A Norwegian Epic Adventure Part II: The Boat

The top deck

A cruise boat really is something of an engineering marvel. It's essentially a floating city, fully equipped with everything you need to survive at sea from food to entertainment to medical attention. Its staff is part of an elaborate show, their two purposes are to ensure your safety and that you're having fun. The truth is, when you're taking a cruise in Europe, you don't really get to spend that much time on the boat. That being said, I'll try to highlight a few of my favorite things aboard the Norwegian Epic.

Features

Me on the climbing wall!

This boat comes equipped with all the usual things you would expect to find on a cruise boat and then some. There are staterooms. Stairs. Elevators. Bars. Dining rooms. Shuffleboard. Indoor theaters. An outdoor movie theater. Multiple pools. Hot tubs. Water slides. A rock climbing wall. Ping pong tables. Pool tables. Air hockey tables. Sports activity area. Bridge viewing room. Cigar lounge. Game lounge. Arcade. Casino. Shopping center. Bowling alley. Yeah. It's pretty crazy. The downside to having all this stuff: about half of it costs additional money. Guess cruises aren't as all inclusive as you would expect.

Dining

An adorable slider

There were many food venues on board but not all of them were free. The specialty restaurants often had a flat fee and all additional beverages at bars (alcoholic or not) cost additional money. However, the all you can eat buffet is included in the package along with 3 restaurants. One was more of a pub style and the other two had the full 3-course dining experience. Overall, the food on board was pretty good. The buffet always had special themed meals and was a good option for breakfast, lunch or a late night snack. Dinners in the restaurants were sometimes a little over-salted, but I had a few very delicious desserts there. My favorite entree by far was a chateaubriand steak. Best desserts included a warm chocolate volcano (chocolate volcano cake with raspberry sauce and ice cream) and an apricot rice pudding. The cream soups were also excellent. So good in fact that I had soup three times: asparagus, vegetable, and mushroom. Unfortunately, my favorite food items were so delicious that I didn't even have time to take pictures of them before they were in my stomach.

Entertainment
There are many ways to be entertained aboard the Epic, but I'm going to write about my favorite three experiences.

1) Blue Man Group: One of the complimentary shows aboard our ship was the Blue Man Group. And I just want to say they were hilarious. Weird. Confusing. And I'm still really not sure what I watched, but they were the definition of entertainment.

The Blue Man Group stage

2) Deal or No Deal: One of the many ways to gamble on the high seas, the Deal or No Deal show was really fun to watch. Audience participation of course is a must, and I saw one guy win over $500! Of course it cost about $20 to play and for most people it didn't pay off, but it was still exciting to be a part of.

A Mediterranean sunset

3) Outdoor Movie Nights: I watched Thor 2 and Saving Mr. Banks on the top deck as the sun set behind the screen. It was probably the best way to experience an outdoor movie. Plus they also showed World Cup games when those started. There's really just something about outdoor theaters that I love. Combine that with being on a boat on the open seas and it's a match made in heaven. 

Shopping
This may surprise you, but I actually didn't do much shopping on board. For those of you who love deals, cruise shopping is actually probably quite good. There were sales nearly every night and a large selection of jewelry and random souvenirs. I guess it just wasn't quite my cup of tea.

Service

Towel puppy

We also had the best stewardess ever. Her name was Maria and she made these adorable towel animals. A different one for every night. She remembered everyone's name and was just the sweetest person.

Overall, the Epic is...well...epic. It's a great boat with everything you could ever ask for. If you really wanted, you could have spent the whole trip on the ship and never even stepped on shore. But then again, I've always had an affinity for boats. My favorite thing was to watch the sunset from the top deck, feel the wind and smell the ocean, watching the shore shrink away into the distance as a flock of seagulls trailed behind the boat. It really was as picturesque as it sounds.

The End!