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About Your Ship: Norwegian Epic

13 Night Transatlantic Westbound
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Departs Barcelona aboard Norwegian Cruise Line – Norwegian Epic - Featuring The Haven By Norwegian!

Sailing Date(s): October 20, 2013


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	Average Norwegian Epic Rating



	SORT BY: Most Recent \| Positive \| Negative \| Helpful 1 - 10 of 20 \| Next 10 >
	Overall Rating: About the Reviewer: Age: 65+ Cruise Experience: 7+ cruises Traveler Type: Group Stateroom Type: Inside I will not cruise on Epic again by Patricia Lewis from Mitchellville MD Sailing date: May 2012 Pros: Food Cons: The staff at the guest service desk not helpful at all, rooms are too small Staff appeared to be really unhappy Ship Details: Ship Quality the garden dinning area the staff pushed all food from the table on to the chairs and on the floor. The food was on the floor from day one until day seven. The other public areas were OK. Dining/Food I did not try any of the specilty restaurants because I am a veggie. Stateroom Quality Stateroom two small, could not regulate comfort control, viewing TV was difficult the picture stayed black and all you could see was an outline of the people. Ship Staff Quality The ship staff did not become friendly until Wed.May 9 2012. The youngman who took care of our room spoke everyday. Entertainment & Activities Top of the class entertainment. 3 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Did you find this review helpful? Overall Rating: About the Reviewer: Age: 50 - 65 Cruise Experience: 7+ cruises Traveler Type: Family w/older children Stateroom Type: Balcony A nice cruise by Joe P from North Haven,Conn Sailing date: Jan 2013 Pros: Shows Buffet Cons: Room shape and bath /shower design Nice ship very clean friendly staff good food Ship Details: Ship Quality GREAT SHIP Dining/Food VERY GOOD FOOD VERY CLEAN DINING AREAS Stateroom Quality Very clean,beds are very comfortable,problem is the width of the room due to curved walls really makes moving about the room dificult,and then there is the poor design of the bath/shower Ship Staff Quality Very friendly happy people Entertainment & Activities High marks for all the shows 7 out of 7 people found this review helpful. Did you find this review helpful? Overall Rating: About the Reviewer: Age: 30 - 49 Cruise Experience: 4 - 6 cruises Traveler Type: Singles/friends Stateroom Type: Inside Not something I'd do again by Serge N. from San Diego, CA Sailing date: Oct 2012 Pros: Many port stops - you get to see a lot of places. Pretty good food as well Cons: $30 daily charge for use of steam room and insane internet prices This cruise is way too intense and physically demanding for any vacation, but espically if you're looking to relax and kick back. 6 port stops in 7 days means only1 day at the sea and getting up early for shore excursions every day and going to bed 1-2am, when evening shows end. I've cruised before and I've never seen a ship, where they charge $30 daily for use of a steam room. Norwegian Epic is 2nd biggest ship on the planet with 7000 passanger capacity and that's way too many people. Shows are always book and sold out - cant get tickets, elevators are always full and there is a long wait. in the buffet you might end up walking around for 10-15 minutes before finding a vacant table. Staterooms are very tiny and the sink is actually part of your only desk, located on top of it and it's so small its impossible to wash your hands without spilling the water all over the desk. Ship Details: Ship Quality Dining/Food Stateroom Quality very small , not suitable for 2 people Ship Staff Quality Entertainment & Activities besides jazz club no live bands, no Latin music, stand up comedy club barely had any stand up artists. all shows are overbooked, impossible to get tickets 3 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Did you find this review helpful? Overall Rating: About the Reviewer: Age: 30 - 49 Cruise Experience: 4 - 6 cruises Traveler Type: Couple Stateroom Type: Inside Honeymooners, Nice Ship, Bad Food! by A Traveler from South Bay, California Sailing date: Jun 2012 Pros: The ship was large and new, the ports visited are awesome and a great trip for first time to Europe! Cons: The food was terrible, there were extra port costs we weren't told until the night before, the staff wasn't as friendly as most cruises we've been on. Overall the cruise was fun, good experience and nice ports to stop at. Don't be afraid to get on a train in Naples and Cannes, you see way more than paying for an excursion. Definitely do an excursion in Rome, we did the Vatican tour had a blast, just only a few minutes to shop which was a bummer. The Pisa excursion is a must, better than Florence but all on what you want to see. Livorno, Naples and Marseille are kind of sketchy not much to see. We were on our honeymoon and first time cruisers in Europe this is a great way to see beautiful places and definitely stay in Barcelona for a few days, the food and city is wonderful! Ship Details: Ship Quality The ship was new and beautiful. The layout is great and easy to get around. The decor is pretty and for the most part very clean. For as many people as the ship carries it doesn't seem crowded, just at times and getting on and off the ship is an ease. If you have an early flight home like we did, no worries they started letting people off the ship at 5:30am and we split the cab to the airport with other crusiers about 45 euro to the airport. Also, the ship is so large even in bad water it barely rocked, there is a slight ongoing vibration though and we were in the 13th floor. Dining/Food The food was the absolute worst I've ever had on a cruise. My husband and I were highly disappointed! There is 2 main dining rooms, every night they serve the same thing just add maybe one new plate or change it between the 2 dining rooms. I've never been on a ship where the menu isn't completely different every night. Even the ice cream and desserts were bland, we ate lunch at a nice place in port so we weren't too hungry for dinner because the food was so bad. Breakfast was ok, they have an omelet bar and decent selection in the buffet. We like good food so this was disappointing, I was immediately sick from the cruise food dinner 4 out of the 7 days we were on the ship. We did not try any specialty restaurants because we were not happy with the main dining, not worth spending the extra money and the dinner at the Cirque show was terrible. Try and do dinner around 6 or 7 to avoid a long wait. Stateroom Quality We had an inside stateroom, midship, on the 13th floor, this is my first time staying in an inside stateroom, it was nice, a bit small but works for one couple. The ocean view rooms didn't look much larger so we were happy saving money with our choice and were able to stay in Barcelona and Ibiza for a few days with the money we saved with the inside stateroom. The rooms were clean but could have been cleaner, there was streaks on the mirror and the carpet wasn't vacuumed regularly. I liked the setup of having the shower, toilet and sink separate, I didn't feel crammed into one place like on other ships. Ship Staff Quality The staff was nice, I've been on many cruises and this ship I was least pleased with the staff, there was this cloud of attitude with all the staff it just seemed different from other cruises. Other travelers we befriended said the same thing so it wasn't just us. The dinner staff was slow and a bit rude, I was given a dirty glass at dinner and got attitude when I asked for a new one. No one was willing to go out of their way to make the cruisers happy. Entertainment & Activities There is many things to do on the ship, since there is only one day at sea you don't have to worry about finding things to do since the ports are more interesting and when you get back to the ship after dinner you'll want to relax. The Blue Man Group was an awesome show and definitely pay for the Cirque show it was amazing just the food was bad. Pay for the upgraded seating because some of the show with general seating will be hard to see. The jazz club and all clubs are a blast. 0 out of 0 people found this review helpful. Did you find this review helpful? Overall Rating: About the Reviewer: Age: 30 - 49 Cruise Experience: 2 - 3 cruises Traveler Type: Couple Stateroom Type: Inside Fun Cruise...will never cruise NCL again by Joy B. from Canby, OR Sailing date: Feb 2012 Pros: The shows and the service Cons: The ship was so big and crowded that it was hard to make personal connections. This ship was for people that didn't want to be on a ship. There was absolutely no access to the bow or the aft. With the exception of staring out of a glass wall. There was plenty of top notch entertainment and the food was excellent as was the service. But being the 3rd largest cruise ship in the world and holding 4100 passengers and 1708 crew members made it like being in New York City and trying to make friends. I never even got in the pool or the hot tubs because they were always so crowded. I will probably never cruise with NCL again or at least this ship. Another aspect I didn't like was their "freestyle" dining. They make it sound like its open and your choice on what to eat and how to dress but they also have used it to create a "spend more of your money on food and entertainment" environment. Over half the restaurants they offered charged a $10- $25 dollar cover charge per person. Sure, if you wanted to not spend any extra money on anything once there you could but then eating would get pretty repetitive. I definately liked my past cruises where you paid once and everything was included with the exception of alcohol. Ship Details: Ship Quality To be truthful this ship was amazing. It's only 2 years old and well designed. BUT there is no access to the bow or the aft. It's for people that don't really want to be on a ship. It's size was a drawback simply due to the amount of people. It was like New York City. CROWDED. We would have to wait for an elevator for like 10 minutes sometimes because they were so packed like sardines that no one else could fit on. When we disembarked we had to carry our three suitcases (one full and two carryons) down 5 flights of stairs because we couldn't fit on any elevators. Dining/Food Food was top notch as well as variety. But the freestyle dining was another gimmick to get more of your money. Stateroom Quality Well designed and very nice BUT the way they had the bathrooms was a drawback. the shower and toilet were only divided from the rest of the cabin by a curtain. If someone stunk it up, the whole cabin stunk. There was no noise reduction either. Cruise ship toilets are LOUD. So flushing in the middle of the night wasn't an option unless you wanted to wake the other person/people sleeping. Ship Staff Quality Staff spoke very good English and was wonderful. Entertainment & Activities Best entertainment I've ever had on a cruise ship. 6 out of 8 people found this review helpful. Did you find this review helpful? Overall Rating: About the Reviewer: Age: 18 - 29 Cruise Experience: 4 - 6 cruises Traveler Type: Couple Stateroom Type: Balcony Pretty Good Cruise by Katie H from United States Sailing date: Jun 2011 Pros: Staterooms Cons: Auto-gratuity My husband and I were on a 7 day cruise across the Mediterranean. Overall the ship was impressive. Ship Details: Ship Quality The ship was very big with multiple bars, a big casino, and multiple places to eat. It did take a few mins to get from one end to the other of the ship where the steps and elevators were located. Elevators were pretty slow so it was normally easier to take the steps. Dining/Food With "Freestyle" cruising you have a choice of the buffet, one of the two free sit down restaurants, or a themed restaurant. The themed restaurants were pretty cheap (the most being $20) and the food was good. They also allowed you to order as much as you want. I was never impressed with most of the food. The buffet was pretty limited in the morning. We never ate there for dinner. Stateroom Quality Rooms were small, but had a lot of storage. The bathroom was set up to have the shower on one side with frosted glass and the toilet on the other with frosted glass. The sink was just outside the bathroom with a medicine cabinet. Ship Staff Quality Most of the staff was friendly and helpful. The bar waiters were slow when you asked for a drink and would ask multiple times if you did not have a drink if you wanted one. When we asked for water, the staff would look at you funny. Entertainment & Activities Make sure to see Blue Man Group. Too many activities to count, everyone should be able to find something to do. 7 out of 8 people found this review helpful. Did you find this review helpful? Overall Rating: About the Reviewer: Age: 30 - 49 Cruise Experience: 4 - 6 cruises Traveler Type: Singles/friends Stateroom Type: Balcony An Epic Let Down by Jennifer H from Charlotte, NC Sailing date: Sep 2010 Pros: Our stateroom Cons: The service, the spa It wasn't the worst cruise ever, but with all of the hype I really expected to be "wowed". We have cruised NCL before and found that the service on this ship was lacking. In the main dining rooms it took at least 15 minutes before someone even took our drink orders (we were the third party seated at 5:30pm) and then it took a ridiculous amount of time to get our food, which was not delicious. We ate breakfast in the dining room one other time, had a similar experience and from then on just made our way to the buffett. There were many times when we were sitting at a high top table in a bar/restaurant and either were not asked if we wanted a drink (an alcoholic drink which they make money off of) or if we did get our first drink, no one came around to ask if we wanted another after that one. The swimming pools were extremely small (two pools about 20' x 8'), but they did have water slides. There were a lot of hot tubs and it was easy enough to find an empty one. We loved our stateroom! We got one with a balcony and there was a ton of storage. We even had space left over. The ship just launched in July, so everything was new and in good working condition. Seeing Blue Man Group was great and The Second City improv comedy troupe was hilarious. We recommend the Murder Mystery dinner for which you have to pay extra. The spa, where we normally spend most of our money was not as relaxing as it has been on previous cruises. I really felt a sense of loss about this one. It's the part that I really look forward to; just being able to relax and unwind, forget about everything with quiet, serene space with low lighting, soft music and the smell of lavender in the air. Instead I felt like their spa was a busy intersection. I heard the cruise director make an annoucement about a ping pong tournament while I was getting a hot stone massage. We have cruised NCL twice before this cruise and we cruised Carnival once. We vowed never to cruise Carnival again, so I really thought that this cruise was going to make us NCL people for life. Now, however, it has left me wanting to see what else is out there. Royal Caribbean, anyone? Ship Details: Ship Quality Dining/Food The quality of the buffett food was higher than on any other cruise I have been on. The main dining rooms were lacking. Our experience at Cagney's (a specialty steakhouse) was not worth the price we paid, but Teppanaki (a specialty hibachi restaurant) was amazing, we went there twice. We didn't try any of the others Stateroom Quality I would pick the same one again. Ship Staff Quality Stateroom service: perfect. Restaurant/Bar service: horrible. Entertainment & Activities It was nice to have 2 great shows, would have liked more. Read this user's port of call reviews: Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, U.S.V.I.; Philipsburg, St. Maarten Collapse List of Ports Ports of Call: Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, U.S.V.I. We took a taxi to Magen's Bay Beach. They have everything for rent there like floats, snorkel equipment, chairs etc. It has a lot of people but not enough that you are on top of each other. We had a great time there. I heard that St John was even better, perhaps we will take the ferry over next time. Philipsburg, St. Maarten St Maarten is a very poor country so they do not have the infrastructure that we are used to here in the US. We rented scooters and found our way to Mullet's Bay Beach. It has beautifully clear water with white sand beaches. The best part? No one knows about it. You can rent 2 lounge chairs and an umbrella for $15 and their are little shacks there where you can get food. After we left there we went around the rest of the island, but there are no street signs and the roads are poor. We got lost a few times. 43 out of 46 people found this review helpful. Did you find this review helpful? Overall Rating: About the Reviewer: Age: 30 - 49 Cruise Experience: 4 - 6 cruises Traveler Type: Family w/young children Stateroom Type: Balcony Good ship but NOT Great by Jen A. from NJ Sailing date: Jul 2010 Pros: Staff very friendly and helpful, Very Clean ship, Entertainment Great Cons: Alot of the restaurants are not free, Cabins are very awkward and small even with a balcony, Adult pool very small We got on the ship which was a very smoothe process and I was quite impressed. The staff was very friendly and helpful and we got our luggage quickly. I have been on 6 cruises and this was my 7th and first with NCL. I heard alot about the EPIC and traveled with my 6 month old daughter and parents and inlaws.We are not picky people but I must say this ship has its pros and cons. The ship is huge and decorated beautifully and the staff was AMAZING. The food is really good but gets old by the end of trip. However my problem is that NCL is misleading when it says that this ship has over 12 restaurants to eat at. ONLY 3 are free the rest are all 25.00 a person a night and you need to make reservations in advance or you will not get in. The entertainment is great but you do need to book in advance before the trip or you won't get in. Cirque was amazing as well as the comedy club and oter music shows. Cabins as you probably read are horribly structured. Way to small maybe ok if you are traveling with 2 people. But we were forced to purchase a 3 person room because of the baby and they are the same size as a 2 person room which is annoying and unfair and very expensive. It is a tight fit and the bathrooms and showers are see through and your sink is pretty much in the bedroom. No privacy at all. Pools are ok great for kids and the waterslides are fun but the Adult section is nice but the pool can maybe fit 10 people in it. Not even joking. Plus all the pools are about 85 degrees not refreshing at all. Bottom line ship is great for kids , Entertainment is great, Staff amazing, Cabins are way too small, Pools are way too small, and Not that many places to eat. Ship Details: Ship Quality Dining/Food Stateroom Quality Ship Staff Quality Entertainment & Activities Children's Programs Read this user's port of call reviews: Nassau, Bahamas; Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, U.S.V.I.; Philipsburg, St. Maarten Collapse List of Ports Ports of Call: Nassau, Bahamas Just shopping which I didn't mind . Atlantis isa beautiful excursion but Pricey Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, U.S.V.I. Philipsburg, St. Maarten Orient Beach is beautiful, 135 out of 148 people found this review helpful. Did you find this review helpful? Overall Rating: About the Reviewer: Age: 30 - 49 Cruise Experience: 4 - 6 cruises Traveler Type: Couple Stateroom Type: Balcony Great Cruise! by Julia W from Panama City, FL Sailing date: Apr 2013 Pros: Food, entertainment, big balcony, ports, Cons: Chair hogs It is a really huge ship that is full of entertainment, great food, and lots of fun. There was always something to do, even at 6 in the morning as I found out (the gym was open)! Ship Details: Ship Quality Ship was huge, public areas were always clean and nice to look at. We took the stairs almost always just to keep the weight off but when we did take the elevators it wasn't long of a wait as some reviewers have stated. Dining/Food We always ate at either Taste or in the buffet. Food was great and service was even better. I think we had one waiter who didn't seem very friendly but he could've been having a bad day so I won't go any further than that. We always found something good to eat and loved both venues. Stateroom Quality We had an extended balcony room and loved it! The room has a split bathroom/shower and we found it to be awesome. When we felt a bit modest using the bathroom we just asked each other to go out on the balcony to see what was out there. No big deal. Our room steward, Michael, was awesome and knew our names when we first met him. Very nice and professional! Ship Staff Quality The staff on the ship was exceptional and very professional! I have zero complaints about them as they were awesome! Entertainment & Activities Don't miss Blue Man Group unless you don't like loud shows. These guys were great! 0 out of 0 people found this review helpful. Did you find this review helpful? Overall Rating: About the Reviewer: Age: 30 - 49 Cruise Experience: 2 - 3 cruises Traveler Type: Singles/friends Stateroom Type: Balcony Excellent overall! by Brooke L. from Baltimore, MD Sailing date: Jun 2012 We were very pleased with all aspects of the Epic. The room was quite nice for a cruise ship cabin, especially the shower, which was surprisingly large. Loved having the balcony, which was also well-sized for a cruise ship. The buffet food was decent; the sit-down restaurants (both the included ones and the specialty) were excellent. We were also pleased with the entertainment that we saw, which included the Blue Man Group, Howl at the Moon, and several of the "game show" style shows at the Atrium. Our only gripe about the entire experience was the obnoxious kids who insisted on running down the hallway through the cabin area at night. Ship Details: Ship Quality The Epic is huge compared to the cruise ships I was used to, but we found it pretty easy to get around. The lack of ability to access a couple of the floors from the rear stairwells was confusing at first, but we quickly adapted! We were very pleased with the overall decor and cleanliness of all areas of the ship. Dining/Food The steakhouse and French specialty restaurants were well worth the small extra cost! Stateroom Quality Ship Staff Quality Entertainment & Activities 3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Did you find this review helpful?
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