We booked Epic from Barcelona over a year ago and received two price drop upgrades so we ended up in a mini suite, deck 10, forward on Starboard side. I selected the cabin with much assistance from Cruise Critic posters and made sure we had the 'bed near balcony door' set up. The room was very elegant and apart from the toilet set up, was perfectly fine. This set up was ok for us but might be a problem for some. My wife did comment, however, that the lighting was too poor for make up purposes. Great storage but the hairdryer cut out after a few seconds on high. We had a bath tub which was surprisingly spacious but a high step in and out. Our stateroom attendant was Guillermo and he was very efficient and pleasant. He cleared out the mini bar first night and provided towel wildlife some nights. We were just behind a bank of elevators and that was very convenient.

We brought on some wine and paid corkage at the gangway. Incidentally, although the wine shop at the terminal is very convenient, the quality is lower and price is much higher than that available in Barcelona itself. Also, corkage is $15 per bottle plus 10% tax. We also bought the Viva Vino package to which was added tax and gratuity of 25% total. The wines on the Enthusiast package were surprisingly good.

Food was excellent, in our opinion. We ate in Manhattan 3 times, Taste twice and the Garden Cafe twice. We felt no need to eat in the specialty restaurants although I was willing to do so. Embarkation night was lobster night. My wife is a seafood lover and I prefer steak so we ordered the surf & turf and swapped over the steak/lobster. Even though the steaks looked small, they were very filling and well cooked. I ordered the New York strip steak on two other nights and was never disappointed. Food was hot enough, except one Warm Peach Tartlet which was cold. Other good entrees were salmon, lamb shank and seafood ciobbini(kind of seafood stew). We preferred Manhattan as it was a more elegant dining room, with pleasant music and the service was crisper there. Service in Taste could be leisurely at times. Garden Café had a great variety of food and there was always something to suit. Here, though, you run the gauntlet of ignorant elbowers and queue jumpers. Read more