NCL versus DCL

[3girlsfun]

After listening to the podcast that compared the two, NCL, and DCL, I am nervous......

We had planned on doing a NCL on the Epic for Thanksgiving 2013. We like the itinerary better, as well as the price.

However, after hearing this podcast, we are nervous about booking as we will have an 8, 4, 3 and 8 month old.

Would your recommend the Epic for kids?

Thank for your help!

We are going on the DCL Dream in October, can't wait!

 

[DisneyKevin]

I'm sorry to say this, but I wouldn't reccomend the Epic to anyone.

You might have a vey different opinion.

 

[3girlsfun]

Ah, that is what I am thinking. I think it is a total mistake. I only know one person who has sailed it, she liked it, but didn't rave about it.

I have listed to y'all talk about the Epic, and my on my, it makes me very nervous.

 

[mikelan6]

Try pricing out Royal Caribbean. They will probably be less expensive than Disney and is an excellent product.

 

[schimj]

I sailed on the Epic on their Eastern Carib cruise over Easter Week in '11. The crusisers were myself and my wife, (both early 30s) and her mother (you can do the math ), and we all had a great time. There were plenty of things to do on board, but we weren't sailing with little ones. We're more puppy-people than kid-people. DW & I can't wait to go back...as a matter of fact, we were thinking of jumping ship (poor choice of words, possibly) from DCL to NCL for an upcoming cruise with my MIL who is going back on the Epic...we just couldn't make the dates work due to stuff we have going on on land the week she'll be at sea.

We loved the Ice Bar, Howl at the Moon, Second City shows (both family and 'adult'), and other fun stuff to do on board. I know there were some Spongebob things over the week, but we didn't pay much attention to them. The pools were very nice, and the waterslides were great by cruise ship standards.

I haven't listened to the podcast about it, but I'm going to guess the main complaint was the freestyle dining. We had mixed reviews on it...liked the freedom to pick our dining times, but the MDR food wasn't anything too speacial, but we did like the sports bar, and the fact that it was open 24 hours so if you wanted to drop in for a snack after swimming or what have you, it was ready and you didn't have to wait for room service.

If you want to try something new, I'd suggest doing it. I think DCL's in a bit of a rut as far as where they are going, so after we take the cruises we have booked (a 3-night in 2 weeks, then PCC 4.0 in dec), we might start exploring other lines more (we've done the Epic cruise, and the Carnival Legend out of Tampa, where we live...that was a fun ship, too).

 

[TifffanyD]

Hi there! I am the wife that schimj threaten... err... mentioned!

I totally agree - the Epic was FABULOUS!! We got a spectacular room for the price we normally get a leaky creaky inside on DCL (LOL!!!). I loved some of the things they had like the blue man group, cirque dinner, ice bar, and howl. *SOOOO* much fun! I wasn't a fan of the smokey casino, but my mom liked it. It must've liked her too because they gave her a free cruise to come back

The only bad things I would mention was the bit of day and bit of night we "lost power and were drifting at sea"... per the captain's announcement. Actually I didn't hear the night one, but my mom said they had it broadcast in her cabin. It was no biggie tho.

The cruise director was kinda lame but not worse than your average DCL cruise director. Carnival had the best cruise director we've had so far. Also... as much as I *LOVE* disney (see signature), I loved seeing non-Disney stuff... like real art in the gallery and such.

Man, I want to go back on the Epic so bad. If people keep saying it's no good maybe the prices will get even cheaper

 

[TifffanyD]

Oh and I don't know how the kids stuff is but I hear they have a whole "Nickelodeon at Sea" thing going so you could check that out! I'm not sure you will get many unbiased opinions on other lines on these boards though!

 

[NancyIL]

I suggest you read the Epic's reviews on Cruise Critic: http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/review.cfm?ShipID=481

I don't choose my non-Disney cruises based on what a few people on a Disney board think about a particular ship.

 

[DisneyKevin]

I suggest you read the Epic's reviews on Cruise Critic: http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/review.cfm?ShipID=481

I don't choose my non-Disney cruises based on what a few people on a Disney board think about a particular ship.

Did someone suggest that anyone should do this?

 

[DisneyKevin]

Oh and I don't know how the kids stuff is but I hear they have a whole "Nickelodeon at Sea" thing going so you could check that out! I'm not sure you will get many unbiased opinions on other lines on these boards though!

I didnt care for the Epic based upon my experience on the Epic.

I thought the stateroom design was ridiculous and uncomfortable. I thought the ship design was clunky.

My favorite ships are Royal Caribbean ships.

I'm not sure whether that makes me biased or unbiased.

 

[NancyIL]

Did someone suggest that anyone should do this?

Do what?

 

[DisneyKevin]

I don't choose my non-Disney cruises based on what a few people on a Disney board think about a particular ship.

This....choose their non-Disney cruises based on what a few people on a Disney Board think about a ship.

Did anyone suggest that anyone should make their choice based on that criteria?

I was just curious where that comment came from. Maybe I missed something.

 

[NancyIL]

This....choose their non-Disney cruises based on what a few people on a Disney Board think about a ship.

Did anyone suggest that anyone should make their choice based on that criteria?

I was just curious where that comment came from. Maybe I missed something.

No one suggested that, but a few opinions on the DIS are not enough for me to decide for or against a particular ship. The Cruise Critic link I posted above is to the official Cruise Critic Epic review - with a link to access 778 other reviews from Cruise Critic members.

 

[DisneyKevin]

No one suggested that, but a few opinions on the DIS are not enough for me to decide for or against a particular ship. The Cruise Critic link I posted above is to the official Cruise Critic Epic review - with a link to access 778 other reviews from Cruise Critic members.

Like we always say on the podcast...these are our opinions and observations.

You should always do your research and make your decision based on that.

 

[ChrissyBeth29]

I didnt care for the Epic based upon my experience on the Epic.

I thought the stateroom design was ridiculous and uncomfortable. I thought the ship design was clunky.

My favorite ships are Royal Caribbean ships.

I'm not sure whether that makes me biased or unbiased.

Kevin...I totally agree on RCL! We love those ships! The entire family will be spending Christmas this year on one! Your Florence trip for Christmas last year inspired us! You always keep me laughing while I listen to the podcasts!

 

[disneyholic family]

Try pricing out Royal Caribbean. They will probably be less expensive than Disney and is an excellent product.

how do i get that cool oasis sailing graphic into my signature?

 

[disneysteve]

I agree with reading reviews at Cruisecritic.com. Though even there, you need to use your own judgement in evaluating what people say. There are folks there who are very biased, either for or against. We took our first NCL cruise a couple of years ago (not on Epic, on Dawn) and encountered numerous problems. When I got home and posted my review, I got thoroughly flamed by the NCL die-hards. They basically accused me of being too hard to please. If you knew me, you'd know that nothing could be farther from the truth. I'm a very easy going guy who happily adapts to whatever is going on, but that won't stop me from calling it as I see it, especially when posting a review.

Our ship was in relative disrepair. We encountered numerous service issues during our cruise. Freestyle dining was a failure in our opinion. It certainly doesn't live up to the advertising that NCL does. I'm not sure if it was better on Epic than on Dawn but we would definitely not sail with them again unless I had good reason to believe that the system had changed significantly.

For the record, I have not yet listened to the podcast discussing the cruise so I'm posting purely based on my previous NCL experience (and my cruisecritic experience).