We went on this cruise with another couple who wanted to try the bigger ship as they previously had only been on the Spirit with us a couple of years ago. I've been on many ships/cruise lines so I was open to it. Over all we had a great time and the ship was lovely but I wouldn't (probably) go on the Epic again. It was clean, well kept up (despite some weird negative comments stating otherwise) and the staff were all friendly,helpful and service was great in all bar areas. I didn't love the open concept as it made for a very noisy environment with no definition between each "room". Especially the pub area which we hated! lol On the smaller ship the pub was our favourite go-to place, but on the Epic it was massive and you couldn't hear yourself think let alone talk at peak times. We did enjoy the piano bar area and loved the outside H2Q (I believe that's what it was called); and it became our fav place to go after days off the ship. The cirque show/dinner was very good, actually better than I expected based on iffy reviews and I found it to be worth the extra cost. We had 3 specialty dining evenings..the Brazilian (wouldn't do it again), the Teppanyaki (excellent) and Cagney's (excellent). The dining room food was okay, not as good as in the past, on the slower side service wise. Buffet was fine and was our breakfast each morning. The sail away party on the pool deck was great fun and the 70's/80's dance them at the H2Q were a big hit all around. The itinerary was very busy (I wouldn't do it again) and had us up 3 of our mornings at 6 a.m. in order to disembark for our tours. So partying at night was difficult as we were well aware of our wake up time! We booked all of our tours independently and they were all perfect and timely and much less expensive (with just 4 of us rather a busload). I haven't booked through the various ships in years and won't ever again.