In essence, we feel betrayed by Norwegian's abusive demeanor and omnipotent behavior.. Lack of communication was the name of the game. They kept us passengers in the dark as much as possible. First so we would board the ship and not cancel. We were not told of Italy's restrictions or Turkey's not allowing the ship in. Once on board, we were at their mercy. One of the main entertainment shows didn't happen. Although offerd and we paid for it, not sure they ever planned to show it. Never heard from NCL anything about it. Then one day, the advertised duty free shopping shops charged us 24% in taxes.. Found out in my invoices when we got to the room.
Embarkation
3 out of 5
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
3 out of 5
Food continues to be mediocre, especially at buffet
Onboard Activities
3 out of 5
fitness center was good
Entertainment
1 out of 5
Cancelled theatrical show of Priscilla the Queen of the dessert w/o any type of advice or commucication from NCL . A paid amenity and the benefit never received. Nothing ever mentioned by omnipotent NCL about in-kind substitutes or reimbursement
Service and Staff
4 out of 5
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
bid for an upgraded cabin and won, was in 13210. a balcony suite. Thanks God, since we spent lots of time in it due to cancelled port visit and excursions.
Port visit was cancelled minutes after final boarding took place... NCL knew about this all along and never advised us of the fact.. We especiacally went on this cryise to se Turkey... I wouldn't have wasted the next 9 day aboard the ship, I would have gone home.
OK . we had been there 2 months ago while on the Norwegian's Jade Greek islands cruise. It was a calculated sacrifice worthwhil to vsit again, since our primary goal was to visit Turkey
Physically, we were docked in Catania, but never got off the ship... They canclled the shore excursions due to bad weatther early in the morning. It had stopped raining right after NCL's cancllation and by 11am the sun was out. We could se tour buses from our balcony traveling on city streets.
Alledged Covid restrictions by Italy, known to NCL a couple of months prior to cruise departure and never communicated to Epic passengers, granted NCL a monopoly on their overprices shore excursions.
This was the best excursion and hi momnt of this cruise. Thanks to our guide and tour operator we had plenty of free time on our own and wre able to visit most sites w/o interference. Now tell me how in Catania we don't get off the ship, in Naples they don't allow us oof the bus and then in Florence we experinced non-Covid restrictions and plenty of free time. All this in the same Italy
Priscilla has always been a complimentary show, I’m not sure how you managed to pay for it. It’s been removed from the available shows on my booking for next April for a while now, but while it was available it was certainly complimentary, as it was when I was on the Epic in 2017. Also, I do think booking a 9 day cruise based on one or 2 of the ports isn’t really advisable in current climate, itineraries are being cancelled or changed all over the place. I had an itinerary changed on a different cruiseline pre-Covid, and wasn’t informed until I was checking in at the pier and was given no explanation, it does happen unfortunately! I’m sorry you had such a bad experience, sounds like maybe communication from NCL could have been better, but some things I also think we need to accept won’t be perfect
Thanks for the review and sorry you has issues. Cruising during Covid requires patience and flexibility. Requirements and restrictions are still changing almost daily. It may be best to wait until things are back to normal before cruising again since the changes seemed to bother you.
Of all our years of cruising with differently lines, we will never sail with Norwegian again. Had a very bad experience on Epic in 2013. I can understand your frustration. Don't give up on cruising - just find another favorite.
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