Nice cruise, Crowded.

Item: Norwegian Epic
Rating: 4.2
Author: KingKamehameha

Norwegian Epic Cruise Review to Caribbean - Southern

KingKamehameha

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 1 cruise (first)

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 27

Overall rating:

4.2 out of 5

7 Night Southern Caribbean (San Juan Roundtrip)

Sail date: January 15, 2023

Ship: Norwegian Epic

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 8007

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 1 year ago

Review summary

Fun, but very crowded ship. Norwegian Epic was over 6000 persons with passengers and crew. Instead of relaxing, we had to compete for every activity. It felt as if every activity was a nickel and dime ploy to wrest money from the customers. We felt more like marks, than guests.

Embarkation

4 out of 5

Long lines

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5

Specialty restaurants were good, but crowding limited access.

The Manhattan Room

3 out of 5

The food was OK, the service was really slow and caused us to miss a show. A member of our party was turned away for wearing shorts. Long pants are required.

Taste

5 out of 5

Good food and excellent service. Little crowded, but taste was consistently good. Sit down breakfast was a excellent alternative to the buffet at The Garden Café.

O'Sheehans Neighborhood Bar and Grill

2 out of 5

The food was so so, and the service was terrible. We were consistently ignored, and had to wait a long time. It was crowded, and it felt like the staff was overwhelmed.

Garden Cafe

5 out of 5

Surprisingly good food. Somewhat crowded, but always found a seat.

Cagney's Steakhouse

4 out of 5

Good food. Good service

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5

Good fitness center. Outdoor track has limited views. Crowding limited access to water slides, pools, and hot tubs.

Fitness Center

5 out of 5

Excellent with a great view. Good selection and one of the few things on board that wasn’t overcrowded. Excellent showers better that stateroom.

Jogging Track

3 out of 5

The view is blocked by life boats. It is only one side of the ship and feels like It was added as an afterthought. It would’ve been much more enjoyable if it went all the way around the boat in the loop.

Epic Plunge

3 out of 5

45 minute wait for 60 second ride. Over crowded. Great view from the top.

Entertainment

4 out of 5

Howling at the moon (pianos) with Rhonda Hughs was excellent. The Epic Beatles show was great, if you got there 1.5 hours ahead of time to get into to the very limited seating (too crowded).

Epic Theatre

3 out of 5

The theater was good. The show was not so good.

Children's Programs

No kids on trip

Service and Staff

4 out of 5

Room steward excellent. Service at O’Sheehans was terrible. Service at the Manhattan Room was slow (we missed a show because of the slow service (too Crowded). Service at ztaste was excellent

Ship Quality

3 out of 5

Ship has an odd design with cramped staterooms (balcony). The toilet and shower are just inside the door off the corridor. It was so crowded, it was hard to get on an elevator.

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5

Small. Clean. Joke sink. Balcony wasn’t full view. View was from a waist high oval port through the hull.

Ship tip

Try to go when the ship isn’t full capacity. The staff and facilities were overwhelmed. Every activity was a ploy to get us to spend more. Was a but like being in the mall on Christmas Eve.

Thumbs up

Ports of call

San Juan, Puerto Rico

5 out of 5

Walked old San Juan.

Thumbs Up 0

Oranjestad, Aruba

5 out of 5

Catamaran snorkel to a wreck was fun

Thumbs Up 0

Willemstad, Curacao

5 out of 5

Walked into town, snorkeled.

Thumbs Up 0

Kralendijk, Bonaire

5 out of 5

Short time in port prevented most excursions and activities. We just walked around town.

Thumbs Up 0

Castries, St. Lucia

5 out of 5

The Pitons, Marigot Bay were beautiful (excursion).

Thumbs Up 0

Basseterre, St. Kitts

5 out of 5

Brimstone fort excursion was great.

Thumbs Up 0

Disembarkation

5 out of 5

Waited in a long line.

Traveler Photos

9 Comments

Jerrec 1 year ago

Not really sure why you include the crew in the passenger count. They aren’t vying for restaurants or shows. The Epic has a normal occupancy of around 4,000 guests. With that many people things are going to be crowded. New RCL ships are pushing 7,000 passengers now, so 4,000 isn’t bad in comparison to some.

Thumbs Up 0

Flag

crusin4gramma 1 year ago

I for one, love the Epic! We had no issues what so ever. When you book a ship that carries 6000 passangers you should expect it to feel a bit crowded. Not sure why people complain about it when they clearly didn't care when they booked it. Were you expecting them to only sell half the rooms?? We are post covid!!

Thumbs Up 0

Flag

Schlinger 1 year ago

I hated the Epic, and we only had 1300 or so passengers last year. NCL is a nickel and dime operation, the premium plus package I paid an additional $500 for was a joke, the Good and Beverages Manager called the bar to tell them NOT to serve me the Veuve Cliquot Rosé. If you don't feel disrespected enough in life, I'd highly recommend NCL. They'll exceed your expectations for sure.

Thumbs Up 0

Flag

MullFamily 1 year ago

Thanks for the detailed review. We travel on Epic in 3 weeks so is really helpful to know these timely updates so that we will now be able to better anticipate the challenges how we’ll need to manage our time and expectations.

Thumbs Up 0

Flag

Ship2Shora 1 year ago

Cruising with 6K peeps is a challenge for sure

Thumbs Up 1

Flag

Gwbigdog 1 year ago

Thanks for sharing your cruise

Thumbs Up 0

Flag

ScubaDaveHash 1 year ago

Thanks for your review

Thumbs Up 0

Flag

michelleb1127 1 year ago

Glad you enjoyed the ports at least.

Thumbs Up 0

Flag

javawoody 1 year ago

Appreciate the review

Thumbs Up 0

Flag

Other reviews of this sailing

Amazing Southern Caribbean cruise

Great itinerary, but too large, too crowded

Crowded and Loud