I chose this cruise as a short getaway. As this is a mega-ship and relatively modern I was expecting something great. Unfortunately it was a let down in almost all areas.

The ship itself is in very poor shape. The outside is rusty and the crew were white-washing the hull when we were docked. The carpeting is threadbare in many areas, particularly the theatre and lounges. The furniture in most of the bars is worn and some has even been patched up to cover holes. The elevators kept breaking down and the buttons didn’t even work some of the time. The sun decks were being constantly sanded and patched up throughout the cruise and a lot of the public spaces were “under maintenance” for most of the cruise. The ship shouldn’t have so much maintenance going on while there are passengers on board. I understand minor things but this was unacceptable. The Epic isn’t due for dry-dock but it desperately needs it. I can’t believe this ship is only ten years old!

My cabin was falling apart. The carpeting is peeling up. The cupboards and woodwork is all damaged. The TV wasn’t attached properly to the wall so rattled constantly. The panelling over the bed fell down on the first night due to the extreme vibration of the ship. On the second night the vent in the toilet fell down along with a wash cloth and broken plastic that had been stuffed behind it by someone. The air conditioning vent was also detached from the wall. I raised these issues with customer services and they said they’d send someone to inspect but they never did. The balcony was extremely rusty and the varnish on the railings was peeling off. Read more