Norwegian Epic Review
Rating by category
Additional details
After a lot of reading on Cruise Critic, we choose this ship and itinerary for timing and ease of port (flying in from Toronto). The reviews on Cruise Critic helped a lot so i won't repeat what i discovered here already but here are a few things i learned onboard.
SHIP
We learned that the carpets are coloured red/orange for port side and blue for starboard. The elevators also have the same lighting for port / starboard so if you ever pop into an elevator, you can figure out which side you are on quickly. In general, we had difficulty finding an available elevator some days and walking up and down 7-8 decks to our cabin was sometimes tiring.
Cabin Review
Family Balcony
Our balcony cabin was in a great location - deck 14 - Forward port side. Although the deck plans don't indicate it, we were in a dead end walkway which meant it was very quiet. Very close to the stairs and elevator. We had some concerns that it was close to Splash Academy and might be noisy since their programs end around 1:30am but this was not the case at all. We were underneath the main buffet which i read online on some reviews that this could be noisy but we didn't find this to be the case. Our balcony had a large overhang so we were in shade most of the time which i actually preferred. We had a great view from this deck level.
Port Reviews
Tortola
Quiet port. We just walked off the ship, found tourist information and they suggested a 2.5 hour tour for $25 by open air jeep. There were 16 people onboard and the tour was just enough to see the island and get back and do a bit of walking before we had to get back onboard.
St. Thomas
Another quiet port. Just walked and shopped.
Nassau
Our ship was redirected to Nassau instead of Great Stirrup Cay which was bit disappointing for us but nonetheless, the port was interesting. No need to book any tours if you want to see the historic areas as they are mostly walkable.
There were four other ships docked so approx 15,000 guests in port that day which was quite busy. The main shopping area was extremely busy with a lot of shop keepers at the front of their shop asking you to shop.