There are pros and cons to any cruise or vacation. The NCL Epic is no exception. By and large, the positives far outweigh the negative. Here's an overview of my take:

Embarkation/Dismebarkation: NCL had this down to a science. Easy and fast, both in Rome and in all the port cities. We stayed in Rome pre-cruise, and took a ride to Civitavecchia with Bob's Limos (they were excellent).

Cabin: A perfectly reasonable mini-suite with a nice balcony gave us what we needed. The storage was outstanding. We were able to hide all four of our suitcases, put away all our clothes, and although the bed was a bit short, it was still comfortable. Everybody talks about the bathroom/shower setup, and while it's unusual, I think you have to be pretty fussy to get all worked up about it. The only annoyance for us was that the shower didn't drain perfectly, and sometimes there'd be a little bit of cold water on the shower floor when you stepped in. Our cabin attendant did a nice job keeping it clean and figuring out our daily routines. Read more