Norwegian Epic Cruise Reviews - Reviews

Poor quality, repetitive food in Garden Cafe. Like in food court in shopping mall.

Great entertainment !!!

Very highly priced drinks for being served in plastic cups.  

Good overall service.

Just returned from the 7 day Western Med cruise and it was wonderful. A balcony suite is highly recommended, and worth it because it's not that much more than a regular cabin. 

I travelled with my sister and we booked nine months in advance, I checked in with my travel agent ( Vacation Outlet) throughout the planning and we managed to qualify for free upgrades with unlimited beverage plan plus the ultimate dining plan ..these proved to be invaluable! If you can acquire these plans, please do so!! We dined in the steakhouse, Italian and French Bistro every night of the week! Cagneys is the best ( steakhouse), however the slowest service.. Prepare to wait between courses . 

The unlimited beverage plan will save you significant money over a weeks time of even light alcohol beverage indulging .. Ten dollar drinks each add up! 

As far as the port excursions.. We enjoyed them and the Rome and The Vatican one was awesome along with Florence and Tuscany Castle Wine Tasing- fabulous.. Do these! 

Not as great: Pompeii Excavation ( no petrified bodies (we expected to see these due to the historical evidence of the ruins) but they were removed and sent to the Naples Pompeii museum.. We had to take a separate trip to the museum on our own only to discover they were all being restored at the time.. Kind of a bummer. Pompeii itself is fascinating but I think there should be more disclosures when something major will not be part of the tour. Also, be prepared for ALOT of walking in total sun... Bumpy rocky pavement...

Nearly an hour of our Florence tour was cut short due to an unexplained slow start leaving the dock, so very little time to shop and see Florence and have a meal ( we grabbed a very quick bite before reporting back to the bus) .. But the Tuscany countryside and castle tour wine tasting made up for it big time. 

Cons about the ship EPIC: Wifi ... It wasn't reliable, sometimes it was down.. And my opinion is that Norwegian charges way too much for even minimal contact with home via internet, emails & Facebook - thumbs down on this. 

Service was friendly to our cabin, but whenever you called the Operator or Housekeeping with a question or request, no one answered! Just a recording saying callback, they're busy.. How is there no operators manning these calls and taking a message and saying someone will get right back to us? This was frustrating a few times. 

other than that, this cruise is highly recommended: it is affordable, well staffed ( except for phones) and stocked with fun things to do! Clean rooms and pool area as well as dining areas and restrooms all say I would do this trip again! 

With lots of hustle from port to port ( every day a new 10-12 hour adventure !) , you will be exhausted, but truly satisfied. It's like getting a nice little taste of everything, you can decide which places were your favorites to consider a return to! And the ship serves as your floating hotel along the way... Take this trip, it's worth it. Just bring VERY comfortable shoes.. 😉

My daughter and I just finished our cruise on the Norwegian Epic from Rome, Italy to Florence/Pisa, Cannes, France, Palma Majorca, Barcelona, Spain, Naples, Italy, and back to Rome.   Overall, the cruise was great.  We had some issues getting from the port to Rome and vice versa which cast a dark shadow over the cruise.  I do wish that the cruise line would provide a complimentary shuttle from and to the port.  That is always the hardest part as well as costly.  We wound up being scammed in the FCO airport first and then again in the train station.  That one service alone, if provided by the cruise line, would make all the difference (they offer the service but not at a competitive rate and certainly not complimentary).

We had an aft balcony cabin, 9295 on the NOrwegian Epic. The views from Aft are amazing but no more so than the side views.  The bed was by the balcony which was perfect.  The bathroom and shower are in two separate compartments right by the door which was not at all ideal.  The plexiglass doors did little for privacy so we had to keep the curtain closed and make sure that nobody came to the door while one was in the bathroom or taking a shower.  Not at all optimal but not horrible.

The ship itself is beautiful with lots of things to do including a casino, pool tables, bingo, bowling, movies, rock climbing, water slides, and lots of food.  However, other than swimming, everything had an extra charge.  The pool was $2 a game.  Bowling was $7 per person per game (fun but could rack up in charges fast).  That was a bit annoying but I guess standard.

The food was free.  Not great.  Not horrible.  Bland.  Lots of variety but it all seemed to taste the same.  Norwegian has also just recently started charging for room service so we didn't use that except for continental breakfasts (no charge for that) but the selection was starch or other starch and very bland.  We did it for the coffee basically.  The wait staff was very friendly but it was difficult to get refills on anything.  I think they were simply too busy.  One drink and that was pushing it on all meals in every single venue.  O Sheehan's Bar and Grill had the best complimentary food and service on the whole ship.  The Manhattan room had a lovely presentation and great ambiance but the food was bland with a very limited selection.

We used the unlimited beverage package promotion which was simply great.  I would do that again whether free or not.  However, it is not available via room service even with the extra service charge.  Go figure!!  Also, it was difficult to get a second glass of wine at dinner unless you went to the bar and got it yourself. 

The shows were great and very entertaining.  Howl at the Moon was lively and different.  The Dance show (forgot the name) was also very good and lively.  Cirque and Dinner was okay.  We paid extra for the premium seating and still had an obstructed view which was disappointing.  Again, I was unable to get a drink refill (soda this time) during dinner.  That's a recurring problem.

The gift shops don't have books or anything other than jewelry, perfume, and souvenir type items.  The library is nice but only open at certain times?  The book that I got immediately fell apart (old/stiff spine) when I got it to the cabin to read.  I returned it in the book return bin but imagine that will probably be added to my bill later.

The NCL excursions were expensive but pretty darn good.  It took the guess work out of planning in a foreign speaking country.  In hindsight, I should have booked the SkyMilesCruises excursions at a discount but I thought that I would be able to DIY.  Once in Italy after being scammed twice, we decided to take no more chances on DIY and booked the NCL excursions.  Addtionally, I wish there were either more affordable options or just more information provided to help the customers plan a DIY excursion.  Even the free shuttles from the port to the city centers are no longer complimentary.  Again, nickel and dime for everything.  It was disappointing and different from our last NCL cruise.

Technology - the NCL Concierge App is good and very helpful for planning excursions and entertainment.  Basically, it's good for booking anything that will cost more money.  It was very helpful actually.  However, it does not have a deck map which should be the very first thing on the APP but is just not there.  I looked many times thinking that I must have just missed it.  It's not there.

WIFI - available but at an additional price. We didn't purchase it until the last day when my 18 year old daughter went into withdrawal and bought it for herself.  I will never buy it for myself.  It should be complimentary.  A wifi package alone would be a huge improvement.

The casino was just fun.  LOVED it!  I'm not a gambler and only played for 10 minutes total but I loved it.  There is no smoking allowed in the casino.  That is a misnomer.

Overall, the cruise was great.  The staff were very friendly and nice.  Just busy.  I probably will do another cruise but will look at other cruise lines to see if the packages are more inclusive so that I don't feel nickeled and dimed for every tiny thing.  I will look for a cruise line that has better packages that include more options for transportation, excursions, beverage packages, food, and internet/wifi.

I have mixed reviews regarding this Cruise.  Although the ship was only 5 years old it's seen soooo many families that it no longer had the feel of a newer ship.

We were surprised at the amount of families traveling with small children with the destination of Europe.  The ship at times felt like Grand Central Station on the Sea.  Although we've cruised on Royal Caribbean, Princess and Celebrity none of the trips we took ever felt this crowded.  Perhaps it was the fact that this ship actually runs 2 cruises at once with one group departing from Rome and the other departing from Barcelona.  It was an incredible experience to meet people from the UK, Sweden, Israel, Canada etc all sailing on the same ship and we thought the food quality in the 6 regular restaurants was very good. It was the crowded, cramped feeling that we enjoyed the least.  The state-room/cabin was also very small and the layout was strange not to mention impractical and allowed no privacy whatsoever.  I'm a small person but when attempting to get from one side of the cabin to the other either my husband or myself had to climb over the bed to get around one another.

The staff was efficient and friendly and the talent on the ship was better than most.  We absolutely loved the guys who played at the Howl at the Moon piano bar along with Marisa and Tony who played in the Blues/Jazz club.

The first half of the cruise which was far less crowded until 2,500 more boarded in Barcelona was much more enjoyable than the later half.

Excursions were also quite pricey on the ship but if one does their homework prior to traveling there are several ways to experience these excursions on your own.

Our suite was very nice and the service on the Haven deck was superior. The rest of the ship was very full of people, this was a bigger ship with almost 5000 cruisers. Internet service (I purchased unlimited time) was poor. At peak times, there was slow to no connection and twice I tried to use the internet café instead of my phone and had issues with their equipment. I felt there was not enough variety in the entertainment. If you didn't go to a "singing" show, there wasn't much to pick from in the evenings. Food was good, but not over the top, as I had expected. Be aware that shore excursions offered by the ship are MUCH more expensive than the same trips offered by travel agents, shop around and you can save. For example, private drivers for a day ashore were offered at $1000 per person, I was able to purchase a private driver for an entire day for about $100 per person, that is a big difference, also transfers from ship to airport are over priced compared to taxi or private transportation.

I really liked the Haven level and will do that again in the future. We had a two bedroom suite, a floorplan that isn't offered by other cruise line.

We have been on the Epic before, so knew we loved the ship.  This time we stayed in a Haven Spa Suite.  If we sail on her again, we will choose a suite located within the Haven.  All was good, ports were amazing.

Overall, this was a very positive experience.  This was my 6th cruise, first time with Norwegian.  This was my wife's 9th cruise, but also her first experience with Norwegian.  Overall, the entertainment was somewhat inconsistent with some excellent performers and some that left me wishing I had stayed in my cabin.  Graffiti, the Flyboys and the Beatles Tribute Band were all smashing.  Legends was alright, while the Rod Stewart impersonator was first rate.  Movie offerings were limited and did not take advantage of the theater facility, relying on other screen locations which were not conducive to focusing on the media.  I refrained from attending some otherwise promising movies because there were too many distractions in the venues provided.  Food was generally up to par with other cruise lines, although the menus in the two main restaurants, Taste and the Manhattan Club, were somewhat repetitive.  I had no difficulty adjusting to the freestyle seating options although we found that some waiters were better than others and there was no way to get back to the tables where the good ones worked.  Our cabin steward claimed to be a rookie on his second week with the cruise line but he was as good as or better than any we have ever had previously.  NCL must train and select their stewards very well.  We only did two of the optional shore excursions and both were problematic.  We had tickets for the hop-on, hop-off bus in Livorno.  When we got to the bus stop on shore, we discovered that there is only one bus for all five cruise ships in port and the bus that was scheduled to leave at 11:00 was already full by 10:45 and the bus would return for more passengers at noon.  Really?  On Mallorca, there were multiple buses to serve the hop-on, hop-off bus tour that we reserved, but when we arrived at the bus stop, the line was nearly a half block long.  After 45 minutes in the hot sun, we finally got on a bus for a very interesting tour that provided a great orientation for first-time visitors to the island.  We opted to take self-guided tours in Naples and Cannes, as well as a train to Rome and back from Civitivecchia.  That worked for us, but we spent three days in Rome just over six months ago, so we knew exactly where we wanted to go during our limited time in the city.  I would cruise with Norwegian again without hesitation.  However, I would not choose them over another cruise line with a better price point for the itinerary I want to explore.    

This was my first time using BJ's Travel to schedule a cruise and also my first time on a Norwegian Cruise Line ship.

My experience with BJ's Travel was excellent. The cruise package was a great value and I was very happy with their customer service.  The included onboard spending credit, beverage package and gift card sealed the deal.

I give Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCL) a gold star for their excellent service throughout the entire cruise.  The Norwegian Epic ship was fantastic.  It is one of the largest ships in the world and I always felt very comfortable in any location on board.  I liked the layout of my Balcony Stateroom and my Stateroom stewart was excellent and very helpful.  The entire NCL staff throughout the ship was always very friendly and helpful, as well.

I really enjoyed the Freestyle dining.  For me it worked perfectly to decide when to dine as opposed to eating on a set schedule like on other cruise lines.  That really added to the enjoyment and relaxation of my cruise vacation.

I scheduled a variety of NCL shore excursions at each port that included, Sorrento and Amalfi by Land and Sea (Port of Naples, Italy), Off the Beaten Path - Hilltop Towns (Rome, Civitavecchia, Italy Port), The Cinque Terre (Florence/Pisa, Livorno, Italy Port), Cannes Walking Tour (Cannes, France Port) and Spectacular Scenery & Flavors (Palma, Majorca, Spain Port).  Each one was fabulous and the weather was thankfully great the entire week.  The tour guides were all excellent and added to the enjoyment of the excursions.  They always got us back to the ship by the required timetable.  Well done, thank you!

I just want to point out that I scheduled the Italy Port excursions noted above, since I had previously visited, Naples, Pompeii, Rome, Florence and Pisa on other vacations. If you have already been to those cities, I think you will find the noted shore excursions to be very different and a lot of fun.  

The internet service on board was good in most locations but not perfect.  I quickly found that using my iPhone in the Internet Cafe usually always worked best.  I signed up for the unlimited internet package, for the greatest flexibility, based on my needs.

Bottom line is NCL and the Western Mediterranean Cruise gets my very highly positive and recommended rating.  Thank you.

We had a blast on our cruise.  The Epic is huge!  It is very well maintained and clean and the staff were all so very pleasant and accomodating.

We really liked the shows we saw, but honestly felt the onboard entertainment was not quite as exhaustive as previous cruises we have been on, with other cruise lines.  There were several evening that we were looking for something to do, and a few times all we could find to do was go hang out at the pool.

If I had something negative to say, it would be about the freestyle dining.  While the meals were all good, especially in the specialty dining areas, we did not feel like we made as many friends on this trip as we have on previous cruises.  This is due in part to not having assigned meal times and tables with other passengers.

All in all a very enjoyable time.  I would do it again in a heartbeat.

I really like the cruise as a whole, however the staff seem tired and not too friendly with the guest.  The service was ok I'm sure it can be improve especially their attitude.  My luggage was broken by the crew that took the luggage from the port to the stateroom.  It was repaired  but when I disembark the luggage was broken again and this time both handles were broken.  Ill be emailing/calling the cruise line to see how can they help, it was a brand new luggage.  Other than that, I had the beverage package which was an excellent choice.  Food was great, the restaurant were awesome! I will cruise again soon!!

Barcelona --a wonderful city! People are friendly and hospitable. The port is clean and efficient--the easiest check-in ever. The ship's crew was wonderful; the upscale restaurants onboard were good, particularly the French one. The ship design isn't the best; you must walk through the casino on your way to several other destinations, the view from the promenade is restricted by the hanging life boats, and the promenade does not circle the ship. But our suite was huge and very comfortable. The structural limitations of the vessel are quickly overcome by the great crew and the excellent ports of call.  I

recommend the excursions you can book onboard, as it can be tiresome and time-consuming to make your own way in unfamiliar cities.  Our guides in Pompeii, Rome and Cannes were top-notch. Great surprises: the monastery, wine and view in St Honorat, the cathedral in Palma, and the amazing architecture, sights and food in Barcelona.  I would consider taking this cruise again, perhaps leaving from Rome next time.  It was a great vacation and an excellent value.  

Very well organized and nice activities on board, specially the guest performers.

Only recommendation, see the possibility of expanding the stay in some ports like Cannes and Naples to more than the standard 8 to 10 hours; i.e spend the night in it.

We just finished a Western Mediterranean cruise on the Epic. We loved it with the Unlimited Dining and Drinking package. Wine and cocktails were all free along with specialty dining at the best restaurants! The ship is very quiet and smooth even during one night's storm with over 60 knot winds and 11 foot seas. Many interesting shows on board too. Our Suite cabin was really nice. It was well laid out, had a comfortable bed, couch, full tub and shower, and a large patio. We stayed in a mid-ship suite on the Starboard 9th deck and loved it. The top deck has an Adults only rear area with a couple hot tubs and pool. A Jumbo

screen there showed movies after dark and had dancing later. Plenty of other pools and water park rides for everyone mid ship.

It was a good trip, the staff was very friendly and made it a fun trip and a relaxed trip.  There was one day that we had to stay in line for a couple of hours to get back to the boat.  But there was a good reason to it, there were high winds and the staff wanted to protect the passengers so they waited till it was better to get us on the boat.  After they started moving us in the lines when faster.

We had an amazing time visiting all of the ports, which is exactly what we went on this cruise to do. However, I was extremely disappointed in the quality of the ship's amenities as well as the staff. In the total of the 7 days we were on the Epic, we did not experience one pleasant Norwegian staff member aside from our housekeeper. Bar, restaurant and towel staff where miserable and not very accommodating. Food was mediocre at best. Was also disappointed in that everything seemed like it cost extra. Many of the dining rooms, shows, and entertainment were an extra fee. Elevators might as well not have existed as it would take at least 10 minutes to get one; most of the time we walked the several flights of stairs to get where we were going. I'm glad we went on this cruise not for the ship, but to experience the cities we visited. Would definitely recommend a Mediterranean Cruise, but with a different cruise line!

Ship was centered around the casino, specialty dining and a costly dinner show.  It seemed we were constantly passing through the casino to get anywhere.  We enjoyed the complimentary dining rooms but found they were seldom open for breakfast and lunch at convenient times.  The specialty dining was over rated and was not worth the extra $30. per person!  Complimentary entertainment was average. This ship lacked anything special compared to other cruise ships.

Our room steward did an outstanding job...Go Reggie!!

Many cruises and 6th on Norwegian, this was the worst. Most of the crew was not trained well, so many incidents that make the vacation a disaster.  First, the two bags we had only one arrived. The other was returned by the cabin crew even though the name tags were spelled exactly the same. The bar tender didn't want to take a order for a beer because he was so busy, and the spa didn't give the service that was booked. At the garden cafe, the staff can't get an order of cappuccino correct. The highlight was that the Garden Cafe worker dumped a big bucked of coffee on the ground and splashed up all over me and my daughter. The customer service managers were not apologetic and not customer oriented at all. I will not recommend a cruise with Epic to anybody.

poor customer support

cruise was not fun at all

not enough things to do 

poor quality of food

rooms were way too small for 2 people

evening entertainments were way too croaded

My wife and I along with 2 friends recently completed a 7 day cruise on NCL that took us from Barcelona, Spain to Italy (Naples, Rome, and Livorno) and France (Cannes and Palma.)  We arranged our own excursions in each port and highly recommend reading a book  written by Rick Steves for these ports of call.  The tour guides were excellent!  The Amalfi coast and Rome are indescribable!  The Norwegian Epic is a great ship and there is a lot to do to keep you entertained.  The fitness center is top notch!   We were surprised at the additional costs incurred on our trip.  There is a 10% VAT + 18% gratuity applied to every purchase.  There is also a $12.95/person/day charge that covers the tips for the cleaning services. Eating at the better restaurants on the boat were additional $$$.

It  was perfect as I planned, very organized the tours and the personal very kind,

the food and the show good too. the cabin clean and beautiful view from balcon.

the family and me enjoy a lot.