This was our family’s second cruise with Norwegian. The first was as part of a friend’s destination wedding on the Getaway a couple of years ago and was a lackluster experience. Since we weren’t specifically there for our own enjoyment, we decided that we would give NCL another chance. This time we chose the 7 day Eastern Caribbean Cruise out of Port Canaveral on the Epic for the location, ports of call, ship features/benefits, children's activities, entertainment, and variety of dining options. We were looking for an exceptional experience to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary. Unfortunately, NCL failed us on both experiences making this one our last.

The ports were changed due to hurricane damage, understandably. They added an additional port, but did not offer anything for the inconvenience. Also, due to the change of ports, excursions were not available to research and pre-book as NCL had not been able to load them online. Then we received a call just 2 days prior to the trip to advise the check in time was moved from 11 am to 2 pm due to the ship arriving from Europe having to undergo immigration inspections. This is something that other lines undergo without such late notice and NCL should have been able to plan this in advance of bookings. Communications of this were poorly executed internally as no one by phone or at the port could confirm if the departure time would also be moved. Another unforeseen event occurred at the terminal delaying the boarding process even further. We finally arrived on the ship at 6:30 pm to be poorly greeted by most of the staff. You would think the service would have been elevated to make everyone forget about the snafu's already endured.

I'd like to first point out that my husband and I are not picky or demanding and we are able to speak to the quality of service based on having had past service related positions. From the initial interactions all the way to our last (with very few exceptions), the service was terrible! Bartenders, except the one at Teppanyaki/Wasabi, were less than personable, rarely smiled, and made us feel like it was an inconvenience to serve people. And even though we had the unlimited beverage package, we tipped cash for almost every drink we ordered. Doing so did not improve the level of service. Read more