Norwegian Epic Cruise Reviews - Reviews

holds too many passengers for the size of its facilities. Everything seemed crowded. Couldn't walk anywhere without shoulder to shoulder crowds. The elevators were the worst. There were not nearly enough of them. We had wait times of 5-10 minutes each time we needed one. Also the elevators were only located fore and aft none midship so it was a long walk from almost all cabins to get anywhere. 

No gorgeous stepping lobby, but plenty card game tables, good theater, good foods restourants (except Japanese Teppan & Sushi, Chinese) 

The ship too big it is easy for finding out the ship where located in the harbour.

But the most impressive thing, still Spain.is Marine Kingdom in the Mediterranean and Spanish Islands, they have big enough port faclity for this big ship.

 This was the first visit to this country, my image in my brain, it's for bull fighting and Don Quixote, that was nonsence. every anchorages looked like Wikiki Oahu, newer big glass buildings and palm tree roads, except Tangier Morocco.

At Chiristmas, New year season, majority were Spanish + Portugal speaking people, over 2000/4100.(capacity 4200), the entertaiment manager Jill (Edinbourgh born lady said), she speaks Spanish. Everlasting spring Canary Islands、you need swim suits and T-shirts.

Booked this cruise for a holiday family vacation. Booked everything from the actual cruise, to flights, airport transportation, and shore excursions through Norwegian. Needless to say that this was not an inexpensive vacation. 

When we arrived at Barcelona the airline did not bring four of six luggages from Miami. Although, it was the airline who did not physically place the luggages on the plane, I did no business with the airline and Norwegian should have more control of making sure luggages get to the city of port. Four people boarded the cruise chip with no clothes.

When we went to guest services, they refused to take any responsibility and offered $200 onboard credit. $200 for four people/ 3 room reservations. We had no other choice but to purchase clothes at the gift shop. As if the fact that they carry no real variety of clothes, any decent sweaters for the cold, and no undergarments, a shirt was approx. $80 and pants no less than $120. Norwegian refused to give us anything other than $200 onboard credit for the entire cruise for four people without luggage. 

When I asked what the policy was for lost luggage and onboard credit, they said it was $200 per room/reservation. When I explained that we had 3 staterooms, Aminta, the guest services manager, said that she would have to get back to me. After chasing for her, she said we were not applicable because we had only made 1 bag claim (well, of course why complicate things and make 1 instead of 4). 

I had to cancel shore excursions because my grandfather did not receive his medication and could not walk anywhere due to heart problems. In addition, he was feeling short of breath and we had to visit the medical center on board. After explaining the situation, they still charged us with the consultation and cost of medication. 

I spent more time at the guest services desk than anywhere else on the cruise. The staff did not seem to make our serious luggage problem a priority. We had to check in regularly to make sure they would reach out to the airline/airport to check on the status of our luggages. 

After four days without any clothing, we received our luggages to find out one was still missing. I called Tamera De Beer, one of the guest services coordinator, to find out Norwegian had been giving the airport/airline the wrong information about the last luggage. One person did not have luggage all cruise long because of the incompetence of the Norwegian's staff. 

In addition, reserving specialty restaurants was impossible. We managed to get one dinner at 5:30 PM and not at the restaurant of choice. Restaurant service was poor, even when the restaurant was not at maximum capacity. 

Overall, the worst cruising experience I have had. 

This ship has 4400 passengers, 1700 crew, is 19 stories and a theater that seats only 800.  That explains a lot.  They have crammed every space to put more people on board and the theaters, to bars, to dining rooms can't handle the capacity with the grace and excellence expected on a cruise.  It is TOO big and the rooms inconveniently have glass showers and toilet areas with little privacy other than a curtain rather than a bathroom enclosed area.  No bank of center elevators cause walking up to 15 to eat or down to 5/6 for dinner shop etc. a bit tough on the legs for stairs with many older passengers who needed the limited elevators.  Staff is great but the flaw lies in the design trying to put too many passengers on a big beautiful ship that the venues can't accommodate. Although have taken NCL before and may again, I will NOT ever take a ship with this design. 

The itinerary was fantastic. Tangiers was only so-so, but I got a chance to stand on the African continent. The other stops were very nice, I never took an excursion, just wandered the towns to get a local feel.

The ship itself is a marvel, with 17 decks there was plenty to see and do. I invested in the Spa package on the 1st day and it was well worth it. Sauna, hot tubs and steam rooms with plenty of places to relax and enjoy.

The food was really good, I dined in the buffet for the most part and it was very high quality for buffet dining. The specialty restaurants were good as well, especially the Brazilian steakhouse. I did feel a bit rushed at the end of my meal as I was dining alone and people came up every 2 minutes or so to ask if I needed anything else.

The studio suites are brilliant. Lots of single travelers (mostly retired) who like to have fun.

We chose this particular cruise for the destinations; Morocco and the Canary Islands were places we had not yet visited. We booked a Haven Spa suite admittedly  without fully undestanding what "spa suite" actually meant.  In my world, "suite" connotes roomy accommodations with a place (perhaps a desk) to work or at least a place to sit and relax.  In reality the spa suite consisted of a strange round bed and a jacuzzi tub at the foot of it.  There wasn't even a chair in the room (unless you count the chairs on the veranda).  The bathroom area was separated by a flimsy curtain.  Each time the toilet was used the light came on  and stayed on for several minutes--a real  annoyance in the mIddle of the night.  Our steward and butler were great; they kept our room well cleaned and stocked with Nespresso coffee.  The Nespresso coffee maker was a nice touch!

The ship itself is enormous, however there are  no real places  to sit and relax that are not connected to some sort of bar.  It is as if every square inch of the ship is devoted to accruing revenue.

The excursions were well planned and executed.  The highlight for us, the Alhambra, went off as planned and was worth the 9+ hour day.

We like the Garden Buffet very much.  The food was imaginative, plentiful and the pleasant staff worked tirelessly to keep the tables clean. The other restaurants were more average in quality and service.

We saw one show, Prscilla, Queen of the Desert and found it entertaining and very professional.

It was our first, and most likely last time taking one of the "mega-ships".  They really are just too big; we always felt a little embarrassed when returning to it at the end of an excursion.

This was our family's fifth cruise and the second one with Norwegian.  We did not like the design of the cabins with the shower on one side, the toilet on another, and the rest of the cabin separated by a curtain with the smallest sink right in front of the bed.  In one cabin the mattress smelled like piss which had to be changed.  The cabin also smelled of smoke.  As a matter of fact, the theater always smelled like smoke, when we went there for a show or to exit the ship during our tours.  Pictures with the captain was a disaster.  We were told in advance that he does not shake hands.  He not only did not shake hands, but he barely acknowledge us, he had a bad attitude.  Even my children commented on his attitude and the attitude of the rest of the staff. It was obviously that the poor customer service and bad attitude displayed by the staff was a reflection of the leadership.  We wrote a letter to them addressing all the issues we had, they sent us a poor reply only addressing the handshaking comment, indicating that it was policy for the staff not to shake hands.  This was a 30 minute photo session, it would not have killed the captain to shake hands and immediately sanitize or wash his hands after the session.  But even if he did not shake hands, he should have had a better attitude by addressing the guess who came to take pictures with him. My daughter had an appointment with the hair stylist and she was late.  We had another appointment with the photo studio and wanted to see a show, we had to change our scheduled and missed the show. The stylist barely apologized.  The service at the complementary restaurant was always slow with staff who had poor attitude.  We saw waiters picking their nose or not covering their cough.  The cruise was not what we were expecting.  All of our other cruises had happy staff who provided great service.  Our cabin attendant was the only one who provided the service we associate with cruising.  The operator always provided bad information after putting the caller on hold for a very long time each and every time.

The ship was awesome, food was fair and staff was ok (some great, others were sad). My issues were that I was now "obligated" to pay gratuities (or service fees....whatever they wish to call the fees) based on NCL's formula and new rate of $13.50 per day/per person. And I had no idea they wouldn't adjust this on the ship anymore (must send in a form and wait two weeks to get a refund). I prefer to provide such gratuities on MY OWN terms. To make matters worse they charged me twice for my room...so, now I have over $400 held up days before Christmas! In addition, $8.95 for room service at any time of day?? NCL has gotten ridiculously greedy and I think I've sailed my final trip with them. By the way, I've called twice and waited over 30 minutes for nothing- guess I'm not the only pissed customer! 

no good  I buy the ticket . U sale said I had $ 50. in ship credit. but on the ship me and my friend did had  why?  If u did this I can buy the ticket in Vacation to go or u did not say any think

The Norwegian Epic was an enormous cruise ship. It had 17 levels and held 4,000 passengers. The basic problem with the ship was Norwegian did not hire enough staff. The following are a few examples of my experience that back up this comment. We were 8 women traveling together. We often spent our afternoons on Deck 16 at the H20 bar. There were often 20-30 people at that bar and it was staffed with only 2 bartenders. Very rarely was anyone available to come to your table to ask if you wanted anything so you had to go to the bar and wait for at least 5-10 minutes to get a drink and longer if you wanted a frozen mixed drink. The same was true at the bar across from Sheehan's, the Irish Pub. If you wanted a drink, once again no one came to you, you had to go to the bar and wait. This bar too was very crowded so waiting 10-15 minutes could happen.

The day we were arriving in Gran Canaria, we had a confirmation that we were on a Shore Excursion, however, tickets were never delivered to our cabin. Considering that we had two days at sea and one in Morocco prior to Gran Canaria, we should have received our tickets, but we never got them. On the evening prior to arriving at Gran Canaria, I went to the Shore Excursion desk, but they were closed. So I went to the customer service desk and they advised that they couldn't do anything about it and that the Shore Excursion desk would be open at 6:00 a.m. The day we arrived at Gran Canaria. I awoke early because our excursion was to leave at 9:15 a.m. and I wanted to have the tickets prior to the shore excursion meeting time. There was no one at the Shore Excursion desk that morning and I was told to wait by the Epic theater where staff would be to assist. No one arrived until 8:30 a.m. and initially told me there was nothing they could do. Finally, someone else arrived and told me to follow him to the Shore Excursion desk. They were finally able to either print new tickets or give me the tickets they never delivered to my cabin. I do not understand how NCL could allow no one to be at the Shore Excursion Desk when Shore Excursions were happening and guests may need help or assistance.

Our cabin steward was excellent, our cabin number was 11287 and I am sorry that I cannot remember the steward's name, but it was something like Katut. Although he was very good at his job, our cabin was in great need of repairs. Our telephone did not work. Our headset did not allow us to talk to anyone and although I could hear a message, I could not call anyone back. This took 3 days to repair. On the first day at sea, I noticed that I could not change the channel on our TV. I reported this to our cabin steward and to customer service at their desk. This also took 2 days to be repaired and numerous wires had to be replaced in order for it to work. On the next to last day of the cruise, our TV and both 110 outlets died. This time our cabin steward was able to report it and it was taken care of within a few hours. NCL needed more staff working on the electrical problems as I understand there were many on board. 

For these reasons I could not rate the cruise with more than a "good" rating.

The Mediterranean Cruises was excellent. I was jus disappointed from all the deception by Norwegian on the promotions from the website. I was suppose to get this or that promotions plus the on board credits. But it's all lies, I didn't get any. I've already planning on taking two more cruises next year. I guest, I'll look for a different cruise line.

as far as the actual trip was concerned it was wonderful. we spent quality time together and my teenage boys had the best European experience. the ports of call were amazing and we did everything on our bucket list. however the ship itself was a little bit of a disappointment. we didn't find it to be very flowing and/or accommodating. the staterooms were way to small and not set up in the most comfortable way. the reservations for shows were a total inconvenience. the food was not up to par compared to other cruise lines we have traveled with. all in all,the time spent with our loved ones outweighed the inconvenience of the actual ship but unfortunately when when we cruise again I think I will opt for another cruise line instead of NCL. 

This Norwegian ship is different with another cruise ship: We  don't like to register the show that we want to see. Another cruise ship didn't require that, first come first serve, we realized because the Epic theater is small, only has one level.

But the shows were interesting.

If no other option we would travel ncl again.  But rooms are so tiny.  Shop hard to navigate.  Only way is if we get ultimate meal package included so that we could get a decent meal. Service horrible.  They try to get you to tip very frequently.  Prepayment your tips. Theses pets are beautiful so we are glad we went but not alot of other options for this region. Carnival the best. 

We had built up quite an expectation and excitement as we learned more about the ship. We should have picked up on the push towards buying into the specialty restaurants. The complementary food was disappointing, with the focus on quantity not quality. The free food areas also closed early, except for one restaurant, O'Sheehan's., but the menu was the same every night so it got boring. If you want anything else, there's the room service, but you'll be charged for most items (except for basic continental breakfast items) plus a delivery charge of $7.95 on top of the typical 18% gratuity and other fees. The service was lackluster in both main dining rooms from the hostesses and the wait staff. I think a hostess smiled once or twice, but aside from the perfunctory "Good evening," they usually had quite a scowl. One hostess at O'Sheehan's completely ignored my daughter for several minutes even though she stood slightly to the left of the check-in podium. Once done with the previous customer, she immediately addressed the couple behind her. It took a few seconds of awkward eye contact between my daughter and the other couple, before the hostess even bothered to acknowledge my daughter without so much as an apology.  A couple more visits later resulted in not correctly delivering items ordered, denying they were ever ordered. Going to the complementary restaurants do not evoke any pleasant feelings. There was an evening when they seated my family of five at a table only to be told we had to move because no waiter was scheduled to serve that table. Weird, but okay so we moved. A few minutes after got reseated, we saw another group get seated to our old table, and was promptly serviced. The wait times between our courses got so bad that my granddaughter started running the stopwatch on her phone. Average wait time between appetizers to main course and main course to desserts were 23 minutes.  You do get what you pay for. I hope the specialty restaurants had better service at least. 

My daughter who is great finding deals could not be convinced to participate in the future cruise promotion they run, which she even admitted was a good deal. Our bad experience left such a bad taste that she's not willing to take an NCL cruise again in the near future. She says Carnival has better service and food for even lower prices, but she's willing to spend more with Princess or Royal Caribbean  in order to avoid NCL. 

The ports of call were definitely the highlight of the cruise along with the entertainment staff at Burn the Floor, Priscilla Queen of the Desert, and Cirque. Kudos to the entertainment staff! 

I enjoyed the cruise.  I wasn't very pleased with the placement of my room - I didn't realize that my room fronted the Spa stairwell - the room was dusty and did not improve - the food in the main dining hall was inedible - we chose to eat at the restaurants with the Moderno being our top choice.  We ate there 3 out of the seven nights.  The only thing I intensely disliked was the fact that you were requested to pay $15 for the shuttle or take a taxi which is what we opted to do.  Other than that I highly recommend this cruise.

Overall the ship is very nice and the entertainment was amazing.  The different locations were great.  The staff on the other hand were rude and obnoxious.

To me, the Epic is one of the worst looking cruise ships afloat. But once on board, her inner beauty really shines. Everywhere we went, the ship was clean and well maintained. The staff is one of the most friendly we have ever experienced. 

Dining: 

We had the ultimate dining package, so we ate dinner in specialty restaurants every night, except for Embarkation Day.

On Embarkation Day we went to O'Sheehan's for the Prime Rib dinner, and it was great. A nice sized portion, and very tasty. 

For Specialty Restaurants, we visited Cagney's twice, La Cucina, Le Bistro, Moderno, and Teppanyaki once each. At every one of them, the food and service was excellent.

We ate Breakfast in Taste 3 times, and every time something was messed up. Either our order was made incorrectly, or something was forgotten.

The Garden Buffet is just what you would expect from a buffet, long lines, food selections that get old after the second time there, food quality that is fair to good, and very hard to find a seat.

O'Sheehan's was hit or miss. We ate there 4 times total. The food was good, but the service was lacking. For instance, we never had an occasion where the waitstaff came by to ask if we needed our drinks re-filled. They sometimes seemed disinterested in what they were doing.

Entertainment:

The only stage show we watched was Priscilla, and it wasn't very good. The music was the best part. The story line, at times, was hard to follow, and the choreography was only fair.

The rest of the entertainment was pretty good. Using the Atrium as a venue for some of the game shows, like The Perfect Couple, didn't work real well. There isn't enough seats, and some of the sight lines are pretty bad. The Epic Theater would be a better choice. For something like Deal Or No Deal or Bingo, where you only need to be able to see the big screen, it works quite well. 

Having the stand up comedian in Headliners is perfect. It's just like going to a local Comedy Club at home. There isn't a bad seat in the house, and being close to the performer makes the experience more intimate and enjoyable.

Some of the traditional shows like Not So Newlywed Game and Quest weren't even scheduled, and sorely missed.

The Epic Casino is very nice. Plenty of tables and laid out quite well. The staff is very friendly and professional. Unlike what many people complain about in reviews, we did not notice any problem with cigarette smoke. It was practically non-existent.

Itinerary:

This cruise is very port intensive, with only one sea day. In Palma there really isn't much to see or do. In my opinion, they could skip the Palma stop, and have another Sea Day after Civitavecchia, or spend a second day in port, as there is way more to see in Rome than you can cover in one day. The rest of the ports are great.

I gave an overall score of very good instead of excellent  because of the cabin layout, the missing shows, and the problems with Taste.

Stopped at the leaving for airport because of account balance ( credit card was supposed to be linked)  Stateroom key card not working, it took long time and many calls to get fixed. Medical center staff behave careless once visit for kids bumping in head at pool.

Norwegian Epic is probably one of the best choices a person can make for a cruise on the Mediterranean sea. Everything is super, service, entertainment, interior, cabin, everything is perfect. Very very large ship and this freestyle cruise is a very good concept.