FSU Girl

Thanks! Does anyone know if the menu in the Haven restaurant is the same for lunch and dinner or if they are different? We are have one sea day so we'll definitely be eating lunch there. If they are the same we could book three specialty restaurants, but if they are different I'll want to try the Haven for dinner too.

3 minutes ago, Gampy1967 said:

I am quite aware of that.  The OP also asked if any of the specialty restaurants are open for lunch. If you are in a suite and/or Haven (which she is), one of them is.

Yes we are traveling in the Haven. On the Epic which specialty restaurant is open for breakfast? 

18 minutes ago, rtkenmore said:

 

You must be on a Mediterranean sailing if you have an overlap with a 7 day.  They rarely do anything like that in the states.  I would imagine at least one of the nights you would have the option for Cirque.  You could probably log into your My NCL account and see what nights are available.  The show is usually pretty good. It's not like a typical Cirque du Soleil show which a lot of people assume going into it..  But it's still entertaining.

 

We have a lot of good Teppanyaki around us too but I just enjoy the food and honestly, I prefer Teppanyaki more than I do Moderno, Le Bistro and some of the other choices.  Our top picks are always Cagney's, Los Lobos, Teppanyaki and La Cucina.  And YES, they include fried rice and I always get extra fried rice myself.  Typically, it's a miso soup, seaweed salad, entree choice (beef, shrimp, chicken, scallops, etc.), vegetables, fried rice and then a choice of desert (green tea cake or fruit sashimi).  It's always a lot of food especially if you request extra rice.

 

Yes, we are on the May 12 sailing from Barcelona to Rome. I think they have this since it's the first after the Transatlantic and they also have people getting on in Rome so those rooms would sit empty if they didn't offer the 3 night. It works perfectly for our honeymoon. We are doing the cruise, then a few days in Rome then 4 nights in Paris and 4 nights in London. It was a compromise of doing a cruise and land trip. 

We might do the Teppanyaki, its one of my favorite foods and would be a cool experience having it on a ship. The Fried Rice is my favorite part of the meal lol. We go to cirque du soleil shows every year when they travel by where we live so maybe we should skip that. 

17 hours ago, rtkenmore said:

Now one other option to consider is using one of your SDP meals at Cirque Dream and paying the additional uncharge.  We enjoyed Cirque Dreams both times we were on Epic and the food was pretty good too.  It's a set menu best I recall with just a few choices for the main course.

This show looks interesting, I'll have to see if it's showing on our cruise. Since our three night overlaps the 7 night the show might be later on in the cruise when we won't be onboard anymore. If we pick this does the additional charge get paid right away or once we are onboard?

17 hours ago, FLcruisergrl said:

The Epic doesn’t have any specialties open for lunch. If it were me, I’d do Haven, Cagney’s, and Le Bistro. Moderno was ok, but didn’t blow me out of the water, and I can get Teppanyaki and Italian on land anytime.

We have a lot of good Teppanyaki restaurants near us so it probably wouldn't make sense to do that one the cruise, although I do love that type of food. Do they include fried rice? I know some do and some don't since it's not authentic to Japan. 

Hmm, if none will be open would you recommend just doing two specialty restaurants and one night in the Haven? We are sailing on the Epic.

I'm going on my first Norwegian cruise that is a three night cruise and have three specialty dining credits to use. But I'm also in the Haven and would like to try their restaurant. Could I use one of the credits on lunch on our sea day? Are any of the specialty restaurants open for lunch? Or should I just do dinners each night and eat at the Haven restaurant for lunch?

Thanks!! We'll keep the excursion we have booked then 🙂

I booked an excursion through the cruise to Pompeii. It has multiple languages listed for this excursion, but I didn't notice that an option on a lot of the other excursions in port. Does that mean there will be multiple excursions offered in each language, or there will just be one, but they'll give people a recording to listen to in the correct language? Or they'll have one tour guide repeat what they are saying multiple times in different languages? I'm wondering if I should switch to one of the other excursions that does Pompeii and something else that doesn't have multiple languages mentioned?   

On 10/25/2018 at 3:43 PM, shof515 said:

the show times will be released when the window open. Usually there is shows at around 8pm and 10pm

Thanks! So if we make dinner reservations do we need them to be a certain amount of time before the show? 

My booking window doesn't open until January, but I want to be as prepared as possible for when it does. We are only sailing 3 nights that overlaps a 7 night in the Haven on Epic. We picked the perk of three specialty dining restaurants so we'll be doing one each night. I'm not sure how the shows work, but I'm assuming these need to be reserved as well? Is there a place to see what times they'll be at and what nights or I won't be able to know until the window opens? When booking both how spread out do the times need to be from each other? 

Also, I know we have three nights for specialty dining, but I would like to try the Haven restaurant. Is the menu the same for lunch? Or should we skip doing a specialty restaurant and do one night there instead? 

19 hours ago, Mary loves to travel said:

I think this sounds like a really nice trip!     Once you have the flights arranged, one thing I learned (from others) is that the Eurostar between London & Paris is not fixed price -- it's more like airline pricing and becomes more expensive as you get closer to the date.   So, look at their website and buy your tickets early.   We bought the middle level, it didn't cost much more than the basic ticket, the seats were roomy and very comfortable.

 

We found it very easy to get around via the Metro in Paris (bought packets of 10 tickets; that's a good value) and the Underground in London.   London has a new ticketing system, were you can use mobile pay, no need to buy tickets in advance.   At the end of each day, they see how much you rode, and charge you either the price for an "all day pass" or individual rides, whichever works out better for you.   So easy!

 

I'm sure you'll have fun and there are a ton of things to do!    Any museums, do buy your tix in advance, as there are 2 lines for everything:  one to buy tickets, then one to get in.   Already having the tickets at least saves you one line.

 

If you want to see any theatre in London, you might want to get those tix in advance also.  We saw Mousetrip, the longest running play, and it was delightful (Agatha Christie).  There are plenty of other choices, too.

 

Mary

Thank you! This is all great advice! We'll definitely buy all the tickets we need in advance to avoid those lines. I'm really excited 🙂

20 hours ago, TSS Alex said:

Because our cruise was the first time Symphony picked up passengers in Rome, according to its schedule and its staff.

It could be like my upcoming cruise. There is a 7 night leaving from Barcelona, but there is also a 3 night that ends in Rome that we are doing. I’m guessing the Epic has the shorter cruise so those rooms aren’t empty until Rome. 

1 hour ago, BirdTravels said:

You can book shows and dining 120 day prior to cruise (130 if you are in a suite). 

 

The $50 OBC will be provided when you complete the shore excursion. It is ok that you booked online. BUT the terms and conditions of the promotion (“the rules”) say that you must book by calling the promotions line so that you are not charged in advance. 

Should I cancel the excursion and call to rebook it instead?

I noticed that the excursions for our cruise were available to book. It's only a three night cruise so we just have one port to book. After booking I realized we got the $50 excursion credit. It wasn't deducted when we booked, will it be a cruise credit instead? We didn't get the drinking package so might have a couple of those and will have the tips for the crew on our account. Can it be used towards this? We get off the ship the next day so not much time. 

Is it also unusual that the excursions were available, but dining sayings we can't book until 1/12? We have the specialty dining package, when we book the restaurants will we get charged online and I should call to book instead? 

For the shows since our cruise is only three nights, but it over laps the 7 night cruise I'm guessing there might not be entertainment each night? Has anyone done a cruise like this before where it is at the same time as a 7 night? We are sailing on the Epic May 12 for our honeymoon.  

1 hour ago, DrivesLikeMario said:

 

That could just be the best combination!  Have a great time!

Thank you!

12 hours ago, riclop said:

A cruise is by far the best value.

We haven't gone through the cost of everything yet, but it probably would have been cheaper to just do the cruise. But the trip won't break the bank and I'm really excited about it. We still have a little cruise a part of the trip to get our cruise fix in :)

21 hours ago, 2pbears said:

I think you have made a good decision.  Obviously we love to cruise, but as I look back on our travels my most memorable trips have been land trips.  I think this is because we have had the flexibility to see what we want to see and spend enough time to cover it all before we move on.  I would encourage you to do more land trips while you are young.   We started our serious travel years by cruising because we enjoyed it so much but now that we are older there are trips that we would love to do on land but the logistics of moving from one town to the next, train trips, etc. are not as easy as they were when we were younger.  Cruising is easy when you get older so while you are young and able, do the hard stuff.   I don't think you will regret it.

I do like that we can visit these cities at our own pace and really get to experience them instead of just a day in port. I've done a lot of cruises and love them, but I'm really excited about our new plans. That is good advice to do land trips while we are young I didn't think about that. 

15 hours ago, DrivesLikeMario said:

We've done a similar land trip like you described.  All of us hated to admit it but eventually did.  During the trip, we were all wishing we were on a cruise.  It happens almost every time when we're on a land vacation - we wish we were on a ship.  Never fails.  I guess a ship just feels like home. 

I do love cruising and my Fiance and I have done a few together. But we've gone on trips in the US and had a great time without being on a ship. I think with the small cruise in the beginning of the trip we'll get a bit of the cruising and then we can get into the culture of the countries we visit. 

18 hours ago, voljeep said:

FSU Girl - you and I both know these plans will again change !!

LOL. I'm thinking this will be the last change. We are working on booking flights so once those are done we are locked into the trip. And this one feels right, I like that it gives us both the cruise and the land. 

10 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

Congratulations!  

 

The Epic is a fun ship. We have sailed on her 6 times. 

 

On our last Epic cruise, we had a 2 BR forward facing Haven room on the Epic. Beautiful forward facing views with a solarium (enclosed) balcony. 

 

The Epic has the best Haven in the NCL Fleet. It also has the best Thermal Suite (if you are spa people). 

 

For a 3 night SDP, we would pick Cagney's Steakhouse, Tappanyaki Japanese grill, and Moderno Brazilian BBQ. 

 

BUT,,, Don't miss out eating in the Haven Restaurant!

 

Rome is an embarkation port for that itinerary, so there are usually disembarkation tours ending at the airport. 

 

 

These pictures are awesome! I think our room isn't consider all the way forward we are closer to the middle. I wasn't sure how the debarking day will be since there is also a 7 night cruise leaving the same day. I think the three day is there to not leave empty rooms for the first part before the Rome port boards. We won't be heading to the airport so we'll probably book a car to get us. 

Thank you for the restaurant recommendations! Is the Haven restaurant open for lunch? We could go there on the sea day. 

1 hour ago, BarbinMich said:

I just came across this thread and it looks like you've made your decision for the honeymoon, but here are some suggestions for future trips to Europe you might take.  We've done a lot of group land tours in Europe arranged by our state bar assn. (AAA also offers such trips as well a lot of other outfits).  These were wonderful 8-day trips concentrating on just a few locations:   first was based in Lucerne, Switzerland from whence we had several day-tours into nearby southern Germany and other areas of Switzerland.  Others have been a week split between Vienna and Prague, a week in Salzburg, Austria with day trips to places like Munich, a week in Italy split between northern Italy (Florence, Assisi area) and Rome.    On these trips we were lucky to often have the same guide who was wonderful.  Another option is a river cruise, which is usually a week long. We enjoyed ours which was with Viking Cruise Lines and was primarily in the Netherlands ("Tulip Time" in April).

Thank you for the advice! I did look into some organized trips, but was thinking for our honeymoon to do something on our own. Prague is amazing I lived there for a semester in college 

28 minutes ago, hllwdcruiser said:

When my babies were born my inlaws lived in London and Sussex and my brother lived in Paris and later in Brussels. We took our 3 month old first child to London and then to Paris for Xmas. In addition,  My parents and grandmother lived in Florida and we were living in Chicago. My sister lived in San Francisco, another brother in NYC.  All three of my children had passports almost as soon as they were born and we traveled everywhere with them. 

My advice to you? Wait until you have your children and then take it from there. Having children is the biggest adventure of them all and you'll figure everything out as you go. I've seen plenty of babies on cruises and they and their families seem to do just fine. 

Have a wonderful time on your honeymoon! 

Thanks! I'm a bit of a planner lol. I definitely won't be planning any trips until after the baby is born and I know how they handle traveling. That is awesome how much traveling your children did right away!

14 hours ago, Coral said:

 

Until the child is 3 or older, I think land trips will be easier than cruising with a baby.

Really? I would think being on a ship would be easier to deal with the baby. We are planning to sail on Disney when the baby is still little, I figured that would be a good way to test out traveling with them.

10 hours ago, fshagan said:

You made a great choice for your honeymoon! The Haven is a private area on the ship and very nice, and usually very quiet. You have a choice of dining on the ship, from free dining rooms and several "specialty" restaurants that are a little nicer. Being in the Haven you will also have the private dining room for the Haven guests and it is pretty nice from what I hear.

 

On the Epic there are six or seven specialty restaurants that would be covered under your dining perk. If you guys are very flexible about dining time you can probably just book them on-board and have your Haven concierge get them for you when you meet. Read up on them and if there's one you especially want to go to you should reserve it ahead of time on the NCL site. 

Thank you! I'm really excited for the trip 🙂

I just booked the three night cruise on Epic sailing out of Barcelona for our honeymoon. We booked a Haven 2 bedroom since that’s all that was left. What should I know for our first Norwegian Cruise?

We got the specialty dining as a perk, for three nights does that mean we get to eat each night in a different restaurant? The amount of nights was unclear for the short sailing. 

The cruise ends in Rome and I’m assuming not many will be doing the short cruise since there is also a full week at the same time. So will there not be any cruise transfers into the city? Could we book an excursion and not return to the ship at the end? 

On the Epic what shows and restaurants are not to be missed? 

Thanks in advance!