Norwegian Epic Review

Just Finished my 2nd and Last Cruise on the EPIC - Poor Customer Service !!!!

Review for the Caribbean Cruise on Norwegian Epic
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Saxman1961
10+ Cruises • Age 60s

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Sail Date: Jan 2020
Cabin: Aft-Facing Balcony

I am a Platinum Member with NCL and am struggling with what is wrong with them. I hope it was just the Epic, but I am not really sure as it may be fleet wide. This was the worst cruise I have ever experienced and it all centered around services paid for were not given and NO ONE at NCL was willing to address that they dropped the ball and fix the problem. We were traveling with NCL Air a day early to San Juan to the El Caribe Hilton. Which could've been great if I experienced it from more than a few hours of sleep. Due to weather we missed our connecting flight to San Juan, which was not NCL's fault. We had to arrive 12 hours late at 1am in the morning. I called NCL Air and the "Emergency" Help Line. Well NCL did not care. The Help line is only open during business hours Monday - Friday. Reread the last sentence and think what is wrong with that policy? I did get someone from NCL on the phone who argued with me about being picked up at the airport for the hotel. She said, "No way you can get picked up at 1am" - and "we don't pick up from the airport". I know from past experience both were incorrect, but she had NO clue. Surprise when we arrived at the airport someone was there to pick up someone for NCL just not us. This was rather upsetting considering how much we had paid for this service. WARNING - They roll everything into one package price so you can't get a refund on what they do not provide to you!! (This is what I come to understand) We Ubered to the hotel and found that the Hotel knew who I was, but had no information about the pickup and transport to the ship (in a few hours at 2am in the morning). Not even that a pickup would even occur. Our info on the letter from NCL said "we would be provided this information upon arrival at the hotel". We are still waiting? We called the Emergency number and guess what - CLOSED till 8am EST - 9am where we were. I called at that time and got a gentleman on the phone who still didn't understand the problem or seem to care. He did eventually call the transportation company and said someone will be there at 10:30am. So I went and found the lady in charge of transportation and guess what I was not on the list to be transported. Seems like NCL would've already check that? I had a boarding pass with all the fees paid but someone did not put us on the list so, no one knew to pick us up. (I assume it was NCL since they will not tell me otherwise) She guaranteed that she would've been there at 2am to pick us up but we were not on the list. I got a copy of the list to verify (which did no good. So we had to still Uber to the port and tried to deal with the issue for an entire 10 day cruise. Made 5 lengthy trips to the Hotel Desk and got a different response each time. Was told - "you didn't pay for it"; "The travel agent didn't pay for it", "Your boarding pass was incorrect" and 'finally we can't do anything on the ship because it happened on land". I was given a card to email NCL when home and guess what - received a form letter letting me know how many years of great service they have provided. Well guess what for 10 days they basically made my vacation a task of trying to find out WHAT I paid about $600 for? They were terrible at customer service. Ruined the whole 11 day vacation for me. NO ONE EVER SAID. "We are sorry, we made a mistake. What can we do to make things right. This could've solved everything on the 1st phone call to the Miami Office and on every encounter for well over 10 days. Unfortunately, I do already have the same services paid from on the Getaway in Europe in June. I am actually concerned now that I will be left at the airport in Rome again and no one from NCL will care and of course no help line on European time. I am in charge of that CC Meet and Mingle certainly would expect to be treated at least fairly or it will be a very interesting Meet and Mingle for sure. Due to this issue it was the worst cruise of our lives. Spent hours waiting in line and making phone calls and NEVER found anyone from NCL that actually cares. We have two more NCL cruises already booked, but seriously are considering changing to another line that will accept our Platinum Status and treat us fairly and with respect. One last shot in June - Then I can let you know.

Sorry if this was boring to anyone. But if it were to happen to you, you would probably feel differently. Thanks, for reading. Caveat Emptor

We did not see San Juan this time - due to the flight delay. Though it is a great port.

Cabin Review

Aft-Facing Balcony

The cabin is dark with NO Storage. No shelves in the closet. One drawer. See above. It is not worth extra money to get a less room. The balcony itself is nice - but the room is not.

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