Norwegian Epic Cruise Reviews - Reviews

The cruise was good.   We enjoyed the shows.  The wait staff was always respectful and cheerful.  The bartenders at the bar on the 5th level were outstanding in remembering our names and what we drank and where we were going.  The food in the sit down restaurants was excellent except maybe a large vegie serving with our meals would have been desirable.  The buffet was good but not a fan of them in general.  Otherwise, all good.

Our trip to Italy aboard the Epic was not as we remember previous trips with Norwegian.

While our cabin was great we never met our cabin steward at all through out the entire trip.

There was lack of toilet papers and towels on a few days in which we had to find a steward and ask for supplies of this nature.

The coffee pot in which we used one time only because when we went back to use it a second time there was the same OLD coffee grinds from the previous use in the pot turning to mold.

Among the staff aboard the ship there was a language barrier rather often it was sometimes hard to communicate.

When entering a port we were told to be ready a certain time in which we were up early enough and we were ready to go only to find we had to wait additional time to get off the ship.

The food on the ship was very good, except for the wait time in the main dinning room as well as Cagney's Steak House.

By the time we were seated it took at least two hours or close to it to be served and at Cagney's Steak House one of our meals came out very cold.

The entertainment aboard the Breakaway was the best.

The entertainment aboard the Epic was ok.

Overall I was not as happy with my cruise aboard the Epic this time.

Thank you Mike and Cathy

This is one of the best value money can buy..

The cruise itself is simply awesome with its service and excursions and I will have to say that it is the best if not the only way to see this many places in Europe with little or no stress. I have been to Europe on train and hotels and it is not the same. It is more expensive and a lot of trouble to go from hotel to station and work out multiple logistics.

Not to mention the food in the cruise and the service - simply amazing.

The staff was friendly, helpful and the ship was easy to navigate.  NCL is our favorite cruise line with a very relaxed feel and great dining options.

absolutely middle class of cruises. except food - 5+. And please  - make your staff in restaurants and in the cabin smiling! It is necessary for the vacation!

Generally it was a good trip except the information desk service.

The service was poor and didn't guide well.

Example, I was waiting almost one hour (take too long time to wait to talk!) to get the port information I visited, however the service desk didn't give any information  and the lady didn't know anything.

the cruise, itself, was very good. We had the beverage package and also bought the 3 meal specialty restaurant package. We did not have any issues with the room, as others have complained. Lots of storage! Actually liked having the commode separate from shower and then the sink in the room!

we did have issues with their wifi! Expensive and slow! Then, if you want to text your cabin-mate, it's another $9.95/each! 

Also, bought 3 items in the Spa, but, when we asked for a Vat Form, it seemed that no one knew what to do! When, we did get it, it did not agree with the computer generated receipts that we received when purchasing the items. For that reason alone, I will not sale on NCL again! I should have gotten back $45 in Vat taxes, and all I could reclaim was $24!

Dining was the best part.  The food was good in the main dining rooms.  No need to pay to eat at a specialty restaurant.  Also, over the years the number of specialty restaurants that charge extra has grown.  I don't like this.

As for the worst part, getting aboard this ship in Barcelona was a nightmare.  Extremely poorly handled.  We too a cruise on this very ship in December out of Port Canaveral and it was an orderly process to board.  It took us in December less than half an hour from start to finish to board.  In Barcelona it took us nearly two complete hours to get to our cabin.  Very, very bad.

In general, I've been on NCL ships since 2000.  In the 16 or 17 years, the new ships have smaller and smaller cabins for each class.  Its just a way of charging more and more for the same accommodations.  I am not a fan anymore.  I am Latitudes Gold and didn't get much in the way of upgrades, etc. because of it.  NCLs loyalty program needs to reward its Gold members better.

The Haven experience was NOT worth the money.  We only saw our butler 2 x over a 7 day period.  Save your money...book a suite and call it a day :).  The shows were good...the food just average.  We ate in most of the speciality restaurants with Le Bistro being our favorite.

The ship  at full capacity is really tough to navigate,  even though the amenities of a big ship are nice, you wait for everything. Also their customer service is corporate  polite and not really friendly.  Also they uncharge the heck out of you!  The buffet while not classy was  impeccable, clean and good food.  The rooms are a bit tired, rugs dingy bed spread drooping etc...

Just about every time I asked a question wether a food was gluten free I received a different answer for that food. Heard complains about eating from other gluten free travelers. Food had not cards letting us know what was in it.

Checked out teen club to make sure it was not just video game playing.

Was assured that this was not the case. My son went the first day and there was to be an activity, but he was told to play video games......wow. Went back to speak about this and was told no adults allowed..... They had a guy named Turtle (big drug user in tv show?) who talked to me like I was a joke. He had a big smile when I tried to speak to him at end of cruise about a few matters. Only took this company for my 13 year old son. Bad choice. Asked in beginning if my son could go to 12 and under club, he wanted to be active on the ship, they said no he had to go to teen club because he was now 13.

So me and my son kept busy playing all these games on board and got cards checked off, to find myself and my son going all around the ship, by the instructions of stafff who really had no idea where to collect my sons gift. Spend a couple hours been sent from one end of the ship to the other to get nothing but excuses. To top it off I met Turtle.......

If you are gluten free or don t want your kids playing Vedio games all cruise.

Look else where. Please pass this on to the cruise line.

I expected a very nice cruise line but was quickly disappointed, The best part of NCL is the majority of their employees, we met some wonderful people.

The food at the buffet was terrible, no flavor no variety, and every time you turned around the staff was saying you needed to pay more money, the ship was very crowded

I really did not like all the extra charges on the ship, even for decent coffee, nothing special, just a decent cup, the coffee they served to the masses was very low quality.

I wont use this cruise line again

There was not enough security to manage the teenagers at night

Some of the food was missing in the garden cafe such as smoked salmon, prunes an nuts. Had to continually ask for it. Shortage of lounge chairs on the deckNeed 

food and food service were excellent except for desserts.

desserts were not alway top notch  

Personnel were courteous and efficient

spa personnel were not always polite

spa facilities were not always A quality

   No towels or robes

   Sauna not operating

   Paint peeling on ceiling 

This was a great cruise.  The ports were beautiful.  The entertainment, food and accommodations were very good.  I highly recommend this cruise.  I have been on 40 cruises and this was among the top.

The food in ALL restaurants was wonderful.  The service was exceptional. The wait staff anticipated your needs. We really enjoyed the entertainment -- the shows were unique. The shore trips were nothing special.  I was told to stay on the bus by the guide because the Malaga trip required walking   -- not as advertised. Meanwhile, we had actually traveled only a short distance from the pier. There were 4 computers for 4000 passengers and only 2 worked all of the time!!  Very few quiet places to read a book.The atrium was sooooo noisy and crowded. The room design was insane.  One closet and no shelves in it for 4 people.I lived out of my suitcase.  I sat on the edge of my bed to brush my teeth in the room sink.  You had to walk sideways to move through the room.  The pillows were so hard they were unusable.  To plug in anything on the tiny shelf by the head of the bed  you had to plug in an extension cord across the room as it draped over the bed -- a real safety issue. The balcony room was too small to store my scoot-around.  It had to be taken away for storage each night.  Our "perks" -- free tips and 2 night's free specialty dining were a real plus.Unless I was in an inside room, I would never travel on the Epic again. Too bad because I like trans-Atlantic crossings.  Our favorite part of the day --tea time.

Our cruise was a calm crossing interspersed with 3 delightful port days in Bermuda, Madeira and Malaga. The entertainment on board was excellent, particularly Priscilla, Burn the Floor, Epic Beatles and Siglo. The food in general was good but we were very disappointed with Cagney's, the Ribeye steak was not the best and was very dry. I had better in Florida before we left at a much lower price.

We were also disappointed with the beds in our balcony stateroom which were comfortable enough but too short. I am only 5 feet 9 inches but my feet hang out over the bottom of the bed ! Also on a couple of days when the 9 am fit dance couldn't be held outside it was cancelled instead of being moved inside. The Bliss lounge was vacant and could have been used but was not. In general the Bliss lounge was under used the whole voyage.

We are still disappointed to find that smoking is still allowed in the casino.

Great food in the Cafe.  Beautiful ship.  Great service and Entertainment.  The ship handles so nicely on the water .  The Captain and crew were great 

The free style dinning was great, many restaurants to choose from. The staff was very friendly.  I think smoking on the balcony should be allowed.  The layout of the bathroom was not good, not private. The entertainment was OK, could be improved. The same entertainment, this needs improvement. 

Everything was great! Relaxing! There moments but when you have thousands of people on board expect it! The crew was helpful, professional with a couple of exceptions. Food was good and ship was full of activities.