Norwegian Epic Review

4.5 / 5.0
4,413 reviews

NCL Not The Best Value Anymore But Still A Good Time

Review for the Western Mediterranean Cruise on Norwegian Epic
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DaniSoBlue
6-10 Cruises • Age 40s

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Cabin

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Sail Date: Apr 2016
Cabin: Balcony

Im going to try to get the specifics out so I don't forget anything! So this review might be a little all over the place.

This cruise was AWESOME!!!! Epic was everything I dreamed it could be and more! The ship was huge but easy to manage. The halls and stairwells are color coded - aft, starboard, port and forward individually colored blue and orange so you know what part of the ship you are in or need to get to. The food was by far the best I have had the delight to enjoy on a ship yet! The buffet was pretty much the best and freshest I have had and even at its busiest I never stood in a line of more than 3 people. I never had trouble finding a table. And by busiest times I mean we had 3 new embarkation days where new cruisers joined. On these days there could have been several hundred new people converging on the buffet and pool area with delayed access to their staterooms. Who ever said this ship was too crowded just needed something to complain about. Even on these days we never waited for an elevator, never felt like OMG THIS IS CRAZY, and again never had long waits at the buffet where food was cold or there was no place to sit. I can easily say this ship is by far the best designed to accommodate large crowds. Even the dining rooms were always a pleasure with a wait of maybe 20mins with no reservation - there was a bar right outside of the Manhattan room so we were able to enjoy a drink while we waited. With reservations, we walked right in.

It sucked that we never got to use the slides haha - it was rather chilly and our day 1 was really bumpy! But, by day 3 we were able to enjoy the hot tubs in the adult section of the ship - COMPLAINT*** the hot tubs in the main pool area were overrun by kids daily AND babies without swimmers (yuck). The adult section came through, although on the day we came on board the ship there were 3 families that did bring their children into that area and no one from NCL seemed to care to say anything to them about it. Im not a heartless child hater but if there are rules for comfort they should be kept. The one family let their toddler jump from lounger to lounger picking up other people's belongings - and this was day 1. We just wanted to relax and wait for our staterooms to be released! It was rather annoying!

Cabin Review

Balcony

Cabin BD

Our cabin was awesome! We had 13249 - an accessible room which, mind you, we chose for its size and location. A few minor problems were encountered off the bat but nothing that would deter us from enjoying Epic again! Unlike the other cabins, with an accessible room you get a complete bathroom with toilet and shower separate from the sink - no curtain but a real door! The downside? When you showered everything gets wet so you have to be mindful of the next person in after you - no one likes stepping into a cold water puddle. We had a process so we didn't mind this setup. The door to the bathroom didn't quite stay closed as well as it should have. During the crazy choppy night we had on day 1 and day 6 our door had to be kept closed with a pillow in front of it. Hey it served it's purpose and we aren't much to complain about little things. In fact, we forgot to even bring it up to our cabin steward, Richard, so sorry to the next people who get that room.

Also, the entry door was weird. It had a mechanism that assisted the doors operation for wheel chairs. I wish it could be disabled when you are not in need of accessibility but it can't. So the door stayed open longer than it should when you walked in or out of the room. And you couldn't just fling it closed as it would re-open itself if the lock didn't engage.Tricky but I'll never avoid an accessible room.

The room is a HUGE square - not like the wave design of the regular rooms. I think it is a great layout if you are in need of a little extra space, or if you need the accessibility. The only thing it really lacks is a couch - there was a desk chair but for the most part you will lounge either on the balcony or in bed. The closet had 2 parts. One full length that shared storage with life vests, and the other side with an upper bar that could pull down for accessibility and a lower bar. Downside here - long dresses hung over the lower bar instead of straight... not a deal breaker but just fyi. The light in the sink area totally stinks. I had to use a small mirror to highlight my face for makeup haha. But if you have sight issues there really is no good light in this room. Our TV remote never totally worked our TV but we never watched it much. The slope on the floor for the balcony and the bathroom entry to me was super slick and could be very dangerous! We put extra towels on them to help with traction. This would probably be my biggest complaint about this room. During our choppy nights we caught ourselves quite a few times saving us from total disaster wipe-outs! Be careful!

Other than that great room, great location... super sized balcony.

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