BlueC70

Had great service from them last April (2013)...on time and polite. Will probably use them again for cruise in August. Recommended based on our experience so far.

I've heard the phrase before but don't understand it, what is the "wave design"?

The walls and the furniture are curved (like a wave), and adjacent rooms alternate having the bed near the bathroom vs. balcony. As I recall the main bed is always on the inside of the curve, so it doesn't stick out too far and the sofa is on the "outie" part of the curve. Having the bed near the balcony makes things look more open. It's a nice looking design, but I'm not sure it's the most efficient in terms of space utilization...but it worked out fine for 3 of us in a JS.

We've been on both EPIC and Oasis (Allure coming up in August). I would definitely put Oasis over EPIC overall...more "wow" factor, for sure. To us the bathrooms weren't a huge dealbreaker on EPIC...we had a mini suite with a tub...the design was an interesting idea, but as others have stated not completely thought through in terms of privacy...the curtain helps. We were travelling with our then 10 year old daughter. I wouldn't tell anyone to avoid the ship because of the bathroom, but you have to be your own judge based on your privacy needs. I have fairly high privacy requirements, and I was fine. Having the sink in the main room was actually nice because it allowed multi-tasking...but was a bit small and water splashed around. I would think most married couples would probably be just fine in there...it's not like you spend a whole lot of the cruise in the bathroom anyway (hopefully). :) As you can tell, I'm not sure I buy into the bathroom "hysteria" over this ship.

As far as public spaces and things to do, Oasis class wins...everything is more open, bigger and there are more options. Entertainment was good on both with more free entertainment options on Oasis...Blue Man Group was pretty cool on EPIC. Food and general service seemed comparable. The cabins were both comfortable, given the space limitations (the EPIC "wave" design is interesting). Kids club activities seemed on par on both ships. My daughter liked the water slides on EPIC, which Oasis lacks (she wouldn't go on the flowrider on Oasis). When it came to booking something for this year, I was tempted to try NCL Breakaway or Getaway (even more water slides!), but the daughter really wanted to go on Allure. EPIC is probably theoretically better bang for the buck since the rates are generally significantly lower for the same itinerary, but it just doesn't feel as over the top awe-inspiring as Oasis / Allure, and there's less to do. That being said, you probably won't have a bad time on either one...it's better than being at work. ;)