AllyG47

I was on this cruise and it was the worst NCL cruise I have been on. I still had fun but there were a lot of issues. We dubbed it the "Waiting in Line" cruise because it seems like all we did for the entire cruise was wait in a line. Embarkation was horrible. We got there at our scheduled time - 11 AM - and waited for over an hour in line outside the building, and then we waited for quite a while in another line to get our key cards once we were inside. There were long lines for the bars, the elevators, the buffet and the dining rooms. We had to wait at least 30 minutes to get a table every night. One time for lunch, we tried to eat at O'Sheehan's but they told us that it would be at least an hour wait. We gave up and went to the buffet instead where there were long lines and no tables available so we had to bring the food back to our cabin to eat. On the last night, I waited 45 minutes at Manhattan and then they gave me a pager and told me that it would be another 30 minutes for a table to open up. The first sea day, we waited in line for 40 minutes just to talk to someone about the app not working on my dad's phone (I have many complaints about the app but I won't discuss them here). My parents spent over an hour in line at customer service on the last sea day to inquire about a strange charge on their bill. Even in port, we spent most of our time waiting in lines. Jamaica was the worst. We waited for over an hour in the theater for NCL to allow us off the ship and once we got off, it was a hot mess. We were escorted into a large group of people waiting for busses for their particular excursion. We had to wait for another hour for our excursion operator to find a bus for us. In Grand Cayman, we had a kayak tour but they didn't have enough kayaks so they made us wait an hour and a half for the first half of our group to get done kayaking before we could go. Not an NCL problem (I do not recommend Anchor Tours) but, still, it added to the waiting. Overall, the ship is way too small for the number of people it holds. Other issues: The buffet closed too early. It was usually closed by the time we got back from our excursions and there were no late-night snacks. The only place to eat if you got hungry at night was O'Sheehans. The dining room closed too early for breakfast. I usually woke up around 9:00 on sea days and by the time I was ready to eat around 9:30, the dining room was already closed. I ate breakfast at O'Sheehans every sea day and it had a limited breakfast menu. Port days, I made a run to the buffet before going on shore. I really wanted to eat breakfast in the dining room at least once but I couldn't get up that early. My room steward didn't know the meaning of "Do Not Disturb". I would go back to my cabin around 4:00 PM every afternoon to take a nap before getting ready for dinner. My cabin was never cleaned before this time so I always switched the sign outside my door to "Do Not Disturb" so the steward wouldn't walk in on me as I was sleeping or changing. As soon as I would fall asleep, my room steward would call me. If I didn't answer, he would call me again...and again...and again, until I picked up. The conversation would always be the same, "Hi, this is housekeeping. Can I come clean your room now?" "No, I'm trying to take a nap." "Oh, sorry for disturbing you but your sign said "Do Not Disturb" so I didn't want to knock. Can I clean your room now?" "I'm trying to sleep. Come back later." "OK, when should I come back?" "I'm going to dinner at 5:30. Come back then." "OK, I come at 5." "No, 5:30". "I come at 5." He hangs up the phone before I have a chance to correct him again. What happened to the days when you never saw or heard from your room steward but your room was always cleaned when you came back from a long day of fun? I hate being pressured to leave my room just so the steward can clean it. My parent's room steward ignored pretty much all of their requests. No ice bucket, no extra chair for their balcony, no mattress topper. He was also stationed outside their door the entire cruise and was pretty rude to us whenever we left the room. One time he asked me as I was walking by, "Do you have your mommy and daddy's permission to leave the room?" I just ignored him and kept walking but it was an odd thing to say to a 40-year-old woman with her own cabin. I could not use the studio lounge. My key card couldn't get the door to open. I managed to get in the first day because there was a group of people sitting inside who opened the door for me. I even asked my room steward for help to get in but he couldn't figure it out either. An inside cabin was cheaper but I paid extra for a studio cabin so I could use the studio lounge - I mainly wanted the late-night snacks and coffee machine - and then I couldn't use it anyway. I don't think I would ever book a studio cabin again. There wasn't much space to store my stuff and since I couldn't use the studio lounge, it wasn't worth it. I will never book a cruise on the Epic again. It's an old ship that needs to be retired. I'm not very impressed with NCL either. I have another cruise booked on the Bliss for next year so I'll see how that goes before writing off NCL completely.

Sorry about your magnets. My parents collect magnets when they go on cruises and they have some really cool ones. I haven't had anything stolen from inside my suitcase but I had a lucky four leaf clover charm stolen from the outside of my bag. I had the charm locked onto the handle of the suitcase with a mini lock. I checked my bag with the porters when I got on the ship and when it was delivered to my room, both the lock and the charm were gone. While I'm kind of bummed about it, it wasn't a big deal. The charm didn't have any sentimental value or was worth anything. I found it while moving some boxes out of my attic and threw it on my suitcase because I thought it looked cute. Sucks that people think it's okay to steal from others.

I booked a cruise in July for December and they didn't deposit my certificates into my account until the middle of September even though they accepted them in July. My final payment date was originally supposed to be September 6 but they extended it to September 9, then to September 12 which is when my certificates were finally deposited into my account. You just need to keep emailing them reminders and they should eventually get them deposited into your account. They'll keep extending your final payment date until then.

I got yelled at by a bunch of Karens on my last Carnival cruise when I tried to squeeze in and grab something I forgot. I wasn't going to wait in line for another 25 minutes just to grab a dinner roll. I politely said, "Excuse me, I just need to grab a bun." and before I could reach in and grab one, the two women squeezed together so I couldn't get through and one of them scowled, "The line is back there!". Very rude. I almost threw my plate in her face. There were a lot of rude people on that cruise. I think being isolated for a year made people forget how to function in society.