Norwegian Epic Cruise Reviews - Reviews

The excursions offered were varied in activity levels & interests. Plus the combination of a clean ship, excellent meal preparations & ports of call made our trip memorable.

My husband and I took this cruise as part of our 30th anniversary celebration. We felt it would take us to lots of different ports and give us a variety of experiences we couldn't get on just a land trip. We were right! With 5 ports in 6 days, we were so busy! Plus the time on boat was filled with relaxing and entertaining experiences. We were able to see Blue Man Group and Cirque Dreams plus great blues and Howl at the Moon shows. The ship is the largest we've been on (4,000 passengers) but the only time we felt crowded was on a sea day when it rained and everyone was inside. That didn't last long so we didn't sweat it. The ports are varied and we found special moments at all of them. The Cinque Terre excursions was the best of the week with Andrea. We took the Nice and view from Eze and loved the food at the Flower Market. In Majorca we went on the Caves of Hams/Porto Christo tour and found Porto Christo to be a hidden gem! Another great meal by the sea. On the Best of Barcelona/Gaudi tour we were rushed somewhat and didn't get the full time for a nice meal but we loved seeing the Sagrada de Familia. In Naplrs we struck out on our own and hopped the ferry (next to the cruise ship) and spent a lovely day in Sorrento. Another great meal and beautiful sights! 

Our only issue at all was getting to and from the boat on the first and last day. That system has to be revised! We drug our luggage through town (up and down stairs) and had two crowded horrible bus trips back to the train after (again lugging luggage up and down stairs). The cruise companies have to work something out. I won't cruise out of Rome again because of this. Civitevecchia makes it as hard as possible. 

But we didn't let it spoil our memories. The trip was great. 

the cabin was very small also the food was not that great I had better on different cruises the staff was great I would not recommend the italian restaurant 

Great ship, clean, great buffets and plenty of things to do! The only disappointing thing was one of the shore excursions. We paid $4oo.oo for the Isle of Capri  the Isle of Romance. It was a day of many waits, fumes , a walking tour with no info on history or culture and only shops, shops and more shops. It was definetly a tour you could do on your own!!!!

The stateroom was above a very loud bar, when I tried to speak with customer service they dismissed my complaint. The staff was not helpful, and this made for a very poor experience. I will not cruise with Norwegian again.

Cruise was very relaxing. Food in the garden cafe offered wonderful choices and the ice cream was a great treat.  The entertainment was fantastic.. We truely enjoyed our nightly dinners in the manhattan room the food and service excellent. A few suggestions: We totally enjoy Norwegian martini tastings; however, I would suggest to the bar staff  on large ships to advertise tastings at two different bars at the same time and limit the number to bar and small seating area around bar. This would give guests an opportunity to form ship friendships with fellow martini tasters and enjoy the presentations by the bar staff. In the past on smaller ships the tastings gave us this opportunity and we looked forward to meeting those guests and our friendly servers at other times throughout the cruise. The tasting this time was overcrowded, about 80 people, difficult to hear the presenter and enjoy the experience.

We were not able to dock at Costa Maya due to the high winds and the size of our ship.  We missed our reservations at Maya Chan beach but we were reimbursed our reservation cost and we appreciated our Captain putting the safety of his passengers ahead of sticking to an itinerary. Boarding the ship was a breeze however departure was very strung out but orderly. This is the second time we docked in Jamacia and for me it will be the last. I would perfer a beach day at a clean beach rather then any tours provided by ship or outside vendor. I do not want to go to a vacation site and see used condoms  and trash of all sorts laying everywhere. It was disgusting.

 We are frequent cruisers and most always book with Norwegian. We love the frestyle cruising where each night guests have the opportunity to enjoy all sorts of activities crom leisure pub drinking to formal dining and dancing. Norwegian does it right ONe more suggestion I like to party like a Norwegian and I'd love to play bingo but the prices over the years have caused me to delete that activity. You may get more players and make more profit if you lower the price of the cards. If you don't my husband will continue to have a smile when I walk past the bingo session and tell him it is too pricey and we will spend that time sitting at the pool.

Checking in was pleasant and speedy, we were thankful for this considering our long drive in the morning and our empty stomachs!

Our excitement level was high upon entering the ship. We have never been on any other cruise line other than Royal so we were excited to try something new. Needless to say, the writing was on the wall upon entering the Epic ship, it was immediately apparent that this company was all about skimping where ever they can based on the first impressions of the design and materials used on the Epic...cheap linoleum in some places and overall boring design throughout the entire ship...its like all their design budget is spent on the art on the exterior of the ship and that's it. I got the impression that the Epic was the Red Roof Inn of cruise ships.

That said, although noticeable, we were bound not to let that spoil our impression considering we had not even made it to the room yet. We went straight to the elevator to proceed to the 12th deck, where our balcony room awaited!

 After waiting for what seemed like an eternity for the elevators to arrive( thinking the unusual delay was due to everyone arriving at the same time....wrong...these elevators were hellishly slow the entire trip no matter what time they were used) we decided to skip the elevators and climb the 8 floors with a few bags in tow because there was no hint those elevators were ever going to make to us any time soon...

Upon entering the room we instantly noticed that our cabin was much smaller than we were used to on Royal. It was a neat design and although the wife was not at all happy with it, I thought it was just fine if a bit cramped. 

We put our stuff away( what we carried on) and hurried to the buffet happily!

 Once we arrive upstairs( taking the stairs again, since elevators were still not cooperating), we entered the dining area and proceeded to feast our eyes on the cornucopia of items available to us. They were the standard fair you would find at your typical buffet and one thing we enjoyed, that Royal had never offered, is REAL Ice Cream! That was a nice treat. The dining area had awesome views and the service was decent. The tables were cleaned fairly quickly. The servers behind the counters were mostly nice, but I did run into a few here and there that gave me the impression that they would spit in your food if you gave them any perceived hassle( not saying they did, just stating I would not be surprised). They just had an attitude about them that did not convey they were happy to be there...that said, it seemed like management beat them with a stick to make damn sure they said "hello" to everyone they saw, because that was the one true consistent thing all the employees did on a regular basis.

Something I must point out that persisted the entire trip whenever I arrived at the buffet...there was always a dirty, stinky mop smell in the halls...although you got used to it, it was definitely noticeable and not very pleasant.

After this we took a stroll around the ship to get to know it better. This is when it really hit us that we had made a mistake in trying a new line...the ship was so poorly designed that it was very difficult to get around. Many stairways would be simply cordoned off, for what reason we had no idea. In order to get to the other side on some floors you had to go through those skinny hallways of rooms because that was your only option( the center of the ship had no access on some levels). Oh and using the elevators? Hahahahah...good luck...

Our biggest disappointment was the fact that there was no 6th( or 7th, whatever) deck with exterior walkway...well there was, but the ENTIRE view you would normally have of the ocean was blocked by the life boats( on Royal, lifeboats are placed way above everyone so nothing obstructs the railing views) except on one small part where they actually let you opened the view out for about 20 feet...this was a huge design flaw to us considering one of our favorite things to do after dinner is to walk on this deck( on Royal ships) and many times sit on the deck loungers to read or just relax...if you wanted to relax on the Epic, you had to go to the top floors, struggle finding somewhere to sit not in direct sunlight or simply go to your room if you had a balcony...it was a huge design flaw in my opinion and also lead to mass congregations in certain areas since there really was very few places to go on the ship. In essence, the design of the ship encouraged people to congregate in areas and made it seem like it was always crowded wherever you went...big downer. I felt real sorry for all the balcony people who had to stare at lifeboats the entire trip...those rooms should never charge for balcony views, its a crime and I was thankful we did not get one of those rooms.

Dinning in the evening was pleasant and the food was surprisingly good. Not excellent, but on par with what we were used to. Freestyle dining was a great feature.

Overall we had a good time despite our disappointment with the standards, the design and the overall perception of being nickled and dimed to death on some shows, food( like the bakery) and entertainment( they had a bowling alley but the price was silly for a family of 4 and we were used to getting such minor things included in the fair on Royal).

 One last icing on the cake...our cabin steward...in all my trips on Royal, I had always fond memories of how nice our cabin steward was and always rocked him/her with a great tip at the end of the trip...I stiffed our Epic cabin steward...never had I seen such a lazy attempt at taking care of our cabin...the kids beds were never turned back into couches( giving us more space during the day in an already cramped room), the coffee sugars were not replaced every other day, creamer was not replaced on several days, no hair conditioner was provided( we had to request it), shampoo and soap were allowed to run out, our fridge was never unlocked( I just decided not to even bother asking since it was just going to tempt me anyways) and our bathroom smelled like urine...

With all these negatives you would think we had an awe full time, but we made the best of it and despite every attempt from NCL to make this a crappy time, we decided not to let any of this get to us...we simply will NEVER sail on any of the NCL ships for the rest of our lives( unless a ridiculously, extremely, almost FREE cruise is available of course...we aint crazy, heh)...save your money, spend the extra and go with Royal Carrib...they know how to treat you right and they also know how to design their ships for maximum enjoyment...and their elevators seem to work.   

Overall, it was a wonderful trip, one day plan was cancelled and no any make up and it was changed into at sea day.Overall, it was a wonderful trip, one day plan was cancelled and no any make up and it was changed into at sea day.

food was good. First freestyle cruise and it took some getting used to. we prefer having the same table staff and table mats throughout a cruise, but it was nice to not have to adhere to a strict time to eat.

We had the pleasure of staying in the Courtyard penthouse w/ large balcony rm #17006. Our room was very comfortable with lots of storage space. Only problem, there wasn't a door to the little space that the toilet sat just a pull curtain, needless to say if you need privacy or sound proofing, it's not going to happen, lol. It didn't bother us to much. The personal attention was very nice, they didn't bother you unless you called. It would have been nice to have ice without asking or to make sure our Lavazza expresso machine was ready to go, but if that was the biggest problem then we are doing great. The elevators were always a challenge to get anywhere, very frustrating but it got better after the third day. We didn't know how to calculate tipping for our Butler and Concierge, we wish our travel agent had informed us how to. Easy on and off the ship with our haven room card. The food was amazing and the Cirque Dreams show was fantastic and we had priority seating any show or specialty restaurant we went to. To wrap this up we are ruined, cruising the Haven is the only way to go! Well worth the extra money!

we are already planing our next........Hum, I think we're going to try out the MSC Davina yacht Club next to compare the competition! 

This cruise was the second I have been on and my experience was much better this time around. The whole process, from booking to disembarking was so simple and easy. On board, the staff was so nice and helpful! (When heading home I forgot that people in the real world are not always that happy) My only complaint is that the prices of alcoholic drinks were inflated but that is to be expected and they were still reasonable. I definately suggest the dinning plan! While the complementary food was good, the specialty resturants were fantastic and should not be missed! This was much needed and was exactly what we were looking for!! We will be back!

The cruise was a great cruise for the cost. The food was a little lacking but still great everything was great. The main issue with the cruise and it is the issue with the cruise line Norwegian as a whole is that everything onboard except the pools, Rock Wall and some of the entertainment costs extra. All the better dining options, the bowling alley, the arcade, the soda, the dinner show, the casino costs alot of money to play with very low pay outs. Then the stuff that you expect to pay for is twice as expensive as normal, like alcohol is about the price you would expect but the cups are very tiny, and on alot of the cruises there is no unlimited alcohol package and on the ones there is it is way too expensive to be worth it. All in all though the cruise was very cheap so it balances out I suppose, I just would have prefered it to be more inclusive. Now that my gripes have been addressed the cruise staff was very nice and very entertaining, going out of the way to get to know you and recognize you. The fact that there is a free Blue Man Group show on the ship is amazing. My girlfriend and I had seen them once in Atlanta and spent $100 to go and it was included on the ship and we sat in the 3rd row, it was a great time, and Second Hand City, the improv group that greats like Tina Faye got their start in was also on the ship so that was pretty awesome as well. There was a sit down with the men from the Blue Man Group, without the blue paint and they told you about the show. Just so many great things about the cruise and that is why is still got a 4 with all my gripes about extra costs.

Our Experience on the Norweign Epic, was amazing. I wish my husband and I would have taken a fourteen day cruise

We are looking forward to take a cruise with all kids and grandkids next year. so they can experience the fun and excitement.

the cruise Director J.C was fantastic, two thumb up.

Thank you for a amazing cruise.

My husband and I celebrated our first anniversary on the EPIC. This was my first cruise and my husband's first on an NCL ship. To say that we enjoyed it would be an understatement! We had a fantastic experience. The staff were attentive to detail and ensured that we enjoyed every moment on board. Our excursions that we booked through the ship were so well organised and made our shore days really fun and exciting. The food was excellent! My husband told me that he feels the food on NCL is the best from all the cruise lines. It did not disappoint. We did all the specialty dining restaurants and thought that each restaurant was amazing. The shows on board were wonderful also! We are looking forward to our next itinerary on board an NCL ship.

Horrible service in the taste contemporary dining room, Room service time was wrong twice & at that the coffee wasn't even warm, Terribly overcrowded and not enough pool chairs, Study your ship ahead of time & Get use to using stairs you'll never get an elevator, Had an open balcony on 8th floor which always found food and gum on (Oh & watch out for people Throwing cigarette butts) Can't have lemonade at night unlike carnival😠 More bad reviews but don't have enough space to write!

I must say that my preference was always a smaller ship - less crowd and attention to amenities. However I have to concede that the NORWEGIAN EPIC really changed all that. From the menu to the courtesy of the staff. Entertainment featuring the Blue Man group, the impersonators etc, " execllent "  Speaking of cleanliness its not much more I can add, seeing the ship is fairly new. But everywhere was squeaky clean with special emphasis on disinfecting hand spray administered by both staff and machine. Sadly, the only disappointment came at the end of the cruise when we had to leave the ship, but the memories we will always carry with us. Spencer.    

Had a great time.  Saw Blue Man Group twice!!  It was awesome.  Great food, great staff!  Loved Cozumel the best out of the three ports.  Wish we had not booked during spring break, but it was very welled controlled. We were celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary.  No complaints.

Great ship great service great food great value !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

we al had the best vacation ever ...............…..............

Very nice cruise, ship & staff were great. Service in specialties restaurant was not so great, ( you paied extra for it), but food was good. Main dining room was actually better.entertainment was great. Ports were a disappointment. (no falt of cruise lines). Clean & friendly ship. Too big for first timer cruise. You could miss half of the excitement. This was not our first but about maby our 40th, but just as enjoyable. Getting of the ship at end of cruise , needs improvement , haven't had that  problem in a long time. All in all had a great time.

Primary beef was the cofiguration and sixe of the cabin.In places two people could not pass.In order to watch TV one had to sit on the bed.If you sat on the bed/sofa you were faced with blank cupboard doors two feet away.The bathroom layout allowed for no privacy especially the wash basin which was in the bedroom area.Lighting at the vanity was insufficient for ladies make up.The entertainment apart from an Elvis Presley imitator was at a very low intelligence level.We walked out of two shows.On the plus side food and service were excellent as was cleanliness and general ship operation.We understand that future Nowegian ships are undergoing cabin re-design after the Epic disaster.