This was my 6th cruise. My motto is "the newer, the bigger, the better" and some of my previous ships include RCCL's Freedom of the Seas, Cunard's Queen Mary 2, Holland America's Eurodam and Celebrity's Equinox. Naturally, then, I wanted to try NCL's Epic. I was a little nervous, however, because of all the negative postings on Cruise Critic. I have to say, though, that my boyfriend and I had an absolutely wonderful week with the folks from NCL on this marvelous ship.

Overall, I rate the experience an A- and here is my review:

Boarding & Disembarkation: Boarding was smooth and didn't take long. If there are too many people boarding at once they hold you back in a waiting area where there are refreshments and ship info to keep you busy so that when your turn comes you just walk on with ease. Interestingly there was no one to greet the guests on the ship itself so you were sort of on your own. Regardless of when you check in, the cabins are only available at 2 PM so the guests are milling about with their carry-on luggage and almost everyone is in the (very crowded) Garden Cafe having lunch. Disembarking was time-consuming as there were very long lines to clear US Customs & Immigration. It seemed not many took advantage of the colour-coded luggage system with pre-arranged disembarkation times as I saw many many guests carrying their own luggage off the ship and leaving after a nice breakfast and pretty much at the last minute (which may explain why cabins aren't ready until 2 PM). (B-) Read more