We chose the Norwegian Epic December 17th cruise out of Port Canaveral primarily to spend some time with my stepdaughter (she recommended NCL back in 2014) who lives in the Grand Caymans, but also to finally experience a mega ship. Back in 2014, SD urged us to try NCL since she had cruised with Carnival, RCL and preferred NCL. We chose the Sky 11/2014, were pleased and booked another on NCL-Sun 7 day Western 3/2015 which was amazing!

As a College Instructor of English, I am limited in the choices for time off so we primarily vacation during spring/fall breaks and in December. I booked this cruise in 3/2016, but switched to a guaranteed inside because I was not sure if my schedule would allow the time off.

The Norwegian Epic is the antithesis of the Sun. It seemed that the staff were efffiency experts, but lacked any sort of personability. One example is during breakfast, as soon as I poured the Cheerios out of the box, someone was there to pick it up. They hovered over guests, waiting for dishes. They would even ask "Are you done?" We were on this ship for 6 nights and except for the washy washy lady in the buffet area, no one spoke to us in the Norwegian way of extending politeness. Literally! If we asked a question, we received vague or evasive responses. The suited staff was visible (except the Cruise Director), but simply walked passed you. They seemed almost robotic. This was in complete opposite of staff on the Sun and Sky. On these ships everyone we encountered spoke, laughed and joked and offered suggestions and assistance. The Cruise Director on the Sun (Richard) was amazing! Read more