Poor customer service

Norwegian Epic Cruise Review to Europe - Western Europe

Cruises: 4-6 cruises
Reviews: 2
Helpful Votes: 74

Overall rating:

2 out of 5
Verified Review
Norwegian Epic

9 Night Canary Islands & Morocco (Barcelona Roundtrip)

Sail date: December 19, 2015

Ship: Norwegian Epic

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 13133

Traveled as: Family (older children)

Reviewed: 8 years ago

Review summary

This was our family's fifth cruise and the second one with Norwegian.  We did not like the design of the cabins with the shower on one side, the toilet on another, and the rest of the cabin separated by a curtain with the smallest sink right in front of the bed.  In one cabin the mattress smelled like piss which had to be changed.  The cabin also smelled of smoke.  As a matter of fact, the theater always smelled like smoke, when we went there for a show or to exit the ship during our tours.  Pictures with the captain was a disaster.  We were told in advance that he does not shake hands.  He not only did not shake hands, but he barely acknowledge us, he had a bad attitude.  Even my children commented on his attitude and the attitude of the rest of the staff. It was obviously that the poor customer service and bad attitude displayed by the staff was a reflection of the leadership.  We wrote a letter to them addressing all the issues we had, they sent us a poor reply only addressing the handshaking comment, indicating that it was policy for the staff not to shake hands.  This was a 30 minute photo session, it would not have killed the captain to shake hands and immediately sanitize or wash his hands after the session.  But even if he did not shake hands, he should have had a better attitude by addressing the guess who came to take pictures with him. My daughter had an appointment with the hair stylist and she was late.  We had another appointment with the photo studio and wanted to see a show, we had to change our scheduled and missed the show. The stylist barely apologized.  The service at the complementary restaurant was always slow with staff who had poor attitude.  We saw waiters picking their nose or not covering their cough.  The cruise was not what we were expecting.  All of our other cruises had happy staff who provided great service.  Our cabin attendant was the only one who provided the service we associate with cruising.  The operator always provided bad information after putting the caller on hold for a very long time each and every time.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

1 out of 5
Staff with poor attitude, bad habits and late service.

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5
Had must better on other cruises.

Entertainment

1 out of 5
The theater smelled like smoke and there was no crowd control.

Children's Programs

3 out of 5
OK for younger kids but bad crowd control. No good activities for older children.

Service and Staff

1 out of 5

Ship Quality

1 out of 5
The design of the ship was horrible. The room with separate shower, toilet and sink in front of the bed was the worst. The restaurant with tables under an open floor with people passing was also very bad. The theater smelled of smoke all the time.

Cabin / Stateroom

1 out of 5
Tight - bad design: 13131 the mattress smelled like piss and smoke. We reported the problem. The mattress was immediately changed by the attendant, but nothing was really ever done about the smoke.

Ship tip

The information on the television was bad or had a bad format.

Ports of call

Barcelona, Spain

5 out of 5

Tangier, Morocco

1 out of 5
There was not much to see and the tour was all about the guide taking us shopping.

Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, Canary Islands

3 out of 5

Santa Cruz De Tenerife, Canary Islands

5 out of 5

Malaga, Spain

3 out of 5
The tour guide was slow and told us he did not care to keep to the schedule.
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