Happy Birthday to Me & Then Farewell

TRAVEL THERE: CELEBRATING MY BIRTHDAY ON THE LAST NIGHT OF THE CRUISE

Our last night at sea was my birthday and we hoped we’d saved the best for last, but after a week of over-eating, I don’t think I did the churrascaria much justice. I love the concept, because I’m unashamed of my status as a carnivore, but it’s hard for me to eat enough meat to justify the cost of the meal in restaurants like Fogo de Chao.

The Epic’s Moderno

We knew Moderno was located above The Manhattan Room.  There are windows in the Manhattan Room that let you see into the space, but Moderno shares the space with Cagney’s Steakhouse.   We could only see the Cagney diners, not the guys with the spears of meat.  We did not eat at Cagney’s, but we heard that it was quite nice.

Moderno was every bit as good as any churrascarrio that I’ve visited on land – and I’ve been to several.  The salad bar/buffet had plenty of delicious choices.  With the main course, you get beans, potatoes and another side.  Along with the spears of meat, the waiters occasionally drop by with grilled pineapple to clean your palate.  The quality of the meats suggest that this meal may be the best value on board.

I’ve got to be honest with you though, I was just fooded out.  Now this was not Moderno’s fault.  If you sail on the Epic, I recommend you try this restaurant early on in the cruise, so you can enjoy it heartily.  If you wait until the last day the way we did, you may not have the stomach for it (tee hee).

Debarkation Details

Not much more to tell.  After dinner I was too full to enjoy anything else.  Bill and I went on to our stateroom and I finished packing.  We chose to carry our own luggage off the boat, so we wouldn’t have to set it out the night before and find it once we were off.  There are several choices for debarkation now, at least on the Epic.

If you do chose to let Norwegian handle the luggage, you have to have it in the hall by eleven.  That’s just too much juggling for me.  First you have to pack so that your carry on luggage is available for your last minute stuff, but if you’re flying and you can’t get all your 3 ounce toiletries into a ziplock bag, then you’ll have to re-pack somewhere between the dock and airport security.  Nope, I liked carrying mine off.

They did have another choice that I should have checked into, but I never got around to it.  NCL will forward your luggage from the ship to your final destination.  That sounds like a good idea to me, but I didn’t get any of the details.  It would be great if you could just leave the bags on your bed and head home, but something tells me that it’s a little more complicated than that.

The return home was a long day for us.  We had to be off the ship by 9:30 for our transfer, but our flight didn’t leave until 1:30.  Then there was a LONG layover in Houston.  We dragged in home before midnight but barely.  I don’t have to tell you how glad my puppy was to see me.

One more post for my cruise and we’ll move on to other places.  Come back next week for a summary of my lessons learned.