Norwegian Epic Review

4.5 / 5.0
4,409 reviews

Good, but Not That Good.

Review for the Mediterranean Cruise on Norwegian Epic
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bbaltes
6-10 Cruises • Age 60s

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Additional details

Sail Date: Jun 2015
Cabin: Mid-Ship Balcony
Traveled with children

OK – let me start with a full disclosure. My family has taken 6 Disney cruises and loved every one of them. We only took Norwegian because we wanted to begin our summer vacation with the convenience of a cruise while we visited Spain, Italy, and France. So, if you sense a bias, there probably is one, but I’m trying to be as objective as I can.

It’s tough not to compare the two cruise lines. As a family we tried our best to discourage each other from making comparisons – positive or negative – to Disney. Norwegian and Disney are two different cruise lines with two different approaches to cruising, and we recognized that.

Overall, our impression was two-fold: First, there are a LOT of people on this ship. The site says that it has a capacity of 4100 passengers and 1753 crew (2.34 passengers to 1 crew), but my comments below seem to not reflect this. I have read elsewhere that children under a certain age are not considered to be passengers. Second, we believe the crew and the ship itself are just “tired”. Again, the specifics below seem to support this.

Cabin Review

Mid-Ship Balcony

Cabin BB

• Our cabin was #12145 – mid-ships, near the top of the ship, with a balcony.

• We are the type of family who doesn’t spend a lot of time in the cabin. When we come back from excursions or hectic times at the pool, it was a great retreat for some solitude and quiet (see below).

• One thing we have to say right off is that our cabin was QUIET! Wow. They must have done something because we heard NOTHING from cabins on either side of us, on top or underneath. It was truly a haven away from what can otherwise be a cruise with a lot of sensory overload. Even on Disney, we didn’t experience this level of quiet. There was no door slamming, kids running down the hallway screaming, toilets flushing, or anything. Even with our door open at night to hear the waves, we weren’t aware of parties and music from 3 decks above. We may have just been lucky, but were greatly impressed with this feature.

• Storage was another plus with these cabins. They have really designed these cabins to find all kinds of areas to tuck away things. There’s plenty of room to hang long dresses (if that’s your thing) and even a medicine cabinet to put your toiletries. Wonderful.

• I like the idea of the separate shower and toilet. We never used both spaces at once, but with a larger family, it might be nice. Some people online were not thrilled with the translucent quality of the doors, but since you could draw a curtain it didn’t matter. The sink is separate from the shower and toilet, so that was convenient. You could hear someone going to the bathroom, so just be aware of that….

• Beds were firm - which is how we like them – so that is a plus. Pillows were also comfortable.

• The walking space is compromised by the storage and nice size beds, so just don’t expect that you’ll have strolling space in the cabin. I would go to O’Sheehans while the girls got ready in the morning just to get one less body in there, and that worked out fine.

• On the downside, the cabin did seem worn. The laminate counter was peeling up, there were scratches near the refrigerator, the sealer on the shower door was not secure, the carpets were worn and faded, there was rust and stains on the balcony, and the medicine cabinet mirror had chipped edges. Let me be clear – there was nothing that compromised the health or safety of a guest. In general, it had the quality of a Ramada vs. a Marriott hotel room. Not bad, but not what you’d expect from a hotel room costing you hundreds of dollars a night. It’s ready for a dry dock stint – which is what may be in the cards for the Epic as the Escape is launched this fall.

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