We loved our trip and enjoyed the ports but I do not recommend Norwegian as they just don't have the staff friendliness and the policies to manage such a large ship. Examples are the internet plans, it is way overpriced and they just sell all they can without regard to the fact that many people are trying to go online then none will be able to use it. The staff seemed disconnected and did not want to be there. Again I believe that the policy of involuntary gratuity withdrawal is starting to affect the service as it is no longer looked at as a reward for good service.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Embarkation was smooth and fast.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
1 out of 5
The ship's dining rooms were lacking on service. The wait staff just really didn't want to be there. We decided just to start serving ourselves in the buffet. I think automatic gratuity withdrawal is a bad idea.
Onboard Activities
3 out of 5
Average activities for a ship. The fitness center looked good but I didn't use it.
Entertainment
1 out of 5
Awful, at least the complimentary shows were.
Service and Staff
1 out of 5
After atleast 14 cruises with other cruiselines this was by far the most uncaring and unfriendly staff I have had. There is a management problem when a ship has this many disconnected and unfriendly staff members. My cabin steward was terrible, she said her name was 'spice' from Grenada. Also false room charges and administrative errors in their favor of course.
Ship Quality
2 out of 5
The ship was clean and maintained but not enough elevators for the number of people on board. The buffet on the 15th level did seem to have enough stations for the large numbers. The bridge viewing room was unique and something I have never seen on a ship before.
Cabin / Stateroom
2 out of 5
The design of the state room(balcony on deck 9) was awkward as the bathroom was in the room. To step out of the shower one is in the cabin entryway. The toilet is across the room entryway from the shower and the sink is in the bedroom.
Ship tip
Don't buy the internet service. It is awful and expensive. Almost like using one router for the whole ship.
We boarded the ship here but many boarded in Barcelona and the ships automated systems seemed to think we did too. They even cut off our messenger service(we purchased it for the week) in Barcelona as if we were ending our cruise there.
I enjoyed this port as we visited the top of the Leaning tower of Pisa. We purchased our excursion separately from the ship and saved about 50 percent.
I loved this port. Two of us went cliff jumping and had the best time of the cruise. This excursion was not offered by the ship so we brought our passports and a credit card so we could get to the next port in case we didn't make it back to the ship in time. Our wives went on the hop on hop off tour bus, bought separately from the ship. They enjoyed their day also.
We spent too much time touring the castle but the views were excellent. Also went on the hop on hop off bus, purchased from the bus itself. It is not worth paying the cruise ship a 50 percent premium for the same thing we could get at the port.
We visited Pompeii on an excursion purchased on Vacations to Go before the cruise. Good move on our part as everything went great and we enjoyed our tour. We walked around Naples after the tour. Tip: Be a little more cautious in Naples.
Tbonee, sorry to hear you experienced the same appalling lack of customer service as we did on Epic. Our least favorite ship of all time and we've been on a lot of different ships. Glad you had fun in your ports of call. Great itinerary!
I have been on the Epic twice..a year apart. I found the staff to be pleasant and very accommodating. The food was wonderful, and the choices were great. I had a studio cabin on both trips....no complaints.
The freestyle cruising is very different at times than any other cruiseline, but that does not make it bad.
To each his/her own.
I forgot to mention the made up charges to our room. Our steward charged us for mini bar use that we did not incur. She didn't inventory the mini bar before we boarded and charged us for the missing items. We got it corrected after several hours taken out of our vacation.
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