ship_insider

Can you put your carry-on bags in the room, prior to them being ready? Meaning I guess do they lock the cabin areas until cabins are ready?

Unfortunately, no. You will have to wait until cabins are ready. Sorry! :(

Does anyone know which deck we embark the Epic on in Port Canaveral? We have a member of our group with a mobility issue and I have read ALL reports about full and crowded elevators. Our cabin will be 9 forward. Just curious how many flights we will be climbing with luggage. Thank you!

You are boarding on Deck 7. I recommend that you go to AFT part of the ship (when you get onboard, turn RIGHT) because those elevators are usually far less crowded, but that means you will have to walk across the length of the ship to get to your cabin.

Also, do remember that rooms aren't ready until 1:30 pm, so it is better to board a bit later and go straight to your cabin. Most of the luggage will not be delivered to your cabin until later anyways, so you can just drop off your hand carry and go to Garden Cafe for some refreshments.

If you need help finding your way around, crew can help you but you can also check touchscreens near elevators and type in your cabin (or any specific location) and it will show you the path to that spot. Comes in handy if you're not familiar with terms like port and starboard, forward or aft ;)

Very good pictures, thanks for posting them. Funny though, modern cruise ships hardly resemble ships anymore. They just look like floating buildings. I know it doesn't really matter that much what the outside looks like but the old ships had so much style.

I agree. I started working on cruise ships in 2006 and my first ship was Radiance of the Seas (in Alaska). I LOVE the glass elevators in the atrium!

But now, it is all floating buildings, just as you said. More balcony rooms, less charm.

We'll see how 4 new ships from NCL will look like. They're supposed to be 144.000 tonnes each, but with only 3300 guest capacity.

We drove from the Radisson at the Port to the port later than expected, because we were informed embarkation would be delayed since the Epic had returned to port two hours late that morning, due to fog. In this age of technology I'm not sure why that would happen, but maybe someone here will have an answer. Since there were three ships late to port that morning, traffic was snarled.

The answer to this one is easy: PORT AUTHORITIES have closed the port! They declined access not only to EPIC but to other ships and then they SLOWLY let each ship come inside one by one as fog was dissipating.

Honestly, everyone gets upset with the cruise lines and in 99% of the cases, fault is not with them. Besides, I'm pretty sure your vacation would have far worse start if ship was grounded due to reckless behavior. Captain and the crew just followed orders for everyone's safety.

For something different, you can ask the photographer to shoot your photo session in Black and White.

John, current lineup on N. EPIC has black and white studio every night. It is usually one closest to Photo Gallery and they print photos in both color and b/w, but you can also always ask for ANY of your photos to be printed in b/w :)

That isn't a free at sea perk (as well as the OP saying they are infrequent cruisers, so fairly unlikely to be platinum), so I'd be surprised if that's what they were talking about.

 

I assume they do actually mean the SDP then. Your post did make me wonder whether there was a specific extra perk for one meal as a special or something, but it appears not.

I think you're right. I scrolled back and then I saw they're talking about Free At Sea (I have NO IDEA how i missed that part!) :)

Anyway, early reservations are pretty much a must on EPIC. Specialty restaurants are insanely popular and tables are rarely available. Being friendly to one of restaurant host helps a lot ;)

Here's excerpt from YOU'LL BE LEAVING SOON letter handed currently on EPIC (CARIB run, maybe it will be different in MED, but I doubt it).

Enjoy every minute of your vacation with Freestyle Cruising. We ask that you leave your stateroom by 08:30 however; you’ve still got time to enjoy a leisurely breakfast or just relax in one of our public rooms until your chosen disembarkation time (color luggage tags). Important: Announcements will be done starting at 8:00am all youhave to do is simply disembark at your chosen time - please see time table on the last page.

Before disembarking the vessel please remember to empty your safe and leave the safe door open.Gangways will be announced upon arrival.

Atrium Cafe Atrium, Deck 5, Mid 06:00 - 09:00

Garden Café Bar Deck 15, Fwd 06:00 -09:00

Where you can eat breakfast

Garden Café, Deck 15,Fwd Breakfast Buffet is available 05:30 - 09:30

Great Outdoors Continental Breakfast 06:30 - 09:30

Taste, Deck 5, Mid Breakfast 07:00- 08:30

O’Sheehans, Deck 6,Mid Breakfast 05:00 -11:00

What is the free meal at Le Bistro. The OP states that they got it as a free at sea perk, so I assumed they were talking about the SDP. Your post suggests otherwise.

 

Just asking out of interest.

For LATITUDES members who have free meal with their tier level (Platinum, Platinum+, Ambassador), they can choose between LE BISTRO and CAGNEY'S, although LE BISTRO is the more popular of the two.

https://www.ncl.com/latitudes-rewards-program

Here's some tips from somebody who did MED run for years :)

* No need for tours in Barcelona. Just get a shuttle bus directly at the pier (one of local buses, 4 EUR round trip) and it will take you to COLUMBUS monument, right at the entrance to La Rambla street. From there you can get Hop on hop off bus and do several slightly different tours. I do recommend one that goes to Park Guell (designed by Antonio Gaudi).

* CIVITAVECCHIA - one of embarkation ports. If you're joining here, that means you will most likely fly to Rome. From Rome airport you will need to take a train and then switch to a different train on one of the stations - I believe it is a station closest to the Colosseum. As somebody mentioned, beware of pickpockets, this train is full of them. Ticket should be around 15-20 EUR per person so if you're traveling with more people, maybe it is better to book a van. It could be cheaper, but definitely more safe. There's not much to see in Civi, so most people go to Rome. I do recommend to book a tour ON SHIP. To get to Rome it takes about 1 1/2 hours and same to go back to the ship and if you're late, ship will sail without you. But if you're on ship tour, they will wait for you ;)

On a side note, if you plan to go to Vatican, you should definitely book a tour onboard. Tickets are notoriously hard to get and only a small amount is sold each day. Tour operators usually snatch most of the tickets and they have VIP access so you won't have to wait several hours to get into Vatican. It is bit more expensive, but it will save you A LOT of time.

* NAPLES - if you're not on a tour, BE CAREFUL when walking around the city. It is lousy with thieves and crooks. They'll try to sell you phones, electronics etc, but it is all a scam. Ignore them. Keep an eye on pickpockets - I've seen them stealing stuff in broad daylight and they have no fear of being caught. I highly recommend tour to Pompeii and / or Amalfi coast. Try limoncello! :)

* LIVORNO - nothing much there, most people go to either Pisa or Florence. If you don't book a tour onboard for Pisa, you can do it next to shuttle stop in Livorno. It is just behind McDonalds, some 50 meters from where shuttle bus drops you off. Note that you have to go VERY early as tickets sell insanely fast. After 9:30 am, it is hard to get a ticket. Shuttle bus is provided by local port authorities and you have to pay for it. I think it is 5 EUR per person (return trip). Try ice cream at the shuttle bus stop, it is one of the best! :)

More stuff to follow!

Chef's table is discontinued.

Your free specialty restaurant is usually LE BISTRO, which is pretty decent and popular restaurant. I suggest making your reservation WAAAY EARLY as later in the cruise it is near impossible to get a reservation there, LATITUDES member or not.

Here's how the photo package works:

* Package is PER CABIN - meaning that you can't combine different cabins into your package, unless you have underage children (<21 years old) in a different cabin. Note that on some ships photographers will check if you're trying to be smart and use one card for the photos of your whole group and they will let you keep only the photos that are of you and your own immediate family. Basically, you can have any photo you are on.

* No copies are included - if you only took 5 or so photos, you can't make copies of them in order to fill up to 50 photos.

* No special events - group photos, weddings, vow renewals, Perspectives studio etc. Only photos taken during the regular photo operation (dining room, portrait studios, gangway photos etc).

* Digital versions of the photos are not included, however you can pay $20 for USB and get all 50 photos on it.

* No resizing - photos are offered "as is", meaning that whatever is in your binder, that's pretty much how you get it.

* No editing - if you want template removed, that's not going to happen. (see above for "as is" policy).

Most of the ships now have binders that will have your photos there - just tell photographers your cabin number and you can see your photos in a single location later! Much better than hunting for your photos all over the place!

If they're in crew area, they will usually take you to security office for a chat :)

I have a question [ who was Hotel Director on Freedom during your trip?

Considering that RCI brings a bunch of money to local community, that they can have their own shops on the resort etc, I see no reason for them to protest. Majority of work force on the resort are locals. RCI also helped bring a bunch of supplies after the earthquake in Haiti. I think that just FotS brought about 40 pallets of help to the island. And not to mention money RCI invested in building up that place.