We choose the epic for the date and port stops. We have previously cruised on Royal Caribbean and Carnival and thought Norwegian would be a new change. The first thing we came across was our cabin which was a pleasant surprise.. it was very roomy and provided all kinds of unique storage and nicer décor than we have previously seen in any cruise ship cabin. The housekeeping staff was very friendly and helpful. That was the extent of the pleasantness of our experience.

Elevators were crushed with people and slow to get, there are way too few on board. The bars and restaurants had terrible waits and service was slow and apathetic. Bartenders were constantly complaining that there were not enough of them to help customers. We ate mainly in the Manhatten Dining Room and had terrible service. Got served the wrong meal twice, once to be replaced with a meal that had been sitting in front of another customer for 5 minutes, medium rare sliced steak had well done pieces underneath, crème brulee was not bruleed, was told that escargot was mushrooms (not what I ordered!), coffee never filled, etc....it was the same in Taste dining room as well. Buffets were usual subpar cruise ship buffet food. We tried the Teppanaki one night and were not that impressed, overly salty and slow service.

There is now a charge for all room service as well. The ship despite its enourmous size was packed every where with people and loud music. It seemed half of the ship was closed off to cruisers who did not upgrade to the all access package. All of this along with the over priced excursions packages (not worth it, get a cab for faster service, longer time in the place you want to go, all for less than half the price!) ensured that we are never going to sail on this cruise line again. The cirque d'soliel type show that we paid to attend had an obstructed view (could not see the top half of the show).