My family and I have taken many cruises and I have never written a review on a cruise but this cruise needs a review. There are two worlds on board the Epic, the Haven and not the Haven. I would give 5 stars to the Haven and zero to the Epic if I could. When we got to the terminal in Orlando we were escorted to a Haven only exclusive area where we were offered coffee and cookies and a seat to wait to check in. That all went very smoothly and we boarded within 30 minutes of arrival. While our room was being prepared, we were escorted to the Haven restaurant where we had a made to order lunch, not a buffet. As for the rest of the ship, it was so crowded that you had to wait for everything. Let's focus on the shows. The Cirque show you have to pay for. On top of the thousands of dollars for the cruise, they want to squeeze another $40 out of you to pay for food you already paid for. The Priscilla show is not for children (way too progressive for a vacation show) but it is free. The dance show was very good and the dancers were all great (also free and Haven guests have reserved seats up front). Now for the other stuff. The slides are fun but you have to stay on the ship while in port to use them so you don't have to wait in a 30 minute line. Also, wearing a top (especially on the green slide) will save you some skin. The casino is pretty big but not nearly big enough for the 4000 people on board. You basically have to troll the place to get a seat at a gaming table. They do have bar service in the casino and the dealer's ring the bell over and over again at your request but when you only have a couple of people serving drinks and there are 500 people gambling, you may or may not get served (about a 50/50 chance). Also, there is an Irish Pub located mid ship that is a big choke point to get through as there are many different things going on in the same spot. (On a side note, the food there is pretty awful and the service is too-my wife ordered a Chardonnay and they brought her a Shandy.) The elevators...worst part of the ship. There are no mid-ship elevators so the ones fore and aft were always jammed with people. Be prepared to walk many flights of stairs (we were on deck 17). The common sun areas are nice but like all overcrowded large ships, people get up at 6 a.m. and claim their spots and then come out around noon to use them. The ship's staff do not monitor this so if you want a chair, get up early. Lastly, the debarkation of the Epic was the worst I have ever been through. As a Haven guest, we had our 'priority' luggage on the very first table inside the terminal but with the thousands trying to get out, we had to drag our luggage to the opposite side of the terminal to wait in line (took an hour to get out). If you want to have a porter carry your stuff out there is a separate line to get you out quicker. The staff working the terminal were not helpful but do like to yell "No cell phones in line" and "This line is for porter's only!".

So the bottom line to this whole cruise: This was our first and last cruise on NCL. I believe they are understaffed. We cancelled an NCL Pride of America cruise next summer because my family all agreed we didn't want to take an $11K gamble. We will stick with RCCL and Princess. All of my high ratings are for the Haven.