The 7-day cruise on the Norwegian Epic, sailing out of San Juan on January 8th was the WORST cruise I have even been on. I’ve been on several cruises on both larger and smaller ships, and this was clearly the worst. The boat was overcrowded, uncomfortable and UNSAFE. There was no way the overwhelmed staff could handle the crowd if a fire or other emergency broke out. The staff could not even handle the crowds on a good day.

Sources on the web indicate that the Epic can carry 4100 passengers. This is done by shoehorning state rooms in every nook and cranny, and from some accounts, making rooms narrower than on other ships. We were told the ship sailed with 4665 passengers, WELL OVER the stated capacity! The result was a crowded and uncomfortable experience. The lifts (elevators) ALWAYS had a 5-10 minute wait. When the lifts did arrive, you had to pack in tightly, reminiscent of my days riding the NYC Subway. Hey, COVID protection be damned, let’s squeeze more people in a small space. Up on the pool deck, the two small pools were crowded much like the lifts. You could not get a chair by the pool, or in any of the lounges unless you showed up very early and “saved” one. The Garden Buffet was a disaster. It reminded me of the cafeteria scene in “Animal House” where Belushi yells, “Food Fight!” I was tempted to do that. There were long lines, people dropping plates on the floor and even someone falling down, requiring medical staff to respond. I lost my appetite quickly. Overall, this cruise was like a bad day at Disney during Christmas week where there were long lines for everything.

But now for the category of “Can you top this?” We couldn’t get off the silly boat when the cruise was over. We got in line and waited 30 minutes for the lift to go to the 4th floor gangplank. Then the port personnel (other group of incompetents) decided to close access to the port, thus trapping 200 people on the 4th floor landing, unable to go off the boat and unable to go back up, as the lifts were locked out. We were held prisoner for 20 minutes in this small space while it got very hot and stuffy. Before people starting passing out, I called 911 for help on a phone in the hallway and the operator laughed and hung up. This would have been funny if it wasn’t serious. People could have had medical emergencies and potentially died while the operator laughed. This operator should be fired immediately. An emergency call is NEVER a laughing matter. Read more