JohnEtta

i just sailed the getaway and had the drink package as my free perk. I was charged the gratuity when i booked and chose that as my perk. You will not be charged again on your bill once on the ship. In the upper right hand corner of your room key card is ubp, and once they see that, you just get your drink with no charge. Pretty much all drinks are under that $15, unless they are made with premium liquor, but the bartender will inform you of that when you order, to see if you still want that drink. We rebooked the getaway for next january and chose the drink package again as our perk. It was wonderful! Let me suggest a mudslide, miami vice, mango meltdown, mojito, raspberry mojito, and then the standards--daiquiri, margarita, piñata colada---all under the $15. Beers are around $8, and most wines are under $15. I also liked that i could get fountain soda with the plan, too. It does not cover bottled water. I hope this helps.

thank you...i really needed this info..was trying to decide if i would go with internet or all you can drink..i am a light drinker but it will still be better than worrying about a drink bill later.

Nice:

We spent a week there pre-cruise for carnival last spring. With only one day, I would make my way to Massena Square (Place Massena). It's a 10-15minute walk south along Rue de Jean Medicine from the train station. Lots to see in the area within walking distance. From Place Massena, North is the train station & shopping boulevard, west is Albert 1 gardens & high-end shops, south is the Promenade d'Anglais & beachfront, east is the market & Old Town market as well as the climb to Castle Hill-PARC DE LA COLLINE DU CHATEAU. If your body is able and you've got the time, I would forego the shopping and see the sites as it can be done in one afternoon, My suggestion would be head west to the flower market, browse through Old Town to climb/lift Castle Hill-PARC DE LA COLLINE DU CHATEAU, then walk back to Place Massena via the promenade along the beach. Google maps has walking that loop at 45 minutes so if you spent 90 minutes at the market and Old Town (buy lunch at a bakery/market) with a hour at Castle park you'll have time have a picnic at the parc or at the beach.

We rented bikes and rode the promenade from Castle Hill to the airport and back one day. If the weather good, I prefer being outside in Nice versus the museums.

 

Barcelona: I spent 4 days post cruise there in 2008. Take the ship's shuttle there to the Columbus monument and walk up Las Ramblas to Plaza Cataluna taking in the atmosphere, shops, & sites. (20 minutes of walking time but take a hour+) From Plaza Cataluna take the subway to Sagrada Familia and buy the guided tour. It'll get you in quicker and you can stay longer if you wish. there's a lot to see but those 2 are must experiences IMHO. The HOHO is good if you have time but the line-ups at the key stops could be a challenge if there's too many cruise ships in port.

 

We stopped off in Cannes for a couple of hours when we visited Antibes from Nice. We went down to the beach area where the film festival is held and looked around there. After you've been to the promenade at Nice, Cannes isn't that special. This is where you can do your shopping if you so wish.

 

I tend to do an internet search of the cities attractions and then use the google maps "walk" or "transit" function to see if it's easy enough to DIY.

okay this is great information...i read that many shops are closed on Sundays in Barcelona..is that true.?

Since you mention Barcelona, they have EXCELLENT HoHo buses. The HoHo in Monte Carlo is pretty decent as well...

thank you so much😁

its getting down to the wire and still have not chosen my excursions for Nice..Barcelona and cannes...(where the perfumery, casino, palace, riveria and shopping are in order....

does anyone have time to help with suggestions...my brain is fried!🙄...also..does anyone know if tour companies will be at the port if i choose to play it by ear???...some cruises have that option..

HELP!🤣😆🙄

Posted Yesterday, 06:27 AM

its getting down to the wire and still have not chosen my excursions for Nice..Barcelona and cannes...(where the perfumery, casino, palace, riveria and shopping are in order....

does anyone have time to help with suggestions...my brain is fried!🙄...also..does anyone know if tour companies will be at the port if i choose to play it by ear???...some cruises have that option..

HELP!🤣😆🙄

You can post in the Mediterranean - Eastern & Western Port of Call Forum for more response.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Okay thank you very much

its getting down to the wire and still have not chosen my excursions for Nice..Barcelona and cannes...(where the perfumery, casino, palace, riveria and shopping are in order....

does anyone have time to help with suggestions...my brain is fried!🙄...also..does anyone know if tour companies will be at the port if i choose to play it by ear???...some cruises have that option..

HELP!🤣😆🙄

sugar247...i board in rome on the epic sept 27th..we may possibly be on the same ship Epic..but you board first..?

great info..

would you recommend the ship excursions

or wait and join the local excursions

Hi guys,

 

I just returned from my third cruise on Epic. Will not do a traditional review, but have some observations/topics that I thought about and wanted to share with you or put up for discussion.

 

Some background: My 7th NCL cruise (first time as platinum), all within the last 4 years. I have cruised Princess twice years ago, no other cruiselines. In the past we have cruised balconies but did Escape and Breakaway in Haven, this was first time Epic Haven. I have enjoyed all my cruises on NCL including this one and will continue to cruise with them. Please keep this in mind when reading as I may sound overly critical sometimes...

 

Haven pool area:

Loved the fact, that it is almost an actual pool and not a tiny one like on the newer ships, although it could be deeper than 3 ft. For all those concerned with children in the Haven pool area: yes, it is appearantly a big issue during the summer months. I have a six year old son myself and I know that kids will be kids, but there should be some supervision! Every day kids would scream, splash and jump into the pool (even from the hottub railings into pool) and only once did I ever see NCL staff reprimanding them. Many of those kids (even 4-5 year olds) came and went with no parent to be seen. NCL needs to step up their game and have a crew member present to supervise this area!

Drink service was spotty, but the bar is just steps away. On some days server would come by every 20 minutes to take orders, other days no one for hours. The pool bar closes at 8pm.

By mid-afternoon most loungers where empty, but staff would not bring out fresh towels (you can get them in the changing rooms next to courtyard).

Liked that an actual sauna, steam rooms, spa treatment rooms and small fitness center are included in Haven area!

I wish NCL would use (teak) wood for the Haven balconies and pool/sundeck areas but doubt that will ever happen.

 

Haven restaurant and grill:

Breakfast, lunch and dinner was great. We had 5 specialties booked and I was sorry i did not get to eat there more often for dinner. Do not like the fact that the full lunch menu is only available in the restaurant while only small menu (burgers, etc.) right outside at the grill/courtyard - there is a sliding door between these two and IMO both areas should serve full lunch.

 

Breakfast times:

Why is there breakfast until 10:30 one day and they stop serving it at 9 when the ship is docked in Civitavechia? I get that most people will leave the ship for excursions, but why not offer breakfast until 10:30 every day...

 

Cabin:

We had cabin 16016, a two bedroom suite (H4). Cabin was great overall. Did not notice any noise issues (except for running kids or slamming doors which can happen anywhere). Some wear and tear that I would not expect in a Haven cabin, but nothing major.

 

Haven staff:

Steward was ok. Only got a total of 4 towel animals which was a disappointment for the kids. Other than that very friendly and quick to resolve issues (toilet in guest bathroom did not flush twice during the week).

Butler was a small disappointment. I called her on the first evening to ask about refills for the nespresso machine. She came to the cabin and introduced herself. I told her we would be low maintenance as we almost never have room service. Did ask to please have the machine stocked. I had to call twice again during the week as we ran out of capsules. Requested to include cookies for the kids with afternoon snack - only got them twice.

Concierge we did not use much. They changed two reservations and provided escort to Cirque. Always friendly and helpfull. Concierge desk was open 8am-8pm.

 

Somehow I cannot shake the feeling that the Haven staff was prejudiced against non-US passengers as they do not expect them to tip a lot (if at all). They were all friendly, just not as eager as I remember from carribean cruises where most passengers are from the states. For the record: I did tip them all, although butler got the minimum I had allocated for that position. NCL could/should think about including positions like butler/concierge in the suite DSC to avoid them being stiffed (sometimes even unkowingly) by passengers.

 

 

Elevators:

NCL should include some basic "elevator education" during muster drill (or at least in freestyle daily) ;)

Amazing how many people do not understand "up" and "down" arrows, or are seemingly unable to take the stairs for even one floor.

Also, there is technology/software available that would provide better algorithms and the elevators would not need to stop on as many decks while actually increasing the capacity (example: if five or more decks already pressed, elevator will not stop on decks in-between as it is most likely full).

 

With the Haven keycard you can actually avoid this as it can do "priority service" between decks 16/17 and 5/6/7. But for other people already in the elevator it will void their selected deck, so it would be beyond tacky to actually use that perk... Maybe NCL should think about setting aside one elevator to provide this priority service by default.

 

Cirque show:

No longer a dinner show. Now it is a very rushed dinner (three courses in 40 minutes) followed by a show! Had I known that I would have asked to join for the show only and eat where you can actually choose your courses and take your time! Honestly, does anybody prefer this to the old format (eating while watching the show)?

 

Specialties:

Great service at all venues. We did Cagney's twice, La Cucina and Teppanyaki. No dinner took longer than 90 minutes total. One thing I still miss is the bread they used to serve at La Cucina which was paired with 3-4 different olive oils for dipping. Switching from a fixed $15 upcharge to á la carte pricing and removing this at the same time still leaves a sour taste in my mouth!

 

Internet:

Still slow, but seemed faster than last year. Maybe they did install the new internet NCL promised in spring.

Good news is you can now upgrade your 250 min free at sea perk to unlimited for a charge of $85 which means they actually credit the full value of the perk ($125) towards the regular charge for unlimited. Not so good news is that if you only learn of this on the second day, they will not adjust that upcharge for the missed day :')

 

Casino/CAS:

This and most previous cruises were comped by Casinos at Sea (CAS). I am not that much of a highroller that they actually comp the Haven cabin, but they usually offer inside/OV and I pay the upcharge for Haven. Still manage to save 25-50% off regular fare this way and consider that a very good deal as I would most likely gamble anyway during the cruises.

Very different from the carribean cruises as the casino was only open 30 min after leaving port until 2 am due to very strict regulations in Europe while in the carribean they usually stay open until docking and reopen the moment the ship leaves the port.

The only casino game I play is blackjack. I used to play the $25 or $50 tables, but it appears some months ago the rules changed and the dealer now hits a soft 17 on these tables, so I had to move up to the $100 (which also offers 6 decks instead of 8). In case you have no idea what I am talking about: the house edge in blackjack is about 0.4%, meaning for every $100 bet I would loose 40 cents on average. If the dealer hits a soft 17 that house edge changes to 0.6% which does not sound like much but actually increases their chances against me by 50%

Higher bets unfortunately equals higher variance and I was hit hard by it on this cruise loosing almost $10k. Hope now they will offer the Haven cabin for free next cruise :')

Casino host was very nice and came by to introduce herself during the first night. in the end she took care of $700+ onboard charges for me. Unfortunately that meant I had $300+ unrefundable OBC left which I only saw on the last morning (account statement on the iconcierge app disappeared around 11pm on the last night). I thought unrefundable OBC could be used for casino withdrawals, but appearantly that was wrong. Managed to spent it on some photos and could use the OBC to tip concierge/butler so in the end all was well.

 

 

Thanks for reading!