This is the second time I sailed with NCL. The first was a few years ago and not a positive experience but i chalked that up to an old small ship which was on its third last cruise. I loved the itinerary of this ship, so I chose to try NCL again. What a mistake, I will not sail NCL again.
The cabins are designed in such a weird way, with the sink in the main part of the room. You cannot pass by one another in the room. No table in the room either.
The ship seemed to shudder and shake so much on reversing and maneuvering into ports. I have never experienced such noise and vibration and with having a cabin on the aft of the ship, it woke us up every day when going into port.
There is something wrong with the staffing on this ship. The vast majority of the staff are unhappy. Although most are not rude to passengers, they are clear;y unhappy. We personally witnessed two heated exchanges between wait staff and head waiters, right by our table in the main dining room. the staff in the casino are outright ignorant.
The entertainment just average at best. The 'cruise director', Clay, was about as exciting as watching paint dry. The late night comedy was the best.
Food was great and bar staff were pretty good. No complaints there.
Think twice about sailing on this ship.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
No line up and quick check in. Bags were delivered quickly.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
Food was great and drinks were cold. Bar service was relatively quick.
The wait staff in the main dining room were very unhappy people. We were witness to two heated exchanges at our table between the wait staff and head waiter. The supervisory wait staff were incredibly tyrannical. They treated their staff like garbage and walked around with so much arrogance. No wonder staff were miserable.
Onboard Activities
3 out of 5
Pools were small and entertaining around the pools were lacking. Water slides were fun. I found the decks very chopped up and hard to navigate the front to rear of the ship.
Entertainment
3 out of 5
The "cruise director", 'Clay' was so boring. Watching paint dry was more entertaining. The last 4 days we didn't hear from him. There was a female who called herself the "cruise director" but clearly English was not her first language. She didn't seem to make any difference.
The late night comedy was GREAT !.
Service and Staff
2 out of 5
We never met our Cabin Steward, so weird ! In all past cruises, one of the first persons we met was the cabin steward, but we never met him/her ? The room was clean enough but that person got no tip.
The dining room staff were miserable. Casino staff were ignorant.
There is something wrong on this ship that the staff are so unhappy.
Ship Quality
3 out of 5
Deck layouts are weird. Cannot get from the front to rear without going up or down a deck. The ship is clean enough and in good shape, just opposite layout from any RCCL or Celebrity ships i previously had been on.
I will not go back to NCL.
Cabin / Stateroom
1 out of 5
The cabin seemed ordinary size, but the sink, toilet and shower layout is so odd. We truly disliked the layout. You could not walk past each other at the end of the bed, which was at the sink. There was no table in the room.
Never met the cabin steward but the room was clean enough.
We intentionally chose a room on the aft of the ship. NEVER AGAIN ! I have never experienced a ship that vibrated and shook so much when coming into port or leaving. It was impossible to sleep in. Other people we talked to, also commented on how much vibration was present on this ship.
Ship tip
Do not select an AFT cabin ! The vibration is ridiculous !!
Second time we have been to the island. We did the volcanic mud bath which was fun. If you decide to take this trip, do not book through the ship, as you take a van there. The trip is two hours. Others booked on shore and went via boat. Better option.
We booked the Jolly Roger, but only to find out after waiting almost an hour the boat was broke down. The cruise line totally dropped the ball on this and it was very disorganized. They finally offered a alternate on a glass bottom boat, snorkeling and beach day. The glass bottom boat was a joke, as it was a little window, which they had covered up. Snorkeling was ok, but there were so many other tours in the same spot, it was very crowded. NCL dropped the ball big time !
Beautiful island which I had never stopped at before. We were disappointed when St. Maarten was taken off the itinerary but we loved Tortola even more. Certainly not a poor island compared to others.
We had purchased the "Priority"package, which was supposed to entitle us to priority disembarkation. A total rip off for this package as we gathered in a restaurant but then were just integrated into the rest of the crowd. Nothing priority about it. Fortunately the transfer to the airport was smooth.
Seems the same as when we went on it in December 2019. It’s like the ship is off balance because of the added yacht club space in the Frankenstein forehead on it. The Epic rocked more than a 60k ton ship. I also agree that the staff seems very, very unhappy. It was the exception when staff smiled. And no Derek, that doesn’t mean I won’t sail anymore, just never again on the Epic. The crew on our Getaway cruise also generally acted like passengers were insects. Two for two makes it seem to be an NCL thing.
Been on the Epic and everything was fine. Aft cabins, on most of the ships, you can feel some vibrations...Each cruise are different. The key is to enjoy the most of it😉.
I think everyone is different, the cabin design did not bother us as it was just two of us but I can see where more than that would cause an issue.... maybe. We thought the Epic itself was a beautiful ship and would travel on her again .
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