We went on the Epic for a 7-day cruise to the Eastern Caribbean 12/10-17/2011. This was our first time on NCL. Previously we had been on Royal Caribbean and Carnival and had very good experiences on both. The Epic is much larger than the other ships we have been on before and offered upscale entertainment and more specialty restaurants that intrigued us.

Boarding was easy and after we boarded we went to the H2O bar at the back of the ship (it is for adults only until 8pm - but you have to "know" about it - the information sheets did not state this). The H2O bar area includes a full buffet, bar, pool, and hot tubs for adults only so it was a nice quiet place to wait until our luggage was delivered to our stateroom. The ship is awesome. There are three water slides, a climbing wall, 2 bowling alleys, and children's features. The ship touts its free style cruising in that there are no set times to eat and you can select from 2 main dining rooms (Taste and Manhattan) or specialty restaurants (some at extra cost). We went to the Manhattan dining room the first night. It was packed and so we had to make reservations with the hostess - 2 of our party had dress shorts on and were turned away so they had change into long trousers or dresses - women included to gain entrance into the dining room. It took about an hour for us to be seated (there were 9 of us). The service was unbelievably slow and when we were finally served my Caesar salad was tasteless, the lobster tails were rubbery and the snapper was overcooked. The maitre de stopped by to ask how we liked the food and I reported that it was a disappointment. She said that when you serve thousands of people you cannot expect gourmet food. This was unbelievable because we had experienced such great food on other cruise lines. We never ate at that dining room again.

The steak house on the ship is Cagney's - again substandard food (the same Caesar salad!); the food at the Cirque de Soleil dinner show was terrible as well. But on the plus side, the Italian restaurant was pretty good. It is interesting to note that the best food was at the buffets! Read more