In this review I know that I will touch on many of the items commented on by others. I am doing so because when I read through the reviews I tend more to find comments credible if they are confirmed by others. Single criticisms tend to be more appropriate only to the person doing the criticizing. Embarkation - Debarkation: This was the most efficient that I have experienced in the 8 cruises that we have taken. Easy on, easy off. If you have something to do or have an early flight you may want to take your own bags off and not have to wait for your tag color to be called. This was an excellent option. Cabin: We had a BD category balcony. WOW. We found it to be a bit smaller than the balconies in the past. It was a great layout. (I know that I am in a minority in this opinion). The shower was the largest in our experience and by putting the shower mat on the floor before showering and toweling off in the shower before exiting you can avoid the problem described by others concerning the water on the floor. The wash basin is a bit small and if you turn the water on full blast water will splash onto the floor. The solution is simple for the user - don't turn the water on full blast, for Norwegian - just install a flow restricter to prevent full blast volume. We always book our cruises one year in advance in order to pick out our own cabin and assure that everyone traveling together can get adjoining cabins. In this case it worked out very well. Our cabin is right where the ship bumps out, creating a balcony about 3 times bigger than normal. Norwegian has discovered its' mistake and now charges a premium for these cabins. If you have more than two people in a cabin you will find storage inadequate for three or more adults. It may be fine if the additional passengers are children. Entertainment: We only went to two shows, the dueling pianos and the magician-comedian. Both were excellent and from the talk from other passengers the other shows were also worth the time spent. The only complaint I heard from others is that the food at Cirque was awful and you had no choice what to eat, the menu was set. Dining: We only at at two of the pay restaurants, LaCucina and Churrascaria. Both, although not spectacular, were quite good and well worth the price. We had breakfast at both Taste and the buffet and found both to be very good. If you are an early diner, as we are, you will not have any problem being seated or served. We made our reservations for 5:30 and went right in both times. The buffet always had a good variety that should have something to please everyone. If you have trouble finding something you like I feel that you might be way too picky and should probably avoid cruising altogether. O'Sheehans had great bar food and if go and don't like to have the ear pounding sound of the bowling alley, be sure to find a seat on the outer edge of the area. Miscellaneous: 1. The in room rental for first run movies was almost $12. Norwegian would have been better off if they priced the rentals competitively with Blockbuster and not charge what it would cost to buy the movie. 2.The lack of a good promenade deck is a deal breaker for us. In the future we will be checking deck plans to make sure we can stroll around the ship with the ocean for a background. The Epic has a walking area behind the hanging lifeboats that block the view and you can only walk up and down. 3. I have seen other reviews that have commented on how good the chocolate chip and oatmeal cookies are. This is one of my wifes' favorite treats. We found the cookies only available twice during the cruise and in limited quantities. When I inquired about it no one seemed to know why they were always out. 4 The elevators were the quickest in our experience and never had a long wait. We did avoid using them after lifeboat drill or any event that a large number of people were departing from at the same time. 5. If you are on the open deck you will not be able to escape the smokers. Both the open pool deck and the casino seemed to be owned by the tobacco company. 6.This item is more of an editorial as opposed to the rest of the review. Many people seem to complain about being nickeled and dimed. I don't know if it is true but I would speculate that the cruise lines sell the cruises at a break even price. They can only show a profit by people buying the extras. This makes sense to me because it opens cruising to people who normally would not be able to afford such a nice vacation. Those who want the extras included should go on one of the cruises that do include these items. But they better be ready to shell out two to four times the cost of the bulk cruise.