We sailed on the Epic April 13-20. This was our 12th cruise, I'm 38 and my husband is 45, no kids. We have sailed on RCL, HAL, and Carnival. Some of the reviews we read made us very nervous about taking this trip... we felt like we were in for a terrible, crowded, smokey, bad service, rotten food, crappy cabin layout, nickle and dimed vacation (there, I think I summed up all of the previous complaints)! I'm happy and relieved to report we had a FANTASTIC cruise, the Epic is a beautiful ship!

We flew into Miami, used the NCL transfers and were eating lunch in O'Sheehans Bar before noon. We ordered wings, and sandwiches and yes, they were served warm, and with a smile. Our balcony cabin was 8206, 2nd last cabin Aft on the Port side. We had booked a BX (guaranteed balcony) and assigned this room. Judging by the deck plans, it looked like we were getting a hull or cove type balcony, but this is a regular balcony stateroom, with a balcony much larger than we're used to. The controversial bathroom layout did not have an impact on the quality of our vacation. The sink did not splash and make a mess, nor did the shower create an issue with water on the floor. I would have liked more space in the actual room with the toilet, tight fit, but not a deal breaker. We met our cabin steward the first day and he was great, room was always clean, ice bucket full, plenty of fresh towels. This is a smaller cabin then on the other cruises we've taken, but it was cozy and modern and had tons of storage for our luggage. I loved the location of this cabin, it was quiet and a quick walk below to get to dinner. Also, you can get off the ship easily on port days as one of the gangways is Aft.

This was cool, and a first for us at sea....I ordered a Bacardi and coke for the sail away party and was asked if I wanted to purchase the entire bottle (1.14L) that would be mine for the week, to pour drinks as I wanted. It was around $95, and came with 6 cans of pepsi, a bucket of ice and limes and plastic cups. This was actually brilliant for us, as it was cheaper than the 2 of us buying and waiting for drinks all week. Although we had to carry our bucket of rum with us all week, it was super convenient to have this option, we loved having pre dinner drinks on the balcony, and laying out in the sun at Spice H2O with our bucket! Our first day at sea, we got our pick of loungs chairs at Spice H2O Aft Deck 15, up untill 9am, then it would get full. Our plan B was Deck 18 Forward, not many people are aware of this "quiet zone", it always had lots of sun loungers, and at the very front of the ship, there are loungers with red cushions and sun beds, free of charge. This is a separate public area that we enjoyed each day at sea, that has nothing to with Posh, also located on deck 18. Read more