I will never travel Norwegian Epic again, and highly unlikely I will travel Norwegian again.
Embarkation
3 out of 5
It was ok. It was chaotic once you were off the transfer bus until you were aboard the ship, but things went smoothly.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
2 out of 5
Unless you made reservations you could only go to main dining room or buffet. Even for other restaurants that were included. So, it wasn't really anytime dining because you had to spend so much time trying to make reservations so you could eat somewhere other than the buffet. The Japanese restaurant was great.
Teppanyaki
5 out of 5
This was the best dining on the ship and with the most friendly staff.
Onboard Activities
1 out of 5
There were a lot of things we didn't get to see because they were held in these tiny bars with limited seating and if you didn't have reservations you couldn't go. Instead of using their big theatre for a lot of the shows, where it could seat a couple of thousand people, they were held in tiny bars or the atrium, which held maybe 60 people. Also if you had mobility issues, forget going to some of these shows because they had all high chairs.
Spa
1 out of 5
We went for a tour of the Spa with the manager. We decided to add the Spa package which would give us access to the Thermal Pool and Hot tubs within the Spa area. I went for this tour on my mobility scooter (and I'm a little person who can't walk without my cane at least) and went over to the wide wooden steeps and said that these steps would be ok. What nobody thought was important to tell us is that it's all ladders to get into the pools. We bought the package, went back to our room to gather our things to go back to the Spa. Once we were all changed and showered we headed into the pool area to have one of the guest tell us it was ladders and that I would have a problem getting down in the pool.
Entertainment
3 out of 5
The shows if they were held in the Epic Theatre where it could seat lots of people then the shows were great. Priscilla Queen of The Desert was amazing! Burn the Floor was good as well. The Cirque Dreams show is extra and is held in the Big Top, but worth every penny. It was such an intimate setting.
Children's Programs
No kids
Service and Staff
1 out of 5
The waiters in The Taste dining room were friendly. Other than that, most of them were not friendly at all. Would not smile or look at you when taking your order. The wait staff at O'Sheehan's were down right rude! To the point of we wounded if one waiter spoke English until he leaned over and spoke very sarcastically into my sister's ear in very good English.
Ship Quality
1 out of 5
The ship's layout was horrible. Whoever thought cabins with curved walls were a good idea, I hope they don't design any more ship's. Norwegian was all about how they could make the extra buck, so they would send you through the casino that ran the full length of the ship on deck 6. That's where all the speciality dining restaurants were. We felt the ship was dirty. Many times you would get your cutlery rolled up in a dirty napkin. There was chewing gum on our floor in the cabin. There were coffee packages left in the coffee pot from the last guest.
Cabin / Stateroom
1 out of 5
I talked with the disability team and they told me that it was ok that I had a scooter in a regular cabin. What they didn't tell me is I wouldn't be able to get in any further than the doorway before I would be stuck. In order to get past me you would have to climb over the couch. In order to get out of the cabin, they had to take one of the single beds out of the room and build me a ramp. While other guest with a walking stick occupied a ADA cabin. The cabin is way to small and this horrible setup of toilet in one little shower stall and the shower in the other. I hope you are ok in getting up close and personal with your traveling partner, there is no privacy. Their privacy solution is that God awful cotton curtain between the toilet and the shower, what a joke that is.
Ship tip
Save your money and don't go. We did not talk to one person that was happy. Maybe the 900 gamblers that they brought on the ship for free, maybe. I wouldn't travel on Norwegian Epic again even if it was free.
I highly recommend Ken's Wheelchair Taxi service. We had a private tour for just the 4 of us for 4 hours and it cost $150 US plus tip. We had Charles as our driver. So much knowledge and so on tune with handling a guest on a mobility scooter.
I also did not like that we could not see everywhere. Like the ice bar. I don't drink so why should I have to pay. All I wanted to do was walk in then right out.
I didn't have much time to book ahead this time for the cruise. So I was aware that all the accessible cabins were already taken. That's why I talked to the Accessibility team. They were aware of the size of my scooter and and the room size I was booking and they didn't seem concerned, so neither was I. I have traveled before on Carnival in a regular ocean view cabin before and never had any issues with getting the scooter in the room and could even get it turned around without any issues. The accessible cabin wasn't our only issues. I will happily be going back to Carnival again. I don't see me traveling on Norwegian again anytime soon.
I just cruised NCL for the 3rd time and 1st time on Epic. I thought it was weird that they chose to have shows in tiny bars but I guess that's their idea of "intimacy" on a ship with 4000+ passengers. I made reservations for everything possible 90 days ahead of time online but still many things were already booked and we couldn't get in. It's just a large ship with a lot going on. Agree with others that research would have solved your accessibility issue. We thought the ship was very clean and didn't see any problems there. Knew about the bathroom layout in advance and although we weren't fans, just tolerated it. I didn't really test the "anytime" dining concept as was afraid we would have to stand in line, so made reservations for dinner every night online prior to cruise. That worked for us.
Surprises me you didn’t book an accessible cabin. There are plenty on the ship if you make your reservation ahead of time. I suspect advance planning in terms of cabin and dining reservations would have resolved most of your problems. The moral of the story is research helps to avoid disappointment.
*Cruiseline.com is not a booking agent or travel agency,
and does not charge any service fees to users of our site. Our partners
(travel agencies and cruise lines) provide prices, which we list for our
users' convenience. Cruiseline.com does not guarantee any specific rates or
prices. While prices are updated daily, please check with the booking site
for the exact amount. Cruiseline.com is not responsible for content on
external web sites.
Contact us
Submitting...
Need help from a personal vacation planner?
Loading...
Find the perfect cruise with weekly tips and cruise deals for as little as $30/night!
Sign up for weekly cruise deals
Join other subscribers and get the best
cruise deals of the week in your inbox every Thursday.
