Great itinerary, ship layout not for me!

Embarkation was delivered smoothly and quickly. Level of service throughout the ship was good, with staff generally attentive. In service areas, I would say that there are dead zones, where if you are at a bar or restaurant in a location were staff serve up to, you are often overlooked because of an assumption that another member of staff is covering that area, I experienced this several times myself and observed it happening to over clients. I felt the entertainment on ship was one of the best I’d seen over all cruises I’ve taken. With regard to restaurants, I felt I’d had better on other Norwegian vessels, in particular the layout of the Buffet I found particularly disappointing. I appreciate that with so many guests that a replication of the most popular stations is necessary, however the one off speciality areas would be better placed centrally, so that you didn’t need to walk the whole servery to obtain an item, there was also less choise in these areas. In La Cucina, used as an overspill for breakfast, I rarely saw a member of staff.

My main disappointment was the overall layout of the Epic, which I feel does not put to best use the space they have. H2O which should have been a haven for anyone wanting a quieter location being adult only, had next to no shaded areas, so was just under used. I only saw the servery open on Embarkation day, and was closed thereafter. The Great Outdoors, located by the pool is the only other outdoor venue for food was so noisy and busy to be an assault to the senses. Mid deck there were large quieter areas that had little furniture available, which depending on orientation could have provided shade and quiet. Read more