EPIC -- Honest Opinion!!!

[CarnivalSuperb]

Help please- I've booked on to The Epic for a Med Cruise in September, but am growing extremely concerned at the increase in reviews that are so poor!!!!!

 

Are these reviews genuine , or from cruisers who are never satisfied....having cruised nearly 20 times, I've always been amazed at reviews I've read about the same trip I've been on , yet never experienced the same problems!!!

 

So help please, is The Epic poor,good, or Great?

[Demonyte]

having cruised nearly 20 times, I've always been amazed at reviews I've read about the same trip I've been on , yet never experienced the same problems

 

I think you answered your own question.

 

Or, those reviews you have read are spot on.

 

You can't know either way no matter what people write here.

Edited April 15, 2015 by Demonyte

[SissasMomE]

Help please- I've booked on to The Epic for a Med Cruise in September, but am growing extremely concerned at the increase in reviews that are so poor!!!!!

 

Are these reviews genuine , or from cruisers who are never satisfied....having cruised nearly 20 times, I've always been amazed at reviews I've read about the same trip I've been on , yet never experienced the same problems!!!

 

So help please, is The Epic poor,good, or Great?

 

For whatever reason, there have always been a large number of negative reviews of the Epic. We have sailed her twice and would not hesitate to sail again. In fact, to date she is my favorite ship.

[Guindalf]

IMO, I'd rate the Epic as good to very good. It's not perfect, but what ship is?

 

As you said, there are negative people in the world wherever you go or whatever you do. I was on the Dawn in January and loved it, but there's a thread on here from someone saying it's put them off Norwegian!

 

The only true answer is your own.

[Tudorcruisers]

Have a look at page 6 the post is called Panic about the epic and lots of passengers have written their comments. I'm also sailing with NCL for first time on epic in a few weeks and I'm really looking forward to it. I'm going with the view a holiday is what you make it and I'm going to have fun :)

[CarnivalSuperb]

Thank's all......yep still looking forward to our trip.

[david_sobe]

Just like SissasmomE, I have been on Epic twice and would sail her again in a heartbeat. Just of Getaway a few months ago and she is a great ship. But there is a LONG list of things that are bigger and better on Epic:

Spa

Gym

La Cucina

Shanghais

Bliss

and a real swimming pool in Spice

Entire Haven Complex

[Cloudyrain]

The Epic is awful and dreadful. In fact I blame it 100% for causing my addiction to cruising. Following our trip on the Epic in May 2013 I now need a cruise every 6 months just to keep going :D

[Va. Plumber]

I did not care for the Epic, but I am a fan of the smaller ships.Tthat said,

 

the cruise was great, the food excellent and the entertainment first rate.

 

Just didn't like the layout.

[timesurfer7]

Boarding the Epic in, mmmmmmmmmm who's counting, four days. So if you have any questions let me know and I will see what I can help you with. I am sure that anyone can find something wrong with every ship they cruise on (my favorite is that there is rust on a ship!!!) but I for one like to find the positives about them. No cooking, no cleaning, no making the bed: what else is there to worry about? Go on your cruise and enjoy it.

[brookie848]

Too often people expect absolute perfection and then freak out when they don't receive it. Those who have more realistic expectations enjoy themselves more.

 

We've been on the Epic twice (the last time at the beginning of March) and enjoyed both trips. Any hiccups were minor and by no means ruined our vacation.

 

We ate most evenings (all but two) in the MDRs. Was service perfect every night? Of course not, but servers were friendly and most importantly all of the requests we made for alterations to the food were done with a smile or a laugh (my husband was constantly ordering the Caesar salad without the dressing...he deserves a laugh for that). It did seem that sometimes the servers were stretched a bit thin, but again that didn't really bother us. We ate one night after a show and the night we ate before a show we made sure we had plenty of time to do so. Our biggest complaint was sometimes we didn't get the straw that one in our party requested. Believe me, this was not enough to ruin the trip. We survived just fine without it.

 

Yes...we sometimes had to wait for an elevator. This happens. You either wait or walk.

 

I would cruise on the Epic again in a heartbeat. There is a lot to like about the ship and if you go in with proper expectations (the bathroom situation in the cabins, dinner isn't going to be a 30-minute in-and-out, sometimes you have to wait for an elevator), then you should be fine. Overall, I thought the ship was in pretty good shape and never ran into any dirty common areas.

 

Relax and enjoy your vacation!

[Single Cruiser]

Terrible ship, ugly looking, far too happy crew, far too loud music by the pool and loads of empty sunbeds on the upper front decks.

 

I thought it must have been a one off in 2011 so tried again 2012, then thought maybe it was because it was a short cruise so tried a transatlantic in 2012.

For comparison I tried it again in 2013, one med and one transatlantic.

Then thought finally again in 2014.

 

Still can't make my mind up so I've booked again for this September and also the new itinerary next April..

 

Each time full of happy, smiley passengers.. :confused:

[CarnivalSuperb]

Again...thanks all.

[cruisencrazy]

Cruised the Epic in March. We loved it so much we are doing the med on it in May. Loved the ship. We thought we were small ship people, but not after the Epic. We were on the Oasis in December and didn't like it. We have been on 25++ cruises and this was one of the best. The pool can get loud, so we booked Haven for the next go around. The aft pool is quiet if that bothers you. It didn't get loud until around 2:00. We thought the crew was awesome.

[300dtc]

Loved the Epic, i agree with the other poster, now i am addicted to cruising and have to go as often as possible. Was it a large ship? yes...Was there a lot of walking? yes, but with all the good food and gelato in every port we were consuming walking was good! We had a blast and I hope you will too:)

[sixesandeights]

Help please- I've booked on to The Epic for a Med Cruise in September, but am growing extremely concerned at the increase in reviews that are so poor!!!!!

 

Are these reviews genuine , or from cruisers who are never satisfied....having cruised nearly 20 times, I've always been amazed at reviews I've read about the same trip I've been on , yet never experienced the same problems!!!

 

So help please, is The Epic poor,good, or Great?

 

The Epic my wife and my favorite NCL ship. We love the split bathrooms that seem to upset a lot of people. We like the layout of the ship. The entertainment is always amazing. You will have a great time, enjoy.

 

6&8

[MMOMOM]

Have a look at page 6 the post is called Panic about the epic and lots of passengers have written their comments. I'm also sailing with NCL for first time on epic in a few weeks and I'm really looking forward to it. I'm going with the view a holiday is what you make it and I'm going to have fun :)

 

You have the right idea in that a holiday is what you make it! And .... look at all the positive posts here! We have never had a 'bad' cruise!! There certainly are ships, lines and cruises we've like more than others .... but even when there were things we didn't like, it didn't spoil our good time. So much on here is subjective. Some things people like, others don't. I think it's that simple.

 

All that being said, Epic was not our favorite ships and wouldn't 'go out of our way to book' her again. But, does that mean it was bad? NO! Just not us. First, we didn't like the design and from what we were told she's one of a kind. Basically we just didn't like all the curves and the bathroom set up. But, we certainly managed. We didn't think we had as much room in the cabin as other ships, but it really wasn't all that bad. We didn't have the experience with the food that others had and found that most times things were served luke warm instead of hot. But we sure didn't go hungry! All of the staff were very nice. We did choose a last minute really good rate that happened to fall on Spring Break and had shall we say 'a particularly lively bunch of college students partying pretty hard' on the pool deck most of the time. There was quite a bit of drinking going on. Not our style, but you know what .... we didn't have to stay there! :) I certainly wouldn't bad mouth an entire line just for those few things. I mean really, I still have never understood how anyone can have a 'bad' time on a cruise! But, again, that's us too! :)

 

Go, keep your positive attitude and enjoy yourself! I'm sure you will have fun! Happy Sailing! :)

[Rosethorn40]

The Epic is awful and dreadful. In fact I blame it 100% for causing my addiction to cruising. Following our trip on the Epic in May 2013 I now need a cruise every 6 months just to keep going :D

 

Oh dear! It did give you an illness a 100 times worse that the dreaded norovirus. I wonder if there is a 12-step program for this addiction?

[jenn6743]

Help please- I've booked on to The Epic for a Med Cruise in September, but am growing extremely concerned at the increase in reviews that are so poor!!!!!

 

Are these reviews genuine , or from cruisers who are never satisfied....having cruised nearly 20 times, I've always been amazed at reviews I've read about the same trip I've been on , yet never experienced the same problems!!!

 

So help please, is The Epic poor,good, or Great?

 

Ive had the same concerns... My husband and I are pretty easy to please, but we have been reading bad reviews of the Epic... I plan on doing a review of the Western Med cruise on the epic next month..... So we should see

 

We cruise May 17-24

[fshagan]

I did not care for the Epic, but I am a fan of the smaller ships.Tthat said,

 

the cruise was great, the food excellent and the entertainment first rate.

 

Just didn't like the layout.

 

I've written negatively about the Epic before but always try to temper my remarks like you have. Two things bothered me, the cabin bathroom set up and very little chance of actually seeing the water from the ship; that's a weird complaint I guess because I haven't seen it stated before, but I found it hard to remember I was on a ship. Even the jogging track on deck 7 didn't really have a view of the water as the lifeboats are in the way instead of overhead. I guess that's why I like the Dawn class ships more than the Epic.

 

But the buffet food was the best of any ship I've been on, the MDR was good, the specialty restaurants were very good, the entertainment was top notch and the crew very pleasant.

 

So, I guess the Epic is like vanilla ice cream to me. I love it except for those flavors I love more.

[mlsetc]

Wife and I love the Epic, 3 transatlantic cruises in 3 years. Love sailing out of Barcelona.

[retiring soon]

HI all!

 

I'm another Epic lover! Going on her for the 4th time at Christmas.

Kept comparing Breakaway & Getaway to her & she came out ahead in the studio lounge area, dinner show seating, Spice H2O area & ice bar.

 

I guess it depends what you're looking for as not seeing the water isn't something I'd care about,nor pools nor bars. As long as the food's good with lots of choices & so is the entertainment & ports I'm good.

 

~ Jo ~ :)

[steffymi]

I loved everything about Epic. I will say, though, that I attended a CC meet and greet on the first full day, and it was full of grumpy people who had crazy things to complain about to the wrong people in the wrong forum. I was embarrassed to be a part of that group that day. I enjoy CC for various reasons, mostly information needed for an upcoming trip. But that day, on that ship, I apologized to the captain for the behavior of that group. It was embarrassing. An open forum like that was not the place co complain about the thread count in your sheets or the ice bucket placement in your room. It's a mixer, to meet people. Not open season on the ship's officers! Anyway, I'm clearly still upset by it, but what I'm trying to say is that you really shouldn't let the negativity of some peoples' reviews ruin your special time. Make it what you want to be:)

[chillyw]

I love the Epic so much I had to sail her for my mediterranean trip this fall! My third trip total.

[Out to sea!]

It's been a little over a year since I was on the Epic, but personally, I will not sail her again. Overview of my cruise.... Buffet, absolutely fantastic. Crew, excellent, shows, very good, MDR service, very slow, cabin size and layout atrocious (128sf inside and tempered glass toilets). Everyone else will see things their own way, this is how I see it. YMMV.