Introduction: The Epic is huge - which means good extras and some bad/down things of course....the ship is sleek but minimally decorated. There is virtually no wood and no art (some framed photos). There is an interesting chandelier but no one on the ship (guest services) could tell us about it even though the woman promised to call our stateroom when she found out more info. The entertainment was high end (lots of options and really good)....we usually are turned off by the "TV type" of entertainers but not true here: The food options - we ate at specialty restaurants all but one night - are what we love! And the gym - wow. Newer and better equipment than our gym at home! We feel that the NCL agent (how we booked) should have clearly explained the VAT tax in advance and the effect that would have on pricing. We felt that we were held hostage and only told about the VAT tax once on board so what can you do?

Initial Booking done thru NCL - probably a mistake as we could have gotten better deals in other places AND the coupon book that NCL offered as a promo sucked....it was so awful (some coupons actually said they weren't good on the Epic at this date)...it was a true rip off. And when we pushed the agent to tell us more about the coupon book when booking she misled us telling us how much we would save (most of the coupons were available to everyone on the ship)...we save $10 one night at the Italian restaurant, period. Next time we will save money by booking somewhere besides thru NCL directly. That was a huge disappointment because like the VAT we feel we were misled. Would we do Epic again? I am not sure. Would we do NCL? Probably because of dining options...but with the competition on cruise lines we will study hard to see who else is offering more dining options too. Did we have fun? Yes for sure - but one makes their own fun too right! Happy cruising to all - no matter which line and ship you pick!

Experiences on the ship: Wow was it easy to get aboard early and walk around, enjoy looking, find help and eat! We had hand carried our gym clothes so we could work out though our luggage arrived within 90 minutes of being aboard. We had a great workout in the amazing gym. We enjoyed not having to wear our lifejackets to the muster drill (yes thank you). We always made reservations for the specialty restaurants which were not needed but did get us better tables (location). You must make reservations for the entertainment and it is so good don't miss it. Blue Man Group entertained for sure (a big drawn out at times but they have to fill their time slot). Cirque de Soleil (a very mediocre dinner is served with it) amazing - what would they do if it had been rough/rocky night? The entertainment all over the ship - including CLASSICAL music (thank you thank you) was great. There were times we would get into a night club (one not accepting reservations) and there would be no seats and hardly standing room. It is a huge ship with huge number of people and we tend to eat dinner until at least 10 pm so it is what it is. Read more