Calling All Cruisers!!

[GreenBeetle]

Geez, I've been gone a long time!! Glad to be back on Intercot for some advice from the experts!

Considering a cruise in January on the Norwegian Epic or Carnival Freedom (both Western Caribbean). Anyone cruised on either of those before?? I know the Epic is very new - hence the slightly steeper price.

Now here's the all important question . . . which soft drink products do each of those cruise lines serve?? We are Coke drinkers in my family, so the question just came up in conversation.

[NJGIRL]

Bumping this up. Has anyone cruised on either of these ships?

[Dakota Rose]

We, too, are considering either a Norwegian or Carnival Caribbean cruise for Jan/Feb 2012.

I would also love to hear feedback. And since she asked, do either serve coke?

[Magic Smiles]

Just got back from a Carnival South Caribbean cruise. Unfortunately never had any soft drinks on the cruise at all, so can't answer the question. The lemonade on Carnival was fantastic though. I am sure that if you phoned the cruise lines they would be able to answer your question.

[PrettyMinnie]

I have never cruised on the Carnival Epic before however we have sailed on Carnival and I can assure you there was plenty of Coke to be served. We found that they had nearly every possible soft drink available and were happy with the selection. The rest of the cruise line...eh, not so much.

[thrillme]

I haven't tried the Carnival Freedom but we did do the Carnival Conquest. (The Freedom is a Conquest Class ship...so essentially the same ship...different port).

On the Conquest we took the Eastern side and it was very nice (we went WEST on the Ectasy also nice). The room was quite comfortable. My husband and I had a King sized bed and my son had a sofa that made into a twin bed. We had the ocean view and my friends had a balcony (Balcony's are REALLY nice...at the very least get an ocean view).

The serve a pretty good selection of Coke and Pepsi products...I don't think they have any Dr Pepper HOWEVER...these are a "pay as you go" or you have to buy a "Soda card" (about $40 for a 7 day trip). HOWEVER...Carnival allows a "reasonable" amount of non-alocholic beverages (soda and water) per person...I guess reasonable would be about a 12 pk per person and ONE regular sized bottle of wine per cruiser over 21. These you may take in a "carry on" but no "hard" sided cooler. Soft collaspable coolers seem fine.

Drinks that ARE free are lemonade, tea, water and some other fruit flavored drink. Juice and milk are available in the morning.

Conquest class has a "speciality" resturant...very nice...about $30 per person BUT you're treated to a very personal high class meal...I know on the Norweigin Epic...they have specialty bars as well as resturants that will cost extra $$.

Now when we went on the Eastern side...Key West and Nassau were BEAUTIFUL...Freeport was also nice but seemed to have been hit pretty hard by a hurricane. Excursions....Snorkle, snorkle...Atlantis or Government tour. PM me if you want details.

We went WEST on the Ectasy...we only did 2 ports on that trip. Progresso...meh...if you go there TAKE A RUINS TOUR or if you are really a shopper go to MERIDA. We took a Mayan tour and it was very educational...very interesting. We didn't have time to go to Merida in addition but...I heard lots of positive inputs about it. Merida has good shopping but shop around before buying prices vary. Cozumel...GREAT stop...so much to do.

The Epic...never have done that one

[Dedivah]

Carnival has coke products. I am not sure about the EPIC.