NCL Epic passenger overboard?

Given that it is not spring break for everyone across the country and that this boat was marketed to spring breakers, there is a definite responsibility on behalf of NCL to have let non spring breakers be aware that this ship was marketed as such. My husband and I have been on over 20 ncl cruises, many of them music cruises, and we have never seen anything like this. My kids couldn't even access the pool through the entire duration. My 14 year old tried climbing in to a hot tub at one point and a fight broke out between the spring breakers warranting security to intervene. We couldn't enjoy our balcony because drunken people were screaming "land ahoy" at all hours, smoking weed, blasting music, and throwing things over board. This is in addition to the multiple bathrooms we went in that were laden with vomit.

 

We had a great time, but are very disappointed in NCL.

Completely disagree....Its your responsibility to schedule cruises away from High season if you do not want this high energy environment....i.e college spring break, elementary school vacations, etc

Its well known that most all colleges have a week vacation sometime during March. Additionally Grade schools have a week off usually the week before or after Easter. This should be no surprise to anyone!! We have cruised many times in March due to our children...several times we took them out of school because we got a better deal in early to mid March and yes my HS daughters ended up partying with college kids who were very much behaved.

This cruise was possibly one of the worst experiences my wife and I have ever had while on vacation. This was our first cruise, so we don't have much to compare with. We are told by a lot of people that NCL was the quite cruiseline, compared to Carnival and Royal Caribbean. The shear amount of drunk people (collage aged or other) was intolerable. We are not alcohol drinkers (got that out of our systems long ago) so we just purchased the soda package, but how difficult it was to order a drink was horrible. The bed in our mini suite was horrible, I'd have to say that we have slept on better mattresses at motel 6. And many more issues to add to those. Due to the stress my wife endured on this cruise this may possibly be our first and only cruise. The only cruise we may take in the near future will be a Disney cruise next year with our 3 children. If we decide to ever cruise ourselves again we will be going Princess or Celebrity only. Also as far as this incident with the woman going overboard, I was in the smoking area on Deck 15 when this occurred. She lowered herself from the sundeck on 16 and placed her feet on the pipe that runs along the glass on 15. She lost her footing due to her drunken/high state and how windy it was. I saw this first hand. People did try to reach through the openings of the glass, but we're unable to reach her before she fell. I am thankful she did not die. But from my understanding she will be charged with some kind of crime. Also, as to her age, I did not get a good look at her before she fell, but from what I could see, I'd say she was definitely over the ago of 40 .

Was this Epic cruise a week long cruise or shorter? I'm about to go on my third spring break cruise on Saturday (Escape) and I've encountered more elementary kids than college-aged spring breakers. I kind of hope to avoid them since I work at a University and it may remind me of work!

Not surprising there's a lot of college kids. It's much like the fri-mon cruises out of Canaveral that are party cruises. Way more doable than if epic was a whole week that would cost them prob more than 800 to go.

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This cruise was possibly one of the worst experiences my wife and I have ever had while on vacation. This was our first cruise, so we don't have much to compare with.

The cruise that you had does NOT represent the typical NCL cruise. As you have probably read, Spring Break is a bad time to cruise unless you are actually on Spring Break and are of that age group.

The bed in our mini suite was horrible, I'd have to say that we have slept on better mattresses at motel 6.

Epic is different from every other NCL ship. Sorry that you didn't enjoy it but there are many posts/videos that describe how "different" Epic is.

Due to the stress my wife endured on this cruise this may possibly be our first and only cruise. The only cruise we may take in the near future will be a Disney cruise next year with our 3 children. If we decide to ever cruise ourselves again we will be going Princess or Celebrity only.

There are many good ships for children on NCL such as Getaway, Breakaway, Escape, Bliss (newest), and Encore (under construction). As for just the 2 of you, Celebrity is currently building Edge which looks to be an excellent ship (other than the goofy Magic Carpet).

Also as far as this incident with the woman going overboard, I was in the smoking area on Deck 15 when this occurred. She lowered herself from the sundeck on 16 and placed her feet on the pipe that runs along the glass on 15. She lost her footing due to her drunken/high state and how windy it was. I saw this first hand. People did try to reach through the openings of the glass, but we're unable to reach her before she fell. I am thankful she did not die. But from my understanding she will be charged with some kind of crime. Also, as to her age, I did not get a good look at her before she fell, but from what I could see, I'd say she was definitely over the ago of 40 .

That doesn't happen on every cruise, trust me. :halo:

I hope that your bad experience doesn't completely turn you away from cruising or even from NCL. There are many people here on CC that can give info that would help a novice cruiser avoid some of the problems that you faced.

This cruise was possibly one of the worst experiences my wife and I have ever had while on vacation. This was our first cruise, so we don't have much to compare with. We are told by a lot of people that NCL was the quite cruiseline, compared to Carnival and Royal Caribbean. The shear amount of drunk people (collage aged or other) was intolerable. We are not alcohol drinkers (got that out of our systems long ago) so we just purchased the soda package, but how difficult it was to order a drink was horrible. The bed in our mini suite was horrible, I'd have to say that we have slept on better mattresses at motel 6. And many more issues to add to those. Due to the stress my wife endured on this cruise this may possibly be our first and only cruise. The only cruise we may take in the near future will be a Disney cruise next year with our 3 children. If we decide to ever cruise ourselves again we will be going Princess or Celebrity only. Also as far as this incident with the woman going overboard, I was in the smoking area on Deck 15 when this occurred. She lowered herself from the sundeck on 16 and placed her feet on the pipe that runs along the glass on 15. She lost her footing due to her drunken/high state and how windy it was. I saw this first hand. People did try to reach through the openings of the glass, but we're unable to reach her before she fell. I am thankful she did not die. But from my understanding she will be charged with some kind of crime. Also, as to her age, I did not get a good look at her before she fell, but from what I could see, I'd say she was definitely over the ago of 40 .

Woe slow it down Newbie. After this first cruise experience, you have some huge courage to even consider going out again.

On your first cruise, being on a ship full of spring break incorrigibles and a witnessing a lady doing a swan drive from deck 15 would easily be enough for 99% of us to Never Go Cruising Again !!

After this first cruise experience, why not try something a bit more upscale?

Unless you are looking for more punishment, No Disney, No NCL, No RCCL. Could give your a great opportunity to experience cruise 3, 4, 5.

My wife and I told ourselves pretty much the same thing. If something bad is going to happen, it's going to be caused by us be there. Lol. The reason for the Disney cruise is because our children really want to try this cruise. And because of this, we really try to do anything we can for our children, within reason of course. Also, all the instances that occurred on this cruise are probably just circumstanial and do not represent all cruises on NCL. We would just like to enjoy a cruise that's pretty quite and not loaded with lots of college kids and screaming children when it's just my wife and I on vacation without our children .

Woe slow it down Newbie. After this first cruise experience, you have some huge courage to even consider going out again.

 

On your first cruise, being on a ship full of spring break incorrigibles and a witnessing a lady doing a swan drive from deck 15 would easily be enough for 99% of us to Never Go Cruising Again !!

 

After this first cruise experience, why not try something a bit more upscale?

 

Unless you are looking for more punishment, No Disney, No NCL, No RCCL. Could give your a great opportunity to experience cruise 3, 4, 5.

My wife and I told ourselves pretty much the same thing. If something bad is going to happen, it's going to be caused by us be there. Lol. The reason for the Disney cruise is because our children really want to try this cruise. And because of this, we really try to do anything we can for our children, within reason of course. Also, all the instances that occurred on this cruise are probably just circumstanial and do not represent all cruises on NCL. We would just like to enjoy a cruise that's pretty quite and not loaded with lots of college kids and screaming children when it's just my wife and I on vacation without our children .

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oh no, we board on 3/17! We were on a ship the first week on June and I guess a lot of college kids got cruise for graduation....my grandkids could not get in pools or on water slides because of drunk college kids! Glad kids aren't going to be with us.

It probably won't be as bad then.

This week there were 2 major FL schools with spring breaks: University of Florida (who apparently were on a 3- or 4-day weekend cruise that just got back) and University. Next week could be bad as there are 6 major FL schools -- pretty much the rest of them that are big, including the biggest undergrad enrollment which is like 45 minutes drive from the pier at UCF -- with their spring breaks. And a lot of other big schools that didn't already have their breaks as well.

But then the week you're going, 3/17, none of the major FL state schools have their spring breaks. Really, nothing that big nearby. Maybe UMD kids, or University of Arkansas, Clemson, Georgia Tech. They're just not as big. The big schools seemed to be going in the first half of March, so you might've lucked out.

Was this Epic cruise a week long cruise or shorter? I'm about to go on my third spring break cruise on Saturday (Escape) and I've encountered more elementary kids than college-aged spring breakers. I kind of hope to avoid them since I work at a University and it may remind me of work!

It was one of the 3- or 4-night cruises.

Epic usually does week long cruises, alternating between Eastern and Western Caribbean itineraries. But the first two weeks in March -- which when ALL the major Florida universities have their spring breaks, along with a number of others, next week actually seems busier than this one -- they switched to alternating 3- and 4-night cruises.

Those 3- and 4-night cruises are going to attract more college kids, or perhaps be targeted to them. It's a shorter cruise, so less money. Looking at the Epic schedule it seems pretty much to target college kids without a lot of money who want to go on short cruises where rooms often have a perk with them, the most popular of which is unlimited drink. Bad luck to cruise at this time. I think in general the 3- and 4-night cruises attract a more "party" crowd.

As someone else posted, your 10+ night itineraries in spring are unlikely to attract college crowds as the kids aren't off school that long.

Our son was on that cruise. The passenger was recovered alive and apparently fairly unhurt. Epic was late getting back to port. That is one lucky passenger!

I still wonder if delays like that -- it cost extra fuel in nothing -- get charged to the passenger who caused the delay.

Then again, being an American I also wonder if passengers tend to sue if they manage to fall over the side and live to litigate.

Edited to add: Googling 'overboard cruise passenger sues' reveals that yes, of course people who get drunk and fall overboard sue.

This cruise was possibly one of the worst experiences my wife and I have ever had while on vacation. This was our first cruise, so we don't have much to compare with. We are told by a lot of people that NCL was the quite cruiseline, compared to Carnival and Royal Caribbean. The shear amount of drunk people (collage aged or other) was intolerable. We are not alcohol drinkers (got that out of our systems long ago) so we just purchased the soda package, but how difficult it was to order a drink was horrible. The bed in our mini suite was horrible, I'd have to say that we have slept on better mattresses at motel 6. And many more issues to add to those. Due to the stress my wife endured on this cruise this may possibly be our first and only cruise. The only cruise we may take in the near future will be a Disney cruise next year with our 3 children. If we decide to ever cruise ourselves again we will be going Princess or Celebrity only. Also as far as this incident with the woman going overboard, I was in the smoking area on Deck 15 when this occurred. She lowered herself from the sundeck on 16 and placed her feet on the pipe that runs along the glass on 15. She lost her footing due to her drunken/high state and how windy it was. I saw this first hand. People did try to reach through the openings of the glass, but we're unable to reach her before she fell. I am thankful she did not die. But from my understanding she will be charged with some kind of crime. Also, as to her age, I did not get a good look at her before she fell, but from what I could see, I'd say she was definitely over the ago of 40 .

I feel for you, because that does sound awful. However, I’d caution against judging an entire cruise line based on a single cruise on a single ship. My first NCL Cruise was way less than stellar. I didn’t cruise again for several years, but since I came back, I’ve never had another negative experience. As plenty of others have told you, what you experienced this cruise is certainly not typical. And it is just as likely to happen on a cruise line during spring break time, when it’s a quick short cruise. Those are specifically designed for college spring breakers.

NCL was great and could not speak more highly of their swift call to action in the crisis -

I would have enjoyed the trip far more without the disruption of the drunk crowd. That was the biggest thing. The ship was nice. NCL can't help that today's young people don't know how to action public. They believe their antics are cute and 'hot' and that they're invincible.

I feel bad for the families on this cruise.

We cruise over our kids, spring break, which is often the same as college spring breaks, and have never encountered this.

NCL made two business decisions: to sell the unlimited beverage package to individuals under 25 and to take a ship and port that normally has 7 day cruises and switch them to a 3 and a 4 day cruise. Those decisions align perfectly with the marketing decision to go directly to college campuses and sell the cruise to students.

Maybe they are banking on getting all of these students as future cruise passengers. I don't know how else they thought they could make money on 4 people to a room with unlimited drinks (although, come to think of it, 2 of those people had to pay for beverage package). It is not like this demographic was going to buy art in the gallery or pay big bucks for shore excursions.

Maybe they think the current and future revenue from these college passengers will outweigh the lost revenue from the families on the cruise who are now permanently turned away from the brand and possibly even cruising as a whole.

I feel bad: for the families and other travelers whose vacations were ruined; for the stewards and other staff who had to clean up after the drunken hoard; and for the poor bartenders who were probably grossly overworked, undertipped and under-appreciated.

I don't think everyone needs to avoid the month of March entirely. I hope not, anyway, since I sail in less than 3 weeks. I think the shorter cruises are probably more the key to watch out for than the month.

I was on this ship - and frankly I didn't see it has the problem others have put out there. Any of the students that I interacted with were polite and respectful. If you took the time to talk to them - they answered questions about majors and so forth. I would much rather have spent the cruise with this group of students than I would have young screaming children. I also had a balcony room on Deck 10 - I did not experience the behaviors as described in prior comments. I even commented how we really couldn't hear between rooms (and there were definitely students 2 doors down from us). This was my first cruise, it was a great experience and I would recommend this cruise to my friends. We were in a show while the overboard incident occurred and had no idea it happened until we reached port. I am not a student and in fact am over 60 years old. :cool::cool:

This cruise was possibly one of the worst experiences my wife and I have ever had while on vacation. This was our first cruise, so we don't have much to compare with. We are told by a lot of people that NCL was the quite cruiseline, compared to Carnival and Royal Caribbean. The shear amount of drunk people (collage aged or other) was intolerable. We are not alcohol drinkers (got that out of our systems long ago) so we just purchased the soda package, but how difficult it was to order a drink was horrible. The bed in our mini suite was horrible, I'd have to say that we have slept on better mattresses at motel 6. And many more issues to add to those. Due to the stress my wife endured on this cruise this may possibly be our first and only cruise. The only cruise we may take in the near future will be a Disney cruise next year with our 3 children. If we decide to ever cruise ourselves again we will be going Princess or Celebrity only. Also as far as this incident with the woman going overboard, I was in the smoking area on Deck 15 when this occurred. She lowered herself from the sundeck on 16 and placed her feet on the pipe that runs along the glass on 15. She lost her footing due to her drunken/high state and how windy it was. I saw this first hand. People did try to reach through the openings of the glass, but we're unable to reach her before she fell. I am thankful she did not die. But from my understanding she will be charged with some kind of crime. Also, as to her age, I did not get a good look at her before she fell, but from what I could see, I'd say she was definitely over the ago of 40 .

Do the Disney cruise. It will be just what you're looking for and worth the extra money. We did Disney cruises with the kids because there is such an emphasis on family. I enjoy my wine (and wasted away many a nights at Margaritaville!), but we loved how Disney enforced the drinking age and drinking ares on the ship!crew members stood next to the entrance of drinking areas checking that people were of age . My then 15 year old daughter was quite upset when she was stopped by a cast member checking her cup to make sure it wasn't alcoholic. She was upset, we weren't.

Now that we are empty nesters, we enjoy NCL instead of Disney! And, as a college professor, I too try to avoid spring break trips....

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Exactly. Is NCL a professional company or a joke? Allowing groups to dominate ships is simply inexcusable.

I guess you have no idea how many charters book NCL cruises. On almost every NCL cruise I have been on their have been at least 2-3 groups of anywhere from 50 to 500 people. 99% of the time its no problem at all. You also have themed charters

https://www.ncl.com/theme-cruises

https://www.ncl.com/why-cruise-norwegian/charters-meetings-incentive-sales

P.S. The only thing I saw being thrown over the rail was a piece of chicken and it was being thrown by a man well into his 40s (and his travelling companions reprimanded him)

I was on this ship - and frankly I didn't see it has the problem others have put out there. Any of the students that I interacted with were polite and respectful. If you took the time to talk to them - they answered questions about majors and so forth. I would much rather have spent the cruise with this group of students than I would have young screaming children. I also had a balcony room on Deck 10 - I did not experience the behaviors as described in prior comments. I even commented how we really couldn't hear between rooms (and there were definitely students 2 doors down from us). This was my first cruise, it was a great experience and I would recommend this cruise to my friends. We were in a show while the overboard incident occurred and had no idea it happened until we reached port. I am not a student and in fact am over 60 years old. :cool::cool:

Thank you so much!! We board on Saturday and I was getting worried from all of the comments. I am sure everything will be fine. It won't be a quiet boring cruise, but we aren't looking for that.

Exactly. Is NCL a professional company or a joke? Allowing groups to dominate ships is simply inexcusable.

You mean like allowing small children to scream all through dinner? Or allowing children to run around throwing water on random people by the pool? Or allowing children into the adult only hot tubs?

Or maybe you mean groups that actually book as groups taking over spaces for meals or private meetings? Some even have private parties that are closed to non-group members.

If you don't want to cruise with any groups, I suggest considerably smaller ships, say under 400 passengers. The bigger the ship the more accommodating to groups it is going to be. And just like people saying that people without children have to suffer their children or plan their vacations when their children are in school, you have to plan your's for when other groups are not traveling.

Thank you so much!! We board on Saturday and I was getting worried from all of the comments. I am sure everything will be fine. It won't be a quiet boring cruise, but we aren't looking for that.

Same here.... I'm also going with a large group (somewhere around 600-700 I think) but we are a respectful group that also parties. These reports were making me worry too.

On a weird side note.... last year I went on the Carnival Liberty right after that guy jumped overboard, this year I'm going on the Epic right after the lady went overboard.... I'm booked for Epic again Early next March so if your on the boat before that, HOLD ON and don't climb any rails for crying out loud!!

On a weird side note.... last year I went on the Carnival Liberty right after that guy jumped overboard, this year I'm going on the Epic right after the lady went overboard.... I'm booked for Epic again Early next March so if your on the boat before that, HOLD ON and don't climb any rails for crying out loud!!

ROFLMAO!

Great warning!

We were a group of 3, ages 38, 47, and 67. The spring breakers didn't really bother us.... They did kind of overwhelm the pool deck and the outside bars. Their large groups probably made some of the restaurant service slower as well. But the ones we interacted with were really nice.

We were a group of 3, ages 38, 47, and 67. The spring breakers didn't really bother us.... They did kind of overwhelm the pool deck and the outside bars. Their large groups probably made some of the restaurant service slower as well. But the ones we interacted with were really nice.

Exactly - we spent most of our time on H2O deck and had absolutely no problems

This cruise was possibly one of the worst experiences my wife and I have ever had while on vacation. This was our first cruise, so we don't have much to compare with. We are told by a lot of people that NCL was the quite cruiseline, compared to Carnival and Royal Caribbean. The shear amount of drunk people (collage aged or other) was intolerable. We are not alcohol drinkers (got that out of our systems long ago) so we just purchased the soda package, but how difficult it was to order a drink was horrible. The bed in our mini suite was horrible, I'd have to say that we have slept on better mattresses at motel 6. And many more issues to add to those. Due to the stress my wife endured on this cruise this may possibly be our first and only cruise. The only cruise we may take in the near future will be a Disney cruise next year with our 3 children. If we decide to ever cruise ourselves again we will be going Princess or Celebrity only. Also as far as this incident with the woman going overboard, I was in the smoking area on Deck 15 when this occurred. She lowered herself from the sundeck on 16 and placed her feet on the pipe that runs along the glass on 15. She lost her footing due to her drunken/high state and how windy it was. I saw this first hand. People did try to reach through the openings of the glass, but we're unable to reach her before she fell. I am thankful she did not die. But from my understanding she will be charged with some kind of crime. Also, as to her age, I did not get a good look at her before she fell, but from what I could see, I'd say she was definitely over the ago of 40 .

It depends on when you cruise. I have cruised on Carnival and NCL. Enjoyed both. Carnival was always in May. One cruise had a HS graduating class onboard. Never heard of any issues, or saw any issues. NCL Gem East coast was fabulous--though I have never seen so many 'wheelchair' scooters on a ship in my life. I am excited about NCL Epic Med. trip this month. I hope you give cruising another try and are able to have a great experience.