Okay cruise

Item: Norwegian Epic
Rating: 3.4
Author: kblaisdell85639

Norwegian Epic Cruise Review to Caribbean - Southern

kblaisdell85639

Contributor Level: Deck Hand

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 15

Overall rating:

3.4 out of 5

7 Night Southern Caribbean (San Juan Roundtrip)

Sail date: December 23, 2022

Ship: Norwegian Epic

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 10198

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 1 year ago

Review summary

Overall, I'd say this was an okay cruise in comparison to other cruises we've been on. We've cruised out of Puerto Rico before and had a much better experience with the whole process. Once on the ship, it was not bad, but not amazing either. Something about the layout of the boat just didn't entice us. We enjoyed most ports (with the exception of Grenada). Service and food were good!

Embarkation

1 out of 5

Due to an issue with customs not clearing the ship from the previous boarding, passengers were not allowed to start boarding at the regularly scheduled time which should have been 12pm. The weird part is that NCL's check in at the dock begins much before that . . . we were scheduled for 11am to check in, but due to travel issues, we did not arrive at the port until 2pm. When we arrived there was an enormous line, that got much worse after us. We stood in line for over 3 hours to finally get on the ship near 5:30pm. We tried not to complain as others waited so much longer than we did and were also thankful that there was good weather because it would have been an even worse experience if it were raining. Finally around 3:30pm they brought out water (which you had to leave line to go get so if you had been traveling solo, you'd have been out of luck). We've cruised many times, with NCL and other cruise lines, so we are used to some lines and waiting, but our embarkation has never been this bad (not to mention there was no communication about what was going on). Needless to say, our ship did not depart at even close to the time it was supposed to as passengers were still getting on at the time we were supposed to be sailing out. It was not a great start to our trip!

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5

Food was great! Drinks were okay.

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

Entertainment

4 out of 5

LOVED Howl at the Moon (dueling pianos)!!! Comedians were lame unfortunately.

Service and Staff

4 out of 5

Eugene in the Manhattan dining room was awesome!

Ship Quality

3 out of 5

Very different ship design than what we've previously been on. Casino is all of floor 6 (thankfully non-smoking).

Cabin / Stateroom

2 out of 5

Again, weird layout of the cabin and HATED that there was no private bathroom (the shower and the toilet each had a separate door but were open to the room with only a sliding curtain to separate). Warning, you can hear everything in the bathroom!!!