This is a quick review of our Epic cruise. This was our first NCL cruise. We are fans of both Princess and Royal Caribbean, but we were very interested in seeing the Epic, so we opted to give NCL a try. Because of reading so many mixed reviews, my expectations for NCL were not very high, so I was very pleasantly surprised that I liked it so well.

Loved the freestyle dining concept. This works so much better than anytime dining on other lines. Never had to wait more than 5 minutes to be seated. The Epic is very large, but never felt crowded. No lines anywhere. The Garden Cafe (Buffet) seems a bit odd in it's layout, but it works. The flow was great, no lines to get food anytime we were there.

We were in a Spa Deluxe Balcony Cabin on Deck 14. Loved it! Great location and very quiet Cabins have great soundproofing and are very well designed. Lots and lots of storage (even drawers under the sofa) Our cabin had a shower big enough for 2 with great sliding doors. Our friends were next door and their cabin had a tub/shower combo. We learned the tubs are alternated every other cabin in this area. We preferred our shower as the tub was high and difficult to get in and out of. Our cabin type included spa robes to use, spa soaps and lotions and a bracelet for admittance to the spa thermal area. The thermal area with hot tubs, sauna, steam room, heated loungers was the best I've ever seen on a ship. There is a great balcony there off the aft, which is a great place to curl up and read or catch a little nap. I spent a lot of time in this area. Read more