Carnival Sunshine or RC or NCL Epic

[halos]

I just had this same delima. I was booked solo on the Epic for a 7 day Western Med cruise. My friend decided to join me and go see Europe. I looked at all our options and figured we could do the 9 day Sunshine with two extra ports in an Aft Balcony for cheaper then the Epic. Considering there is one sea day and all the port times are long days, the Sunshine suddenly looked very attractive.

 

This will be my fourth Med cruise and believe me, you are not hanging out on the ship too much at all with this kind of itinerary. Even at night it is primarily dinner and then hitting the bed early for a 6 AM wake up. It really just came down to showing my friend as much as possible if we were going to go all the way over there in the first place.

 

I should state that I never once before entertained the idea of cruising the Sunshine. The idea in itself just does not appeal to me. If all things were equal (ports, number of days, price) I would jump on the Epic in a heartbeat. However, this is not a Caribbean run, it is Europe and I want us to see as much as possible.

 

That makes total sense to me as a cruise in Europe is in no way about the ship.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

That makes total sense to me as a cruise in Europe is in no way about the ship.

 

Well, perhaps just a little bit about the ship. I would not want to again travel on the Sovereign of the Seas or the (thankfully now scrapped) Regal Empress !!! :eek:

 

Guess I've become too accustomed with Caribbean itineraries where, to me at least, it's 90% about the ship!! One day I'll have to branch out (when I can work out 2-3 weeks vacation to make the trek across the pond worthwhile)!

 

Tom

[Warm Breezes]

I have sailed on Destiny and Epic. Even though we had fun on Destiny, if I got to choose which one to sail again I would pick Epic hands down. The entertainment alone made the Epic worth the higher price to me. DH on the other hand would probably tell you Destiny. While he loved the entertainment on Epic, the sheer size of the ship was too much for him and he likes the bigger inside rooms on CCL. He prefers smaller ships that are easier to get around which he liked on the Destiny. He also prefers Carnival's food. I find the MDR food to be similar on both lines with NCL having the edge on the buffet and CCL having the edge with deserts. IMHO there were more for the kids to do on Epic than there was on Destiny. Keep mind that my teens get into going the teen clubs and they prefer going to the sports court together or hanging out with us. Which ever you choose have fun.

[gelo7]

With the 16 year old, I would go with the Epic.

[tksail]

I was directed to this site when I asked for a comparison of the Carnival Legend and the Epic on Google. We just sailed 20 days on the NCL Epic in October-November 2012 (7 days Med and 13 days TA). We are considering the Legend or Sunshine in 2014. Anyway, we will never cruise on the Epic again, ever. We had a balcony and the configuration is horrible.

 

My husband and I are not tiny people and we had to leap past each other (often over the bed) to go from one end of the room to the other. The washbasin is directly in the stateroom and there is a toilet "capsule" and a shower "capsule" on each side of the entry door (which you really can see through no matter what others might say). I am sorry to state this so strongly, but this configuration was not for us. I agree that a Med cruise is about the ports, but like someone said, we toured every day, came back on ship exhausted, had dinner, prepared for the next day, and went to bed.

 

Then, we had the TA--we got a new balcony stateroom which was a little better--bed closer to balcony than the entry door/capsules. We decided we are not fond of having to make reservations for the onboard entertainment either. We only went to two shows in 20 days. We did see the comedian a couple times.

 

The crew is wonderful and the dinners were fine. We have never met a cruise we didn't like in 32 cruises, but we won't do the Epic again.

 

That is why we are looking at the Legend/Sunshine or whatever ship will be doing Med cruises in 2014. I can't find a drawing of the various stateroom configurations on either ship.

[Blueboss]

I was directed to this site when I asked for a comparison of the Carnival Legend and the Epic on Google. We just sailed 20 days on the NCL Epic in October-November 2012 (7 days Med and 13 days TA). We are considering the Legend or Sunshine in 2014. Anyway, we will never cruise on the Epic again, ever. We had a balcony and the configuration is horrible.

 

My husband and I are not tiny people and we had to leap past each other (often over the bed) to go from one end of the room to the other. The washbasin is directly in the stateroom and there is a toilet "capsule" and a shower "capsule" on each side of the entry door (which you really can see through no matter what others might say). I am sorry to state this so strongly, but this configuration was not for us. I agree that a Med cruise is about the ports, but like someone said, we toured every day, came back on ship exhausted, had dinner, prepared for the next day, and went to bed.

 

Then, we had the TA--we got a new balcony stateroom which was a little better--bed closer to balcony than the entry door/capsules. We decided we are not fond of having to make reservations for the onboard entertainment either. We only went to two shows in 20 days. We did see the comedian a couple times.

 

The crew is wonderful and the dinners were fine. We have never met a cruise we didn't like in 32 cruises, but we won't do the Epic again.

 

That is why we are looking at the Legend/Sunshine or whatever ship will be doing Med cruises in 2014. I can't find a drawing of the various stateroom configurations on either ship.

 

Here is the layout for Carnival Legend cabins. Looks like all Carnival cabins have very similar layouts so would expect them to be the same on Sunshine.

http://www.cruisedeckplans.com/DP/Main/decks.php?ship=Carnival%20Legend

[Wrinks22]

I am really biased as I have sailed on only CCL.

I think either Epic or Sunshine would be good.

If the Sunshine has better ports do it.

 

You did not specify the ship on RCI so idk what to say.

[b_cruise]

I am on booked on this date on sunshine with my 16 yr old. I am worried about the space but the ports are excellent . I went on royal two years ago to Europe and Europe is so port extensive, I don't think I'll mind the crowds on sea days. I think sunshine is 400 ob credit if u book now or it may be over already? I'm excited!

[Guzzler]

Looking at Sunshine 7th July. We have been on Independence of Seas, p and O Ventura. Unsure of Carnival, really mixed reviews on cruise critic. We are travelling with a 16 year old. The ports on the Sunshine are really good. Advice please

 

Epic, Once you both hit the pool deck for the day you will know why. DO not miss the water slides and all the options for sun or shade.

 

G.

 

:cool:

[heatherbelle]

You get 5 more days on the Sunshine (12 vs 7 on Epic) for, depending on the cabin, a couple hundred dollars more. Depends on what you want the cruise to be about. Epic will be a far superior ship to the Sunshine, but the Sunshine gives you 5 more days (and you get to see more of Europe) for roughly the same price. If it was a heads up 7 day comparison for a Caribbean cruise, then the Epic wins. For this cruise, 12 days wins out over 7.

 

We did a 12 day Mediterranean cruise on Princess a few years ago and I can hardly remember a thing about the ship as we only really were on it to eat dinner and sleep. All I remember is the awesome ports we visited!

 

This is exactly why we chose the Sunshine, 12 days on a ship and in the Med, for more or less the same money. If you don't try it you don't know as my husband says. If we don't like it we will try a different cruise line next time. I have a 14 year old DS. He looked at the club read a few reviews and decided he liked Carnival, because he gets 12 days with his mates onboard and away from us, his words.

[tksail]

Here is the layout for Carnival Legend cabins. Looks like all Carnival cabins have very similar layouts so would expect them to be the same on Sunshine.

http://www.cruisedeckplans.com/DP/Main/decks.php?ship=Carnival%20Legend

 

Thank you so much! The balcony stateroom looks like a world of difference from the NCL Epic (BTW, we are "Platinum" on NCL too and have enjoyed many cruises with them). I truly cannot picture 3 people in our balcony stateroom on the Epic--and we had a cabin designated for 3. Perhaps the couple with the 16 year old are looking at a suite. The suites are fine on the Epic.

 

This diagram helps us.

 

About the ports, we enjoyed Barcelona, Naples (Pompeii), Citavecchia (Rome), Livorno (Florence/Pisa), Nice, and Marseilles. We hope the Legend also does Venice, Croatia, and Sicily in 2014 like they are doing this year. I would also highly recommend romeinlimo for tours in Italy--they were fantastic and reasonable. (not sure if I can recommend anyone on CC). We would repeat every tour we took with them again next year.

 

Janie

[Purplehaze21]

Took this picture on our recent cruise and this is our next ship we want to try!

 

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

Took this picture on our recent cruise and this is our next ship we want to try!

...

 

Be prepared to love it! Sure, they have some issues with the layout of the cabins (they're going to be more "traditional" in their newer build), but overall it's an amazing ship.

 

Having O'Sheehan's to enjoy 24/7 is a real treat. Room service on NCL (and most other lines for that matter!) puts Carnival to shame.

 

Tom

[Purplehaze21]

Be prepared to love it! Sure, they have some issues with the layout of the cabins (they're going to be more "traditional" in their newer build), but overall it's an amazing ship.

 

Having O'Sheehan's to enjoy 24/7 is a real treat. Room service on NCL (and most other lines for that matter!) puts Carnival to shame.

 

Tom

 

WOW I didn't know what O'Sheehan's was so I googled it. We have been on

7 Carnival...2 RCI and always wanted to try NCL. It sounds

amazing!

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

WOW I didn't know what O'Sheehan's was so I googled it. We have been on

7 Carnival...2 RCI and always wanted to try NCL. It sounds

amazing!

 

HERE is a link to what NCL indicates is their "Late Night" menu. The food is all no charge. The shakes, soft drinks, beer (you know, the "regular stuff") is not.

 

Tom