After spending a few hours reading the negative criticism of the Norwegian Epic, I was prepared for the worst. Which I suppose is a good thing, since nothing we experienced was anywhere near as bad as what we had read, and even the downsides weren't all that "down." I suppose not having any basis of comparison made the first trip more pleasurable than it might otherwise have been. I'll list salient points below:

EMBARKATION: Seemed pretty painless; we arrived around 11:30 and it took around 45 minutes from the time we arrived until we made it on board. I question the necessity of having everyone stop for a vacation photo before boarding, but it was only a minor inconvenience. Once on board we were able to drop our luggage in the Headliners lounge (took all of 5 minutes) and were able to tour the ship unencumbered. First meal was at the outdoor buffet on Deck 15--hamburgers, fries, etc. Was fine. Cabin was ready by 2:00 p.m.

STATEROOM: Well, yes, it isn't all that large, and I suppose if I were traveling with a family maneuvering would be a hassle, but for 2 people, there was plenty of space, lots of storage, and the balcony size was terrific. I read a review somewhere that the balcony staterooms with the "wavy" part on the left side are better because the bed will be next to the balcony instead of the shower and toilet, and that's what we had, which was a good use of space. Speaking of the toilet problem, we had no problem with it. We just agreed that when one had to do major business the other would spend time gazing off the balcony. System worked fine. Read more