Norwegian’s ship the Epic certainly does not live up to its name. If you’re considering a cruise on Epic, grab a cup of coffee, and I’ll fill you in on my experience. In the spirit of full disclosure, you should know I have never been seasick a day in my life, but I was nauseous for most of this voyage. When we sought Pepto or Dramamine, we were informed those OTC meds were only available from the ship’s doctor. A doctor visit would cost me $150. Needless to say, I waited until we went ashore and looked for Pepto then. Whether it is the ship or changes in my body that led to the physical misery of this trip, I have no way of knowing, but based on the rather large number of people constantly lined up outside the doctor’s office, I would say I wasn’t alone.

While I suffered nausea, another member of our party decided to drink tap water instead of bottled water on the trip. A younger female, she returned home with a great deal of leg swelling, which she was told later was caused by the high concentration of salt in the tap water on the ship. Buy a bottled water package if sailing on Norwegian.

Norwegian’s Website: Let’s start where the problems really began – prior to boarding! I booked the cruise through a third party, but once the reservation was in the Norwegian database, I was free to add tours/excursions, food packages, and drinks, or so I thought through the NCL websitee. The only thing I was able to successfully complete on their website was adding the soda and water package. After that I tried to book an excursion. After struggling with the NCL website, I ended up calling them. I waited on hold for 20 minutes before speaking with someone who could help me. When I had paid for the excursion and finished that entire process, I mentioned to the person on the phone that my daughter, who is now over 21, was still showing up on our materials as a Child. I was transferred to another department, and they resolved the issue with my daughter. All done? Nope! Two days later, my credit card notified me that the funds for the excursion had been refunded! No notice from NCL! No explanation. I called NCL back (and waited another 20 minutes) and was told they didn’t know why the excursion had been cancelled, but it appeared to have been connected to the transfer of my call to get my daughter’s status updated after I had already paid for two adults to take the excursion. They rebooked the excursion, and I paid for everything again. Not awful but annoying. Next, I booked and paid for an Upgraded Dining Package. You will want one of these. It’s the only food on the ship that we enjoyed. First I added the package to my cart on the NCL website, but it didn’t appear in the cart. Grrrrrr… Then I added it again. Now four packages were in the cart instead of two. Of course! I deleted two of the packages, but the website wouldn’t update. I waited and waited. They tell you it will take ten minutes for the shopping cart to show changes. Still, after ten minutes there were four packages in my cart. I left the website and came back and started again another day. This time I knew better, and I only added the two dining packages one time. There was nothing else in my shopping cart. I paid for the dining packages and was rather pleased that I had successfully used the website, except… When we went to use the upgraded dining packages on the ship, no evidence of their purchase could be found! I ended up repurchasing the packages at the shipboard price. NCL, a company your size needs a website that is flawless and works every time. If your inhouse people can’t make it work, I know some terrific companies that will take over the maintenance and development of your website and give your users a wholly reliable experience. Happy to give you their number! Read more