Worst cruise EVER!!

Item: Norwegian Epic
Rating: 1.7
Author: lslice

Norwegian Epic Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western

lslice

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 46

Overall rating:

1.7 out of 5

7 Night Western Caribbean (Port Canaveral Roundtrip)

Sail date: December 30, 2017

Ship: Norwegian Epic

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 9294

Traveled as: Large Group

Reviewed: 6 years ago

Review summary

Worst cruise ever! Nobody was friendly and the service was atrocious!!

Embarkation

1 out of 5

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

1 out of 5

Freestyle dining is a disaster!! We had a group of 19. The service was the worst any of of had ever experienced. I specified each night that we needed a high chair for our 1 year old. They could never track one down. We'd be half way through our meal when they'd finally bring one and that was after asking numerous people. They would never take our drink order unless we'd ask them to. They would, but we wouldn't get our drinks until halfway through the meal. It would take 45 minutes to just get milk for our 1 year old. The staff was not friendly at all. I guess now that their gratuities are included, they don't interact with the guests. The food was ok. Nothing special. We've been on every other cruise line and this was by far the worst one!! Do not go if you have young children, under the age of 3. We had an aft balcony room. It was so small that we couldn't even fit a pack n play in there. It was a total nightmare and disappointment to us all. Do yourself a favor and go on another cruise line! None of us will ever go on a Norwegian cruise again!!

Onboard Activities

1 out of 5

Children's Programs

1 out of 5

The guppies room for kids under 3 was a small, windowless room with toys scattered about. It was terrible.

Service and Staff

1 out of 5

Ship Quality

1 out of 5

Our bathroom smelled like urine. The layout of the room was horrendous. Who wants to shower/go to the bathroom when everyone can see and hear you?!

Cabin / Stateroom

1 out of 5

Smallest cabin ever. I'm not sure how anyone is supposed to sleep on the curved couch!! We couldn't even fit a pack n play in the room so we had to share the bed with our 1 year old.

Ship tip

Don't do it!!

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Port Canaveral, Florida

2 out of 5

Nassau, Bahamas

3 out of 5

Falmouth, Jamaica

3 out of 5

George Town, Grand Cayman

4 out of 5

Disembarkation

1 out of 5

Total cluster!

17 Comments

md1944 6 years ago

I'm such a fan of cruising, I hate to hear of anyone having a bad experience. I have only been on 4 different cruise lines and on balance, rate NCL as the best. Few, and maybe none of my problems on 7/8 NCL cruises have not been resolved satisfactorily. There's only 2 of us so that makes it easier logistically. I get more frustrated with rude cruisers that any of the ship staff or policies. Sure some people, ships, itenaries, excursions and dining and entertainment are better than others, both, gee, isn't that what life is all about. Happy Cruising.

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pbiondo28 6 years ago

Unfortunately, no. There were a few occasions we had to walk through it. It was so annoying. Also having to walk through the pool bar/ smoking section to get to the buffet for breakfast/ lunch/ snacks was annoying. Everytime we walked into a cloud of smoke we would tell each other that the next time we were headed that way we needed to find an alternative route to avoid the cigarette smoke, but we would forget. 😞

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lissadawn 6 years ago

That's great! It really helps when they care about your little ones. Were you able to avoid walking through the casino with your baby?

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pbiondo28 6 years ago

We also cruised with our 1yr old. I do have to say that they were very accommodating to him. The staff paid more attention to him than they did to us lol

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pbiondo28 6 years ago

I didnt care for the layout of the ship either. I read other's complaining about it beforehand but it's hard to know if something will bother you from reading a review if you are not already familiar with the circumstances. So we took a chance. I'm not super picky with things like that, but ultimately it DID bother us. Do I regret booking? No. Will I ever cruise the Epic again? Probably not. We also read about the food being bad, but food is just a matter of opinion, so I take those with a grain of salt, unless reviews are beyond horrific. In our case, the food was average, at best... and we ate at specialty restaurants most of the nights. We ate in Manhattan Room once and Taste once...Taste was by far the worst!

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amcguckian10 6 years ago

The epics rooms are the same as the others. You should look into the ship and room before you reserve it.

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Charlou 6 years ago

😉. I was not saying you should’ve done more research. I was saying it for others. The cabin layout, as well as the cabin and balcony size are easy to find out. If that is a deal breaker for someone, and they end up in a cabin size they don’t like, that’s on them. As for the fact that you could only get 1 small glass of water during dinner. That’s the first time I ever read such a thing. I’m so sorry it happened to you. I don’t know if you did something about it, but I would’ve had a little talk with the maître D. I’d rather look at the positive side of things. I find it hard to believe that during a 8 day cruise, nothing good came out of it. And please, don’t remember everything I write. You’re gonna go nuts. 🤪. Hope your next cruise is the best one ever.

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lissadawn 6 years ago

I truly don’t know how we could have researched and found out that the service in the Taste dining room is terrible. And that you are only allowed one small glass of water at any of the restaurants. I don’t think anyone sets out to have a bad vacation. Of course, you are simply a fascinating person and that is why I “remember everything you write”

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Charlou 6 years ago

@lissadawn. No I don’t work for NCL. I just don’t like people who blame everything on others. I understand that bad stuff happened to them, and I think it’s very sad, but i think that a vacation is what you make of it. A lot of things that people complain about are basic stuff in cruise world that they would’ve found out if a minimum of research would’ve been done prior to booking. And that’s true for any type of vacation. If you have time to read, and remember, everything I write, you have way too much free time on your hands. And you also probably noticed that I write regarding RCI and Disney cruises. Sorry if you don’t like my comments. Don’t be so hard on NCL. I just think it’s a great cruise line.

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lissadawn 6 years ago

I personally know what our experience was and I know what kind of service other cruise lines provide. For your sake, dhandy48, I hope we are proven wrong. I simply wanted to go on a cruise and receive the same type of service that I have experienced on Celebrity and Royal Caribbean. We had heard good things about Norwegian and wanted to give them a try.

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lissadawn 6 years ago

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dhandy48 6 years ago

Well we are doing the 15 day and 3 day transatlantic in April. Guess we will see if these comments hold water. I've seen so many positive comments on the Epic.

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lissadawn 6 years ago

Hands down, I would never recommend the Epic to anybody. Their guest services is horrible!

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Charlou 6 years ago

And some research. Size and layout of cabin and layout of the ship are some informations you would’ve known if you would’ve done a minimum a research prior to booking the cruise. I don’t get it. I would never book a cruise/cabin without doing some research on them. Sorry you had such a bad experience. I’ve been on 2 NCL cruise ship and I have never experienced nothing like that. Hope your next cruise is better.

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md1944 6 years ago

Not our experiences at all. Sorry yours was not up to your expectations.

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Tinalouise71 6 years ago

It was my worst too and I’m not a fussy person at all! Food was ok but the layout of the ship isn’t the greatest

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LWLillie 6 years ago

So sorry to hear that..

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