We sailed the Epic for the first time. It was our third Norwegian cruise. We had sailed the Escape in 2018 and this is also a big ship, but I don't think it was at full capacity. The Epic had 4,100 people on board. The elevators were always crowded. It was difficult to find a seat in the Garden Cafe for breakfast or lunch. Our balcony stateroom was too narrow with only room for one person to stand or walk at a time. There were not enough hangers or drawer space for our clothes and shoes. Even though our stateroom was mid ship we constantly walked back and forth to the different venues and I was getting pains in my right leg from too much walking. The TV only had one English channel, which constantly played "Glass" and I did not like this movie. The only reason we booked this cruise was to go to Valleta, Malta and they substituted Athens and we had been to Athens at least twice. We were extremely disappointed and it was all downhill from there. There was always a very long line at Guest Relations and we spent a lot of time standing in line. We had a $150 credit and it could not be used for tips so we decided to buy a photo package from the photo gallery. We are processing a claim against Norwegian and the photo gallery for charging us VAT tax of $41.00 on a $250.00 photo package. We have cruised in the Mediterranean with Norwegian and other cruise lines before and have never been charged VAT for photos. The photo gallery would not give us a slip for VAT which we could have processed to get reimbursed for this expense as American citizens. The two complimentary restaurants where you could make a reservation had the same menu. It was difficult to find a place to sit if you did not have a reservation and had to wait for a table. The casino was mid ship and you often had to pass through this area where there was a lot of smoke to get to restaurants or shows. I have asthma and this was not good for me.
The stateroom was way too narrow. There was a couch which took up space and you could not turn the TV to sit on it and watch TV. There was very limited closet space and not enough hangers. We needed a blanket to keep warm. The thermostat did not work properly.