NCL Epic transatlantic (Lisbon-nyc): ALL ports canceled

[fstuff1]

I'm currently on the Epic.

 

Originally, there were 2 ports:

Azores island and Bermuda

 

Azores got canceled because of a possible 1 day strike by the harbor pilots on embarkation day.

so ncl moved the departure from 4pm to 2am. (no idea if the strike happened.)

 

because of the 10hr delay, Azores got canceled.

We're getting $10 in obc for the port fees. I'm assuming the rest is to pay for staying docked in Lisbon 10hrs longer?

And there's the kicker: the $10 obc is not automatic! I read that you had to complain at guest services. 😮

 

Now the capt just announced that Bermuda is being canceled because the ship couldnt maintain speed in the rough seas.

we were going to arrive in Bermuda 3-4hrs late.

 

We're going to be receiving a letter tonite explaining everything plus some obc.

i paid $118 in port fees.

How much is Bermuda's portion of that?

 

edit:

the obc for missing bermuda is $100 for guest 1 and $100 for guest 2.

i rather hve cash tho because i have plenty of obc because no shore excursions 😞

 

Edited December 13, 2022 by fstuff1

[laudergayle]

Well that is unfortunate, but this happens. Visit Guest Services tomorrow when everyone else is sleeping or eating (lol) and see if they will be able to help you sort out a cash refund.

Edited December 14, 2022 by laudergayle

[J0Y0US]

Sorry that your cruise is a little rough regarding ports but hope the TA is fruitful in delivering other great experiences.

[fstuff1]

6 hours ago, J0Y0US said:

Sorry that your cruise is a little rough regarding ports but hope the TA is fruitful in delivering other great experiences.

yeah, for the price i paid for this cruise, it's great.

saw Pricilla, queen of the dessert.

then it was canceled the next night because rough seas.

 

now i'm reading it's not coming back at all.

the license for Pricilla has not been renewed by ncl. 😮

glad i managed to see it.

 

first they replaced blue man group 5 years with Pricilla.

i'm reading they are replacing Pricilla with SIX.

 

so breakaway, bliss, and epic will now have that show.

[vacation44]

4 minutes ago, fstuff1 said:

yeah, for the price i paid for this cruise, it's great.

saw Pricilla, queen of the dessert.

then it was canceled the next night because rough seas.

 

now i'm reading it's not coming back at all.

the license for Pricilla has not been renewed by ncl. 😮

glad i managed to see it.

 

first they replaced blue man group 5 years with Pricilla.

i'm reading they are replacing Pricilla with SIX.

 

so breakaway, bliss, and epic will now have that show.

Sorry to read about your two missed ports.   

 

Where did you read that they are replacing Priscilla with Six and do you know when it will start?  

[J0Y0US]

2 hours ago, vacation44 said:

Where did you read that they are replacing Priscilla with Six and do you know when it will start?  

 

I just noticed on my Epic sailing in January (just booked yesterday) they don't have Priscilla listed. Wonder if they are turning over when they hit the US possibly?

[mking8288]

@fstuff1 - always "good" to read your onboard updates & news, for better & for worst ... sorry to know that ports were skipped and ...  Not to make you feel any better, things aren't much better currently onboard the GEM, just heard from 2 of our Sapphire CC friends onboard - they skipped ports due to weather, bypassing Bermuda (which they knew pre-cruise but after final payment)  Happy days & nights at sea and wins in the casino for  you !! 

 

Here are key portions of their message to us, "edited" but verbatium - FWIW.  They typically do not post or write / review here on CC, but do read & follow and share with us ... I'm pretty sure others will report post-cruise.  (Again, this is for the GEM, currently on her 14 days TA enroute to NY)

 

Today is day 7 of our 14 days cruise and our first sea day. 6 ports in the past 6 days and they became a blur. We had decent weather except for Malaga ( heavy downpour all the way to Gibraltar) and Lisbon ( they had bad weather all week with heavy rain and flooding).  We have friends on the Epic on a 9 days Lisbon to NYC. All their activities and port call in the area ( including the Azores ) was canceled due to the Port Pilot 2 day’s strike and the heavy rain. Captain decided to sail the ship direct to Bermuda for a few days there the to NYC. Just got a message this morning that Bermuda had been cancelled due inclement weather and they are proceeding in top speed to get to NYC in two days time.

Our stops at two ports in the Azores had been canceled as well due forecast of inclement weather. Instead we will sail to Funchal, Madeira then 6 sea days back to NYC for the 22nd.
Gem just got off a 3 weeks mini refits in Marseille. All deck 6 is brand new. New carpets throughout the ship. No changes to the stateroom at all so no additional plugs or USB ports. Food on board is below NCL standard in our opinions and many crew members had an indifferent attitude. 

 

My footnote - food is subject, they recently sailed on the Pearl from Boston to Bermuda, so I trust their comparative opinions.  

 

Well, it's definitely a bummer for those onboard the Epic and the Gem ... and, we have friends leaving this Sunday on the Getaway to Bermuda, hmmm.  

[Middleager]

We were on the Epic 2022.11.26-12.7 Rome to Lisbon (and the leg before).   We were told there was a harbor pilot strike 12.6-7.  Because Lisbon is a turnaround port, they cannot just skip.  So they ended canceling two ports, Malaga on 12/5 and Cadiz on 12/6, in order to get to Lisbon for 12/5  10pm, before the pilot strike.

 

We didn't get any compensation for the two missed ports.

 

We also heard for the next leg 2022.12.7-13 Lisbon NYC would need to skip Ponta Delgada because the ship would leave on 12.8 at 2am instead of 12.7 afternoon (again due to pilot strike ending midnight of 12.7).

 

We are now at Ponta Delgada, after disembarking Lisbon, then went to Porto, then flew to PDL.  At least we get to enjoy Ponta Delgada this way.  It seems like cruiseships cancel this port often.

[BirdTravels]

Sad to see Pricilla go. We were there on opening night in 2015 as the Epic came out of dry dock and we sailed from Southampton to Barcelona. 

 

And SIX would be an easy show to install with little to the set, just the video wall. 

Edited December 14, 2022 by BirdTravels

[complawyer]

six, however, was amazing.. one of the best shows we've ever seen while on board a cruise ship. (IMHO)

incidentally, we've never bothered to see priscilla

[Turtles06]

23 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

And SIX would be an easy show to install with little to the set, just the video wall. 

Yes, but no doubt lots of British pounds to be paid for the rights. 😊

 

16 minutes ago, complawyer said:

six, however, was amazing.. one of the best shows we've ever seen while on board a cruise ship. (IMHO)

The best show we’ve ever seen on a cruise ship. And it’s fabulous on land, too. 😊  (We saw it in London this fall. Fantastic.) 

[kochleffel]

When I was on the Breakaway last year, we could only dock in Bermuda for one day, a short one, instead of the scheduled three. NCL gave OBC of $300 per cabin.

 

[fstuff1]

so apparently we reached nyc around 4am.

cruise docs said 6am so i was expecting to debark at 6am to beat rush hr traffic.

 

capt made announcement to debark a little after 7am.

i'm assuming customs wasnt ready till 7am?

[SeaShark]

39 minutes ago, fstuff1 said:

so apparently we reached nyc around 4am.

cruise docs said 6am so i was expecting to debark at 6am to beat rush hr traffic.

 

capt made announcement to debark a little after 7am.

i'm assuming customs wasnt ready till 7am?

 

Ummm...you are the one who is actually onboard the ship...shouldn't YOU be telling us the how/what/why of what is going on?

[luv2kroooz]

1 hour ago, fstuff1 said:

so apparently we reached nyc around 4am.

cruise docs said 6am so i was expecting to debark at 6am to beat rush hr traffic.

 

capt made announcement to debark a little after 7am.

i'm assuming customs wasnt ready till 7am?

Probably true about customs in NYC.

 

I recall a cruise out of Galveston, we pulled up to the dock at like 4am and none of the pierside workers had started their shift. So, we just hung out pierside waiting to be tied up to the pier around 6am.

[graphicguy]

On 12/14/2022 at 7:45 AM, fstuff1 said:

yeah, for the price i paid for this cruise, it's great.

saw Pricilla, queen of the dessert.

then it was canceled the next night because rough seas.

 

now i'm reading it's not coming back at all.

the license for Pricilla has not been renewed by ncl. 😮

glad i managed to see it.

 

first they replaced blue man group 5 years with Pricilla.

i'm reading they are replacing Pricilla with SIX.

 

so breakaway, bliss, and epic will now have that show.

SIX is a really good show.  Enjoyed it more than Priscilla, and it wasn't close.

[Laszlo]

Lousy day to get back to NYC. Raining and 42F.... at least it's not a blizzard..... that's next weekend Lol

[mking8288]

23 minutes ago, luv2kroooz said:

Probably true about customs in NYC.

I recall a cruise out of Galveston, we pulled up to the dock at like 4am and none of the pierside workers had started their shift. So, we just hung out pierside waiting to be tied up to the pier around 6am.

 

Pierside workers are longshoremen, unionized ones, and until they are on the clock, ship(s) cannot dock and get the gangways connected, ropes securely tied ... even if CBP officers are on duty & available.  Ditto for the porters in the terminal building - we've had to sit outside the NY harbor and/or on the Hudson in the pre-dawn, early morning hours and wait, then, make the turn to the pier around 6 a.m. (earliest that I can clearly recall, over the past decade+ )   Express walk-off, NCL style, has been called as early as 6:30 to 6:45 am as long as one is fine without needing porter services in NYC.  

 

While fstuff1 was probably asleep, I tracked on MarineTraffic's the Epic by 1 am this morning, reporting her radar position as outside the Ambrose Channel on her westerly heading into NY with ETA showing as 3 am, shortly after my last post.  

 

Nice thing about getting in super early, is by 2 or 3 a.m. - if one's awake, those 4G LTE and 5G devices started waking up upon powering up, catch up to the digital world & news, emails & social media, etc. etc.  Uploads & downloads become lightening fast again ... unlike NCL's "classic" satellite WiFi, which understandably, most of us aren't really fond of.  

 

[complawyer]

im sorry that the ports were cancelled, but if it was me, i'd be very contented lounging onboard the ship for "ALL" sea days. we were booked on the star from lisbon to rio, but jad to cancel, there werea few more ports involved, but "call me crazy" i was looking forward to the sea days

[WakeView4Us]

We were on this cruise as well. The service was good (with 1 exception in Taste at breakfast) although were heard from more than one group from the haven that their service was less than stellar. Illusionist was meh IMHO but the singer was good (Alex Yost). Chris Bliss (comic) was good but the other comic was just not funny and definitely not prepared to be on stage. 

The few times that were sunny and not too rough for seas would have been good to be by or in the pool but I never saw the pool open and multiple days had crew working on up the tiling and painting the inside of the pool. Spas seemed to be filled with the few little ones on board. 

I think most were a little miffed that Bermuda was cancelled the evening before arrival when the CD indicated they had known for a few hours (and probably much longer). 

For the ship, considering she was just refreshed in 2020, I don't know why there was so much rust on the balconies, a lot of varnished railing in poor condition and no usb charging.  

I was on Epic in 2010 and 2011 and think this latest experience will be my last on her. Jade, Jewel and the newer ships outshine Epic. 

 

[fstuff1]

the buffet was weird.

there were 3 hosts standing in the middle of each arch way before you went inside.

it was like each was standing guard and you had to duel each one of them before you can get to the food. 😮

 

the 1st host nearest the elevators should just stand off in the side to welcome everyone.

 

the 2nd by the alcohol gel machines should have been replaced by a washy-washy girl.

 

and there was no need for the 3rd one by the xmas tree

 

[HowardK]

My uncle Ray was on the same cruise and I think he got some money back - wrote to the right people I can ask him. 

OT- I loved the Epic it was my favorite cruise-