Norwegian Epic Review
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Embarkation: I arrived at the port at about 11am. Dropped bags with the porter and checked in. Pretty pain-free check-in. The ship wasn't yet ready to board, so we collected in a pre-board area. NCL passed out boarding-group passes according to check-in order, but these passes turned out to be more trouble than they were worth. The pre-board area became crowded, and when NCL made an announcement allowing boarding group one on board people began crowding the doors leading to the ship. After holding the crowd back for a while, they gave up and announced all the remaining groups could board. Bad start to the cruise, NCL.
I began exploring the ship while waiting for my cabin. NCL made a ship announcement around 12 noon that all cabins were ready. Nice.
Getting around: Many, many decks. Food service on decks 5, 6, 15, 16. Pools, sunning, hot tubs on 15, 16. Clubs, entertainment on 5, 6, 15, 16. Spa / Gym on 14. Unless you want to climb stars, you'll take the elevators a lot. Just resign yourself to waiting for elevators. It's not unusual to spend 3-4 minutes getting from deck to deck.. One special gripe for me is the elevators servicing the Haven. Those elevators go to deck 17 (Haven deck) while the others stop at 15. The problem? Haven guests apparently have priority keys to hijack the elevators and bypass the great unwashed masses. It's galling to be on deck 11 waiting for an up-elevator, watching the elevator floor indicators and see an upward-traveling elevator pass you by.
Cabin Review
Space is at a premium in these cabins. Given the space available I think the cabin is designed well, with two exceptions: 1) There aren't any drawers for your personal items. There are shelves to stack folded clothes on, but not enough to organize and separate things. Unpacking my suitcase onto two clothing shelves and about 6 hangers was difficult. 2) The lighting is confusing and insufficient. Many light switches, which sometimes did different things. After a full week I still didn't understand why some switches did what they did. It makes a difference what order you hit light switches. Weird. Even with all lights on, there isn't enough light to read. Grr. Still, the Studio cabins are a great deal for the solo traveler.One very high point that's specific to the Solo cabins is the studio common area. NCL has a staff person who meets/greets the singles, organizes group dinners and some other activities, and in general adds to the solo-cruising experience. Coffee available from a self-serve espresso machine, light breakfast items and snacks available there 24/7. Way to go, NCL!Some studio cabin guests complained about poor sound insulation, hearing neighboring guests snoring, watching TV, etc. I was lucky to have a quiet neighbor, but in the future I think I'll bring a radio/clock to use as a white noise generator. Tune to a channel with static, let it mask the ambient noise.