My EPIC Solo Adventure – 27 Jul 2014 to 3 Aug 2014 – Barcelona Round Trip

Hi Folks, I thought it was about time I got round to doing my review for my fantastic cruise, I will try and do a bit every day after work If I remember!:D

I cruised solo on the Norwegian Epic from the 27th July to 3rd Aug (Barcelona round trip) calling at Naples, Civitavecchia, Livorno, Cannes and Palma.

Before I begin, here is my little back story..... I am a 27 year old solo traveller from Scotland and Epic was my second ever cruise and also my second solo cruise (I’m sure it won’t be my last). I cruise solo because honestly, I am single, I enjoy doing my own thing, meeting new people and also my friends can’t afford it! But enough about me.....

OK, well.... here goes...

Oh, and feel free to ask me anything – I will do my very best to answer you.

Day 1 – Embarkation Day at Barcelona

I had a bit of an early start with a 5:40am flight from Glasgow Airport but my flight went smoothly and I arrived at Barcelona Airport ahead of schedule at 9:20am. Barcelona Airport is a bit of a maze but if you try and follow the signage you should be fine – though Passport control was a bit confusing. Baggage collection was nice and easy (my case was the 5th one out!) Once in arrivals it was relatively easy to find the cruise coaches – NCL transfers are right at the gate but independent transfers you have to go looking for.

The cruise port is about 20 minutes drive from the airport which was fantastic and I was at the cruise port by around 10:40am. I dropped my suitcase off at the luggage check point, went through ‘airport-style’ security and was immediately directed to an available check in desk. I guess I was checked in by 10:50am and was in boarding group 2. Then I found a seat and waited for my boarding group to be called. They called group 1 at 11:30 and group 2 around 11:40 so I was onboard by 11:50. Time to explore!

Firstly, I went to the atrium bar on deck 5 to get my UBP sticker and then up to deck 15 to get some food and have a look around. I took some pictures up on deck 18 of the view (you can access this by the stairs or one of the lifts next to the great outdoors buffet) then to the Garden Cafe. I had been told to avoid the buffet on day 1 because it would be too busy but actually it wasn't that bad at all. I got some food and a spot right by the window to eat. By the time I was finished it was around 1:30 and they made the call that the rooms were ready.

I was staying in a solo studio room (No.12521) which was compact but perfect for 1. There was lots of storage which was fantastic and I really loved the cool light effects. Also my steward Bustomi introduce himself – he was very sweet and did a fantastic job too (his towel animals were particularly good). I wandered around a little more then went back to my room around 3:30 by which time my suitcase had arrived so I unpacked then went up on deck for a cocktail or two :D.

The Solo travellers gathering was at 6:30pm so I got quickly ready and headed to the solo lounge eager to meet some people. There was a fantastic group of about 20 of us (all completely different ages and nationalities too). Gabi the Solo Hostess was great – she managed to memorize everyone’s names and nationalities so fast. She got us all introduced and then set us up for dinner in Taste with 2 tables of 10.

The food was great, really delicious. I was very impressed with the standard of the food and the service was great too – everyone was so attentive. After dinner we all headed to bliss for Karaoke, the Battle of the Sexes game show (hilarious fun!) and the traffic light party (I can’t resist a boogie). And that was me until 2am - a fantastic start to my Epic cruise! :D

Looking forward to hearing more about your cruise!

Day 2 – Day at sea

So despite my late night partying I woke up nice and early – those beds are comfortable! I got up and dressed and ready to go and headed to the solo lounge for a cup of tea – and to my surprise they had laid out little pastries so I helped myself to a little pre-breakfast munch! Then I headed to the Garden Cafe for some proper breakfast. The selection in the Garden Cafe was great – you could literally have anything and everything you wanted from porridge to a full cooked breakfast. I opted for pancakes with some eggs, bacon, sausage and beans – a hearty meal! Word of warning though – steer clear of the maple syrup it’s disgusting and for those Brits who don’t care for American style bacon keep your eyes peeled because they do have English style bacon but it can be difficult to find!

By about 8:45 I had found myself a lovely sun lounger on deck 17 with a lovely sea view and camped out there the rest of the day. I also found that my neighbours were lovely and kept an eye on my lounger when I went to the pool or for lunch (good tip: have a magazine with you at the pool to leave on your lounger when you go for a wander – it lets people know you’re coming back!) There were lots of waiters patrolling to get you drinks which was great! And there’s plenty of music and things going on around the pool to keep you entertained.

I went for lunch at the Garden Cafe and again there were a lot of options from deli sandwiches, to pizza and burgers and salad and casseroles – the list is endless. There is also an ice-cream! Granted it was busy but I managed to find a seat down in the La Cucina section downstairs which you can sit in at breakfast and lunch times. Then it was back to the pool side.

I went to the pool a few times to cool down, the funky sprays are very refreshing but the pool was full of people. Another tip for cooling down: I’m quite short so every so often I would stand on my lounger and pop my head over the side of the guard rail – the breeze is amazingly refreshing! :)

Around 3:30pm I was bored of sunbathing so I left my lounger and headed to the bar for a seat and cocktail – and ended up bumping into another solo passenger so we had a drink and then I headed inside to have a wander around the decks below. The solo gathering was at 6:30pm again so I headed back to my cabin to shower and freshen up around 5 pm. Solo studio tips: Put the TV onto the bridge camera view – it makes you feel like you have a window! ;)

At the solo gathering we decided to head to the Manhattan Room for dinner – so again Gabi worked her magic and got us 2 tables of 10. The food and the service were fantastic! Don’t get me wrong it would be nice if Taste and Manhattan had different menus but parts do change daily and there is still good amount of choice – so really I can’t fault it!

We then headed up to Spice H20 for the Latin Fiesta – I have to be honest it wasn’t my kind of thing but it looked like a lot of fun. Word of warning: it’s chilly up on deck at night so ladies take a cardigan or a wrap! I left early and went for a walk below deck then headed to Bliss where I met up with some solo’s and dance the night away again! :D

Looking forward to hearing more as doing this cruise as a solo passenger in October :D

great review so far, keep it up :)

enjoying your review and Im not even a solo traveller. we are due on the epic this sunday, looking forward to the next instalment

Day 2 – Day at sea

 

for those Brits who don’t care for American style bacon keep your eyes peeled because they do have English style bacon but it can be difficult to find!

 

I didn't realize that there was a difference!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sparkles87

Day 2 – Day at sea

 

for those Brits who don’t care for American style bacon keep your eyes peeled because they do have English style bacon but it can be difficult to find!

 

 

 

I didn't realize that there was a difference!

...and I would love to know what that difference is? :)

English style bacon is mostly lean meat with strips of fat at edge

most bacon on board is "streaky bacon" which is alternating strips meat and fat

all very salty though and not recommended as a low cholesterol diet;)

English style bacon is mostly lean meat with strips of fat at edge

 

most bacon on board is "streaky bacon" which is alternating strips meat and fat

 

all very salty though and not recommended as a low cholesterol diet;)

Thanks for getting that explanation for me!

I like my bacon with a bit of meat on it! Steaky bacon does tend to be very salty and a bit too crispy on the side of burnt for my liking.

For all those who don't know - keep your eyes peeled on your next cruise and try your bacon UK style! :D ;)

Day 3 – Naples

Again, being the crazy early riser that I apparently am on holiday, I was up and organised for a day’s adventure around 8/8:30am. I went for my usual morning tea and pastry in the solo lounge and then headed up to see the view of Naples. I went up to deck 15 (the main action deck) then took the external lift up to deck 18 (not the Posh side) it’s a great place to get pictures of the port – it’s also one of the only places up on deck that I got a phone signal to call home! There is also a quiet area at the front of the ship on deck 18 which has the posh loungers on it – though it’s a bit of a trek to the pool! Anyway – I picked a lounger in the shade to set up camp for the morning (got a little bitty burnt on sea day! :rolleyes:) and then headed to the garden cafe for breakfast. Good Tip: head outside to the great outdoors seating area (there is a buffet there with less selection) it is usually nice a quiet and no queue for the tea and coffee machines!

After breakfast I had a little chill out session on my sun lounger, hit the pool a couple of times and read my daily (pink highlighter at the ready for evening activities!) I had an excursion in the afternoon to Herculaneum, I always book the cruise ship excursion particularly as I am a solo traveller – I feel it’s safer that way. I went to my cabin to get changed and luckily my steward had already been and gone. I went for an early lunch then headed to the Epic theatre for my tour group to be called. I have to say NCL are very organised when it comes to excursions, everyone was stickered with bus numbers and they constantly made clear announcements for the different tour groups. The Herculaneum tour was fantastic – but I will do a review of that later. The tour was at 1.30pm and so we got back to the ship at 5pm. So I headed to the solo lounge and picked up some cookies to nibble (they replace the breakfast pastries with cookies in the afternoon – yummy! :D) and headed to my cabin to get ready for the night ahead!

The solo lounge was already full by the time I got there and so everyone was already making dinner plans – plus we had a couple of new faces too! Tonight only a small group of us went to dinner – Manhattan Room again – but that didn’t really matter we still had a fab time. That’s what I really love about the solo gathering – if people have their own plans then that’s ok but you can make plans to meet up later but there is always someone to have dinner with. Tonight was an eclectic gathering – myself from Scotland, an American, and Egyptian, as Brazilian, a Peruvian, a Maltese and a girl from Switzerland. What a fab evening meal thanks to Gabi again – she is a superstar! :D

After dinner I went for a wander, went to the shops, went to bliss for a cocktail and to check out the Karaoke – it was quiet that night so the crew were taking turns to get the party started! Then at around 10pm it was time for Howl at the Moon – luckily some solo’s had already staked a claim on a section of seats for the gang so I joined them eager to experience Howl (which we don’t really have in the UK). Well let me tell you – IT WAS FANTASTIC! :D What a great laugh. I heard a lot about the guys only playing songs from people who tip but how wrong they were! They played everything, all 3 of my songs including the Proclaimers! The 3 guys were so talented they sing, play piano, drums , guitar and even violin – what a show. I really did love it. It’s on until 2am but me and another solo were eager to have a good boogie so we headed to Bliss around 1am to dance for an hour before bed.

And that’s the end to another fantastic day and night on Epic! :) :D

I'll be staying in the same studio cabin in a few weeks. Was there any noise from the living room area?

loving the review i sail next May from Barcelona studio cabin 12524 Epic will be my biggest ship so far

I'll be staying in the same studio cabin in a few weeks. Was there any noise from the living room area?

My cabin was on deck 12 and only 3 cabins down from the solo lounge - I never heard a peep. Most solos only use the lounge for meeting up at the solo gatherings and to grab a snack. The bar is only manned from about 6pm to 7pm so it's not like its a major bar hangout. I certainly wouldn't worry ;)

Day 4 – Civitavecchia (Rome)

Well, another unexpected early start for me this day. I had my usual first and second breakfasts in the solo lounge and the Garden Cafe, went to Deck 18 to take in today’s new view and then found a lounger in the shade to read my daily – unfortunately it decided to rain (that warm summer rain) so I headed indoors for a dryer seat though they did have some shows and things going on in the atrium.

I didn’t make any plans to go into Rome as I have visited Rome before so instead I had originally planned on a nice lazy day onboard. However, having made so many lovely new friends at the solo gatherings; myself and 3 other solos decided to explore Civitavecchia for a bit (the rain had stopped but the ground was still wet – though it did dry quickly!)

I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised, it was quite a nice place once you get out of the port. They provide a free shuttle bus and at the bus stop you can pick up maps of Civitavvecchia so you don’t get lost! From the bus stop it’s about a 10 minute walk into the centre where all the shops and things were. They have a lovely boardwalk area along the old port walls which gave you some really fantastic views of the port entrance and of the ships. It leads along to a little man made beach which is ok but a bit too pebbly for my liking – sore on the feet. They had a lovely little market along the beach front and there is a cafe at one end which has wifi! We walked a little through town but the shops shut around 1pm/1:30pm for the afternoon and open back up at 4pm so we decided to head back to the ship for lunch.

When we got back onboard, around 2:30pm, we were so hungry we headed straight for the Garden Cafe for food. Another great selection for the day – I had a lovely ham and cheese deli sandwich and some amazing Chinese noodles and ice cream and all sorts..... Like I said we were hungry!!! :rolleyes:

By the time we were finished with lunch it was around 3:30pm so I went for a walk on decks 15 and 18. Alas 3 days of late nights had finally caught up with me so I decided I needed a little disco nap before the evening ahead! :) So I headed to O’Sheehans to grab a cocktail for the road and headed back to my cabin. When I got there I put my TV on and switched to the movie channel – Man of Steel was showing so I kinda watched that while I napped!

Around 5/5:30pm I got into action to get ready for the night ahead – I had a big full day tour booked for the next day so I knew it wouldn’t be a late one. I headed to the solo gathering where everyone was assembled and Gabi had the fantastic idea to head to Spice H2o for Tapas and the sail away view– though a few people passes due to long day tours in Rome (in the rain I might add!). It was great – difficult to get tables and chairs for such a large number so we ended up a little fragmented but it was lovely all the same. The Tapas buffet was really nice – they had lovely spinach nibbles, and spicy chicken poppers and the most amazing sweet potato fires I have ever had (thus renewing my crazy addiction to sweet potato fries!!). :D

After dinner everyone dispersed to do their own thing; some went to an art auction, some went to the casino and I went with a group to the Garden Cafe for dessert! Then I went for a walk to see what was happening. I was supposed to go and see Legends in Concert but instead ended up going to the first act of the Beatles tribute show which was surprisingly good – they were very in character! After the first act finished I’m sad to say I went back to my cabin to sleep –those previous 3 nights must have really tired me out! I grabbed a cocktail for the road, some cookies from the solo lounge and put on the Great Gatsby on the movie channel.

Well, a quiet but non-the-less fantastic day on board Epic...... needless to say I was well rested for my next days adventure. ;)

hello scotland

i did the same trip at the end of june. i also was a solo traveler in the solo cabins. it was great to meet all sorts of People-we were from 25years old up to 70 and had fun! i am 44.

but please tell me about the Bliss....i went there evry night, at least to have a quick loock- first night was just o.k.

the other nights it was nearly empty and realy bad Music which nobody liked, no Party Feeling at all. at the White hot Thing Party it was almost a "Kindergarten".......many under 18 Boys/Girls without parents......

did i have a unlucky week or do i expect to much Party on a cruise ship?

i hope you get my english.

greetings

thomas

hello scotland

i did the same trip at the end of june. i also was a solo traveler in the solo cabins. it was great to meet all sorts of People-we were from 25years old up to 70 and had fun! i am 44.

but please tell me about the Bliss....i went there evry night, at least to have a quick loock- first night was just o.k.

the other nights it was nearly empty and realy bad Music which nobody liked, no Party Feeling at all. at the White hot Thing Party it was almost a "Kindergarten".......many under 18 Boys/Girls without parents......

did i have a unlucky week or do i expect to much Party on a cruise ship?

i hope you get my english.

greetings

thomas

It sounds to me like you had a bad week. Don't get me wrong some nights Bliss was quiet but still enough people to make a party of it - in fact I recall myself and one of my solo friends being the only 2 people on the dancefloor one night - but what can I say I like to keep the party going! ;) One night the music was a little too Spanish for my liking but there was still a good atmosphere. But most of the time when I was there it was great - it tended to get busier around 11pm.

As for the White Hot Party - it was fantastic! I never noticed any unrully or un-policed youngsters. NCL gives them a curfew and when it's passed curfew they check IDs - I saw them doing so at the WHP and at Bliss.

You definitely had a bad week.

Hi folks, thanks for reading my review.

I am hoping to have the main bulk of my review finished by the weekend and then I will do a brief excursion review along with any other bits n bobs I remember.

Anyway – where was I... Oh yes...

Day 5 - Livorno

As I mentioned in my previous day’s activities I had an early start today for my day excursions. I had my Florence and Pisa full day excursion today – I had to be at the Epic theatre by 7:45am – so needless to say I was up and organised very early! I headed straight up to the Garden cafe for breakfast – I had a hearty one at that! Pancakes, bacon, sausage, beans, pastries, 2 kinds of fruit juice and a cup of tea! Mmmmm :)

Unfortunately I couldn’t go up to deck 18 this morning because it doesn’t open until 9am, though to be honest I didn’t miss much – Livorno is a very industrial port. I was ready and assembled in the Epic theatre by 7:30am and the tour group was called at 7:45am (Tip: get there early or you might miss your trip being called!) we were lead to our bus and off we went. Florence was first – beautiful place, excellent guide and delicious lunch. Our group guide (not the tour guide more of a chaperone) was lovely – she immediately noticed I was solo and so always kept an eye on me and even took some pictures for me! We had a brief but good tour around Florence though it was very busy (don’t you just wish you could push all those extra tourists out of the way sometimes!). After lunch we loaded onto the bus for Pisa where we had an hour and a half to explore. Pisa is beautiful, amazing to see – but I will be honest and say 45minutes would have been enough. It’s essentially look, taking some pictures; pick up a souvenir and go. Personally I felt once you’ve seen it then you don’t need to go again. After that we were back on the bus heading back to Epic. It was a good day.

Now, by the time we got back to the ship it was 5:40pm and the solo meeting was at 6:30pm so you can imagine there wasn’t much time to lose! When I boarded the ship there was a massive queue for the lift so – now bearing in mind I’m on deck 4 and my cabin is on 12 – I decided to run up the stairs!! Not my brightest moment or my finest but it got the job done and I was in my room by 5:50pm. And in my finest moment I got showered, hair blow dried and straightened, make-up on and dresses and down to the solo lounge by 6:35pm. Now if anything is worthy of an Olympic Medal – that is!!! :D

Now again tonight a lot of solo’s had their own plans, so a small contingent of us decided to do Tapas at spice again – it was pretty good after all. So again for another night I filled my boots with sweet potato fries – mmmmmmm!!! :)After that – as usual – I went for a wander, round the shops, to the karaoke at bliss, a few cocktails in between and even a trip to the spa to book a treatment! Then it was time for another session of Howl at the Moon. Now, as I mentioned before, I really did love Howl. It was brilliant and tonight’s show was even more spectacular. The thing I love most is that no 2 shows are the same and indeed some of this nights song choices included some Coldplay and depressing Radiohead, Bear Necessities from the Jungle Book for a couple of little kids in the front row and my particular favourite that myself and another solo had a hand in suggesting – Wannabe by the Spice Girls!!! I tell you there is nothing more surreal that 2 men with beards signing “If you wannabe my lover.......... zigazig ah” – HILARIOUS!!!!!:D

I loved it so much this night that I stayed until 2am and even got a couple of pics with the guys!

What another fantastic day on my Epic adventure!!! :D

Day 6 – Cannes

Unfortunately I felt a little worse for wear at the start of the day in Cannes, a churning stomach from a combination of a couple of cocktails and prosciutto for dinner which never agrees with my stomach – silly me I always forget!! :( . For the first time all cruise – I actually slept in a little! With my stomach churning, I only managed water and a small pastry for breakfast. I met up with a group of solos around 10:30am and we headed down to the tender boats for Cannes. I am always impressed with how much care cruise ships take when using tenders to shore, they always hold onto you tightly until you are steady on your feet. The tender went smoothly though it was a tad bumpy – it certainly didn't do my stomach any favours!

Anyway, once in Cannes I perked up. We found a nice little cafe to sit at and have a cola and watch the marina and then started to explore. We found the cinema where the film festival is held and immediately saw all kinds of celebrities’ hand prints in the concrete – they were everywhere.... Sylvester Stallone’s hands are huge!!! :eek: As we walked around the building we saw the beach and so we took a dip (feet n legs only) in the sea – bliss. We walked along the park at the seafront for a bit then decided to head into the centre of town. It was so hot we had to find somewhere to rehydrate again – luckily there is no shortage of little cafes. If you are not looking to buy yourself a Versace handbag head to Rue Meynadier 3 or 4 streets back from the main Boulevard de Croissette and you’ll find some lovely little shops selling all sorts of knick knacks – including a white shop full of white clothes for a certain white hot party to be held in the evening! ;)

After doing some shopping we decided the heat was too much and the hunger wasn’t helping so we headed back to the ship. The thing I love about going back onboard is the welcome party at the dock-side – water, juice, cold towels etc... It’s a nice touch. I did the wrong thing and downed a cup of water before boarding the tender back to ship! Sloshing around in a tender boat combined with water sloshing about in your stomach = feeling a tad seasick.... and I never get seasick!!! Tip – don’t down water before getting on a tender boat!!! So by the time we got to the Garden Cafe for lunch I was not hungry – I managed to force feed myself some noodles though. After that I did my usual wander up to deck 18 to take some pictures and managed to find myself an empty lounger in the shade to watch the world go by a little but by about 3:30pm I decided a little snooze might settle my stomach.

Luckily this meant I had plenty of time to get ready for the White Hot Party! :) And so with my lovely white dress on I headed to the solo lounge for the usual gathering. We decided to head to Manhattan Room again – it did seem to be the favourite- and enjoy another lovely meal. And again, Gabi worked her magic and got us 2 tables of 10 – she certainly knows the right people to call. After that I headed for my usual evening meander to see what was going on around the ship. I made plans to meet some of the solos at the waves bar on deck 15 as this was where the family WHP started at 10pm but we headed straight to Spice to claim our spot on the dance floor! The White Hot Party was fantastic! :D Great music, great atmosphere, lots of people and glow in the dark necklaces too. We all had a fab time, and even Gabi came for a boogie with us.

It was certainly a night to be remembered! :D

Day 7 – Palma

I woke up on a brand new day feeling relatively refreshed and back to my old self again. I got up and did my usual morning routine. I had plans to meet one of the other solo ladies later in the morning for some sunbathing and water slide fun so I got up on deck and nabbed a couple of loungers – I will admit it was a lot quieter that I expected so I got a good spot next to the pool with a good view of the slide queue. I went to grab some breakfast and then headed to the spa – I had a couple of treatments booked.

When I booked the cruise I got $100 OBC free which was burning a hole in my ship account so I decided to treat myself. I have always loved getting a facial so I originally booked an Elemis Oxydermy facial but then decided to add a foot massage onto my booking because my feet and ankles were so swollen. And WOW it was amazing, absolute bliss, I felt so amazingly refreshed afterwards and even my feet had deflated quite a bit. The girl who did my treatment was lovely and gave me some really good advice to help my swollen feet, not only that but because I use Elemis products already – I didn’t get a long and drawn out sales pitch. It makes me feel relaxed just thinking about it.... :)

After that I headed to my sun lounger where my solo friend met me for a bit of a sunbathe. We hit the pool and also gave all 3 slides a go. The purple slide is good but a bit too dark for my liking – but fast! The green twirly slide is also good, quite dark inside and a bit disorientating with the changes in direction but ok. But my absolute favourite has to be the Epic Plunge – it is EPIC! Its fun, it’s fast, cool, makes you scream and it’s just brilliant! :D Let it just be known - the slides are not just for the kids!!

Now the ship docked in Palma at 1pm, so we headed for lunch at the Garden Cafe and decided what we were going to do. I had originally planned to go to the Cathedral and explore but I was having so much fun on the slides that we decided to stay on board and hope that the slide queue would be even shorter – alas it wasn't but that didn't stop us! :) It was so much fun. Now the next part of the day is the most upsetting – packing up to go home, you don’t want to do it but it’s gotta be done! I went to my cabin around 4pm and I have to admit I was packed within 40 minutes. So I headed to the nearest bar for a cocktail then went back to my room to get ready for the evening ahead.

We met for the very last time in the solo lounge at the usual time and started exchange e-mail addresses. Gabi took us for a farewell dinner at taste – she even bought the wine. We had a lovely final meal and then headed to Bliss for some karaoke. They had a hilarious adult quest game show which was a lot of fun team captains had to take certain things onto the dance floor – it went from someone with a tattoo and someone with a visible tan like (cue me and my fantastic red and white flesh) to extremes like a man with 2 bra’s on his head and a man with no trousers on. Needless to say we had a lot of fun – and even came in 3rd place! :) After that we did some fabulous dancing and then had to retire as most people had very early starts in the morning for disembarkation.

A fantastic end to a fantastic cruise! :D :D

I think you sat behind me on the trip to Herculaneum. Hope you enjoyed it. Your review is really interesting.

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Enjoyed the review.

Disembarkation

Well, I for one felt that the disembarkation went very smoothly for me. My TA had arranged separate transfers from the NCL transfers which was good because I dread to know what time they would have attempted to kick me off the ship! I had to be quay side by 7:45am which was not that bad considering my flight was at 10:20am – though I only had to be at the airport 2 hours before departure. Luckily the airport is literally 20 minutes from the port.

I got up and organised nice and early and got breakfast. The great thing is that the Garden Cafe is open from 5am so it’s easy to get some food before you depart. So I was ready for pick up about 7:30am.

Now let me just say that the NCL transfers do seem a little harsh when it comes to flight times. They appear to get you off ship as quickly as possible – which is understandable when you have another 4000 people to load on by 11:30am. Though I did know a few solo passengers whose flights weren’t until 5pm and were scheduled on the NCL transfers for 8am – very harsh! :( I also know that a fair few solos got taxis from the taxi rank right outside of the port terminal.

Anyway, I did easy walk-off which was recommended to me by my TA and I have to admit it was so much easier than having to pack everything the night before then get off the ship next day and attempt to find your suitcase in a sea of suitcases. I would highly recommend this if you are able to do it.

I will say this; Barcelona’s Terminal 1 was very confusing. I had a magical mystery tour into the bowels of the airport to find our check-in desk then we had to find out way all the way to the top floor of the terminal to find security – it’s a maze! :confused: But once through security it’s pretty straight forward.

All in all it went pretty smooth. The only bad point is that I had to come home. :(

Stay tuned as I will do a review on both my NCL excursion and some other little pits n bobs.... including what I thought of NCLs UBP package. ;)

Thank you so much Sparkles87. What a brilliant recapping of an incredible journey. I followed you, in a non-stalking way, on this entire cruise, enjoying every minute. The way you described all the events, good or slightly bad, had my anticipation level raising skyward quickly. I'm soloing on the Epic over the new year in the western Caribbean.

With the cruise just four months away, the thread for our roll call is growing, mostly with solo travelers. My travel agent (whom I've known for decades), found a remarkable sale for a balcony suite that was only slightly more than the Studio suite. And yet, the Studio still sounds as the place to be.

An informative and an exceptionally entertaining review indeed. Thank you again Sparkle87. I'm sure my fellow cruisers also appreciated the time you put into this. And I'm looking forward to bits and bobs plus any info on the UBP would also be appreciated.

Now I did 2 NCL excursions - Herculaneum and Florence and Pisa and I will say I really enjoyed both.

Herculaneum

This was a 3 and a half hour tour which started at 1pm.

The bus met us outside the port and once we were all loaded on we set off and our guide was content to sit and give us a brief history of the eruption and he even explained the inner workings of a volcano which was nice. He also gave us all a bottle of water.

We first drove to a cameo factory and shop - which was a little random but I understand the basic idea. The factory shop does a deal with the tour company - you can bring the tour to use our toilet facilities and we might just get a little bit of custom out of it! Fair enough.... but a little expensive for your normal tourist.

Once at Herculaneum it was great - though it was a really hot day and there is very little shade to shelter from it. The site is really interesting and full of beautiful remnants of mosaics and frescoes. Having been to Pompeii the year before I will say that both sites are great in their own way. The most fascinating thing i found was that the area that is uncovered is only a percentage of the original site of Herculaneum - there are tunnels everywhere leading to other buildings that have been discovered but are unable to be uncovered and it think its really amazing to think that Herculaneum was once on the sea - the power of volcanoes is really immense!

The one disappointing thing about the excursion was that the tour guide never gave us any free time to look for souvenirs - he just shepherded us straight to the bus once the tour was over. A pity to end such a fantastic and interesting tour with such a rush back to the bus. :( Though there cruise terminal at the port has a great shopping centre in it for the last minute souvenir before departing.

Florence and Pisa

I really enjoyed this trip also, having never been to either place I was looking forward to my brief little tour. The tour had a chaperone/guide who was with us all day though she didn't actually do the tour section in Florence - she was lovely though. It's a bit of a long drive to Florence and most people slept on the way there! Well we did have to be ready to go for 7:45am!

We got off in Florence and walked to a random leather shop to meet our actual tour guide. Again the same principal applies here - you can use our toilet facilities and maybe you will buy something!

Anyway once our tour guide arrived we got going. We saw the Palazzo Vecchio and Piazza Signoria where the replica of Michelangelo's David is on display along with some other very beautiful statues; we saw the Uffuzi gallery; Ponte Vecchio - the bridge across the river with buildings on it; and of course the Duomo - which is probably one of the most beautiful buildings I think I have ever seen! Our tour guide was really good, she was very knowledgeable and really funny too - she kept referring to 'David' as her boyfriend and kept making jokes about craziness of Italian drivers! We had some free time here to explore for half an hour so I walked all the way around the Duomo taking pictures and picked up a couple of souvenirs. Then it was time for lunch.

The restaurant, which was part of a hotel, was a bit of a walk away but the food was lovely. We had a vegetable lasagne followed by a mead and potato dish then a vienetta for dessert. Though I have to say the wine was not very nice - even though I did drink it anyway! ;)

After that we got onto the bus and went to Pisa.

As I mentioned already Pisa was lovely, beautiful to see... but not much else to see. There are a couple of nice shops and we got a coupon for a free bottle of water (and could use the toilet facilities) which was nice. I also got some delicious gelato too :) We were given an hour and a half which I feel was a bit too long to spend looking at what is essentially a bell tower - beautiful as it is. I did get some pretty good pictures and there were lots of people about who offered to take pictures for me which was nice. I always find if you offer first then they are obliged to take one for you too! ;)

After what felt like a very long hour and a half I met the group at the meeting point to head back to the bus. The buses are all parked about a 15 minute walk from the Tower itself, which after a long hot day feels like a 3 hour trek!

Even with the cons - it was a pretty good day!

Both excursions were very enjoyable :)