Norwegian Epic Review

Norwegian Epic Fail

Review for the Western Mediterranean Cruise on Norwegian Epic
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6-10 Cruises • Age 50s

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Sail Date: Jun 2014
Traveled with children

We cruised on the Norwegian Epic departing from Rome (Civitavecchia) on June 25th. Traveling in our group was me, my husband, our 14 year old daughter and my parents, ages 81 and 73. We had spent two glorious days in Rome prior to embarkation. The embarkation process went very smoothly and our cabins were ready when we boarded. It didn't seem to take very long for our luggage to show up either. The majority of passengers get on this cruise in Barcelona rather than Rome which may be the reason for the problem free process, but whatever - it worked. The cabins are weird, the bathroom situation is just bizarre. There were 3 of us in our stateroom - me, my husband and our daughter. We made it work, but if I was traveling with a friend rather than close family it would have been extremely awkward. The best thing I can say about the cabin is that the bed is comfy and our extra large balcony was very nice.

Now, the food. It's gross. This is my 8th cruise, the first time with Norwegian and I can honestly say we usually have trouble choosing what to eat because there are so many options - on this cruise we had trouble finding anything good to eat. We ate at Taste and the Manhattan Room, I think service was a little friendlier in the Manhattan dining room. We also ate at Cagney's, it was fine but not spectacular. We liked the free style dining, however it's also nice to have the same wait staff - that's part of the fun of cruising (for us anyway). I think not having the same wait staff contributes to the more unfriendly atmosphere on this ship as compared to other cruises we've been on. Garden Cafe is okay. O'Sheehan's was okay too - had the chicken pot pie which was fine. But again I'm used to shrimp cocktails and lobster tails and you don't find that on this ship (they did have lobster one night at the Garden Cafe, they were adequate and I had a shrimp cocktail with dinner at Cagneys but of course I paid extra to eat there) All is not lost however.

Norwegian's entertainment on this ship was pretty good. We loved Cirque Dreams - the entertainment was top notch. As with all the food on this ship the meal was meh......but still I'd do it again to see the show. We also enjoyed Blue Man Group. I had scheduled Legends but as this itinerary is really port intensive we were exhausted and completely forgot about our reservations so I can't review that. Howl at the Moon is a must-do! They are amazing - funny and talented! We saw them twice. I did miss the type of shows we've seen on other cruises, but overall the entertainment is pretty good. Final verdict - would not choose Norwegian again unless the itinerary was fabulous (as this one was).

Cabin Review

Comfy bed, wonderful balcony, bathroom situation is not ideal. I don't know who thought this set up was a good idea, but they were wrong.

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