A bit too big and disorganized for our taste

Norwegian Epic Cruise Review to Europe - Western Mediterranean

Cruises: 2-3 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 53

Overall rating:

2 out of 5
Verified Review
Norwegian Epic

7 Night Western Mediterranean (Rome Roundtrip)

Sail date: October 15, 2014

Ship: Norwegian Epic

Cabin type: Inside

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 10 years ago

Review summary

We took a Western Mediterranean cruise on Norwegian Epic in October 2014.  While we were initially excited to start our cruise on such a big boat, we soon started experiencing some headaches that had not been a problem on previous cruises.  With so many people and a limited amount of space for shows and other entertainment, we only got to see a total of 3 shows in 7 nights.  Also, one of the complimentary restaurants on board was always full and required a substantial wait time.  By contrast, on previous cruises (including Norwegian), we were able to dine whenever and wherever we pleased, and we could see great shows in the theater every night.  We were also surprised by the complete lack of organization in getting people off the boat for an excursion or a tender to shore.  One morning they almost put us on the wrong bus.

All in all, it just felt like there were more people competing for fewer entertainment & recreation options.  The cruise director was rarely seen and didn't seem overly welcoming when he was seen.  We will probably opt for smaller cruise options in the future.

 

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5
The food was generally very salty, but tasted good.

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5
Few interesting on-board activities, including very limited pool space.

Entertainment

3 out of 5
Good shows, but very few options.

Service and Staff

3 out of 5
Mostly gracious staff; some were a bit short-tempered.

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5
Nice modern staterooms.

Ship tip

It would be nice if there was more complimentary dining space and less smoky casino. More entertainment space would have accommodated more guests. The comedy lounge was not a great place to watch some of the shows.

Ports of call

Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy

3 out of 5
It was not made clear to us how to get from the bus station to the port.

Livorno (Florence & Pisa), Italy

5 out of 5
Florence was fascinating with all of its history.

Cannes, France

3 out of 5
Beautiful beach, mostly just shopping.

Palma De Mallorca, Balearic Islands

5 out of 5
Beautiful area.

Barcelona, Spain

5 out of 5
Another beautiful area.

Naples, Italy

5 out of 5
Pompeii was very interesting, as well as the view of Mt. Vesuvius.
Was this review helpful? 53

Be the first to comment

Other reviews of this sailing