7 Nights Nice, Florence & Salerno from Barcelona, Spain Cruise

Pretty great cruise

Overall had a great experience on the EPIC. I was becoming more hesitant as we approached our sail date because of the bad reviews and comments I encountered. The ship is 15 years old and in really good shape considering. The one thing I did not like was miniscule size of the bathroom sink. LOL The entertainment was lacking, I am thinking because we were second to the last cruise before dry dock. Hoping NCL makes it great again. All the food I ordered was perfect, whether it was the Manhattan Room or the specialty restaurants we went to. The drinks were good, and yes you have to wait a while at some bars, but it gives you a chance to mingle with other cruisers while you wait. The pool area was busy on seas days, BUT I haven't ever seen the pool area not busy on any of the other cruises I have been on (20). Can't wait to see renovations after the upcoming drydock.

Great cruise

This ship had some terrible reviews so we were a bit worried. We really enjoyed this cruise. We had a room in the Haven which was super nice and not set up the same way as the other balcony rooms. Very nice bathroom with walk in shower. Dinner at Cagney's was spectacular and we enjoyed the show and food at Teppanyaki. The other nights we enjoyed the Haven restaurant which was outstanding. Burn the Floor was a fun energetic show and the Beatles show was a great sing along. The Ice bar is a must do, make reservations for this ahead of time. Whiskey bar was nice and great guitar player there entertaining us. All of the staff were friendly and accommodating. Ship is laid out a bit awkward, but it was clean and nice and by day 2 we had it figured out. Unfortunately we missed the private island due to winds. I am glad they are building a dock so in the future this won’t be an issue!

Great cruise in ALMOST every way

EPIC – 12/7/24-12/14/24 (Eastern Caribbean) We’ve cruised about 25 cruises and this was our 2nd time on NCL. After reading bad reviews I was worried but we really had a great time. We were pleasantly surprised with the cruise on the EPIC. I would sail on this ship again (although there was an issue with excursion reimbursement which I’m not happy with NCL about – see below) Pre-cruise: Our group stayed at the Radisson at the Port. We’ve stayed here before and would definitely recommend it. We booked the fly, stay & cruise package and it was great. Shuttle was included and drivers were awesome. All the staff were great. Ate dinner at Fish Lips – again we’ve done this before and had a great meal and drinks. Embarkation: Port Canaveral knows what they are doing. Had first boarding group (11:00 I think) and had no wait at all. Staff was friendly and very welcoming. Bars: Due to the popularity of the free drink package, it was time consuming to get a drink. Because the bartenders are so busy, I did miss the kidding around we’ve had on other ships. But staff were very professional and accommodating. Someone suggested previously to get two at a time – definitely good advice. Room: We had a balcony room. Very large balcony which we loved. Drum roll please….now on to the layout of the room. Gotta say it… I really liked it. Now in fairness, if I was traveling with anyone other than my husband I wouldn’t like it as much. But I really liked having the toilet, shower and sink separate. I know most people hate it but I guess I’m strange for liking it. Room steward was great. Only down side was the room is extremely narrow –can’t count the million times my husband and I bumped into each other lol. On the plus side, it’s amazing how much storage area is available. I overpacked and still didn’t fill up ½ of the storage room. Entertainment: We didn’t book anything in advance and didn’t see the larger shows. This cruise was really just an escape with friends. We did go see some of the musical acts but I have to say holding them in the smaller venues really made you get there an hour early to get a seat. Really enjoyed the Dueling Piano a couple of nights. Very entertaining and the crowds were having a ball. Food: Food was outstanding. We did both specialty restaurants at the Frech Bistro and loved it—food and staff were amazing. We went to the dining room a bunch of times (dinner and breakfast). We had a party of 6 and sometimes had to wait 10 minutes or so for dinner but that wasn’t a problem. Staff was very nice. Didn’t eat in the buffet much but when we did food was really good. Ice Bar: Yup…it’s definitely a one and done thing but so much fun. Again, our party of 6 had a great time (Jonathan the bartender was a hoot). Guy that signs you up isn’t very friendly so don’t let that deter you. Ports of Call: St. Thomas –- our group took a taxi to Meghans’ Bay. Very crowded since our ship came in late in the day, but beautiful day hanging out in the ocean. You can rent loungers for $20 but we didn’t since our time was so short there. Dominican Republic—just stayed in the secure port area (just felt uncomfortable leaving the port). Unfortunately it was raining so we just found a bar with a roof and enjoyed people watching. Tortola—took a taxi to a beach (can’t remember the name). Got loungers and umbrellas free as long as you use the bar which we did – MANY times lol. Really enjoyed our time there. Taxi driver was awesome. Stirrup Cay—I read some funny reviews that people questioned if there is even an island because it gets cancelled a lot. We booked a cabana and were so looking forward to it. Well guess what…it got cancelled due to weather (tender port) – which I understand because the weather wasn’t good. BUT here’s where I’m furious with NCL. A letter was sent around notifying passengers that had excursions that you would get a refund. When I checked our charges it did in fact show a credit. Naively I assumed the amount would be credited to my credit card. WRONG! After being home a few days, I contacted NCL. Spoke with two different reps (very nice but couldn’t help) and then one apologized but said unfortunately it was MY responsibility to file a claim to get the refund. So then I had to fill out all the paperwork, got an email asking me what the excursion was that got cancelled (hello? Don’t you have that on record???). Then was told it could take 6-8 weeks to get a refund since I had pre-paid (yes...you took my money immediately, then NCL cancels the excursion and then I have to WAIT to get MY money back). That is HORRIBLE NCL! Just WRONG! We had a great trip but this really soured me on NCL. We've cruised over 25 times on all different lines and this came as a shock to me. I'm really sad how this played out on this otherwise wonderful trip. Disembarkation: Again, Port Canaveral has it down to a science and NCL did a great job as well. We had one of the last colors called and were still off the ship by 8:30. Shuttle to go back to the Radisson was in the assigned area and drivers again were awesome. While the EPIC is an older ship, I think she looked pretty good. Cleaning staff did an outstanding job of picking up after folks, which I’m sure isn’t easy. Yes common areas are small and get very crowded. And bars are extremely busy. But knowing that before boarding was helpful. Looking forward to our next cruise on RCI in two weeks. Might go back to NCI … just not right away.