NCL Epic Sept 18 -25 Report Card

A full review will follow, but here is a Report Card from our trip:

 

The ship: A+

 

We loved it! Never seemed too crowded. Plenty of bars. Spice H2O was awesome. Public rooms were well decorated. We really enjoyed this ship! We will be sailing on the Epic again!

 

 

The food: C

 

Typical NCL faire. No improvement.

 

 

The Staff: B-

 

We witnessed a little too much bickering between the staff on a few occasions. Wait staff was hard to track down, especially the bar staff. Wait staff rarely checked to see if your dinner was to your liking. A few times our waitress would pass and give a "thumbs-up". They were friendly, Jogie, our cabin steward was super. But overall the staff seemed a little down.

 

 

Entertainment: A+

 

Fantastic! Booking the "big" shows was easier and less cumbersome then I assumed. The interactive TV in our cabin came in handy for booking shows and restaurants. We appreciated the many options all top notch talent! Shout out to Axel Giudice, Juan Carmelo, Duo Mar, Manhattan Room Band and the Piano Guys in Howl at the Moon were fantastic!!!

 

Cabin: B

 

We liked it, however the AC was not great (slept with the balcony door open 2 nights as the room was warm and the AC didn't seem to cool it down). The carpet could use a scrub. But all and all, it was a good, comfortable room. Our bed was closer to the balcony then the bathroom, but the bathroom arrangement didn't bother us at all.

 

 

Itinerary: A

 

Plenty of time at each port. Enjoyed every port!

 

 

NCL: C+

 

Ultimately, we are loyal customers. But had a few concerns:

The water policy didn't impact us, but it was difficult watching literally hundreds of folks throw away water when they boarded at every port, very wasteful. and the cost of water on board is ridiculous! NCL should revisit this one.

The excursion desk wasn't helpful unless you were booking one with them. Plus, the Free Style had very little port information.

Next Cruise staff was ill informed (in fact we booked on board but will be calling to cancel and rebook today).

$15 shuttle bus into Marseille, was a rip off.

Beverage package doesn't cover chocolate martinis (and a few other typical drinks) any longer. The bar menus aren't current, probably half of the drinks on the menu (beers, wines as well) weren't available.

The ship seems a bit understaffed.

 

 

In spite of all of that, there were many more bright spots than I can report. We would highly recommend this cruise to anyone!

 

Final Grade: A!!!

Thanks for the review. We sail next week.. Did you do your own excursions?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beverage package doesn't cover chocolate martinis (and a few other typical drinks) any longer.

 

 

Okay - now I DO have a problem! :eek:

We depart from Barcelona, on the Epic, on Oct 2nd - appreciate the quick report card and look forward to your review!

 

READY to go!

 

Thank you,

 

Robert

We're on that cruise Robert except we join it after you in Rome.

 

There are plenty of Epic reviews on cruise critic

Thanks for the review. We sail next week.. Did you do your own excursions?

 

We booked the Rome / Vacitcan excursion and Pisa / Florence through NCL. In Naples and ferried to Capri and explored Naples on our own. Super easy. We also did Cannes and Marseille on our own as well. No trouble at all.

 

In Naples you can walk to Via Toledo where we had a blast.

At Marseille, take the over priced shuttle and walk around to the water front and get a ticket on Le Petit Train to Notre Dame De Le Garde....awesome!!!

Cash only for the train 8 euro per person.

Is Marseille within walking distance of the port? Shuttle price does seem steep so would walk instead if it's an option.

 

Thanks

 

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Is Marseille within walking distance of the port? Shuttle price does seem steep so would walk instead if it's an option.

 

Thanks

 

Sent from my SM-T700 using Forums mobile app

 

Not really an option to walk. A few folks did, but the port is in a pretty industrialized area and had trouble getting back. I think a taxi might be the only alternative, but even getting a taxi was not really easy.

Thanks for sharing.

Thank you for sharing will be cruising here in November out of Orlando and cat wait to board here as its been a long time I wanted to meet the Epic :-)

 

 

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Thanks for your assessment. Looking forward to your full review.

The excursion desk wasn't helpful unless you were booking one with them. Plus, the Free Style had very little port information.

On our last couple of cruises, they didn't distribute port guides to every cabin with the Freestyle Daily. They are not very detailed, but you can still get them at the front desk or probably at the excursions desk. We don't generally buy ship's excursions, so we don't expect any service whatsoever from the excursions desk. Just wondering, what kind of help did they refuse to give you?

On our last couple of cruises, they didn't distribute port guides to every cabin with the Freestyle Daily. They are not very detailed, but you can still get them at the front desk or probably at the excursions desk. We don't generally buy ship's excursions, so we don't expect any service whatsoever from the excursions desk. Just wondering, what kind of help did they refuse to give you?

 

We asked the desk for a map of the port and they said they didn't have them.

In the past they would inform you of other transportation options, such as taxi or bus stands to help get around.

It was obvious on this cruise that unless they were less helpful and we weren't alone with this opinion.

 

A lot of folks found the old port info insert helpful. As a customer service, I believe it should be provided.

Thank you for the review

 

I will be on it on October 30th, will see how it will be, very much looking forward to it.

Edited September 27, 2016 by qtaromar1970

Thank you for sharing :)

 

 

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