Norwegian Epic Review

4.5 / 5.0
4,409 reviews

Bigger ship with more rooms and passengers isnt the answer

Review for the Western Caribbean Cruise on Norwegian Epic
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RMOJ
10+ Cruises • Age 70s

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Sail Date: Jan 2015
Cabin: Balcony

Our 1-18-15 Cruise out of Miami on the NCL Epic was very eventful. This was our 16th cruise, our 6th NCL cruise and 1st time on the Epic. We have never been around so many unruly out of control children at one time, much less on what was supposed to be an up scale cruise ship (5 star rating). My guess is 10 to 15% of the guests on this cruise were juveniles traveling with their parents. If not that high of percentage, it seemed like it. There was no parental guidance, control, discipline, or supervision of these children/kids the entire 7 day cruise. The smaller children stood and jumper on the booth seats and chairs in the dining facilities, ran around in the buffet food serving and seating areas, hall ways, casino, up and down the steps and, of course the pool and lounge areas. Small kids were serving themselves in the buffet with no parent around. It was not possible to have a quiet peaceful meal in any of the include eating facilities. The adult areas were not respected nor enforced by the crew. Example: My final evening on this cruise I walked across the pool deck area going to pick up package goods, bought on shore, being held by the ship for pick up that evening about 6PM, I observed 7 children in a hot tub ranging in ages of around 3 to 7 years old with no adults around within a 20 yard radius. I also observed while in line to pick up my package, 10 juveniles, ranging in age of about 10 to 14, coming down the steps from an adult aft area moving as a group with no accompanying adult. Kids were running the halls, knocking on cabin doors, playing in the elevator areas, not to mention the elevator riding and of course no adult supervision around. The parents just let their kids roam the ship.

I commend the buffet and restaurant employees for handling the additional aggravation and added work so well. I experienced a less dramatic situation years ago on a different cruise line during spring break. The Captain took control on day 2, as soon as it became apparent his other passengers were being inconvenienced. He announced over the PA system to all, parents were responsible for their own children and would be held accountable for their whereabouts and actions. He went so far as to say, non compliance could lead to restriction to cabin or being put ashore. I am disappointed there was never any apparent action taken by the Epic Captain or his Officers to bring the juveniles under control nor enforce the restrictions and rules.

Apparently the decision was made to cater to these large family groups without considering the other passengers. I was a party to numerous conversations, not initiated by me and mostly with experienced cruisers, expressing their dissatisfaction with this cruise, primarily caused by the loud unruly kids. Most just expressed their disbelief and disappointment while others went so far as to say they will never sail on this ship again. I personally agree with all.

Cabin Review

Balcony

Cabin BX

We were on deck 9 Forward (9001, the most forward room on port side) with an extra large balcony(about 110sf), thank goodness, at least half the size of our state room. This balcony is closed in more than most but had plenty of room for the 2 chairs, small table and a lounge chair. We didn’t care much for the room design which made it difficult for two people to move around at the same time. It took some getting use to. The bathroom arrangement was unusual but had some positive aspects. Our room was in a very quite location and we spent more time than normal in the room to get away from the crowds and other people's kids and our Stewardess did a good job servicing our room.

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