Norwegian Epic Review

4.5 / 5.0
4,413 reviews

Why go? Why not!

Review for the Bahamas Cruise on Norwegian Epic
User Avatar
njkingston
2-5 Cruises • Age 50s

Rating by category

Cabin
Value for Money
Embarkation
Dining
Public Rooms
Entertainment
Fitness & Recreation
Service

Additional details

Sail Date: Mar 2018
Cabin: Studio

About a month before my cruise on the NCL Epic, I was sitting in my office and thinking…I need a mini-vacation! I decided to go solo. I did not want to overthink it. 20 minutes later, I had a room booked in a solo cabin aboard the Norwegian Epic for a March 7, 2018 departure for Port Canaveral. Break out the sunscreen, warm up my liver, buy bigger pants (for when I get home)….oh yeah! I was ready!

Booking the trip: Booked online through NCL website for 4 day, 3 night cruise to Nassau and Great Stirrup Cay (NCL Island). Booked a Solo Cabin. These were actually about the same cost as if I booked a one person inside cabin, but I wanted the solo group experience and access to the solo lounge and meetings, which are exclusive to those staying in the Solo Cabins. I took advantage of the free Unlimited Beverage Package (UBP), which does require that you pre-pay 18% gratuity on $89 per day of the value, but it was worth the cost to me and it’s much easier to not worry about tipping on board. I prepaid gratuities. I printed out my confirmation (with the bar code) and luggage tags. I used packing tape to basically laminate my tags to avoid them tearing off.

Transportation from Orlando Airport: I took Cortrans Shuttle Service from MCO. Cost $20 one way/$40 round trip (plus a few dollars voluntary tip). I paid cash onsite. I arranged in advance on their website. They gave easy instructions on where to meet. My flight arrived early (was at pickup location by 10:30AM for 11:15AM shuttle), so I had to wait about 45 minutes until my actual shuttle time. Arrived to cruise port at 12:15AM. They drop right at the cruise port and luggage porters. I highly recommend Cortrans. They use mid-sized buses. Great service!

Cabin Review

Studio

Cabin T1

The solo cabin is small and funky. I’m a big guy…6’3” about 300lb. I found the bed comfortable and large enough. Taking a shower in the small telephone booth size shower for me was like washing a large van in a small carwash. Nonetheless, I liked the cabins. I didn’t spend a whole lot of time in them anyway. After I booked, I saw that my cabin was far away from Solo Lounge. I called NCL and changed to one closer. This was a good choice since some folks were really far from the lounge and general gathering space. There are 128 Solo Cabins on the Epic. All people in Solo Cabins have exclusive use of the Solo Lounge. The lounge had an awesome coffee machine for free use, which included lattes, cappuccino, espresso functions. Baked cookies and danishes in the morning was nice. The first day at 6PM we had a meeting at the Solo Lounge to meet our NCL Solo host, Silvia. She made arrangements for those of us to go to dinner together a different restaurants at 6PM for each of the three nights. About a half dozen of us, which is a relatively small group compared to the 128 Solo Cabins on board, decided to go. We ended up hanging out together the rest of the cruise…dining together, going ashore, etc. New friends whom I’d like to cruise with again. There is also a happy hour in the Solo Lounge every night from 5-7PM. This was a good opportunity to meet others staying the solo cabins. Some folks were truly solo travelers. Some were friends who are staying in the solo cabins. Others were traveling with their others, but wanted their own cabin. Some of the cabins are connecting.

Port Reviews

Great Stirrup Cay

Great Stirrup Cay is an NCL island, which means food and UBP was included there. We hung around the Bacardi Bar. If you want to go early to the Great Stirrup Cay, you should reserve a tender. These are reserved in groups…tender 1,2,3 etc. If you reserve Tender 1 and decide to go later than the first tender, you can still go in a higher group.

Nassau

Nassau, we went to Junkanoo Beach to hang out at the Tiki Bikini Hut. We enjoyed the drinks, beach area, DJ, and free wifi. Great server (Amanda) from South Africa.

7 Helpful Votes
previous reviewnext review

Find a Norwegian Epic Cruise from $299

Any Month

Get special cruise deals, expert advice, insider tips and more.By proceeding, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

© 1995—2024, The Independent Traveler, Inc.