I believe Wayne Gretzky once said: "You miss 100% of the shots you never take," which is why I was compelled to try the new "Norwegian Epic," amidst a vast majority of cruisers being somewhat to extremely disappointed with their Epic experience.

Although smaller than Royal Caribbean's "Oasis," The Norwegian Epic is still an enormous, 153,000-tons of methodically structured steel. She is an engineering marvel that commands respect among all that witness her size and beauty. At the mere age of 6, my daughter has already become a cruising fan after I introduced her to her very first voyage, last year upon the Disney Wonder. That's all it took, she was hooked! Among the hype of the new ship itself, Norwegian's website and customer services reps boast of the "exciting" Nickelodeon theme for children aboard the Epic. And so it was a "no-brainer," that was all the lure I needed to book the cruise with NCL. Upon arriving at the Port of Miami, My daughter and I were estatic!

The magnificent ship, Nickelodeon, palm trees, the blue Caribbean, and an enticing warm sea-breeze that without-a-doubt puts all one's stressors at-bay...or so one may think when jumping to such conclusions. We were greeted with a simple "Welcome Aboard." Are you serious...that's the best you can do? C'mon, Norwegian...you are better than that. Hey, now where do we go? Where is our stateroom...where is the buffet...what is going on...why is no one explaining any of this when you board the ship?? The passengers were left to fend for themselves by asking crew members where they should go. Crew members were mostly introverted and needed the aid of a cattle-prod to volunteer basic information. Over the course of the week, it became painfully obvious that people-skills and enthusiastic interaction among the crew were all but absent. One exception, however, was the entertainment director who simply goes by: "Silas." He was very engergetic and friendly...too bad his personality was not somehow contagious to the rest of the crew. Read more