NCL Epic disappointment in many areas

[txmomrocks]

Sailed December 17 on 6 days Epic cruise in stateroom 10079, large balcony and sorry to say I won't be back on this ship for many reasons.

 

I am a single mom traveling with my teenage daughter and my sister and her family were also with us so my review is based on that perspective and I hope we can educate those planning trips so they can avoid disappointment.

 

Rented car in Orlando when we landed and dropped it off the next morning at Enterprise. They were very nice but told us that per the contract with the ships, they cannot bring passengers to the ship prior to 10:30. We wanted to get there early to avoid problems and paid a worker $20 and he took the 5 of us at 9:15 am.

 

Embarkation was easy, but we got there at 9:30 am before the madness and boarded about 11:30 am. Stateroom was not ready until almost 3 pm although my sisters cabin was ready at 1:30. We were able to put our large bags in the room.

 

Cabin steward was short with us and it never got better the 6 days. We did see many friendly cabin stewards but ours was not one of them.

 

The balcony was very large and had 2 chaise plus one regular chair and small table.

 

The room had tons of storage with 2 closets but the layout is horrible. We are both 5 feet 4 inches tall and our feet hung off the bed. We moved the bed out from under the headboard and that helped. Pillows were very hard.

 

AC did not work the first night and it was stifling in the room. Was fixed the next day after we reported it. Remote control to TV also did not work and had to be replaced.

 

Sink light is under the medicine cabinet- took us a while to find that one!

 

Bottom line for this room and for the whole ship is there is no privacy. Bathroom and shower situation in room is awkward to say the least, not just visually but also sound wise.

 

I bought the spa pass so I showered there all week to make it easier on us. However there are only 3 showers in the ladies room in the spa and again if modesty is an issue you are out of luck. Unlike the Jade these showers are only separated by glass which is barely frosted so its more like ladies locker room back in PE. And for the size of the ship only 3 showers is inexcusable.

 

I'll continue with the spa- definitely worth it as it is a large spa with many different whirlpools, steam and saunas and lounge areas. Also it helps to shower there to give the other person more room to get ready.

 

The last day I watched them allow anyone that wanted in the spa for free as it was the last day and that really made me angry. It was overcrowded and I had paid for my spot where as some of them paid nothing. I personally saw them allow 3 people in at the desk when I was checking out due to spa being so crowded.

 

The soap in the dispensers is very drying so at the very least bring a good conditioner.

 

Some of the workers in the buffet area need to be fired. I watched them take serving utensils out of the hands of passengers when the tried to get food when the stations were closing and they would throw the food into the trash and say go down to the 24 hour restaurant. There was no reason not to let guests take the food that was there instead of throwing it in the trash can right in front of us and laughing at us.

 

There was also an issue with dried on food on the plates and when I tried to hand a dirty plate to a worker they refused to take it from me.

 

The guy working the crepes saw 3 of us in line and ran out of batter and said for us to wait and he would go down and get more- when he returned he was yelled at by his boss and was told to shut his station down.

 

Crepes were in the back by the pool unlike on the Jade which was set up in the buffet area each night and the fillings were very limited. Very surprising and disappointing after loving them on the Jade.

 

We also waited for almost 10 minutes one day as there were no serving utensils for the food in the buffet. It was amazing to watch such disorganization and rudeness to guests.

 

The hard ice cream was very good, but they ran out of the best flavors by day 3 so make sure you try the coconut early. Mix it with the Rocky Road and it's like an Almond Joy candy bar- yum.

 

The main dining rooms were much better service but it was slow unless you told them you were going to a show.

 

The chocolate volcano lava cake was our favorite on the Jade but very disappointing on the Epic. The texture was more firm like gelatin and the center like thick fudge except for one night.

 

The bread pudding with the whiskey caramel sauce is heavenly.

 

Entertainment was another huge issue and disappointment. The theater is only one level and there are really no nightly shows like every other ship I have been on offered. The comedy club offered a short show each night but unless you had a reservation forget about getting in as the club is so small. We didn't have reservations the first night and stood in the standby line for 45 minutes and did get in but seats weren't good.

 

Neither main show production is family friendly by any means. The drag show should be offered as an adult only late show and not the main production. Very disappointing. My sisters family walked out as her daughter is younger. Mine is almost 16 and I was embarrassed but we did stay just because there was nothing else to do.

 

Lack of entertainment forces you to look to buy the Cirque tickets but we didn't- just couldn't see forking out another $100 based on the poor entertainment we were seeing.

 

The small card and game room was so crowded, for the first time ever on a cruise to my knowledge as there just wasn't anything to do on the ship.

 

There was lots of "games" being done, but most are held in the atrium where again there is almost no seating and you have hundreds of people just standing around trying to see what's happening.

 

I really feel like this is an adult only ship unless you are putting your kids in the kids club all day. Just not family friendly entertainment or cabins.

 

Ports- we did swim with sting rays in the Bahamas and that was good. Grand Cayman - we were there for only a few hours so not enough time to really enjoy it and Cozumel we had already been to so we just walked around. Found a great store to the right after you get off ship, says MEGA on it and it's like a big Walmart. Picked up some cheap things and would go back there again and not shop at port.

 

Overall food was very good in main dining rooms and average for buffet. Ship is tastefully decorated, but difficult to get around with awkward layout and slow elevators.

 

Casino is very large but due to the low ceilings they need to invest in better ventilation as the smoke was very bad and you had little choice to avoid it as it is right in front of main dining room.

 

Upon leaving the ship we decided to stay on until about 10 thinking most people would be gone by them. We had our luggage with us so we thought we could just walk out. So wrong- hundreds if not thousands of people still tying to get through customs and get their luggage and we were told even though we had our luggage we could not bypass them.

 

Then we saw Porters throwing luggage on carts and cutting through the lines- they have their own special line if use them basically cutting off about an hour of the wait. I've not seem this before as we usually get off ship early with our bags in hand with no issue. Lesson learned.....

 

We attended the Roll call and again were disappointed as unlike other Roll call meetings we were not offered anything from NCL other than the usual pastries and drinks. On the Jade we were given water bottles, key chains and other items and the staff of the Jade acted like they wanted to be there. Can't really say that about Epic.

 

All in all we will not be returning to the Epic. Just not a good fit for us as it seems that with the all you can drink package, so many bars and adult entertainment, NCL is moving toward all adult type of cruises and I don't drink. Feeling more like Carnival than the NCL I used to know years ago.

 

Change the entertainment and possibly with a good deal we would try it again as the spa was wonderful.

[Demonyte]

Sorry you had that experience as a whole, but I have to say that on all my cruises I have not gotten any NCL promo goodies from the M&Gs I've gone to - even on Jade - so your experience on Jade has been quite extraordinary in my books.

Edited January 1, 2017 by Demonyte

[sanger727]

I'm sorry you were so disappointed in your cruise. Not trying to flame you but many of the issues you are complaining about are well known facts: the lack of privacy in the rooms (100% agree, on this particular ship I would never travel with a cabin mate other than my significant other); the lack of nightly shows; the need for reservations for the shows.

 

Luckily you know there's other options on NCL with the Jade. We actually sailed the Epic a few years ago (adult couple, no children) and liked it a lot. We are sailing on the Jade in a couple weeks so fingers crossed our experience is as good as yours was.

[katiecat]

That's a lot of problems found.:eek:

I'm going on this ship this month and am aware of some of this stuff thanks to cruise critics.

Pretty sure I'll be one of those happy passengers thinking life is great and thankful to get away from it all once a year.:)

[ready2cruzagain]

Sorry you were so disappointed. I was on the Epic 2 weeks before you and fell in love with the ship, so much that we are booking her again next year for 2 weeks again.

 

We knew about the bathroom situation before we even booked, while I did not like it, it did not ruin our cruise and we dealt with it.

 

We don't have children so that area we are not familiar with but we did love the shows and loved that we were able to find something to do every night which is the main reason we left Carnival, talk about nothing to do, go on a Carnival cruise and most nights there is no entertainment.

 

I have to agree about the cabin stewards ( we had 2 since we were on a b2b), they were well below par. Would leave one towel for 2 people, no wash cloths, no beach towels, wouldn't clean room until after 2pm. While none of this is devastating, it was annoying.

 

Once again, thanks for your review and sorry you had such a bad time.

[StolidCruiser]

What a Epic disappointment.

[wdsted]

Sorry your cruise didn't meet your expectations. I take these "everything was awful" reviews with a grain of salt, especially overblown crew interactions. In the many NCL cruises I've taken, including 3 on the Epic, I've had very few "moments" with crew where their behavior came out of left field. Nobody's perfect and we all have bad days but even the worst among them tend to grin and bear it. Your reference to the "drag show" must be to Priscilla. Too bad you couldn't pull up your big girl panties, sit back, and enjoy a fun production. And it's sad you were embarrassed on behalf of your 16 year old by exposing her to a "lifestyle" different from yours and, in doing so, reinforcing that people different from you are bad.

 

 

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[txagfan]

No disrespect, but it seems like you were looking for problems from the onset (i.e. arriving at port SO early). Some problems you indicate are just bizarre, how can you complain about ports when you knew what you were booking. We were on your cruise, 12 people in 9 cabins, and had a wonderful time.

 

The only issue in your whole list I agree with is it was very warm for some reason the first day and the atrium is too busy, a common criticism. I was confused why they use the atrium for things like deal or no deal when those can and are done in the theater on other ships.

 

Not to go tit for tat, but your comments on disembarkation are way off. It was VERY smooth and they were well ahead of schedule. The porters did "cut" in line, but they only use a couple of the lines...NOT all of them. It was the best $20 we spent on the entire cruise.

 

 

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Edited January 1, 2017 by txagfan

[txagfan]

Also, we saw cirque dreams and it is one of the best shows I've ever seen. I'm a big Vegas guy and while it is not at the same level as shows there it is very close and reminded me a lot of a PG Absinthe, an extremely popular Vegas show.

 

 

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[NMLady]

Sorry you had that experience as a whole, but I have to say that on all my cruises I have not gotten any NCL promo goodies from the M&Gs I've gone to - even on Jade - so your experience on Jade has been quite extraordinary in my books.

 

I agree. We were on Jade twice this year and although pastries/cookies were provided by NCL there were no other items given. That was also the case on other NCL cruises we've taken.

[NLH Arizona]

Sorry for your disappointment; at least you got on early, so you could get your spa pass. As far as anything other than pastries or cookies and juice or coffee for the meet and greet, I've neve been to one that served anythng more, so you really lucked out on your Jade cruise.

Edited January 1, 2017 by NLH Arizona

[Dubbs]

Sorry your cruise didn't meet your expectations. I take these "everything was awful" reviews with a grain of salt, especially overblown crew interactions. In the many NCL cruises I've taken, including 3 on the Epic, I've had very few "moments" with crew where their behavior came out of left field. Nobody's perfect and we all have bad days but even the worst among them tend to grin and bear it. Your reference to the "drag show" must be to Priscilla. Too bad you couldn't pull up your big girl panties, sit back, and enjoy a fun production. And it's sad you were embarrassed on behalf of your 16 year old by exposing her to a "lifestyle" different from yours and, in doing so, reinforcing that people different from you are bad.

 

 

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Priscilla isn't for everyone. I had a great time on my Epic cruise but I didn't enjoy Priscilla at all. I have nothing against the LBGT community and I'm not offended or embarrassed by the languages or sexual themes. All that being said a 90 minute production show about 3 transsexuals traveling across Australia on a bus wasn't for me. That doesn't make one a bad person.

[kathybelcher2433]

Actually, I find the negative reviews very helpful. I can easily determine if any of the situations or perceived slights would effect my satisfaction with my cruise. Since the answer generally is no, I am even more confident I will have a great time on my upcoming NCL cruise.

 

I do have to note, though, that a quick scan of the reviews of the Epic would reveal a bunch of these shortcomings, like cabin layout, the subject matter of shows, crowds around the atrium, etc. There's no need for any surprises, in other words.

 

 

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[helen haywood]

Just a minor suggestion, this probably wasn't the OP's problem, but I have found on embarkation day, if your drapes are open and the sun is beating full into your cabin, the AC seems inadequate. So I check the thermostat and lower it if necessary and draw the drapes so when I come back later in the afternoon/evening the AC has had a better chance to cool things off.

[mjkacmom]

We always take off our luggage, early. I don't know why the OP thought she could cut the line because she had her luggage! I think a lot of folks get annoyed when those who choose to carry off their own luggage don't do it first thing. I love the fact that you can grab a porter and get through quicker, for a tip.

[TheDougOut]

I guess I've never witnessed the buffet shut down process. They really throw away food publicly in front of guests?

[dexddd]

I guess I've never witnessed the buffet shut down process. They really throw away food publicly in front of guests?

 

We've never seen that either, they usually take the trays through the doors into the galley area. I would say they do seem to be very clued in on opening and closing times though.

[zqvol]

A six day cruise and there was nothing positive. It seems like the OP went on board looking for issues. Begins with the rental company not taking them to the ship as early as they desired, up until debarkation.

 

Some of the complaints could have been avoided with some pre-cruise research, especially about the cabin layout. I'm not sure what the steward was short with the OP about, she never mentions it, but I don't see any mention of an uncleaned cabin, or missing towels. The stewards job, in spite of hat a lot of people think is not to socialize, but to clean cabins. If that was done in a timely fashion I cannot imagine what was wrong.

 

As far as the beds being too short, are the beds different on the Epic. I have sailed numerous NCL ships and have never found a bed too short, and I am 6 feet plus. I do find them to be too narrow, but that is a different issue, probably because DW and I are used to spreading out on our huge king.

 

As someone else mentioned I find it hard to believe that people were allowed to use the spa without paying, and question how OP knows for a fact that this happened, for all she knows the three people in question had spa cabins. The spa is always crowded on sea days.

 

I could go on and on, but there is no point. This seems to be a situation where expectations were over the top and when they met reality disappointment occurred.

[Sea Hag]

I'm so glad I read this post! That bathroom situation would drive me nuts. My problem and my quirk, but it definitely would.

[ready2cruzagain]

I could not quote .. CC is acting up but my response to the beds:

 

OP said they are 5'4" and their feet hung off the bed, that threw me for a loop.

 

I was on the Epic last month in 2 different inside cabins. DH is over 6 feet tall and I am taller than OP and neither one of us had any problems with our feet hanging off of the bed.

 

If our beds had been that short I would have been to GS and asked for the rest of my bed!:eek:

Edited January 1, 2017 by ready2cruzagain

[ColeThornton]

I could not quote .. CC is acting up but my response to the beds:

 

OP said they are 5'4" and their feet hung off the bed, that threw me for a loop.

 

I was on the Epic last month in 2 different inside cabins. DH is over 6 feet tall and I am taller than OP and neither one of us had any problems with our feet hanging off of the bed.

 

If our beds had been that short I would have been to GS and asked for the rest of my bed!:eek:

 

They may have been staying in the Hobbit class cabins.

[Ticatraveler]

I was on the same cruise. December 17-23. I in regards to the meet & greet, NCL had a nice setup off coffee, tea and pastries. I wrote in my short review that we had several Epic officers take time from their busy day to introduce themselves and take questions. In my opinion, they did exactly what I would expect from them. I wasn't dissapointed to not get "perks" for attending.

It was short with very little passenger interaction but that in no way is NCLs fault.

I personally like the Escape better than the Epic, but I would sail her again. A bit of research goes a long way!

[JimR24]

They may have been staying in the Hobbit class cabins.

 

Now that is funny stuff right there.

[BirdTravels]

I'm so glad I read this post! That bathroom situation would drive me nuts. My problem and my quirk, but it definitely would.

 

There is a privacy curtain that can be drawn. The room layout is very boutique. We are currently is a hotel room at a Hilton in Hawaii with a similar layout with windows from the bathroom into the bedroom. And we were in the Flamingo hotel in vegas last month with frosted glass windows. And a hotel in downtown D.C. With a similar lauout

[TheDougOut]

There is a privacy curtain that can be drawn. The room layout is very boutique. We are currently is a hotel room at a Hilton in Hawaii with a similar layout with windows from the bathroom into the bedroom.

 

 

Yeah, I've had some interesting "boutique" hotel rooms over the years. For those that think the Epic has an awkward setup, check out this room that we shared with two kids. This is the view when you opened the door from the hallway (no separate bathroom)...

 

 

And if that wasn't fun enough, they had to put in a window so those on the bed could watch the shower show...

 

 

Good times.

 

 

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