NickinNY

I forgot to mention that disembarkation in Miami was as easy as embarkation had been.

The whole thing about people carrying off their own luggage have to be off early is silly. How do you police that? Like, if you try to carry off your luggage later than that, what are they going to do? Take your bags? Not let you leave?


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Thank you for taking the time to give this review. It is well written and very informative. I'm part of a group that met on the Brilliance spring TA some years ago and a number of us will be meeting in Miami in late March to do this 4-day cruise, so it was interesting to get someone's take on what to expect. 
 
You don't mention the evening shows, which is something we always try to schedule our evening around. Did you attend any?
 
Special aside to Doreen: Bring games … we'll have to entertain ourselves … I think we can rise to the challenge.

Sounds like a fun trip!

My brother in law went to the sort of revue show that he said was dreadful. He lives in Vegas so maybe he’s just used to Vegas-quality shows? We went to the Under The Big Top ice show and it was pretty good. Better than the ice show we saw on Allure two years ago.

We didn’t go to the headliner shows.
We try to go to a lot of trivia and game shows, but we were always too tired for the 11:00 start times on this cruise for whatever reason. But the magician/comedian shows on cruises are all basically the same, right? Embarrass a couple people in the audience for cheap laughs, make jokes about the food, the small staterooms, etc.

Schooner Bar was my favorite for hanging out. Just a nice atmosphere, good bartenders/servers, and a good location.

Boleros was jumping every night, but too loud for talking.

My goodness, I sound like my father....



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From what I have seen, the bamboo room menu has a handful of cocktails that are listed at $14 which is above the drink package limit. Are those prices accurate? Did you have any of those cocktails referenced? and if so, were you charged the difference? Also, was the limit $12 or $13 for you?

The one thing I forgot to do was take pictures of the different bars and restaurants menus. I went into Bamboo once, to see if they made smoothies (they do not). I didn’t order a tiki cocktail there. And I don’t remember the prices. I’m sorry.

In general, I drank a few (fruity, frozen-y) “drinks of the day”, a couple beers, a lot of vodka/sodas, a couple Cuba Libres, a couple bottles’ worth of glasses of wine/Prosecco, and more Buffalo Trace than I’d like to admit. And there might have been a couple $2 charges on my statement for drinks.

I forgot: most of the time if I got a second (or third [emoji15]) drink from the same bartender they wouldn’t even swipe my sea pass card after the first time. I figured that was because they saw I had the UBP. I generally tipped $1 or $2 per drink whenever I got a bill, though.


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Thanks for the review.  We will be on the Mariner for a 4-night cruise in a few weeks.  Our last cruise was our honeymoon 25 years ago on a RCCL ship.  I had no idea what ship to choose but this worked with our schedule and flights to Miami.  So far I'm happy with the reviews and we are really looking forward to it!  I have not seen many positive posts about Nassau.  Many people don't seem to like it.  We found an all day excursion to Rose Island through a private company that got great reviews so we're hoping that this is a nice relaxing day and we can avoid the main parts of Nassau.
 
Thanks again for all of the info.  Trying to soak it all in before we go!

I’ll wager you’ll have a better time on a private excursion than at Atlantis. Have a great trip!


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Thanks for the review.  My family will be on Mariner for the 4 night cruise in May.  If you can post copies of the cruise compasses, that would certainly be appreciated.

Will do.


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• Party: Myself (44), my wife (43), daughter 1 (14), daughter 2 (12)
• This was our 6th cruise, 2nd on RCCL (3 with DCL, 1 with NCL)
• First time on Mariner (previously on Allure)
• Additionally, we were traveling with my brother in law and his spouse

 

We chose this itinerary because we had time constraints which prohibited us from doing a 7-NT cruise this time.  We had been to Nassau several times before, but hadn't been to Coco Cay.  We knew Coco Cay was still under construction.  But we figured we'd be able to enjoy the Amped Up Mariner, particularly on the Nassau day when the ship was the emptiest it would be.  

 

We flew into Miami the day before, and stayed downtown at the JW Marriott Marquis.  It's a great hotel, with one of the coolest recreation areas I've seen in a hotel (full golf simulator!).  It's about 20 minutes from MIA Int'l Airport by Uber ($35.95 fare, in an Uber XL to accomodate the four of us plus our luggage).  

 

Monday morning - embarkation day - was a holiday (President's Day), so I feel like traffic getting to the port was lighter than it would have been on a work/school day.  But it took us less-than 15 minutes ($20.68 Uber XL fare) to get from the hotel to the port.  Very quick.

 

The porters' game is STRONG at the Royal terminal.  Yelling at each other if one guy thought the other guy had jumped his turn to grab some bags.  Our Uber driver told us they recently capped the porters' income at $80,000/year.  I haven't tried to verify that, but that's a decent wage, albeit for a tough job. We got to the port at about 9:30, and were inside waiting just before check-in by 9:40.  We had our set sail passes on cell phones and passports, which means we were on the other side of check-in and security within 10 minutes.  PRO TIP: You don't get sea pass cards until you get into your stateroom, so if you buy anything during the first few hours on board you just scan the barcode on the set sail pass at the point of sale.  Embarkation could not have been easier, or less-stressful.  

 

First impressions of the ship were that it is beautiful.  We had been on NCL's Epic in summer of 2018, and the Mariner is considerably more luxurious and pretty inside than the Epic.  The design elements almost feel like artwork.  Especially in the open spaces that span several different decks (like at the ends of the Royal Promenade).  It is noticeably smaller than other ships we've been on recently.  Particularly the Allure which is the closest comparison that we've sailed on.  But you can also tell it has recently come out of refurb. The ship is very clean, and still has that new ship feel (hardly any dings or scratches in the fixtures and walls, that kind of thing).  PRO TIP: If you like shopping, this is not the ship for you.  A scant few stores on the Promenade, selling the usual stuff.  The biggest retail emphasis throughout the cruise seemed to be on watches and liquor.  They were selling the Hennessy Pure White, which I am reliably informed is rather rare.  However they were sold out of their stock of it within hours.  They were selling Weller Special Reserve for $31/bottle, which is a very good price for an excellent bourbon.  

 

But that - liquor - would be a central theme of this cruise.  

 

We had rented a bungalow on Coco Cay, so we stopped by ShoreEx to select our unit.  We were the second group to do so, so we got a nice choice.  We also inquired about the All Access Ship Tour, and the Bottomless Champagne Brunch/Galley Tour.  Two of us ended up doing the All Access tour, and it was an awesome tour.  It's not cheap ($109/person I think?), and for that price maybe not even a value.  But you saw a lot of stuff, and the bridge itself was extremely cool (we also got a peek inside an officer's stateroom that was being cleaned as we walked to the bridge - very nice digs).  We had done the galley tour/brunch on Allure, back when it was still sort of invitation only, and loved it.  

 

Windjammer is as advertised.  It didn't have the sheer volume of food that you see on the bigger ships, for obvious reasons, and the food area got a little tight at peak traffic times.  But as usual everything we ate was at worst fine, and at best surprisingly decent.  PRO TIP: The employees walking around will make you lattes and things like that in the morning.  You just have to ask.  It's definitely more limited in scope than what you can get at the specialty coffee bar in the Promenade.  But it was better than the standard joe they offer at the buffet.  

 

The staterooms were available right on schedule. They hadn't made sea pass cards for the kids.  So my wife and the kids went down to the guest services desk to deal with that, while I went to the activities desk by the FlowRider to ask about reservations for laser tag.  No problem getting the sea pass cards made, but PRO TIP: the guy at the activities desk said the reservation system was down,  but I didn't need reservations for laser tag because they shuttle people through pretty quickly when it was open.  I was dubious about this, but honestly they only had laser tag available a couple times on this sailing, and we didn't get a chance to see if he had been lying about not needing reservations.  I don't know why they continue to take up so much space on the sports deck with a basketball court.  They just don't get used enough for the space they take up.  And it's not like the cruise lines make any money off three teenage boys shooting hoops or playing soccer.  Doesn't bother me, but just seems like an un-tapped revenue opportunity - which is anathema to the cruise lines.

 

We had room 1814. Deck 12, forward, starboard, family panoramic ocean view.  It's an accessible room.  We typically have not gotten crazy about trying to get a huge room or a fancy suite on cruises, figuring we spend very little time in our room - awake, anyway.  We do like a balcony, which this room didn't have.  But the fare for thhis room was so good that we decided to go for it.  Our girls are getting old enough that sharing a bed isn't optimal for them.  So the two-berth setup of the room presented some challenges.  But, the panoramic ocean view part made up for that.  The entire outside wall is windows that jut out over the edge of the ship. In fact, you can stand in the window and look straight down at the water.  It was kind of freaky at first.  Really cool.  The room itself had an abundance of space, owing to the accessibility requirements, I'm sure.  The bathroom was also large, although it had a musty smell as though it was damp all the time.  Accessible room means no edge or lip to the shower.  Zero depth entry, in swimming pool language.  There was a hallway from the stateroom door to the main part of the room, and a single free-standing closet that held about 20 items of clothes.  In fact the biggest drawback to this room is the astounding lack of storage options.  The staterooms on Epic had incredible storage.  This room was monastic when it came to storage.   The couch did arrange into a nice-sized bed, that our daugthers said was pretty comfortable, as pullout beds go.  

 

Other general observations:

 

*The Solarium is nice and big, relative to the overall pool deck.  We witnessed a near fight between two ladies one day, but otherwise everyone behaved themselves.  

 

*The running track runs through the loungers on 12.  So it's really only usable early in the AM.  I get the sense that's when the runners/walkers are out anyway, so that's not really a problem. But if you like to take your constitutional or jog in the midday heat, you're going to be tripping over people's feet hanging off the end of their lounger.  

 

*Typically we eschew the elevators for the stairs on cruises, as a way of both burning off some of the extra calories we're ingesting (it's a cruise), and avoiding the interminable waits for an elevator car that has room to get in.  For some reason, this cruise I never had to wait more than 30 seconds for an elevator, at all times of the day or night.  

 

*The public restrooms were similarly empty.  We used the restrooms on our deck, just outside the spa, as extra bathrooms.

 

*I was surprised at the relaxed attitude toward hand sanitizing on the ship.  You had to wash before entering Windjammer.  But you were not required to wash - or even use the Purell stations - before entering the MDR.  

 

*We made reservations in the MDR for each night.  Had a great service team (Jerome and Didit).  The food was standard cruise line food.  

 

*My brother in law and his spouse ate at Chops one night, and said it was a great value and experience.  PRO TIP: The seafood tower was a hit.  

 

*SkyPad was fun.  Definitely make a reservation.  You get about 4 minutes to jump.  I did it without the VR.  

 

*This was the first time we did the UBP.  I will never cruise without it again.  It was just nice not to stress about paying, and then not having that long, long, way too long list of drinks on your statement at the end of the cruise.  With the specialty coffee, and especially the bottled water, included, it was a tremendous value.  First day on board they were offering a buy one, get the second one at half price sale on it.  

 

*They cancelled Coco Cay on our sailing.  Made the call to cancel it while we were in port in Nassau, and stayed overnight at Nassau that night.  Left Nassau at 5pm the following day. They claimed high winds were creating unsafe conditions for the tenders.  It was a bummer.  Some people we spoke with think it's a smoke screen while they're hustling to finish the renovations on Coco Cay.  Who knows?  I was on vacation, so I didn't want to get too bent out of shape about it.  The bummer was that we had a cool day lined up, and then we had to scramble.  We had been to Atlantis before, but my brother in law had not.  To be honest, we didn't have the best experience at Atlantis the first time.  And it's like $189/adult for the day pass.  But we figured there was a lot of stuff to do all in one place, so that was the easiest option for the next day, even though we would really only have from maybe 10 to 4.  PRO TIP: at least some of the Atlantis hotels are are partnered with Marriott.  So, to get around paying $189/person for a day pass, I booked a room using Marriott points, checked in early (was not expecting the room to be ready at 10am, really just wanted the wrist bands, but the room was ready, so we checked it out for a few minutes, the kids stole the toiletries, and we took off), got the wrist bands and were ready to go.  We got two wristbands included with the room, and paid $90/person for the other two.  So, what would have cost us the better part of $750 (I think kids pay less for a day pass, but rounding up) only cost us $180, plus 60,000 points for the room.  It wasn't "cheap", but it was a heck of a lot cheaper than it could have been.  

 

*But I'm done with Atlantis.  It's way too expensive. It's frankly not that nice of a resort, apart from the decor - which I admit is stunning.  We were technically paying guests of The Cove, and there was nothing made available to us in the way of pool or beach set up, at least nothing that wasn't available to anyone, except the Cove pool and cabanas and the kids weren't allowed in the pool and I didn't want to pay more for the cabanas.  There were five ships in port each of the days we were there, and so the place was just overrun with people.  No chairs by the pools.  The beaches were rocky and garbage-strewn.  The water was nice.  But the food options close to the water and pools aren't great.  It's a bunch of bratty Americans who aren't worldly enough not to think Atlantis is exotic and luxurious.  In fact, I don't need to go back to Nassau again in my lifetime.

 

*The crew on Mariner was great.  Very friendly, moreso than when we were on Allure.  In fact, this was the most-cheerful crew we've sailed with apart from the Disney ships, which is saying something. 

 

*We set the ship record in the Logo Trivia game, getting 59 out of 66 correct.  Just thought I'd toss that out there...

 

*It feels like RCCL is using the Mariner as a long weekend party ship right now.  Which is fine.  But there wasn't a ton of activities, compared to other sailings we've been on.  Not as much focus on kids stuff.  Not even as many shows or entertainment.  In fact I don't think I saw a member of the entertainment team until the 3rd day.  There was plenty of small act live music in the bars, and that was great. But again they seem to be putting most of their entertainment focus on the bars.  And are there bars on this ship - wow.  It really felt like more bars per capita than other ships we'd been on.  Again, I'm not complaining about any of this.  Just an observation.  Our 12 year old is the kind of kid who wants to be out there doing every activity she can find on a ship.  She was bored.  And not because she wasn't going to stuff.  Because there wasn't enough stuff to go do.  She spent an hour charting out how long it took her to walk up or down two decks versus take the elevator on our sea day.  So, when they say it's the ultimate weekend getaway ship, take it literally.  

 

*The silent party was a BLAST.  Easily my favorite thing we did on board, activity-wise.  You get a pair of wireless headphones that have two channels.  The DJ or DJs spin non-stop tunes, but you can only hear them through the headphones - there's no PA.  The headphones light up with a different color depending on which channel you're listening to.  If you take them off during the party, you hear people singing like they only sing in the shower, and whatever noises you make when you're dancing.  It was a ton of fun, and very entertaining.  

 

We enjoyed this ship, and this cruise, overall.  It affirmed for us that Royal is our cruise line of choice, and we intend to stick with it now that we've sampled a few different lines (we sigend up for another cruise next February, on the Harmony).  It didn't have the most entertainment or activities, and it was definitely focused on the partying.  But it's not like people were puking over the railings from drinking too much.  If this had been my first cruise I'm not sure I would have gotten hooked on cruising as a result, especially given my kids' experience.  But it was still a fun, relaxing vacation.  I was glad it wasn't my first cruise.

 

We took photos of the dailies, and I'll post them below.  Happy to answer any questions anyone has.

 

 

 

 

thanks for this

They never asked us to hold our passports during our cruise.

There is a reaon why prices for drinks continues to rise. Those people who lie, cheat, or don't pay cause the rest of us to pay a higher amount. Did you teach your child to lie and cheat like you do?

 

You understand that, by offering an unlimited drink package, with no stated maximum drink allowance (like they have on Carnival), NCL is willing to drive their revenue per drink down technically to zero, right? I mean $89/day divided by infinity, right? The fact that they even offer the package means they don't care about revenue per drink, or that their research shows their customers don't drink that much on average - which ultimately gets you to the same place.

 

As to the bartenders not charging, that's on the company, not me. If someone gives you something for free are you really telling me you insist on paying for it? If that's true, then only one of us is a dope and it's not me.

 

If you're paying for all your own drinks then you only have yourself to blame, based on my experience on NCL. Point your little rant at yourself, tough guy.

It was a great review. Thanks a lot! One more question about disembarkation from Barcelona. It is our first NCL cruise, and we do not know much about disembarkation process. We have 11.15 AM flight. Any suggestions on how we can leave the ship early? Or how to get priority disembarkation? Many thanks in advance!

 

The disembarkation process was pretty easy. On maybe the evening before the last full day they put out bag tags, color-coded for different disembarkation times. I would ask at guest services when those come out, so you could be the first to grab the time you need. There may be another way to guarantee a specific/priority disembarkation time, I don't know, but again ask at Guest Services. Of course, the best way to guarantee your bags are ready when you are is to carry them off the ship with you.

 

From the moment we stepped off the ship until we were outside the port terminal it was less than five minutes, and probably more like three. It's maybe a 20 minute drive from the cruise port to the airport. There is a taxi queue right outside the port terminal if you need it. You should have plenty of time to make an 11:15 flight even without a priority disembarkation.

Excellent information with humor. Be nice to have you pre-cruise all my cruises. I am on the Epic in June 2019 but the Rome round-trip. Regarding the Vespa you mentioned your kids might not like that. My son will be 12 when we go-is there a particular reason they would not enjoy? Also would you recommend your private driver? We had one for our last cruise and he picked us up at Heathrow took us to SouthHampton picked us up the next morning to take us to the ship and then was waiting for us when we arrived back -he was wonderful and it was probably the same is hiring through NCL. I also like your take on the different lines. I’ve been on RCL twice this will be my second on NCL. Ive also done Cunard, Disney and Carnival. I may have to look at RCL again.

 

I guess what I was thinking about the Vespa was that, if the adult driving isn’t used to it, it can be a less-than smooth ride both in terms of handling, and also not knowing exactly where you are going. I own a Piaggio, and have had my wife, or kids on the back before. Our friends hadn’t been on one before, and the added weight of the passenger on back makes it even harder to get the feel of. That plus the uncertain environs, on live streets, in a new country, and with the risk of the cops pulling you over, it was a fairly stressful riding experience. Beautiful, and ultimately we were fine. And I think the kids would find it exhilarating - once you got the hang of it. But I could see kids not enjoying it while you’re working your way up the learning curve. If you and they are used to 2-wheel riding, not a problem.

 

I’ll get the name of the car service companies Viator booked us with and get back to you.

Hey i tried to look at the pictures you posted but could not find when was sea food Buffet at Garden Caffee for dinner. Did they have one and on what day?

 

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it's listed in the Dinner section, under the Complimentary options. You'll see Garden Cafe - Taste of Spain (for example).

 

I think the seafood night was called Fisherman's Wharf, I don't recall which night it was, but it should be on the dailies.

Thanks for the review. We're doing this cruise June 2019, but we are boarding in Rome.

 

What company did you book the Canne Segway tour through? We're looking for something easy going for that day.

 

I tried searching through the dailies, but I got a headache since they are all upside down and when I try to rotate my tablet rotates the images. lol. So I have a request or question...

 

Could you repost them right side up, or let me know what night the Glow/White party was?

 

Cannes Segway Tour:

https://www.getyourguide.com/cannes-l15/cannes-two-hour-segway-tour-t64236/

 

The glow party was Friday night.

 

So, Sunday was embarkation for Barcelona

Monday was sea day

Tuesday was Naples

Wednesday was Rome

Thursday was Florence

Friday was Cannes/Glow Party

Saturday was Palma Mallorca

Sunday disembarkation/Barcelona

 

Sorry, that's how the pictures loaded. I don't know how to turn them around.

Couple more things I forgot:

 

KIDS CLUBS

We had two 13YOs and an 11YO (all girls) in our group. We signed them all up for their respective clubs. None of them ever went in. I think that's a good sign that they felt they had plenty to do throughout the rest of the ship. Registration was quick and easy.

 

POOL DECK LOUNGERS

From the reviews I read it sounded like the chair game was in full effect on this ship. I'm not one to lay out by the pool, but I always saw open loungers every time I was on 15.

 

BARCELONA

Again, with our friends as guides, we got a great overview of the city during the four days we were there. Our friends live in the back side of the city, just over the hill from the main part of town. The view from their flat is astounding, and they live a 1 -10 minute walk to buses, or the subway, depending on which line you need.

 

Barcelona was incredible. Our friends told us the vibe is very much "do what makes you happy." While this could have led to more of a bohemian attitude than I would enjoy, it works in Barcelona.

 

We did a lot of different things, saw a lot of places, and ate a lot of food. Two highlights were 1) our friends set up a ham tasting at a local jamoneria - yeah, that's a real place. It was incredible. If nothing else, the guy helping us was so knowledgeable and passionate about ham. But it was also delicious and informative.

 

The second highlight was a tour and flamenco concert in the Casa Batllo - one of the great Gaudi's masterpieces in the city. First we had a tour of the house, with a personal audio/visual device with information in our native language. Then, on the rooftop, there were flamenco guitar players, and flamenco dancer(s), under these string lights, and with a couple bars (you get two drink coupons with paid reservation). It was at dusk and the sun setting overhead and the rooftops of Barcelona surrounding us....it was one of those moments that you stop and say "how the heck did I get here?!" It was amazing.

 

La Rambla, and the entire Gotic quarter was neat, albeit touristy. Montjuic was cool. But I will really remember the food. Apparently local businesses must give each employee a 15 euro allowance for lunch (which lasts from approximately 2-4) each day. The restaurants, in turn, offer a menu del dia, which is a 2-3 course lunch - including a glass of beer or wine - for under 15 euros. And we're not talking little tiny portions. You could find some tremendous values. More often than not the wine or beer was cheaper than a bottle of agua - con or sin gas.

 

We loved the city, and hope to return soon.

Part 6

 

ODDS AND ENDS/WRAP UP

 

MDRs

We ate dinner at Manhattan once and Taste once. And I had breakfast in Taste twice. They were both fine. One of our observations about this cruise was that, compared to our prior cruises, we didn't get a chance to get to know a service team in the dining rooms. Part of that was the specialty dining package, which meant we only at in the MDRs twice. But that's been something we've enjoyed on prior cruises. I don't know if you can request the same service team every night in the MDRs. The menus were fine. Actually Taste was a more interesting menu than Manhattan to me. The music they had at Manhattan the night we were there (singer, bass, piano, drum?) was very nice. We were seated to the side of them, which meant the speakers weren't pointed right at us, which meant we could hear the music and still were able to carry on a conversation without having to yell at each other.

 

BUFFET

Good variety, usually well-prepared and hot. They have themed nights for their dinner service. The grill night was basically the Moderno menu. The free beverages include coffee, tea, water, flavored water, juice. There's a bar in the buffet. The seating inside and on the sides was typically full during peak times. There seemed to be more seating in front, and outside.

 

CIRQUE DREAMS

This was one of my favorite shows I've ever seen on a cruise. The dinner was fine. It's a set menu (you can request vegetarian before hand if you need), a salad, then a surf and turf-y main, then a dessert trio. They seat the whole room, then serve the whole room, and then the show starts once dinner is over. While you're eating the performers come out one or two at a time in these elaborate costumes and you can take pictures with them. We were seated on the floor, in the middle of which is a circular stage that's maybe 6 feet across. Think of that as the hub, and then the tables on the floor are the spokes around it. From where I was sitting, there might have been 8 feet to the edge of the stage. Maybe less than that. If you have the seating on the second floor the only downside is you're not as close. But it's seating in the round, and you're right overhead. I bet it's a pretty cool perspective from up there. There are booths at the back of the floor level, the view from which must be fine, but you're probably 25 feet away from the action and the close tables are between you and the acts.

 

The acts are fun. Feats of strength, juggling, balancing, contortionism, and the craziest roller skating act you've ever seen. It's a great show, and I highly recommend it.

 

BURN THE FLOOR

They do several different shows throughout the trip. The one we saw was sort of a history of dance kind of thing. It was brutally dumb. The dancing was okay. Honestly, the best part was the guitar player who could pull off a mean Carlos Santana impression.

 

PRISCILLA

I didn't see this, but my wife and kids did. They loved it.

 

VOX FORTURA

These guys were great. At least one of us saw every one of their performances. If they're on your cruise go see them - you won't be disappointed.

 

GAME SHOWS

These were pretty typical, but lots of fun. I *might* have won Mr. Muscle Legs in the Mr. Sexy Legs competition, which absolutely says more about the guys I was competing with than it does about me.

 

GLOW PARTY

Part wannabe rave, part junior high formal dance, I have to say I enjoyed myself. Andre and his team do a great job, and the Glow Party was no exception.

 

PHOTOS

We got the cheapest package that also allows you to get the digital copies of all the pictures they took of your party. And they actually did a great job taking pictures. These aren't ever a deal, but whatever - you're on vacation!

 

BOWLING

One of my daughters and I tried this. It was really cool to be able to say you bowled on a cruise ship. It's $7/person/game. You must bring your own socks.

 

DRESS CODE AT MANHATTAN

It definitely says men must wear pants/can't wear shorts. And I was impressed that they were turning people away if they had shorts on.

 

WATER

This is my biggest gripe of the whole cruise. At every bar you can ask for a GLASS of water and it's free. In the restaurants (like O'Sheehans) the servers will fill up a water bottle for you, for free. But at a bar, if you ask for a water, or a bottle of water, you get a bottle for $7 I think. On port days, they sell bottles of water as you're leaving the ship for $5.50 for a 12oz bottle, and I think $7 for the 16oz (not sure on the prices/sizes, but you get the picture). Look, I absolutely understand that it's NCL's prerogative to charge for everything. But someone's going to decide they can't, or don't want to, pay for water and get dehydrated (because you're cruising the Mediterranean in the summer, duh) and sick. If they're willing to treat water as a loss leader in some places, it should be everywhere. How about give us two bottles of water free in the stateroom every day, but raise the prices on the alcoholic drinks by $0.05 per drink everywhere/all the time? I bet that would offset the cost of providing free water. Again, it's their right to charge us, I'm just saying "do the right thing." And also "don't be greedy just because you can."

 

UPGRADE

We bid the absolute lowest amount they allowed on whatever the available Haven room was, and didn't get it. I didn't lose any sleep over it.

 

 

WRAPPING UP

There really isn't anything major that we didn't like about this cruise, and several things we liked a lot. As I said now that we've been on Disney, Royal and NCL we talked about which line we want to sort of commit to to build up some loyalty status on. We've chosen Royal Caribbean. Again, not that NCL was bad. But to us Royal was just a little bit better in enough different areas, and they both cruise more or less the same places (including all the places we want to go), for more or less the same price. And, the ability to get status match at Platinum on Celebrity and Azamara is big for us - maybe the biggest loyalty perk offered.

 

If someone asked if I would recommend NCL, or the Epic? Yes. If a bunch of my friends said they were all going on a NCL cruise I'd happily go with them. But if someone asked me which cruise line I would recommend, I'd say I prefer Royal, all things considered.

 

Thanks for reading, I hope this is helpful to anyone considering this cruise. I'm happy to answer any other questions.

Part 5

 

PORT/SHORE EXCURSIONS con't

 

FIRENZE

 

This stop was my only regret of the whole trip. Our friends had already been to Florence, so they opted to stay on the ship. It was our third-straight early day as we had another 9:30 Segway tour through Italy Segway Tours. So we had another private car service with an 8am pickup. Remember the debate about the sea day being the first full day? This is where the other side of that debate comes into play. The car ride from Livorno to Firenze is even longer than the ride from Civitavecchia to Rome.

 

By the time we got to the tour company's place in town the kids were already about to mutiny. We had a nice lady for a guide, and the tour focused around the four major churches in town, the original town square, and the Uffizi gallery, plus a stop for gelato. It would have been a great tour. But it was stinkin' hot. And it was extremely crowded. All the advantages of a Segway over walking are lost on narrow streets that are jam packed with people. I was constantly afraid I would run over some kid's foot or something. Even our guide kept commenting that she had never seen it that busy.

 

Everyone says Florence is wonderful. Honestly I don't feel like I have a reasonable feel for the city, despite the tour.

 

By the time the tour was over we were in the mood to just beat it over to the train station (via taxi) and train back to Livorno (9 euro per adult). We ended up grabbing lunch in what was probably the Italian version of Sbarro, in the train station. But we wanted to eat one last time on Italian soil. Then a taxi guy charged us 35 euro to get back to the cruise terminal. Absolute robbery. I tried to negotiate with him but the rest of my family threatened to revolt if I didn't just get in the taxi, so away we went.

 

CANNES

 

Thankfully our Segway tour in Cannes wasn't until 11:45. So we were able to have a relaxing morning. This was big for all of us. It also meant we didn't have to try to get on an early tender*. The Segway tour address is about a 2 minute walk from the city end of the pier. This tour was okay. It started out by going along the promenade that fronts the long beach in front of the swanky hotels. This part of the tour was focused on the film festival and all the celebrities and whatever. I couldn't care less about that stuff. But it was still a spectacular place to Segway (or walk) if you like views of the Mediterranean.

 

The second half of the tour was outstanding. You get up and out of the main tourist area a bit, up a big hill to where you get a stunning view of the bay. Then you go back down this little tiny, winding street, lined with shops and restaurants on either side, so that you only have a couple feet of space to either side of you. It's absolutely magical.

 

After the tour we walked back up to that street, and had lunch in one of the restaurants on it. Then we walked the main shopping road that's one block off the main traffic road along the beach, doing our best to hit every French pastry and bakery we could before returning to the ship on foot.

 

Cannes was lovely. And expensive. But also lovely.

 

*TENDERING was made out by some to be this big process, and if you don't make a reservation you'll never get ashore. That's a load of crap. If you need to be off the ship early, then make a tender reservation as soon as you can (I think you can do this on the iConcierge app, as well as in person at the ShoreEx or customer service desk on deck 5, mid). The boats they use to tender off the Epic are the lifeboats. They can each hold a decent number of people, but each boat does have a limit. Again, if you need to get off early, reserve a spot early.

 

The process is pretty well organized. They call tender numbers and you go check in outside Manhattan. Then you proceed through the dining room where they've set up a winding corridor through the tables. This is to keep you moving so you don't get bored or, I guess, anxious.

 

Since we didn't have to be off early, we didn't reserve a spot. They said that it was open tendering after 11am, although on our cruise that didn't start until after 11. But, after we had breakfast we walked down to customer service and they put us in the next tender group available - which just happened to be the next group that got called. From the time we checked in outside Manhattan to the time we stepped on the tender boat was probably 15 minutes. Then it's about a 10 minute ride into the pier.

 

TIP: If you're prone to seasickness, try to be the last one to board the tender. That will minimize the time you're sitting in the tender as it's bobbing up and down on the sea.

 

PALMA/MALLORCA

 

In my ignorance, I didn't expect the main town to be so big and developed. Another late arrival was welcomed as we had another leisurely morning. The kids asked if they could remain on the ship and we agreed. So the four adults got off, and then took a taxi to a town on the coast just past the airport where we rented Vespas for a few hours. We booked this through Viator. We passed other scooter rental places that were much closer to the port. The downside to the location we rented from was that it was the better part of a half hour in the taxi from the port, which cuts down on the time you have to tool around. But the upside to it was that we were away from the port, so we were forced to get out of our comfort zone a bit.

 

We just cruised down the coast for a while, stopped a public beach for a quick dip, found a place for a Coke and some pan con tomate and jamon, and then cruised back. It was lovely.

 

I think we paid 41 euro per scooter for an 8-hour rental, plus some nominal charge for a second helmet (we rode two to a scooter). The rental lady said that technically you have to have an international drivers license to operate the scooters there, and the cops were within their rights to pull us over and check to see if we had one. And that there were fines - and possibly worse (she said) - if we didn't. We passed several police and didn't get pulled over. But, forewarned is forearmed.

 

I thought Mallorca was beautiful. It's a couple-hour ferry ride from Barcelona. That being said, the kids wouldn't have enjoyed riding on a scooter with us.

Part 4

 

My wife wants me to point out that she wasn't trying to game the system with the a la carte drinks. But the bartenders would hand her her drink, then turn and walk away without asking for her key card. I mean, what are you supposed to do? At that point, if you call them back and say "hey you forgot to charge me" then you're the jerk, right?

 

PORTS/SHORE EXCURSIONS

 

NAPOLI

 

We had a Napoli tour/Pompeii half-day guided tour booked. They picked us up right outside the terminal. We didn't book any of our ShoreEx through NCL. The prices were just too high in general, for the same excursions booked privately. I booked this tour through Viator, and everything worked perfectly. Our tour guide was a lovely young lady, born and raised in Napoli. We got a nice tour of the high points of the city, and then drove to Pompeii where we met up with a larger group for that part of the tour. It was hot. And zero cloud cover. Pompeii was very interesting, but the heat started to wilt the children before too long, and the adults not long after. The area right outside the gates to Pompeii is a tourist trap. Garish and gross. We were advised to forgo eating there, and wait until we got back to Napoli, before boarding the ship. Apparently it's just accepted that pizza is the thing to eat there because our guide just started recommending pizza places. Not that there's anything wrong with that...

 

Unfortunately one of our party had fallen ill overnight, with what they ultimately decided was food poisoning. As far as we could piece together, the only thing he'd eaten that none of the rest of us had eaten was oysters at Cagney's (apparently he has a delayed digestion thing, so the time frame still worked). He had a pretty rough night, and would have been in no shape to come ashore with us, even if the ship hadn't quarantined him to his stateroom (they were calling him every two hours to "check on him" which he thought really meant "make sure he wasn't out and about infecting other passengers.") His loss, in more ways than one, because we did indeed find a wonderful little restaurant about a block and a half from the cruise port, in a tiny little alley way. And we did find the best pizza the rest of us had ever eaten. Crust, garlic, oregano, and "marinara" sauce. Perfection. You'll notice cheese wasn't one of the ingredients. Didn't matter.

 

It was very easy to walk back into the cruise port and re-board the ship in Naples.

 

ROME

 

We're big Segway tour fans. In the first place, they're really fun to ride. If you've never been on one, there's a short but steep learning curve. Once you get it, it's a blast, and they are very intuitive. We booked tours in Rome and Florence through Italy Segway Tours. Two-hour tours for about 50 euro per person.

 

Some Segway tour companies set age and weight minimums on riders. Our youngest daughter is 11 and weighs about 85 lbs. She can maneuver a Segway on all surfaces and grades with no problem. So, if a particular company has an age or size minimum that's older or bigger than her we just fudge it.

 

Civitavecchia is about 1:15 by car to the middle of Rome. Given we had a 9:30 tour, we chose to book a private car service from the port to the tour address. This was great because the driver met us right outside the terminal, and delivered us right to the address. No taxis, trains, etc. But traffic was brutal and we ended up getting there about 15 minutes late, and then we all had to use a restroom, so we didn't get started until about 10:10.

 

But it worked out that the seven of us were our own group, so we still got the full tour and had a BLAST. We had Tony as our guide and he was great. The tour took us past all the big highlights of Rome. I HIGHLY recommend this tour, and would also recommend Italy Segway Tours to anyone.

 

We found another little place for lunch (not as good as the place we found in Napoli. We all agreed the sauce on my pasta tasted exactly like Chef Boyardee), then walked past the Trevi Fountain, then to the train station to return to Civitavecchia, then a taxi from the train station to the cruise port. Train was 5 euro per adult, taxi guy charged us 5 euro per person - which was a ripoff - but we figured 10 euro combined for the train and taxi was a good deal - and a heck of a lot cheaper than the private car service had been.

Menus

Shanghai’s

 

Pool deck taken from quiet area

 

 

 

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Menus

Le Bistro

Le Bistro dessert

Cagney’s

Cagney’s dessert

Teppanyaki

La Cucina mains

 

 

 

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Menus

Minibar

Moderno

Moderno dessert

La Cucins dessert

 

 

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Menu: Taste breakfast, Cirque Dreams

 

 

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More Freestyle dailies

 

 

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More Freestyle dailies

 

 

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Freestyle dailies

 

 

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Prices and classes from the fitness center

 

 

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