Just returned from an excellent trip on the Epic, boarding at Southampton after its recent dry dock. I have to say that I completely disagree with many of the reviews for this ship and its staff. My wife and I found it to be fantastic and brilliant value, especially on a late booking with the free drinks package included. Highlights included the entertainment, which was especially good compared to other cruise ships that we had been on. I'm not sure if this is a Norwegian thing or a feature of a 4000 passenger ship, either way it blew the socks off our August trip on Island Princess, which was really boring in comparison. Specific shows were: Priscilla, queen of the desert - a great show, recognising the huge risk that NCL have taken Burn the floor - again absolutely fantastic Howl at the moon - a highlight for us, maybe helped by the free booze! Cirque show - brilliant In contrast the Beatles show was only average and the Men of Motown were typical cruise fare. We found the food to be very average in the main dining rooms, and in the Irish bar (with no Irish beer) it was dreadful. However we were able to look beyond this as the service on the ship was good, coupled with the great entertainment and cheap price. We would definitely sail with NCL again, but we would probably only go on ships with a 3000 passenger minimum, as we like to be entertained by something better than karaoke - yes that is you Island Princess. Read Less

Our cruise aboard Norwegian Epic got off to a bad start by NCL shortening the cruise from 7 nights to 6 nights from Southampton to Barcelona. NCL promised they would pay for accommodation in Southampton the night before the cruise, so we didn't have to change travel arrangements, we are still awaiting this refund. Two suitcases were given to the porters at Southampton to be sent to our cabin, unfortunately NCL dropped about 20 suitcases into the sea. A small boat was eventually used to rescue all but one. Ours were rescued, but all the contents were saturated with dirty salty sea water. Although the clothes were laundered, some clothes had shrunk and faded, shoes and suitcases were dried but still salty, toiletries, etc., ruined. All NCL could say was that it was the responsibility for compensation by the stevedores at Southampton. As far as we are concerned, our contract was with NCL, not the stevedores. Our whole holiday was ruined by visiting reception and trying to get compensation for our belongings, this is still ongoing, with no offer of compensation yet for our very stressful disaster cruise. It was a cruise which we consider was very bad value for money, as it turned into a very stressful holiday caused by NCL. The layout of our balcony cabin was terrible, washbasin in the cabin, small cubicles for shower and toilet had frosted glass sliding doors with no lock. No privacy whatsoever. Read Less