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What's happening with the Epic (bad reviews)?


MiniJeffrey
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Here's a recent positive review from someone who just got back.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1962946

 

Also, a colleague and his family were just on the Epic a few weeks ago. They had a blast (and they were on the sailing that had the stabilizer/listing issue!).

 

Just proves that people can experience the same cruise and come away with totally different opinions. I'm convinced that a lot has to do with whether you go in with a good attitude and making sure your expectations are reasonable (remember, you're going on a cruise ship with 4000 other passengers and Freestyle is different than traditional cruising - we love it; others may not).

 

I've been on the Epic 3 times and have enjoyed it each time. Perfect? No, of course not. But can you have good to great food, good to great entertainment, and a fantastic time? Definitely. We're booked on her for the Transatlantic in October and can't wait.

 

I was also on the sailing with the listing and did a review (don't know how to post the link though lol)

Agree with you 100% we've sailed the Epic twice and was it perfect? no, but would sail her again in a heartbeat.

I think when people complain about the layout of the ship it's just silly...guess they didn't look at the deck plans etc beforehand. As far as entertainment that's another thing that you can research before booking and I personally don't see how having options like Blue Man Group, Legends and Second City (all free of charge) could be considered lacking in entertainment but that's just me.

Happy New Year!

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You are correct that much is subjective! But, given that we had a group of seasoned cruisers --- I would have to weigh the subjectivity in all of our favor. The food was lacking (cold, bland) in comparison to other cruises. The entertainment (absent Blue Man Group) was marginal to non-existent.

 

 

Our group has a long list of experience to compare the Epic to and it just simply doesnt stack up. All of us embarked with the expectation of having a great time --- but unfortunately it was this expectation that was waaaaaay out in left field.

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You are correct that much is subjective! But, given that we had a group of seasoned cruisers --- I would have to weigh the subjectivity in all of our favor. The food was lacking (cold, bland) in comparison to other cruises. The entertainment (absent Blue Man Group) was marginal to non-existent.

 

 

Our group has a long list of experience to compare the Epic to and it just simply doesnt stack up. All of us embarked with the expectation of having a great time --- but unfortunately it was this expectation that was waaaaaay out in left field.

 

 

Just curious as to what more you would add for entertainment.

 

When I sailed there was BMG, Cirque, Legends, Howl at the Moon, Second City, Band on the pool deck during the day, duo in the Atrium, piano player at one of the bars, guitar player down by Maltings, major sports events on the two story Atrium TV, comedian/magician in the theatre, Fat Cats, dinner band in the Manhattan Room.

 

Not being snarky I just can't quite wrap my mind around the "non existent" comments.

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oh trust me, my entire family came in having the best attitudes possible and were beyond excited to be on the cruise and absolutely had reasonable expectations given that all of us have cruised over 20 times each and on many different lines and had NEVER had a bad experience...This had absolutely nothing to do with bad attitudes or unreasonable expectations..our family still managed to have fun together and enjoy our time together but it had everything to do with what i described in that the SHIP and its LAYOUT and the lack of entertainment and average food were not up to par with every other cruise we have ever taken and yes other people may be able to over look those things and not care but we feel we are highly qualified to comment when things that have been present on every other cruise we have ever attended were noticably missing/lacking. It would be different if this was a first cruise or we had barely cruised but it is not. Sorry to have to burst your bubbles and be direct. We WISH it had been designed better. Other people may be willing to settle or overlook and good for them. This was our experience and the experience of every member of not just our family but countless others I have read on these board and others...must be something to them.....

 

Of course you are free to give your opinions... but telling people to cancel their reservations asap is going a little far. Just because you didn't enjoy it, doesn't mean someone else won't. I disagree with every aspect of your posting, it's all subjective. I'm not saying you are wrong or that you should sail again, clearly epic isn't for you. But your bad attitude is clearly revealed when you advise someone else to cancel their reservation.

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Sorry you had a bad cruise. It appears you did not have a chance to check out the deck and cabin plans, entertainment line up, restaurants, menus, Freestyle Dailies and numerous reviews of the ship prior to your cruise. If you had done so, you would have had a better idea of what to expect and perhaps you would not have chosen this ship.

 

We enjoyed our cruise, and it had nothing to do with settling or overlooking. We knew what to expect. A few things were not our "preference", but we have found that on EVERY ship and EVERY line we have cruised with. The entertainment was not your cup of tea, but it was ours. We all have different tastes and preferences. Why not simply state your experiences and let each person decide for themselves whether or not those things would have any importance to them.

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my response was directed to the original poster who was wondering about all the recent bad reviews and I am simply and honestly answering him. It has NOTHING to do with a "bad attitude" but yes of course it is subjective. and the subjectiveness is based on my and my family's years of experience and the fact that in over 20 plus years of cruising on various lines and yes even on NCL numerous times. It is my opinion that if someone is expecting this ship to live up to other ships as to the quality and quantity of entertainment, food and various and numerous other qualities that yes he would be much better off cancelling and booking on another different type of ship. It is funny how overly defensive people are getting over someone having a different experience than them. The point is that this particular ship is getting more than the usual amount of negative reviews lately and obviously there is a reason for this. There will always be people that are afraid to criticize or speak up and especially if they have spent a lot of money on their vacation they have a need to justify in their own mind and convince themselves how wonderful it was. GOOD FOR YOU. For us, we are realistic, honest and given our history of 100 percent awesome other experiences for over 24 years on over 30 plus ships I think our subjective experience in relation to all of our other experiences is valid and worth listening to instead of immediately trying to dismiss or belittle because you cannot allow yourselves to acknowledge that yes indeed this ship/crew may not possibly measure up to others in quite a few areas.....That is what these boards are for. For the expression of experiences and opinions. Every one obviously has merit. It is up to the individual to weigh what is most important to them and what they are looking for in a cruise experience.

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I recently got off the epic and had a great time. But I have a great time on all my cruises. The reason why I would not sail Norwegian again is because I was very disappointed in the service. The dining room was awful. I have never been on a cruise with consistently bad experiences in the dining room. Since I really enjoy this evening activity as part of my cruise experience, I will pick another line that has offered better service in the dining room.

 

The food was good in all the venues I tried (dining room, buffet, O'Sheehans). The dining room choices were not always plentiful, but I always found something. The buffet food was good, including the two dinners we ended up eating there because the dining room was so bad.

 

There were multiple deck parties and we loved spending the time outside dancing. I saw Blue Man and Legends and they were also fine.

 

I was on the Epic cruise when it listed in early December. It was scary for a moment and never happened again. They started announcements immediately on the intercom. The captain ever went on and on about it the next morning.

 

As long as you don't care about the service, you will enjoy the epic.

Edited by WestCoastCruiser123
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People just need to do more research before booking a line, especially if it's not their first rodeo. I've talked to 3 different couples, very disappointed with NCL. Each couple had a favorite line: RCL, Celebrity, and HAL.

 

We've only done one cruise and are guesstimating that Royal and Celebrity will be our favorite. After researching, I have no plans of booking a NCL cruise, because the things that people complain about are important to me personally. It's not fair to myself or the other shipmates to go and be disappointed, and I wouldn't write a bad review knowing this beforehand.

 

Don't get me wrong, I think NCL has some of the most enthusiastic cruisers out there, excellent shows, great value for service, and the most authentic form of freestyle cruising at sea. I don't blame anyone for cruising Norwegian, and If our guesstimating is wrong, we might see you on board!

Edited by Stateroom_Sailor
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my response was directed to the original poster who was wondering about all the recent bad reviews and I am simply and honestly answering him. It has NOTHING to do with a "bad attitude" but yes of course it is subjective. and the subjectiveness is based on my and my family's years of experience and the fact that in over 20 plus years of cruising on various lines and yes even on NCL numerous times. It is my opinion that if someone is expecting this ship to live up to other ships as to the quality and quantity of entertainment, food and various and numerous other qualities that yes he would be much better off cancelling and booking on another different type of ship. It is funny how overly defensive people are getting over someone having a different experience than them. The point is that this particular ship is getting more than the usual amount of negative reviews lately and obviously there is a reason for this. There will always be people that are afraid to criticize or speak up and especially if they have spent a lot of money on their vacation they have a need to justify in their own mind and convince themselves how wonderful it was. GOOD FOR YOU. For us, we are realistic, honest and given our history of 100 percent awesome other experiences for over 24 years on over 30 plus ships I think our subjective experience in relation to all of our other experiences is valid and worth listening to instead of immediately trying to dismiss or belittle because you cannot allow yourselves to acknowledge that yes indeed this ship/crew may not possibly measure up to others in quite a few areas.....That is what these boards are for. For the expression of experiences and opinions. Every one obviously has merit. It is up to the individual to weigh what is most important to them and what they are looking for in a cruise experience.

 

I'm not surprised at all that someone would have a different experience or opinion from my own. You seem the one not to be able to understand that others may not agree with Your assessment of the Epic which apparently boils down to the fact that you consider it lacking in the atmosphere you love, feel it is way too big, with way too many people, has a tremendous lack of entertainment, a bad layout and food which was not up to par with any cruise you have ever taken. ( Those 30+ 100% awesome cruises ) In other words, Epic was not your personal preference.

 

You say your subjectiveness is based on your 20 years of cruising experience. But shouldn't objectivity be the goal? What bothers me the most is your expectation that everyone will hit the cancellation button based on your opinion. You say that "It is up to the individual to weigh what is most important to them and what they are looking for in a cruise experience". I agree totally. So why all the urgency to convince everyone else they will not like the Epic because it was not what you were looking for?

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You say your subjectiveness is based on your 20 years of cruising experience. But shouldn't objectivity be the goal? What bothers me the most is your expectation that everyone will hit the cancellation button based on your opinion. You say that "It is up to the individual to weigh what is most important to them and what they are looking for in a cruise experience". I agree totally. So why all the urgency to convince everyone else they will not like the Epic because it was not what you were looking for?

 

I am not sure why you are so defensive and uptight about a cruise ship or my opinion or why you are insisting to incorrectly assert my intentions...Once again, I was responding to the original poster who was curious about what was behind all of the recent negative reviews and I was responding with yes my own personal experience which is subjective but there is also some very objective points and there is no "urgency to convince everyone else" lol...I am simply stating that based on years of experience if someone is looking for what I was looking for and found multiple times over and over again on other ships that this person would probably be disappointed as we were and would likely find their needs met more satisfactorily on another ship....Do you own stock in this ship or have some personal need to defend it? lol its a SHIP and a company and my family certainly paid money to receive what we had come to expect and did not receive what we had hoped. And yes we obviuosly did pour over the layouts , ship info and researched but the one thing we did not check because of our own good fortune with always having amazing experiences on a cruise was the reviews...we really really wish we had read the reviews because we probably would not have booked this cruise and we are hoping to do someone else the favor we missed out on.

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my response was directed to the original poster who was wondering about all the recent bad reviews and I am simply and honestly answering him. It has NOTHING to do with a "bad attitude" but yes of course it is subjective. and the subjectiveness is based on my and my family's years of experience and the fact that in over 20 plus years of cruising on various lines and yes even on NCL numerous times. It is my opinion that if someone is expecting this ship to live up to other ships as to the quality and quantity of entertainment, food and various and numerous other qualities that yes he would be much better off cancelling and booking on another different type of ship. It is funny how overly defensive people are getting over someone having a different experience than them. The point is that this particular ship is getting more than the usual amount of negative reviews lately and obviously there is a reason for this. There will always be people that are afraid to criticize or speak up and especially if they have spent a lot of money on their vacation they have a need to justify in their own mind and convince themselves how wonderful it was. GOOD FOR YOU. For us, we are realistic, honest and given our history of 100 percent awesome other experiences for over 24 years on over 30 plus ships I think our subjective experience in relation to all of our other experiences is valid and worth listening to instead of immediately trying to dismiss or belittle because you cannot allow yourselves to acknowledge that yes indeed this ship/crew may not possibly measure up to others in quite a few areas.....That is what these boards are for. For the expression of experiences and opinions. Every one obviously has merit. It is up to the individual to weigh what is most important to them and what they are looking for in a cruise experience.

 

I think the issue people are having with you is it sounds like you turned a disappointing experience on the epic to 'everything about this ship sucks and if you like what we like, you will hate it too'... Rather than say that there's no entertainment and the atmosphere sucks, it might be more constructive for the op and other cruisers to point out specifically what aspects disappointed you. I was super nervous about cruising on the epic due to posts like this that boil down to 'this ship is awful', which aren't helpful for me to determine if what bothers you will bother me. For me, I dislike 'typical' cruise food and entertainment, so I feel like the epic was made for someone with tastes like mine. Saying, 'we like having a different show offered in the main theater nightly, and this one only offered a handful of free shows, leaving us without things to do' is a lot more specific and helpful than 'there was no entertainment'

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hahaha my family and I are laughing at these responses because you are so far off base its funny. First of all, nobody ever said anything close to what u just said. Second, I definitely do not need pointers from you about how to express my own personal opinion and reaction to a service i purchased and was dissatisfied with. Third, I would hope a reasonable person would be looking at all the reviews and not basing their decision on one person's opinion. Fourth, I wish I had thought to read reviews before we made our decision because if i had seen the preponderance of negative reviews we honestly would have made another choice. The bottom line is that the original poster was worried about the recent upswing of negative reviews. I responded with my own personal experience and my own individual (and families) advice. I am one of many but in this case unfortunately for him I am one of a growing majority. The last point is that obviously something is amiss if suddenly there is an upswing of disappointment/dissatisfaction. For most people, this is a noticable amount of money to spend on a vacation and like i said before in close to 30 years have come back feeling so satisfied that I never even thought to look at reviews, assuming all others felt as good. It may be that younger or more inexperienced cruisers do not have the history or knowledge of what can be provided on a cruise in regards to food, entertainment, comfort, etc. I think there are alot of people that just do not know better. All I can say is that I expressed my and my families feelings/ratings/views and I am sorry if it is not what you want to hear or how you want to hear it. Some of it is hard to put into specific words but in general is how I want to say it. It just felt like I was going to Kmart instead of Neiman Marcus. In addition and last, it would take way more time then I have to go into more specific detail. The truth is that there was nothing that exceeded my expectations other than the crew members performance at their talent show (the one spanish opera singer was amazing). everything else and yes i mean everything else was average/adequate to subpar. (my sons would like me to add that even the toilet paper was awful haha)....Just if you are ok with average or mediocre then you will be happy!

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hahaha my family and I are laughing at these responses because you are so far off base its funny. First of all, nobody ever said anything close to what u just said. Second, I definitely do not need pointers from you about how to express my own personal opinion and reaction to a service i purchased and was dissatisfied with. Third, I would hope a reasonable person would be looking at all the reviews and not basing their decision on one person's opinion. Fourth, I wish I had thought to read reviews before we made our decision because if i had seen the preponderance of negative reviews we honestly would have made another choice. The bottom line is that the original poster was worried about the recent upswing of negative reviews. I responded with my own personal experience and my own individual (and families) advice. I am one of many but in this case unfortunately for him I am one of a growing majority. The last point is that obviously something is amiss if suddenly there is an upswing of disappointment/dissatisfaction. For most people, this is a noticable amount of money to spend on a vacation and like i said before in close to 30 years have come back feeling so satisfied that I never even thought to look at reviews, assuming all others felt as good. It may be that younger or more inexperienced cruisers do not have the history or knowledge of what can be provided on a cruise in regards to food, entertainment, comfort, etc. I think there are alot of people that just do not know better. All I can say is that I expressed my and my families feelings/ratings/views and I am sorry if it is not what you want to hear or how you want to hear it. Some of it is hard to put into specific words but in general is how I want to say it. It just felt like I was going to Kmart instead of Neiman Marcus. In addition and last, it would take way more time then I have to go into more specific detail. The truth is that there was nothing that exceeded my expectations other than the crew members performance at their talent show (the one spanish opera singer was amazing). everything else and yes i mean everything else was average/adequate to subpar. (my sons would like me to add that even the toilet paper was awful haha)....Just if you are ok with average or mediocre then you will be happy!

 

And in no way would you call this a bad attitude? Most times when someone feels the need to refer to someone elses post as sarcastically "funny", this says more than words could.

 

The question I have is you state yourself that you have not felt the need to write a review until this subpar cruise. Do you think maybe there in lies the problem? If you have had 19 positive experiences why not take the time to review those so others can make a truly informed decision? There are some on here that share each and every cruise experience, good or bad. These are the truly helpful ones. Then there are those, such as yourself by your own admission, who only feel it necessary to share the bad. When a poster only takes the time to write about the negative doesn't that then weigh the percentage of reviews to the negative?

 

Just to be clear, this is MY opinion on the issue. Not right, not wrong. Just little ole me. And in the grand scheme of things, amounts to about a speed bump (not even a hill) of beans.

Edited by tarps14
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hey there "little ole me" lol ...I am laughing and saying I am laughing because it is the truth hahaa...I have never seen so much defensiveness over a ship and if there is any "bad attitude" out there it is of the people who feel a need to "protect" the ship and somehow feel threatened by the fact that someone feels differently than them and actually thought the experience was lacking and subpar. Also, your points are all out of left field. Have you not read the entire thread I am guessing? I simply responded to the original posters inquiry about why there had been so many negative reviews of the epic of the last few months. I did not realize that it was a requirement that I had posted all of my previous great experiences on here about all the other ships over the last 20 years plus before it could be given credibility. This was an anomoly in my experience that so many people had the same feeling as me in a negative way and I think it is noteworthy. When there are already hundreds of positive reviews and those positive reviews are the majority for a ship it doesnt really make a huge difference to comment the same as everyone before me..In this case, something is going wrong and people are noticing. I felt it was the responsible thing to do to make sure that future cruisers were fully aware of the risks they were taking by investing their money in a dream that may not come true. Last, I never felt it was "necessary to come on here to state why my particular cruise was so very bad." I simply answered the question that was posed in an honest and direct manner. Also, as I have said over and over again, I have loved each and every other cruise I have ever been on before this and didn't realize I needed to identify each ship especially since it goes back over 20 plus years and some are not even running anymore lol...just remember this is our families perceptions and we are not alone and NUMEROUS other people have said virtually the exact things over the last few months....sad but true....highly doubt all the posters with negative reviews of the same ship who are all basically saying the same things are all just sitting around making this stuff up or happy about having been underimpressed. I am trying to help someone make an informed decision and to realize that if they are experienced cruisers and are expecting the classy touches most of us have come to expect then dont be suprised when those dont happen and if you are someone who is fine with just plain, basic, adequate no frill and feeling like u are one in a sea of masses then you will be just fine :-)

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Just popping in to say that we are getting very excited to be back on the Epic in 24 days :) We found the entertainment options on the Epic to be the best we've experienced on any ship and are looking forward to some repeats as well as some we missed the first time around. If you have signatures turned on you can see this will be my 14th cruise (12th in a row on Norwegian). There are a number of people on our roll call who are also repeat Epic cruisers.

 

The reviews I read and enjoy are the narrative/photo reviews posted in the message boards. I know they're a lot of work because I did one for our Alaska cruise on the Sun.

 

When we chose a cruise we pick first the itinerary, then the ship. We did one Princess and one Costa cruise (lol would have never sailed on it if I'd worried about reviews). Had a good time on both of them. When we found Norwegian we found a good fit - freestyle, great crew and officers, variety of food and drink options, entertainment and live music options for young and older :) Epic has all of these going for her so yes I am looking forward to our cruise. 8 days and four ports of call doesn't hurt either.

 

PS Happy New Year

 

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Hi - we are doing the Miami to Barcelona on the Epic in April after a 4 week trip from Boston down to Miami via St Louis and Nashville. We like you have enjoyed NCL but havent been on the Epic. I will be posting my review when we get back early May

Hi guys

 

I am an experienced NCL Cruiser and I find this company very nice. No dresscode, no fixed table at fixed hour with fixed waiter, etc. So next year my next big trip will take place. I'll do the transatlantic Cruise from Barcelona to Miami on the Norwegian Epic. After that one week Disney World and then the east-coast of the USA (Washington, New York, Boston) and Canada.

 

So I started reading some reviews for the Epic and I'm somewhat shocked about all the bad reviews that seem to arrive the last few weeks. If you go back further in time the Epic always get 4-5 rating, with some rare 2 or less, but now the majority of reviews has a 1-2 rating.

 

I know the Epic has some issues, but why of a sudden is everything so bad on this ship? Is there a new management? I'm getting a bit worried for my trip... Fortunately I have a Haven-suite...

 

Any experiences here?

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Hi - we are doing the Miami to Barcelona on the Epic in April after a 4 week trip from Boston down to Miami via St Louis and Nashville. We like you have enjoyed NCL but havent been on the Epic. I will be posting my review when we get back early May

I'm on your ship too. :)

 

I like the EPIC, its great for me being a young 20 something cruiser. I don't go on a cruise for impeccable silver service at dinner. I love the flexibility of NCL and wouldn't cruise any other cruiseline at present. Opinions regarding NCL and their ships vary due to the fact NCL is different. I'd say to anyone try it and see, if you hate it, you know not to sail again. Saying that the EPIC has given great service, the STAR was extremely disappointing in comparison.

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Disappointments usually are the result of unmet expectations. I am not the greatest fan of the Epic, but I had a wonderful cruise on it anyway. I did a lot of research, planned with my travel partner and had a wonderful attitude. The entertainment was amazing. The food was fine to great and my travel partner, my daughter, was amazing to spend time with. How lucky was I to have a vacation like that!!!

 

It may not be my favourite NCL ship (I have sailed on 5 others), but it's a great ship and with the proper attitude and research, a great vacation can be had.

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Here's a recent positive review from someone who just got back.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1962946

 

Also, a colleague and his family were just on the Epic a few weeks ago. They had a blast (and they were on the sailing that had the stabilizer/listing issue!).

 

Just proves that people can experience the same cruise and come away with totally different opinions. I'm convinced that a lot has to do with whether you go in with a good attitude and making sure your expectations are reasonable (remember, you're going on a cruise ship with 4000 other passengers and Freestyle is different than traditional cruising - we love it; others may not).

 

I've been on the Epic 3 times and have enjoyed it each time. Perfect? No, of course not. But can you have good to great food, good to great entertainment, and a fantastic time? Definitely. We're booked on her for the Transatlantic in October and can't wait.

 

I completely concur with the sentence highlighted in red but completely disagree with the sentence highlighted in purple. It can very well be (and probably a much better reason) that people react differently is due to their what they want from a cruise. I know that is the same as 'expectations" which you stated but I believe you used the term to mean "I expect 6 star quality for a 3 star price" whereas I simply mean the amenities on board, the layout of the ship, and such. I can't imagine anyone going on a cruise with a bad attitude or just to look for negative things (okay, I'll agree there probably are some people like that, I just can't imagine why they'd be going on a cruise if they were like that) so the attitude bit is just complete malarkey to me. I had no issues with crowds, no major issues with service, no issues with the food (some of it, especially the buffet, was even better than Carnival IMO), no issues with entertainment (better than most cruises I've been on), no issues with Freestyle, and no issues with how NCL runs things. I simply just don't like the damn ship and my attitude has nothing to do with how they designed the ship. I like to look over the bow while at sea......can't do that without breaking into the Haven. I like to look over the stern, can't do that with the movie screen in the way. I don't like the limited deck space or how poorly what they have is used (with the exception of the H2O pool it's all made for kids). I don't like the size of the pools (literally, my pool at home is larger than any of the 3 public pools on the Epic, I do not know the dimensions of the Haven pool). And I truly can't stand asking my wife to leave the cabin so I can use the toilet! And there is absolutely nothing that a change in attitude can do to correct these physical issues with this ship which is why I will never sail the Epic again. Luckily, the Sun is nothing like the Epic which is where I'll be spending my next 21 days at sea! :)

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I was also on the sailing with the listing and did a review (don't know how to post the link though lol)

Agree with you 100% we've sailed the Epic twice and was it perfect? no, but would sail her again in a heartbeat.

I think when people complain about the layout of the ship it's just silly...guess they didn't look at the deck plans etc beforehand. As far as entertainment that's another thing that you can research before booking and I personally don't see how having options like Blue Man Group, Legends and Second City (all free of charge) could be considered lacking in entertainment but that's just me.

Happy New Year!

 

So you think everyone analyzes every square inch of space before boarding a ship and that it should be no problem to convert a 6 inch, 2D deck plan on the internet to a 1,000 ft, 3D image so that you'll know how it feels to be on the ship? I do study the deck plans prior to sailing so that I have a jist of where things are located on board. I've never expected a 2D deck plan to ever give me a 3D feel for what the whip will be like. And some things I experienced on the Epic I never thought to look up before (such as is there a bow view for everyone).

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Just curious as to what more you would add for entertainment.

 

When I sailed there was BMG, Cirque, Legends, Howl at the Moon, Second City, Band on the pool deck during the day, duo in the Atrium, piano player at one of the bars, guitar player down by Maltings, major sports events on the two story Atrium TV, comedian/magician in the theatre, Fat Cats, dinner band in the Manhattan Room.

 

Not being snarky I just can't quite wrap my mind around the "non existent" comments.

 

Personally, I thought the entertainment was good, especially BMG and the comedy shows. But I have one question, who is Katy Perry and how in the hell does she rate as a "Legend"???? :confused:

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Personally, I thought the entertainment was good, especially BMG and the comedy shows. But I have one question, who is Katy Perry and how in the hell does she rate as a "Legend"???? :confused:

 

I agree about the legends... some of the choices are not 'such' legends.

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I posted a reply earlier in this thread before my cruise on the Epic basically telling everyone to take the negative complaints with a grain of salt. Now that I am back from my Christmas cruise on the Epic I can confidentially say that I did not encounter any of the problems posted in previous reviews. As a matter of fact my whole family had a great time. The Epic is a great cruise for people that like a lot of stimulation, lots of things to do, lots of people and energy. If you want something more relaxing, private and quiet you might want to choose another cruise ship.

 

My family and I arrived at the port around 12:00 PM. Getting on the ship was quick and easy and took less than 15 minutes. It took me more time to park the car. When we arrived we were directed to the Garden Café Buffet. I took the advice from a previous poster on this thread and went to O’Sheehans Pub and Grill instead. Great tip because it was not crowed, we got to sit and we ordered lunch. Mostly comfort foods, all hot and arrived quickly.

For the rest of my review I will separated by category.

 

Cabin – My wife and I stayed in a Large Balcony cabin 12238, category B6. The balcony was large, the room nice. Yes, the bathrooms were a bit weird but never a deal breaker. Bed was firm but comfortable. Room was clean. Water we took from the mini bar was replaced daily. Room steward was efficient and friendly. This cabin was close to the elevators so the location was great. We had towel animals in our room every day. I only mention this because one of the complaints was that they never received a towel animal.

 

Elevators – Never had to wait for an elevator as mentioned in previous posts. We had a full ship 4100+ passengers.

 

Garden Buffet (Free) – Great buffet always with plenty of selection. I found the food to be hot and tasty. Food did change every night. Salad station, Deli Station, Crepe Station, Omelet Station, Pizza and Pasta Station, Desert Station, Asian, Indian, Latin food stations, and hamburger and hotdog station every night plus a station featuring the night’s specialty foods that changed every night. There were only two times the buffet was too crowed. First day for lunch when everybody got on the boat and breakfast the day we got off the boat. The rest of the time I could get food with no wait. I have seen several complaints about the selection on the buffet, I really believe these folks went to the Great Outdoor buffet only and not the Garden Cafe. The outdoor grill serves the same thing every day hamburgers and hot dogs but, The Garden Cafe has a fresh new menu every day.

 

Manhattan and Taste dining rooms (Free) – The food was good in the dining rooms. I was only disappointed with one meal, it was a ribeye steak. But it’s a cruise…just send it back and get something else. All the other meals were good. Service was good. Our family usually met for dinner at 6:30 PM and we never had a wait to get into the restaurant.

 

Moderno (Paid Extra) – Food was great, Service was great and it was a great dining experience. I would highly recommend paying extra for this restaurant.

 

Wasabi (Paid Extra) – Great sushi and very inexpensive. $2 - $3 for sushi can’t be beat!

 

Spiegel Tent Cirque Dreams & Dinner (Paid for premium seating) – Food was good, show was great. Definitely upgrade to premium for a better view.

 

O’Sheehans (Free) – This is the only restaurant open late. Full menu during day, limited menu late night and early morning. Great place to have breakfast and lunch. Watch for special menus. One night they served prime rib another night shepherd’s pie. On Sunday they set up a buffet for all the football fans watching the game on the giant TV screen I especially like the strawberry pound cake with whipped cream. For all you northeasterners you can order a chocolate egg cream here.

 

Room Service (Free before midnight) – My wife and I only used room service for Coffee. It arrived in a timely fashion and was hot.

 

Bingo (Cost to play)– Played Bingo once, thought the cost was too high for the prizes. Just not my thing but thought I would try it.

 

Deal or No Deal (Cost to play) – Loved playing this onboard. Lots of fun to play would definitely recommend.

 

Plenty of other games to play onboard but did not participate. (Free)

 

Blueman Group (Free) – Great show…Do not miss!!!!

 

Second City Comedy (Free) – Very funny, went to 4 shows during our cruise.

 

Comedy Magician (Free) – Great for kids….but I have seen it all before. Not grand illusions. Basic magic, rope trick, linking rings, things you could see at any kids party. The close up magic is the best, that is the show you should see.

 

Legends in concert (Free) – Did not see. They are featuring Elvis, Katy Perry and Steven Tyler impersonators. Since I would not pay to see any of these real stars why would I go see the fake stars?

 

Howl at the Moon (Free) – Lots fun, two piano players taking requests. Sing along, party atmosphere.

 

Tips –

 

1) Go to O’Sheehans instead of the buffet when you first arrive on the ship.

 

2) Make all reservations for shows ahead of time.

 

3) It is a big ship so getting a cabin by the elevators will save a lot of walking time

 

4) To get around the ship just remember that Red means you are on the even side of the ship. Red carpet, red lights on elevators means even. Blue carpet, blue lights on elevators means you are on the odd cabin side of the ship.

 

I left out the ports because this is mainly about the ship. I loved it and had no problems on my cruise. There were a lot of people but I never had to wait that long for anything. I found the service and food to be good to great. Entertainment was great. I would happily recommend the Epic to anyone!!!

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