Norwegian Epic Review

4.5 / 5.0
4,409 reviews

Norwegian Epic

Review for the Eastern Caribbean Cruise on Norwegian Epic
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sloopmattb
2-5 Cruises • Age 40s

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Sail Date: Nov 2011
Cabin: Family Balcony
Traveled with children

My girlfriend and I took our 10 month old daughter on the Norwegian Epic this November. I read a lot of member reviews about the ship on the Cruise Critic website in preparation as we wanted to make sure we were fully prepared, as this was our first extended vacation away from home with our daughter. I have to admit that I was a little nervous about the ship as I saw more than a few extremely negative reviews, but I can honestly say that we had a nothing but positive experience. Hopefully this review is helpful for those traveling or considering traveling with an infant.

Boarding in Miami was extremely quick and well organized. There was a slight delay getting on board due to the final inspection being performed, but that was only 20-25 minutes. We were on board first as we had our daughter in her stroller. We went right up to Deck 15 to get some lunch at the buffet, which worked out well because we were able to eat with her before everyone else boarded. We had some time to kill so we walked around the ship and explored. They said the rooms would be ready at 2, but we went to ours around 1:15 and were able to access our room, so it's probably worth checking out.

We had one of the New Wave balcony staterooms and its true that the room is very small. There isn't much room at the foot of the bed to get around so it takes a little maneuvering. There is a lot of space for storage though, so you don't have to live out of a suitcase for the week. Our two large suitcases and stroller stored easily underneath the bed. Before the cruise I read some strange requests about the complexity of the lighting system. Either they fixed it from earlier cruises, or people are being extremely impatient and picky. Spend 5 minutes with them when you get there and you'll be good for the week. I will say the lighting by the sink is pretty poor so you probably need to use the overhead lights when you're getting ready. Also heard problems about the sink having splashing problems and the bed length. Neither were an issue. I'm 6 feet tall and my feet barely hung over the edge of the bed. I didn't have a problem with the separation of the shower and toilet, but they should consider putting a fan in the bathroom as there is no privacy at all. Rooms have hair dryers and easy-to-access outlets. One thing to note if you are traveling with a small child is that they have cribs available (Pack-n-Play), so just ask the steward. Unfortunately, the crib did not fit in our room because of the configuration (bed closest to balcony). If you have a room where the couch is closest to the balcony you'll be able to slide the couch over enough to squeeze it in between the couch and the bed. TV is pretty limited (Nickelodeon, ESPN (which was never on due to satellite interference), 3 news stations and E!). We had the balcony, which was surprisingly large, so even though we were in the room frequently because of the baby the lack of TV didn't bother us because we spent time outside. I think the balcony is a must if you are traveling with kids. Only other thing about the rooms is that you can ask the steward to fill up the mini-bar with whatever drinks you'd like to have.

Cabin Review

Family Balcony

We were in cabin 10147. The elevators we were closest to went all the way down to Decks 4 and 5, so we didn't have to go through the casino. Because of the room configuration, we could not fit the crib they brought us. This would be the same for all balcony state rooms that have the bed closest to the balcony.

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