First Time on NCL (Epic) - The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

[macdon9876]

We just returned from our fifth cruise, and our first on NCL aboard the Epic (sail date March 12th). I have a feeling that Epic was not the best ship introduction to NCL, but using Cruise Air sealed the deal for this being the worst cruise experience we've had...

 

I usually do an in-depth review but we returned and went straight back to work during a busy time of our year, so a lengthy review may come later. For now, some highlights and opinions:

 

The Good

 

- We loved the itinerary (Southern Caribbean). We visited Aruba, Curacao, Grenada, St Lucia, and St Kitts (this last port was a return visit for us). We didn't get off the ship in Grenada but the other ports were wonderful, with the exception of St Lucia. Don't get me wrong - it is a stunningly beautiful island - but the port was extremely jammed with two ships, and the aggressive driving during our van tour gave several in our party motion sickness.

 

- The staterooms have an entry in each category (Good, Bad, Ugly). What I loved about the cabin included:

 

• the clever storage in various places around the room, especially the drawers tucked under the sofa and the headboard storage pockets and lights;
• the shower was a nice size;
• the lighting was nicely designed and practical;
• the balcony seemed larger than average (but that might be my imagination).

 

- The buffet, we found, had tasty, fresh, hot, and well-presented food, and we didn't find it overly difficult to navigate except on the busiest days (perhaps the worst day was the morning of disembarkation, but I've found that to be true on all five cruises we've taken). The options didn't change much throughout the cruise, however.

 

- Getting on and off the ship was about as easy as we've experienced - lines moved fast and security was a breeze.

 

- Our fellow passengers were amazing! We found it to be a very friendly ship, little in the way of impatience, rudeness, cutting lines, etc. It was also a well-balanced cruise in our view: lots of families, a smattering of teens and college kids, with couples and seniors mixed in. We had been worried about college kids overwhelming the cruise (our last cruise in March was aboard Indy - a five-day out of Fort Lauderdale - and it was a party ship). Not the case this time.

 

- The staff were mostly friendly, with the notable exception of Guest Services. Our steward was friendly enough but not as personable as stewards on past cruises. This may be due to the apparent recent change to their workload. The lifeguards were particularly great with our kids during their evening swims.

 

- The pools and waterslides were well-enjoyed by the kids in our group, though all said that the bowl slide was easy to get stuck in with the tubes.

 

- The music offerings were great! The pool-side cover band was excellent, and we enjoyed the Elton John tribute trio (quirky but fun, though the first show is better).

 

- The "Free at Sea" offerings were pretty good overall, especially the photos - we were very pleased.

 

 

The Bad

 

- The staterooms seemed SMALL! My gosh, it's hard to believe that balcony cabins could get tighter than we experienced on past ships, and perhaps by the numbers they're about the same (not sure, haven't checked), but it was a small room to get around in.

 

- The beds were so short that my wife, who is 5' 4" tall, says that her feel dangled off the end. I'm nearly 6' tall, but I tend to bend my knees when I sleep so not as much of an issue, but still...

 

- The ship, I found, is difficult to navigate. For the life of me I couldn't figure out how to access deck 5 without going through the casino from our cabin! Lots of dead ends and odd design choices. I was disappointed in the promenade deck, a favourite of mine when we cruise. The Epic's promenade is blocked by emergency life boats and only goes along the sides of the ship, not around the bow or stern.

 

- The pools seemed to be small given the number of passengers; however, they were not busy at night which was a nice time for our kids to swim.

 

- Likewise, we found the popular shows to be very hard to get into (e.g. Howl at the Moon was always jam-packed).

 

- On past cruises (except Indy on Spring Break) we were always able to find a quiet bar. Not so on Epic, except for Spice H20 in the evening - but it was a smoking area so not a great place for us non-smokers to hang out. The bar staff there were great!

 

- The smoking area at the pool is oddly located, right next to the area where parents sit to supervise their kids in the pool.

 

- There weren't enough places for the kids to get smoothies.

 

- We found O'Sheehan's to be "meh" for the one supper we had there, but we didn't get breakfast there.

 

- We tend to disconnect during our cruises (intentionally). However, when we connected to Wifi every few days to message family at home, it was quite poor. We were using the free 250 minute Wifi promo. Very slow and unreliable.

 

 

The Ugly

 

- Yes, the bathroom situation is stupid. If you don't know, Google it. Very impractical and such an odd, odd design choice. Having your cabin entryway convert to your bathroom just doesn't work well.

 

- Cruise Air, and by extension for poor immediate support, Guest Relations on the ship. Much has been written about Cruise Air. It was, without a doubt, the worst travel and customer service experience we've ever had, and this was the reason our party of thirteen family members did not book another cruise with NCL. Without going into lengthy detail, I will say that if you're considering booking air travel with NCL - DON'T!! Any cost savings won't be worth it if things go wrong. Our return air travel changed FIVE TIMES, including THREE TIMES in the last two days while on the ship (we discovered on day 5 that we had no flights home - this was not communicated to us in any way). It caused enormous stress and took hours of our time to resolve.

 

I eventually dealt with a member of Guest Services who was somewhat helpful, and I also realize that their ability to provide immediate support or resolution is limited or impossible (their shoreside staff in Miami apparently need to do it all), but they could have taken a better and more supportive tone and approach with clearly distraught customers. Repeated requests to speak with a supervisor/management were denied.

 

- Our impression is that the reported staff cutbacks, especially with the room stewards, was noticeable and very uncomfortable. Our steward often had not attended our cabin by 4 or 5pm when we returned from port. To be clear, this is not a criticism of the steward - she worked all day on the two days we stayed on the ship (sea day and Grenada). 

 

 

To conclude, we're sad and disappointed. Norwegian was a line I was really looking forward to trying, and the vibe from fellow passengers was so nice that I wanted to return. However, the ship design, the service, and especially the lack of caring or support with the air bookings made it very unlikely that we'll book an NCL cruise anytime soon.

 

[Panhandle Couple]

We have never sailed on the Epic, but all other reviews talk about the strange room layout.

And there is a reason it is a one of a kind.  

 

I would recommend Bliss or Joy if possible next time around.

 

Many other posts about NCL air.  Realize NCL has no input on airlines actually performing their schedules once you have the flights assigned, especially on the way home.

 

[SimplyAlbert]

We haven't sailed on the Epic due to the poor reviews.  If you decide to give NCL another try, I would book one of the Breakaway class ships.  We've been on both the Escape and Breakaway and liked both of them.

 

Airfare with NCL tends to go either very well and people are happy, or very bad and people are unhappy.   I'm too much of a control freak to give up control so I always book our own airfare.   The only way I might book through NCL is if we were traveling internationally and the savings were in the thousands.   Even then I would do a two day deviation both going there and coming home.

[Oakman58]

We used NCL air one time and decided never again, and that was pre-Covid.

[Two Wheels Only]

Epic is the only NCL ship with that bathroom setup. Every NCL ship built after Epic has a much better promenade-type of situation with The Waterfront /La Terrazza. The beds on other NCL ships are also more "normal". 

 

If you do decide to give NCL another chance, book a ship built after Epic. 

Edited March 22, 2023 by Two Wheels Only

[Two Wheels Only]

12 hours ago, macdon9876 said:

the balcony seemed larger than average (but that might be my imagination).

 

Just to add to my previous post, if balcony size is important, beware of the side balconies on Breakaway/Getaway. The vast majority of them are small. There are decent, large, and very large side balconies on Breakaway/Getaway (and some huge aft-facing balconies) but you need to know which ones they are. 

 

Again, if you decide to give NCL another chance, the forum has many people who can give advice on the ships (balcony size, bed location, etc.). 

[Derek Sutton]

Did you find the secret sun deck for us non haven folks on deck 19? with all the fancy furniture?  That was my favorite part of the Epic.  Worst is the ship missing an entire bank of elevators leaving the elevator situation chaos at times. 

[mickeysgal]

We are one and done on Epic. Sailed it 7 years ago- and yes that bathroom situation is just plain strange. And the ship flow is awkward. But we loved Howl at the Moon and the Cavern Club.  Should you ever try another NCL cruise, try one of the newer ones. And book your own airfare. If it helps, other cruise lines get complaints about their airfare program as well. Best to book your own and maintain control over it. 

[mking8288]

Thank you for the post-cruise Epic trip report.  If you did take part and went to the M&G and/or Latitudes gathering (a/k/a CruiseNext marketing sales presentation, LOL) - please kindly post the names of some of the senior officers, if available, to share, i.e. GM or HD, CD, head of F&B, etc. etc. as sometimes, those can be informative & helpful for others planning ahead, to see if so & so had previously cruised with them.  

 

With the transition to once a day housekeeping expected to be 100% done from early January thru March, it's now done and apparently, few finding it to be a pleasant & positive change, but some of us can deal and live with it, others cannot.  But, as long as we can get fresh towels, tissues & TP stocked, garbage liners to use (so that we can toss the tied bags outside or somewhere for pickup & disposal without turning the cabin into a mini landfill, LOL) - we can probably "cope" and "live" with the beds not being made up twice a day ... roll with the changes and humor, and give us a week's worth of coffee pouches & tea bags, we can grab sugar & creamers elsewhere - just empty out the mini-refrigerator of items for "sale" as a matter of convenience.  

 

But, a good question was raised by one of our regular CC poster/critics as he's been on just about every NCL ship out there these days, and more than just once or twice - until these recent changes, the typical crew member are contracted to work a 12 to 14 hours day, 7 days a week for much of their 6 to 8 months contract ... some said for as much as 16 hours daily, leaving just 8 hours as personal time.  Now, the unsolved puzzle is that, the room steward (attendant) are now tasked with cleaning 22 or more cabins a day, working apparently from 8 to 9 a.m. non-stop - except for meal & brief breaks - until 5 or 6 p.m. and no longer doing any kind of evening turn down services ... hence, a 9 to 10 hours work day.  And, maybe spending another 1 or 2 hour to do a quick check of all their assigned cabins ... placing Freestyle Dailies outside on the door/message slot or inside the cabin, and not touch anything else.  

 

Their work load are heavy, for sure, but aren't they getting extra time on any given day - working 10 to 12 hours only now, instead of 12 to 14 hours like before ?   I don't have a clear answer or insight into this - have you seen or noticed room stewards making their usual rounds in the evenings, and are they out & about, working as early as 8 or 9 a.m. daily non-stop until the late afternoon/early evening.  Raising this for a bit of constructive discussion, not to stir up the "pot" and get a better feel for what's going on these days with ship's hotel operations - it seems unlikely that cruise lines will go back ... but, never say "never" like those e-Muster or virtual emergency/life safety drills for the assembly / muster stations required of all passengers.  

 

Look forward to the rest of your report, reflections and thoughts when you get the time & chance.  Thanks again and much appreciated.  

[macdon9876]

Thanks all for the comments and tips! I've always enjoyed these boards for the commentary.

 

For a bit of perspective about the air:

 

- This was a family trip with thirteen total in our party, and was booked by a single member of our party. NCL Air was selected for the cost savings (you don't say - get what you pay for!). I agree with several who have mentioned it - travelling on our own, we always book direct with the airlines, or maybe with an agent we trust who will help if things go sideways.

 

- Of the thirteen, the other nine had no problems with their air, aside from a delayed flight coming home. (We were all flying to/from the same home airport.)  Our family of four were the "lucky" ones - we always had a different itinerary home than the rest, and it changed a number of times in the span of a month (I said five times, but my wife says it was actually six times).

 

- When I say "change" I don't just mean time changes. These were wholesale changes to the entire flights - carriers, connection cities, departure times/days, etc. In total I remember being booked variously on Frontier, Air Canada, WestJet, JetBlue and Air Transat (the last two carriers ended up getting us home - connecting through Punta Cana of all places - after a short puddle-jump flight from San Juan aboard a mostly empty JetBlue plane - that was a genuinely pleasant experience, and my first time on JetBlue... but they destroyed one of our bags!). This last flight was confirmed at around 9pm on the night before disembarkation, but even in the morning my wife couldn't check-in as it said her reservation didn't exist! (JetBlue fixed this error.)

 

- In the end, I think I can roll with quite a lot, but what got under our skin the most was the attitude of NCL staff we dealt with. One person was by far the worst (a shoreside employee at NCL Air), but at every step of the way indifference was the best we experienced, and rudeness and hostility were often present. How dare we ask how we should expect to fly home to Nova Scotia from San Juan after several changes, which had been happening since before we left Halifax? 🙂 

 

- As mentioned, I was particularly disappointed with Guest Services. While they weren't able to actively change the situation, they could have taken a much better approach with us as worried customers. There was no support or compassion about the situation at all, until the very end (the morning of disembarkation) when one GS employee spoke to us with a smile and kindness, which was such a pleasant change. Had this been our experience throughout, there is a good chance we would have looked at another cruise and chalked this up to an awful air department at NCL. (Agreed with another poster - I've read similar about Royal's air as well.)

 

Derek, I didn't find the hidden sun deck (or even deck 19) - darn!! I'd say next time, but no...

 

mking8288, we did not participate in the M&G, but I still have the dailies - can't remember if they listed officers or not. I remember that RC usually included a sheet with the officers. Daniel was the CD.

 

Interesting comment re: hours of work, though they seemed to be going morning until late evening in our corridor. Interestingly, ours was the only deck not opened on time on the first day - it took about another 30-45 minutes for them to finish our hallway cabins after they made the all-call that cabins were open. Perhaps they were short-staffed? In any event, agree - at least two or three times I just asked our steward for fresh towels and told her not to bother with the room. We keep a tidy cabin regardless.

Edited March 26, 2023 by macdon9876
spelling

[complawyer]

been on the epic twice, both times in a haven suite. 1st was aft. youre right, the cabin layout is a major pain in the a**. the circular bed takes up almost the entire cabin, and you have to sit down to let the other person pass. the bathroom layout is a joke. and whoever designed these cabins should be whipped with a wet noodle. other than that, i disagree with everything that has been negatively posted about the epic. the 2nd time we took our grandson and his friend on a 10 day from hamburg. we had the 2 bedroom suite, the boys had a fantastic time, we hardly saw them, they were so wrapped up with other teens they met, the ports were interesting, and a 2 bedroom haven suite speaks for itself. 

 

consequently, other than my ongoing gripe about soggy hamburger buns, i have no problems sailing with/on the epic again.

 

whoever is contemplating booking on the epic, it aint as bad as some people have made it sound, i'm sure you will enjoy the entire experience, and since we've been on almost the entire ncl fleet, i can say without a shadow of a doubt, the epic is no better or worse than any other ship in the ncl fleet, other than the getaway, which is in an amazing class of its own, and far and away our favorite