Cruise with Norwegian Cruise Lines

I want to say that before I went on the Epic, I did not like Norwegian Cruises that much because of the Freestyle Crusing. I prefer to have a firm dining time and table with the same waiters, who soon learn what you like and what not.
For my 60th birthday I invited my children and my mother, my sister and my brother-in-law and his wife joined us. I wanted to have some fun on this special kind of birthday and also offer something for my children (Marc was 31 and Tina 30 at the time). For them it was nearly half of their annual vacation they had to spend with dad, so it needed to be special. The Blue Man Group, Circus as a dinner theater, a dueling piano bar "Howl At The Moon", Jazz club and more.

It was as much fun as I expected and where I expected a big problem it was OK. So where did I expect a problem? Dining with nine people. The first night we really had a problem going to the dining room at the most popular time, we had to wait for an hour to get a table, but all the other days the problem was to get everyone on the same boat and choose on dining room. All other days the wait was about five minutes or less. If you are going on a family cruise or going with friends and you want to have great entertaining, choose the Epic.

Like any ship, there are some good and bad things. The Epic is a larger ship and has 17 decks. I do not get sea sick, but I realized that the ship moved more than any other ship I have been on. In the Caribbean this is fine and in summer, when the ship is in the Mediterranien it will be fine also, but I would not like to go on a transatlantic with the Epic.

The cabins are relativly small, so do yourself a favor - if you can or want to afford it - get a balcony cabin. They are larger and the balcony is the only private quiet space you can find on board. One day at sea my wife and my son wanted to find a quiet spot to read. You do not find it on the Epic, therefore take a balcony. You already know, if you have been reading other pages on this website, my favorite cruise ship is the Queen Mary 2. On QM2 you find a lot of places where you can just sit and read a book or play games - and you need it there because of the transatlantic crossings with one week on sea.