BIGGEST NOT BEST
Norwegian Epic Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern
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Sail date: February 16, 2013
Ship: Norwegian Epic
Cabin type: Balcony
Traveled as: Singles/Friends
Reviewed: 11 years ago
Review summary
We had heard this was the best ship? The embarkation and disembarkation was perfect. Could not been better. The staff was very good except for some language problems. This was frustrating because the worst place was at guest services desk. The cruise line seemed more interested in getting you to buy things,duty free shops, bingo cards,extra charges for dinners,excursions and even another cruise than providing information or service. To find out a lot of information that no one seemed to have I had to come home go on the internet and look though the materials Norwegian had seen me. I had to ask five times to find out where you could smoke cigars. The menus and specials of the day were not on TV, not at guest services . You either had to go to hallway at the Garden Cafe,unmarked found by accident or go to the selection of 20 places to eat. The food was very good. The specialty restaurants which required extra cash were worth the price. Cagney's was great. The 24/7 Irish Pub was quick and easy. The Manhattan Club was the best,quickest and great atmosphere, but the selection could be more varied or changed during week. The Wasabi bar was great; but I do not know about raw fish after the third day of the cruise.room service was good and prices okay. For some reason all the televisions were on ESPN and most could not be changed. Many of the movies started at 11:30 pm. The big screens in Atrium and Spice H2O area had boring mindless scenes playing over and over again. I could not understand why a travelogue of England played 20 times instead of something about the Caribbean. The room TVs had good movies, not many choices of channels. They could have had more general information on the ports, layout of the ship, and health information, what to do in emergency, medical services,what to do if have diarrhea, hand washing,and what to avoid onshore. If you have trouble with smoke, you can not avoid the casino which was filled with smokers. To get to anywhere you had to go through the casino. On the otherhand, if you are cigar smoker, Only in the cigar bar and on the bar side of Spice H2O can you smoke cigars. No cigars on balcony,Cigarettes where there ash trays and the balcony. For onshore time, the staff is not very helpful unless you buy an excursion. The ports,St. Marten and St.Thomas, good but crowded and expensive. Some people did say that the rest of what the saw outside the ports was great. We did not get to the last port because the had no room for the boat. They returned $20.00 of port fees and had one hour of free drinks. Because every thing else went with such precision, I find it difficult to believe that the cruise line did not know way ahead of time and keep it a secret. First order of business is to get oriented. Little things like even numbered cabins on the red carpet side and odd numbered cabins on the blue side. The lower number of cabin take you in direction of front of ship. The higher number of cabin take you in the direction of the back of ship. There are rare stairs/esclators in the middle of the ship. They are no bathrooms in the middle of the ship. There are small signs for bathrooms. Most of the bathrooms are by the stairs. For the balcony room, if the woman put her makeup standing up you are fine, but if sitting down is needed the other person is trapped on on side or the other. The other choice is to climb over the bed. With glass enclosed toilet and shower, if you are ashamed of your body, do not go. The glass is semi-opaque. I would not go on this boat again. We cancelled an European cruise for October because of this experience. Never for a first cruise. I would only recommend this with reservation. Basically this is a gigantic ship that you often believe is a hotel instead of a boat.Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Onboard Activities
Entertainment
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Service and Staff
Ship Quality
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Ship tip
Cagney's, Washabi bar best for money Manhattan Club excellent food and service, not waiting. But dress code, no shorts or tank tops. Really this is modeled after New York supper club.