Norwegian Epic Review

4.5 / 5.0
4,409 reviews

Carnival Cruisers Try NCL Epic on Sold-Out Easter Cruise

Review for the Eastern Caribbean Cruise on Norwegian Epic
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toledo
First Time Cruiser • Age 60s

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Sail Date: Mar 2013
Cabin: Mid-Ship Balcony
Traveled with children

This was our first NCL cruise. We don't cruise every year, but was happy not to be on Carnival this year. Our group consisted of myself, my husband, our 18 yr. old son, and his 17 yr. old friend. We flew into West Palm and rented a car to drive down to Miami. I recommend the web site www.kayak.com for checking airfares, as they will search surrounding airports. Our one-day car rental was only around $50, using a Costco discount code. The big "C" also saved us some money on this cruise. The only problem we had was returning the car to Avis on 2nd St. prior to the cruise. It was pure chaos at that office and we left without officially checking the car in. I suggest dealing with Avis at the airport. The Avis ordeal cost us about 45 minutes, so we didn't arrive at the port until 11:45. Checking in took another 40 minutes before we finally got on the boat. I was surprised that I was never asked for the paperwork for the non-related minor who was traveling with us. Upon entering the ship,I immediately went to Guest Services to buy Posh passes, but was told that they weren't for sale due to sailing at capacity. This also meant it was impossible to get a room upgrade. We did have them punch our cards so we could use lanyards. We had carried on our luggage with us, so went to Headliners to store the bags. Headliners told us to proceed to our cabins with the luggage, even though the cabins might not be ready. Our cabins were 9149 (mid ship balcony) and 9151 (mid ship inside). 9149 is also great because there is no lifeboat below it. Before selecting a cabin, be sure and look at an exterior shot of the ship. Count cabins to see what yours looks like from the outside. We did overlook a balcony on Deck 8. I would never book Deck 8 on the Epic. While our cabin was smaller than anything we've had on Carnival, we felt they were well appointed. We made sure to get the "bed by the balcony", as so many have suggested here. We headed out on deck to the water slides. By this point, 12:30, most of the chairs were taken, but we did manage to find a couple. The pools were packed. I wouldn't get in an Epic pool if you paid me. There are way too many people in too little water. After giving up on spotting our roll call members, we headed to Taste for lunch. Lunch was excellent. In fact, every meal we had in the main dining rooms was pretty good. That day I had the Vietnamese spring roll and a cobb salad. We then headed for the spa for a tour. Don't waste your time. While the spa is lovely, this was nothing but a series of sales pitches. Yes, they did give away some prizes, but they weren't massages or any of the good stuff. When they started a dance contest to determine the winners, we turned around and headed out. I was impressed with our dinner reservation in the Manhattan Room. We were part of a group of 35 and they actually had 4 tables waiting for us at the scheduled time. I was happy that the band wasn't playing the first night, as I'd read how they made it impossible to talk. The steak and lobster were very good and my lobster tail was a fair size. After dinner, we headed to Headliners for the Howl at the Moon Dueling Pianos with our cruise critic roll call. This was really fun. I recommend it for all roll calls on the first night. We hadn't had our official meet and greet yet, but were able to meet those that showed up. The dueling piano players were not only good at playing and singing, but they were great comedians as well. Entertainment is NCL's strong suit.

Sunday was Easter and a day at sea. I was very sad to learn there was no church service offered on the ship. Other than the "washy-washy" lady hollering "Happy Easter" as you walked into the Garden Cafe and the bowls of pastel candies outside the main dining rooms, you would never know it was Easter. I headed out to the pool deck at 8am and guess what? All the chairs were taken, but not by people, but by towels, hats, and books. I found a place in the shade and froze for an hour. I was surprised by how windy and rough the seas were on this cruise. It was worse than our other cruises and I was happy to have not gotten an upgrade to a higher floor. After an hour, I went over to a chair that had been vacant the entire time and moved a towel. I was able to sit in the sun for about an hour when Grandma and two kids came over, looking confused. I asked, "Is this your chair?" "Yes, all 6 of these chairs are ours", they replied. I got up to go back to my chair in the shade and these people never even sat down. They left again. How rude was that?!! That was the last time I went to the pool deck, other than to exchange towels. Our meet and greet was scheduled for 11am in Bliss. We signed in with our names and cabin numbers. I don't know why we did this, as I was never contacted by anyone to see if everything was o.k. It was nice to meet more roll call members. We had a pretty friendly group. The officers that were there were all from housekeeping and talked about their duties. When I asked if the seas were rough, they told me "no". I'd hate to be on one they considered rough. Our friends in the Haven (top deck forward) complained about waking in the middle of the night due to rough seas. We tried to make Cirque and Blue Man reservations, but EVERY show was sold out.

I think we're really in the minority when we say that we didn't care for the food at the buffet. Breakfasts were really boring and the coffee was just plain BAD. We ended up making coffee in our cabin every morning. On the last day of the cruise, we tried some type of machine on the buffet that was next to the regular coffee dispensers. That coffee was better. I can't believe they can't make a good cup of coffee. I was excited to try the Eggs Benedict, but it was small, very dry, and the the sauce was not a Hollandaise sauce. Also, the blueberry muffins did not contain a single berry. It only had 1/2 teaspoon of jam on top the muffin. There was a good Bananas Foster sauce on the buffet that was good on waffles or French toast.

Cabin Review

Mid-Ship Balcony

Cabin BB

9149 is great because there are no lifeboats in the way. It is mid-whip and the bed is by the balcony.

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