Big Celebrity Fan Trying NCL Epic May 2017 Review

I recently did a live from blog/review on the equinox and a few people asked if I was going to do one for my following cruise on the NCL Epic, now I didn't do a live from review/blog but just finished the cruise and put a few notes/points below,

If anyone has a pay questions feel free to ask and I'll try to help, I didn't keep or take any pictures of the dailies etc so don't have any of that info in afraid,

In short, will I be swapping my line of choice... no, but I'd be more then happy to try NCL again and would even do the Epic again given the chance [emoji106]🏻

NCL Epic May 17th - 24th Civitavecchia Med Cruise -

(Civitavecchia, Florence, Cannes, Palma, Barcelona, Sea Day, Naples & civitavecchia)

Me -

I'm a 45 year old english guy and I had just returned from a 10 night Caribbean cruise aboard the celebrity Equinox with my lovely girlfriend, we are both celebrity fans so I was interested to see how I would find the NCL Epic, Julie went home to Montreal after that cruise and I flew back to London/Rome to join this one, originally I was going back to England to see family... but this came up!

Hotel pre-cruise - Civitavecchia -

I stayed at the Hotel De Ville, I had stayed there before so new what I was getting, it's a pretty standard hotel with all the bits you need and is in a great location on the Sea front, I had a side view room that had a balcony looking toward the port & ocean, the room rate included breakfast which was a mix of cold bits with a few hot items so was perfect for what I wanted,

Its a couple of mins walk from the train station so that's also a plus, as you come out the train station looking at the ocean turn right and you can't miss it,

I decided to book a transfer to the port for the following morning and that was €20... funny thing is on my last trip here we paid €10 each.. still I didn't want the hassle in the morning so just paid up and looked forward to the 9.30am departure for the port,

After a decent nights sleep I got up had breakfast, took a little walk along to sea front and at 9.30 headed back to catch the shuttle, it was waiting for me outside so headed off straight away, I guess because it was early I was the only keen one that early...

Embarkation -

One thing to note is NCL run cruises that start at different ports so this one had people joining at both civitavecchia & Barcelona, with the majority of guests joining at Barcelona... I'd guess around 3/4 of people joined this cruise at Barcelona so for me this made the fact I was joining in Civi an even better choice, I believe this is generally the case,

Once arrived at the port (10 mins later) the shuttle dropped me right off at the ship boarding area, inside the terminal I was told to rake a seat as I was a little early and the staff hadn't gotten things ready yet, the luggage hall was still being used for departing guests so was a little early to drop that off,

I was only the 3rd person to arrive and sit in the arrivals hall which was nice, I'd rather wait early and be one of the first on vs wait later and be in a queue, around 10.30am they advised I could check in and take a seat back in the holding area to wait to board, I think I ended up boarding. Around 11.15am... still there were only around 100 people there so very quiet indeed,

Reason for this cruise -

To be honest i only booked this cruise as a cheap getaway to have a better chance of decent weather vs my original plan of going back to London for 2 weeks, I still get just under a week in England so the best of both worlds,

First impressions of the ship -

To be honest I was very impressed with the ship style & overall look, I guess most people had got off for tours etc so the ship was nice and quiet and perfect to have a good walk around and explore a bit, my only other experience of NCL was on the escape which I loved the ship design etc but just found the service & drink quality lacking a bit vs celebrity, I found the Epic to be just as impressive in most areas but obviously lacking a few of the additional extra spaces i.e. The outside dining/drinking venues that are on the escape,

Cabin -

As I was on my own and this was a cheap getaway I just booked a solo cabin, my cabin was on deck 12 mid-deck, I found the cabin to be great with everything I needed, the bed was ok, nice to have a double bed in a single/solo cabin, I didn't really use the solo lounge other then to grab a free coffee in the afternoons as I'm not really into the meet & mingle idea, I'm quite happy on my own enjoying quiet time, the cabin had everything a normal inside cabin would have I guess but there want a mini-bar/fridge... that would have been good as I like to keep a drink in the fridge to keep it chilled, but the ice bucket worked just as well I guess,

Restaurants -

Sorry I can't really comment much on these other then the ones listed below as I was very casual on the this cruise as I was on my own,

Buffet - I was very surprised as to how good this was, I'd actually go as far to say in some respects as good if not better then celebrity, I found the food selection to be great for breakfast, lunch & dinner, also I liked the set up as I never found a queue nor did I have a problem finding a seat at anytime of the day, this is something of an issue going to the celebrity buffet at busy times,

O'Shehans -

I enjoyed he food offering here a lot, a good option for a quick meat/snack... I did find the portions on the little small side but I guess on a cruise that's a good thing, fish & chips and the chicken fajitas were both good, service was also good and always quick

Spice H2o -

This was just a small selection from the buffet, mainly the burgers/hot dogs etc

The Asian place?

This was ok, I love Chinese food and some of the dishes were good but mostly just ok, staff always friendly and the area was nice but there was a difference from what we are used to, on one occasion I received the menu and it had food bits on it... not just stains etc but actual bits of food... that was a bit poor...

Taste -

I only tried this place once (on my last night) and was pleasantly surprised by both the food and the restaurant, the service was also good so I did enjoy my one night there, I liked the design of the place and seemed to have a good atmosphere,

Bars -

Nothing to report really as I only had the soda package so didn't really do the bars, one good thing I noted was on the soda package if ordering Diet Pepsi or diet sprit at a bar they gave you a can in a glass, if you have the free soda package cup then they take a full can so that was good

Shows -

I only did the 2 free ones (well 1 & 1/2),

first one was "hit the floor" and that was good, a bit of a dance off from dances from all ages from classical to rock with a little acrobatic stuff for good measure... I'd go again I think if I was on the epic again,

Second one was Priscilla, this one I'd say just went on a bit for my liking, it was a 90 min show and for me It was just to long, maybe it was the seats in the theatre but I just got uncomfortable and lost interest in the performance... I lasted an hour! it's not the story itself as I liked the film but didn't quite feel the same about the show,

Ports -

Again not much to report as I didn't plan any tours etc at any of the ports as I've been to most before, plus as mentioned this was a cheap getaway trip so didn't want to spend to much money, my plan was to stay on the ship and enjoy the weather and quiet times onboard, which were great,

I did get off at Canne, Palma, Barca & Naples just to do a bit of a walk around each port area, all were nice and I enjoyed the short time I spent there, hopefully I'll go back again with Julie to explore a little more at each port,

Casino -

I like to play the slots but to be honest I was a bit apprehensive as to the smoking policy on the Epic with the fact they allow smoking in the casino, I was actually very surprised as it really wasn't that bad, I didn't feel like it was that noticeable to be honest, my clothes didn't smell of smoke when I got back so all in all not bad,

As for actual playing slots, let's say I didn't win... I didn't lose all my budget either so walked off the ship with a few hundred dollars to save for Vegas later in the year, I had a few good wins and a few bad loses but I did get quite a bit of playing time so I did enjoy my time there,

Disembarkation-

I was allocated brown luggage tags as I was not booked on any tours etc and was making my own way to the airport, I put my bags out the last night and just kept a carry on with me to walk off with, I woke around 7am got ready and headed up to breakfast, I've never experienced such a relaxed atmosphere at breakfast, certainly not on celebrity... this 2 port embarkation on the cruise seems to work,

Once finished with breakfast I made my way down and off the ship, it was around 8.30am and the luggage was ready by around 7.15am, again the more I experience this cruise the more I'm liking the process as getting off was an absolute breeze, no queues, no crowds at the luggage hall and off the ship in minutes [emoji106]🏻

As I left with my luggage my plan was to jump in a cab to the train station to get to the airport, however there was a free shuttle bus just about to leave that dropped you off at the port gate so in the end I just decided to take that and walk with my luggage to the train station from the gate, and to be honest it was ok, around 15-20 mins walk, pretty much all flat smooth ground (so the case rolled well),

Got my ticket to the airport (€11) and the first train of 2 (platform 1) arrived around 15 mins later, this train took around 45 mins, the second train (change at Trastevere & go to platform 5) arrived around 25 mins later, this train took around 35 mins I guess, there's a covered walkway straight to the terminals (I was at T3 and it took around 10 mins to walk over from one to the other,

Flumcino airport is quite small but they have a few shops and a few options for food, I opted for pizza and it was very tasty, now just the wait for the flight and I'll be on my way,

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Thanks for your thoughts. It was especially interesting in that I just recently read your "live from", so it was nice to see some current comparisons. We have sailed NCL on Breakaway twice, with a 3rd coming up in July. Both lines have something to offer. Our NCL cruises have been in summer with grandkids, so it's nice to get a feel of what NCL is like without kids. Hopefully we will try it some day.

We have found the entertainment much better & more varied that Celebrity, but their MDR food is sub par. We also enjoyed NCL's buffet, & their specialty restaurants are good with lower price points than Celebrity.

Thanks again for your report.

Hi Anthony , many thanks for your wonderful reviews, I am particularly interested in Celebrity as my wife and I will be doing our first cruise ever on June 11th on board the Celebrity Equinox. Looking forward to it immensely, your insights and astute comments are a great help. By the way congrats to the Gunners in winning the FA Cup yesterday, you must be thrilled, Liverpool fan myself but there you go!! Thanks again.

John

IRELAND

Hi Anthony , many thanks for your wonderful reviews, I am particularly interested in Celebrity as my wife and I will be doing our first cruise ever on June 11th on board the Celebrity Equinox. Looking forward to it immensely, your insights and astute comments are a great help. By the way congrats to the Gunners in winning the FA Cup yesterday, you must be thrilled, Liverpool fan myself but there you go!! Thanks again.

 

John

 

IRELAND

Anthony... [emoji33][emoji23]

Thanks for the kind words, I'm sure you will have a great time on the cruise, I'm sure the first of many,

Yes I did enjoy the final and it capped off a great month away,

Did you read my live review I did on the equinox? I posted all the pics of dailies etc along with all the menus,

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Yes we followed your live reports every day, you supplied us with tons of info which is a great help for us first timers !

I tried the NCL for the first time last march and sailed the Escape in the Caribbean.

Like you I was traveling solo and wanted to give their Solo Studio cabins a try. I was very pleasantly surprised! They obviously put a lot of thought in designing them, the space is "just right". The RCCL and Carnival brands should really take notice.

I did make use of the solo lounge and it's events coordinator and absolutely loved it! It wasn't a "singles" thing, it was a really well organized "solo traveler" thing. We had a scheduled meeting around dinner time and the coordinator would book restaurants and shows for the group and gave us priority access and premium seating! Same for the dance parties and ship events.

My CC review of that cruise: http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=571713

I've always been a huge RCCL/Celebrity fan and for family and friends travel that won't change, but for solo travel I have to say NCL has my attention.

Pat