My sister-in-law and I cruised on the Epic the week of 11/24-12/1. We initially booked an inside cabin, but upgraded to a family balcony once we were on board. Getting on the ship was a breeze and the guest services staff couldn't be more helpful when we asked if any balconies were available. We quickly changed our cabin and set sail for our first port. I was instantly disappointed when I discovered there was no access to the front of the ship, on the pool deck, where I often head when the ship is heading out of or into port. The only access to the front of the ship is at a table in the Garden Cafe area, inside -- very disappointing. It appeared that one could access the bow of the ship through the Haven area, but, without a special Haven key, non-Haven guests do not have access to that area. I was also disappointed by the bathroom arrangements. As you enter the cabin from the hallway, the toilet was on the right and the shower is on the left -- separate, which is not a bad thing, but, in my opinion, privacy is lacking, as the doors are sliding frosted glass and not very private. For that reason alone, I will not sail on Epic again. I prefer more privacy in the toilet area and changing area. In order to have privacy for changing, one has to draw a curtain between the bed and the shower/toilet area and pray there are no visitors until you're done changing.

The ship itself was a disappointment. I did not like that the casino takes up so much of Deck 6. In order to get almost anywhere on Deck 6, one has to go through the stinky smoky casino. My sister-in-law is a smoker and there really isn't anywhere on the ship where she could smoke, except for the casino and our balcony... and I saw ashtrays on the bar on the pool deck. The pool is not all that great either. However, the water slides looked fantastic and the kids (and some adults, too!) were thoroughly enjoying them. The swimming pools, though, were very small.

The food was just so-so. I've been sailing with NCL for several years and have noticed that the quality and variety of food choices on the ships has decreased over the years. There are very basic chicken breast and beef dishes and salmon and that's just about it. The buffet actually had better quality food than the dining rooms. The fish and chips in O'Sheehan's Pub was pretty good, but, again, nothing fancy. The shrimp and steak dinner at the Cirque show was just okay... dry shrimp, but the steak was quite good. The show, however, was fantastic! Read more