This was our second cruise, both Norwegian. My family reserved a balcony stateroom for myself, DH, DD (11) and DS (7). Embarkation out of Port Canaveral was very easy, arrived a little after 11, on the boat by 1230, sitting in Taste with a drink by 1!

The cabin had enough storage for my family of 4, the bedding situation was fine after we pulled the couch out from under the curved back. The bathrooms weren't ideal. I knew what to expect going into it, wasn't fully prepared for how not soundproof the toilet area was. The curtain separating the room from the bathroom units worked for visual privacy, but that's about it! We were towards the aft of the ship (deck 13) and there was quite a bit of vibration. My parents had an aft balcony and didn't seem to notice the vibrations as much as we did, strange.

We were sailing at full capacity, and could tell. While the public areas weren't over the top crowded (I think the Epic has a good lay out to disperse people), I think the staff had a hard time keeping up with cleaning after all the vacationers on the boat. On the Jade last March, we constantly saw people cleaning, and the ship was spotless. The Epic had dirty public bathrooms, trash left around the pool deck, etc. I understand people should clean after themselves, but just a noticeable difference between the ships. Read more