Norwegian Epic

JANUARY

See above

AUGUST

Very disappointed in NCl! Ship was in need of major upgrades! Food was below expectations, Buffett was more like a school cafeteria with very few choices for food. Staff was overworked and not very courteous or friendly. Pools are too small and water was a hot bath! Entertainment was minimal although the Burn the Floor and Beatles shows were great. Needed to see them multiple times because there was not much else to do! Casino was good. Possibly we’ve been spoiled by RCCL but we had high expectations for NCL and to say we were disappointed is an understatement!

JANUARY

I would never go on a ship this big again. Too many people, stood in lines a lot.

MAY

Everything went smoothly, no negative comments.

FEBRUARY

I want the company to do well, but it was super nice not having a full ship. Wonderful!!!

NOVEMBER

Love the smooth ride and never waited in line for anything. Food was so fantastic .

FEBRUARY

This ship is very large. Without Haven access we would not have had such a good time. Specialty dining was very good - with the exception of La Cucina Italian. Entertainment was first class - best we've ever seen on a cruise ship.

JANUARY

This was our first time on Norwegian. We liked the free style dining and no formal night. Everyone was friendly and always helpful.

JANUARY

On a full sail, this ship feels crowded: staffing (bartending) was not adequate for volume of guests and elevators constantly full. NCL was unable to enforce their smoking in certain areas only, rendering our balcony useless. Stateroom design was poor, not maximizing space. Sports court could have been used for more variety than just basketball and soccer. Port call times were very short (8-5 daily), except for one unexpected day where it was longer but plans were already made and could not be changed. Excursion choices somewhat limited on this itinerary. Had a couple of negative specialty dining experiences; upgraded wine list was somewhat limited especially when out of stock on some items. NYE dinner buffet was vile. On the positive side, entertainment was top notch (circus, musicals), and youth staff were very accommodating. Ship was generally clean and birds stayed clear. Seek a smaller ship with more personalized service and better value.

NOVEMBER

Another great time on the NCL EPIC ship. First time was in 2012 in Caribbean. Great big ship without the too big feeling. This time was in Mediterranean. Great friendly staff eager to please. Was different taking our first cruise in Nov weather. Had rain showers, light. But staff tried to make the most of it daily with umbrellas, ponchos and smiles. No day was a wash out, just light rain almost daily. Loved the Japanese restaurant where they cook at your table. Buffet was great daily with theme nights. Plenty to eat always.

SEPTEMBER

Overall it was a great experience, but at sometimes not having enough staff at the bars caused excessive waiting Just to get a drink. Also there could be more outlets in the room. Also it would of been nice to have a refrigerator that was empty so we could put our own beverages in, instead of being charged to take one that was already in there. Not everyone wants a minibar refrigerator in their room.

SEPTEMBER

We sailed with 5000 passengers! On shore days, the buffet breakfast area was packed and difficult to find seats. This was the only time it was an issue. The food was excellent and the specialty restaurants were awesome. The staff were extremely pleasant, knowledgeable, and eager to help you. My only beef with this cruise ship was the elevators. Apparently this ship has only two sections, one near the bow and one near the stern. Their other ships have another midship for a total of three. This created a lot of frustration when we had our mandatory drill, when we had port days, and when we disembarked at the end of our cruise. It is a beautiful ship despite this!!!

MAY

<div>There was maybe one item that would change per day.</div>

MARCH

Having sailed on 60 cruises with seven different lines, I think I have some perspective on cruising. The Norwegian Epic had an epic failure in debarkation. The worst I've experienced in, as I've said, in 60 cruises. It is as if the staff had never done this before. Lines wrapped around the ship. There were lines that weren't even lines. During this time I saw only one crew member and he was passing out wrong information. Two women I met sat down to wait for a wheelchair. They had been waiting for half an hour. There were no signs, no cordons to prevent people from jumping the que, no organization--just complete chaos. In general the entertainment was good, though the choice of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert was strange. No one I talked to (and I talked to a lot of people, saw the show after the learned what it was about. Manhattan Band and D'Soul Duo were excellent as were the two comedians. Food was excellent, though this is the only cruise I've been on where there wasn't a steak and lobster night, no baked Alaska, no escargot, no duck. Boiling my shoe would've been better than the sirloin steak I had one evening. Excellent pastries and sorbets. Service was exceptional.

OCTOBER

Nice and happy staff plenty of things to do for all ages very good with food allergies very clean and very organized

OCTOBER

<div>We had a great time. Amazing food and staff was accommodating. There are many thing to do on the ship or you can just relax. We booked our excursions through the ship. We wish we could have stayed longer than 7 days.</div>

OCTOBER

Staff were very friendly and accommodating. They stood out the most on the trip. We were pampered. Lots of things to do but not enough time.

JULY

We had four in our group. Although finding a chair rather than a lounger I'm the shade in the Adult area with a view was a challenge, we enjoyed the trip.

JUNE

<div>The trip was with my family to celebrate my ninetieth birthday. There were 12 in our party. My family enjoyed the shore excursions, which were privately arranged. I remained on the ship, grateful that I had already been to Rome, Florence , and Pisa. I did take a bus ride up to the charming village on the mountain in Majorca. My family enjoyed the evening activities as well. The ship&rsquo;s staff happily entered in to our celebratory excitement. We felt that they were very happy for us. Thank you for helping us have a very memorable time together on your beautiful ship.</div>

FEBRUARY

Overall, I really like NCL due to the freestyle dining and all the options of things to do.

DECEMBER

Weather was not cooperating for the first couple days of the cruise and we did not dock in the Bahamas. This was a big disappointment for us, but we understood that high winds made it not safe to dock. We also had to dock in different areas then normal both in Jamaica and Grand Caymen island. In Grand Caymen Island we had a long wait standing in line to get back on the boat. The excursions we booked were great. We enjoyed Sting Ray City in Grand Caymen and the snorkeling we did. Lots of beautiful fish and coral . In Jamaica we did the Dunn River Falls and went to Bamboo Beach. In Cozumel we went on the Amazing Secret River which was a river that went through a cave. This was really cool, we enjoyed this very much. Our guide was very helpful and helped me through some of the more difficult uneven areas in the cave that were under water . The entertainment on the Epic was fantastic. This was the first time we cruised on NCL and we enjoyed it very much.

OCTOBER

Already made on Pros and Cons

MAY

Even though over 4000 passengers ship dining and entertainment was never crowded. Always had plenty of hot water and the staff was very helpful. Shore excursions are pricey but were well worth it. Would have liked to have seen better entertainment. Food was very good!

FEBRUARY

We really enjoyed our 7 night cruise on NCL's Epic. The ship was very large which allowed for a variety of activities. Something for those that want to be away from everyone, something for those that want a quiet space, something for those that want to dance. There were so many bars, you could find one where you could get a drink faster than, say, the pool deck bar. The staterooms were spacious enough to maneuver through with plenty of hidden storage options. As long as you don't mind the bathroom not being separated, which for a married couple was not a big deal, it great. The beds were very comfortable. Though due to the curvature of the mattress, it was two twin beds pushed together causing an awkward small gap in the middle. The food in EVERY SINGLE restaurant was excellent. We could not decide our favorite. The portions were huge. Most nights I skipped the included dessert. Even the buffet was delicious with so much variety from which to choose. The spa was top notch. I highly recommend the week long thermal package so you can enjoy the spa everyday - note it does not include spa services, but 3 saunas (2 humid, 1 dry), 2 steam baths, heated stone loungers overlooking the aft balcony, and hydrotherapy water spouts/jets/pool. It was fabulous! The gym is huge with beautiful scenery. Plenty of cardio, weight machines, and free weights. The entire ship felt clean and well maintained. The talent on the ship was incredible. We thought to check out the dueling piano bars one night and ended up staying for over three hours. The dancers in Burn the Floor often would do a performance in the Manhattan dining room (complementary more formal dining option). Biggest let down was Cirque Dreams and Dinner. Portions were significantly smaller than any other restaurant on the ship and the talent was mediocre. There were amazing aerial acrobatics, but much of the evening was one second of "oooo!" and 10 minutes of waiting for the next act. We were surprised how much we enjoyed NCL's island Great Stirrup Cay. There were plenty of loungers for everyone, the scenery is beautiful, and you know it is just people from the ship. The on-island excursion were excellently run and well worth it! The biggest downsides to this ship were: The location of the casino. Since smoking was allowed in the casino, to access some areas and restaurants on the 6th deck you needed to walk through the smoke. I didn't mind walking through and looking at the casino, but didn't care for the smoke. If you wanted to steer clear of the smoke, you could go up or down a floor as you walk forward/aft, then back up or down, so it is avoidable. With the number of people on this ship, even if you had reservations to a show, people would still show up 30 minutes early and you would end up waiting in a line to get seated. I didn't care to spend my time on a cruise waiting in line. When the weather affected disembarking the ship, there was no alternate organized exit plan which caused long lines of an entire ship waiting. Other than those few minor items, this ship was amazingly run and was a definite pleasure.

FEBRUARY

Do not like the procedures for getting off . Color codes people ignored and got off before they were called which totally overwhelmed the staff with departing passengers. We did not get off until 11:30 and our time was 9:15 then our transportation could not get into the port due to back up of arrivals.

JANUARY

We had a Great time. This was my first cruise, we have been home 1 day and are already looking at the cruise schedule planning our next trip. This was truly a vacation with nothing to think about except what fun thing are we going to do next. The day at Stirrup Cay was an excellent final stop for the cruise we had a blast.

DECEMBER

Great for young and young children.Also if you are a gambler Only one small dance floor but plenty of slot machines and card tables The crew were very friendly and helpful, but ....we would never cruise with that company again.....the boat was far to big for us

DECEMBER

I did have a really good time but there were some issues for handicap travelers and being thrown out of the wheelchair by staff while disembarking was NOT fun lol.

DECEMBER

I did have a really good time but there were some issues for handicap travelers and being thrown out of the wheelchair by staff while disembarking was NOT fun lol.

DECEMBER

Great experience!

NOVEMBER

This was the one of the best cruises I've ever been on. For all singles this Cruise works out perfectly! The price was very reasonable and did not need double occupancy which helps a great deal. I wish more ships had this concept. I would recommend for single Travelers to experience the solo cruising on NCL!

NOVEMBER

On these larger ships, "freestyle" is a little less as you need to plan ahead and make reservations for shows that you want to see, but it is nice to have a variety of shows to choose from every night so there is the trade off. Otherwise freestyle is the way to go. NCL always does a nice job servicing the passengers; always plenty of staff around to ask what you need and meet your expectations.

OCTOBER

We were uncertain about booking a cruise on such a large ship but Norwegian handled the crowds easily. From boarding the ship to departing everything was handle quickly and expediently. Days at sea felt more crowded on board but that is true of other lines as well. Some reviews mentioned the design of bathrooms. We had an inside cabin and felt the thought the design was well thought out. One of us could use the shower while someone else was using the sink or bathroom. We really liked this set up. Entertainment was outstanding and we went to a show every evening. There was also plenty of storage. Gede our cabin steward always had everything in order when we came back to our cabin and he did a beautiful job with my birthday decorations. He provided outstanding service. We missed an excursion in Livorno because the TV did not allow us to register although it said it had billed our account. By the time we learned the reservation was not taken, the excursion was fully booked. More information should be provided on use and location of touch screens and drop box registration at the the excursion office. We had to go to guest services to learn about the use of these when the excursion office was closed. We also had a difficult time using the phone in the room to access messages. An information sheet as to how to use the phone should be provided.

SEPTEMBER

We had a great time. The Epic is beautiful and very easy to move about in. Cagneys is the best restaurant, service very good as well as the Manhattan. We highly recommend this cruise, the shore tours were wonderful!

JUNE

Lovely trip. We got to sample France, Spain and Italy. We had all day to site-see and enjoyed the ship while sailing at night. The tours we did through the ship were very good and worth the money they cost. The staff in the Taste dining room went beyond the call of duty when they celebrated our 47 anniversary with a song and cake from the staff. There was one staff member that we know made this happen. We met Sanjay as our waiter in the Taste dining room as he was our waiter for the evening. Very professional and friendly. You could tell he really liked his job. We didn't have him every night as our waiter but he would show his smiling face at our table ever night we dined there. In conversation we had mentioned we were on the cruise to celebrate our anniversary. He remember and one the the date of that event he must have made the occurrence happen for us which just made our trip. Thank you Sanjay!

DECEMBER

Everything was wonderful, food and service was exceptional. Cabin was on the small side but comfortable.

SEPTEMBER

Our first trip with NCL. Not a fan of the "freestyle" dining but that's just a personal preference. Cruise met all expectations thanks to two standout crew members.

JUNE

Epic is a huge floating hotel. The cabins feel very small with little storage space. The staff is excellent but they verge on invisible. The food is terrific. Best we ever had on a cruise. The excursions were good except for Rome. Totally disappointed with that one, as we're others on other tours. The shows were great. Getting on and off the ship was a smooth operation.

JUNE

We did the 7 day Mediterranean Cruise. Really enjoyed ourselves. We didn't spend much time on the ship since we did excursions at almost every port. The Blue Man Group and the Cirque du Soleil shows were great. We paid for the Ultimate Dining Experience and I would highly recommend that. Our favorite restaurants were Le Bistro and the Steak House restaurant. Also had great Chinese food. I would not recommend the Teppan Steakhouse though. Staterooms were cramped but functional, and I am 6'8". Staff were VERY polite and helpful.

APRIL

<div>First time on NCL ship. Entertainment was incredible! Cirque de Soleil show, Blue Man Group, Legends impersonators, Second City comedy and more! All Vegas quality. Many dining options, 7 Specialty restaurants, 2 dining rooms, buffets, pubs, caf&eacute;s and more. All excellent. And now for the down side...room size is smaller than the average and configuration is strange. Walls are curved, so is the bed. My 6&#39;2&quot; husbands feet hung off the end of the bed. No separate washroom, it&#39;s integrated into the room, again strange. I think maybe there was a staffing issue on our floor as our room only got cleaned four times. Staff didn&#39;t know your name or really engage you. This is very different from all of our other cruises on different lines. Usually the staff are incredible on cruise ships and the room stewards are ninjas! Very large ship so common areas were always crowded. No real space to walk around the ship (at least not outdoors), no mini putt...but there was bowling (for a&nbsp;fee), zip lining, rock climbing/rappelling, a water park (3 slides plus), but I missed mini putt as it is part of our routine as is walking around the ship after dinner to walk off some of the wonderful meals. If you don&#39;t spend any time in your room and don&#39;t mind crowds then this ship is for you. I understand that their two newer ships have addressed the room size and configuration issues, and outside space...and they added mini putt! I may try NCL again but not this particular ship. Overall I give 3/5 because of the room and the lack of service.</div>