The not so Epic!

[anniversay/grad trip]

Back from the September 30-October 7th sailing of the Epic in the Med. I have sailed Carnival, Princess, Royal Carribean and Celebrity and now NCL. Of all the cruises I have taken in the past, NCL is the worst. The food is marginal, the service terrible and frankly the entertainment was not even that good.

I have been on both smaller ships and on the Oasis (RCL) and both have good and bad points, but I just found that NCL does not go out of their way at all. I am generally the type of person that thinks that a vacation is what you make of it and although my vacation was not ruined by any stretch, my honest opinion was that NCL is lacking greatly where other lines exceed.

If anyone would like specifics, please feel free to ask.

[SissasMomE]

Back from the September 30-October 7th sailing of the Epic in the Med. I have sailed Carnival, Princess, Royal Carribean and Celebrity and now NCL. Of all the cruises I have taken in the past, NCL is the worst. The food is marginal, the service terrible and frankly the entertainment was not even that good.

I have been on both smaller ships and on the Oasis (RCL) and both have good and bad points, but I just found that NCL does not go out of their way at all. I am generally the type of person that thinks that a vacation is what you make of it and although my vacation was not ruined by any stretch, my honest opinion was that NCL is lacking greatly where other lines exceed.

If anyone would like specifics, please feel free to ask.

 

I had a completely opposite experience on the Epic, and NCL. It does seem to make a difference, however, if it is a Caribbean cruise or a Med cruise, for some reason. I've been on all the lines you mentioned, and find NCL to be the friendliest crew. I agree with you about the food, though. In all honesty, it's getting to be that way on every cruise line. The quality of food in the speciality restaurants is what you used to get in the dining room - long before they ever started the speciality restuarant thing. Those days are long gone though. :(

[anniversay/grad trip]

I had a completely opposite experience on the Epic, and NCL. It does seem to make a difference, however, if it is a Caribbean cruise or a Med cruise, for some reason. I've been on all the lines you mentioned, and find NCL to be the friendliest crew. I agree with you about the food, though. In all honesty, it's getting to be that way on every cruise line. The quality of food in the speciality restaurants is what you used to get in the dining room - long before they ever started the speciality restuarant thing. Those days are long gone though. :(

 

We actually went to the specialty restaurants and I found the food there to be slightly better than the MDR, but still not great. Cagneys was decent, but not nearly as good as the steakhouse on the Oasis and the Italian restaurant La Cuisina was horrible. The pasta station in the buffet was better. The tapanaki restaurant, I am told was good (my sister and her husband went) but, when I went to make a reservation, I explained that my husband was allergic to shellfish, and asked if there was a grill devoted to beef or chicken and was told simply NO! I understand and expected as much, but I was not given a response that I expected..like "no, I'm really sorry but we do not have separate grills" or something to that affect. But the hostess just said NO!

We still don't know what our room stewards name was...he did not introduce himself to us. We had 3 balcony cabins midship, and both my sisters did not get introduced to him either. One of my sisters said hello to him when he dropped off her drycleaning, but he still did not introduce himself. I can usually find a bartender, waitress or room steward that I take a special liking to, but not this trip. There was not one person that stood out or was even remotely friendly. Maybe because of the end of season thing, but some of the worst customer service we have experienced on any cruise.

[SissasMomE]

We actually went to the specialty restaurants and I found the food there to be slightly better than the MDR, but still not great. Cagneys was decent, but not nearly as good as the steakhouse on the Oasis and the Italian restaurant La Cuisina was horrible. The pasta station in the buffet was better. The tapanaki restaurant, I am told was good (my sister and her husband went) but, when I went to make a reservation, I explained that my husband was allergic to shellfish, and asked if there was a grill devoted to beef or chicken and was told simply NO! I understand and expected as much, but I was not given a response that I expected..like "no, I'm really sorry but we do not have separate grills" or something to that affect. But the hostess just said NO!

We still don't know what our room stewards name was...he did not introduce himself to us. We had 3 balcony cabins midship, and both my sisters did not get introduced to him either. One of my sisters said hello to him when he dropped off her drycleaning, but he still did not introduce himself. I can usually find a bartender, waitress or room steward that I take a special liking to, but not this trip. There was not one person that stood out or was even remotely friendly. Maybe because of the end of season thing, but some of the worst customer service we have experienced on any cruise.

 

Im sorry you experienced that. It does not make for a pleasant trip. I had a trip like that one time on Pincess, so i do understand where you are coming from. It's a real turn off when something like that happens.

[rhapsodybluezz]

I was on the Epic last month and my experience was the exact opposite. Loved the food and ate most nights in the MDR. Only went to one specialty restaurant plus the chef's table. I found the crew to be very friendly. I am so excited to be going on the Epic again in 2 weeks:D

[iluvdoxies]

wow - sorry

 

we had a totally diferent experience - it was awesome

 

leaving 2 weeks from today on nother b2b

[HokiePoq]

I was on the Epic last month and my experience was the exact opposite. Loved the food and ate most nights in the MDR. Only went to one specialty restaurant plus the chef's table. I found the crew to be very friendly. I am so excited to be going on the Epic again in 2 weeks:D

 

Our experience was the same as yours. I wonder if the steward in question was new and had not learned enough English to communicate. I didn't read that the cabin was dirty, only that he didn't communicate.

Food on economical cruise lines is not gourmet, but I've always found it acceptable and NCL's far better than our one cruise on RCCL.

Sorry the OP had a bad experience.

[SMSACE6]

OP, Im sorry you had a bad experience on Epic. That must be quite a disappointment. I am booked on the Epic for next year, and I hope to have a different experience. But thanks for sharing anyway. I hope your future cruises are much better.:)

[toledo]

If one orders a meal in the main dining room and doesn't care for it, do you send it back and order something else?

[Us2inFL]

If one orders a meal in the main dining room and doesn't care for it, do you send it back and order something else?

 

Absolutely! In the main dining room, you can order an entrée , and then order another entrée after you've enjoyed the first.

 

We were on Epic for b-2-b a while back and the food was very good, with the slight exception that a lot of it seemed over salted. I understand they'd heard that often, (early on) and adjusted accordingly.

[justcake]

I would say, don't judge NCL by your Epic cruise. I went on the Dawn and Spirit and said I would not sail another line. I did not like the Epic at all. It was more about the ship than the crew or the food but overall I just didn't like the entertainment, the ship etc. I said never again to NCL after that cruise but now I have booked the Dawn again. Try a different ship with NCL....it may surprise you.

[david_sobe]

Sorry your cruise did not live up to your expectations. Would love to hear more details though.

I agree that the huge explosion of specialty restaurants on ALL Cruise lines seems to have had an impact on the MDRs. Although, I never go hungry on any cruise I am on. But another major reason the quality is going down is the same reason the quality is going down in your hometown restaurant. Have you seen the prices at the supermarket? Everything is so expensive now. And to keep prices the same, the cheaper stuff is used more and more often. This stuff is not just happening on cruise lines.

I am sad to hear that someone posted here that La Cucina raised their fee to $15. Does anyone know if this is true? The atmosphere is great in La Cucina but the food is MDR quality and was a stretch for $10.

[NJLVW]

I am sad to hear that someone posted here that La Cucina raised their fee to $15. Does anyone know if this is true? The atmosphere is great in La Cucina but the food is MDR quality and was a stretch for $10.

 

I was sad to see this as well. Do not know if it is correct but I checked the NCL site where it shows all dining venues & prices and sure enough it does say $15.00 now. :( We will still go anyway just because we do like the Italian restaurant.

[kirsty_r]

I had a totally different experience on my 2 EPIC cruises... I absolutely loved my time, the steward was amazing, food for me was the best I had ever tasted.. a few things were mishaps, but cheap cruise.. so no complaints for me!

[my_crib_too]

You learned that NCL is not a good fit for you. Looks like Carnival, Princess, Royal Carribean and Celebrity will get your future cruise business. Better luck with your next cruise vacation.

[palmyrafan]

Back from the September 30-October 7th sailing of the Epic in the Med. I have sailed Carnival, Princess, Royal Carribean and Celebrity and now NCL. Of all the cruises I have taken in the past, NCL is the worst. The food is marginal, the service terrible and frankly the entertainment was not even that good.

I have been on both smaller ships and on the Oasis (RCL) and both have good and bad points, but I just found that NCL does not go out of their way at all. I am generally the type of person that thinks that a vacation is what you make of it and although my vacation was not ruined by any stretch, my honest opinion was that NCL is lacking greatly where other lines exceed.

If anyone would like specifics, please feel free to ask.

 

So does this mean we won't get to enjoy your company on future cruises :rolleyes:

 

Life is what you make it and if you choose to be picky that is your right. I choose, on my vacation, to remember that it is a vacation, a floating one at that, that DH and I share with 2499 other passengers and that we all usually want the same thing at the same time. So some food is not up to par? There are many other options for dining. Entertainment is not to your liking? Get up and walk out. DH and I have a couple of times, and have always been able to find other entertainment to our liking.

 

I'm sorry you won't be cruising with NCL again, I sure hope you find the perfect cruise line for yourself. Enjoy :D

[SissasMomE]

If one orders a meal in the main dining room and doesn't care for it, do you send it back and order something else?

 

If you can swing it - I strongly recommend the specialty restaurants ... OR ... save the specialty restaurants for the end of the trip. Do not eat at one early in the trip and then plan the rest of your meals in the MDR. You will be very disappointed. It's not bad, or horrible ... just very different from the meal you get in the speciality restaurants. Also, if you like hibachi style Japanese food, make sure you do reserve that when our 45-day mark comes. That place is fabulous! I may reserve that one 2 nights on our upcoming trip. Also, Cagneys is wonderful as well.

[Luanne]

We were on the Epic from Sept 5-12 and also had the opposite experience from OP. We had problems getting our luggage from the airport (did not show up until the last night of our 7 day cruise) and NCL went well above and beyond to help us every day find it and it was not even their fault. We didn't book air through NCL, so they didn't have to do anything. They sent a van on our behalf to the BCN airport to retrieve our suitcase, only to find that it wasn't there. They gave us complimentary laundry, clothes and a free meal at a specialy restaurant. The staff that we dealt with were all friendly and helpful throughout the cruise.

 

Maybe the Epic wasn't our favorite design of ship, but, the cruise itself was great! And NCL rocked for us!

 

PS...The airline is sending us a check to reimburse for the clothes and suitcase we had to buy along our journey. :)

 

Luanne

[melbur]

Was on the exact same sailing . . had an awesome time, great entertainment, service & food!

[Medtech2]

Back from the September 30-October 7th sailing of the Epic in the Med. I have sailed Carnival, Princess, Royal Carribean and Celebrity and now NCL. Of all the cruises I have taken in the past, NCL is the worst. The food is marginal, the service terrible and frankly the entertainment was not even that good.

I have been on both smaller ships and on the Oasis (RCL) and both have good and bad points, but I just found that NCL does not go out of their way at all. I am generally the type of person that thinks that a vacation is what you make of it and although my vacation was not ruined by any stretch, my honest opinion was that NCL is lacking greatly where other lines exceed.

If anyone would like specifics, please feel free to ask.

You asked at the end if anyone would like specifics. Well, of course, be specific about what you did or did not like.

 

Sorry you never met your steward but if they kept the cabin clean and well stocked being invisible might be a good thing.

 

As for entertainment it sounds like you prefer production shows which Epic does not do. You might like another NCL ship, then. Don't try the Breakway because it will probably disappoint you.

 

Honestly, I would think a Medeterranean cruise would be more about the ports, so hope you enjoyed those...

[graphicguy]

Had a similar xperience on the Celebrity Solstice. Still had fun.

 

OP, Epic is my favorite cruise so far. Curious, you didn't enjoy Blue Man or Legends, or Slam Allen, or Cirque?

[cacj]

We have to agree, when a steward does not introduce him/herself, it is a bit off-putting to us. We prefer it if they voluntarily seek us out and do the intros, but if they don't we look for them and let them know who we are and give them a friendly update on our enjoyment of the stateroom and the cruise. We have found that it varies on each ship. Some stewards do seek us as we are leaving the stateroom, and others seem to be so busy they appear invisible. But we never let more than 2 days go by before we make our introductions.

 

We have found that once they connect our names and cabin number to our faces, they are more readily available and helpful than if we never meet them.

 

While it is understandable that they may be unable to greet us on embarkation day, we really wish that it were more apparent that they seek guests out to say "hello and welcome aboard, if you need anything, my name is".

 

On two cruises, the steward never even left name cards to introduce themselves. That is when we began to chase them down in a friendly manner.

[chisoxfan]

We have to agree, when a steward does not introduce him/herself, it is a bit off-putting to us. We prefer it if they voluntarily seek us out and do the intros, but if they don't we look for them and let them know who we are and give them a friendly update on our enjoyment of the stateroom and the cruise. We have found that it varies on each ship. Some stewards do seek us as we are leaving the stateroom, and others seem to be so busy they appear invisible. But we never let more than 2 days go by before we make our introductions.

 

We have found that once they connect our names and cabin number to our faces, they are more readily available and helpful than if we never meet them.

 

While it is understandable that they may be unable to greet us on embarkation day, we really wish that it were more apparent that they seek guests out to say "hello and welcome aboard, if you need anything, my name is".

 

On two cruises, the steward never even left name cards to introduce themselves. That is when we began to chase them down in a friendly manner.

 

We were suprprised on our last NCL cruise that the steward did not introduce him/herself (as was the case on X and Princess for us)but as long as the room is kept up who cares (maybe we are low maintenance)? I actually preferred not having to go through a "meet and greet". I am sure if we had special requirements we could have had them taken care of by making a phone call. The room was cared for as well as on any cruise we have taken. I never seek out hotel or resort housekeeping so I am not sure why a cruise should be different. JMHO

[anniversay/grad trip]

So does this mean we won't get to enjoy your company on future cruises :rolleyes:

 

Life is what you make it and if you choose to be picky that is your right. I choose, on my vacation, to remember that it is a vacation, a floating one at that, that DH and I share with 2499 other passengers and that we all usually want the same thing at the same time. So some food is not up to par? There are many other options for dining. Entertainment is not to your liking? Get up and walk out. DH and I have a couple of times, and have always been able to find other entertainment to our liking.

 

I'm sorry you won't be cruising with NCL again, I sure hope you find the perfect cruise line for yourself. Enjoy :D

 

As I have stated, NCL did not ruin my vacation. As far as enjoying my company on a future NCL cruise, probably not (I sense your sarcasm, as subtle as you tried to be:D) I thought these boards were designed to give an overall view of a specific cruiseline, based on your own personal experience. Which is what I attempted to do. I am not trying to get into a debate with the NCL cheerleaders but, my overall experience was that every other cruiseline I have sailed was IMHO a better experience than the Epic. The MDR food is usually a mixture of some very good entrees to some terrible entrees. We generally frequent the specialty restaurants and find the food to be exceptional. That was not the case on Epic. The Italian restaurant was terrible and Cagney's , although decent was not what we are used to experiencing. We went to Howl at the Moon and found the female entertainer very good, while her counterpart had trouble holding a note. Legends was good (other than Madonna) who was verging on crude (and I was thankful I was not there with my children). We did not go to BMG (not our thing) but did enjoy Twice as nice. Epic boasts about it's entertainment, but although not terrible, it was no better than any other cruiseline shows we have seen. As far as our room steward not introducing himself, it was really not an issue for us, although I found it strange, as every other cruise we have been on this was not the case. So I have relayed this information here, for those that do like the interaction with the room steward. If anyone would like specific "candid" information about a specific venue, room type, public area etc I will try and give you my opinion based on MY experience. I poured over these boards prior to this cruise (as well as every other cruise we have been on) and read the Good, the bad and the ugly. It certainly didn't taint my decision to take the cruise on the Epic, as my views will certainly not taint anyone elses...Oh and in response to your response...there are no perfect cruiselines that I am aware of...unless you know something I don't!

[anniversay/grad trip]

You asked at the end if anyone would like specifics. Well, of course, be specific about what you did or did not like.

 

Sorry you never met your steward but if they kept the cabin clean and well stocked being invisible might be a good thing.

 

As for entertainment it sounds like you prefer production shows which Epic does not do. You might like another NCL ship, then. Don't try the Breakway because it will probably disappoint you.

 

Honestly, I would think a Medeterranean cruise would be more about the ports, so hope you enjoyed those...

 

Having been on a Med cruise before, we have been to a couple of the ports. I planned all of our excursions privately and enjoyed our time in all the ports other than Marseille, which IMHO should not be a port of call. There is very little to do there, although we did take advantage of the little train ride that went to the church. The views were amazing, but once that was over, unless you plan for a lunch etc there isn;t much there other than restaurants along the water. My interest was in purchasing some fine French soaps which I found in a Kiosk right off the ship...no need to pay the $24USD(for DH and myself) cost to go to town.