Worst Norwegian ship?

[roxette]

Just off the Epic for the second time.

It is a terrible ship. Good service, Good Good. Bad ship.

 

Didn't mind the cabin, club balcony suite, so that was not issue.

 

Only thing that was not too bad was spice h2O. 

 

I would pick any ship, any line before Epic again. 

 

Have been on pretty much all ships in the NCL fleet. From the Sky to the Bliss. In all continents except Africa. I have loved them all. Except Epic.

 

If this would have been my first cruise, it would have been my last, as well.

 

 

 

[complawyer]

while im not overly enamored with the epic, while i feel your pain, what exactly were your complaints, and what exactly are you b**chting about? 

 

you just post about the ship, rant and rave, but dont tell us what you didnt like, other than the round bed, no room to move around and the lack of bathroom privacy in the haven aft penthouse suites, i ve been on the epic twice and dont really have any axe to grind.

by the way, if you were so dissatisfied, why'd you book the epic a 2nd time

[SpainAlien]

1 hour ago, roxette said:

Just off the Epic for the second time.

It is a terrible ship. Good service, Good Good. Bad ship.

 

Didn't mind the cabin, club balcony suite, so that was not issue.

 

Only thing that was not too bad was spice h2O. 

 

I would pick any ship, any line before Epic again. 

 

Have been on pretty much all ships in the NCL fleet. From the Sky to the Bliss. In all continents except Africa. I have loved them all. Except Epic.

 

If this would have been my first cruise, it would have been my last, as well.

 

 

 

I've been on Epic twice so far and am booked again for 26th Sept and the TA in April. She was my first ship so I have a fondness for her. The bathroom arrangement is a bit odd but not a deal breaker. I particularly like O'Sheehans on the Epic for the atmosphere but the only other NCL ship I have been on is the Spirit so there is no comparison.

 

I am looking forward to going on more of the fleet soon. I am currently Bronze but should be Platinum by May next year if all goes according to plan 

 

[Cruising Lynne]

4 hours ago, complawyer said:

while im not overly enamored with the epic, while i feel your pain, what exactly were your complaints, and what exactly are you b**chting about? 

 

you just post about the ship, rant and rave, but dont tell us what you didnt like, other than the round bed, no room to move around and the lack of bathroom privacy in the haven aft penthouse suites, i ve been on the epic twice and dont really have any axe to grind.

by the way, if you were so dissatisfied, why'd you book the epic a 2nd time

I agree that the OP is not saying why they did not like Epic. This is not helpful.

 

I really enjoyed Epic. The only negatives I could think of was the lack of ocean views from the promenade deck, and it was crowded getting out of the theater. The lifeboats did obstruct much of the view on the promenade deck, but there are plenty of other areas to see the ocean on the upper decks. We did have a balcony cabin so we had nice views anytime we wanted. Not a big fan of the curvy couch on Epic, but it had extra storage inside which could come in handy.

 

So far, I do not have a "worst" NCL ship, though I have a favorite. We have been on Wind, Pride of America, Spirit, Dawn (x4), Gem (x2), Breakaway, Getaway, Escape, and Epic. Of those, my favorite was our first NCL cruise, which was Wind for our Honeymoon in Hawaii.

 

Gem had good staff and the usual casual NCL vibe, but I am not a fan of the buffet layout. I prefer the buffets that have two separate sides. The buffet on Gem just feels crowded to me. The Great Outdoors does make up for this a little bit, though that area was crowded at times as well. One thing that I really like on Gem is the sauna in the thermal suite. It has awesome windows to enjoy the incredible views while relaxing in the sauna.

 

 I guess what I am saying is that each ship has it's own pluses and minuses.

[Sailing12Away]

6 hours ago, SpainAlien said:

I've been on Epic twice so far and am booked again for 26th Sept and the TA in April. She was my first ship so I have a fondness for her. The bathroom arrangement is a bit odd but not a deal breaker. I particularly like O'Sheehans on the Epic for the atmosphere but the only other NCL ship I have been on is the Spirit so there is no comparison.

 

I am looking forward to going on more of the fleet soon. I am currently Bronze but should be Platinum by May next year if all goes according to plan 

 

Very similar story to ours. Epic was our first in a mini suite, and then our 2nd time in Haven. Our favorite part was being able to walk front to back on any deck. A lot of the other ships feel like an escape room puzzle to figure out how to get from A to B without having to go through areas I don't want to be in.

 

Our most recent trip to Alaska just 2 weeks back put us into platinum with the quadruple points. It goes fast if you take advantage of the double/triple/quadruple rewards point offers.

[Peachypooh]

Encore. When moving I felt we were in an earthquake it shook so much.

[MoCruiseFan]

On 8/31/2021 at 1:37 PM, craig01020 said:

I've never sailed on Norwegian before (but I'm trying!).  I have read many brutal reviews of some of NCL's ships, but I thought I'd ask the experts: Have you sailed on any of NCL's ships that you would now avoid at all costs? Thanks.

 

 

I have been on about 20 NCL cruises and there is no ship of theirs that I would "avoid at all cost". The Sun was a little awkwardly laid out becasue of all they tried t fit into the last upgrade, but it was a nice ship.

[complawyer]

while it's been awhile, and hopefully the problems have been fixed, but i find the star seems to have ongoing mechanical problems

[RNRcruisers]

I love all cruises but would only go on Encore again if it were free. Mostly because I didn't feel that there was enough space for the number of passengers.

 

The lounges were small and crowded and too much going on in the Atrium. We couldn't get seats for activities in the atrium unless we were very early. In the evening they would bring folding chairs out to the lounges like the Mojito for extra seating that would extend out into the walkway. I didn't find that enjoyable or relaxing. Also there is not enough room on the pool deck for anything near the number of passengers. The only thing that saved the cruise for us was having Vibe passes.

 

This was a very crowded cruise with lots of kids so I'm sure that was part of the problem but it is definitely on my "no go" list.

[ChiefMateJRK]

On 9/6/2021 at 3:31 PM, The Traveling Man said:

Maybe the best part of sailing on the Dawn, though, is that you have a better than even chance of sailing with GM Alain Magnier and CD Richard Matic.  They make it a real joy to sail with them.

Do you have some examples of how they make your cruise better?

[Warrenf186]

I’m not really sure what the point of this thread might be.  We all have our favorites and “least likes” but we view things differently.

 

i, personally, hated Celebrity’s Solstice class, but that’s just my preference.

 

mybe a little more informative, meaningful comments would be helpful.

[Turtles06]

3 minutes ago, Warrenf186 said:

i, personally, hated Celebrity’s Solstice class, but that’s just my preference.

 

Really?  Those ships are stunningly beautiful, I love them.  But as you said, we all view things differently.   ☺️

[4774Papa]

33 minutes ago, Turtles06 said:

 

Really?  Those ships are stunningly beautiful, I love them.  But as you said, we all view things differently.   ☺️

We agree and love the ship design of all the Celebrity ships.   Unfortunately, Celebrity has, like NCL gone with price bundling and their prices are even higher than NCL's.

[bluesea777]

3 hours ago, complawyer said:

while it's been awhile, and hopefully the problems have been fixed, but i find the star seems to have ongoing mechanical problems

 

The mechanical issues were completely fixed while in dry-dock in Rotterdam last year July 2020. They had to cut a hole in hull to take out the damaged engine (yeah, a big one) and put in new one. It was a major dry dock.

 

 

[complawyer]

bluesea777: that's reassuring, as we're booked on the star trans-atlantic nov 2022. i didnt have any complaints about the ship, just pointing out that in the past there had been mechanical problems.

 

the thread asks opinion on worst ncl ships, we've been on a number of them, and i have no real complaints about any of them. just sailing to different ports on a luxury cruise ship, sitting on my balcony with a cold brew and watching the sunset, cancels out whatever problems may arise on board.

the only minor mishap was when we were at the cocktail party for platinum, platinum + and the waitress didnt understand chivas regal. since that was the only problem after 18 separate cruises on ncl, i consider myself very lucky with absolutely nothing to b**ch about.

[The Traveling Man]

5 hours ago, bluesea777 said:

 

The mechanical issues were completely fixed while in dry-dock in Rotterdam last year July 2020. They had to cut a hole in hull to take out the damaged engine (yeah, a big one) and put in new one. It was a major dry dock.

 

 

The Star has four or five independent Diesel engines.  One of them was replaced last year during dry dock.  The problems, however, that have caused the Star repeatedly to miss ports, cancel entire cruises, and in general become the most unreliable ship in the NCL fleet were with the Azipods.  Each of the two main propulsion systems have failed multiple times, including February of 2017 when they failed simultaneously and left the ship adrift in the Tasman Sea.  The engines were still operating on each of those occasions, generating plenty of electric power, but the Azipods stopped functioning despite having power.  It certainly is possible that the Star will never again suffer a propeller failure that causes it to lose speed, miss ports, etc., but simply replacing one of the Diesel engines does not solve the problems with the Azipods.  Each of the two units have been repaired multiple times, but each one has continued to fail multiple times after those repairs. 

[Sailing12Away]

11 hours ago, Peachypooh said:

Encore. When moving I felt we were in an earthquake it shook so much.

We were in an aft cabin on deck 14 last month and felt a TON of vibration and noise. Thought it was just us... guess not.

[IrieBajan54]

The Star! Never again!

[Cruising Lynne]

9 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Do you have some examples of how they make your cruise better?

 

We sailed on Dawn one time with Richard Matic as cruise director. He seemed like a genuinely nice person even though he told the same silly jokes before and after shows in the theater every night.  He spoke to us outside one of the lounges (maybe Spinnaker) while he was waiting to start an event there, and we got the impression that he really did care if the passengers were having a good time.  

 

I know that it would put a smile on my face if I saw him again on another cruise. Some people do not feel that the cruise director matters for the enjoyment of their trip, but I think it depends on which activities you attend and how visible they are.

[craig01020]

12 hours ago, Warrenf186 said:

We all have our favorites and “least likes” but we view things differently.

That's why they're called opinions.

[Carnac767]

We've sailed a couple of times on Epic and have booked her again for April 2023.  Most of the ship I don't care for, but her Haven is terrific and usually better priced than the Breakaway Class.  Epic is the redheaded stepchild of Norwegian's fleet, being its first "mega" ship and the only one constructed in France.  She was also the test bed for the Solo Suites and to accommodate that idea, the architects had to remove the midship elevator banks.  Because of this, the forward elevator banks tend to get mobbed on embarkation/debarkation days or whenever a show lets out.  But it's not that far to walk to the aft elevators, which usually aren't crowded at all.  The point that there are limited sea views on the main decks is spot on.  It also lacks a running/walking track that goes all around the ship.  Instead, you have to walk back and forth on the port side on Deck Seven.  That gets pretty monotonous.  But did I mention that her Haven is really great?  It's bigger than any of the other ships with a Haven and not as crowded.  I haven't been on an NCL ship that I hated.  It was way better than being at work.

[DCGuy64]

14 hours ago, craig01020 said:

That's why they're called opinions.

True, but I see a difference between saying "worst" vs "least liked."

Maybe that's just me. If I asked someone what his least favorite restaurant in town was and he responded "restaurant X is the worst in town," that would sound very different than "least favorite."

Again, perhaps that's just me. 🤔

[craig01020]

17 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

Again, perhaps that's just me. 🤔

That's splitting hairs. If you were to rank a list of ten things from #1 to #10, that's called "from best to worst"!

 

And judging by some of the comments about the Star, I'd say it was the clear winner of the least liked.

[The Traveling Man]

18 hours ago, Sailing12Away said:

We were in an aft cabin on deck 14 last month and felt a TON of vibration and noise. Thought it was just us... guess not.

Now I'm a bit confused.  When we visited with you in your Aft Penthouse during the cabin crawl on our Encore cruise, your favorable review of your room made me rethink my upgrade bids on a couple of future cruises.  I got the impression that you thought the vibration was minimal and barely noticeable.

[DCGuy64]

1 hour ago, craig01020 said:

That's splitting hairs.

That's an opinion, too. 😉