I actually won a free cruise through my local land casino. With that being said, I was given a discounted cruise for me and a guest. This was my first cruise with Norwegian. I have taken several cruises before, but with Royal Caribbean. I have always thought my Royal Caribbean cruises were superb. Their main objective and focus is exceptional customer service. Royal Caribbean goes above and beyond any expectation a passenger may have. From guest services desk staff to restaurant staff to bartenders to casino to cabin maintenance to the lowest position staff member on their ship, I have always been greeted with a smile, talked to respectfully, conversed with, and had any question or issue I had, no matter how small, addressed immediately.

And now for my most recent cruise, with Norwegian Cruise lines on the Epic. I sailed this past week out of Port Canaveral Florida. One of the first things I noticed when getting onto the ship to the check in area, was that there was no organization. After going through a horribly long line, we were told to sit down and wait to be called to board. The only problem was that there were not enough seats for people. People were smashed into areas where you could hardly move . We stood in a mass of people for over an hour with Norwegian employees telling us to find a seat that did not exist. Once boarding the ship, we were told to go to deck 15 which is the buffet. On the way to the buffet, walking across the pool area, my friend fell on a wet floor that was not attended to, No staff member came over to see if my friend was injured. Other passengers came to her aid. Fortunately, she was not seriously hurt. Again I say that the ships staff saw her fall and ignored her . On to the buffet area. The food was ok. the restaurant staff never smiled and looked unhappy. They never came to the table except to grab dishes away from us before we were even finished. They never brought us refills of coffee or other beverages. They just seemed to want to get rid of us as soon as possible. On to the cabin. It was claustrophobic. the toilet and shower not in separate area. The division was a dirty curtain. The commode was in a tiny space with hardly room to sit down. The shower was in another cubby hole. The sink and vanity in another area. Walking around unclothed from one spot to another was uncomfortable and awkward. The shower was ok but the water rose to our ankles. The drain was not working efficiently. We lost all water and toilet use in our cabin as did many other cruisers on our section of the ship. This lasted 8 hours. No explanation what happened. So, we have eaten and gone to our cabin on first day. The ship was due to sail at 4:30 pm. Announcement was made about 4:45 that there was a medical emergency and there was no time frame provided for our departure. No one was willing to tell us anything. We waited until 10:30 pm to sail with no explanation. Days after, another passenger told us that someone had died of a drug overdose. Very sad, but why didn't they remove that person and continue to depart. 4,700 passengers were left to sit and wait while they did an investigation etc.

Day 2, supposed to visit Great Stirrup Cay, announced that the weather was bas and we would bypass and continue to Ocho Rios, Jamaica. I purchased an internet package for over $100 and was unable to use my phone while on the ship. I visited guest services and the person was very rude with me. Did not take the time to explain anything to me. Main dining room staff first three nights were not friendly at all. They were robotic and did not smile or engage us in conversation. We went to the other dining room on night #4 and fortunately had a lovely waitress for the remaining 3 nights of the cruise. Casino staff was for the most part unfriendly as well. Bartenders did not come around and ask if you wanted a drink. They didn't even make eye contact at all. Just whizzed by with their trays basically ignoring people. The ports were nice. We visited Ocho Rios, Grand Caymen and Cozumel. Last day. Debarkation was another catastrophe. We put our luggage out side the cabin the night before. We were assigned a color coded tag which indicated what time and order we would leave the ship. They said there would be announcements over a loud speaker to tell each group of passengers to get off ship. There were no loud speaker announcements. Simple signs in odd locations not visible to everyone. As a result, everyone tried to exit the ship at the same time. We were corralled like cattle down stairs and in and out of lounges and other places. Elevators were shut down. Worst experience ever getting off a cruise ship. Once getting to the luggage area, our luggage was put in 4 different areas and almost impossible to locate. One of the most frustrating experiences in my life. I will never sail with Norwegian again. They need to take lessons from Royal Caribbean on how to treat their passengers appropriately.