Norwegian Epic Review
Rating by category
Additional details
BACKGROUND I and my girlfriend cruised with four first time cruisers (My parents and my brother + his girlfriend), sailing out of Miami on the 24th of November (so the second wave of the Thanksgiving cruisers). The holiday was booked with Virgin holidays which included the rockstar treatment and the cruise sat slap bang in the middle of the holiday. We got 3 days in Florida followed by the cruise then another 4 days in florida. This whole thing was done for my Dads 60th so we sort of went all out in a few areas and upon reflection I think this really did boost the enjoyment. If you are going to ride on the Epic, then going big is the way to do it.
My girlfriend and I have cruised the caribbean before with P&O on Azura which followed the more traditional path of set dinner times and formal evenings. I have to say I much preferred the Freestyle way of NCL and the food and the entertainment were streets ahead of the P&O boat.
The other four in our party are new to cruising and along with fears that this 4000 pax behemoth would prove to be a little too crowded we were worried they would hate the experience, especially my dad. However our fears were mostly unfounded.
Cabin Review
Balcony
Cabin 10072 is a balcony stateroom (standard) on the left hand side of the ship. To us this seemed to be the side always looking out to sea which is nice if you like that. We tend to like something to look at but then again it all depends on your route!
The cabin was excellent. Slight squeeze in certain spaces such as the narrow passage between the foot of the bed and the fitted cupboard/work top area but nothing to get worked up about. The wavy walled cabins on this boat mean that the cabins top and tail with their neighbouring cabins. This means the layouts alternate from bed close to the door to bed close to the balcony. Unfortunately this cabin is the former. The location of the bed can make the entrance feel quite cramped, especially if there are more than two of you. In the other arrangement there is a lot more free space around the sofa which makes the entrance feel more open.
Sound proofing is excellent and this is aided by the location of the cabin. Close to the lifts at the front of the ship, but not so close so as to mean a lot of foot traffic past your door. Also separated from the main activity decks by 3 decks below and 4 decks above so you are pretty much guaranteed not to be disturbed at all.
Balcony is a standard size, well clear of the protruding life boats so the view is undisturbed. Room posses a stupid amount of storage. There is a full and half height wardrobe, 3 large draws, 3 cupboards on the main fitting (one with a safe), the bed has a cavernous space beneath it, the sofa backs hinge forward revealing two more cupboards and there are two sliding drawers attached to the underside of the sofa! This is topped off with two smaller cubby holes in the wavy roof lining. So if you brought it there is space for it.
Lighting scheme was really well done and we loved the frosted glass shower and toilet enclosures, very fun!