On the Epic
Our next day was a day at sea aboard the Epic, so there was no need for an early-morning wake-up call. After a leisurely breakfast at the buffet, we walked around the ship for awhile and then Janie and J. R. took in a Teppanyaki/Sushi cooking demonstration in the Atrium while the kids headed off to the pools. We had really loved the cooking demos on our Disney cruises, but this one did not compare. First off, the Disney demos were done in one of the clubs, which made it easier to follow as opposed to NCL, which performed it in the atrium, which made it harder to hear. Second, the Disney demos usually included a glass of wine and a sample of the food cooked, as well as a copy of the recipes. This was not part of the NCL experience. The kids planned to eat at the buffet for lunch, so Janie and J. R. went to have some alone time at "Taste", one of the restaurants open at lunch time. J. R. started off with some popcorn shrimp while Janie wasn't very hungry, so she skipped the appetizer. Until, it arrived, of course, and she had a taste of it and decided she wanted some popcorn shrimp of her own. Our entrees were very good and Janie had a mousse dessert she really enjoyed as well. The Taste restaurant was one of the better-decorated areas of the ship for Christmas, including a gingerbread house display in the middle of the restaurant.
Sunshine At Sea
After lunch, we went up on deck and met up with the kids who were sitting by the railing reading and taking in the sunshine.
Wine Tasting
Janie and J. R. went back to Taste later in the afternoon for a wine tasting. The tasting was really well done, except for a lot of noise because of the open-air nature of the restaurant. The woman leading the tasting was very knowledgeable and spent a lot of time talking about how different food pairings (lemons, cheese, apples, etc.) changed the quality of the wine. We were then given an opportunity to experience that as well. This was different than some of our previous tastings that focused on different aromas and tastes, which quite frankly, we felt were made up. (What does a chestnut smell like, anyway).
Moderno
Evening dinner was at Moderno, the Brazilian-style steakhouse. This was probably our most disappointing dinner of the cruise as it was one we were looking forward to, having loved similiar places on land. The service was abysmal as our waiter didn't speak much English and didn't understand us as we asked for certain cuts of meat to come around. Of course, this shouldn't have been a problem as at most of these places, the cuts of meat come around more than once, but not here. On top of that, when one cut came to the table, it was dramatically under-cooked -- almost 'blue' -- and then we had to ask multiple times to get them to bring it around again once it was cooked.
