Do not cruise on the Epic. No organization and total lack of concern for passengers. If it wasn't for the beverage packages people would have held a mutiny! DO NOT TAKE THE PROMOTIONAL AIRFARE. It is a nightmare! It is free (and they shove that in your face) but they are the worst flights! At the airport at 3:30am for a 5amflight to board after 2pm!!
Embarkation
1 out of 5
No organization, picked up from airport at 10 - boarding didn't start until 2 pm with lines held back until after 5 pm. Police had been called to deal with the outrage from passengers standing in line for over 4 hours without water or seating!
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
3 out of 5
Specialty restaurants were wonderful, as were main dining rooms. Buffets so overcrowded we had to walk away numerous times. Main dining room opened for breakfast only from 7-9 so there was nowhere else to go for breakfast. When you have a large ship and the space to feed people, make spaces available instead of making us feel like we are on Noah's Ark!
Onboard Activities
3 out of 5
Entertainment
3 out of 5
Dueling Pianos was very good. Burn the Floor was excellent! The Princess was less than a high school drama routine. People were walking out, as did we.
Service and Staff
3 out of 5
Our cabin steward was excellent. Unfortunately the majority of staff rarely smiled. They were so overwhelmed by the number of passengers, especially bartenders sweating while making drinks. There was a lack of staff to attend to the passengers in that there were plenty in the dining areas but O'Sheas was difficult to get a seat because of lack of busboys. Specialty dining was very good.
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
Roomy and the cabin steward was excellent.
Ship tip
DO NOT SAIL THE NORWEGIAN EPIC!!! The captain did not really care about the awful embarkment process. He came on the loudspeaker the following day to say that he was sorry for the inconvenience and that was it! How dare he minimize the exasperation the passengers had to deal with. No one could find our luggage and we were told to wait until after midnight. I was so frustrated and angry as was the majority of passengers. Such a cluster screw-up.
The Island Splendor tour was all about bringing us to 3 sites to buy things! Why would NCL encourage passengers to pay for a tour that is truly hawking wares and not about engaging passengers in an excursion of seeing "Splendors". Change the title to Island Stick-Up.
We received a notice that we were to disembark on Deck 7 Shanghai. We waited there until I checked out why it was just a few of us. Shanghai was located on Deck 6!! How do you make such a mistake? Where is accountability for the actions of a company in the hospitality industry? So disappointing.
I appreciate it every time a negative review is posted on The Epic and NCL. It helps keep prices down for those of us who enjoy the ship and line. Can you imagine how expensive it would be if every last person enjoyed everything about it? Have the 13-day TA booked for November, $1,600 all in with the UBP in a solo cabin. I've done Regent before with top notch service, excellent food and great crew to passenger ratio, but at $5K/week/person I'll take NCL.
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