Our sailing was mostly satisfactory. There were some shining moments, and some disappointments. The Epic is a beautiful ship. The clean and sparkly decor enchants, and the rich textures invite. Embarkation through the smoky smelling Casino is a little less than magical. I definitely missed the promenade deck. We loved the split bathroom, very practical. The rich wood tones of our balcony stateroom felt chic and cozy.

On boarding, we immediately headed toward Le Bistro, to book the Chef's Table. We were lucky and pleased to find that they offer this on 2 nights. This was lucky for us, because the first night was already filled, despite our mad dash to book. We did get in on the second night. We were disappointed that the mixed drink package was not offered on our sailing. In the end it worked out better for us money wise, and not as well for Norwegian. We found the wine package limiting, as they require that you pick the wines immediately. We were not sure what we would be ordering to eat at each meal during the cruise in advance, to pair with the wine, so we passed on the package. This also worked out better for us, and not as well for Norwegian.

Lobster night was the first night of sailing, in the main dining room. This was a wonderful way to start our cruise. We found a very nice French wine on the menu, which turned into a favorite with most of our meals. Glad we didn't lock ourselves into the wine package, after finding this. We were offered a dining package prior to sailing , which we booked. The venues were limited to Le Bistro, La Cucina, and Cagneys. We dined at Le Bistro the second night. Wonderful as usual, and the service top notch. We tried La Cucina a couple of nights later. My Road King ordered the minestrone, and although the presentation was impressive, the soup was cold. He also didn't care for the lasagna. The lobster in my pasta was rubbery, and tasted like it was left over from our first night of sailing. The dinner at Cagneys was mostly amazing, although the service was slow, and my seafood stuffed mushroom appetizer was cold. Overall, we should have passed on the dinner package. It was only a few dollars less than booking individually. If we hadn't been locked into those 3 restaurants, we would have booked the Churasscaria in favor of La Cucina. Don't bother with the Sushi bar, the sushi, the edamame, and the service were just plain bad. The entertainment in the blues club was great, we had a wonderful time there. Read more