Winter Break 2023 aboard Norwegian Epic

The food on Norwegian Epic was good overall and exactly what we expected from Norwegian. We've never considered food the main reason we book NCL, but we've always been able to find plenty we enjoy. What Norwegian does especially well for our family is variety. There are enough different dining options that we don't feel like every meal has to happen in the same place. That flexibility was especially helpful traveling with Ollie, because his food preferences were much simpler than ours. We did try the Brazilian steakhouse, and that was probably our biggest disappointment with the food. Hellen grew up in Brazil, so we have a pretty good idea of what a good churrascaria experience should feel like. The version onboard fell well short of that for us. Overall, though, the food was perfectly fine and never took away from the cruise.

The service was excellent. That's something we've been fortunate with across nearly every cruise we've taken, and Epic was no exception. The crew was friendly, helpful, and made the week feel easy. We don't always remember every single interaction years later, but when nothing about the service becomes a complaint, that's usually a very good sign.

Entertainment wasn't a huge part of this cruise for us. This trip was really about the itinerary. We had no sea days, which meant almost every morning we were waking up somewhere new and heading off the ship. Because of that, we didn't spend much time planning our evenings around shows or onboard entertainment. That doesn't mean the entertainment was bad—it just wasn't what made this cruise memorable for us.

Our cabin was small, but it didn't bother us much. By this point, what mattered more was having a comfortable place to sleep, shower, store our things, and get ready for the next day's adventure. We weren't spending much time in the cabin anyway. And after seven years away from cruising, just being back on a ship felt exciting enough that we weren't focused on square footage.

We didn't really use the family programming enough to judge it heavily. This cruise was built around getting Ollie into the water and exploring the islands. That was the family activity. At this stage, we'd specifically chosen ports where snorkeling would be easy and where we could spend our days doing things together off the ship. So while Norwegian offered kids programming, it simply wasn't a major part of how we used Epic. Pools & Deck Areas The pools and deck areas were fine, but again, they weren't central to this sailing. With no sea days, we were rarely looking for ways to spend an entire afternoon around the pool. We'd come back from port, clean up, eat, walk around the ship, and get ready to do it all again the next day. That's actually one reason this itinerary worked so well for us at the time.

Norwegian Epic is a ship with a very distinct personality. It isn't the most traditional cruise-ship layout, and there are things about the design that people either love or dislike. For us, the ship worked because the cruise itself worked. We weren't spending long stretches onboard trying to find things to do. We were using Epic as our floating home while moving through an incredible Southern Caribbean itinerary. The ship gave us what we needed: places to eat, somewhere comfortable to return to, and enough to do in the evenings before waking up somewhere new the next morning.

This cruise was an excellent value for us because of what we got from the itinerary. That's always been one of Norwegian's strengths in our eyes. NCL may not always be the most luxurious option, and the food may not be as refined as what we've experienced on Celebrity, but Norwegian often gives us exactly what we're looking for: good itineraries, flexibility, a relaxed atmosphere, and a price that makes sense for our family. For this trip in particular, the value was even bigger because of what the cruise meant to us. Ports & Excursions This was where Epic really delivered. We chose the cruise specifically because we wanted no sea days and ports where Ollie could snorkel easily. That decision ended up being exactly right for our family. The itinerary included St. Kitts, St. Lucia, Aruba, Curaçao, and Bonaire, giving us a packed week of exploring and getting in the water. This cruise helped turn snorkeling into one of our family's favorite things to do together. The destinations were the star of the trip.

Norwegian Epic might be the most important cruise we've ever taken. Not because it had the biggest ship, the best cabin, the fanciest food, or the most impressive entertainment. It was important because of when we took it. Our previous cruise had gone so badly that we stopped cruising for seven years. Then our 10th wedding anniversary came around, and we decided to try again. We deliberately chose a cruise with no sea days, exciting Southern Caribbean ports, and plenty of places where Ollie could easily snorkel. And it worked. Somewhere during that week, we remembered why we had loved cruising in the first place. We could unpack once, wake up somewhere new almost every morning, explore as a family, snorkel together, and then come back to a ship where everything we needed was waiting for us. Epic didn't just give us a great anniversary vacation. It brought cruising back into our family's life. If that trip had gone badly, our travel story might look very different today. That's why, no matter how many ships we sail in the future, Norwegian Epic will always be one of the most important ships in our family's cruising history.