Our 3/16/13 EPIC cruise

[cruzincurt]

We are just back from the 3/16 sailing of the EPIC.

 

As a veteran of numerous cruise lines, and from the big Allure to small Fantasy, I will try and give my honest and experienced opinion. I warn you if you are a NCL cheerleader you need not read any further because you will likely be upset. These are kind of random as they pop into my head.

 

We wanted to try NCL since our past NCL experience was on the last cruise of the SS Norway, so that doesn’t count. So we picked the big dog of the fleet. Bottom line, we were pleased with some aspects, but overall disappointed. We have never had a bad cruise, including this one.

 

Check-in and embarkation were a breeze. The check-in clerk did make a smart a_s remark about using our RCCL CC for on-board charges.

 

The cabin was a B6 balcony mid-ships. Lots of storage, great bed, nice layout with the bed by the balcony door. Liked the reclining balcony chairs. I knew this in advance, but as a partner in an architectural firm, which idiot came up with the idea of putting the toilet and sink in with the bed? Sewage odors are one of the biggest complaints on cruise ships. Once, when standing behind the curtain in my birthday suit toweling off, the room steward choose that moment to knock. I can’t believe a group of people actually sat around a conference room table and agreed to the design. I assume it was the boss’ and no one wanted to object.

 

The overall ship interior is dark with all the dark fake paneling. The dark elevators were like a prelude to going down to the dungeon.

 

We did like the layout of the interior promenade levels. The jewelry store clerks reminded me of the store hawkers at the ports of call. So we politely said no thanks as we walked through.

 

Great access to the lifeboats. The public group toilets were dark and looked dirty because of the choice of finishes. Liked not having photographers in our face all the time.

 

To take advantage of the many dining options, we chose several of the specialty restaurants.

 

The Le Bristo was probably the best of the three we tried. But even so the meal was on a level of what we would expect in the dining room, just no shorts worn nearby.

 

The La Cucina was poor, dry spaghetti and a steak I couldn’t chew. My DW had Osso bucco also not memorable.

 

The Cirque Dreams & Dinner was expensive if the food was to be the value item. Best seats we believe are on the balcony, port side. The entertainment was exceptional except for the whistle, which is a bit overdone. The performers worked very hard to entertain us. The food was TV microwave dinner quality.

 

So on to Cagneys with the anticipation of a mouthwatering filet minion. Once again I had trouble cutting it with a knife. For that $25 I could have the best steak at Outback with drinks included. Very disappointed with the specialty restaurants; a complete waste of money.

 

So on the last night, we tried the Manhattan Room. Turned out to be the best meal of the week, go figure. Even with all the alternative dining options, they still allowed people in for dinner in the Manhattan room with shorts, hats and t-shirts. Didn’t affect my dining experience, I’m just saying.

 

The Garden Café was fine for breakfast but overall had a limited selection for all three mealtimes. O’Sheehans, a nice interior ship concept, also was fine for alternative snacking. I believe 99% of the desserts were gelatin in nature, what about a nice piece of cake or pie baked in an oven?

 

So someone may ask, why didn’t we complain and send the food back? Our goal was to get out as soon as possible not hang around for repeats. We are not complainers (except for maybe here where I’m just trying to state our experience and facts as we saw them) , we just vote with our feet.

 

Now the entertainment: The Blue Man Group was the best as expected. Legends in Concert started out lame but the highlight was the Michael Jackson impersonator.

 

Second City Comedy, boring, like watching a poor Saturday Night Live but with lots of F-bombs and other four letter words thrown in as if that makes the act better. The magician/comedian, didn’t do a very good job trying to be George Carlin , Lewis Black and/or Gallagher.

 

The pool deck, lots of lounge chairs, not a problem finding one, but a hole in the deck called a swimming pool. Make up for it with blasting loud music I guess. On a port day afternoon we thought we might try the shuffleboard, but alas, they put the pucks away somewhere. Maybe they didn’t want them to accidentally go over the railing and hit someone because when the court was seaside in Nassau the pucks were out???

 

The ship is built around a casino. The craps table was very kind to me, paid for all our expenses.

 

I didn’t understand the purpose of the blasting music on the pier at the ports of call.

 

We did our own roll-off for debarkation. Luckily, we were at the right place at the right time when the Aft debark stations opened, so all went swiftly for us When the cruise is over, all we want to do is get home.

 

So overall, any cruise that gets back to the port of origination is a good one, the crew were very friendly, the ship is well maintained and we like the concept of free style cruising.

 

I will be monitoring the NCL board for hopefully better reports from the new ships, then maybe we will try NCL again.

[david_sobe]

Welcome back and thanks for the review!

[WaldosPepper]

Welcome back! Thanks for your very insightful review. I'm glad to know you enjoyed yourselves despite some things you found disappointing.

[NLH Arizona]

thanks for your review.

[SMSACE6]

Thanks for your review. Sorry it wasnt a great cruise for you, but sounds like it was not a bad one either. Thanks again for posting.:)

[chisoxfan]

Agree with most of your comments regarding the EPIC. We also would not go back but have not written off NCL.

Most ships have a certain level of grandeur and elegance (even the Sky has some nice rooms and public areas) but the EPIC seemed dark with low ceilings and designed around the casino as you noted.

I would take exception to your comments on specialty dining. We have been very happy with NCL food in MDR and specialty restaurants.

What I was dissapointed in was operation of the MDRs which were noisy and inelegant. Manhattan is a great concept but was crowded (like the small pool area), and loud. The last straw for me was seeing laundry bags (presumably filled with dirty linens) being dragged through the room during dinner. This is the first ship (not that we have been on that many Century, Diamond, Grand, Golden, Sapphire, Solstice, Equinox, Norway, and Sky x2)that I would purposely avoid.

[cruzincurt]

Yes, food is personal taste, we just must of hit on a bad week. If they are buying cheap beef, they are getting what they paid for, if not, they are getting ripped off.

 

I also have a problem with the noise. Cagneys sounded like a high school cafeteria. Working with architects, I learn a lot about acoustics. The problem is that they used hard ceiling panels parallel to the floor, they have no acoustical perforations, hard table surfaces, Carneys only had place mats, very few drapes and no sound panels on the walls. glass walls overlooking the Manhattan dining room, etc. Coffered ceilings also help to trap the noise. Therefore it is very noisy.

 

We are gamblers and typically don't cruise for the ports anymore, although St. Maarten is our favorite. So we are hoping to try NCL again, but just not the EPIC.

[Cruzface]

Thanks for the review. We had such a different experience. You should have tried Moderno. We felt Le Bistro was good, but not awesome as others have said.

 

Did you go to howl? That was a highlight for us.

[camz]

CruzinCurt: Welcome Back! Thank you for your review. I am sorry the Epic was not to your liking. However, it was good to hear that you did enjoy your cruise. Maybe the new Breakaway or Getaway will be something that brings you back to give NCL another try. :)

[Cruzface]

CruzinCurt: Welcome Back! Thank you for your review. I am sorry the Epic was not to your liking. However, it was good to hear that you did enjoy your cruise. Maybe the new Breakaway or Getaway will be something that brings you back to give NCL another try. :)

 

Or there will be less competition for those ship's...:cool:

[jpm168]

Agreed the Manhattan Room is a great idea but poorly chosen location and design. It sounded like a noisy Chinese restaurant and heck I'm Chinese and noticed it lol. I loved not having to dress up on NCL though, but felt they should've enforced the code more at Manhattan.

[Cruzface]

Agreed the Manhattan Room is a great idea but poorly chosen location and design. It sounded like a noisy Chinese restaurant and heck I'm Chinese and noticed it lol. I loved not having to dress up on NCL though, but felt they should've enforced the code more at Manhattan.

 

I witnessed them enforcing the code. Next cruise we will be going there for the majority of our meals.

[SissasMomE]

Hi - where did you disembark AFT?

 

I agree about Cagneys and the rest of the specialty restaurants. Once upon a time (YEARS ago) they all used to be really top notch. I do put them in the same league with Outback now, and I'm not really a huge fan of Outback ;) One exception is on the Sky. Cagneys is so much different on the Sky for some reason.

[cruzincurt]

They started self-debarkation at the doors near the EPIC theater Forward. By the time we walked all the way aft to the casino area to get in the back of the line, they announced debarkation aft at the customer service desk area was now open. So we were able to re-route to those doors thus beating out several hundred lined-up for the forward doors.

[chisoxfan]

Yes, food is personal taste, we just must of hit on a bad week. If they are buying cheap beef, they are getting what they paid for, if not, they are getting ripped off.

 

I also have a problem with the noise. Cagneys sounded like a high school cafeteria. Working with architects, I learn a lot about acoustics. The problem is that they used hard ceiling panels parallel to the floor, they have no acoustical perforations, hard table surfaces, Carneys only had place mats, very few drapes and no sound panels on the walls. glass walls overlooking the Manhattan dining room, etc. Coffered ceilings also help to trap the noise. Therefore it is very noisy.

 

We are gamblers and typically don't cruise for the ports anymore, although St. Maarten is our favorite. So we are hoping to try NCL again, but just not the EPIC.

 

I actually had a decent steak at Cagney's and have been generally pleased with "ocean food". Maybe because my expectations are notched down when I get on board. My wife and I were fine with Cagneys and Bistro but weren't enthusiastic about expensive meals at Morton's and Trulucks in Miami before our cruise. I guess it is why a hotdog and beer at the ballpark tastes seems to taste so much better than anywhere else.

[chisoxfan]

Agreed the Manhattan Room is a great idea but poorly chosen location and design. It sounded like a noisy Chinese restaurant and heck I'm Chinese and noticed it lol. I loved not having to dress up on NCL though, but felt they should've enforced the code more at Manhattan.

 

Yes, Manhattan could have been a great venue. Kudos to NCL EPIC for trying many novel ideas perhaps not executing them well.

[floridiancruiser]

Just back from the same cruise. Will try never to sail NCL again. They seemed to have lost sight of their business model or worse, amended it to probably make them mean and nasty. We had a mini-suite (the extra room {245sqft} helps) and an inside on deck 10.

 

What is worse than the water closet or the super-mini sink or the toilet and shower doors which run on wheels on tracks (super noisy); is the fact that the lighting on the entire ship is bad, esp inside rooms, most cruisers are actually used to extra lighting in the bathroom and their cabins, but not the EPIC. It is bizarre there is so much of mirror space but so little lighting to go along with it.

 

My experience with housekeeping was pretty bad, but I would burden you with it, because it may not be across the board. Although I will say there was no amenities in the cabins, nothing. Not even a pen and pad to write something down.

 

We are somewhat experienced cruisers (108 days of cruising), the "grilled" steak or the "grilled" chicken was not grilled, may have been pan fried or broiled.

 

The wait staff in Taste was rude, and it took too long to get simple meals. I heard a young couple say that it was the first time they had spent 3 hours in a restaurant. La Coquina was a waste of money, service though was excellent.

 

Food overall for NCL standards was below par, they need a new Exec Chef.

 

The Casino is what it is all about, slot machines even we you sitting at some bars, nice, and to make matters worse one has to walk through the entire smoked filled casino to get anywhere, I saw a lot of kids hanging around their parents at slot machines. NCL must have found a loophole, there is no signs talking about legal age to enter, because in essence there is NO MAIN ENTRANCE to the casino, on Carnival they are somewhat strict about minors in the Casinos, actually on NCL Dawn, they had minors playing at the tables and after I complained, the minors (late teens) were asked to stop gambling.

 

On most ships parents can either view their kids (though pot holes or monitors) in the camps (Recess), but not on the Epic. My kids say it was quite regimental, but kids will be kids, so I cannot confirm this. All I can say is they seem disorganized.

 

If you complain about anything, they send you hand carved chocolates to your room, whats with that. One evening at O'Sheenan's the waiter seemed more keen on attending to the Staff Captain and The Chief Engineer than on the guests. It upset me so much that I told the Staff Captain that in a service industry, one should not ever lose sight of the reason why they were there - the guests. This is very common on The Epic, in fact I saw numerous occasion in the Garden Cafe, staff (cruise director's staff, store employees etc) jostling for room with guests at the buffet line. Not good for business.

 

The Assistant Cruise Director (we had experienced her on The Dawn and The Sun, not in the same job position) is quite ridiculous. I have personally experienced her bad attitude and her rudeness. Seems like NCL rewards bad behavior.

 

The ship seems to have a lot of serious gamblers. You would like it if you like to spend most of your time gambling in a very smoky environment.

 

The shows were good. For me the best, was not Blue Man, but The Legends and only the MJ act, the guy was brilliant. Second City was in the little headliners club, I have seen them before on cruise ships, but in the main theater, I wondered why they were hosted in the Headliners, I realized it was real impromptu, take it or leave it, they need more substance for a ship the cadre like Epic.

 

There is more, but this should do.

 

Back to Carnival for us (Dream, for the 3rd time in August).

 

NCL must not forget where the bread-n-butter of the sales for most of the non-luxury cruise lines. Carnival has these guys beat in this department, Carnival does not make it obvious when they pamper their VIPS, NCL does - like blocking off a whole bunch of seats for Haven guests for Blue Man group, when everyone else is hunting for a seat.

[floridiancruiser]

Oh!. I forgot, I think they had fresh water in the two little (I say little, for a ship this size, it is, quite) pools - this is good. My 9yo son was extremely pleased with it, in fact of the 5 of us he is the only one that wants to go back and it was mainly for the freshwater pool, go figure.

[Cruzface]

Just back from the same cruise. Will try never to sail NCL again. They seemed to have lost sight of their business model or worse, amended it to probably make them mean and nasty. We had a mini-suite (the extra room {245sqft} helps) and an inside on deck 10.

 

What is worse than the water closet or the super-mini sink or the toilet and shower doors which run on wheels on tracks (super noisy); is the fact that the lighting on the entire ship is bad, esp inside rooms, most cruisers are actually used to extra lighting in the bathroom and their cabins, but not the EPIC. It is bizarre there is so much of mirror space but so little lighting to go along with it.

 

My experience with housekeeping was pretty bad, but I would burden you with it, because it may not be across the board. Although I will say there was no amenities in the cabins, nothing. Not even a pen and pad to write something down.

 

We are somewhat experienced cruisers (108 days of cruising), the "grilled" steak or the "grilled" chicken was not grilled, may have been pan fried or broiled.

 

The wait staff in Taste was rude, and it took too long to get simple meals. I heard a young couple say that it was the first time they had spent 3 hours in a restaurant. La Coquina was a waste of money, service though was excellent.

 

Food overall for NCL standards was below par, they need a new Exec Chef.

 

The Casino is what it is all about, slot machines even we you sitting at some bars, nice, and to make matters worse one has to walk through the entire smoked filled casino to get anywhere, I saw a lot of kids hanging around their parents at slot machines. NCL must have found a loophole, there is no signs talking about legal age to enter, because in essence there is NO MAIN ENTRANCE to the casino, on Carnival they are somewhat strict about minors in the Casinos, actually on NCL Dawn, they had minors playing at the tables and after I complained, the minors (late teens) were asked to stop gambling.

 

On most ships parents can either view their kids (though pot holes or monitors) in the camps (Recess), but not on the Epic. My kids say it was quite regimental, but kids will be kids, so I cannot confirm this. All I can say is they seem disorganized.

 

If you complain about anything, they send you hand carved chocolates to your room, whats with that. One evening at O'Sheenan's the waiter seemed more keen on attending to the Staff Captain and The Chief Engineer than on the guests. It upset me so much that I told the Staff Captain that in a service industry, one should not ever lose sight of the reason why they were there - the guests. This is very common on The Epic, in fact I saw numerous occasion in the Garden Cafe, staff (cruise director's staff, store employees etc) jostling for room with guests at the buffet line. Not good for business.

 

The Assistant Cruise Director (we had experienced her on The Dawn and The Sun, not in the same job position) is quite ridiculous. I have personally experienced her bad attitude and her rudeness. Seems like NCL rewards bad behavior.

 

The ship seems to have a lot of serious gamblers. You would like it if you like to spend most of your time gambling in a very smoky environment.

 

The shows were good. For me the best, was not Blue Man, but The Legends and only the MJ act, the guy was brilliant. Second City was in the little headliners club, I have seen them before on cruise ships, but in the main theater, I wondered why they were hosted in the Headliners, I realized it was real impromptu, take it or leave it, they need more substance for a ship the cadre like Epic.

 

There is more, but this should do.

 

Back to Carnival for us (Dream, for the 3rd time in August).

 

NCL must not forget where the bread-n-butter of the sales for most of the non-luxury cruise lines. Carnival has these guys beat in this department, Carnival does not make it obvious when they pamper their VIPS, NCL does - like blocking off a whole bunch of seats for Haven guests for Blue Man group, when everyone else is hunting for a seat.

 

I've been on the Dream and it was more of a nightmare. No comparison to Epic. Sorry I just disagree. This is why there are choices. For me NCL is far superior and as you can tell I have been on many Carnival cruises.

[Donna_In_India]

Sorry the cruise did not live up to your expectations. Our experience on the Epic in December was the complete opposite. We loved the Epic and can't wait to sail on the Breakaway and beyond. Would also go back on the Epic.

[tiffygirl]

Just back from the same cruise. Will try never to sail NCL again. They seemed to have lost sight of their business model or worse, amended it to probably make them mean and nasty. We had a mini-suite (the extra room {245sqft} helps) and an inside on deck 10.

 

What is worse than the water closet or the super-mini sink or the toilet and shower doors which run on wheels on tracks (super noisy); is the fact that the lighting on the entire ship is bad, esp inside rooms, most cruisers are actually used to extra lighting in the bathroom and their cabins, but not the EPIC. It is bizarre there is so much of mirror space but so little lighting to go along with it.

 

My experience with housekeeping was pretty bad, but I would burden you with it, because it may not be across the board. Although I will say there was no amenities in the cabins, nothing. Not even a pen and pad to write something down.

 

We are somewhat experienced cruisers (108 days of cruising), the "grilled" steak or the "grilled" chicken was not grilled, may have been pan fried or broiled.

 

The wait staff in Taste was rude, and it took too long to get simple meals. I heard a young couple say that it was the first time they had spent 3 hours in a restaurant. La Coquina was a waste of money, service though was excellent.

 

Food overall for NCL standards was below par, they need a new Exec Chef.

 

The Casino is what it is all about, slot machines even we you sitting at some bars, nice, and to make matters worse one has to walk through the entire smoked filled casino to get anywhere, I saw a lot of kids hanging around their parents at slot machines. NCL must have found a loophole, there is no signs talking about legal age to enter, because in essence there is NO MAIN ENTRANCE to the casino, on Carnival they are somewhat strict about minors in the Casinos, actually on NCL Dawn, they had minors playing at the tables and after I complained, the minors (late teens) were asked to stop gambling.

 

On most ships parents can either view their kids (though pot holes or monitors) in the camps (Recess), but not on the Epic. My kids say it was quite regimental, but kids will be kids, so I cannot confirm this. All I can say is they seem disorganized.

 

If you complain about anything, they send you hand carved chocolates to your room, whats with that. One evening at O'Sheenan's the waiter seemed more keen on attending to the Staff Captain and The Chief Engineer than on the guests. It upset me so much that I told the Staff Captain that in a service industry, one should not ever lose sight of the reason why they were there - the guests. This is very common on The Epic, in fact I saw numerous occasion in the Garden Cafe, staff (cruise director's staff, store employees etc) jostling for room with guests at the buffet line. Not good for business.

 

The Assistant Cruise Director (we had experienced her on The Dawn and The Sun, not in the same job position) is quite ridiculous. I have personally experienced her bad attitude and her rudeness. Seems like NCL rewards bad behavior.

 

The ship seems to have a lot of serious gamblers. You would like it if you like to spend most of your time gambling in a very smoky environment.

 

The shows were good. For me the best, was not Blue Man, but The Legends and only the MJ act, the guy was brilliant. Second City was in the little headliners club, I have seen them before on cruise ships, but in the main theater, I wondered why they were hosted in the Headliners, I realized it was real impromptu, take it or leave it, they need more substance for a ship the cadre like Epic.

 

There is more, but this should do.

 

Back to Carnival for us (Dream, for the 3rd time in August).

 

NCL must not forget where the bread-n-butter of the sales for most of the non-luxury cruise lines. Carnival has these guys beat in this department, Carnival does not make it obvious when they pamper their VIPS, NCL does - like blocking off a whole bunch of seats for Haven guests for Blue Man group, when everyone else is hunting for a seat.

 

 

Too bad your cruise on the Epic did not meet your Carnival standard. Now at least you know that Carnival is a better fit for you.

 

I personally enjoyed my Epic cruise it was absolutely amazing...Food was great, service was great, staff was super, super friendly. I didnt look for issues such as who the staff was catering too...i was too busy enjoying myself.

 

Have fun on the Dream. I am not knocking Carnival, they have a great product. I will cruise them again S. Caribbean, however, NCL is more to my liking and they meet all of my needs.

 

As far as the Haven thing, its part of the 'suite' life on NCL...as the saying goes..dont hate the playa, hate the game. The folks in Haven pay a premium for those perks. I book studios...but im not mad at NCL for providing the services. If I want reserved seats I can either book the Haven...if not, i know i got to get my butt in line early to find a good seat.

 

But again, now you know, NCL or Epic is not for you. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

[Donna_In_India]

Just back from the same cruise. Will try never to sail NCL again. They seemed to have lost sight of their business model or worse, amended it to probably make them mean and nasty. We had a mini-suite (the extra room {245sqft} helps) and an inside on deck 10.

 

What is worse than the water closet or the super-mini sink or the toilet and shower doors which run on wheels on tracks (super noisy); is the fact that the lighting on the entire ship is bad, esp inside rooms, most cruisers are actually used to extra lighting in the bathroom and their cabins, but not the EPIC. It is bizarre there is so much of mirror space but so little lighting to go along with it.

 

My experience with housekeeping was pretty bad, but I would burden you with it, because it may not be across the board. Although I will say there was no amenities in the cabins, nothing. Not even a pen and pad to write something down.

 

We are somewhat experienced cruisers (108 days of cruising), the "grilled" steak or the "grilled" chicken was not grilled, may have been pan fried or broiled.

 

The wait staff in Taste was rude, and it took too long to get simple meals. I heard a young couple say that it was the first time they had spent 3 hours in a restaurant. La Coquina was a waste of money, service though was excellent.

 

Food overall for NCL standards was below par, they need a new Exec Chef.

 

The Casino is what it is all about, slot machines even we you sitting at some bars, nice, and to make matters worse one has to walk through the entire smoked filled casino to get anywhere, I saw a lot of kids hanging around their parents at slot machines. NCL must have found a loophole, there is no signs talking about legal age to enter, because in essence there is NO MAIN ENTRANCE to the casino, on Carnival they are somewhat strict about minors in the Casinos, actually on NCL Dawn, they had minors playing at the tables and after I complained, the minors (late teens) were asked to stop gambling.

 

On most ships parents can either view their kids (though pot holes or monitors) in the camps (Recess), but not on the Epic. My kids say it was quite regimental, but kids will be kids, so I cannot confirm this. All I can say is they seem disorganized.

 

If you complain about anything, they send you hand carved chocolates to your room, whats with that. One evening at O'Sheenan's the waiter seemed more keen on attending to the Staff Captain and The Chief Engineer than on the guests. It upset me so much that I told the Staff Captain that in a service industry, one should not ever lose sight of the reason why they were there - the guests. This is very common on The Epic, in fact I saw numerous occasion in the Garden Cafe, staff (cruise director's staff, store employees etc) jostling for room with guests at the buffet line. Not good for business.

 

The Assistant Cruise Director (we had experienced her on The Dawn and The Sun, not in the same job position) is quite ridiculous. I have personally experienced her bad attitude and her rudeness. Seems like NCL rewards bad behavior.

 

The ship seems to have a lot of serious gamblers. You would like it if you like to spend most of your time gambling in a very smoky environment.

 

The shows were good. For me the best, was not Blue Man, but The Legends and only the MJ act, the guy was brilliant. Second City was in the little headliners club, I have seen them before on cruise ships, but in the main theater, I wondered why they were hosted in the Headliners, I realized it was real impromptu, take it or leave it, they need more substance for a ship the cadre like Epic.

 

There is more, but this should do.

 

Back to Carnival for us (Dream, for the 3rd time in August).

 

NCL must not forget where the bread-n-butter of the sales for most of the non-luxury cruise lines. Carnival has these guys beat in this department, Carnival does not make it obvious when they pamper their VIPS, NCL does - like blocking off a whole bunch of seats for Haven guests for Blue Man group, when everyone else is hunting for a seat.

 

We did a B2B - Carnival Breeze and NCL Epic in December. Had not been on Carnival in 10+ years and decided to give a try (only because the ship was new and not one of the gaudy ones). Had never been on NCL and decided to go with the biggest. Totally unimpressed with Carnival - the food was okay, the shows were awful, didn't particularly like the pool area - no live music, almost got run over several times at the buffet by people I'm assuming were very hungry. :-)) Some other things not so good...you get the idea. On the other side, we loved the Epic. Entertainment was very good (had no problem getting seats), we enjoyed the food, the pool, the live music, etc. The staff were friendly and did a good job. Our daughter enjoyed the kids club. So many differences between the two cruise lines - I'd never go back to Carnival (not even for a free cruise) but I'm looking forward to all the new NCL ships and would even go back on the Epic. Good that there are enough choices for all of us. Happy Crusing!

[lordchaos]

i was also on this cruise. overall, i thought the food quality was very good, except for dinner choices in the buffet.(hot dogs and hamburgers should not be included in dinner buffet). i did a few of the specialty restaurants. i did not enjoy le Bistro at all. my wife and myself waited 30 min before someone took our order, and then total of 40 min before our drinks were brought to the table. not the kind of service you would expect for paying extra, and the place wasnt even busy when we were there. La Cucina i thought the food was just ok, the desserts were great. Cagneys was very good overall, no complaints. AVOID the 'TASTE" restaurant. i waited 45 minutes for a turkey club that had no turkey on it. they also served my wife her sandwich on a stale roll that crumbled as soon as you touched it. the service was abyssmally slow there, again, when it wasnt even crowded. i complained and the maitre'D comped me a bottle of wine. as for the smoke in the casino, yes, it was horrible. (didnt know so many people still smoke).the noodle bar(fee) was very good. what the ship does have going for it is very good entertainment. i thought the Cirque dinner show was very entertaining and longer than expected(yes the whistle was a bit much). Blue Man group is fantastic, Legends was just ok(a Jimmy Buffet and Donna Summer impersonator, to me, is not what you would expect to see in a Legends show). thankfully the Michael Jackson impersonator saved the show. i also really enjoyed the Fat Cats Blues lounge at night. i also found the staff on the ship to be very accomodating and friendly. i never felt nickled and dimed, as some people have said about NCL because whatever i spent, i choose to. the workers were not overbearing about asking if you wanted a drink. i also really liked the layout of the room.(had a mini suite on deck 9 port side). very good amount of space. TONS of storage in the room- more than you will ever use! i also liked the shower and toilet being separate. if my wife was in the shower, i did not have to disturb her if i had to use the bathroom, etc. i could shave at the sink outside and not be in the way, etc. the layout of the room worked for us. overall we enjoyed the EPIC and she is a very different ship as far as the layout, so it made the cruise feel different for us. she does feel like a Las Vegas resort on the water. very contemporary and modern feel inside, for whatever she may lack with her outward appearance.(heard passengers say she looks like a floating box). she is a beautiful ship on the inside, just some minor issues with the flow of passengers due to the casino being in the middle and all the public areas being crammed into 3 decks midship. would definately sail on her again.