My Excitement is Dwindling..help!

[Celebrate3]

Getting read for our 2nd NCL Cruise Feb.2 on the Epic. We cruised the Breakaway several years ago...had a blast. Was reading tons of reviews on the ship here last night and most are not favorable!  Many who say service was awful (20-30 minutes to get a drink), rude employees and general disappointment with NCL..would never cruise them again. Yikes....we are not hugely picky people..heck, not having to cook for a week is enough to thrill me but all these negative reviews (in fact more "poor" rated than "excellent") have gotten me a bit bumbed. Trying not to let it affect our excitement for vacation!! Any good reviews????

[AllAmericanAmy]

Keep in mind that often times the people that speak up and post reviews are unhappy with something... people that are pleased with experience just go happily on their way and intend to post a good review, but get sidetracked. 

 

Other people consider it their "duty" to point out bad things.

 

And lastly, you sound like a positive, optimistic type of a person pleased with YOUR experience with NCL thus far.  Go expecting that YOU are going to have an amazing trip, and I bet you will!

[Peachypooh]

I have come back from some cruises and when I read online reviews of the same ship that I had a wonderful time on ( probably the same sailing) I was stunned to see all the negative reviews. I would recommend that you make a list of what people are complaining about and see if it would bother you and also take a head count of the complaints that would bother you and see how many people complained about it.

Then make your decision. For example there was one person I met on our cruise that complained that he couldn't have continuous drinks at all times and at all places and his purpose on the sailing was to stay drunk the whole time. He thought the bar service was slow and he risked getting sober. (I kid you not, this was a fellow passenger we met on a shore excursion at a beach on Grand Cayman). Needless to say his complaint probably didn't apply to me or quite a few other people.  I also  overheard a complaint from a gentleman about the handicapped cabin he had having some features that made him taking care of his wife impossible. I felt for him but again it would not pertain to me.

Edited November 17, 2018 by Peachypooh

[Son of a son of a ...]

The Epic is fine.  It can get crowded at night and in bad weather, but that’s also a factor of its layout.  Cruises are what you make of it - we book primarily for ports rather than for ships.  A suggestion: Make all your reservations ahead of time.  

[Celebrate3]

Specialty dinners..booked. excursions..booked. haven't booked shows yet..

[Son of a son of a ...]

4 minutes ago, Celebrate3 said:

Specialty dinners..booked. excursions..booked. haven't booked shows yet..

 

Book your shows now to avoid disappointment.  Do they still have the Cirque dinner?  We loved it 

[Phaedrus78]

Yeah, I understand this.  We're taking our first Norwegian cruise on the Epic on January 23.  I booked it because it was a good price for a 10 day cruise, and the Epic looked cool.

 

Now the more reviews I see, the more I worry that maybe I made a poor ship choice.  I hope it's great, I'm trying to convince my wife that an annual cruise would be a great thing.  She had a couple issues with the first cruise we took on Carnival so I'm hoping this one goes well.

[kochleffel]

My second cruise on the Epic will be a few weeks after yours. My first was in April of this year, on the Mediterranean.

 

I was pleased with almost everything. There was one dinner at which the service was inefficient and mixed-up, partly but not entirely because of what people at my table, a large group, ordered. I spoke with a dining manager about it and was satisfied with the outcome.

 

I didn't have much experience with the bar service. Most days I limited drinking to wine with dinner, and the only bar I patronized was in the studio lounge.

 

The layout of the Epic is different from any of NCL's other large ships and not everyone likes it. Many people say that it feels more crowded. There are two banks of elevators forward and two banks aft, but no midship elevators. When a show ends there are lots of people trying to board the elevators in the nearer two banks. If your destination happens to be toward the other end of the ship, it would make sense to walk to the other elevators. I was on deck 11 and often used the stairs from deck 6 or 7.

 

The Epic has no promenade deck in the traditional sense. There is a jogging track on one side of deck 7 but no separate track for walking, and it doesn't go all or even most of the way around the ship. A similar track on the other side is for deck games. This didn't matter to me on the western Med itinerary, which had only one sea day, but it may on the eastern Caribbean itinerary, with three sea days. On the other hand, I was on the Gem last month, which does have a promenade deck plus a separate jogging track on another deck, but the weather on the sea day was too bad to use it much.

[rtkenmore]

We've sailed Epic twice and it's a great ship...  To me, it's one of the best Thermal Suites in the fleet.

 

You'll have a great time!

[Shidah]

I’ve sailed the Epic twice, still my favorite NCL ship.  Their thermal suite is awesome and it has the best Haven.  Shows are great, loved Priscilla.  Bars/ lounges are great and the music on the Epic has been better than i’ve experienced on others.  True, it does not have a waterfront, but the two trips we took on ships that did we never used it. Usually too windy and the one time we tried on the Getaway as soon as we walked out the door we were engulfed in cigarette smoke.  My daughter turned around and said nope.  Not sure if that was a smoking area and maybe that is why it was so bad. 

 

But you’ll be fine.  I was on the Breakaway solo this past March, and had a great time as well.   I was seated next to a young couple at O’Sheehans and listening to them talk it was hard to believe we were on the same trip.  They complained to each other the whole meal, said never again, worst vacation ever, etc.  They were made for each other, most miserable people ever.  So attitude is everything.  Fun 

people  have fun trips.  You’ll have a great time, don’t worry another second.

[DZcreature]

We sailed on Epic last February, and my husband and I really enjoyed it. The reviews had made me a little worried but we had no issues.

 

I liked the layout of the main pool area much better than Breakaway and Getaway. There was a nice outdoor eating area near the pools. The Spice H2O has a small pool, which I liked better than the waterfall area the Away ships have.

 

I also did not have any problem with the lay out of the bathroom. The doors to the toilet area and shower, combined with the curtain you could pull across, gave us enough privacy to take care of business. One thing I would suggest is that if you have a balcony cabin, try to get one with the bed near the balcony.

 

Priscilla Queen of the Desert was an excellent show that we both enjoyed. It is crowded when the shows let out, but that only lasts a few minutes.

 

You will have a great time!

 

I forgot to mention that I enjoyed acting like a kid and riding the funnel waterslide that flushes you out 😊

 

 

[www3traveler]

I just talked to a friend that disembarked The Epic today from Her Transatlantic voyage.  He had a blast.  Missed one port of call because of a weather issue-- the Port authorities there closed the port.

[Linda the Book Lover]

Twice on the Epic and would sail on her again. The shows were great and we enjoyed all of our time on board. Cirque was fantastic and the food was better than the last time. We never worry about going without food on the ship anyhow. 🙂 I am also amazed by the negative experiences but then everyone interprets an experience differently. I have had hiccups on ships before and once brought to the attention of the correct person it is always handled. This also includes a soaking wet carpet on Carnival that they were trying to dry when we got into the cabin! Yikes! I have never at sea been disappointed by our cruise. Enjoy your cruise, don't let negative reviews turn you away from could be your best cruise ever!

[BirdTravels]

The Epic is fine. Just because it is on the internet does not make it true. We have sailed on the Epic 6 times and would eargerly book her again. 

[tbo]

I have learned that any review you read should be taken with a grain of (or several) salt. The great thing about our world is that we are not all the same people and we all have different experiences. What I love you might hate and vice versa. And like other posters mention above, a lot of it is all in attitude.

 

We are sailing the Epic in January for the first time and I think that it's going to be amazing.

[cathi007]

I have never been on a bad cruise. I think you will be fine. I am sure there are things about any ship that could be better, but sometimes I read reviews that are bad and I sail on the ship and I think it's amazing. I think some people just like to gripe. A bad day on a cruise is still better than a good day at work. Have a blast, I am sure you will. I love NCL

[Phaedrus78]

Thanks, folks. It sounds like it’s mostly what I’d expect, if you stay on the Internet long enough the negativity will eventually wear you down. 

 

Our first cruise was was on the Carnival Glory. We certainly enjoyed our time, but to be honest the ship was a bit... haggard. It just had kind of a worn out look in a few places, one of the hot tubs was broken for the whole trip, little things like that. It wasn’t like it killed the trip, but we did wish we’d been on a better boat. I’m hoping the Epic is an improvement. 

[OBSESSIVEWORLDTRAVELER]

1. People are more likely than not to post a negative review than a positive review.

2. People like to vent. It helps them feel better. So their goal is to feel better but the side effect is others may become discouraged.

3. They may have actively contributed to their own bad experience. But they seem to always conveniently leave that out of their story.

4. Their experience can be completely different than your experience.

5. You chose this cruise for a reason. Don’t let anyone else dictate what will make you happy.

[ClarkBHM]

Also, remember that you're on a board called "Cruise Critic." It tends to attract critical reviews of cruises... 😉

[jnwrn11]

My DH and I were on the Epic last year, and I too was worried after reading negative review after negative review, but we had a GREAT time on the Epic... probably one of our favorite cruises ever! Don't let the naysayers drag you down.. this is your cruise and it's whatever you make of it. We found the service at the bars, especially the lobby bar, to be quite fast even during the busy times in the evenings. With a capacity as large as that of the Epic there are bound to be times you have to wait but we never waited 30 minutes for anything, at most I would say maybe 10 minutes at peak times. Have a fantastic time on your upcoming cruise! 

[GUEST71919]

10 hours ago, Phaedrus78 said:

Yeah, I understand this.  We're taking our first Norwegian cruise on the Epic on January 23.  I booked it because it was a good price for a 10 day cruise, and the Epic looked cool.

 

Now the more reviews I see, the more I worry that maybe I made a poor ship choice.  I hope it's great, I'm trying to convince my wife that an annual cruise would be a great thing.  She had a couple issues with the first cruise we took on Carnival so I'm hoping this one goes well.

Don’t worry, NCL is great. Someone above mentioned people with complaints are more likely to post and that is so true - human nature, not our best side... few people say anything positive in life when things are going well, but scream when it’s not. Of the things to worry about in life, the Epic Cruise isn’t one of them... if you see me onboard stop and tell me if I was right or wrong on this one 😊

 

Lynn

[vpearlkc]

Our last cruise was on the Epic and the service was fine. Never had trouble getting a drink or served at a dining venue. There were a few obnoxious drunks that may have had their service slowed down for their own good.

[Shidah]

I forgot about the funnel slide, yes Epic does have the best water slides!

[crystalaziza]

OP, listen, just go and see for yourself. There is always someone who doesn't like something even if it is served on a silver platter. I think the food is wonderful and a lot will say it's bland. I think a cruise is all about what you make of it.

 

[dolita22]

Sailed the Epic twice; it's our second favorite NCL ship. The Escape is our favorite.

 

Agree with others who say to take reviews with a grain of salt and determine of the theme of the complaints will be something that would bother you. If anything, go in with an open mind and plan to enjoy your cruise! If something isn't right, speak with the appropriate person on the ship; they work hard to make sure you have an enjoyable vacation.

 

I'd sail the Epic again in a heartbeat!