After reading many reviews of the Epic, I am surprised by some of the low ratings. This by far has been the most enjoyable cruise I have taken with my family! We paid a little extra to obtain a 2 bedroom family suite in the Haven. What a great concept! I wish every cruise had this offering. It felt like the ship had far fewer passengers than it actually had, due to the exclusive amenities! We had a Butler, a private Concierge, a private dining room, a private pool and spa room, a private exercise room, and suite room was amazing! With the private exercise room, I never had to fight for a treadmill! In the main suite bathroom, our shower wall was a window with an ocean view, it was spectacular!. I love how the 2 room suite has a family room, and 2 bedrooms. Usually it's the family room with a pull out bed and a separate master suite, which doesn't give us enough room. The private Haven restaurant and bar were really nice. The food was excellent. Our first day we were treated to a rock lobster tail and steak. The only complaint that I had, was that the menu never changed in the private dining room.

So out of boredom, we decided to eat in one of the main dining rooms for dinner. Talk about disappointment! The food was not very good in the main dining rooms, and we never went back. Suprisingly, the Lido deck had better food than the main ship dining room. I loved the different options, including indian food. Because of our suite in the Haven, we were given privileges to early seating at the blue man group and early seating in cirque de soleil performances. These performances were by far the best entertainment we have seen on a cruise ship ever!!!! The water park on the ship was outstanding. Their is one complaint though, their are 3 slides, all of which are fun, but the 2 smaller side slides are painful to go down, you feel every joint on the slide. My kids, who usually don't complain about such things, also had pain going down the smaller slides. I think they should offer a small cushioned pad to ride down or smaller blow up donuts to go down the slide like they do on the biggest slide. That slide was so much fun!

The kids club: I was sorely disappointed that they wouldn't take my 30 month old. The rule is that the kids have to be 3 and older to be in the kids club, which is not the standard that I have seen on the many other cruises I have been on. It is usually 2 and up. My daughter was disappointed and I was sad that I didn't get a night out with just my husband and I. They don't even allow individuals on board to babysit your kids under 3, which I had previously on Holland America and Carnival. I have 2 other children ages 8 and 11. My 11 year old boy was bored and really didn't want to go. They definitely need better activities for the older Tweens. My 8 year old girl did have a fun time and made lots of friends. They separate each group by ages, and my 11 year old son made a friend on the ship that was younger than him, and they did not allow them to play together until the last 30 minutes of play time, which wasn't very long. All of my kids got to see spongebob once, but there really wasn't any Nickelodeon presence on the ship which was disappointing to my kids. They wanted to get "slimed". Read more