Before I begin the actual review I will give you a little background so you can see where my thoughts are coming from. We are a family of three, my husband and I are in our late 40's and our son will be 18 next month. We have been cruising at least twice a year for over 20 years so we have been on a multitude of ships. For the past five years or so we have cruised exclusively in suites which definitely effected our impression of our cabin. All the suites on the ship were sold out when we booked so I took the next best thing, a D2- deluxe balcony AKA mini suite for the week. With a son and husband who are both over six feet tall that was a big mistake. If we return to the Epic I will insist on a suite or get my son his own cabin, there simply was not enough room for three adults to move about in the mini suite, I can't even imagine four people in the cabin-someone would sleep in the bathtub or on the balcony! Twice we have sailed with NCL over Christmas, once on the Sun in a penthouse suite and then on the Jewel in a two bedroom (two bathroom) suite, this summer we were on Holland America in a very large suite so it was definitely culture shock going to a cabin that was about a quarter of the size. I will say that by the middle of the week we did grow accustomed to it although we were still bumping into each other all the time.

The cabins esthetically are very attractive; I liked the curved walls and the dEcor. The dark built in cabinets reminded me of the bedrooms on my aunt's yacht. There was a ton of storage and a large flat screen TV. The couch is curved and although neat to look at, according to my son, impossible to sleep on. At 6'1 his feet hung off the bed by about a foot. The master bed was very comfortable with nice linens but again it was quiet short for my husband. I found that if you snuggled right into the curve of the padded headboard there was plenty of room, however I am only 5'3 and my husband measures in at almost 6'3. The bathroom situation did not bother me in the least. I know a lot of people get worked up about them but we spend a lot of time in Europe and compartmentalized bathrooms are the norm there. I actually found them convenient as one person could be taking a bath or shower while another used the toilet. I suppose if one focused really hard you could see the shadow of someone through the frosted glass but it really was not an issue. I think it would be nice if the privacy curtain was burgundy to match the slider curtain which would take away the "hospital" feel. We had no issues with the room steward walking in while using the facilities, it is simple to discourage this by turning the notification wheel to "privacy please" or just by dead bolting your door. The tub was an interesting curved shape which was quite comfortable I brought along my own bath salts and spent a good half hour soaking and never felt claustrophobic. The bathroom area was just fine in my opinion, although I did miss the nice lotions and amenities you get in a suite. Besides all of the great built in cabinets one thing I really liked was that the balcony drapery had magnets on it. This was such a great idea! I am the one who usually sleeps on the balcony side of the bed and would always be woken up by a beam of light hitting my eye each morning on other ships. In this cabin that was not an issue, just line up the magnets and no light gets through! One other thing I really liked about the cabin was that it had wireless internet available, I always bring my netbook with me to keep up with my clients and it is so much more comfortable to do so sitting in bed rather than having to go down to an internet cafe. I did have the opportunity to take a look at the studios and found them to be a great idea. They are small but perfect for on the go singles. They have a one way window that looks out in the hallway so you don't feel claustrophobic and the shade can be drawn if you don't want to watch the world go by. What is great about the studios is that there are several that connect. So if two single friends are traveling they can each have their own space or open up the doorway for a "mini suite" of sorts. Without the traditional single supplement these cabins are a great bargain! I also liked the idea of the lounge area that is reserved only for studio passengers. This is a great way to meet other single travelers and have a sense of community while on this massive vessel. I never got up to the courtyard, much to my dismay, but I am certain it is as amazing as the one on the Jewel was, next time I am on the Epic that is where I am certain to be found!

On to the ship itself, well it is huge. This is one cruise that I went on that I didn't gain even a pound from all the walking we did while exploring the vessel. The set-up is very good except for the casino. In order to get to some areas like Shanghai and Teppanyaki you must walk through the casino which as others have noted is a dense fog of smoke. I did see air cleaning machines so I think they are working on the issue but they may need bigger machines or more of them. The ship was full but it never felt like we were with 6000 people. (Except when you were on an elevator I kept waiting for the weight limit buzzer to go off as people kept pushing their way in but that is more about rude guests than the ship's design) The waterslides are great fun for adults as well as children and surprisingly there were only very short lines, that may have had to do with our weather which was not the best but we enjoyed them cloudy or not. The cruise line has done a great job of creating areas for different age groups. I saw a waterpark that was focused on very young-preschool aged children that was shaded so mom's wouldn't have to worry about them burning, it was situated where the little ones would not be run down by older kids, I thought that was great planning. A larger water park with fountains and all types of sprays and sprinklers was on deck near some smaller pools for the other children. In the back of the ship was an adult's only pool which was very peaceful. We sat back there and played cards. On the giant TV screen they had the neatest channel called the "window channel" it was like looking out a window at various relaxing scenes like waterfalls, the ocean, a man fishing etc. You could also access that channel in your cabin. I would love to have it at home as it was so calming. Following the lead of other NCL ships the carpeting is color coded depending on if you are port or starboard (red or blue) they have expanded on that idea and have the elevators color coded as well. This saves a lot of "getting lost" time. If you "live" on deck 12 red just make sure to take the red elevator and you will end up on the right side, great idea! Read more