As an experienced cruiser (RCCL, Carnival, Princess, Celebrity, others) with 20 cruises under my belt, I was looking forward to trying NCL for the first time. Specifically, Epic.

Generally, the ship was beautiful, the food fair, the service at best fair. Piece by piece:

Embarkation---easy, quick, no pronblems. BUT...when we got on the ship, cabins were not ready, and we had to lug our carry-ons up to the buffet to wait until the cabins were available. Had we been told of this beforehand, we probably would have arrived later. C'mon guys, everyone's off the ship by 9:30. You can't have the cabins ready by 1-ish? Read more