Europe - Western Mediterranean Cruise Reviews

OVERALL GOOD! SOME OF THE SHOWS HAD VERY POOR TASTE. CAN'T BELIEVE NCL WOULD ALLOW SOMETHING LIKE THAT. PROBABLY WON'T CRUISE WITH NCL AGAIN BECAUSE OF IT. SHIP IS VERY CROWDED AT TIMES. THIS IS MY 10TH CRUISE AND IT IS BY FAR THE MOST CROWDED SHIP I HAVE EVER BEEN ON.

This was a trip of a lifetime! this was our first time to Europe and we wanted to make sure we saw as much as possible. I felt the cruise was a great way to do that. All in All i would definitely recommend this cruise and would suggest any Americans looking to go to Europe take Norwegian where everything on board is in English and they use american currency.

Overall we had a great honeymoon and first experience cruising - the service of the staff members was excellent, the food and drinks were excellent - there was plenty of stuff to do if you wanted to partake. Entertainment was a little cheesy (as to be expected), the shore excursions were inflated and way overpriced, so I'm glad we ended up doing our own thing each day. Wonderful ports of call. Only discrepancy is a rude manicurist that did my nails on the cruise that almost threatened me when I didn't purchase a face wash she was hustling, she was SO incredibly rude, and the lack of shuttles / communication embarking and disembarking the cruise ship. Other than that it was a wonderful experience.

I enjoyed all the ports, but didn't really like the ship. Many events were held at the same time and since food is served slowly in the dining rooms, eating dinner takes a long time which causes you to miss or be late for evening shows. All the planning at home for dinner and show reservations takes away from the idea of Freestyle cruising, but if you don't pre-plan and reserve them you will miss them.

This was my first and last cruise. I regret spending my hard earned money on an all you can eat cruise only to not eat anything because the food was horrible.

Fabulous. A once in a lifetime adventure. We would have liked to have one more sea day to relax a bit but didn't want to miss any of the excursions. This is a great cruise.

Todo el personal muy amable y colaborador especialmente la Srta. Laura Balladares quien nos trato con mucho cariño y amabilidad, tambien muchas felicidades a los musicos de la banda sobre todo a Calogero Clemente y todos los musicos a su direccion.

We had a fun time, but we would have preferred specific dinner times as well as being seating at the same table every evening so that we could get to know our waiters/waitresses as well as other guests. The entertainment should have had fixed times in the evening such as 7:30 and 9:30 and not 8 or 10:30.

PRETTY GOOD CRUISE, BUT NOT THE EXCEPTIONAL VISION WE WERE SOLD. THE TOURS OFFERED THROUGH NCL COULD'VE BEEN BETTER. SOME GUIDES HAD A TOUGH TIME W/THE LANGUAGE BARRIER. HAVEN RESTAURANT STAFF WERE STELLAR. ESPECIALLY RODNEY! BON VOYAGE!

This was our first family cruise and it was absolutely wonderful. The ports of call were a good combination, although it would be nice if another part of France was visited to allow 2 days for each country. Over all, it will definitely make our family plan another cruise in the future.

Yacht Club in itself was an oasis within a busy ship. Good, but not excellent service and the experience in itself was let down by lacklster food, paricularly when it came to fish and shellfish. Cabin was miniscule.

Nice ship, too many people, average entertainment and food. Limited menu at dinner. I was expecting more, since it was a new ship. The staff was fantastic, except one older waiter.

I don't know if it is just this particular sailing, but this ship is not for the under 55 crowd. I knew from the passenger profile, that it wasn't for the young, but was surprised to see how elderly most people were. No interesting on-board activities or entertainment. The staff in general, did not seem too eager to please. Had better experience in other cruise ships, so it is not likely that my husband and I will return to Oceania.

The cruise was ok. My favorite part was the large casino with plenty table games and the solo lounge. The entertainment was just ok. The parts I disliked the most was the lack of availability of food. There were very limited afternoon and late night offerings for food. Also, they charge for room service even when there are no alternatives. There are also no late night adult activities.

The restaurants were all great in terms of food and service. The rooms were cleaned well and the staff was generally helpful and friendly. We enjoyed the shows.  The buffet area was always extremely crowded. Maybe 2 buffets in different areas?  Unfortunately two people in our party became very sick for a couple of days despite being healthy upon arriving. 

Very nice cruise:

Interesting destinations, nice ship, friendly crew.

The excursions variety and their quality are not so wonderful.  Foe instance in Corsica we were taken for a 40 min bus ride just for a 30 min toilet brake (!). then we came back to  Ajaccio a walking tour. We spent extra money and our time for nothing.

Great large balcony ROOM 10315

Food was great the ports were great

 Staff fantastic

Yes I will recommend NCL to friends

Great bar staff always ready to help   

Fantastic. Wonderful. My only comment ... there should be more supervision at the hot tubs. People were in the hot tubs with glass bottles of beer, and the pool attendant (Howard) and one of the officers (Stanley) completely ignored the infraction. This happened on more than one occasion.

With the exception of a couple things, I would have to say the Epic mostly, sometimes, occasionally lives up to it's name. 

First off, this was the easiest ship I have ever boarded, taking only a few minutes to get from the front door to the ship, well done there NCL, getting off the ship was just as easy. 

It's a simply gorgeous ship, and complemented the other two Norwegian ships I have been on (The Pearl and The Sky), however the lifeboats nearly block the entire view from the deck with the running track/ deck games. We found two small ( 8ft or so) deck area where one could watch the waves, and on the other ships I have been on, that was a favorite activity for me.

Our room was unique as we were place in one of the easy accessibility rooms for those with handicapps. (which we do not). I inquired if the room was needed for someone else as I saw many more folks in wheel chairs and scooters this cruise than any before, but was assured  they were all accommodated.  if you get the chance to get one of the easy accessibility rooms.. do it... They are much larger  than normal rooms, have very large showers. The door is a pain, because it opens / closes automatically, and if you open it, then close it manually, it will open/ close again.  Small price for the extra space however.

We did have an issue with the safe, and had to have someone come look at it, however that person said it was a bad battery and had to call a security officer to the room, only to have the security officer grill me on why he was called when it was not a battery issue.  He was probably on the later stages of his tour on the ship and ready to head home ( this seemed to be a re-occurring theme for staff that were tired and grumpy)

As with all cruises we have been on, one or two staff members stood out as extremely helpful, friendly and this cruise was no exception. 'Mark' our waiter in both the main dining rooms  across the duration of the cruise was wonderful, in addition we had a couple other staff that  remembered who were were ( and what we drink !), unfortunately I did not remember their names.  That being said, we found a lot, I mean a LOT of staffers that were unhappy. It became a running joke that the staff in O'Sheehans is where they put any of the wait staff that is grumpy. I remember our first cruise with Norwegian, Every staff member was happy, friendly and smiling, however each cruise since then we have seen fewer and fewer smiles, and this cruise was no different.  With the exception of Mark, the two other waitresses that served my wife and remembered her name, and our stewards who were terrific, and the cruise director Scott who wore what appeared to me as the same fake smile all trip, I don't recall seeing any of the actual cruise staff smiling, something we noted several times.  

The last issue I have with this cruise is a specific event that happened that really bothers me. 10Pm in one of the bards watching Howl at the Moon and the family that was sitting next to me leaves, except for the 10-12 year old they left behind sitting next to me. Don't get me wrong the kid was well behaved, and enjoying the show, and I don't have a problem with the kid being there with his parents, but leaving him in a bar by himself seems to me to be a problem waiting to happen. When I made of note of it to the bartender, I was told ( rather rudely in fact) it wasn't an issue and to go sit back down. And afterwards when I was speaking to one of the officers about it, I was told that entertainment areas are open to children, so they can go anywhere ( except  the Bliss nightclub), and even the Spice deck (adult only during the day) becomes a teen dance floor at 8:00 PM..

I believe this is all a result of what appears to be a Norwegian push to change the clientele of it's cruises. It used to be Cruise Like a Norwegian.. now it's cruise like everyone else. I had purchased the 4 deposits on additional cruises at the front end of the cruise, but by then end, I was ready to get that refunded as I am not sure NCL is the right cruise line for me anymore. 

We had a great cruise experience. Our room attendant, Ralph, was extremely pleasant and kept our room looking great. The cruise director, Mercedes, was awesome. We loved the various shows and her sense of humor. 

Our only complaint was about the food, especially in the dining room. It was well below expectations in quality and the service was poor. We gave up on the dining room after a few days, as the food was not worth the long wait each night.