Norwegian Epic = Epic Fail

Norwegian Epic Cruise Review to Europe - Western Mediterranean

Cruises: 2-3 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 47

Overall rating:

1 out of 5
Norwegian Epic

7 Night Western Mediterranean (Rome Roundtrip)

Sail date: July 22, 2015

Ship: Norwegian Epic

Cabin type: Balcony

Traveled as: Singles/Friends

Reviewed: 9 years ago

Review summary

I am not sure where to start, everything about the boat was a huge disappointment. The workers on the ship HATED their jobs. Only a handful would greet us back or smile. In the narrow hallways the employees would walk fast by the guest, having the guest yield every time. Bartenders were SO slow. An empty bar with 3 bar employees took us 7 minutes to get them to take our order. We tip 20% but this trip we gave up tipping due to the lack of service.
The Fall- I fell on WET stairs at the "ADULT ONLY POOL." Everything about that sentence is ironic. The adult only pool is full of children who run thru the area and jump on chairs. The pool is the size of maybe 6 bathtubs, so about 10 people in it feels packed. The latter on both sides of the "pool" are broken. One morning I woke up early to set towels on chairs before breakfast since the pool is packed with kids, we thought we would go early. On my walk down 4 stairs I fell hard and felt my knee popped. Fellow tourists helped me up and I limped back to my room. I let staff know I fell and their was water on the ground while I was crying in pain but they didn't do a thing. On this day the ship woke everyone up early to share that the phone system, tv system, and navigation system were out of order for 24 hours. Nothing like being a hunk of junk sailing without navigation! I tried to call for medical help but couldn't. I went to the medical area and it was closed. I went back to the chairs to notice the PUDDLE of water I fell on was still sitting there. I mention to an employee again, that I fell and am hurt and they need to clean it up before an older person falls. I was told "Its a busy day today, we have to pass out towels then someone will clean that water" so it took 2-3 hours to clean up the water. I have photos of it all, submitted them to the "customer service" but they didn't care. They offered me $300 to cruise with them again. HA! I wouldn't get on their ship again if it was Noah's Arc. I iced my own knee while laying in bed that day and noticed BUGS, yes BUGS crawling in and out of the bed. I took video of it and only then did someone care when I mentioned I had videos of these bugs and my hurt knee. Suddenly, they opened up the medical center and did a report. They blamed me for my shoes I was wearing at the pool. I am sorry but Rainbow flip flops at a pool are acceptable. Concaved stairs with water sitting on them is not.

The food in the buffet was gross. The service was terrible. In line waiting to get back on the ship we asked staff if they were giving out wet towels (It was 99 degrees and the day before they did that for us) and we were told "Yeah but not for 5 minutes" so we stood in the heat while the worker sat on his cooler of towels for 5 minutes. Nothing about the management on the ship was accommodating. No one wanted to be bothered for anything and asking for anything while on vacation was ridiculous. The wifi didn't work and I purchased it twice for 100 dollars. When I called to mention it didn't work they said "oh yeah it only works in certain areas of the ship and not in rooms" and when I asked where I would find that information they told me it is in writing. I asked where and the story changed since it wasn't in writing ANYWHERE. Only then did they agree to refund my wifi charges. When other guests joined the ship in Spain and they were being called to report to a safety meeting a staff member yelled at me telling me I have to attend the meeting. I explained I boarded in Rome, showed my key (which color proves that) but the employee yelled more that I must go to meeting. I had to walk away while they followed me. Found a hair in my lunch at the Irish Pub on board.

We were upgraded to a new room when the bugs were discovered only to have a toilet of poop overflow onto the floor. (See below for that struggle to get help)

The huge photograph of Bill Cosby on board was ironic. He appears to be a terrible human and the Epic is a terrible ship with a miserable staff. The customer service after the fact could care less about my experience. Many emails and calls I was offered $300 to cruise with them again. HELL NO!
They are reviewing my medical files but told me "we don't have a fast turn around for that so it may take months to a year to hear from that department"...typical for Norwegian. Everyone from the corporate office in Miami to the staff on the ships have no concept of customer service.

Disclaimer I have never given a bad Yelp review. I took my mom on this vacation for her birthday. I am a special education teacher and the trip was a large chunk of my budget and a total disappointment.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

1 out of 5

Onboard Activities

1 out of 5
Adult Pool was gross, tiny, broken, and full of kids.

Entertainment

5 out of 5
Howl at The Moon was a blast!

Service and Staff

1 out of 5
WORST SERVICE I HAVE EVER EXPERIENCED

Ship Quality

1 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

1 out of 5
Bed bugs.

Ports of call

Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy

1 out of 5

Livorno (Florence & Pisa), Italy

5 out of 5
Pisa and Florence in one day is great. Recommend it,

Cannes, France

5 out of 5
Monte Carlo casino opens when the excursion leaves to go back to the boat. Monaco and Monte Carlo is still worth the trip!

Palma De Mallorca, Balearic Islands

1 out of 5
The Tastes of Mallorca is boring, gross, and not worth it! You tour a smelly tacky castle and get a shot glass of wine and a can of jam.

Barcelona, Spain

1 out of 5
They went on a Sunday. Everything is closed.

Naples, Italy

5 out of 5
Long day but I highly recommend the Capri, Sorrento and Pompii trip.
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9 Comments

1fifthavenue    9 years ago

well Gimo it hasn't go any better! we had a terrible cruise.

ardeluca    9 years ago

any pictures?

jacks69    9 years ago

just come off epic and it was horrible, service slow, very dirty and lots of people were complaining, we spoke to a couple who had been ncl 5 times and they said this was the worst cruise they had had. would never cruise with them again, whole ship was dirty

philsoc    9 years ago

I was on the Epic last year and was blown away. Give me a break will ya. Stick to the states and leave the cruising to us ppl that enjoy it.

ardeluca    9 years ago

Hello kikirn, the review list is very disappointing and full of holes. she said every single person on the ship hates their job. after my 12 cruise that is impossible. if you exaggerate in a cruise review then people will point it out.

Somersetagent    9 years ago

My first experience of the Epic will be on Monday after she comes out of dry dock. Having cruised with NCL many times as well as other lines including Cunard 😊 and going by the remarks from the majority of folk on here you seem to have been unlucky that's all I can say. The staff and crew on all the NCL ships I have been on are amazing.

ardeluca    9 years ago

i call bull on much of this. medical office has posted hours and are on call for emergencies. falling twice sounds like you are trying to get a free cruise. maybe land resorts is a better option for you. good luck and hope you feel better.

buncefamx7    9 years ago

Unfortunate if you were injured, but I believe some people can't be pleased. Sounds like you got a lot of comps.

philsoc    9 years ago

I was on the Epic last year and it was awesome. Don't know what happend to you.

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