NCL Epic 14 apr 2012 Transatlantic MIA-BCN

[jeroenn27]

Who is on board? Just booked a studio. 2nd time on the Epic for me. Curious or other guys are going!

[GermanBoy1]

Me - also in a studio, i just booked today!

 

Would love to meet you as this is my first solo cruise and im a bit scared to stay the week on my own ;)

[chicagocamille]

Miami/Barcelona on Epic 4/14/12 then Spirit 4/28/12 Barcelona/Venice. Have been to most ports and look forward to enjoying them all once again. Love NCL we feel so at home on their ships.

[chicagocamille]

April 14, 2012 Epic Transatlantic Sailing Miami to Barcelona

[travelboyz]

Me - also in a studio, i just booked today!

 

Would love to meet you as this is my first solo cruise and im a bit scared to stay the week on my own ;)

 

Hello give us a reply would like to meet you

[wagmore14]

I'll be there too.

[Dorothy's Friend]

There seems to be two LGBT threads for the same cruise. Which is the active one?:confused:

 

Having recently come off the Epic when it did its Barcelona to Miami at the end of October I felt I needed to get back on board to enjoy it a bit more!!!:D

Just Booked! Together with the 5 night cruise immediately after the transatlantic:D See you on board!

[Dorothy's Friend]

There seems to be two LGBT threads for the same cruise. Which is the active one?:confused:

 

Having recently come off the Epic when it did its Barcelona to Miami at the end of October I felt I needed to get back on board to enjoy it a bit more!!!:D

Just Booked! Together with the 5 night cruise immediately after the transatlantic:D See you on board!

 

Compared with the Westbound on the Epic in October/November' date=' I can't believe that this thread and the other one for the same cruise are so quiet![/font']:confused:

[DCAguy74]

90% sure I will book this cruise, just waiting to see if work commitments will allow me. Also traveling solo for the first time. just looking for fun people to hang out with for dinner drinks, and relaxing.

 

Scott

[Dorothy's Friend]

90% sure I will book this cruise, just waiting to see if work commitments will allow me. Also traveling solo for the first time. just looking for fun people to hang out with for dinner drinks, and relaxing.

 

Scott

 

Did you book yet? If you have then you will enjoy travelling solo and, based on the westbound I did in October on the Epic, you will have no problem finding fun people to mix with.:D

[DCAguy74]

Booking on November 4th. Thinking of spending the weekend after the cruise in Barcelona. Any suggestions on decent places to stay?

[Dorothy's Friend]

Booking on November 4th. Thinking of spending the weekend after the cruise in Barcelona. Any suggestions on decent places to stay?

 

OK, a bit confused here. 'Booking on November 4th'?? This cruise starts on April 14th. Anyway, in answer to your question I have stayed at the GBB 4 Hotel in Barcelona. It is a very modern 4* hotel with excellent rates, however it is a bit of a distance by foot from the Ramblas or centre of Barcelona. It is close to a marina and promenade plus there is a metro station about 300 metres from the hotel. Here is a link to the hotel description and photos. http://www.gbbhotels.com/hotel4barcelona/default-en.php

 

In February, when I do a 7 nights on the MSC Splendida, I will be staying at the Tryp Apolo Hotel in Barcelona which is very close to the centre but of course much more expensive. A word of advice, when booking Tryp hotels apparently it is best to book direct from the hotel website or the Sol Melia website. http://www.tryphotels.com/en/tryp-ap...ona-spain.html

 

If you are staying a few days in Barcelona then may I suggest you do at least one of the 'HOHO' open top bus routes as they are the perfect way to see the city

[DCAguy74]

sorry, meant Jan 4th, but booked already. :) we need to have these threads merged. :)

[ctguy1960]

Hey DC, I see that you posted a question on the other board about a place to stay in BCN at the end of the cruise, and you mentioned the Axel Hotel. I am taking this cruise with a friend of mine; having been to Barcelona on another cruise in 2006, we decided we would stay at the Axel on our next visit. But as you mentioned, the reviews are pretty mixed. It seems like a lot of the recent reviews - since their renovations - aren't as favorable as the older ones. So we are still exploring our options. What I can tell you is that we stayed in the Eixample and really liked the area, so I think we'll plan to stay there again.

 

Hope to see many from the LGBT community on this cruise!

[DCAguy74]

Thanks for the reply,

I have started to lean away from the Axel, upon more research, it just seems horrible, and I can get the same kind of attitude at home. I am a very laid back guy, and really dont need a party in my hotel. LOL

 

Hope to meet y'all on board.

[Dorothy's Friend]

From the other thread for this cruise!

 

My bf and I just booked this crossing... We're going to spend a few nights in Barcelona then fly over to Rome for a few more nights before heading home...

 

I've done several cruises before, but never one with so many sea days! Has anyone done this particular crossing before? Does it get boring? What's the crowd usually like on the NCL ships?

 

Welcome aboard!!!!!!:D

 

I did the Norwegian Epic westbound from Barcelona to Miami last October/November. It was so good that I booked this eastbound! Believe me, you will not get the chance to be bored despite all the sea days because there is so much to do.

 

See you both soon!

[Dorothy's Friend]

Once again, I copy this from the other thread for this cruise:confused:

 

Thanks guys.... Does anyone have any past experiences with the shore excursions in the Azores? Are any of the NCL ones great or should we look at something ashore?

 

My experience with NCL is all of their shore tours are of an excellent quality but expensive. The other problem with a ship's tour is they normally take place with an unchanged itinerary no matter what the weather is, unless of course there are health and safety issues. So you could end up taking a tour to see the blue and green lakes for example only to find the cloud cover is low that day so visibility is not so good.

 

Last October/November my group and I booked a private mini bus tour with Ricardo of www.amazingtours.se which was excellent. Ricardo was an excellent guide, he has people working for him so I cannot guarantee you would get him if you were to book, but more importantly he designed our island tour to suit the weather. He knew the weather at the lakes was heavy cloud cover with drizzle so after agreeing with us we were not taken there.

 

For those of you interested I have posted on Youtube a highly edited down version of a video I made for friends of my last trip on the Norwegian Epic. This was the westbound transAtlantic from Barcelona to Miami via The Azores and St. Thomas of late October and early November 2011.

 

I admit it is not my best effort of film making but it does give some interesting views of the Norwegian Epic, the activities available plus views of The Azores. Unfortunately, the weather we had in both the Azores and St. Thomas was unusually bad but do not let this put you off. Due to the 'Azores High' the weather in the Azores is normally quiet if a little cloudy, we were just unlucky in both ports of call and in any case it did not stop us from enjoying both places.

 

Due to the length of the video I had to post it in 5 parts, so probably parts 1, 2 and 3 will be of most interest to people on this thread. Enjoy!

[ctguy1960]

My bf and I just booked this crossing... We're going to spend a few nights in Barcelona then fly over to Rome for a few more nights before heading home...

 

I've done several cruises before, but never one with so many sea days! Has anyone done this particular crossing before? Does it get boring? What's the crowd usually like on the NCL ships?

 

Welcome aboard!!!!!!:D

 

I did the Norwegian Epic westbound from Barcelona to Miami last October/November. It was so good that I booked this eastbound! Believe me, you will not get the chance to be bored despite all the sea days because there is so much to do.

 

See you both soon!

 

I totally agree. I did the Princess Star repo last May from Ft. Lauderdale to Rome, the first 8 days at sea. Not once did I ever think "I can't wait to get off this ship". There was so much to do and I just loved being on the water. Don't get me wrong; I was anxious to check out the ports once we crossed, but not because I was sick of being on the ship. Enjoy!!

[waterbabies4]

So I am an avid cruiser but this one is a first...taking my two teen daughters across the pond for a 4 month stay in Europe! We have rented a home in the land of my father (Malaga) and plan to travel some with that as our homebase. I have to share, however, that I have read some reviews that talk about Epic being very "rocky" and I have one kid who is very susceptible to seasickness and yet loves ships...poor kid!:confused:

We have booked mid ship and on deck 12 so not too high by this ship's standards but still wanted to hear from others who have experienced her. We are also crossing in the spring so we should have decent seas (no certainty of that as it is the Atlantic Ocean afterall!:D)...

Also..any other fams with teens on board?? My girls are 14 and 18 and would love others to hang out with. all in all...cant wait!

Thanks for any input!

[Dorothy's Friend]

So I am an avid cruiser but this one is a first...taking my two teen daughters across the pond for a 4 month stay in Europe! We have rented a home in the land of my father (Malaga) and plan to travel some with that as our homebase. I have to share, however, that I have read some reviews that talk about Epic being very "rocky" and I have one kid who is very susceptible to seasickness and yet loves ships...poor kid!:confused:

We have booked mid ship and on deck 12 so not too high by this ship's standards but still wanted to hear from others who have experienced her. We are also crossing in the spring so we should have decent seas (no certainty of that as it is the Atlantic Ocean afterall!:D)...

Also..any other fams with teens on board?? My girls are 14 and 18 and would love others to hang out with. all in all...cant wait!

Thanks for any input!

 

During the westbound in October/November we encountered two days of gales and rough seas, but the Epic did not move about too much at all.:)

[DCAguy74]

I am bummed, had to cancel. The thing I feared with work has come true. So now I will be sitting in a training clasroom instead of sitting on the deck with a cocktail. Maybe I will be able to do the return crossing.

 

Have fun Y'all.

[Dorothy's Friend]

I am bummed, had to cancel. The thing I feared with work has come true. So now I will be sitting in a training clasroom instead of sitting on the deck with a cocktail. Maybe I will be able to do the return crossing.

 

Have fun Y'all.

 

:(That is bad news, better luck next time. I hope we eventually get to meet sometime in the future:)

[melaleuca]

If there happens to be any other poz people who will be on board I'd be glad to make a new friend.

[wagmore14]

So sorry to hear that (from a fellow Washingtonian). -- Jeff

[ordnael]

Sorry you had to cancel, DCAguy... My partner & I are so excited about going. It's our first cruise ever...