Norwegian Epic Cruise Reviews - Reviews

WEVE CRUISED WITH NCL BEFORE ,THIS WAS OUR FIRST TIME ON THE EPIC.WE KNEW THE CABIN LAYOUT WAS DIFFERENT TO THE NORM,BUT LIVING WITH IT FOR THE WEEK WASNT GREAT. THE FOOD WAS REALLY GOOD,SHOWS GREAT,WE WILL DEFINATELY CRUISE WITH NCL AGAIN BUT NOT ON THE EPIC SIMPLY FOR THE CABIN LAYOUT,ANYBODY THINKING OF CRUISING WITH THE EPIC RESEARCH THE CABIN LAYOUT AND IF IT SUITS YOU THATS FINE!

The shore excursions were great and worth the money.  In general the cruise seemed catered towards European guests.  It was also a "revolving" cruise so embarkation was easy with only a few hundred guests getting on/off in Rome.

Love everything, food excellent  and  the variety that was available. I also like that you had  restaurants opened late or all night.

Shows were good but could be better.

Small pool, too crowded.

The entertainment on the ship was excellent. Our granddaughter loved the kid's club. The itinerary was great. However, the stateroom was not great. The beds were too short and my husband's and my feet hung over the end. The couch our grown daughter slept on was very awkward and not big enough. We did not care for the toilet and shower situation, being able to see the person inside using them. We also thought the food in the two main dining rooms was mediocre. Even though this is "freestyle" dining I had to make dinner reservations for the free dining rooms with NCL before we even got on board just so we could eat when we wanted to without waiting.  This ship is just too big with too many passengers. Every night every seat on the three main public floors was taken and we literally had to take our drinks back to our room to sit down. There was no quiet place to sit. We have cruised quite a bit and on every other ship there have always been places where we could sit and relax in the evening without having to be in a bar.

 Been on many cruises and this by far was the most disappointing. 

-we didn't like freestyle dining at all. No relationship with servers and hard to coordinate with evening entertainment 

-having to make a reservation for shows is absurd.  By the time you figure out what you are doing for dinner,the shows are booked 

- having passengers join and leave  the cruise at different points takes away from the cruusi f experience.didnt get the orientation to the crew or they excitement that comes on a first day. Many first time cruisers were totally confused. 

-hate the bathroom and toilet being the main cabin with no door. Compromises ones privacy if in the shower and the other party wants to leave. 

-didn't care for being midship and no way to access the elevators and stairs without a healthy walk. Purposely positioned ourselves to get to the stairs.  (Poor design ) 

-staff were not friendly or interested. -maybe due to not being able to create relationships with folks coming and going all the time?

- no wandering bar service on the upper pool deck 

Mini Suite was OK, beds are too short for the average height person, and I did not care at all for the "open bathroom concept".  No privacy al all!! Also the tubs are too high to step in to easily, and very slippery when wet.

The dining experience was good, but not the best I ever had. The staff in the dining rooms were very nice  and helpful.

Did not get to enjoy much of the entertainment because the tours were so long and exhausting, and started so early! Did see the Men of Motown, which was great!

The tours were very rushed feeling, trying to cram too much in. There were limited times to shop, take photos and just relax. Most of the photos I took were from a moving bus window... Tour guides were very nice though. In the future I would choose to make private tour arrangements!! 

Boarding and disembarking were fairly easy.

Excellent cruise all round. The food is good in the main restaurants and there is an excellent choice of alternative dining venues at reasonable prices. The staff were very friendly and efficient and the entertainment was brilliant. Chose NCL originally as I was travelling with my grown up son and did not want to share a cabin and the studio cabins in Epic are perfect at a good price. Because of the studio lounge for single travellers my son was able to meet up with others of his own age and have a great time while I had the peace and quiet I wanted.Only negative was the price of the excursions but they were good and very well organised. Embarkation and disembarkation were both well organised and speedy.Was our second cruise on the Epic and would go again if they varied the route ports. 

the food was very good and a great variety

the cost of transporting to the airport is very expensive and not well co-ordinated

charged twice for one shore excursion with no explanation

room steward did the bare minimum  Had to ask for bath robes

guest services never answered the phone

liked the anytime dining

the ship was easy to find your way around  

the teen club was fun for our granddaughter

Outside shore excursions were late and caused stress to get back to the ship on time. 

This was our first cruise & we decided on just 7 days to see if we liked it. Well, we had no idea how big this ship was, 3800 passengers & 1700+ staff. The staff and service on board was excellent. Too many people and children for our liking. Too much noise everywhere, nowhere quiet to sit and chill out. The shows were very good, the trips booked on board were very expensive but we did outside ones which were always easy to find just off the ship. Not to be able to take bottles of water on and off the ship, even if purchased on the ship, was, to be honest, absolutely ridiculous and some cafes didn't even serve tea & coffee with the all inclusive drinks package. The food was generally good, much better in the restaurants than going for the buffet scrummage, there was never a shortage of something to eat or drink somewhere on the ship.

We will cruise again but for us, it will be a smaller vessel.

We're not super experienced cruisers.   We've been on Carnival once and Disney two times.   So, when we booked this more "value priced" cruise of the Western Med., we were prepared for less than spectacular service, food and amenities than Disney offered.   We were very pleasantly surprised with this cruise on the Epic.   The overall design and layout of the ship was quite easy to learn.   Our stateroom (just an inside cabin) felt like a much larger space due to the very clever and effective storage features and efficient layout.   The food easily surpassed that of our previous cruises and the "Freestyle Choice" approach meant we ate where we wanted when we wanted and we never waited.   We were also suspicious of the built-in "service charge" (AKA tips) thinking that all incentive was removed and that we would not see good service.  Wrong again. Everyone from our cabin steward to the wait staff treated us like royalty.   As for the entertainment, we particularly enjoyed the small venue entertainment...Headliner's Club, Cavern Club, Pool Deck, etc.   As for the Epic Theater productions, they were very well done, extremely well staged and full of talent.   However, the shows were a bit raunchy for our taste.  With this experience we have to consider NCL on a par with Disney for our future cruising choices.

Check in and disembarkation was very quick and smooth. Our cabin, a mini-suite, had ample storage and was very comfortable.  Pre-ordered water was waiting for us.  

We knew this cruise would be port-intensive, and it was.  We took two privately booked tours, and one through the cruise line- Ultimate Rome.  Our guide for Ultimate Rome was not very good but I would still recommend this tour for someone who wants to "see it all" in Rome.  The port is an hour and a half from Rome and I would not risk trying to do this itinerary with a private tour, with Rome's notoriously bad traffic. 

Our privately booked tours, booked through Tour Italy and Provence Wine Tours, were both excellent.  

Service throughout the ship was excellent. The entertainment was the best I've experienced on any cruise ship, especially the Priscilla Queen of the Desert musical.  

Food was fine; best in the main dining rooms.  The biggest problem was cold eggs on the buffet every morning. Also, the buffet simply could not accommodate all the people trying to eat breakfast at the same time, prior to their shore excursions.  Specialty restaurants were disappointing.

Overall I would recommend.

I would say the best part of this cruise was the itinerary - the ports were awesome and we thoroughly enjoyed all the excursions we took.  The Cirque dinner show was also very well worth the extra fee (the dinner- surf and turf- was actually very appetizing.) The ShoreEx staff also were very personable, professional and knowledgeable. 

That being said, most of the rest of the cruise was very disappointing.

1- The Guest Services desk staff didn't seem to know ANYTHING (ie, on one occasion, we were told that in order to get our shore excursion promotional credits, the ShoreEx desk would cancelled all our booked excursions and then rebook them ... NOT true. ShoreEx told us that once we took the excursion, the credit would appear at the end of the day - that was the truth. On another occasion, we inquired as to how we would receive a credit due at the end of the cruise and Guest Services told us about how there was a hold on our credit card (it didn't matter the language you spoke to them in, they never seemed to understand what you needed). On a third occasion, we were advised to stand in the Onboard Credit line, and after doing so for about 10 minutes, we were told to come back the next day because the desk was closed.

2- Not many of the staff appeared to be friendly, and some even appeared bothered if you asked them a question. The only ones who would always greet you were the hard-working room stewards. We've cruised plenty and are used to happy staff members - we  didn't encounter too many on this ship.

3- The food was mediocre. Not terribly impressive, not great quality, not cooked perfectly, just average. And at the indoor buffet, a staff member was setting out cheeses as flies landed on some of the pieces but she didn't attempt to shoo them away until i brought it to her attention.

4- You have to make reservations for all the shows - yes, the free ones. I'm used to being able to walk into a cruise comedy club and if there's seats, you watch the show. Not so here - you must make a reservation for everything. Hence, we didn't partake in much of the entertainment.   

5- The Internet service was beyond horrible. My cousin purchased an Internet plan (at a pretty hefty rate) and was scammed out of the majority of her time, even after she was credited some of her time back.

6- Although all our cruise-sponsored excursions were wonderful, including the Ultimate Florence and Pisa excursion- one word of caution in Pisa. If you are doing the Tower of Pisa climb, you cannot take any bags or purses with you.  As experienced cruisers, it has been common practice to leave your belongings on the bus where the bus driver ensures they will remain safe. Not so this time ... our bus driver failed to lock the bus while he went to pay for parking and upon our return, my husband's and my belongings had been stolen. We were seated in the last seat of the bus, right by an emergency door. The Tower of Pisa area (including the bus parking) is covered by Africans selling a multitude of things and we were warned about being vigilant while walking around - but no one warned us of the negligence of the bus driver. We would definitely return to Pisa but a little more knowledgeable next time.

The entertainment was excellent but that was it. The food was lukewarm to cold in all dining areas except the Wasabi and O'Sheehans restaurants.  Wasabi's food tasted terrible. There was no variety to the menus and very few items tasted better than mediocre.  The floor in front of the buffet was so sticky at 6 am that my shoe was stuck and I had to use so much force to take a step that it broke my shoe. I reported this to someone to clean it up and they said "ok". I saw an officer and reported it again and received the same response. I then reported it to guest services. Guest services took my name and stateroom number but never heard anything more. I had to buy new shoes because of the filth.

The ship was clean and there was attention given to keeping it that way and to frequent handwashing etc. The room (studio) was adorable and just right for one person without being claustraphobic.

The food was so-so- some of it was terribly commercial and there were very few gluten free choices. I had a hamburger about 97 times because of this. I feel there could be more effort made to have a few more "clean" choices for all types of dietary restrictions. The fresh fruit was usually bad as if was toast before we set sail to begin with.

The part we liked the least was the pool area. I understand wanting to get people in the mood to have a good time but it was so loud most of the time. Too loud for us to be out there and we are only in our 50's. You could not have conversation if you were trying to eat at the outdoor cafe and you could not doze off if you were sitting out there. Others around us - every single time- were complaining about. I called to complain and was told my comment would be forwarded to the Entertainment department. This was not a spring break frat party in the Caribbean - this was a bunch of adults on a European cruise. The music did not need to be screaming loud and pulsating all day long.

I would LOVE an opportunity to put my two cents in on the gift shops. Higher quality items, drug store necessities and more variety would have sold well.

I have been on 40 cruises in my life.  Prior to this trip only one was on NCL, the Norweigian Wind about 10 years ago from Hawaii for 10 days.  It as by far the worst cruise I've ever been on and I vowed to never go on a NCL cruise again.  Vacation dollars are quite valuable to me and to waste both the money, my time and the experience on a completely terrible trip is a lasting image. 

This trip was flawless.  With nearly 5000 passengers on board I never felt cramped, rushed or slighted.  There were no lines ever and the food and entertainment was terrific.  The only restaurant that we found disappointing was Cagney's Steakhouse, worst steak on the trip, poor service and a disappointing experience. Other than this the only thing I would change is to add another sea day.  The pace of this many ports on a seven day cruise is over kill.  The pool area is so nice it's a shame not to be able to se it.

The last thing to discuss is, I am a smoker.  There are way more smokers than places to smoke.  The area on the pool deck didn't have enough space because some people camped out there with the entire families including babies, not allowing others to use the area.  I usually gamble but did not even spend even a single dine on this ship in the casino simply because the smokers were stuck back in the corner and ashtrays were difficult to find.  If the casino wants my money, they will need to earn it.  I did go to the casino in Monte Carlo and unfortunately they keep too much of my cash.  I do have status with several casinos in Vegas.  They work hard to earn my money.

This was our first time on a Mediterranean cruise. We really enjoyed the whole experience. We had a room with a balcony and it was so nice sitting on the balcony  in the evening and seeing the stars. We also had a dining package and were able to enjoy several different specialty restaurants. The ports of call were outstanding. We enjoyed the various tours we were able to participate in. 

I would recommend mend this cruise to friends and family.

I enjoyed the Mediterranean area and the places I got to visit, Although the ports were so far from any excursion points.  For example, Civiitavechhia is about an hour from port, by train, 1 1/2 hours by bus to get to Rome.  So that takes a lot of time out from the time allowed for being off the ship.  The ship was a newer one but apparently, they cut corners to have more cabins.  The pool were very small and the ship was not as elegant as most I've been on.  And I've been on a lot of Norwegian ships.  They also want to charge extra for so many things, like some of the shows, the entrance to the ice bar, cover charges for the specialty restaurants has really increased (so choose the dining package if you are able), etc.  And if you like to use the casino while cruising, this ship had very little activity - the least I've ever seen.   The solo cabins were nice and sufficient for one person.  And the access to the solo's lounge and snacks was very nice also.  It made it easy to meet other solo travelers so that is one of the best ideas they've had in a while. 

Cocktail Bar and Sun Deck.  Food was good, service excellent, if at times a little over-bearing, but not a major issue.

The ports of call were pretty naff, other than Naples.

The cruise itself was fantastic  

My room was outstanding  and the value  was great, but   I had problems  with other  issues not related  to cruise .  Highly  recommended  

We had a great time, it was an excellent cruise, everything went well. We enjoyed the food, ambiance, our cabin and all excursions. We highly recommend this beautiful journey to any travelers.