sanger727

my response was directed to the original poster who was wondering about all the recent bad reviews and I am simply and honestly answering him. It has NOTHING to do with a "bad attitude" but yes of course it is subjective. and the subjectiveness is based on my and my family's years of experience and the fact that in over 20 plus years of cruising on various lines and yes even on NCL numerous times. It is my opinion that if someone is expecting this ship to live up to other ships as to the quality and quantity of entertainment, food and various and numerous other qualities that yes he would be much better off cancelling and booking on another different type of ship. It is funny how overly defensive people are getting over someone having a different experience than them. The point is that this particular ship is getting more than the usual amount of negative reviews lately and obviously there is a reason for this. There will always be people that are afraid to criticize or speak up and especially if they have spent a lot of money on their vacation they have a need to justify in their own mind and convince themselves how wonderful it was. GOOD FOR YOU. For us, we are realistic, honest and given our history of 100 percent awesome other experiences for over 24 years on over 30 plus ships I think our subjective experience in relation to all of our other experiences is valid and worth listening to instead of immediately trying to dismiss or belittle because you cannot allow yourselves to acknowledge that yes indeed this ship/crew may not possibly measure up to others in quite a few areas.....That is what these boards are for. For the expression of experiences and opinions. Every one obviously has merit. It is up to the individual to weigh what is most important to them and what they are looking for in a cruise experience.

I think the issue people are having with you is it sounds like you turned a disappointing experience on the epic to 'everything about this ship sucks and if you like what we like, you will hate it too'... Rather than say that there's no entertainment and the atmosphere sucks, it might be more constructive for the op and other cruisers to point out specifically what aspects disappointed you. I was super nervous about cruising on the epic due to posts like this that boil down to 'this ship is awful', which aren't helpful for me to determine if what bothers you will bother me. For me, I dislike 'typical' cruise food and entertainment, so I feel like the epic was made for someone with tastes like mine. Saying, 'we like having a different show offered in the main theater nightly, and this one only offered a handful of free shows, leaving us without things to do' is a lot more specific and helpful than 'there was no entertainment'

oh trust me, my entire family came in having the best attitudes possible and were beyond excited to be on the cruise and absolutely had reasonable expectations given that all of us have cruised over 20 times each and on many different lines and had NEVER had a bad experience...This had absolutely nothing to do with bad attitudes or unreasonable expectations..our family still managed to have fun together and enjoy our time together but it had everything to do with what i described in that the SHIP and its LAYOUT and the lack of entertainment and average food were not up to par with every other cruise we have ever taken and yes other people may be able to over look those things and not care but we feel we are highly qualified to comment when things that have been present on every other cruise we have ever attended were noticably missing/lacking. It would be different if this was a first cruise or we had barely cruised but it is not. Sorry to have to burst your bubbles and be direct. We WISH it had been designed better. Other people may be willing to settle or overlook and good for them. This was our experience and the experience of every member of not just our family but countless others I have read on these board and others...must be something to them.....

Of course you are free to give your opinions... but telling people to cancel their reservations asap is going a little far. Just because you didn't enjoy it, doesn't mean someone else won't. I disagree with every aspect of your posting, it's all subjective. I'm not saying you are wrong or that you should sail again, clearly epic isn't for you. But your bad attitude is clearly revealed when you advise someone else to cancel their reservation.

Just FYI in case you don't get a pass. If you go to the buffet and the little stand alone elevators near the pool to 18, and go to the very front of the ship. There's a nice area up there with padded loungers open to everyone. We never found it to be completely full, I don't think alot of people found it. It was a nice spot for sail away.

Happy to read your review.

Thanks for sharing.

 

How's your experience in the MDR (Manhattan and Taste) ?

Do you like it? Do you have to wait, or can be seated immediately?

 

Keep cruising.

Jumping in because OP said they don't like writing and I was on their sailing. We ate at Taste most nights and showed up anytime between 5-7. It was never full and we never had to wait.

Outside of any specials, margaritas are $6.50 plus 15% tip. Not sure about daiquiris. If you like margaritas keep you eyes peeled for the "margarita tasting" they do on one of the sea days. $15 for 4 "half size" margaritas (they were certainly strong enough to carry the punch of a full size one... we had 2 out of 4 and were too drunk to drink the rest)

I am incredibly prone to motion sickness. Without medication I get sick in cars, buses, trains, planes, and ships. I love the prescription patch, I've used it several times and have zero side effects from it. Even with it on, I've suffered mild sea sickness a couple of times, including on the epic. But, my experience is probably not typical since I am so incredibly prone to motion sickness, moreso than anyone I've ever met. My suggestion if you are considering the patch is get some from your doctor and try one when you are on land to see if there are side effects, that way if you suffer any there are at least doctors and urgent care centers nearby that you can go to. If you don't suffer side effects, they really are great.

Was in St. martin on Dec 17. Wasn't aware of the misquito issue before we left. It wasn't mentioned on the ship. We spent the day on a boat driving around the island, in the water, and on the beach. Neither of us noticed misquitos or got bit while we were there. I am usually a misquito magnet. Not saying you won't get bit down there, but it didn't seem like an issue to us.

Can you only give you my thoughts on the Capt. bob tour. While snorkeling equipment was available at the stops we made, they didn't stress that the snorkeling would be good so we didn't bother using them. You might want to start by figuring out where the snorkeling is good there and then work backwards to find out the best way to get to those places.

IMO Capt. Bob's tour is more about the tour (not the party or liquor, but getting tossed around in the speedboat) than the snorkeling.

What is the earliest you can begin check-in for Epic?

Generally speaking, what is the latest you could possibly get a Posh Pass?

No idea. On my sailing we got to the port shortly after 10 and sailed through check in and ended up in group 6 to board. Think posh pass sell out varies greatly by sailing. On mine, we were down at guest services at 1 (a good hour + after we boarded) and they were still available, I've heard of other selling out in 15 minutes.

You would think with so much washy washy the chances of getting sick would be slim.

All it takes is one cough in your hand after you pass the hand sanitizers to start contaminating all the serving spoons and tongs you touch and get it on to the next 20 people in line. Think you are alot better off washy washing after you get your food but before you start to eat.

And no one in my cabin had a flu shot.

The feeling I got on the Norweigan cruise I just came back from is that you can dress however you like any night of the cruise. Without looking at the dailies, I couldn't tell you which night was "dress up or not" on ours. Every night (except the first one) I saw probably 20% of the people walking around dressed up (I consider any dress on a woman and anything similar to a suit on a man 'formal') and photographers out taking pictures.

I was on your cruise. No one in my cabin got sick but I did notice alot of people coughing in the theaters. Think it's one of those unavoidable things on a cruise similar to flying or being in an office building.

Took the Capt Bob Cass tour on Dec 17? Roughly around there, last week sometime. Overall impression: the tour would have been really excellent if the weather had been better. But, I appreciate the fact that he didn't cancel because he said he had cancelled the day before and we had no back up plan!!

When we booked he was quick to reply back and was very responsive to questions. We had no trouble finding the marina based on his instructions and when we got there and looked lost, one of the drivers asked us who we were looking for and when we told him he showed us where to wait. Just FYI, when he says to look for the "pirate boat", "pirate" is written on the sides of the boat. Wasn't sure what he meant by that till we saw them.

I don't remember who our tour operator was except it wasn't Bob. But we were among the first to get there and check in, and then were the first boat to leave which we appreciated. It rained the day we went, so we spent a large part of the day wet and cold and being pelted with rain drops which isn't pleasant at 40 mph. But that is certainly not the fault of Bob or our guide, and it was clear he was driving us around looking for clear spots. The boat ride was alot of fun and I would probably give a glowing report about the tour if the weather had been better. No complaints, the guide was very good about asking how people were doing and making sure we were comfortable. He took us to Maho fairly early on and we got to see a big plane take off and land which was great.

Also, to someone who asked, there is a small canopy over the driver, so if you sit next time him there might be a bit of shade, but overall, you are in the sun.

Was just on Norweigan last week. It wasn't mentioned.

3. We went to 3 of the second city shows. I thought there improv was much better than their skits, so we went to 2 of their all improv shows; a family one and an adult one, and they were pretty good; but I still prefer stand up comedy so would have been nice if they changed it up every once in a while

4. I didn't see a problem with the elevators unless you are either disabled or too lazy to use the stairs for a couple levels. yes, if you try to take the elevator right after a show gets out, you can either wait or take the stairs. But during the day, they weren't a problem. The problem to me is the people that take the elevators for 1 or 2 levels.

5. I hate hate hate being exposed to cigarette smoke. You do have to walk through the casino from time to time, but they have smoke eaters, and I was never bothered enough by the smoke we caught walking through to find an alternate route.

Overall, just my opinion, some of the people writing all the negative reviews are 1. seeking out cruise critic just cause they had a crappy time and want to tell everyone. 2. loyal to another line and want to tell everyone why their line is soooo much better than norweigan, or 3. complainers that can complain in any circumstance.

We had a great time on our cruise and liked the ship alot. Our two complaints would be that there were too many kids for our liking and around dinner and show time, it was crowded walking around the public areas. But for the price we paid for the cruise, we didn't expect to be treated like kings and queens and we were more than willing to accept a few bumps for all the services the ship offered.

That's the review I copy and pasted from the review section that I'm posting, but just wanted to add a few other thoughts.

Going in to this trip I had read a lot of negative reviews so was definately looking for this issues on the boat to see how bad they really were. The top ones I remember reading were 1. boat rocks badly, 2. over crowded buffet, 3. second city shows are bad, 4. elevators are too slow, 5. casino is too smokey.

1. yes, the boat rocks alot!! I remember feeling more motion more often than on any of the other ships we have been on. That being said, I use the patch because I'm very prone to motion sickness, and for the most part, that worked for me. I feel a little off the first couple days, but did get used to it by the end of the week. One interesting incident though, I was on the pool deck one morning drinking coffee, and a very strange sensation happened. I would compare it to being on one of those viking ship rides and being on the first wave back and forth. It was a very distinct rise and lower of each side of the ship, but not to the point where it felt unsafe. Later the captain came on and said that we listed 2.5 degrees due to a problem with the stabilizers. This was only a couple weeks after the report of the 5% list, so maybe there's an issue.

2. I really like the buffet. I've read people say that it's a super long line and other people say that the stations are supposed to be individual and people are lining up wrong. Well, the problem to me is the stations are too close together, when the cold station line mergers into the hot station line, it turns into one long cafeteria style line and no one wants to jump in and just get what they want when there is a gap. But, if you look around a bit, there's plenty of repetition and stations in other areas so i never felt like I had to wait in a long line to get a food and I thought the food was better than other buffet's I've had.

St. Maarten: We took the Bob Cass tour here. It was really good, but unfortunately it rained a good portion of the day. The tour still went on, but it was somewhat painful to get rained on in a speedboat, so that took away from the experience. We also missed out on one of the normal snorkeling spots due to rough water, but they took us to an alternate spot. Maho beach was the best spot, got to see the planes take off and land without being pelting with sand like the people on the beach. Would recommend this tour, it was a lot of fun and on a sunny day would be awesome.

St. Thomas: We took the Champagne Catamaran to St. John through Norweigan. It was a great tour too. Snorkeling in St. John is the best snorkeling we have ever seen and the ship wasn’t over-crowded. The tour operates were really focused on everyone having a good time.

Nassau: We hated this stop. I downloaded a walking tour from a travel guide but as we got away from the tourist area we didn’t feel safe being on our own so went back to the shopping area. We went to the straw market, but it was so overcrowded, and the vendors were so pushy, we didn’t even go in. Everywhere we went all the vendors were super pushy and made it unpleasant to even walk around. People were following us down the street and trying to push things into our hands. We had a chuckle when we walked back to the ship because a group who looked really confused was being led away by one person advertising a tour while another girl chased them down yelling that she had already gotten them. Just overall an unpleasant stop and wouldn’t get off the ship next time without a tour planned.

Overall we had a great time and would definitely recommend this ship and Norwegian in the future, just hope they pick a new itinerary for a future year because I wouldn’t repeat this one.

Pre-Cruise: We flew in the day before and use SAS transportation to get from the Fort Lauderdale Airport to the B2 Miami downtown hotel. Service worked well, quick pick up, direct shuttle. Highly recommend them. The B2 Miami was fine, the elevator was very slow and insufficient for the number of guests and floors they had. But the location was awesome and the price was fair. You can walk across the street for a park/shopping/dining area. Don’t book the shuttle they advertise on their website for $10 pp, as we were checking out they were rounding up guests to fill up a shuttle that they were offering for $6 pp.

Embarkation: We got to the port shortly after 10 and were able to walk through security and the check in process and get up to the waiting room. We were in group 6 I think, and we boarded around 11:45-12. We went up to the buffet since it wasn’t too busy yet and then went down to guest services around 1 to book the “behind the scenes tour”. We did not book the posh pass, but someone next to us in line did, so it was still available at 1.

Ship: We really enjoyed the ship and all the things it had to offer. We essentially had 4 sea days since we got off at the Bahamas for an hour and hated it so got back on. We use the water slides, the rock wall, and saw the blue man group, the cirque dinner show, legends, howl at the moon, and 3 second city shows. The entertainment was outstanding and we had very few times where there was nothing to do. Legends was probably my favorite show, but that was due to the fact that the Steven Tyler impersonator is AWESOME and we had seen blue man group a few times before. For the cirque show, get there early, maybe an hour to an hour fifteen before show, because you want to sit at the front of the one of the floor tables, and suites guests get in before anyone else; So you need to be very close to the front to have the best seating. It is definitely worth the $10 to get the premium seating. The standard seating is under the balcony, I don’t think you could see all of the aerial acts from there. We had an inside room on the 10th floor near the front, and it was perfectly fine for our needs. The food was fine, similar to a chain restaurant. We went to two specialty restaurants, the cirque show and moderno (just because I had never been to a Brazilian steakhouse and the one at home is $40 a person versus the $20 on the ship). The food in the specialty restaurants was fine, but certainly no better than the main dining room, IMO.

Oh, excellent. Thanks for the response. Maybe I should just ask my TA what the charge is for and tell her my problem. I might jump out of the window if I wait for an hour and then they tell me to call my TA.

If you used a TA, I know that at least pre-cruise they will not talk to you, they will only talk to your TA. I called with an issue about final payment stuff and was transferred twice before they told me my TA had to call.

We just took a med cruise and booked everything ourselves. We did 3 shore excursions through the ship in ports we had never been too, where you had to drive a long ways to get to anything worth seeing, but the others we just researched through cc ports of call sections, tripadvisor, etc. And it worked out great. I don't know what ports you are looking at, we found the mainland ports required some kind of tour or excursion because you had to drive somewhere, but most of the islands had plenty to see right off the ship, or we took ferries to nearby islands. If you look in the ports of call sections for the ports you are looking at, I don't think you'll have any problems planning things on your own.

I'm going to be on this sailing also and had a question about the "second city" shows. We have one booked for the first sea day, and i know they did different shows throughout the cruise, so if we like them, I'd like to see more than once. However, in terms of pre-booking on NCL's website, they only let you book each show once per cruise. Will we be able to book more shows once we get on the ship?

Hard to say, it's a gamble. The sailing I"m on leaves on Sat. In Nov, there was a week where prices dropped down very low, and a week or two after that they went back up and haven't been that low every since. Now the insides are sold out and balcony's are the same price they were when I booked 9 months ago. I'd decide what price you feel is a good deal, and check every day. It may go down, it may go up, it may go down for a day and then back up.

Just a note on your catamaran and snorkel to St. John. We booked that trip and as we left port we were only then informed that we could not go to St. John's because it was too rough. The Capt. (we nicknamed him Capt. Grab-dollar) informed us that he would take us to another "nice" beach. He took us to a cove and anchored. When asked where the beach was he pointed to a bunch of coral with perhaps a smidgen of sand and we would have to swim or take a dinghy there.

 

Several in our party could not swim and were expecting to lounge on a beach while the rest of us snorkeled. Well, I went in off the boat, the water was beautify but there were no fish. I saw maybe two small fish, but neither were anything special.

 

So just beware if he cannot take you to St. john because it is too rough.

Thanks for the info on both sides of this issue. This is something that concerns me, if the catamaran can't take us to St. John, I'd prefer to cancel the excursion altogether. What should I look for to anticipate if the sea may be too tough? Was it stormy, windy, etc.? Right now forecast of the day we'll be there is party cloudy, 81, and winds 18 mph. If there was a way to know ahead of time that it would be too rough, we'll cancel onboard and make alternate plans

We are taking a cruise which will dock in St. thomas in 2 weeks. We have a catamaran sail and snorkel to st john booked in the morning, which should return us to the ship around 12:30-1. We don't leave till 4.

I downloaded a walking map tour of nassau that leaves and returns to the cruiseport, is there anything like that to see around the port in st. thomas? I don't want to deal with a cab that late in the day, but if there's stuff to see just walking around there, I wouldn't want to return to the ship at 1. Any good lunch places close by?

Thanks

For all intents and purposes, Norweigan is run like an American based company. I can't say what all state laws say, but in my state someone under 21 can drink with permission from their guardian. However, a business always has the right to refuse them. If a business serves you alcohol they take on all kinds of risk and liability, so much so that they always have the right to refuse you service, even if you are 21, if they feel it's appropriate. You will probably have better luck in port, I'd shoot for that if you insist on drinking.

And just as a side note, IMHO, a 20 year old traveling with her sister who is this concerned about her ability to drink sounds like it would be trouble anyway. Be careful, you're still over 18 and can be kicked off the ship if they catch you violating their rules.