Norwegian Epic Review

Solo traveller debacle

Review for the Western Mediterranean Cruise on Norwegian Epic
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Babiole
2-5 Cruises • Age 60s

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Sail Date: May 2015
Cabin: Mid-Ship Inside

This was my first cruise as a solo traveller. I booked late in the day so none of the single traveller studios were available . I , like a number of other solo travellers who also could not get into the studios paid the single traveller premium for inside staterooms. However I was told categorically that even though I was a single traveller I would not be allowed access to the single traveller lounge because that was only available to those who had booked the single traveller studios. The ship run a solo traveller program which arranged all the meetings within the solo traveller lounge the very place that those of us who had inside state rooms were told we could not go !

Many of those who booked the studios were not strictly solo travellers they were individuals who had travelled with friends but wanted to have their own cabin and they weren't necessarily interested in meeting up with other solo travellers as they had come with friends. Therefore there were many individuals in the studios who were not interested in using the lounge and a number of others who were genuine solo travellers who would have welcomed the use of the lounge to mix with other solo travellers but were told we couldn't go in .

The solo traveller meetings were arranged for 5 PM to fit in with the staff working hours . However most days people were onshore and hadn't returned from tours or had only just returned to the ship and hadn't had time to refresh themselves before the meetings. Consequently the turnout for these meetings was very low and on one occasion that I managed to get access to the lounge ( yes I did sneak in twice) there were only three people there . The single traveller ordinator also arranged dinners to allow for the travellers to eat together however again these were arranged every night at 6 PM which was far too early to eat dinner . Shore excursions often did not return to the ship before 6 o'clock or only arrived back shortly before dinner not allowing anyone time to have a shower and get changed and ready for the evening . After the first night nobody was interested in eating at 6 PM and therefore these dinners did not take place . Whilst I enjoyed the shore excursions I didn't actually get to meet any of the solo travellers save for a short period of time on two evenings when somebody had let me into the lounge but it meant that I ended up eating on my own every evening and because I am a woman I felt uneasy about spending an evening sitting at a bar or in the lounge or nightclub on my own. I ended up spending from 7:30 PM every evening in my cabin . After the first two evenings it was impossible to book for any of the shows as they had sold out and therefore I didn't even get to see the variety of shows that were a available.

Cabin Review

Mid-Ship Inside

Cabin IB

Cabin was perfectly adequate and immaculately clean.

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