So Disappointed!

After going on a Norwegian cruise last summer to Alaska on the Jewel, my husband and I had a great opinion of Norwegian.  This cruise was such a disappointment to us on so many levels this time.  First, we were excited about the Epic as we had never been on a mega-ship before.  I can honestly say we will never do it again!  There were over 4,000 people on board with 2 main dining rooms and 2 smaller restaurant venues that were not an additional charge.  We had to wait, with a pager, for every meal.  When we did get into the restaurant for meals, we had constant delays in service (2 hour breakfast one day), luke warm food, and empty drink glasses.  Although most of the wait staff was friendly, there were a few who didn't even smile. Many didn't even know where the tables were when we were being seated. Huge dissatisfier.  The shows looked amazing.  Unfortunately, most of them were sold out early in the cruise so we couldn't take advantage of the opportunity.  Freestyle cruising?  I think not! We did get in to see "Burn the Floor", which was wonderful.  The dancers were very talented as were the guitar players.  The magician was very engaging and talented as well, although we saw him in "Headliners", which is a ridiculously small venue for a ship of this size. I tried to join a painting class and that was full as well.  My husband and I like to walk around the ship on an outside deck for exercise and to get quiet time.  The Epic had no such deck!  They had a walking/running area, but it was on one side of the boat and was designed to go back and forth on the same track as opposed to around the entire ship.  Additionally, the ocean view was mostly blocked by the tenders hanging on the side. As far as quiet time, there was NO ESCAPE from the masses of folks on this cruise.  The only quiet time we got was on our own balcony, which was lovely.  The room, however, was beautiful and efficient and we liked the updated colors and feel of it.  Our cabin steward never smiled, nor did he make conversation with us.  He did take good care of our room, that is when he finally showed up.  One day we didn't receive service until after 2pm, which was very inconvenient for us.  Because of our experience on this cruise, my husband said he is "cruised out".  Considering I love to cruise, this is not good.  Oh, and one last thing, Norwegian now adds a "service charge" of $13.50 per person per day to the bill, regardless of the caliber of service received.  Hence, "tips", which help to ensure good service, are no longer an incentive to cruise staff.  Could this have been a part of the problem?  I am not sure.  What I am sure of is that Norwegian is about to raise the service charge by 3% in April.  Bad service and higher service charges?  No thank you!  I am going to place my "cruise loyalty" elsewhere!