Epic Disaster

[Jotravelnut21]

On the Nieuw Amsterdam MY DW and I took the "holding this chair" towels and did the same. Over an hour later 2 women came to us and said they had reserved our chairs. I said Oh really how did you reserve them? They said our towels were on the chairs I told them sorry but somebody must have taken them off. They told me that is the way you hold your chairs while doing other things. I also told the BTW there are no rules for saving chairs around the pool, they left in a huff. You can tell I do not like the Hogs on cruise ships.:cool:

 

Good for you!

I have never been confronted and I always wait OVER an hour before moving towels. Then you are allowed to move them....that's the law! ;)

[j603]

Sorry LuLu but I didn't realize I was required to post ten favorable posts before I could post a truthful post. I will try to read the fine print next time!

Geez EpicDisaster..... It seems that another disaster that you failed to mention from your absolutely horrible, terrible, hope to never be repeated vacation was you forgot to pack your CHILL PILL!!! :rolleyes:

[Cruisegirl6]

I have asked whether there was any positive on the Epic to the OP but OP continues to ignore and I am not the only one that would like to know whether there was any positive things.

 

Im onto this OP, know exactly what he/she is doing. Or wait, maybe he/she just a very bitter person that only sees the negative and never any positive?

[Seago2]

I would need more than a chill pill of I saw a guy masturbating in the sauna area...... That would certainly be a memorable cruise, and not in a good way.

[Medtech2]

My wife and I traveled on the NCL Epic from February 16 to February 23 2013. The Epic is a very impressive ship. It looks like a floating hotel, which it is. The boarding process is one of the smoothest we have encountered. This was our fourth cruise so we did not consider ourselves uneducated. We spent additional dollars to get the mini suite. Along with a larger room we also had larger bathroom and shower space and additional storage. I would highly recommend spending the little extra for the mini suite as we heard complaints about how small the regular rooms are compared to other cruise lines.

After boarding and moving around the boat we found that there was very limited space at the pool and they allowed smoking in the common pool area. It seemed NCL had added room for a couple of thousand more people but did not expand the community areas. It was impossible to find room to sit at the pool. There was a separate area that only allowed 18 and older passengers. This was a small and limited area. Given NCL caters to the older traveler, this area should be larger. Another complaint was that NCL did not police the area. At any given time half of the chairs were not being used. People were allowed to come down early and “reserve” their area by laying out a towel. NCL should monitor and if a chair is unused for an hour then the towel is removed and the chair made available.

NCL advertises “Freestyle” dining. Basically this means the dining areas are open limited hours for the convenience of NCL. The quality of food is mediocre at best. The dining rooms have a very limited menu with strange selections. To eat in one of the “free” dining rooms (Taste and Manhattan) you need to arrive at 5:30 or you will be waiting a long time for a table. If you decide to forego the wait and eat outside of the time frame they set, you are forced to pay $15 to $30 per person. This seems to be the business model for NCL.

The buffet closes at 9:30 at night plus it is closed from 3:30 to 5:30 in the afternoon. At that time the only food available is in the pool area where appetizers are available or from O’Sheehans which has bar food only or pay extra for pizza or room service.

While cruising we decided to pay $150 per person to join the spa. This was the only way to use the steam room and sauna. The men’s portion of the spa ended up being a pick up spot for the gay guys on the boat. Even the couple we were traveling with (who were a gay couple) said they felt uncomfortable being in the spa area when these guys were around.

One night my wife and I came out of the shared steam room and caught one of the guys masturbating in the common area. There was no staff around to report him to. By the time we found someone he had left the facility. NCL must take the effort to insure safety and comfort for the passengers. When I pay additional for a service I do not want activities like that going on in the open and have no supervision by the boat.

If you cruise NCL be prepared for them to cancel scheduled stops. On the last day we were informed that they did not have a location for us to dock in Nassau so we were skipping the stop. The primary reason we booked this trip was that one of the Nassau shore excursions was swimming with the dolphins. While talking to one of the workers she said not having a normal docking spot in Nassau was a common occurrence. The worker said that at other times they had taken the boat to another area and docked. NCL did not say they were sorry for not stopping. The letter we received simply said we were continuing to Miami.

Other items from the cruise include:

· The staff on the boat all seemed to not want to be there and spoke limited English. I understand they recruit employees from around the world, but when someone is put in a position to communicate with passengers as part of their job, they should know English.

· NCL seems to think that they must have music at ear splitting levels at all times. It is impossible to enjoy yourself on the pool level due to various bands playing at such a high volume level you can feel your skin vibrate and it hurts your ears.

· The boat is so crowded that walking at a decent pace is impossible.

· Internet access is $100 for 250 minutes. A little over four hours. The wireless is so poor that the majority of time was spent waiting for connection. If we received one hour of internet access for the $100 we were lucky. I believe I am being generous when I say we got one hour.

· There is no outdoor jogging area. They did take ½ of one walkway paint a small circle area that they called a jogging path. It was so small that while jogging it was impossible to pass people that were waking.

· The Captain feels compelled to come on the loudspeaker at various times of the day and give LONG announcements at an ear splitting volume that is irritating plus the Captain could not be understood because of his poor English. In addition, they constantly are coming on the loudspeakers to promote bingo, art auction, etc. Again, please let us enjoy our vacation!

· To reach the common dining areas you have to walk through the Casino. The elevators do not stop on the 5th level which is where guest services and dining is at. You have to exit at the 6th floor and walk through the Casino and down steps to get to the dining areas.

In summary the Epic has a large number of cabins. It has a very limited area for these people to enjoy themselves. Common services like 24 hour buffet, quiet areas, ocean views, which are supplied on every other cruise we have been on are not offered. Be prepared to “battle” for a place to sit at the pool. Also be prepared to pay additional for almost everything. While I may cruise NCL again it WILL NOT be on the Epic!

Hope you find and enjoy another line.

 

We absolutely adored the Epic, her fine crew, and wonderful food. The United States is such a melting pot I am surprised you had a hard time understanding the crew or Captain. In our town we have many people for whom English is not their native language and I have encountered very few that I could not understand.

[mpk218]

I have asked whether there was any positive on the Epic to the OP but OP continues to ignore and I am not the only one that would like to know whether there was any positive things.

 

Im onto this OP, know exactly what he/she is doing. Or wait, maybe he/she just a very bitter person that only sees the negative and never any positive?

 

But you wont be answered . Because that is not the point of this OP .

Positives have nothing to do with it .

 

But Im guessing you already knew that ;)

[Medtech2]

I look forward to your comments. Yes, there were good times. However the only relaxing place we could find was on our balcony. We too met lots of great people. I enjoyed Legends more than Blue Man. I had seen Blue Man three times before. Maybe I was getting bored with it, however it seemed that they cut a lot of the items out. My wife did not like it. I have sailed on Princess, Royal Caribbean and Carnival. All smaller ships and all great experiences. This was our first NCL cruise. I will give them another chance but it will not be on a big ship. My primary frustration is with management. They just don't seem to care. Whether it is the manager of the spa, restaurant or corporate offices.

What was the screen name you used to review all your other cruises?

 

Most people here use ONE name to post on all boards...

[j603]

I would need more than a chill pill of I saw a guy masturbating in the sauna area...... That would certainly be a memorable cruise, and not in a good way.

I am the type of person and have the type of traveling companions that we would have absolutely burst out laughing and pointing at him, and I have a friend or 2 who would have probably whipped out a camera..... Ah hahahaha

[SissasMomE]

I am the type of person and have the type of traveling companions that we would have absolutely burst out laughing and pointing at him, and I have a friend or 2 who would have probably whipped out a camera..... Ah hahahaha

 

Ditto LOL!!

[jdvmd]

Yea, my thoughts as well. CC name is Epic Disaster and first post. :rolleyes:

Exactly what I am thinking.

[sjbdtz]

If only! :)

 

 

Wish I had been old enough for this... the Divine Miss M, live from the Continental Baths.

 

 

 

We never used the showers. We wore out swim suits down. WE were told at the time of joining the spa that we only needed to turn our room key in if we wanted a locker.

 

You are still not listening to my point I am trying to make. There was hardly ever anyone from NCL in the common area of the spa.

The occasional person would walk through picking up towels. There should be someone there full time.

 

Why? IN CASE some random passenger decides to do something? Also, this section of the spa IS on camera, in case anybody has distress in the thalassotherapy pool.

I'm curious about something though... I've never seen that large space even remotely close to empty (on 3 separate cruises)... the idea that you would come out of a coed sauna & somebody was 'being inappropriate' seems far-fetched.

Then there's the allusion that it's because this person was gay. Was he using his left-hand or something which informed you of his gayness? How could you tell?

 

 

 

 

 

Maybe we had the only Epic cruise where the gay guys decided to spend their time in the spa walking around with no clothes.

 

I've seen many men in the men's shower/sauna/steam-room area without any clothes. I would have assumed the majority of them were straight (law of averages). Am I correct to understand that this is not distressing to you, it's only the ones who appeared 'left-handed' that stir your pot?

Has there EVER been a sub-culture including parks, saunas & steam-rooms? Yes. Pre-HIV, and pre-legalized relationships, some gay men had dalliances...typically highly secretive and those involved seem to make every effort to avoid being walked-in upon.

 

 

 

 

Like I said, the gay couple(both guys) we travelled with also felt uncomfortable. They also said they were hit on by the gay guys in the spa. We filed a complaint with the spa desk. They sent someone after an extended period of time to investigate.

 

Is this the same 5 minutes, which you described earlier?

 

We gave a description but they said there were too many names on the list and they did not have descriptions of everyone on the list. They did say if we saw the guy in the spa again to point him out. Not sure what they would have said.

 

They probably would have noted what he looked like, and then searched the video-footage to determine whether there was any activity such as you described.

[DGP1111]

My wife and I traveled on the NCL Epic from February 16 to February 23 2013. The Epic is a very impressive ship. It looks like a floating hotel, which it is. The boarding process is one of the smoothest we have encountered. This was our fourth cruise so we did not consider ourselves uneducated.

 

I was on the sailing immediately following yours (debarkation yesterday), and I'm glad to read that your boarding process was as easy as mine. That seems to be a positive trend with this particular ship.

I will readily admit that my first sailing on Norwegian EPIC was initially overwhelming, and I was probably one of those passengers who caused some frustration to a few others, who were trying to quickly get from Points A to B, because some goob just stopped in his tracks to attempt to figure out where the heck he was. People like me could cause the effect of crowding. Sorry, folks :o

But I got much better during the cruise, and on my next visits to this ship, I was much more "at home" and didn't create challenges.

 

 

It was impossible to find room to sit at the pool. There was a separate area that only allowed 18 and older passengers. This was a small and limited area.

This would easily have been a true statement if only looking close to the pools. Chair hogs were present the following week as well (in masses, I might add), but there were always lounge chairs available on the pool deck, in locations further away from the main pools. I found this to be true on each of my Norwegian EPIC cruises.

 

 

 

If you cruise NCL be prepared for them to cancel scheduled stops.

NCL did not say they were sorry for not stopping. The letter we received simply said we were continuing to Miami.

I've learned over the years, on multiple cruise lines, to "be prepared for them to cancel scheduled stops". It doesn't stop the disappointment, for sure, but I know in advance that it can happen. I'm sorry to read that you missed the dolphin encounter, as that is a memorable excursion. I do hope you get to do it in the future.

 

Perhaps your dismay about the Nassau situation didn't offer you the ability to properly read the letter delivered to you, that attempted to clearly explain the situation, and clearly offer an apology.

 

Well, now, I just happen to have a copy . . .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

· The staff on the boat all seemed to not want to be there and spoke limited English. I understand they recruit employees from around the world, but when someone is put in a position to communicate with passengers as part of their job, they should know English.

· NCL seems to think that they must have music at ear splitting levels at all times. It is impossible to enjoy yourself on the pool level due to various bands playing at such a high volume level you can feel your skin vibrate and it hurts your ears.

· The Captain feels compelled to come on the loudspeaker at various times of the day and give LONG announcements at an ear splitting volume that is irritating plus the Captain could not be understood because of his poor English.

· To reach the common dining areas you have to walk through the Casino. The elevators do not stop on the 5th level which is where guest services and dining is at. You have to exit at the 6th floor and walk through the Casino and down steps to get to the dining areas.

 

I do not doubt for a minute there are people working on that ship who are looking forward to their contract ending, and may never work on a ship again, but you use of the word "all" is simply not accurate in any way.

 

When you came back to the ship from your port stops, I'm curious if you encountered dancing crew and staff having lots of fun to welcome back the guests in a fashion not experience by the neighboring ships?

 

It is not impossible for people enjoy themselves on the pool deck because of the noise level. I, and numerous others, did on a daily basis.

I will, however, say that it is rather foolish for the person doing the 'sound check' to not start at a very low level and work up, rather than the other way around. That was quite annoying on several occasions, but (thankfully) only lasted a few seconds.

 

I found Captain Sovdsnes' English to be exceptional, but that's only a personal opinion from the numerous times I was able to be around him, or listening to the onboard announcements.

 

Forward elevators open on Deck 5, right at the Park West Gallery, and photo shop/internet station. Yes, you can avoid going through the casino.

 

.

[Love my butler]

Thank you for your review OP. Please don't let all these cheerleaders bash down your spirit. Any negatives about NCL or her ships usually draw immediate character assassination. We just got back from a B2B cruise (not Epic) and had a great time. Try another NCL ship. I loathe the Epic and will never sail her again, though I generally love NCL.

[Fydlstyx]

A couple of your complaints mirrored my experience on Dawn a couple months ago, especially the wait times for the MDR. Thank you for taking the time to write a review.

 

I am not in any way trying to be confrontational with you - I am genuinely asking, how would NCL better manage the lines for any time dining? I ask because any time dining allows people to show up whenever they want to eat, so NCL has no way of knowing if six hundred people will decide to have dinner at 7:12PM or if thirty people will. It stands to reason then that there will be lines, right? There is not much that can be done to avoid that. Maybe people who really do not like waiting in lines would do better on a line with scheduled dining times?

 

I really loved going to eat whenever I felt like it, and on the Sun, rarely stood in line longer than five or ten minutes. Of course, the Sun is much smaller, so there were fewer people, but there was no expectation that we would be seated immediately.

 

I have noticed a lot of people seem to not have as good an experience on the really large ships. That makes me hesitant to try one. I don't want to sour my cruising experiences! :)

[Tiggertastic]

I'm sorry you didn't enjoy your cruise and that you had a bad experience in the spa.

 

Yes the pool area is packed and the pool tiny but if you had attended a meet and greet through a CC roll call - you would have met the officers on the first day and would have had a card with their direct numbers on - shame you did not get this chance to ring one of them direct. They would have been there like a shot.

 

Having had dealings with security when there was an issue on board - I can tell you that they deal with matters so discreetly, they do not broadcast what action they take and make sure they do not bring to anyone's attention what is happening - If you reported it - they would have dealt with it but not told you the outcome.

[jeannep]

We really enjoyed the Epic. Yes, we had 2 complaints.

 

There are only 2 elevator banks. One in the front and one in the back. I have checked the deck plans for the Breakaway and it looks like they only have 2 also but hopefully, they are closer towards the middle.

 

We also were not in love with the cabins. NCL has definately fixed that on the Breakaway.

 

These 2 complaints were not an issue with us. We still loved our cruise.

 

Jeanne

[NayRN]

OP-

Thanks for taking the time to voice your opinion. I for one would not step foot on the Epic....or any of NCLs large ships for that matter.....because I've read all the negative AND positive posts here. In other words, I've done my homework! :rolleyes: They just aren't "my thing".

 

My only reason for being a bit doubtful about your post is.....your screen name, you didn't really mention anything positive about the entire cruise, even ports that the ship did make it to, and claim that you've been on multiple cruise lines with no other posts...yet some how found CC today. Something smells a little fishy here in CC-land!:confused:

 

I hope that you find exactly what you are looking for in future cruises...you know, no chair hogs, great food, and your ship is full of average people who aren't **gasp** old!:eek:

 

BTW....did you receive the letter that was posted in this thread a little earlier about Nassau? I find it odd that someone else did....but no mention of it from you!

[jingle5616]

To the OP, I think you have to do a little review of cruise ships these days. We have no desire to cruise on the ships bigger than 100,000 tons. To big for Jinglette to get around on, to many people, and the vacation just wasn't what we wanted was our experience. So I doubt we will ever go in the Epic or Getaway. We have been wondering what we will do when all ships reach the super jumbo size. Hopefully some company out there will fill the gap with moderate sized ships at a decent rate.

 

Back in the old'en days when we weren't charged to use the sauna, I used to visit it and the steam room on NCL cruise ships after working out. Once I walked in on two males engaged in an intimate act on the NCL Dream and another time I was propositioned on the NCL Star. I'm straight, and was taken back for a moment and finally in the end I took it as a complement...... So the Gay guys in the steam room does happen. I've witnessed it. It isn't bigoted of me to report my experience.

 

Hopefully you find a style of vacation that suites your needs in the future.

 

Jingle

[SMSACE6]

Ok....that is it...all these negative posts and complaints about the Epic!

 

Im calling right now...cancelling my cruise!!!! NOT!;)

[Aquahound]

I am not in any way trying to be confrontational with you - I am genuinely asking, how would NCL better manage the lines for any time dining? I ask because any time dining allows people to show up whenever they want to eat, so NCL has no way of knowing if six hundred people will decide to have dinner at 7:12PM or if thirty people will. It stands to reason then that there will be lines, right? There is not much that can be done to avoid that. Maybe people who really do not like waiting in lines would do better on a line with scheduled dining times?

 

Ever since the cruise lines came out with anytime dining options, it has been my choice to take those options. This has been my preference for several years now, and you can see in my signature how many cruises I go on in a year and on what ships I have sailed. The only times I was handed a pager and told I had to wait a half hour for a table was on the Norwegian Dawn....and it didn't matter what time we showed up. It was an every night thing.

 

Could be its just a product of everyone being on the Freestyle system, whereas on other lines, not everyone is doing anytime dining. To me, I find that discouraging and I wasn't a fan of it.

[ClaireAndMike]

Me too! lololol. I'm so glad you said it, because I was totally thinking this! And omg, that reminds me that I need to up my witnessing of male self-pleasuring to 4 times! I'd totally forgotten about another instance. I must attract it, I don't know!

 

I am the type of person and have the type of traveling companions that we would have absolutely burst out laughing and pointing at him, and I have a friend or 2 who would have probably whipped out a camera..... Ah hahahaha

[cruzincurt]

Its not that I am saying I dont believe you, its just as a law enforcement officer, there are lots of things that dont make sense. It is rare but people do get arrested for such acts on a cruise ship.

Not that I condone such public acts but I'm curious what law and jurisdiction applies in such a case at sea and in international waters?

[Aquahound]

Not that I condone such public acts but I'm curious what law and jurisdiction applies in such a case at sea and in international waters?

 

That is where I come in. ;). It falls under U.S. jurisdiction....on cruises from the U.S. The FBI is primary and USCG/CGIS is secondary.

 

Going one step further, Florida law apples on all cruises that both start and end in Florida. A case like that could be prosecuted by either the U.S. or the FL state attorneys office.

[joedel]

we were on the same week , I guess we did not notice due to us having so much fun running around the ship in different colored togas . we also came across a woman topless sun bathing- no one made a big deal about that!!!!!. We hung out at the haven ( you can enter by the rinse shower by the front of the ship, there is a small hallway behind the shower that leads to the upper level of the haven) Why are you people paying so much for something not so big?????

[cayugashue]

Epic Disaster - thanks for your review. Sorry about the Cruise Critic family here blasting you as they have. If you would have said all good things they would have praised you. However, you mentioned things that you were not happy with and they come to destroy.

Shame on them!

 

I just returned from Epic 2/23 - 3/2 cruise. I have lots of good and bad to say...some of what you have mentioned minus the spa incident. I have never had a bad cruise, because I go to have fun and meet lots of new friends, which we did.

Would I cruise Epic again, he** NO! The ship is dirty, spa is very moldy, staff rude, food in dining room and pay dining NOT good. Chef Table was wonderful! Blue Man...come on.

 

That's it in a nut shell maybe more in a couple of days.

 

I was on the same cruise, 2/23 - 3/2. It is "funny" how perceptions vary... I found the ship to be very clean, I spent time in the spa, didn't see mold, EVERY crew member I encountered was at a minimum, polite, all except one meal was wonderful...