The EPIC Adventure of a Solo Fashionista

[lara_lox]

Hi everyone, I’m just back from my latest cruise on the Norwegian Epic sailing 1st July from Barcelona around the Western Mediterranean. (*Sob*, I wish I was still there! :() For once I’m doing my review promptly instead of waiting for months as I promised you this one would be on time, plus it will keep the post cruise blues temporarily at bay. So here goes…

 

Me:

 

 

For those of you who haven’t read my previous reviews I’m a 27 year old single girl from Manchester in the North of England. I cruised with my family when I was younger but this was my third cruise as both an adult and as a solo traveller. Initially I cruised alone for the first time a year ago because I was fed up of not having a holiday due to my friends and family all being coupled up or unable to afford it. But what I realised this cruise was that solo cruising is no longer a necessity in order to have a holiday, but simply something I like doing! I have a land holiday booked with my best friend later this year but Cruising is something completely different. Although going alone can be a bit daunting at first, it then becomes really liberating. It is the one time you get to be completely selfish; you can do exactly what you want, when you want, without having to think about anyone else. Plus you meet people that you might never have spoken to if you had come in a couple or a group.

 

I warn you now, this will be more of a blog style, day by day account of what I did and my thoughts on everything, rather than a traditional review. It will be long because I tend to ramble on and have quite a lot of opinions! I write my posts in purple so that it is easy to tell which are mine and which are comments from other people. That way it is easy to just skip to the review parts if you don’t want to read the rest. The aspects I will focus on are given away by my title! People often seem to have questions about clothing but few people actually show pictures of themselves or what they wore. I adore clothes and spend hours planning what to wear, so will definitely be including these. Then there is the experience of cruising alone, especially seeing as the Epic is the first ship to have catered specifically for the solo traveller. Finally I can’t forget the food, because I am a bit of greedy pig and lurrrrve to eat! :p

 

I've tried to take plenty of pictures but I am rubbish at photography as you can already see! So sorry for the quality of some of them but at least you get an idea of what everything was like. Also, I haven't generally taken pictures of the ship itself, simply because there are already so many fantastic photos out there that you can look at.

 

If my style of writing and my interests just aren't your cup of tea, then thanks for at least getting this far. But if I still have your attention, great! Stay tuned and I’ll crack on with the actual cruise.

Edited July 9, 2012 by lara_lox

[CroNich]

Cool! Cant wait

[NYGirl1002]

Yay Lara. I'm glad you are doing another blog. I enjoyed your last one.

[lara_lox]

Day 1 – Barcelona:

I woke up bright and early, happy to see the sun shining even at that time of morning to get me into cruise mode. It had to be a good omen, right?

 

I drove myself to Manchester Airport and parked at one of the shuttle parks which I have used before. Not too expensive and very easy to do. A short shuttle bus ride later and I arrived at the correct terminal. This terminal is split into several levels and it took a bit of running around from one to another then back again before I finally found my check-in desk. The queue was huge! For the past four weeks I had been on a major healthy eating kick. Not a diet as such, as I still ate plenty, but only things like salad, fish, chicken and fruit, no junk food, snacks or alcohol (except a couple of naughty slip ups, oops!) This was not so I could lose weight, but so that I could enjoy all the lovely food on the Epic; eat and drink tons without feeling guilty. Now as I mentioned, I love my food so had actually been dreaming about things like pizza! I couldn’t wait to arrive at the airport and have some kind of delicious, unhealthy breakfast. But by the time I had made it through check-in and airport security I had about ten minutes to get to my gate. So no time for a nice relaxing breakfast after all, typical! A rushed sandwich on a hard little bench outside the shop it was. Oh well, I figured I could make up for it on the ship.

 

During the flight, the Pilot told us that the weather in Barcelona was warm and sunny. However, as we began our descent we see pouring rain and forked lightening around the plane. Remember that good omen I mentioned – I guess I jinxed it! All of a sudden the song ‘We’re all going on a summer holiday’ starts playing throughout the plane and the Pilot pipes up ‘Well it looks like I was wrong!’ All the passengers were in stitches, it was so funny :D

 

Landing and luggage collection at Barcelona went smoothly and the NCL reps were waiting ready to greet everyone. There were several independent transfer companies with NCL Epic signs too though, so you had to look carefully. We had to wait for quite a long time for all the guests to arrive but then we were on the bus, anxiously peering out the windows for the glimpse of the Epic. Because of the wait we arrived at the port later than I had expected to, at about 1.30pm. There were a lot of people about but check in was very quick and only took about ten minutes. I bought a bottle of Rioja from the wine store for E7.50, then just walked straight onboard. The hand luggage wasn’t scanned again, this had already been done on entering the cruise terminal. There are about 3-4 little shops after check in, including the wine store, and one selling cigarettes and alcohol. There was also bottled water available.

 

My cabin was ready right away and I had chosen one of the Studio Cabins for solo travellers. Last time I cruised I had an inside room and found it a bit grim, not nice having no natural light. I swore never again, I would have at least an ocean view room. However, despite these thoughts I went with the Studio because there is no single supplement charge and it meant I had access to the Studio Lounge to meet other solo passengers. I was pleasantly surprised by my cabin, which although small, was well designed and didn’t feel claustrophobic at all. It looked just like all the photos I had seen but I took a couple of my own anyway.

 

 

 

 

There was some clever storage, you just had to look carefully to find it all, such as the storage baskets under the bed. There was already a hairdryer in the cabin and my ice bucket was filled, but there is no fridge in the Studios. It was relatively clean, though there was a bit a dust on some of the shelves. Nothing worth mentioning to my steward, though I did give them a quick wipe over myself. I dropped off my hand luggage then went to explore.

[Hopes4]

I love your reviews! Please don't keep us waiting too long for the rest of it. :)

[mickeysgal]

Lucky you - cruising again. I enjoyed your last review and am looking forward to this one.

[lara_lox]

By now I was really hungry and couldn’t face the hustle and bustle of the buffet, so I headed to Taste for some peace and quiet. I ordered a burger and fries (might as well break the healthy eating properly!) and it was delicious, really hot and tasty and just what I needed. This was in direct contrast to the burger I had in the main dining room when I boarded the Jade earlier in the year, which was rather cold and not the best. So I was happy. I then spend a while wandering round the ship, getting my bearings. I loved the Epic! Each area/venue had a different style and was really interesting. The attention to detail was great. I then sat in a window seat at O’Sheehan’s where I had a Corona. There was a really relaxed pub atmosphere which I liked. After this I went to see if my luggage had arrived. It had indeed, but I always plan for the possibility it could be delayed and I might have to go for dinner in my travelling clothes. So to travel I wore a pink maxi dress, which is really comfy for the plane journey but nice enough that I wouldn’t like a complete scruff if I did wear it at dinner, with a long peach cardigan (thank goodness as the rain just kept coming!) and some flat bronze sandals.

 

 

Anyway, on my way back to my cabin I stopped by the Studio Lounge and grabbed a coffee and cookie. The coffee machine in the Studio lounge is fantastic, with proper cappuccinos, espressos etc as well as the jugs of regular coffee. I am a complete coffee snob and have been very disappointed by the standards on cruises before, so I was really pleased with this. And best of all, it was complimentary! I started to unpack before the muster drill at 4.30pm. This went smoothly and was fairly well organised. I must prefer NCL’s way of doing this, where you gather in whichever venue is stated on your cruise card, than Royal Caribbean’s stood-up crowding around on the promenade deck. It was all done in around 15 minutes so I finished unpacking and got ready for dinner. I knew tonight would be pretty casual seeing as it was embarkation day so I wore black skinny jeans, a loose grey and pink batwing top and pink strappy heels. However, I ended up having such a fun night I forget to get my ‘outfit of the night’ photo!

 

There was a solo traveller’s gathering in the Studio Lounge at 6.30 every night and I didn’t want to miss this. I had to be ready a bit earlier than I usually would be but I wanted to meet everyone. There was a pretty good turn out actually. Everyone got a drink and started to mingle and we ended up with two groups – one that wanted dinner right away and one that decided to have a few drinks first. Guess which one I was in!! ;) There were some great people, ranging from 21 years old (travelling with parents) to the most entertaining 71 year old I have ever met. We all got on so well that it was about 9pm before we made of way for dinner, slightly tipsy, oops! We went to the Manhattan Room, but were told we had to wait for our table of 8. They handed us a pager that would buzz when we could go back, along with a voucher for a free glass of Champagne each whilst we waited. However, no sooner than we had got the drinks from the Cascade bar directly outside the dining room, our table was ready. It is worth noting than one of our group was wearing very casual shorts and flip flops, and was told he would have to change if he wanted to eat there. He just put a pair of smart jeans and some shoes on and that was fine. I was pleased to see that they were keeping up the standards for the more formal dining venues. I think that it was only really the Manhattan Room where this was the case though, my friend’s attire was acceptable in other more casual venues such as O’Sheehan’s or the Garden Café.

 

We had a great time at dinner and I felt really lucky to have met a group of such varied, interesting people on my first night.

 

 

To eat I had salmon tartare, which is off the everyday menu (this stays the same each night, but the other side of the menu changes daily), then the beef tenderloin. From previous experience I remembered that the meat tends to come more well done than requested, so I said I would like my beef medium, and it arrived medium-well, exactly as I like it. I had no dessert, opting for another glass of wine instead! We all agreed that the food was very good indeed, everyone was more than happy.

 

After dinner a few of us went to check out Slam Allen Blues Band at Fat Cats. As everyone says, Slam is amazing, such a talented musician who is a pleasure to listen to. BUT…. I have a feeling that he knows this and now thinks of himself as a bit of a celebrity. Just as we were chatting, saying how good he and his band were, Slam got up, still playing, and walked over to me. He said ‘Well it would seem that whatever you are saying is more interesting than my music, so I’m coming over here to listen to you’ and pulled up a chair directly in front of my knees and played there. From the way he said it, it was clearly a dig at me and I was mortified as I would never disrespect someone purposefully and I had actually been saying how much I was enjoying his entertainment. :confused: Apparently he made similar comments to several other people throughout the week if he felt they weren’t paying enough attention to him. So although this was not a sit down and watch for the duration show, like those in the theatre, but continuous entertainment throughout the night, expect to sit there, face the front and listen or you will be embarrassed! It was a shame really as it made me wary of returning even though I loved the music.

 

 

Probably because we ate dinner so late, it was about 2am before I made it to bed. So much for the early night I was expecting! I thought this was a rather good effort seeing as I had been up since 5am that morning, but now I definitely needed some sleep so it was bedtime.

[Cubechick]

Love the review!

 

That's a shame about Slam...I would have told him that I was complimenting him and seen what he said! ;)

[thebooler]

I never seen you throughout the cruise.

 

Now I've seen a pic of you, I'm even more disappointed! ;)

[arjay9]

Wonderful review so far! Looking forward to more Thanks :D

Edited July 9, 2012 by arjay9

[mickeysgal]

After dinner a few of us went to check out Slam Allen Blues Band at Fat Cats. As everyone says, Slam is amazing, such a talented musician who is a pleasure to listen to. BUT…. I have a feeling that he knows this and now thinks of himself as a bit of a celebrity. Just as we were chatting, saying how good he and his band were, Slam got up, still playing, and walked over to me. He said ‘Well it would seem that whatever you are saying is more interesting than my music, so I’m coming over here to listen to you’ and pulled up a chair directly in front of my knees and played there. From the way he said it, it was clearly a dig at me and I was mortified as I would never disrespect someone purposefully and I had actually been saying how much I was enjoying his entertainment. :confused: Apparently he made similar comments to several other people throughout the week if he felt they weren’t paying enough attention to him. So although this was not a sit down and watch for the duration show, like those in the theatre, but continuous entertainment throughout the night, expect to sit there, face the front and listen or you will be embarrassed! It was a shame really as it made me wary of returning even though I loved the music.

 

 

That's such a shame...no one should be that rude. I'd feel funny about returning as well.

[lara_lox]

Day 2 – At Sea:

 

I woke up tired after a dreadful sleep as although the bed was comfy, the seas were really rather rough during the night. I’m not bothered by the motion itself and don’t get sea sick, but it made everything in my cabin bang around! I had to keep getting up and stuffing my clothes between the closet doors etc to try to stop them crashing against each other. Plus I noticed that the doors were thin and you could hear everything going on in the corridor outside the cabin, such as people talking and the stewards going about their jobs.

 

I went to Taste for Breakfast just in time before they stopped serving at 9.30am. I had melon then Eggs Benedict. Both were only ok, it was clear that the eggs had just been heated up and there was still some of the vinegary water used to poach them in the whites.

 

After this I wanted to get some sun and was a bit disappointed to find the skies overcast. I decided to lie out on deck and read anyway so I went to the adults only area of Spice H2O. The weather gods must have been looking out for me because as I took my pick of all the empty loungers and settled down the sun came out. I noticed that a few kids came and got into the small pool but a staff member came right over and told them they had to leave as the area was for over 18’s only. I was pleased this rule was enforced, because although I love kids, I just want to relax in peace and quiet without getting splashed when I am sunbathing.

 

Our informal Cruise Critic meeting had been arranged for 11.30am today so I pulled on some clothes and headed to O’Sheehan’s for this. I arrived just on time but couldn’t see an obvious group of people, so I wandered down a deck to the Atrium café where I got a coffee and some blueberry cake (nice!). As I did this I bumped into two of the ladies I had met in the studio lounge the night before so I stopped and chatted to them for a bit. When I went back up to O’Sheehan’s I found the Cruise Critic group and said hi. It was good to put faces to all the screen names I had been chatting to. However, there wasn’t much going on and I wanted to get back to my sunbathing so I didn’t stay very long.

 

On that note, my previous poster on this review, The Booler, who had been an active participant on these boards was conspicuous in his absence. As you said B, I never saw you, and it became a bit of a joke between some of us trying to find you – whenever we saw any Scottish men in their 40’s Jase and I would randomly shout ‘The Booler!’ to see if they replied and we had tracked you down, haha! We did wonder if maybe you had missed the ship, or alternatively that you had seen us, been horrified, then avoided us!

 

But back to my day… I stopped by the Garden Café for lunch, choosing the pizza and salad. Having been dreaming of pizza for the last four weeks I was so happy to finally have some! It was pretty good for buffet pizza and I could see the chefs continually making fresh ones behind the counter. It was pretty busy, being a sea day, so I took my food down to the Italiain restaurant La Cucina, where I found a table straight away. It was lovely down there, and would have been a really nice place for a couple to have a romantic Italian meal in the evening.

 

After lunch I went back to my sunbathing for a while, but noticed that my lovely new friend Elaine, from the Studios, was sat up at the Spice H2O bar having a cocktail. I decided it would be rude not to join her so we enjoyed a couple of Pina Coladas and laughed about our fun time the night before.

 

Today was Dress Up or Not Night, and as any self respecting fashionista would do, I of course was definitely dressing up. I went to get ready, and wore a long black and gold jewelled maxi dress with killer pale gold heels. I put my hair up and wore tons of make up. I saw other people dressed up but many still casual.

 

 

Tonight I had made a reservation to see the Blue Man Group at 7pm, but this clashed with a Solo’s dinner than had been arranged and about 20 people had signed up for. I decided I didn’t want to miss the dinner and have to eat alone later so I didn’t go to the show. We gathered in the Studio Lounge where the Solo’s host met us. I don’t remember her name but it clearly wasn’t the lovely Natalie that so many solos have mentioned. This woman was pointless. At no time during the week did she introduce herself, welcome everyone to the Lounge or tell us about it. Other than this one dinner, she arranged nothing and if she did walk through the lounge she never said hello or asked how we were. The impression she gave was that she had been lumbered with the unwanted job of being our host and was going to do as little as possible. This was a shame after the praise heaped on her predecessor Natalie. As we chatted before the dinner she approached everyone, barked at us demanding to know if we had signed up on her sheet, then told us it was time to go. She ordered us to the lift in the manner of an unpleasant teacher, speaking to us like naughty school children on a class trip. I felt like I ought to be taking the hand of my friend next to me and walking in pairs in crocodile formation behind her! Luckily once we arrived at Taste she quickly made her exit. We were split into two tables as there were lots of us, mainly in the groups of the previous night. I had melon, prosciutto and figs to start, followed by thai chicken and shrimp, then chocolate raspberry cake. It was all delicious and I really enjoyed it. I was also particularly hungry today so I also ordered the cheese plate, yummmm!

 

After dinner some of us went for drinks at Shakers Martini bar, which was very nice but a bit too quiet for that time of evening. It was somewhere I would prefer to go for an aperertif before dinner or a nightcap. But we did take a few photos before leaving.

 

 

 

We then went to Headliners to check out Howl at the Moon, the duelling pianos. There weren’t very many people there yet and it was a bit quiet, despite the performers’ efforts to engage everyone and get them to participate. We soon remedied that by joining in, making requests and singing along. I can be really very clumsy and somehow I managed to send Elaine’s drink flying, causing a commotion. For the rest of the evening the performers kept teasing me, telling me to be careful and not spill anything! This show was so much fun, they were brilliant singers and musicians, and seemed to love what they were doing. It might not be everyone’s style but I loved these guys and got chatting to them after the show.

 

Once Howl finished, most people went to bed but a couple of us went to check out Bliss, the nightclub. It has a really plush, rather gothic style, which was cool. The dance floor was filled very drunk teenagers and the music being played was catering to them. I know I’m not very old, but sweaty kids banging into me whilst grinding each other is not so much my style! Instead Andy and I messed about taking silly photos with the interesting furniture!

 

 

 

 

For some reason I was hungry yet again (yes I eat waaay more than I look like I do!) so we went to O’Sheehan’s for a late night snack. I had a chicken sandwich, which was good and we got chatting to two guys sat next to us. They even gave me one of their chicken wings, which immediately enamoured me to them! Then it was definitely time for bed as it was 3am.

[thebooler]

Lara (if that is your name?)

 

The guy in the blue shirt in the bottom pic - is he an Aussie?

 

If so, I spoke with him many times throughout the week!

 

I fell asleep for the meet up, and then spent most of the week at Spice.

[oliveoilrunning]

I love reading this. It is like reading a book.......wondering what is going to happen next. Can't wait to see!!! I am going on the Epic next month.

[Zhane's mum]

I'm really enjoying your review and have also spent the afternoon reading your liberty of the seas review. Now dinners going to be late and I havnt done half the ironing I was supposed to do :eek:..... well never mind, keep it coming :D

[meltingmoments]

Great review.......keep it coming!!! :)

 

We sail in a few weeks.......can't wait!!

Loved your last review too, especially your outfits!! Maybe it's cos we're both Manchester lasses? ( Although I have a few years on you!! ;) )

Edited July 9, 2012 by meltingmoments

[allanv]

wonderful review and lovely pictures! Glad you had a good time, you're very beautiful! :-)

[Cloudyrain]

Loving your review so far! I'm going on this cruise for my honeymoon, but thinking I should maybe ditch the h2b and go on my own....:D (only joking!)

 

(p.s. Loving the clothing pics, it's helping me narrow my list of what kind of thing I need to take!)

[lara_lox]

Thanks for the positive comments everyone, I'm glad you're enjoying it so far. I'm moving house in 10 days and really should be packing but have spent the day writing this instead, oops! Though to be fair this is more fun so don't worry, I will keep going over the next couple of days if you bear with me :)

 

The guy in the blue shirt in the bottom pic - is he an Aussie?

 

If so, I spoke with him many times throughout the week!

 

I fell asleep for the meet up, and then spent most of the week at Spice.

 

Yes Andy is an Aussie and he spent quite a lot of time with us. This, along with me being at Spice everyday, means I must have seen you at some point, are you sure you just weren't avoiding me, haha?

[thebooler]

Thanks for the positive comments everyone, I'm glad you're enjoying it so far. I'm moving house in 10 days and really should be packing but have spent the day writing this instead, oops! Though to be fair this is more fun so don't worry, I will keep going over the next couple of days if you bear with me :)

 

 

 

Yes Andy is an Aussie and he spent quite a lot of time with us. This, along with me being at Spice everyday, means I must have seen you at some point, are you sure you just weren't avoiding me, haha?

 

That's disappointing to know we could have been close to each other so often!

 

I'm 6 1/2 feet tall so you shoulda noticed me!

 

Enjoying your review. You seem to have had a great time.

[relaxatsea]

Thanks so much for your review and photos!

 

I love your writing style and your outfits.

 

I read your last review and when I saw this one, I couldn't wait to read it.

[lara_lox]

Completely forgot to include it in my last post but little guy was waiting for me when I got in last night, I love towel animals

 

 

Day 3 – Naples:

 

 

I was woken up this morning by the tannoy announcements saying we were now docked in Naples. Now I’m not going to lie, I am dreadful at drinking and feel rubbish the next day, especially without much sleep, so it’s fair to say I wasn’t on form today. But I shoved on some clothes and sunglasses to hide my piggy little eyes and nipped to the Studio Lounge for some coffee and orange juice. This was sooooo handy to have this option instead of having to brave the stampeding masses at the buffet. Once I’d drunk these and made myself presentable I felt ready to tackle this and so wandered up to the Great Outdoors for some toast. After a small brekky it was time to go ashore. I have already been to Pompeii (which I loved) so thought I’d give it a miss and try something else this time. I wandered into Naples, with plans of getting the ferry over to the island of Capri. However, when I got there, the next ferry wasn’t for about 40 minutes. I walked around Naples itself, which was very hot and muggy, rather dirty and insanely busy. Though strangely I did actually enjoy this as I love seeing different environments. I would not recommend doing this with children though, those moped riders have no fear and the traffic is insane!

 

I walked up to the archaeological museum but was disappointed to find that it was the one day of the week it is shut, grrrrr. Ah well, I did a big loop back to the port area. Unfortunately my meandering had distracted me from the time and when I checked the ferries, I had just missed one and would have to wait another hour. Still feeling tired and delicate I decided I couldn’t be bothered, so went walking round the city again for a while before heading back to the calm of the ship.

 

I did what I do best and lay by the pool in Spice in my bikini for a rest! Then after a while it was time to take a break for some sandwiches from the Garden Café. I love sandwiches and these were freshly made in front of you, very nice indeed. I went back to my book in the sun and enjoyed a Bloody Mary. Funnily enough this perked me up no end as I got ready for dinner!

 

Tonight I wore a new outfit of a turquoise dress with platform pastel coloured high heels.

 

 

We met as usual in the Studio lounge for a drink before dinner. I can’t express how great this concept is. Somewhere for all the solos to meet seems like such an obvious idea yet no other cruise line has bothered to cater for this market. Whilst I’m a sociable person and find it fairly easy to meet people anyway, I know some people would find this difficult without the Lounge. Also, I ended up making friends with people I would probably have never met otherwise. As I already said, we were all ages, but also from all over the world, from all kinds of backgrounds, which made for fascinating conversation.

 

 

 

We went for dinner at the Manhattan Room where the hostess greeted me by ‘We’ve met before, welcome Miss Sarah!’ She had been the hostess on the Jade in January and I can’t believe she had remembered me. In fact the service all evening in the dining room was fantastic, though slow. I don’t mind this though as I enjoy to chat over dinner and enjoy a glass of wine. I had feta salad, rack of lamb with lentils then apple pie. It was gorgeous! This was all washed down with some bottles of Champagne one of our lovely group bought. All in all it was an excellent dinner.

 

I had pre-booked the Legends show tonight for 10pm but dinner ran so long I missed it. Instead we headed back to Howl at the Moon which was just as good again, and so much fun. Then I decided to be brave (and very, very quiet!!!) and watch Slam Allen again. Once again he was good but I didn’t stay long and opted for an early (ish!) night seeing as I had a tour in the morning. I had another friend waiting for me back in my cabin

 

[pkt1976]

great review, can't wait to see more. I'm planning a solo cruise on the Epic next year.

[Ravenscroft]

Enjoying it so far! Very encouraging too for potential first time solo cruisers who may be a bit anxious.

Looking forward to your updates.

[DivasDare]

Excellent review... You're very pretty. Glad you had a great time.