Norwegian Epic Review
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We just got back from a 7 night cruise on the Norwegian Epic. We sailed out of Miami and had 2 days at sea. We arrived at St Maarten, then to St Thomas. We had a final day at sea and then hit Nassau. The ship is beautiful. The food was amazing, and this is coming from a self proclaimed foodie. The entertainment was also very good. There was always something to do. And the spa and gym were ample. Our housekeeper Roberto was phenomenal. He was super accomodating and greeted us every morning with a smile and well wishes, even remembering our names!
On the negative side, there were a few things that rubbed me and my group of 12 the wrong way. The first thing is the scam at the spa. I had a hot stone massage and the masseuse tried to sell me $650 dollars worth of product that would get rid of my cellulite and also the "rocks in my shoulders" (I think he meant tight traps). I came home and googled and found that this was something that was done on different ships. The massage was wonderful, but the scam at the end spoiled the fun for me.
The second thing that really erked us is the bar service. While the wait staff in the restaurants with a extra cost were very accommodating, the bar staff just acted annoyed with us. We purchased the bar package, for $350 for the week plus 15% gratuity added, which equaled about $400 for the week. I don't know if this is what annoyed them, but we tipped over and still could rarely get a smile out of them. For us, going on vacation means being treated "special" and we did not get that at all. Not sure if their boss Dave Sheehan being on Undercover Boss had anything to do with their tight-lipped flat affect.
Cabin Review
Aft-Facing Balcony
We had an aft-facing balcony, room 8213, and it was super small. I mean tight. And the shower and head were at the end of the room where the door was. So if the housekeeper or room service knocked when the other person was taking a shower or using the bathroom, you could see their sillouette. The head had a frosted glass door and it was a bit uncomfortable if you had to go when the other person was sleeping because you can hear everything. I was with my husband, but have a little bit of modesty and would rather have privacy while doing my business. I can't imagine sharing a room like this with someone you are not intimately familiar with. There was a lot of hidden storage, which was cool, but I kept forgetting where I put stuff. The light switches were in odd places and there was only one outlet for electronics. Hair dryer was good, I am very picky about my hair and was pleased that I had not packed a dryer and there was a good and strong dryer in the room. No iron or steamer, expensive to send clothes to be pressed. 2 beach towels that you got charge $25 each if they were missing from your room at the end of the trip. I put one in the hamper one night and they didn't replace it so I had to ask the housekeeper to replace it.
Our housekeeper Roberto was phenomenal. He was super accomodating and greeted us every morning with a smile and well wishes, even remembering our names!
I had read that it was noisy on the 8th floor, because you were close to all the activities. But it was not, you could only hear the wonderful noise of the water.