housepeepers

We had a galley tour on our first cruise on the Epic, which stemmed from our roll call meet and greet. It is truly amazing what goes on behind the scenes,. So much hustle and bustle, the bread bakery area is fantastic as is the actual dessert area with all the choclate garnishes being made.

Leaving on the 11th for the same cruise. How did you get to Maho? I have heard that we won't be able to see the big planes and have time to get back to the ship...my hubbie absolutely must shoot some photos there. Also how was Marigot, other than the pastries which look delicious as all French pastries tend to be :)

Thanks

I wish! :rolleyes: I had to pay the difference. Original balcony was $579pp with $75 OBC, aft balcony was $899pp with $75 OBC and the penthouse ended up being $1399pp with $300 OBC. I just called NCL directly for the changes. I did the same thing on our first cruise this past Jan. calling NCL to upgrade from a mid-ship balcony to a forward mini-suite.

Sounds like you are going in style this winter....enjoy!

Janet

I think there is a difference between an upgrade and an upsell although posters seem to treat them as the same. To me ( and I could be wrong) an upsell is when NCL calls and wants to sell you a higher level experience at a somewhat reduced price. An example of an upgrade would be ( again IMHO) when prior to or at final payment the price has dropped and you are offered a higher level cabin, suite etc for the $$ you are paying. Happened to us 2 years ago on our Med cruise. We had booked a low end balcony and at final payment the same $$ got us upgraded to an aft balcony. It was wonderful :)

We had seen a sign saying Plaza Catalunya was 800 m when we got off the metro, so we knew once we were done getting our photos, we would just walk back. Got back to the hotel around 1:30….yes we did all that in less than 5 hours…..but as I said we didn’t really linger at each site. Of course if you go into any of the sites it will take longer.

Went to our room and sat on our balcony and rested a bit….then off we went again to find the Gothic Quarter just off Las Ramblas. I think we found it. If this was it, it was a very interesting place and it was nice walking through its narrow, winding streets, you really got a feel for the place.

(Sorry I thought I uploaded more on photobucket, this was the only one I could find.)

Thanks for the review, it is bringing back our Med cruise in 2009. I loved Barcelona, stayed at the Hotel Colon in the Gothic Quarter and went to all the places you have been so far. We adored the Cathedral, although I am not sure what it was called. Lots of places to eat neat the Cathedral as well. Gotta love those picture menus, huh?

Had read about the Bridge Viewing Room on this ship, and decided to check it out as well that morning. I don't recall seeing any earlier pictures, so what I was expecting was a small window and a map that listed the various bridge stations, and everyone would just take turns getting a sneak peek.

 

Nope, it's a much bigger experience for sure, and I appreciated NCL for making that available.

 

 

 

 

Went back a short while later with T-n-C when they expressed an interested in seeing it as well.

And isn't it amazing when you realize they steer this mammoth ship with a joystick. Kind of puts the whole thing in a different perspective...no Gorton's Fisherman type guy with the big wheel ;)

We were in 11021 which is covered and currently a BD category. We liked it so much in fact that we have booked it for next year as well.

I enjoy monitoring this board and reading everyone's advice. A few years ago I used to contribute lots of help here for those who wanted advice on how to do any of the European ports on their own (we have been to most of these places multiple times). I stopped most of my help because I got tired of being flamed by others who insisted that the only way to do anything is on an organized tour (this is true for some folks). However, given the very high price of tours (the low value dollar does not help) I am surprised to see almost everyone resigned to tours. Western Europe is pretty easy to navigate on your own although it helps to do some homework. The advantage of being on your own is you avoid the "cattle like" mentality of some tours, get to do what you want when you want with who you want, and usually you will save money. In fact, on a 12 day Med cruise you can easily save over $1000 (or more) by doing things independent of tours. The down side of independent travel is that you do need to do your pre-trip homework,, but to some of us that is part of the fun. My main problem with most tours is that they try to crowd too much "touring" into a short period of time without giving you a chance to see the real Europe. A lot of the joy of visiting some cities (Rome, Paris, etc) is spending time at an outdoor cafe enjoying local cuisine, wine and people watching (this is how many Europeans enjoy themselves). Personally, when in Rome I would quickly give-up seeing some site in order to have time for lunch or a snack at one of the cafes in the Piazza Navona. But, I guess this is where the "different strokes for different folks" saying reigns surpreme.

 

Hank

Hi Hank,

I am new to these boards so pardon me if I get this message in the wrong place or something, lol. My husband and I are going on a Med cruise in just 12 days and are very excited. We are doing some of the smaller venues on our own. For Rome we will take the ship's bus and then wander. Do you know if there is a hop on hop off that can be easily found and paid for when we arrive. I am a little leary of paying ahead for the one I found online and then not knowing where to find it. Am I making sense here?

Also we are thinking of doing Pisa and Lucca instead of rushing to Florence. How easy will this be to do from the ship? Can we take a bus and are they nearby the dock? Your help is appreciated.

Janet