An EPIC Cruise Review From A Carnival Cruiser

I hope I didn't just oversell this review in the title. To clarify, I sailed on the Epic. The review itself, while I hope it won't be the worst thing you've ever read, I don't think it would be accurate to label it "EPIC".

I have written a few reviews in the past on the Carnival boards. If you find yourself with nothing else to do today here is a link to my most recent review.

Carnival Vista.

I also have a link on that thread to my other reviews.

At the end of this review, I will post a detailed comparison of NCL VS Carnival. I will probably frequently compare my experience to how things are on Carnival throughout the review as well.

A couple disclaimers, I LOVE cruising and always have a good time. But I like to be honest in my review. Everything is not perfect on a cruise and I do intend to include the bad with the good. Just because I complain, does not mean I did not have a great time.

Also, I may not hit on everything that interests you as a cruiser. I would say from reading many reviews that my cruise style is different from the norm, and that is okay. Please feel free to ask questions about something I do not cover and I will do my best to answer anything that you would like to know about.

About Me:

I am 30 years old and am lucky enough to live in Florida so taking cruises is more affordable and easier to do than for many people. This is my 16th cruise but only my second time on NCL. Most (13) of my cruises have been with Carnival. My very first cruise was on Sky back in 2012 but since then all but one have been with Carnival.

As I mentioned, it was my first cruise so I had nothing to compare it to. I was cruising with my friend and now frequent cruise buddy M. It was not her first cruise and she was not impressed with the ship or NCL. I was having a great time, other than a few mishaps that sometimes occur when traveling with someone for the first time. Truth be told, it wasn't until our fourth cruise together that we figured out how to get along in such a small space for an extended period of time.

There are a few things that stick out to me about that first cruise. There was a wonderful and expansive BBQ on the pool deck on sea days. It seemed like the food went on forever and everything was so good.

Another was a wonderful Italian pasta buffet set up in the up-charge Italian restaurant at lunch for free. My only disappointment was not finding it until the last day. It was so good and I am pretty sure I ate my weight in pasta that day.

Then at night, there was a little 24 hour diner located near the back of the ship (or maybe the front, just remember that it was near the end of the ship). It was the same concept as O'Sheehans but it was called something different and felt more like a 24 hour "diner" than a "pub". When I cruise with M, I tend to be a night owl and I loved having a nice meal late at night. Carnival has no late late night options except pizza or room service which are both pretty lousy imho.

So the three things that I remember the best were all food related. That should tell you that I like to eat :D. I was really looking forward to the food on this cruise and selected the dining plan as my free at sea perk. I enjoy most of the food on Carnival, but it is getting a bit repetitive (what a great problem to have) so I cannot wait for the change of pace.

I am not cruising this time with M. I am cruising with my mother. She has cruised with me twice on Carnival. The first time was on the Sunshine and it was a terrible experience for her. I had a great time and it was a perfect example of two people on the same cruise having a very different cruise experience.

Imagine my surprise when she said she wanted to join me on a cruise that I had booked as a solo. I was a bit unsure but invited her along. I worked a little harder at involving her in the ships activities and while everything was not perfect, she had a great cruise and really enjoyed herself. She enjoyed herself so much she actually asked to look into booking something again.

This was around the same time I found out about a wonderful website called urcomped.com. I finance my cruises through the slot machines in the casino and for a while Carnival was giving me great offers with free cruises and then very heavily discounted cruises. But now all I was getting were slightly discounted cruises.

It was not just me, Carnival was making the business decision that they were making enough revenue in other departments that they did not need to comp rooms to entice gamblers to sail with them again. But even their low ball offers were something and was better than paying full price to sail with another cruise line. That was what made urcomped such a wonderful find. I submitted my offers from Carnival and they shopped around with other cruise lines that they are partnered with, and returned with an offer for a free cruise with NCL.

Sold!

Now I say free, but NCL does charge an "admin fee" of $20 per day. I think that is a little lame but even $140 plus tax for a 7 day cruise was better than anything that Carnival was sending my way, so it was a no brainer to try it out. I booked us on the 7 day Eastern Caribbean on the NCL Epic on 3/24.

Then the hurricanes happened. Booked all the way out in March I was quite surprised to have a change of itinerary notice in September. I was disappointed in Carnival's handling of the whole situation with very last minute changes so appreciated NCL being so proactive even though I knew both cruise lines were in a no win situation here, you were going to be criticized by some if you waited till the last minute to announce changes, but also criticized if you made changes this far out.

I have to admit, as time went on I changed my opinion. Other cruise lines were back in the eastern ports in January while NCL never did return to its original itinerary. Worse yet, they continue to change itineraries. I no longer feel like they made the right decision, but rather made the choice based on potential lost excursion revenue on islands that are not 100% but are operational and in need of tourist money.

So we now had a Western Caribbean cruise headed to Falmouth, Grand Cayman, and Great Stirrup Cay. My mom was disappointed because she was looking forward to the Virgin Islands and truthfully I was a little to because somehow I have never made it to the VI despite the number of cruises I have been on, but I understand these things happen.

Embarkation Day:

If you waiting for pictures, they are coming I promise! My opening is much more long winded than usual. But there will be pretty pictures to look at. More emphasis on pictures than pretty :D.

I did things a little differently today than I normally would, mostly because I was out of my element and not the "confident" cruiser than I normally am. For one, I gave my luggage to the porters. I object to the idea of tipping someone before a job is done, it is not a tip then, it is a bribe. To make matter worse, I was bribing them and still having my luggage come back with a lot of additional wear and tear. After an incident at this very port when both my mom and my luggage were crushed (to the point that my mom had damage to some of her items) I started carrying my luggage on (which has led to actually being verbally harassed and ridiculed by porters in Miami).

I just don't like the whole attitude these very well paid guys have toward tips, and usually choose to carry my own luggage on. But I was unsure about carrying luggage around with me on a ship that I was unfamiliar with, so I ponied up some cash and left my luggage in their hands. No incidents to report, and not even any additional wear and tear which is a first.

I also usually bring a fan with me. Carnival's website specifically states that fans are allowed with the only stipulation being that they are "in good working order". That is certainly up to interpretation but has never been an issue. No it seems every walk through security is the same. The agent tells me no because it is "too big" or "not allowed period". Then I ask for a supervisor and am waved through by the supervisor every time. It is almost word for word, the same song and dance each time almost as if it was scripted. But it keeps happening and that is with policy in black and white agreeing with me.

I could find no such policy for bringing a fan on board with me on NCL so for the first time in a dozen cruises, I did not bring a fan with me. BIG MISTAKE. The room temperature was fine without it, but it does so much more than cool off the room. It does great at blocking out noises associated with traveling with someone who has a different sleep pattern than you. Not to mention noises associated with a bathroom in your bedroom. :eek:. In the future, I will ask NCL for clarity and if they so no, I will seek one out from guest services if nobody with a medical condition needs it. Such a small thing, but it really does make a huge impact.

I used parkway parking for parking and the shuttle to the port. They are located at the Country Inn & Suites about a mile away from the port. I have used them before and highly recommend them for anyone looking for an affordable parking solution. But I would not have if this was my only experience with them. It seems one of the shuttle drivers broke his foot and they were unable to find a replacement so they were a man short today with five ships in port. There was standing room only on the shuttle to the port and guess who got to stand. It wasn't too bad, but no opportunity for ship pictures on the drive over. It was especially hard having to listen to all the oooh's and ahh's as people marveled the ships, and I had no view but the traffic in front of us.

Things were very chaotic at the port. With Carnival, Port Canaveral is the best port I have sailed out of for a smooth embark/debark process. I sure hope that is not the case with NCL because this was a giant mess. The line snaked on for days and I think it probably took at least an hour or more to get inside the terminal. I say I think, because I accidentally skipped the line. I was looking for a priority line as I knew there was one for guests booked through the casino but could not find it. I followed a group being pointed a certain direction and when we turned the corner, there was an elevator. When we came out of the elevator, we were at the front of the line to enter the terminal. Sorry 3000 people behind me, that was not cool.

Once inside, there was another long line to get through security. This line moved pretty quick though. Next was the line for check-in and now I finally see a designated priority line. I was a little concerned because I did not have priority on my boarding passes, but nobody checked them. I wonder what stops a dishonest person from claiming they have priority to skip the line?

Also just an observation, as far as I can tell there was no glitch in the computers, or problem disembarking from last cruise, and this is the same terminal Epic always uses, so it seems to me that the line might always be like this to board Epic. Unless I missed it, the priority line did not start until you made it inside. My priority boarding was extended by the casino, but are Platinum guests on NCL really expected to wait outside in that mile long line? I would not be okay with that.

Anyway check in was pretty quick and then we were on our way to board. My mom handed her card to be scanned on, and it made a buzz sound that did not sound very good. They asked for mine, and it did the same. Somehow our cards were not activated or something and we had to wait while they reissued us cards. My mom was having a meltdown and I tried to calm her down reminding her that the first day is always stressful.

After sitting for about five minutes they came back and we were able to be scanned in and board. You board on Deck 7 and can I just say this is a pretty boring place to board. There is just simply no "wow" factor to this location. Just a crowded hallway. Not a big deal just something I noticed.

Great start. Thanks for sharing your experience! Following as I'll be on the Epic for the first time in May, and first time with NCL. My other cruises have also been with Carnival.

The first plan was to put some food in my belly. I'm not sure why I always do this on cruise day, but I skipped breakfast. By now I was pretty hungry. I was very excited that NCL served lunch in the dining room because that is something Carnival does not do that I wish they would. This is especially important on embarkation day. I was so hungry that I considered going to the buffet just so I could eat right away. I am glad I did not and was reminded why when I went up there later - it was a complete zoo up there.

Upon arriving at Taste, there was a bit of a line to be seated. I was a little bit worried, but the line moved very fast. This was the theme, a bit of a line to get in but always a steady stream of crew to seat you. The process was very smooth all week and never once was there a wait or a line that was not fast moving.

I started with a plate of chicken nachos.

These were very good.

Next up, bacon wrapped meatloaf.

This was also very good.

My mom had the leg of lamb.

She said it was just ok.

I am a huge lover of all things cheesecake so for dessert I got the PB cup cheesecake.

This was a little too rich but still very good.

My mom got the orange chocolate mousse.

She tried a bite of mine and bragged hers was better. So I tried hers, and she was right. It was fantastic! My favorite dessert of the week.

Lunch was very good and service was very very quick. Like under a half hour quick. Although dinner was a little longer, this was on par with service all week. Very efficient without feeling rushed. Food quality....well more on that later as lunch was pretty good.

After lunch we took some time to explore a little. Never having been on a ship this large (Carnival doesn't make them this big, yet) I was a little surprised how quick we covered all of deck 5. After covering 6 I realized this was because the back portion of 5 is blocked off for the galley. Way better design than Carnival who blocks off the middle of the decks with theirs so that you cannot get from one end to the other without taking a flight of stairs up and then back down. I'm used to it, but always see cruise newbies confused by this design.

The casino was the thing I was most excited to check out. It would be my home away from home for the next week. The casino was HUGE compared to Carnival. It literally just went on and on forever in every direction. As the week went on though and I learned the layout better, the variety of popular more modern games was lacking. Carnival's casino is much smaller, but they have a better selection of machines by a mile.

Once my mom got tired of exploring, we made our way to our rooms. Rooms were to be ready at 2 and we were just a couple minutes shy of 2 but I figured it couldn't hurt to go just a couple minutes early. While looking for the room, the announcement was made rooms were ready. Our door was still propped open but appeared to be ready so we went on in.

Usually when booking a room, I know what I want. But I let the agent pick this one for me. I told her I wanted a room midship, near the elevators. This was because both trips with my mom were forward, near the elevators as that is my preference. But when going from the front of the ship, to the back of the ship to get somewhere it quickly wore my mother out. So this time I asked for midship near the elevators. I did not know that those two parameters for a room did not exist as there are no midship elevators. But shouldn't the agent? We ended up having to walk forward to the elevators, just to backtrack to where we wanted to go. Bad bad design not having midship elevators. I am ok with stairs and walking a lot, but my 61 year old mother was miserable. And when momma ain't happy...

Then of course there is the room itself with the odd bathroom setup. I knew about it, and made sure my mom knew about it. All I could think was why did they design this that way? Why did they think this was anything but a terrible idea. Upon seeing it, I got it. It doesn't seem too bad, and knowing how much smaller the room was compared to Carnival, I thought ok this was a pretty smart idea after all because this room looks no smaller than what I am used to when I know Carnival's rooms are half again bigger.

But then there was the reality. The bathroom sounds coming from your mother that nobody should have to hear. Don't even get me started on the smells. To make matters worse, something was broken in the track and the door would only close about 99% of the way. That 1% made a difference. And when the ship is moving, that 1% meant the door would just slide on open the rest of the way. I was mentally prepared for the worst and this came pretty close to it, but I was prepared and got used to it after a couple days. If I was not a cruise fanatic and didn't know what the situation was going to be, well I can see how this could be a problem.

We rested in the room for a few minutes reading the dailies and the various other fliers we got in the room. The steward, Victorino, stopped by and dropped off my champange for being a return guest. Carnival gives you water, which is much more practical.

Lunch was good, but I found myself still a little hungry so once rested up, we headed up to the buffet where I had my first experience with Washy Washy Happy Happy. Very cute little saying. I can see why people who sail NCL and then come to Carnival are surprised by the lack of hand sanitizers. They are everywhere on this ship.

After a small snack we headed back to the room until it was time for muster drill.

BEST MUSTER STATION EVER!!!

Muster is never fun, but I was glad it was inside so it was pretty painless just a little boring as normal. When muster was over, they released everyone at once. Things were as you can imagine, a bit hetic.

Among the fliers in the room was one from the casino welcoming me on board and inviting me to a cocktail party at 4 in the Cavern Club. I was a little bummed to miss sail away and I probably would not go again but it was a nice little gathering with some free food and drinks.

After eating two lunches, and then some more finger foods at the casino gathering, we pushed dinner off until later in the evening. We spent some time in the library which became my mom's home away from home this week.

Once my mom checked out a few books for the week we went and watched a salsa dance class in the atrium.

After that we went to the show in the main theater, Beatles Live! which was also the welcome aboard show. Andre the cruise director was pretty funny, but that was really the last time I saw him all week. I don't think the CD plays the same role on NCL that they do on Carnival, because on Carnival the CD is very visible and very active in getting everyone involved. Either that or we got a dud, but I don't think that is the case because he seemed like a funny guy and had a great personality.

There are apps you can get for your phone with white noise options, I always use them when traveling. It was especially helpful when I needed emergency surgery, and found myself overnighting in the hospital with a roommate with lots of visitors. My favorite was fan sound.

Following! I love your Carnival reviews, and just happened to be browsing NCL boards and was happy to see this! Great start!!

We made our way to dinner around 9. Now if you are reading this review from the Carnival boards, you may have noticed something in the pictures from lunch that would be missing from pictures on Carnival. That is the tablecloth.

This is such a silly thing to me but many make such a huge deal about it. One of the complaints is that the MDR is too noisy without tablecloths. I am here to tell you, tablecloths did not help the noise factor in here. It was so unbearably loud in here and I could not figure out why as it was near closing time. I later discovered the reason, it was because of the open design of the ship, and all the sounds coming down from the deck above us. Even with tablecloths, this was no fine dining experience.

Tonight's menu.

Classic Entrees, which were available every night.

For my starter I had the slider and the crab cakes.

The slider was fantastic. Best app all week and something I would order a couple more times when nothing else really appealed to me. The crab cakes were ok.

For my main I had the New Zealand hake fillet.

This was pretty good, but could have used something to make the flavor pop a little more. It was almost bland.

Dessert menu.

I had the cherries jubilee and the pistachio creme brulee.

Both were ok, but not anything special.

Service was excellent and was on par with anytime dining on Carnival. You never really establish a connection with your wait staff, but service is quick just the way I like it. Start to finish in about an hour. The food was ok but nothing special. My mom on the other hand did not like anything she ate tonight. I tried a bite of her dinner, the pasta and duck, and I agreed with her - it was nasty. It seems NCL is very liberal with the salt shaker, and this was a recurring theme throughout the week on many dishes at various meals.

After dinner it was casino time. I went into this cruise with no real budget which was a welcome change of pace for me since a low budget means little playing time if you are not winning anything. It can also be dangerous though since you really need some sort of self imposed limit. I knew my play was being evaluated for both future comps from NCL and urcomped and I had built up a bit of savings so I threw caution to the wind this trip - for better or worse.

I hit this early on tonight.

4 of a kind for $250 (I was playing $2 a credit) kept me playing on the house money for most of the night. Also got a tip later in the week from a slot attendant that I can't believe I never thought of - she tucked the corner of my drink card into the card slot so it did not hang over the game screen. Genius.

I retired for the evening around midnight only down about $50 in the casino. If only that was an indicator of the rest of my trip! :(

Before I wrap up for the first night lets pause for a bit of commentary.

I was trying very hard not to be one of those people. You know, the kind who nitpick every little thing and let it spoil their vacation. I am a pretty easy going person and never let the little things get to me.

But they were.

It is not the right attitude, but it was my experience and that is after all what I am writing about - my experience. Right or wrong, I found myself frequently displeased because it was not the experience that I was used to with Carnival. I just don't take to change very well. I will elaborate on these things more in my summary. By the third day, I found myself easing into things and enjoying myself a little more. But by the end of the trip - I was glad my next cruise was on Carnival. (But I have since booked again on NCL)

By all means, take my opinions with a grain of salt. I am telling you here that I am a bit bias due to past expectations with how things are done on another cruise line, but don't dismiss me entirely either :)

Another thing going against me was my mom. She was not into it at all and I just did not have the energy to make her have a good time like I did on our last trip. A combination of too many flights of stairs walked, and her waking me up early in the morning when she got up just left me exhausted and also meant I didn't have the energy to participate in the activities either. Not to mention the constant need for reservations. They are probably necessary with this many people - but certainly not in the spirit of "freestyle". Follow the sun instead of a schedule. But don't expect to see a show if you do! That's what it should say on the dailies.

That's all for day one, I hope I still have some people reading along despite the slightly negative tone of my review. Next up will be a picture tour of the Epic.

Great start. Thanks for sharing your experience! Following as I'll be on the Epic for the first time in May, and first time with NCL. My other cruises have also been with Carnival.

You're welcome! Glad my experience could help. :)

There are apps you can get for your phone with white noise options, I always use them when traveling. It was especially helpful when I needed emergency surgery, and found myself overnighting in the hospital with a roommate with lots of visitors. My favorite was fan sound.

That is a definite plan B if all else fails in the quest for a fan next time.

Thank you for your review. Looking forward to following along. I have been cruising Carnival since 2000, but only 8 cruises in that time frame. Cruised on NCL in 1999 before Freestyle. Have been wanting to go back again to NCL, and have booked numerous times, only to have to cancel due to family commitments.

I appreciate your honesty, and look forward to reading both the good and not so good of your review, because, I am pretty much 99 percent sure that my next cruise will not be on Carnival, just not sure which line it will be until I can realistically plan a cruise again.

Thanks again, and looking forward to the rest of your review.

Following! I love your Carnival reviews, and just happened to be browsing NCL boards and was happy to see this! Great start!!

Thank you for the kind words :D I love your reviews as well. Glad to see a familiar face for my first review on this board.

Thank you for your review. Looking forward to following along. I have been cruising Carnival since 2000, but only 8 cruises in that time frame. Cruised on NCL in 1999 before Freestyle. Have been wanting to go back again to NCL, and have booked numerous times, only to have to cancel due to family commitments.

 

I appreciate your honesty, and look forward to reading both the good and not so good of your review, because, I am pretty much 99 percent sure that my next cruise will not be on Carnival, just not sure which line it will be until I can realistically plan a cruise again.

 

Thanks again, and looking forward to the rest of your review.

You're very welcome, glad I could help. I hope things work out in your favor so that you can cruise again soon, on whatever line you choose.

I'm following along and enjoying your report. I pretty much agree with everything you've written about the EPIC so far. FYI about embarkation, NCL Platinum cruisers have a special line for checking in and get priority boarding but they have to wait in line like everyone else to get into the terminal building and through security.

I'm following along and enjoying your report. I pretty much agree with everything you've written about the EPIC so far. FYI about embarkation, NCL Platinum cruisers have a special line for checking in and get priority boarding but they have to wait in line like everyone else to get into the terminal building and through security.

Add that to the list of things I just sort of took for granted and assumed to be the same. I also noticed they do not get a special line at guest services. That is such a wonderful perk that Carnival offers at no cost to them (okay, maybe the cost of the sign indicating where the priority line is if one were to really split hairs).

Thanks for following along, glad you're enjoying it.

Loving your comparison of NCL to Carnival. My family has been on 4 Carnival cruises and the Hubby & I are taking our first NCL cruise next March on the Epic. Looking forward to more soon.

ive sailed NCL, Carnival and MSC and all were delightful. different, but quite comparable overall.

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Love this! The Epic was my first NCL last summer, and I am 100% sold on NCL (and leaving next week on another). Until now I was super loyal to Carnival, but the Epic does a hard sell away from what Carnival has to offer. (I also think it's a better product than RCCL and Princess).

Loving your comparison of NCL to Carnival. My family has been on 4 Carnival cruises and the Hubby & I are taking our first NCL cruise next March on the Epic. Looking forward to more soon.

Thanks glad you like it!

ive sailed NCL, Carnival and MSC and all were delightful. different, but quite comparable overall.

 

 

 

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I want to experience other lines, but I need to ease into it. I need my Carnival fix lol.

Love this! The Epic was my first NCL last summer, and I am 100% sold on NCL (and leaving next week on another). Until now I was super loyal to Carnival, but the Epic does a hard sell away from what Carnival has to offer. (I also think it's a better product than RCCL and Princess).

There is a lady I work with who cruises all three major lines and agrees they are all pretty much the same. I agree they are very similar on paper, but to me that is where the comparison stops. It was a very different experience to me. Not necessarily bad, but quite different. I will be back, I have booked on the Getaway in July.

Ship Tour:

I was still learning the ins and outs of the ship, so I may have missed some areas but I hope to give you a rough idea of the layout of the ship and how it looks on the inside. As I did the upper decks on a different day than the lower decks, Deck 14 somehow got skipped. Ooops.

Starting on Deck 5 all the way forward is the art gallery.

Click photo gallery.

Card room.

The library is in a separate room, meaning it is much quieter than on Carnival.

Walking toward the back.

Le Bistro.

Shore excursion desk.

Guest Services. This was the third day of the cruise, and the first time there was not a line 10+ people deep. In fairness, Carnival's line is usually pretty long too.

CruiseNext desk.

Atrium.

Following along! Thanks for sharing!