Overall we had fun, but would have to say this is my last cruise for a while and for sure on Norwegian. We did the DAWN ship 2 years ago and it was great. Dawn had a great cruise director (Dan I believe) and made it fun. This ship was to large and over crowded. If not for the thermal SPA package and SPA suite we paid extra for it would have been really bad. The ports were good places to visit, but in the end this cruise just didn't match up to the others.
Embarkation
2 out of 5
2 hour wait to get into the termial, then had a rookie non-trained customer service check us in.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
2 out of 5
Food was basically the same bland thing every single day, even in the restaurants. Taste and Manhattan restaurant had the "Exact Same Menu". Food taste and non-alcohol drinks were a 2 star, bar drinks were a 4 star.
Onboard Activities
3 out of 5
Pools much too small for the amount of guests and not enough lounge chairs to accommodate on sunny days at sea. People drop a towel at 7:30 AM and leave the chairs for hours or never return. Fitness center was nice and we upgraded to the thermal SPA. The SPA was great and I highly recommend it to get away from the huge crowds of people. Even got a deep tissue massage (which was awesome), but cost $200 each. SPA & Fitness was 5 star, the rest of the activities rank as a 1, so I averaged it a 3.
Entertainment
2 out of 5
Headlineers comedy and Howling Moon shows were very good. That's about it! Went to one drag queen show in the EPIC theater and it was not good. Went back for Burn the Floor and left after 20 minutes. All other shows were an upcharge on an already $6,000 cruise budget seemed unfair. EPIC theater is also very dated looking. Royal Caribbean shows are so much better and no upcharge for bad shows.
Children's Programs
Childern are grown
Service and Staff
4 out of 5
All in all pretty good. Service in the restaurants other than the Garden and o"sheenahans was below par. Taste and Manhattan were slow and not so friendly. Room steward was great and we tipped him well in the end. Not enough bars in the pool area. Only one bar and not enough bartenders, poor guys work 14 hour daily. Average wait time 5 minutes. People are rude and will cut in service order. Suggest moving the towel station and opening an additional bar in that area.
Ship Quality
2 out of 5
Confusing layout and very little communication. We kept asking ourselves, what are we doing or where are we going. Parts were upgraded and clean and others were dated.
Cabin / Stateroom
3 out of 5
SPA area, fitness and SPA Suite was nice. The guest bed/couch was horrible to sleep on. Basically a sheet over a hard lump. The floor would have been just as comfortable. Not as big as I expected for the upgrade to the SPA Suite.
Ship tip
If going on Norweign, take a ship call the DAWN. We did that cruise 2 years ago and it was much better.
Nice beach and cool relaxing day. Not enough chairs on the beach and had to wait 2 hours on tendering. Only one bar and 15 minute line to get a drink. Same old hamburgers and hotdogs. For the most part, enjoyable.
Port was good, easy on and off. We did the Dolphin Encounter and Dunn River fall tour. Highly recommend this tour. Don't but the $40 video from the Dunn River falls. Waste of money and poor picture quality. Take water shoes and your own water camera.
We were on for Christmas....3 generations....and loved the Epic as did everyone who has posted a review. We went to all the shows and 5 upcharge restaurants and enjoyed it all. I’m sorry that your experience wasn’t as good as ours and hope your next cruise will be better for you....Safe travels.
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