Norwegian Epic v. Carnival Liberty

My husband and I are in our late 50s and want to go on a cruise. Narrowed it down to these two. Would like pros and cons to each, please.

Wonder how you wound up with these two - guess you are looking for ship out of Miami to Caribbean - ???

Epic is bigger - Epic (2010) is newer ship in terms of original build - but Carnival Liberty was pretty thoroughly redone in 2011.

It all depends on what you want in a whole lot of ways. Price and itinerary usually answer a lot of questions. If you are going to get a suite, then I hear from my rich travel agent (HA!) that the Haven on Epic is as good as it gets.

I have been biased against NCL simply because of particular anecdotal reports from family and friends that go back many years now - no real basis probably. I think the current reality probably is that NCL and Carnival are both mass-market lines that are more similar than different. You probably will have a great time either way. Again, price and itinerary are normally the primary considerations.

It probably would make sense if you want to get someone who knows the industry to help steer you to what could be your best bet, you should call someone like Bonnie Buchanan (who is TTOL sponsor and you can find her that way). Using a TA does not increase the cost of the cruise from the cruise line. Without knowing a lot more about you, even though we have cruised a lot, I would feel completely unable to guess which ship might be a better ship for you to pick. A "pro" for one person could be a "con" for another.

We prefer NCL and the main reason is the Freestyle Dining.
We don't go on vacation to sit with others at dinner....I know many people enjoy that but not for us. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/dine.gif" alt="" />

NCl certainly doesn't have the lock on that type of dining, as Princess, and I'm sure a lot of other cruise lines offer what's called 'anytime dining', where you dine when you want to, not at an assigned table with the same people. I don't know whether Carnival offers that or not, don't think so, but it's been a long time since we've been on Carnival.

Carnival has an anytime option. I have never used it.

OK, so that is not a reason for the OP to pick NCL over Carnival.

Haven't been on Carnival because I've heard enough that I wouldn't necessarily pick them unless the itinerary was unique or the price too cheap to pass up and I'm cheap. I haven't found that occurrence triggering me to buy Carnival and I look all the time.

My first cruises were NCL cruises (Sunward II, Skyward, Starward and SS Norway).

After a break from cruising we went on the Caribbean Princess. Wow, what a change from anything in the old NCL world. Next cruise the next year was Norwegian Dawn. Not even close to Princess in cabin service, buffet food, dining room food, and everything about how the ship is run. The biggest thing I remember is all you can get to eat after 10pm is hamburgers and hot dogs in a little place that reminds me of long john silvers. Greasy!

Don't get me wrong. I love any cruise as long as I don't get sick. The water and sun are the same and the ports are the same.

I just think you can get better eberything for the same price.

So pick your ports and then shop around. Port Everglades is equal to Port of Miami if not better, right next to FLL airport.

PS. I avoided cruises for quite awhile because I didn't want a stuffy atmosphere. I think that atmosphere is gone. As long as your not wearing t-shirts and rags, most folks are there to kickback in shorts and flipflops on all these boats. Dress up night has become fun to us to go along with the food/effort the workers are putting in and we get good pictures.


Scheduled dining would never work for us. Both NCL and Princess have anytime. I have learned though that the best waiters are often in the scheduled dining rooms.

I have heard different thinking on this. On Royal Caribbean some staff have told me that some of best waiters like anytime dining because the pax have to pre-pay gratuities and they still get some extra tips - whereas in the scheduled times they can still get nothing from some.

Thank you all for your input. We have chosen to go on NCL. Thought it might be a step up from Carnival. We went on a Carnival about 15 years ago. It'll be better than staying around here in 15 degree weather!