This cruise will be the first and last cruise I ever take. We took the NCL Norwegian Epic Cruise for a 7-day trip to the Caribbean. We made stops at the Dominican Republic, St. Thomas, Tortola, and Nassau.

I knew that doing a cruise was considered a cheaper vacation when I booked, however, this was worse than I could have imagined. We went with my SIL and BIL because they have loved doing cruises. Right off the bat, our cruise was over 5 hours late due to an emergency which left us wondering on the boat with little to due as only bars were open until dinner service started.

When we were allowed to go to our rooms, we noticed that the room we had booked was not the one given to us. Our booking was supposed to be a glass panel balcony while we received a balcony that was like a porthole window and balcony had a child. Sitting on my balcony disabled me from being able to see out.

In addition, we were five hours late to our first port day in the DR where our excursions were drastically decreased. a full day of horseback riding, bugging, and a beach day was cut down to 30 minutes each of horseback riding and bugging. We were forced to buy equipment for these activities if we wanted to participate which equated to an additional $50 for two of us on top of an excursion that was nearly $400. I will say that once the excursion started, it was quite fun. We went dune buggying the day after it had rained so there were puddles galore. My husband had a blast with driving through every puddle he could. We were soaked head to toe and covered in mud. After the buggy, we went horseback riding and it was my husbands first time. My horse loved to run and we took off on the trails of the DR. When we came back after the activities, we were also promised drinks and food but by the time we ordered our drinks for another $40, we were told to board our bus back to port. So we had to scramble to eat some food and get our card while our tour guide was yelling at us to get on the bus.

Our drive to the excursion site to buggy and horseback ride.

My husband and I as we were loaded into our Buggy

Some of the horses were pretty lazy so we constantly had to coax them to keep going.

The second excursion we went on was to a private island in the Caribbean which was fun but nothing like we expected. It was supposed to be a biking boat where we could drink while boating to the private island. While this seems glamorous, the reality of the situation was a boat that barely fit all the patrons, only one type of drink, and a bar that barely had pedals that functioned. The boat itself was run down and our tour guide was new to the area and could not give us much information about the area we were in. But I will say that once we got to the island, it was beautiful. There was a bar on scene and the drinks were delicious and strong. My husband and I enjoyed some great quality time and this excursion was the highlight of our trip because of the beauty of the island.

A nighttime view of a city on the way back from the private island.

Beyond the two excursions, we spent a lot of time on the boat. We drank a lot and we realized that cruises are great for those who love to drink and gamble, particularly on our boat. After the fact, we learned that our boat was made for those who love gambling. We did our best to make join in on the activities around the boat but at some point, we had more fun playing games and sleeping in our room.

The experience culminated in having a severe celiac attack on our last night of the cruise at the Brazilian Steakhouse. I was assured that everything I ate was gluten free and would be fine for someone who has Celiac but I spent most of the night dealing with a severe gluten attack and only being able to submit a complaint ticket. Looking back, I had a variety of meals that caused minor celiac attacks but did not connect it to being a celiac attack until the end due to being assured by multiple people that my food would be made separately and away from gluten.

There were good and really bad parts of our trip but the trip overall was a bust. My SIL, who has traveled with NCL many times has said there has been a drastic decline even in the last two years. And it was evident in the quality of service and staff. When we tried to bring complaints to the cruise line, especially about the lack of food safety protocol, we were brushed off and told that they would do better next time. I think I’ll stick to planning my own trips from now on. At least if it goes badly, it’s my own fault.

A Not So Relaxing Cruise

My First Trip