I have been on Epic, Liberty (sister ship of Freedom) and Fantasy. I strongly prefer DCL (we love the dedicated movie theater with movies all day, movies at the pool, great dining (A), staterooms, private island and overall ambience of DCL). But, when there is a big price difference we sail others. We usually get an OV room, will pay only slightly more for a balcony.
Epic pros--nice ship, fun bowl type slide, good entertainment, fun pub, fun bowling alley, MDR food was good (B+). cons--weird cabin layout, pool area congested and seems confined, lack of outdoor space, no movies played during the day except once in Atrium, poor use of outdoor movie screen even at night (this was in Europe, so Carib might be different).
Liberty/Freedom--MDR food is just OK (B-), no daytime outdoor movies (poker and sports) and hard to hear movie screen. We liked the mall area, pizza parlor, flowrider, putt-putt, climbing wall. Entertainment is decent--ice show and 1 Broadway style show, other shows were just OK. The mall area is more like an enclosed "street" with café areas with some stores. You have a pub, pizza parlor (with fruit and anti-pasta), coffee shop with seating around/outside the areas, not like a mall with store after store. I enjoyed getting coffee/snack and people watching for a while. The pizza parlor is also a fun environment.
Prior to sailing with DCL, we sailed many times on RCCL (older ships) and always had an excellent cruise. We feel food in MDR has slipped some with cost cutting, but other than that, RCCL is still a good cruise and excellent value, IMHO. We are now just spoiled by DCL.
Epic pros--nice ship, fun bowl type slide, good entertainment, fun pub, fun bowling alley, MDR food was good (B+). cons--weird cabin layout, pool area congested and seems confined, lack of outdoor space, no movies played during the day except once in Atrium, poor use of outdoor movie screen even at night (this was in Europe, so Carib might be different).
Liberty/Freedom--MDR food is just OK (B-), no daytime outdoor movies (poker and sports) and hard to hear movie screen. We liked the mall area, pizza parlor, flowrider, putt-putt, climbing wall. Entertainment is decent--ice show and 1 Broadway style show, other shows were just OK. The mall area is more like an enclosed "street" with café areas with some stores. You have a pub, pizza parlor (with fruit and anti-pasta), coffee shop with seating around/outside the areas, not like a mall with store after store. I enjoyed getting coffee/snack and people watching for a while. The pizza parlor is also a fun environment.
Prior to sailing with DCL, we sailed many times on RCCL (older ships) and always had an excellent cruise. We feel food in MDR has slipped some with cost cutting, but other than that, RCCL is still a good cruise and excellent value, IMHO. We are now just spoiled by DCL.