cc_rider

If you don't mind me asking, what airline?

Delta, non-stop.

I'll book DCA to JFK later, in case Delta makes any schedule changes.

I just checked the flight I booked last week, JFK to BCN on Delta, for $925 pp r/t for next April. The same flight is now $1147. :eek:

My timing was lucky.

I've been picking up travel luggage at local thrift stores. These are better than what we had used in the past. Found two, already had one, looking for another carry-on size.

As we find things for our April cruise, they get tossed into the carry-on, which sits inside the larger one.

Did you use the internet on the ship? Is it as slow as some people report?

Recently booked our cruise out of Barcelona. Costs $600 more per person over an inside room, which is a big stretch for us. To pay for it we will have to do low cost or no cost DIY excursions (Rome will be by train and walking tour with no for-pay sites), go with a less expensive hotel in Barcelona, and drop one day from the trip. But since this is our first cruse (and depending on how we like it our only cruise) we think the splurge is worth it.

As much as I'd like to visit Turkey someday, this trip is about Barcelona. An extra 8 hours in the air is 8 hour we aren't strolling the Barrio Gothic or climbing Montjuic.

While I probably wouldn't take the Moscow option (on Aeroflot I assume), I actually am scheduled to fly to BCN via IST next July - in business class however, meaning I get to spend several hours in Turkish Airlines famous lounge. Were I to do this trip in economy, I would probably schedule an overnight in Istanbul and have a quick visit. However, I don't blame you in the least for booking the non-stop from JFK given that $725 price.

PS There are currently some cheaper 1-stop flights from DC to BCN, but these involve either going through Moscow or Istanbul (with more than 18 hours travel time and looooong flights) or in Dublin with just over an hour to get through customs and immigration and catch the next flight (Dublin customs is notoriously slow, plus the layover on the return trip is 12 hours.)

Going through NY seems simplest. Worst case is we drive from DC to JFK, about 6 hours if between rush hours.

We will be flying from DC to Barcelona in April. Just this weekend I booked part of our air - JFK to BCN non-stop R/T for $725 pp on Delta. There are so many options to get to NY from DCA that we will book that leg later. I expect it to cost around $150 pp r/t.

If we had booked DCA to BCN as a one stop, it would have cost around $1200 pp r/t. Booking separate flights saves around $300 per person. We'll put in enough layover time to pick up our luggage and check it in at the second flight.

The note in the legend reads "* These items are served raw or undercooked or contains...." goes on about meat, seafood, shellfish, eggs, poultry,.....

Two lines ahead of that reads "(V) indicates vegetarian dish"

In the menu the salad has a V, the prime rib an *

Steak Frites is probably just steak with grilled tomato that you can order rare.

There's an asterisk next to it. If you look at the legend under these items that denotes a vegetarian dish. Looks like it will be a plate of steak cut fries, just as the menu says.

They don't have a vegetarian V on the Steak Frites.

2 perks sounds awesome. I would bet it is only for cruises until the end of the year

 

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Nope. I booked yesterday and got the two perks for an April 2016 sailing.

I was reading the recent posting of the Dailies from the Epic, western Mediterranean, and it had a warning on the first page:

"Agricultural Advisory:

Local authorities do not allow any fresh food items to be brought on or off of the ship. It is strictly prohibited in our ports of call leave the ship with fresh fruit, vegetables, sandwiches, dairy products. It is also strictly prohibited to bring food items of any kind back on board the Norwegian Epic. Failure to comply can result in an immediate fine of $500."

Does anyone know if that includes prepackaged items?

I had hoped to get pastries in Naples and save them for later, but looks like we'll have to eat them before getting back to the ship.

Does the port shuttle still stop at the old entrance, so people walking to/from the train station have a shorter distance to go.

The current distance is just under a mile and this is likely to be the permanent situation, based on the construction that has been finished. It does not look like the southern entrance/exit to the port (the old way in and out, near the fort) will be anything more than a pedestrian access.

Never mind. We're going for a higher deck.

How noisy is it on deck 8?

I expect it to be pretty loud over the Bliss lounge, but would a mid-ship or aft balcony be noisy?

How late does Bliss stay open?

I did a test booking for an inside cabin, and the NCL site offered an upgrade to a balcony on 8 at an good price. Trying to determine if it is an upgrade we might enjoy, or if we wouldn't get any sleep for 7 nights.

I would also take a cab to Sagrada (which we did last time)....

Is a cab the better choice over the Metro? Seems like Drassanes to Diagonal to Sagrada would be pretty easy.

We area planing to sail on the Epic out of Barcelona next April. Does anyone know if they would accept pounds sterling instead of dollars from a US citizen for the onboard account? We have about 200 pounds left over from our last trip to Britain.

And would we get slaughtered using their exchange rate and fees?

Balcony would be my preference, but I'm still deciding if it is worth the $1000 ($500 per person) price difference for the sailing we want.

Western Med on the Epic in April. First time cruiser.

I'm watching for sales and specials, but I'm getting anxious to book it.

We are planning to sail on the Epic in April or May next year, and seeing the daily schedules and notices tells me much more than the NCL faqs ever could. Better than going through all of the Epic reviews and still not getting such good info.

Thank you for the posting.