Norwegian Epic vs Carnival

[pauldubyaeye]

This sailing on the Norwegian Epic, 8 nights to the eastern Caribbean from Miami, Jan 25 - Feb 2, 2014, was my 5th cruise. My previous 4 cruises were on Carnival. So how I felt on the ship was to, and this review will, naturally compare my experience on the Norwegian Epic to my other cruising experiences on Carnival. And man was it an eye-opener. Some good, some very good, some bad, some VERY BAD. For reference, my other 4 Carnival cruises were on the Imagination, Inspiration, Fascination, and most recently the Dream, ranging in time from 2006 to 2012.

 

Now, as you'll see once I get to the dining options, my review is going to be slightly biased as both myself and my wife have been vegetarians for over 8 years (read: not vegan, so we still consume dairy and eggs) and so we have been through many experiences together of great vegetarian-friendly food and poor vegetarian-unfriendly food. So understand that being vegetarian is not a fad or temporary diet for us, it is has been our lifestyle for the better part of a decade, and we not only know how to seek out good vegetarian dining experiences (we are foodies, too), but we also sympathize with cooks and try to be as accommodating as possible. I say all this so that you understand that my being critical of dining options or room service, while it is from our niche perspective, should not be written off by you the reader just because you are a meat-eater. We are very understanding of carnivorous diets and I am not suggesting that the entire ship be vegetarian, but we would like to be accommodated, too.

 

Okay, that aside. Here we go! Let's start with the stateroom.

 

Stateroom: Winner EPIC

 

Hands down the stateroom we had (14107, extended balcony) was nicer in quality than any stateroom I've had on Carnival, including the balcony room we had on the Dream. The curvy wall was a nice touch to make it feel a little bigger, and overall the quality of everything in the room, from the cabinets, to the sofa, to the sink area, was higher quality. Also the style was much more modern than even the Dream which is one of Carnival's newer ships. The older Carnival ships have a gaudy 1980's style to them that seems over the top, and while the Dream was more toned down than the older ships, the Epic still comes out on top. The floor-to-ceiling window beside the balcony door was also a nice touch.

 

However, there were a few negatives about the room. We didn't have a problem with the frosted glass shower and bathroom stalls, but the shower did seem to be more cramped than those on the Carnival ships. Also, since the shower and toilet are more in the room than they would be with a separate bathroom, both the shower and toilet are VERY loud while in use / flushing, which makes reading or watching TV for the other passenger very annoying. The outlet was also hidden underneath the "desk" (which is a poor excuse for a desk, btw) just about requiring the use of a power strip just to get a little extra length, which thankfully I did remember to pack.

 

One big negative is that our TV was just about completely busted. It would turn on, but it would take literally MINUTES for it to change the channel between when I press the button on the remote and when it changes. Also, many times it wouldn't want to turn off, so I ended up having to yank the power cord out of the back to get it to turn off. This was a big frustration. However, it was a larger TV than we've ever had on Carnival, so when it did work, it wasn't too bad. But a busted TV just meant we spent more time out of our stateroom, which isn't a bad thing.

 

Also the extended balcony was awesome. Yes, the 14th floor's balconies are covered by the deck above, but you could still get some sun at certain times of the day. It was a nice experience out there. And the extended balcony was so large that I think we could fit like 8 people out there if we wanted. Compare that to the Dream balcony, where if my wife and I wanted to both extend our legs, we had to put them on each other's chairs, due to the balcony being that small.

 

Overall, though, the room was better quality, better storage, better laid out, and better designed than any room we've been on for Carnival. Winner: Epic by a big margin.

 

24-Hour Room Service: Winner CARNIVAL

 

*** See note about my vegetarian bias at top of post! ***

 

The 24-hour room service dining options on the Epic were, to be blunt, a bit of a joke. Yes, some of the meat options seemed to sound nicer than what was available on the Carnival ships, but for us vegetarians, if I remember correctly, the only thing we could order was a cheese pizza. And the pizza on the ship was almost inedible and should not be allowed to be called "pizza". (I think "processed cheese-like substance baked on top of processed bread-like substance" would be more accurate.)

 

So we never ordered room service because, frankly, there was practically nothing good to order. Carnival, on the other hand, had vegetarian-friendly (if not unhealthy) options available on room service, and the pizza on the new Carnival Fun Ship 2.0 ships is night-and-day better than what is available on the Epic. Also, we would regularly get extra ice delivered on the Carnival ships via room service, but on the Epic, the room service person we called said we couldn't get ice that way and had to deal with our EXCELLENT (sarcasm) housekeeping steward instead.

 

So, without even being able to try the room service, the winner is: Carnival by a big margin.

 

Housekeeping: Winner CARNIVAL

 

While our room was certainly kept clean, I don't think that's ever going to be a point of contention on the major cruise lines (although I guess I could be wrong), so my review is mainly going to focus on our housekeeping steward. He was a very awkward guy, always sweaty and somewhat smelly, would stand way too close to you when he'd come into the room, and never seemed to understand our requests. He also ignored our "Do Not Disturb" sign. And while we did get some towel animals just like Carnival, we didn't get chocolates, and he would only fill up the ice bucket half-way.

 

I do not know if we just got a bad steward, or if the training and oversight on the ship is to blame for allowing him to be that bad to begin with. Either way, compared to our 4 other Carnival ships, we always had friendly, not sweaty, very hospitable room stewards on Carnival. Winner: Carnival, but I acknowledge that it's a bit unfair to compare one guy alone.

 

Also a quick note about laundry -- there is no laundry room on the Epic. So if you are on a long cruise, like our 8 day cruise, and you need to get some clothes cleaned, expect to pay for having them clean it for you. And it adds up quick -- even simple undershirts are $4.95 each to get cleaned. We preferred having a laundry room available on the Carnival ships, where we could pay a few dollars and do an entire load ourselves. But if the thought of doing your own laundry on a cruise ship doesn't jive with you, then you can ignore this note.

 

Pools/Lido Deck: TIE

 

There are too many close calls here to declare a winner when it comes to the pools, hot tubs, slides, and lido deck. Basically, when it comes to this category, if you're a Carnival sailor, you won't be disappointed, but you won't be wowed either.

 

The Epic is a larger ship than even the Dream with more people, so the lido deck can get a bit crowded, but that's true of every ship I've been on. The Epic does have an adults-only area, Spice H2O, which is equivalent to the Serenity area on the Carnival ships, which is where we spend most of our time, as we do not have children. I'd say only the Dream had a better adults-only area, but it didn't have a pool. The Fantasy-class Carnival ships like the Fascination have a very small Serenity area, so the Epic is the clear winner compared to that class since Spice H2O is very large. Again, I can go back and forth between the two, so this is definitely a tie when it comes to the lido deck / adults-only areas. Maybe there's a slight edge to the Epic due to it having an adults-only pool.

 

There were definitely more hot tubs on the Epic than on the Fantasy-class Carnival ships, but there also were more people, so naturally they were usually crowded. The Spice H20 area has two hot tubs which were usually less crowded than the ones on the lido deck, but they still filled up fast and sometimes were hard to get in. The Dream seemed to have a better hot tub arrangement, but not dramatically better. And the Fantasy-class ships just need more hot tubs, period. Again, a tie.

 

While my wife and I are in our late twenties, we still enjoy acting like kids and going down the slides, which we make a point to do at least once on each sailing. The Dream has great slides, but the Epic is the winner here. The purple one is pitch black inside which is thrilling, and the large tube slide on the Epic is a lot of fun going around the funnel-like thing. If you have kids, or enjoy acting like one on water slides, you'll love the slides on the Epic.

 

Overall the Epic wasn't dramatically better, and in some cases worse, than our Carnival experiences, so this one will be a tie.

 

Daily Entertainment: Winner CARNIVAL

 

On the Carnival ships, you have to be completely ignorant to not know who your Cruise Director (CD) is. They are always on the TV channels, always on the intercom telling you of what fun events are happening, and always walking around the ship talking to people.

 

Compare that to the Epic, and it's a different story. I do not know the name of our CD, I think it was a guy but I'm not sure, and I never really got a good feel for when fun events were happening around the ship. If you're the type to want a quiet, relaxing cruise, then this might not be a bad thing, but we enjoy a bit of fun along with relaxation, and the Epic just didn't have that "fun factor" like Carnival. I guess that's why they call the Carnival ships "Fun Ships" -- there is a definite difference there.

 

Apart from the CD being practically non-existent as far as I could tell, I still didn't get the feeling that there were as many things to do. Usually on Carnival there's always something going on at the lido deck, some contest or whatnot, but on the Epic the only activity I saw on the lido deck was some small children dancing on the dance floor. Not my idea of a fun time.

 

So, my wife and I spent our down time on our balcony or at the Spice H2O area (which also seemed to never have any events going on), which gave us plenty of good reading time. But we definitely preferred the "fun" of the Carnival Fun Ships. Winner: Carnival by a gigantic margin.

 

Live Entertainment: Winner EPIC

 

Carnival has some good live entertainment, so this one is a close one, but the edge has to go to the Epic. On Carnival, I've always been impressed by their bands, which I wasn't as impressed with on the Epic. Also the live karaoke with the Carnival band is a great time. But that's really the extent of the live entertainment that we appreciate on Carnival.

 

The Epic on the other hand, while it doesn't have nearly as good of bands, does have much better performances like Blue Man Group and Howl at the Moon. Blue Man Group was fun to see, although I don't know why they felt like they had to cover everyone in toilet paper. It was definitely a unique experience.

 

But my favorite part of the Epic's live entertainment was Howl at the Moon. Two of the three performers were really good (the guy with curly blonde hair wasn't as good), and it was a lot of fun singing along and watching them interact with the crowd.

 

There were other performances on the Epic that we didn't see, like the Legends in Concert and the Cirque Dreams, that I heard good things about. Overall winner is the Epic by a slim margin.

 

Drinks/Bars: TIE

 

First I'll start with bringing your own drinks on-board. On Carnival, you're allowed to bring a bottle of wine per person on board, which you can drink in your stateroom without a corkage fee, or in the dining room with a corkage fee. The room service will even deliver a corkscrew and wine glasses to your room if you ask. (You can also get around the corkage fee by opening it in your stateroom then bringing it with you to dinner.) Compare that to NCL, where the NCL policy is that they charge you a corkage fee just for bringing it on the ship, even if you don't drink it or drink it in your stateroom! This is ridiculous, and even requires extra staff to enforce. NCL should drop this policy, as the nickel-and-diming here is not worth it. We read about this policy on the internet ahead of time, so we didn't even bring wine on board this time to drink in our stateroom as the corkage fee wouldn't have been worth it. So for bringing your own wine on board, Carnival is the clear winner.

 

As far as beer goes, the selection is about equivalent between the Carnival ships and the Epic. The Carnival Dream does have their own micro-brew, which while it isn't an overwhelmingly good beer, it's nice that they're going through the effort of doing that and I thought it was a fun novelty. The Epic on the other hand has, IIRC, a much better deal on buckets of beer, where if you buy 5 you get the 6th free, and you can take that bucket to your stateroom and drink them over multiple days if you want to. You also get a free keychain bottle opener with each bucket. I took advantage of that a couple times and I think it was a pretty good deal. Overall on beer, I'd say it's a tie between Carnival and the Epic.

 

For wine available on the ship, I think the Epic might have a better selection, but I'm not sure. (I have a humorous yet frustrating quip about ordering wine in the MDR later on.) I had a couple glasses over 8 days and I wasn't disappointed, but I didn't put a lot of effort into reading the wine list either as I usually do. So I'll just say the Epic has an edge here, but they were pretty similar.

 

Now on to mixed drinks. I think Carnival definitely is the winner here. Especially on the Fun Ship 2.0 upgrades, the bars make ordering a drink fun, with the different tequila and rum bars with daily specials on the chalkboard. Most of the bars on the Epic that weren't specialty bars (such as the lido deck bars), didn't seem to have any passion about drink-making, and it seemed like ordering a mixed drink from them was a burden to them. They also didn't seem to be as strong on the Epic, as after a number of drinks one night I didn't even feel slightly buzzed. There just wasn't any excitement about ordering mixed drinks in most of the bars on the Epic, compared to Carnival.

 

But as far as the actual lounges go, Epic is the winner. There's more bar options than on any Carnival ship I've been on, from an Irish bar, to an ultra-lounge, and all kinds of other options. The Bliss ultra-lounge, for example, has a bowling alley, pool table (which, as we found out, is only usable while in port due to the balls rolling across the table), and arcade games like darts and Golden Tee that adults enjoy. The lounges on the Epic overall had just more stuff to do than just sitting and having a drink, and us and our friends on board had a blast at a number of them. Also, the Svedka Ice Bar was unique and a blast! You definitely need to make it a point to visit that on the ship if you travel on the Epic.

 

So while the lounges were better on the Epic, the Carnival ships were better for mixed drinks and bringing wine on board, so in general it's a tie.

 

Main Dining Room: Winner CARNIVAL

 

*** Again, see note about vegetarian bias at top of post! ***

 

Okay, where do I begin here. We had a DISASTROUS dining experience on the Epic. First, just getting into the dining rooms was bad. We are a fan of the fixed-time dining on Carnival, since we know we will always have the same table, the same waiter, and we do not have to wait in line to get in. I know many of you on here are a fan of the your-time dining, but I don't know how you all enjoy waiting in line to get in to dinner each night. I would have preferred fixed-time dining on the Epic.

 

Next, once we did get in, our service was comical. Almost all of our servers in the main dining room were inexperienced, some were slightly rude, and all of them took forever to do anything. We were constantly waiting on our water glasses to be refilled. They messed up our orders both times in the Manhattan room, and both times we ate there it took upwards of 2 hours start to finish. They also wouldn't customize any of the items on the menu (unlike Carnival).

 

We had a comical, yet frustrating, experience our first night in the Manhattan room. Our waiter not only took forever to take the orders, but I ordered a glass of wine first, which took at least half an hour to get to me, and required reminding him multiple times. Some of our food had even come out before I got a glass of wine. He also messed up some of our orders, and even spilled balsamic vinegar on our table and almost on one of our friends. It was such bad service, that if it were at a restaurant in the US, he would have been fired immediately. The manager also came by to check on us, but after voicing our concerns he didn't seem to really do much about our bad experience.

 

In general the service at the Taste restaurant was a little better, but not by much.

 

There were usually two vegetarian selections on the menu, one was the penne pasta that was there every day. I usually chose that, as the rotating daily options almost always included some form of mushroom, which is pretty much the only "vegetable" that I'm not a fan of. (And don't you dare consider me "picky" because of that, as I probably eat more adventurous and varying foods than most meat-eaters.) Why does NCL like mushrooms so much? They act as if that's the only thing vegetarians eat. In fact, there's many other great and cheap options for vegetarian protein: tofu, tempeh, chick peas, lentils, quinoa, or just about any other kind of bean. Instead, it was mushroom-this and mushroom-that. Even if you like mushrooms, telling vegetarians that the only protein they can get is mushrooms is like telling meat eaters that the only protein they can eat is Spam. I'm sure there are some meat eaters that like spam, but even if you do I'm sure you want a little variety. Vegetarians are no different. NCL: stop with the mushroom overload. Hire a vegetarian to help create your menu.

 

Carnival, on the other hand, always had varying vegetarian options in the MDR that didn't always include mushrooms. Also, they would usually be accommodating to customizing selections at the MDR. Carnival also has an Indian item on the menu each day, which my wife and I love because we love Indian food for the exciting flavor and vegetarian-friendliness. Epic had no such options. And for service, we've always had excellent service in the Carnival MDRs, compared to our disastrous service on the Epic.

 

I have heard that maybe some of the bad service was only on the Epic, and not on other NCL ships. However, the experience should be good across the entire cruise line, and it was bad enough to (literally and figuratively) leave a bad taste in my mouth about NCL from this one experience. The overwhelming winner here is Carnival.

 

Buffet Dining: Winner CARNIVAL

 

*** Again, see note about vegetarian bias at the top of this post! ***

 

I'll acknowledge that, if you're a meat eater, the buffet on the Epic probably has more interesting options for you than the buffet on the Fantasy-class Carnival ships. But for carnivores, I'd guess that the Dream is equivalent to the Epic in terms of quality and variety. I can't speak definitively do that though, as I am a vegetarian.

 

The vegetarian selections on the Epic buffet are comical. We found exactly one (ONE!) dish with tofu on the buffet the entire time, which was a mediocre Asian-style tofu with sautéed spinach. There were veggie burgers available, but they were the frozen Gardenburger style burgers, which I personally find detestable. So that's it as far as traditionally vegetarian-focused protein goes.

 

Breakfast was generally fine, as I could get some eggs, grits, hash browns, etc. The Dream definitely had a better breakfast spread for vegetarians, though.

 

Lunch and Dinner on the Epic buffet were where we had to start getting creative. As I mentioned before, the pizza was almost inedible and not in the same league as the Pizza Pirate on the Dream. Just about all of the "specialties" had meat in them in some way. So that usually left us having to find things on the Asian, Indian, and the somewhat "default" options of mac-and-cheese and whatnot.

 

About the Indian options in the buffet. Again, we love Indian food, so I was originally excited to see this. But while the Indian food on the first day or two was good, by halfway through the cruise, it ended up staying pretty much the same options each day: vegetable curry, and dal (lentils). Neither were very good. I'd occasionally get the dal, but it was depressing having the same items every day for the last part of the ship. That almost made me wonder if they weren't cooking it fresh each day, and just using leftovers! The Carnival Fantasy-class ships never had Indian on the buffet, but the Dream did and it was always varied and delicious.

 

The salads section was also comically bad. They usually had four cold salads like bean salad and whatnot, in addition to the salad bar. However, on any given day, usually three of them (75%!) would have meat! Orzo salad? Let's add sausage to it. Quinoa salad? Let's add chicken to it. Bean salad? Let's add ham to it. Are you kidding me?! None of those need meat added to them, as there's already tons of meat on the buffet. I'm sure even most of my carnivore friends would agree that they don't want meat in EVERY SINGLE THING THEY EAT. The salad situation usually left us with one cold salad option, if any, that was vegetarian-friendly, when ALL of them, or at least 3/4 of them, should not have had meat in them. Especially quinoa, I mean COME ON. Quinoa is already a healthy protein, and quinoa and chicken is not a good combination.

 

So more often than not, our plates on the buffet were a borderline nauseating blend of various ethnic styles. A common plate was vegetarian lo-mein, mac-and-cheese, whatever salad of the day was vegetarian friendly, Indian dal and rice, and french fries. Yum, what an excellent, complementary blend of food! Often the lack of vegetarian options also necessitated the eating of the pizza-like substance.

 

The only "good" experience we had on the buffet was the one day that they had tacos on the buffet on the lido deck. But even then, it wasn't as good as the taco options on Carnival.

 

NCL should be frankly embarrassed about how bad the buffet is for vegetarians. Let alone those with other food restrictions, like gluten-free options. Bottom line, if you're vegetarian, you're not going to enjoy the food on the Epic, in either the MDR or the buffet. Prepare for disappointment. Compared to the Dream, which had an amazing buffet, the Epic just doesn't come close. Even the Fantasy-class ships allowed you to make vegetarian sandwiches. Clear winner by a ridiculous landslide: Carnival.

 

Specialty Restaurants: Winner EPIC (with a giant *asterisk*)

 

One thing the Epic has going for it is that it does have a number of specialty restaurants besides the buffet and the MDR, and some of them are free. IIRC, the Carnival fantasy-class ships, and even the Dream, only have maybe a steakhouse and a sushi bar. I don't remember Carnival ships having much or any more than that. The Epic, on the other hand, has a wide variety: Irish, French, sushi, steakhouse, Brazilian, noodle bar, Japanese, and maybe one or two others. That's quite a selection.

 

First, the good. We ate at the Teppanyaki Japanese restaurant, which is just like your neighborhood Japanese steakhouse where there's 8 people sitting around a grill top, where the chef does entertaining tricks with the eggs and fried rice and lighting things on fire. This is not exactly fine dining, but the food is good, and it's fun to do. I enjoy these kind of restaurants for casual dining, and it was really neat to enjoy one while on a cruise ship. This was the only other time I was able to have tofu on the ship, so I was pretty happy about that. Teppanyaki is well worth the $25 charge.

 

But unfortunately, pretty much none of the other restaurants are worth it or even an option for vegetarians like my wife and I. Which is about to be expected -- obviously I'm not expecting a steakhouse to have vegetarian options. But even the complimentary Irish restaurant didn't have anything, and I would have loved some potato-based dish there. However, since these are all specialty restaurants, I am not going to include my criticism of their lack of vegetarian options in this review.

 

Epic is clearly the winner when it comes to the number and variety of specialty restaurants over carnival. My giant *asterisk*, however, is this: why is it necessary to have so many *paid* specialty restaurants? The whole point of going on a cruise ship is that you get food included, and I would have liked to have seen more of these restaurants, like the noodle bar, etc, be complimentary. I think if NCL made more of these restaurants complimentary, it might offset how bad of an experience the MDR is, or the mediocre offerings on the buffet. So while the Epic does indeed have a better selection of specialty restaurants, I don't necessarily consider that to be a deciding factor in choosing the Epic over Carnival. Cruise ships should be competing to nickel-and-dime you LESS, not nickel-and-dime you MORE.

 

Other Notes

 

Here's some other random thoughts.

 

The Epic overall is a nicer ship than the Carnival ships, and has a much nicer and more modern style to it. It doesn't have the gaudy, plasticy appearance of the Carnival ships. But I think the Carnival ships do a better job of encouraging you to visit the other places on the ship based on how they're laid out, and the Carnival ships seem to get you outside more and walking around the edge of the ship.

 

Excursions between the Epic and Carnival were mostly on-par with one another. No complaints but no praises either way.

 

Embarkation was smoother on the Carnival ships. With our embarkation on the epic, after going through the security and sign-in desk lines, we still had to wait about half an hour to get on the ship. With every Carnival ship I've been on, once you get past the sign-in desk, you're boarding the ship immediately and able to start exploring and having fun.

 

The spa prices seemed to be too high on the Epic. We had a Spa Balcony on the Dream which was great, and so if you like spa services and you're going on the Epic, definitely go for a spa balcony on the Epic as well. We didn't do that on the Epic, so I was a little sticker shocked at just the basic aromatherapy/sauna prices. We thought maybe they would give discounts while in port, but no -- it was going to be $90 for two of us to hit the aromatherapy/sauna area for one day! I wish I had realized that before then, as I would have opted for the $199/person package that gets you access to the spa for the entire cruise.

 

The Haven suites on the Epic are definitely worth it. Some friends were staying in one, and MAN are they incredible. The two-bedroom suite in particular is drool-worthy. And getting access to the Haven courtyard, bar, and restaurant is a nice feature. If I go on NCL again, we'll look at the Haven first.

 

Overall: Winner CARNIVAL

 

I hope you see by now how my experience went. There were some definite good experiences on the NCL Epic, but overall I really enjoy Carnival more. I had heard so many good things about NCL, and thought it was going to be a slightly more luxurious cruise, but it in reality was much worse of an overall experience than any of my Carnival experiences. Even the smaller, older Fantasy-class ships were more fun. So especially if you're a vegetarian, but even if you're not, you may do well to choose Carnival instead for your next cruise.

 

I will be branching out to other cruise lines, like I still need to try Royal Caribbean, and there's a number of others that I've heard good things about. And I truly believe that some other NCL ships might have better service which could make the poor food options more bearable. But this cruise certainly made me not want to go on NCL unless we're going along for some other reason like going with friends.

 

Thanks for reading!

[Sundiego]

What a detailed review and a fun read! Thanks for putting it together. We are Platinum on Carnival but prefer NCL overall, so it was interesting reading your thoughts.

[mjkacmom]

I have to disagree about Carnival having a better policy on bringing wine onboard. We prefer NCL, because we can bring unlimited wine, and pay the corkage fee. A couple of bottles is not enough - lol!

 

Also, if you chose to sail NCL again, they are VERY good with dietary restrictions. I have a child with celiac, and we met with someone every day, and she could have almost anything made for her - just had to let them know in advance. They would also provide gluten free pizza to the buffet, and room service.

 

Nice review.

[tiffygirl]

so all of carnival's oldest and smallest ships ..in your opinion beats out the EPIC!!

 

very, very interesting!''

 

thanks for your review:)

[Medtech2]

Thanks for your review.

 

It's interesting how different people perceive "fun." I was very bored on my Carnival sailings, but I am not into "hairy leg" contests and the like. I did very much enjoy the small Serenity Deck on the Fantasy. I did not like the shows on the Fantasy either.

 

As far as the buffet, I can only think that on NCL it must really depend on who the head chef is. When we were on Epic the Indian choices were phenomenal, but the Head Chef at that time was Indian. I did not like Carnival's at all, but the desserts on Carnival were wonderful. If you should go on NCL again try the muesli for breakfast. It was heavenly.

 

Again, thanks for your review, it showed a really balanced contrast and compare.

[gelo7]

Excellent review, thanks for sharing.

[anandaindonesia]

Bravo!

Yes! Vegetarians wants OPTIONS and VARIETIES, too, just like our non-vegetarians brothers and sisters do. If only the cruise lines understand this, they will win our hearts.

 

And vegetarians can be foodies, too.

Considering the trends, isn-it time to be the first cruise line to offer Vegetarian Specialty Restaurant at sea?

 

Thank you. I see no bias in your honest review.

[kerrytens]

Thanks for the review - we were on the same sailing as you.

 

I do have to laugh about not knowing who the CD was on the cruise. I kept thinking that he was everywhere that I went;) What I found odd was the fact that he'd turn over to the mike quickly to an assistant though. Maybe it's his way of 'training' a newbie ... don't know. I guess it works though because one of the assistants was great!

 

BTW, the CD was JC Sanchez.

 

Oh and I wanted to say sorry about the steward. He must have been brand new. The fellow that we had was THE best steward we've ever had on any cruise.

Edited February 16, 2014 by kerrytens

[meatball_nyc]

Thanks for taking the time out to share your Epic experiences with us. Well done review.

We have only cruised on Carnival as well, our first NCL trip on Breakaway is this summer.

 

Enjoyed your fair review very much.

 

*Edited to add: having started doing research here on everything NCL looking for a cruise out of NYC, I did find that they do have a lot of mushrooms on the menus. I am a meat eater, but really don't care for mushrooms! Too bad you didn't enjoy the food options more!

 

Happy Cruising!

 

 

Robin

Norwegian Breakaway July 2014

Carnival Miracle 2010

Carnival Legend 2006

Edited February 16, 2014 by meatball_nyc

[Daisyduke70]

Thanks for your review.

 

It's interesting how different people perceive "fun." I was very bored on my Carnival sailings, but I am not into "hairy leg" contests and the like. I did very much enjoy the small Serenity Deck on the Fantasy. I did not like the shows on the Fantasy either.

 

As far as the buffet, I can only think that on NCL it must really depend on who the head chef is. When we were on Epic the Indian choices were phenomenal, but the Head Chef at that time was Indian. I did not like Carnival's at all, but the desserts on Carnival were wonderful. If you should go on NCL again try the muesli for breakfast. It was heavenly.

 

Again, thanks for your review, it showed a really balanced contrast and compare.

 

That muesli is to die for on NCL, we had it every day, have tried to replicate it at home, I can't get anywhere near it..

 

Great review, thank you. We sail the Epic for the first time in May, taking out 10yr old dd on her first cruise, she is going to love those water slides.

[Flowergyrl]

going on the epic first time march 16,2014. not enthusiastic but willing to keep an open mind that a larger ship might be a little more varied than the ncl dawn was last year. going with hard to please husband. hope I can get lost on the ship. any suggestions for Jamaica, Cozumel, costa maya? thanks for your review. I also rate carnival above ncl in general. will this change?

[xriva]

going on the epic first time march 16,2014. not enthusiastic but willing to keep an open mind that a larger ship might be a little more varied than the ncl dawn was last year. going with hard to please husband. hope I can get lost on the ship. any suggestions for Jamaica, Cozumel, costa maya? thanks for your review. I also rate carnival above ncl in general. will this change?

 

 

We did the Appleton Rum tour in Jamaica, and the tour was great (with an unlimited tasting and a nice lunch) but the bus trip there and back was a bit much. It you don't mind an hour and a half or so each way for some great rum, recommended. (I would do it again, Spousal Unit wouldn't).

 

In Cozumel, there is a Mexican cooking class that is a lot of fun. All the husbands and boyfriends seemed less than enthusiastic until Chef Luis said, "What's the first thing we do?" and all the women yelled, "Wash our hands!" and he said, "NO! Order drinks!" After that, it was a fun class.

 

Costa Maya was years ago, but we did a beach break with unlimited drinks, but after we finished the gallons of Blue Hawaiians, they may not do unlimited any more.

 

I'm not an alcoholic. Really. I hate meetings.

 

I am sorry you're not enthusiastic about your cruise. I don't think I could spend money on a vacation I'm not excited about. We were on the Epic two days after my wife's Aunt passed away, which clouded the whole trip, but it still was an enjoyable cruise.

 

Kevin

[#1TravelMom]

We LOVE the Epic and have cruised on her 3 times. I respect your review - very well written. It is easy to read and easy to decide if the issues you had with the Epic would be issues to the reader.

 

The Epic has more to do than any other ship we've been on(have the Getaway booked for fall). Love all the dining options and have never had poor dining service.

[DGP1111]

. . . I do have to laugh about not knowing who the CD was on the cruise. I kept thinking that he was everywhere that I went;)

 

BTW, the CD was JC Sanchez.

 

I also had that same experience. :)

 

With the single exception of embarkation day, there was not one day of the sailing that JC and I didn't cross paths somewhere (places as random as the art gallery), and he'd approach and say, "Hi, Don".

 

He was rather terrific in his role for that week.

 

.

[Prinycesa07]

Interesting review, thanks. We usually sail Carnival but trying the Breakaway next month. I also am a vegetarian. I was looking at the daily menus and thinking the same thing- why so many mushrooms?!?! Blah, hate mushrooms!