We aren't super experienced cruisers...one previous cruise on Carnival and two previous of Disney. So, when we booked the value priced cruise of the Western Med. we had low expectations. We were very pleasantly surprised. We found the Epic, though large, very easy to learn and loved the smooth as glass ride throughout the cruise. Our stateroom, just a Family Inside cabin was one of our favorite surprises. Even though it was small, the clever design and innovative storage made it very comfortable and gave a feeling of a much larger cabin. The food easily surpassed the dining on our previous cruises and the Freestyle Choice allowed us to eat what we want, where we want, when we wanted. As for entertainment, we particularly enjoyed the offerings in the smaller venues...the Headliner Club and the Cavern Club. The larger shows (Burn the Floor and Pricilla) were very professionally staged, had amazing costumes and admirable special effects. We simply found the presentations more "raunchy" than necessary. When it came to service, we were prepared for the worst since the "service charges" (aka tips) were predetermine and paid we doubted there would be much incentive for the staff. We were very wrong here. We were waited on like royalty. And we never felt any sense of condescension if we went with the complimentary beverages and didn't order drinks very often. We will definitely consider NCL in our future cruise planning and will put it on a par with the more expensive Disney Cruises.