The Epic "Experience"

[dos equis]

Hi everyone,

 

I'm booked on the Sept. 25th sailing and I am super excited. I know everything is still up in the air about this ship since no one has actually sailed on her yet... but I've been wondering something. Do you think NCL will go "above and beyond" with customer service on this ship? I've seen reviews that the "bubbly welcome aboard" is gone on most ships now... along with some other perks that were introduced with Freestyle 2.0. I hope these things come back on the Epic's sailings, because they will be such a nice touch and really add to the overall "WOW" experience.

 

I hope NCL will take advantage of the fact that there will be many passengers who have never sailed with them before and really make the customer service stand out. Of course this ship is going to be amazing, what with all the entertainment, dining, sports, and relaxation options... but I hope the customer service matches up. I think this is a great opportunity for NCL to really show off the excellent customer service that I know first-hand they are capable of. It seems like it might be easy to blow it on a ship with that many passengers. I know we'll have to wait and see, but I hope that there are some special touches that NCL adds to the overall customer service experience on the Epic.

 

And before I get flamed, I'm not suggesting that the customer service will be anything less than great, I'm just wondering if it will be any DIFFERENT than going on any other NCL ship. There's a huge opportunity for them to show off in this way, and make the new-to-NCL passengers want to book and book and book again!

[Cruisin'cockney]

I guess they are hoping that the ship itself will be sufficiently impressive to not have to "gild the Lilly" with extra incentives.

 

A ship serving Champagne on embarkation and robes in the staterooms will not get me to book but a great ship on an interesting itinerary with fabulous entertainment and extensive dining options will.

[Bgem75]

Dos Equis,

We are with you. I would almost expect any of the cruise lines to really go above and beyond on the first year a new ship is out. Most of them do from what we have been told by others. We are looking foward to our Sept 11th booking no matter what though.

From what we have personally experienced...your cruise experience is up to you..Its all on what you make of it. My DH and I are up for anything..we go with the flow. We have experienced things on past cruises which would have totally ruined a cruise for someone else but we did the oh well...lets do this or try that attitude and we always end up having the best time.. we think maybe things happen for a reason and it has always led us to more fun..

Have fun on your cruise. I am sure we will.:D

[Jerseyboy1]

Dos Equis I totally agree with you on this. IMO and I repeat IMO, NCL not only should go over the top with service and amenities on this ship, but needs to in order to make it a success. If this ship doesn't deliver "big time" then NCL's in trouble.

[jsteinberg]

Dos Equis,

We are with you. I would almost expect any of the cruise lines to really go above and beyond on the first year a new ship is out. Most of them do from what we have been told by others. We are looking foward to our Sept 11th booking no matter what though.

From what we have personally experienced...your cruise experience is up to you..Its all on what you make of it. My DH and I are up for anything..we go with the flow. We have experienced things on past cruises which would have totally ruined a cruise for someone else but we did the oh well...lets do this or try that attitude and we always end up having the best time.. we think maybe things happen for a reason and it has always led us to more fun..

Have fun on your cruise. I am sure we will.:D

 

have you said hello in the roll call? if not come say hello, i'm on the sept 11th sailing as well

[sjbdtz]

If this ship doesn't deliver "big time" then NCL's in trouble.

 

 

Based on what?

 

Hotels survive at 70% capacity...

 

 

Define "big time" (now I've got that blasted Peter Gabriel song in my head)....(oh..... and you're welcome... because now you do, too! ;) )

[Esmerelda]

We are RC lovers but are booked on this ship late in the year. Without a doubt, we received stellar customer service all the way around. We didn't have any problems or issues, it was just a really nice, friendly group of employees everywhere we were.

 

I will be interested to see how the customer service is on the Epic. From what I understand, the cruiselines chose the employees for their newer ships. (at least this was what employees on RC told us). So if you have the best of the best, it's bound to be good all the way around!

 

:D

[CaptData]

We are RC lovers but are booked on this ship late in the year. Without a doubt, we received stellar customer service all the way around. We didn't have any problems or issues, it was just a really nice, friendly group of employees everywhere we were.

 

I will be interested to see how the customer service is on the Epic. From what I understand, the cruiselines chose the employees for their newer ships. (at least this was what employees on RC told us). So if you have the best of the best, it's bound to be good all the way around!

 

:D

 

They may have chosen most of them but there will be a minimum of 10% new employees. They also need to leave some good ones on others ships or they will lose there.

[time2cruise1]

They may have chosen most of them but there will be a minimum of 10% new employees. They also need to leave some good ones on others ships or they will lose there.

 

Not the case on the Epic. Klaus has stated repeatedly on the webcasts 100% of the crew on the Epic will be experienced NCL employees. They are taking any chances with this gamble. I'm sure there will be some holes on the other ships that will take time to fill with new employees. Those holes should start to appear in the next few weeks as the crew heads to the Epic at the end of May.

[Jerseyboy1]

Based on what?

 

Hotels survive at 70% capacity...

 

 

Define "big time" (now I've got that blasted Peter Gabriel song in my head)....(oh..... and you're welcome... because now you do, too! ;) )

 

Like I said, it's just my opinion. You don't have to agree.

 

My wife is a top sales manager for a hotel and I hear about this situation all the time. They are looking for over 90% occupancy every day. Yes, hotels survive at 70%, but with the debt that NCL is carrying, I'm pretty sure they wouldn't be comfortable with that number.

 

By "big time", I mean that this ship has to put up the numbers. It has to be a success. It can't fall short of the expectations that both the passengers and NCL bigwigs have for it.

 

Once they decided to keep this ship and not sell it off like they once planned, they seemed to put everything they got into this ship to make it a winner.

 

Barring any more fires or blown engines, I hope they succeed. While there are a few things that I don't care for about this ship, I generally like NCL's product and wish them the best.

 

Oh....and I am a fan of Gabriel by the way....better in Genesis though..:)