EPIC Review - Ship a Fail - Rest Rather Nice

My wife and I are elite on several lines/travel programs and decided to sail Epic over xmas this year to give NCL another try after not sailing them for a few years. I have always thought Epic was the ugliest cruise ship I had ever seen and being an avid business reader, knew a bit about the former NCL CEO that had a had in screwing the ship up and running the costs through the roof. That said, curiosity and opportunity won out and we took the trip to see what it looked like on the inside.

Before you start to read, I am going to start out about the ship which is not flattering. Read the whole thing though as the rest is mostly positive...

First thing that came to mind is that I am sure no women were involved in the design. It is very cramped feeling (much worse than any ship I have ever been on) and the decor is 'blah' to say the least. Biggest tip off is the lack of an isolated bathroom in the cabins. Toilet and shower are on opposite sides of cabin door behind glass shower doors that do not really seal. Who in their right mind would put a ships vacuum toilet in the same room with the bed. Every time someone needs to use it at night, the partner is awakened like a bomb went off in the cabin. If you and your spouse are not on identical 'cycles' this is a real sleep killer. Again, no way in hell a female designer would ever sign off on this little 'feature'. Don't get me started on if one person is having a bit of a blow out and the smell gets thick... :eek: Right there is a major reason to stay away if you and partner are not very sound sleepers. Had to start waking my wife when I got up to pee so the toilet would not give her a heart attack when flushed.

All of the spaces on the ship feel much tighter than on other ships, even other NCL ships we have been on. My understanding is that is a product of the former leadership trying to stuff Oasis competitive options into a smaller box. It did not work very well. If you are the least claustrophobic, stay off this ship and go with something else. Even other NCL ships. The exact opposite of a RCL, Princess or other ships in terms of feel. I understand how it got this way but between the very squeezed hallways, tight common areas, very confusing layout (even for experience cruisers) no atrium to speak of.... you get the idea.

OK, enough about the ship The designers screwed up enough said...

Now for some serious positives.

First, the shows. Burn the Floor is one of the best shows I have ever seen afloat. Easily on par with the better Oasis class shows (no not Cats.. echh...) The show employs REAL dancers and not the shuffle and pose 'dancers' that make up most of the casts. These folks must burn more callories in a show than most dance teams burn in a week.

The second main show is Queen of the Desert. Very interesting show in that it was the most social commentary oriented show I have ever seen afloat. Very dark for most of the show and really not for kids too young to understand. A show I would have liked to see ashore but for a vacation cruise, just too dark... Performers were very good though. Again much better than on most ships/lines.

Last major show is a dinner theatre with eastern european circus performers that were very good. (The food is the show was fixed menu 'Mariott' fare so eat first in the buffet... disapointing considering the $50 per person cost to get in...) The performers were very good but you do get an idea of what steriod abuse in eastern europe might look like 15 years later... Very good show for the kids. Performers make rounds before the show in full costume (very interesting) so make sure you bring a good lower light camera. It is a long event so make sure you visit the WC first. Not easy to get up and out in the middle of the show as the venue is small and the preformers move through the seats. Oh, and the PREMIUM seats are worth the extra cost!

Other entertainment is rather good as well. Cruise staff did a good job with games and events. They were fairly active and always had something going. Don't waste your time on the commedians. There were four on our trip and only one was moderately funny. The rest need to head back to rehab... Guess this can vary cruise to cruise but ours were just plain sad. You can tell they have no materials when they spend half the set asking audience where they are from...

Regarding the food:

NCL is really big on breaking the dinning out into many venues. Some good and some not. The free dining rooms tend to have the same food and the menu is very small. Food is maybe ok but definately not up to average for the various cruise lines. Mine was usually cold and had been sitting around for while... Obvious they do not want the free competing with the pay venues.

The food in the pay venues varied greatly. The Brazilian was by far the best value along with the Japaneese Tepi (sushi was good as well but again, most lines do not charge you extra for sushi... free in the buffet). Great food! The French and the 'Steakhouse' were simply not worth the money. Nothing special food for more than you would have paid for ashore at a place like Outback. I expect to pay extra for a Fillet but to charge me for simple sides that are free at the other venues on a cruise is overly cheap... Take a dining package because the alcarte prices are nuts and the even charge for sides like fries... (be warned, one person takes a drink package, cabin mates must take as well) Buffet was average and well stocked. After one sit in the 'free' dining room, we moved to buffet as our main choice. Took a three meal dinning package but ate in all four of the main pay spots to try them out. In the future, will stick with Tepi, Brazilian and the buffet on NCL.

All in all, a good cruise that would have been better if not the Epic. Got home overly tired because of the lousy cabin design and feeling nickled and dimed worse than usual. On the upside, the best ship entertainment we have had in years. I would definately go NCL again in the future but will stay away from Epic and go to the other ships so I can sleep without late night toilet bombs going off in my ears.

btw, I am not a drinker so this did not impact me much but for those that are, think carefully on NCL. They have open drink packages (drinks were VERY expensive without it) but I have never seen so few waiters in the venues. You want a drink, you are going to have to fight your way to a bar and get it yourself. Restaurant drink service was also rather slow after the first drink, just stopped coming. Watched other guests get a bit bent about that. Guess this helps the margins.

Happy sailing to everyone!

Appreciate your objective feedback!

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My wife and I are elite on several lines/travel programs and decided to sail Epic over xmas this year to give NCL another try after not sailing them for a few years. I have always thought Epic was the ugliest cruise ship I had ever seen and being an avid business reader, knew a bit about the former NCL CEO that had a had in screwing the ship up and running the costs through the roof. That said, curiosity and opportunity won out and we took the trip to see what it looked like on the inside.

 

 

 

Before you start to read, I am going to start out about the ship which is not flattering. Read the whole thing though as the rest is mostly positive...

 

 

 

First thing that came to mind is that I am sure no women were involved in the design. It is very cramped feeling (much worse than any ship I have ever been on) and the decor is 'blah' to say the least. Biggest tip off is the lack of an isolated bathroom in the cabins. Toilet and shower are on opposite sides of cabin door behind glass shower doors that do not really seal. Who in their right mind would put a ships vacuum toilet in the same room with the bed. Every time someone needs to use it at night, the partner is awakened like a bomb went off in the cabin. If you and your spouse are not on identical 'cycles' this is a real sleep killer. Again, no way in hell a female designer would ever sign off on this little 'feature'. Don't get me started on if one person is having a bit of a blow out and the smell gets thick... :eek: Right there is a major reason to stay away if you and partner are not very sound sleepers. Had to start waking my wife when I got up to pee so the toilet would not give her a heart attack when flushed.

 

 

 

All of the spaces on the ship feel much tighter than on other ships, even other NCL ships we have been on. My understanding is that is a product of the former leadership trying to stuff Oasis competitive options into a smaller box. It did not work very well. If you are the least claustrophobic, stay off this ship and go with something else. Even other NCL ships. The exact opposite of a RCL, Princess or other ships in terms of feel. I understand how it got this way but between the very squeezed hallways, tight common areas, very confusing layout (even for experience cruisers) no atrium to speak of.... you get the idea.

 

 

 

OK, enough about the ship The designers screwed up enough said...

 

 

 

Now for some serious positives.

 

 

 

First, the shows. Burn the Floor is one of the best shows I have ever seen afloat. Easily on par with the better Oasis class shows (no not Cats.. echh...) The show employs REAL dancers and not the shuffle and pose 'dancers' that make up most of the casts. These folks must burn more callories in a show than most dance teams burn in a week.

 

 

 

The second main show is Queen of the Desert. Very interesting show in that it was the most social commentary oriented show I have ever seen afloat. Very dark for most of the show and really not for kids too young to understand. A show I would have liked to see ashore but for a vacation cruise, just too dark... Performers were very good though. Again much better than on most ships/lines.

 

 

 

Last major show is a dinner theatre with eastern european circus performers that were very good. (The food is the show was fixed menu 'Mariott' fare so eat first in the buffet... disapointing considering the $50 per person cost to get in...) The performers were very good but you do get an idea of what steriod abuse in eastern europe might look like 15 years later... Very good show for the kids. Performers make rounds before the show in full costume (very interesting) so make sure you bring a good lower light camera. It is a long event so make sure you visit the WC first. Not easy to get up and out in the middle of the show as the venue is small and the preformers move through the seats. Oh, and the PREMIUM seats are worth the extra cost!

 

 

 

Other entertainment is rather good as well. Cruise staff did a good job with games and events. They were fairly active and always had something going. Don't waste your time on the commedians. There were four on our trip and only one was moderately funny. The rest need to head back to rehab... Guess this can vary cruise to cruise but ours were just plain sad. You can tell they have no materials when they spend half the set asking audience where they are from...

 

 

 

Regarding the food:

 

NCL is really big on breaking the dinning out into many venues. Some good and some not. The free dining rooms tend to have the same food and the menu is very small. Food is maybe ok but definately not up to average for the various cruise lines. Mine was usually cold and had been sitting around for while... Obvious they do not want the free competing with the pay venues.

 

 

 

The food in the pay venues varied greatly. The Brazilian was by far the best value along with the Japaneese Tepi (sushi was good as well but again, most lines do not charge you extra for sushi... free in the buffet). Great food! The French and the 'Steakhouse' were simply not worth the money. Nothing special food for more than you would have paid for ashore at a place like Outback. I expect to pay extra for a Fillet but to charge me for simple sides that are free at the other venues on a cruise is overly cheap... Take a dining package because the alcarte prices are nuts and the even charge for sides like fries... (be warned, one person takes a drink package, cabin mates must take as well) Buffet was average and well stocked. After one sit in the 'free' dining room, we moved to buffet as our main choice. Took a three meal dinning package but ate in all four of the main pay spots to try them out. In the future, will stick with Tepi, Brazilian and the buffet on NCL.

 

 

 

All in all, a good cruise that would have been better if not the Epic. Got home overly tired because of the lousy cabin design and feeling nickled and dimed worse than usual. On the upside, the best ship entertainment we have had in years. I would definately go NCL again in the future but will stay away from Epic and go to the other ships so I can sleep without late night toilet bombs going off in my ears.

 

 

 

btw, I am not a drinker so this did not impact me much but for those that are, think carefully on NCL. They have open drink packages (drinks were VERY expensive without it) but I have never seen so few waiters in the venues. You want a drink, you are going to have to fight your way to a bar and get it yourself. Restaurant drink service was also rather slow after the first drink, just stopped coming. Watched other guests get a bit bent about that. Guess this helps the margins.

 

 

 

Happy sailing to everyone!

You sound like a perfect candidate to move up to Oceania.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Thanks for the report/review.

Thanks for posting your review! Will be on Epic in March and I am mentally preparing for the cabin. :D Fortunately, we have a large balcony, so I will be on the lounger a lot!

Thanks for the review. We've sailed her on a TA, and are on her again in Nov. for another. It's funny how things can be so subjective, the restaurants you chose as favorites were our least favorites! Hubby love the buffet too, he can choose what he wants there. I prefer the dining rooms. (and I take ear plugs, so the toilet noise doesn't bother me!) You may like one of the other newer ships. We love the Getaway too. (but the Spirit, the smallest, is still our favorite of all!)

Thank you for taking the time to write and share your report with everyone.

Keith

Thanks for your review. Keep in mind that Epic (groundbreaking in 2010) paved the road to the current freestyle mega ships (Breakaway, Getaway, Escape, Joy, Bliss). :)

First thing that came to mind is that I am sure no women were involved in the design. It is very cramped feeling (much worse than any ship I have ever been on) and the decor is 'blah' to say the least. Biggest tip off is the lack of an isolated bathroom in the cabins. Toilet and shower are on opposite sides of cabin door behind glass shower doors that do not really seal. Who in their right mind would put a ships vacuum toilet in the same room with the bed. Every time someone needs to use it at night, the partner is awakened like a bomb went off in the cabin. If you and your spouse are not on identical 'cycles' this is a real sleep killer. Again, no way in hell a female designer would ever sign off on this little 'feature'. Don't get me started on if one person is having a bit of a blow out and the smell gets thick... :eek: Right there is a major reason to stay away if you and partner are not very sound sleepers. Had to start waking my wife when I got up to pee so the toilet would not give her a heart attack when flushed.

The bathroom situation was the main reason that we did not book an Epic cruise even though we live so close to the Port.

I actually take a Bose headset along as a noise cancelling solution for a different sound source... :-) So less a problem for me than my spouse but since I am the one that has to get up at 3am EVERY night... Lets say I had a bit of kissing up to do in the morning and we were def sleeping in because of it. We have sailed NCL on other ships years ago and stopped because of the food and the rather lame entertainment back then. 10+ years ago. So this was an experiment for us. Actually our fourth cruise of the year. I occasionally take out corporate groups in the 100-150 head range so I wanted to see how they are doing these days since they have started sailing more Orlando dates. Afraid they are not likely to get that business from me. The shorter trips come packaged with the drinks and is not optional and after I saw the very poor venue waiter counts and long waits for drinks (low staff levels) along with the poor food in the main dinning areas (buffet was good but groups want to eat in the large dinning rooms), do not feel like risking a group getting ticked off with me taking them there. People will put up with most anything as long as you feed them ok with out up-charging and don't make it too hard to get a drink. NCL seems to have forgotten this rather basic rule.

Seriously tho, I don’t see how the toilets cause that much annoyance. They are behind a fairly heavy door, so odours shouldnt travel. Also, of course it’s a loud vacuum toilet, all commercial toilets are like that. If you had residential-grade toilets installed on a ship like that they would be constantly clogging.

Mark, The problem on Epic is the toilet is NOT behind a heavy door. There is a semi-trans glass shower door that gives privacy but no real isolation. Picture being asleep and someone flushes one of those toilets about 12 feet from your ear in the dead of night... Actually the opening and closing of that shower door itself is very noisy as they are old and likely have not had the hanging rollers lubed since the ship was built. Door was almost worse noise than the flush itself... Door open, it focuses the noise toward the rest of the cabin and closing it just makes even more noise... I am sure after a week or two someone might get used to it but I doubt it. When my wife saw the layout, I think she almost made me leave the ship. :-) As I originally said, no way in %$@ a woman had a say in the layout.

Thanks for posting your review! Will be on Epic in March and I am mentally preparing for the cabin. :D Fortunately, we have a large balcony, so I will be on the lounger a lot!

I'm on the same cruise...March 17, 2018...can't wait!

Seriously tho, I don’t see how the toilets cause that much annoyance. They are behind a fairly heavy door, so odours shouldnt travel. Also, of course it’s a loud vacuum toilet, all commercial toilets are like that. If you had residential-grade toilets installed on a ship like that they would be constantly clogging.

So,,, the toilets on the Epic are inside the bedroom. Not a separate bathroom. This is what the OP was complaining about.

That being Said we have sailed on the Epic 7 times and don’t mind the European Boutique room styling. We were in a not-cheap hotel on DuPont circle in DC last month which (although bigger) had similar features to the Epic bathrooms.

I believe the bathroom situation is one of the reasons the Epic doesn't have a sister ship. It could be worse though, at least it's not like this hotel bathroom. All glass, LOL.

Oh my, the lack of privacy is vulgar!:')

We went on the Epic last Feb and really enjoyed it. I actually liked it better than RCs Allure. The bathroom worked well for my family. One could shower, the other brush their teeth and another use the toilet all at the same time. We just had to coordinate when each person was coming out of the shower or toilet. As for the toilet flushing at night, we sleep with a Fan app on, so I never heard anything. We were in a family suite and the storage was AMAZING. My only issue was we couldn't really go on the balcony. The people next to us smoked like crazy and it would flow over to our room..even though they were caught and were threatened to be thrown off the ship, they continued.

we sleep with a Fan app on, so I never heard anything.

My only issue was we couldn't really go on the balcony. The people next to us smoked like crazy and it would flow over to our room..even though they were caught and were threatened to be thrown off the ship, they continued.

What is the app called? I have an iPhone.

LOL.. No odors.. we brought Poo-pourri and kept the door shut.. I wish the fan worked for the cigarette smoke. The app is called Bed time Fan they have a free one.

Maybe try the poo-pourri for the cigarette smoke next time.

I am a woman. I am not a fan of Epic, but the bathroom situation did not concern me in the least.

I too thought the bathroom situation is a little weird. Thank God the Breakaway and Escape went back to closed doors, lol

We were on the Epic in March 2016 for a 13 day Med cruise. The cabin, a mini-suite, was fine, nothing special, but the bathroom situation is downright bizarre.

Absolutely loved everything else about the ship, though, and I'd cruise her again despite the cabins and weird bathrooms. Best entertainment at sea, and the service was fantastic. We especially enjoyed making friends with international cruisers and hanging out at the casino bar, with the best bartenders we've ever experienced. The Epic is a very jovial and social ship, and, in my opinion, very unique, very special.

We were on the Epic in November 2016 and yes the cabin is a bit awkward but all the rest of the ship was very nice.

We really enjoyed the ship layout and the crew. It even has an electric escalator.

We also think the entertainment is one of the best at sea.

As for food it’s very subjective but in our case thought overall it was like other main stream cruise line.

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