Have not cruised in years but elected to book this cruise in late October for a New Year's experience. Never again on a large ship, too many people, long lines for or wait times for dining. But what most distressing was the embarkation process. Epic uses the Pan American Pier. On the 28th there was another large ship boarding as well. Between passengers and crew it was estimated that ten thousand needed to board. Traffic patterns into the terminal went from five lanes down to one. This caused bad gridlock throughout the area. Cabs and Ubers became scarce, Uber cancelled on me twice. prices quadrupled Once I was able to get cab it took about an hour to get to the terminal for what should have been a 10-minute ride. Once at the terminal it became even worse, the line to get through the security check point was 2 to 3 hours long. Bags were not collected until you arrived at the security check point. Even then porters were not bashful to ask for a tip. Once into the terminal line were about 30 minutes to check-in and get the key card. Needless to say, this was not a good start to the cruse. It is understanding the NCL has nothing to do with the process, but certainly they have influence with the San Juan Port Authority to improve traffic patterns and terminal practices.
