Epic Disaster

[j603]

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!

Life is too short to not to point and laugh....:D:D

[willise]

A friend of mine was on the same cruise - she apparently wowed people in karaoke with her talent - if any of you were on that sailing.

 

Anyway, it was her first time on the Epic and she said she truly enjoyed herself. Granted, the Epic is not a ship I think I want to sail on (just because I love the promenade decks and watching the ocean from an uncrowded place), but no ship will ever be perfect to every passenger that walks on her. Just like life - stuff happens - you just have to keep going and not worry too much about minute things.

[shelly11]

I appreciate everyone's review, we all have different perspectives even on the same trip.

 

That being said when you sign up with the name 'epic disaster' and your first post is to bash the epic, I can not take everything you say seriously.

 

As far as seeing someone pleasuring themselves in the spa, did you say something to him or stop and stare? I would have said something to him and probably laughed! I bet he would have stopped.

[Cruzin-Keith]

cayugashue - I'm really shocked you didn't notice all the Mold and Mildew in the spa area. We used this area 2 times per day. The ceiling had lots of patchings and many more to go. The ceiling seems to be the wrong material for spa areas like on the Epic. Everything metal up on ceiling was rusted, seems stainless steel would have been a better material. The tiles on the walls had lots of mildew. The large whirl-pool had a 2" dirt ring around the whole thing. The whole area just needed a good scrubbing, fixture replacement and cleaning.

We did really enjoy this area..... : )

[gelo7]

OP, thanks, for sharing your thoughts.

[Riggy84]

omg, DISASTER on the Epic?? :eek:

How have i not heard about this? I can't seem to find anything in the news about a recent disaster and you don't mention it in your review.

So what was it? Crash? Fire? How many people died? :confused:

I hope for the sake of their families that it wasn't too bad a disaster..

[IWORK2CRUISE]

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!

Sorry you did not enjoy your cruise.

Some complaints may be unrealistic. On what cruises have you had 24 hour buffet service?

[sdmike]

On what cruises have you had 24 hour buffet service?

 

Until I sailed NCL I never saw 24/7 food availability, let alone a dining area or buffet

[pyrrhus]

So your main complaint is about something that 1) can happen on any ship 2) can happen on any cruise line and 3) is clearly covered in the terms of the contract. No port is guarenteed, ever.

 

I do wonder about the port fees. Every port that has been canceled on a cruise I have been on has been replaced with another port so no biggie.

 

So in cases where a port has to be bypassed all together and not replaced with another port, I do think some credit should be in order since I am making the assumption that the cruise line won't be paying the port charges. Of course the few bucks due me wouldn't be worth the trouble.... Maybe one free drink or coke for everyone on board :)

[sdmike]

I do wonder about the port fees. Every port that has been canceled on a cruise I have been on has been replaced with another port so no biggie.

 

So in cases where a port has to be bypassed all together and not replaced with another port, I do think some credit should be in order since I am making the assumption that the cruise line won't be paying the port charges. Of course the few bucks due me wouldn't be worth the trouble.... Maybe one free drink or coke for everyone on board :)

 

Yes, they credit port fees back to your account. It happened on this trip when they missed Nassau

[pyrrhus]

Cruiser after my own heart terrydtx!

I also give the chair hogs a limited time then I sling their towels onto heap, move the chair a little and sit down. Hubby is usually mortified! but after ten or fifteen minutes even he comes around and sits down!! :)

 

My wife and I actually ended up in quite a disagreement with a chair hog and their family on Valor back in '05. After a few minutes of yelling an attendant finally came by and asked all of us to leave. Couldn't be that angry since we were making a scene even though the beginning of the disagreement was someone who hadn't been near the chairs in over an hour. Since then I have decided it isn't worth the fight. If I want sun I find an area with sun, if I want to swim, I swim. Am I giving up and letting the idiots win.... Yep.

[j603]

cayugashue - I'm really shocked you didn't notice all the Mold and Mildew in the spa area. We used this area 2 times per day. The ceiling had lots of patchings and many more to go. The ceiling seems to be the wrong material for spa areas like on the Epic. Everything metal up on ceiling was rusted, seems stainless steel would have been a better material. The tiles on the walls had lots of mildew. The large whirl-pool had a 2" dirt ring around the whole thing. The whole area just needed a good scrubbing, fixture replacement and cleaning.

We did really enjoy this area..... : )

Wait, wait, wait..... Am I missing something? If it was as bad as you are saying then why did you use it twice a day and say you enjoyed it? If the area was truly as dirty as you are saying then it was a petri dish of nastiness that should have been brought to the attention of management.

[Donna_In_India]

I am very sorry you had so many issues on your cruise. I would guess that it being a holiday week, it was extra crowded.

 

Our experience on the Epic (early Dec 2012) was the complete opposite. We loved everything about the Epic and would sail her again in a heartbeat. We had no problem finding space at the pool, at the buffets, or anywhere else we were. We only paid extra for the Cirque dinner. I love the big ships and I don't think I would like NCL's smaller ships so it's not likely I would sail on one. It's very important to research before you cruise. There isn't a single detail about any cruise/ship that can't be found on CC - in fact, there's an overload of info. The fact that it was a holiday week should have sent plenty of red flags up.

 

I don't spend enough time in my room to worry about its size. As long as it's clean, I'm fine! Our balcony room was fine for 3 of us. Considering Spongebob, Dora, etc. are on the cruise, I think it's inaccurate to say that NCL caters to an older crowd. To suggest that you can only either eat in one of the free dining rooms or pay for dinner is also inaccurate. The dinner buffet was very good - and there was so much of a selection.

 

I'm surprised to read that you chose the Epic specifically to go to Nassau?! It seems like just about every ship out there goes to Nassau. And I wouldn't put much stock in what "one of the workers" said. If that were true, you'd be reading all about it on these boards. By the way, on one of our December cruises, our stop at Grand Turk was canceled. Things happen. And you agree to a change in itinerary if necessary as part of purchasing your cruise (can't think of the real term of the agreement). BTW, we were in Nassau two consecutive weeks and the Epic was there both times.

 

We had no problems communicating with the crew and found them as good as on any other cruise.

 

Internet access is the same on EVERY cruise. Certainly can't fault NCL for that!

 

I have never been on a cruise that had a 24 hour buffet. What ships are you sailing on that do?

 

I agree about the Epic not having ocean views the way other ships do. It didn't particularly bother me since we had a balcony. I believe NCL has fixed this on the Breakaway, which will even have dining outside.

 

My Epic cruise was my first NCL cruise and I'm hooked. I'm not a cheerleader - I just had a great time. People tend to forget that the Epic was the first mega ship. NCL , as well as RCI, and the rest of the lines who are building mega ships learned a lot from the Epic. It's not perfect but neither is any other ship.

 

I just can't go on a ship and find a list full of things to complain about. Some of yours may have been avoided with research - maybe smaller ships suit you better? Certainly the time of year you were sailing was not good. Some other things you mention are not accurate and some are the same on every ship. Hope your next cruise is better.

[Hopperhop]

Other than that, how was the play Mrs. Lincoln?:)

 

Wow, the ship must have changed a whole lot since December, we did not experience hardly any of the items that you mentioned with the exception of the things regarding the layout of the ship of course. We were first time cruisers on NCL(9 cruises on other lines) and we loved it and will be coming back. Hard to believe that everything could be so bad!! You don't happen to be one of those people who would win $100,000,000 in the lottery and then complain about the taxes would you? :confused:

[pyrrhus]

This is so true. We had port days canceled in Grand Cayman Island and Half Moon Cay on the same HAL cruise because of rough seas making it too dangerous to tender into the islands. We did get our port taxes for the missed ports back on our OBC which I would hope NCL did on the missed Nassau port.

 

Well answered my previous question. Should have read through the full thread before replying.

[Sue Do'nym]

Just off the Epic and had the opposite experience of OP. I wanted to speak up in favor of the crew-every member I encountered seemed upbeat and very willing to help or go out of their way. I had several incidents that required visits to guest services, so cannot say my cruise was completely smooth. But, everything was handled quickly, courteously and to my satisfaction. For the person requesting the positives about the Epic, a few of mine were: the entertainment... enjoyed every perfomance, performer that I saw and I made the effort to see quite a few. The service, my experience differed from OP-but I found the service to be excellent and was impressed with the staff. The food-I paid for a few upcharge restaurants, but I enjoyed the buffet, the MDRs, the late night snacks, O'Sheehan's-all included as well as room service. I will post full review shortly, but found the Epic a clean, courteous and excellent ship that I would happily sail again. Also, I booked into Posh based on Cruise Critic advice-therey avoiding chair hogs. Thanks Cruise Critic!

[HowardK]

Just off the Epic and had the opposite experience of OP. I wanted to speak up in favor of the crew-every member I encountered seemed upbeat and very willing to help or go out of their way. I had several incidents that required visits to guest services' date=' so cannot say my cruise was completely smooth. But, everything was handled quickly, courteously and to my satisfaction. For the person requesting the positives about the Epic, a few of mine were: the entertainment... enjoyed every perfomance, performer that I saw and I made the effort to see quite a few. The service, my experience differed from OP-but I found the service to be excellent and was impressed with the staff. The food-I paid for a few upcharge restaurants, but I enjoyed the buffet, the MDRs, the late night snacks, O'Sheehan's-all included as well as room service. I will post full review shortly, but found the Epic a clean, courteous and excellent ship that I would happily sail again. Also, I booked into Posh based on Cruise Critic advice-therey avoiding chair hogs. Thanks Cruise Critic![/quote']

 

I had a fantastic time and the documentary I made about my trip won an honorable mention at a local film festival!

 

The original poster sounds cranky to begin with. I mean it is kind of classless to criticize the English of people. What does that achieve?

 

Also, the Epic caters to all ages; the OP might just not like the fact that it does.

 

Also even though the buffet is closed there is food outside right by the pool, but I am sure that was too crowded for the OP- i mean what if they had to wait a minute in line for a hot dog or hamburger!!!

[Cruzface]

I happen to agree with the OP! But I booked the Epic again for 1/4/14 just to make sure is was as bad as I thought...:rolleyes: lol

[jdvmd]

Just off the Epic and had the opposite experience of OP. I wanted to speak up in favor of the crew-every member I encountered seemed upbeat and very willing to help or go out of their way. I had several incidents that required visits to guest services' date=' so cannot say my cruise was completely smooth. But, everything was handled quickly, courteously and to my satisfaction. For the person requesting the positives about the Epic, a few of mine were: the entertainment... enjoyed every perfomance, performer that I saw and I made the effort to see quite a few. The service, my experience differed from OP-but I found the service to be excellent and was impressed with the staff. The food-I paid for a few upcharge restaurants, but I enjoyed the buffet, the MDRs, the late night snacks, O'Sheehan's-all included as well as room service. I will post full review shortly, but found the Epic a clean, courteous and excellent ship that I would happily sail again. Also, I booked into Posh based on Cruise Critic advice-therey avoiding chair hogs. Thanks Cruise Critic![/quote']

Really think this all goes back to how a person is treated is HOW THEY ACT.

[runnerandme]

Question for JOEDEL. You used the Haven area and were not booked into a Haven suite?

[HowardK]

Really think this all goes back to how a person is treated is HOW THEY ACT.

 

So true!

I had a problem with an excursion and the person offered me a solution and I thanked him.

 

A person in front of me was screaming at the person, blaming them because their excursion was cut short.

 

I made sure to tell the employee that the passenger was out of line and I for one appreciated him helping me.

[Cruzface]

Question for JOEDEL. You used the Haven area and were not booked into a Haven suite?

 

Don't bother....

[chill6x6]

When I saw this thread thought maybe the Epic had caughth fire and was drifitng at sea with no power.

 

That's EXACTLY what I was thinking! I was like....OH NO!

[Cruzin-Keith]

j603 - when are you booked to cruise on the Epic?

[chill6x6]

From USA Today

 

http://www.usatoday.com/story/cruiselog/2013/03/01/bahamas-cruise-ship-norwegian-epic/1956083/

 

Good detective work! If that ever happened to me I'd never want to go back to Nassau again! Oh yeah....I ALREADY don't want to go back to Nassau again! :) I wouldn't cry over missing Nassau....:cool: