This was the second time my daughter and I cruised the Western Mediterranean on the Epic. First time we booked an inside room; this time we booked a balcony room. For the time we actually spent in the room, it was a waste of money. Don't get me wrong, the balcony room was ok. I didn't expect a huge hotel suite. The storage was fine, the space was adequate, same complaints about the bathroom configuration as everyone has had, and, the view was beautiful from the balcony --- we just did not spend much "awake" time in the cabin to justify the cost. We booked on the 8th floor so if the elevators were slow, we were within easy walking distance, up or down, to restaurants or the workout room. We also booked a room relatively close to the elevators. Embarkation was a breeze; disembarkation was even breezier. Saw the cruise director once. Usually the cruise director has a funny, albeit somewhat annoying, catch-phrase. My first and only glance at this guy was that he was just flat out boring. Our room steward was friendly and helpful.

We ate at two specialty restaurants, Le Bistro and Moderno Churrascaria. Le Bistro was great -- both the food and the service. Moderno Churrascaria however was the polar opposite. Service from our waiter was practically nonexistent, not just for us, but we could hear complaints from others around us. The best thing that I had was from the salad bar. Otherwise their food was quite horrible. We also ate at the Garden Café, Taste, O'Sheehan's, Shanghai's, and the Manhattan Room. Enjoyed the food at them all. No problem getting a table, no problem getting service. Didn't enjoy the atmosphere at the Manhattan Room. The singer they had one night was a little pitchy. Others might have enjoyed the floor show -- me, not so much.

SHIP ENTERTAINMENT: Legends in Concert basically sucked. Have seen better impersonators on other NCL cruises. The other show we saw were the professional ballroom dancers -- I enjoyed their show. Wasn't really disappointed that the Blue Man Group were no longer performing as I had already seen their show on another sailing. However, they should have replaced Blue Man with another show -- maybe a Broadway type show. At any rate, I was not too impressed with the entertainment on this cruise. There were too few options for evening shows on this cruise. Before we had three or four options, but on this cruise the main events were either the ballroom dancers or Legends. Read more