, the dream that you wish will come true.
Quite the tour of the ship with great photo coverage! Love the first room with the nice wet bar. You may not leave the ship with that in your room, which could become dangerous! Nice arrival in Universal and a nice room. Good tour of Saffire Resort and a good time on Citywalk!
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
What a fun evening out with the girls!
But that bus driver ... my goodness- it's one thing to have such poor ability to read names, but to miss someone entirely ?! Sheesh! His counterpart was the hostess at Tony's Town Square in November. The only good thing about it is that it brought guests together because we all had to help each other try to decipher what name she was calling.
I love the decor and colors in Cabana Bay.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I really love our group. We all tend to get a long pretty good.
That driver was just awful. It was comical but I feel bad for whoever he left behind. But honestly you have to bold and speak up. It was so hard to tell the names he read but I went right up and asked Jennifer? and then looked at the list. LOL.
I really love Cabana Bay. It's such a fun place.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SuperDave
Quite the tour of the ship with great photo coverage! Love the first room with the nice wet bar. You may not leave the ship with that in your room, which could become dangerous! Nice arrival in Universal and a nice room. Good tour of Saffire Resort and a good time on Citywalk!
LOL. Yes those are some nice rooms. We had a mini version of that bar in our room on the Jewel but we had a drink package too so we really never got into any of it for the most part.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
Lots of fun now that all the girls are together.
It was. Once we all arrived the fun really began. Brook arrived the next morning but we were keeping tabs on her as she was flying from Hawaii.
I was talking to another lady out and about and she said she was doing laundry…I asked her where it was and she said most buildings have them and you walk right by without realizing it as they look like rooms. I found one then easily and went and got my things to be washed.
I headed back to the room while it was going….this was the view we had out our door. We just booked a standard view, which put us on the back side of the building.
I didn’t take a picture and I don’t remember what I got, but it was good and hit the spot.
After breakfast I finished up my laundry and I believe I had thrown it in the dryer before I had gone to breakfast. I then packed back up because we were moving to Sapphire Falls today. Since Cabana Bay is a Value type resort, they do not do luggage transfers, which is kind of a pain because there are a lot of people who like to stay here 1 night before starting their vacation package. Pam had talked to someone last night and they said they would make an exception. We tried calling this morning to have it done and they were giving us a run around….telling us to just roll it over across the street ourselves. At this point we didn’t know there was a bridge crosswalk and we thought they were crazy. Finally we got someone who knew we had been told they would do this and so some of us who were ready went up and took our luggage to the lobby to be transferred over.
Patty, Lenora, and I then went over to Sapphire Falls to get checked in.
We got checked in and our rooms weren’t ready so we were just going to hang out till the rest arrived so that we could all go together to get checked in for the conference.
I thought I would take a walk outside when I heard my name….it was Brook! Brook had taken a redeye overnight flight from Hawaii! Yep, she had been on vacation with her family and they were flying home yesterday, but when the event was scheduled she decided to just fly to Florida instead. She had been here since the crack of dawn and sadly her room wasn’t ready. Now we had seen she had come in early via messages and a couple of us had told her she could come to our rooms and take a nap or shower but she decided to just wait….and she kept waiting and the room was not ready.
We said our hellos and it was so nice to see her again. If you have read some of my other reports in the past, you know we have done other events and even a girls cruise together once. I got to meet up with her when we visited NYC over Thanksgiving a few years ago and her husband got us into the Amazon building to watch the parade.
I sat down next to Brook and Lenora and Patty were wondering around. It was becoming clear that Brook’s room would not be ready anytime soon so she decided to head to the gym and get a quick shower to just freshen up. She asked me to not to leave till she got back….no problem.
In the meantime I totally lost Lenora. I had no clue where she went, but the rest of the gals all started to wonder in and sat down with us. We chatted and it wasn’t long before Lenora came back…..all checked in. LOL. She said she decided to try and figure out how to get to registration, which is over at Royal Pacific, but Sapphire and Royal are connected by halls and convention centers, so she somehow found her way. We were given a map, but it was pretty worthless.
Brook returned all fresh and she checked her bag at luggage services and then we all headed to the convention center, with Lenora leading the way.
We passed a lot of rooms and some had conventions going on, or preparations for some. Many had tables out with different things, some snacks, some papers, etc. One had a table full of chocolate and we were all wishing it was ours. It had Reeses cups on it! MMMM.
And found our registration table. It was so funny as someone mentioned this was where we’re to be and those other tables are for other companies….and the snacks and stuff are not for all…..and we turn around to look and there is Pam….with a real guilty look on her face….munching on a Reeses cup. Hahahaha!
Pam is just hysterical all the time and so much fun and it just was perfect and we all cracked up.
We got signed in and our credentials and a back pack and were told to be back at a certain time for our welcome meeting. Sounds good!
We had one stop we wanted to make before heading to Toothsomes….a group picture…and we asked a guy who was there if he would take a picture. He took several, but only one came out where the globe was almost showing the whole Universal name.
We got in line for the take out counter and luckily it wasn’t too long…and we made our orders. I think I was first. LOL. But I knew what I wanted and others were looking things over. I got the peanut butter shake. Claire had gotten it last fall and it was so good and I vowed the next time I would get it.
I found some tables and set up for all of us to sit.
One by one everyone made their orders, most ordering shakes but a few ordered other ice-cream delights. It was odd as most of them got theirs pretty fast and mine was one of the last ones made.
This is the ice-cream dish called “must contain nuts” and it is fabulous. Lots of peanut butter things in it. Claire and I also had this in the fall but we could barely make a dent in it. Ours had actually come out sort of melting, like they made it and let it sit a bit before they brought it to us…..it was still good, but this one looked much better. I forget who ordered it, but she loved it.
Someone ordered the peanut butter shake without nuts and they got peanut butter cup pieces all the side instead of nuts…I am going to do that next time. I do like nuts but I would prefer more of the cups.
This lady walked by and I asked if we could get a picture…Carol and Pam joined in.
After I finished up, I went to the bathroom to clean the cup out so I could put it in my bag. I didn’t realize this, but you can ask them to clean the cup for you and they will do so….now I know for next time.
I took a look in the gift shop while others finished up and chatted.
After everyone was finished we headed back to Royal Pacific for the welcome meeting. As we passed the Hard Rock Café I saw the sign said Rick Springfield was performing tonight! Oh man! I used to love him in my younger days. He often comes to Toledo for small concerts, but I have never gone, but my sister in law has. I wish I had known he was coming…maybe I would have looked into how much it was and if it would have worked with our schedule.
There were several companies attending this event and we knew some people from some of the other ones, so we said hi and then it was time to settle down and get down to business. It was pretty basic and short. They then told us we would not have an official tour of Sapphire Falls since we are staying there, but anyone who wanted to take a mini tour could do so now and they would take those who wanted to. We decided not to. We were to meet up later in Universal Studios for our dinner party before it was parade time. Fun!
We then got text that our rooms were ready for the majority of us, so we made a stop there and then several of us had plans to do a little park time before our next meet up time.
Lenora and I headed to our room to see what it was like. I had seen pictures when it first opened and I wasn’t too sure….but I was pleasantly surprised.
It needed more light there and the colors around it bothered me. LOL. I think it was an OCD thing, but I didn’t like the different colors and the pattern.
We met up with Michelle, Brook, and Wendy and took the boat over to the parks. Lenora, I believe, was going to do some exploring on her own as this was her first time ever at Universal. The other 3 had wanted to go see the make-up show and I decided I would too. It was something that none of us have ever seen, but is a hidden gem and many people say it’s really great.
Another nice beginning to your day. Your room looks quite nice at Saffire Falls with a great view! Those shakes are quite something with so much more to compliment them! Looks like you are having a good time in Universal.
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
Another nice beginning to your day. Your room looks quite nice at Saffire Falls with a great view! Those shakes are quite something with so much more to compliment them! Looks like you are having a good time in Universal.
We did have a great view.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
Nice photos of the resort and the parade! Your shake and the other treats all looked so delicious!
It was so good.
Quote:
Originally Posted by pamcarey
Your room at Sapphire Falls looks really nice! The lamp really does look like Charlie Brown... lol!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
Every time I saw the lamp I kept thinking...why is this Caribbean themed? It's Charlie Brown.
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Pixie Dust
We're not big cruisers but we are talking about taking a cruise to Alaska in the new few years. Would you recommend a specific cruise line for that type of trip?
Love the first room with the nice wet bar. You may not leave the ship with that in your room, which could become dangerous! 
Nice arrival in Universal and a nice room. Good tour of Saffire Resort and a good time on Citywalk! 
Looks like you are having a good time in Universal.
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