This is only my 2nd cruise so not much to compare against after going away last year on P&O Azura - my sister found an excellent deal for the family on Norwegian Epic which included the free drinks package - too good to be true for a party of 11. We found Norwegian Epic to be an amazing large ship and enjoyed the freestyle cruising life it had to offer.
Embarkation was very smooth as we had stayed 3 days earlier in an apartment in Barcelona and took a 5 minute walk to get the Port Bus for only a few euros each. Then after dropping off luggage a short wait in line before checking in, then onto the ship to try and find your way around. Disembarkation was equally as smooth walking off the ship after breakfast with no queues or waiting other than a 20 minute wait for a taxi.
Kids Club: We signed my daughter into the kids club - surfers for my 9 year old and she made many friends and had lots of activities whilst being entertained, she usually only went in the evenings as she spent her days with us but enjoyed it very much, on a few occasions I was told off for collecting her too early.
Good size cabin for family of 3, beds comfy, soon got use to the bathroom arrangements within the family. Shower was a good size along with toiletries, toilet was perfectly adequate, I just felt the sink was a little small and would have preferred the curtain to include the sink area as the flooring did. Good storage area for 3 people and cases fitted under the beds really easily. Lighting was not bright enough around the bathroom mirror.
Loved the towel animals each evening and my daughter was so disappointed if we forgot to leave the sign saying 'turn down the cabin'.
Our cabin steward (His name was Matteo) was attentive and looked after & cleaned our cabin so well.
Barcelona was lovely we visited the aquarium, used the hop on hop off bus tour, fountains, shopping in the bullring.
A wander around the shops and a walk along to the beach.
A must is the cable cars up to the top of the mountain and a ride back down in the Tobaggan Wicker Basket.
A wander around the shops, tapas & sangria in the local cafes and then an hour on the beach all within walking distance of the port
A walk off the ship but got harrased by the local street sellers.