Review: Epic Western Med July 8 2012 with photos and details

[Jolimont]

In Canes you tender to shore with life boats. I liked that, but be aware that the water can get quite choppy, especially near the dock, so if you're prone to sea sickness or afraid of choppy waters, you may not have as fun a time. :o

 

There were many crew members on hand to help people get on and off, which is important if the boat moves a lot, as it did at times.

 

The whole tender operation takes about an hour each way. You go to the Epic theater at the reserved time, stand around a bit, then sit around a bit in a dining area (can't remember which one), then walk down some stairs to where you board the life boat:

 

 

 

Then it's 20-25mn on the water.

 

But it's all worth it because then you are in Cannes!

[marcelknipscheer]

I love your review! We are going on aug.8 from Rome and it will be our first cruise.

I would love to see more pictures. Sorry if my english isn't that good but we are from Holland.

[conandrob240]

Wow. 20-25 minutes on the tender! That is a long trip. When you get off the tender in Cannes, are you right there is town to walk to beaches, shops, train, etc?

[Jolimont]

I love your review! We are going on aug.8 from Rome and it will be our first cruise.

I would love to see more pictures. Sorry if my english isn't that good but we are from Holland.

 

Your English is great! There will be more pictures :D

[Jolimont]

Wow. 20-25 minutes on the tender! That is a long trip. When you get off the tender in Cannes, are you right there is town to walk to beaches, shops, train, etc?

 

Yes, the tender drops you off right in the city. The place you get dropped off is called Jetée Brise-Lamé 06400 Cannes, France, you can find it on google maps and see how far to the train station or whatever else interests you.

 

Here's the beach within 50 yards of where you get dropped off. It was quite windy that day (there was some natural sand-blasting going on!), but the water looked great, would be lovely on a calmer day.

 

[conandrob240]

Wow! That beach looks beautiful! Too bad there wasn't a nice walkable beach in Marseilles like that. What was your experience with the shuttles in Marseilles ( if you used them)?

[meltingmoments]

Yes, the tender drops you off right in the city. The place you get dropped off is called Jetée Brise-Lamé 06400 Cannes, France, you can find it on google maps and see how far to the train station or whatever else interests you.

 

Here's the beach within 50 yards of where you get dropped off. It was quite windy that day (there was some natural sand-blasting going on!), but the water looked great, would be lovely on a calmer day.

 

 

Mmmm that beach looks lovely......I see a spot close to the water's edge just waiting for my beach towel ;)

 

Enjoying your review.....thanks for sharing :)

[nimmoe2]

Thanks joliimond, we are going on epic on Sunday and you have put nt Mind at rest about the inside cabins. Great tip about the colour too.

[RBPatt]

I am not getting a lot of responses to this review, am I boring you or what? I'll try a couple of food pictures, let's see if that motivates readers. :confused:

[\QUOTE]

 

Go easy on yourself. I think your review is excellent.

 

I know you wrote this a few weeks ago, but I just tuned in. We're taking the same cruise in a few weeks so I'm just now reading through the reviews.

 

I'm sure you'll find people reading and commenting for many months to come.

 

Thanks or taking the time to write this.

 

Bob

[Jolimont]

Ports of call: Napoli

 

 

This was our third cruise stop in Naples, so we had been to Pompeii and Sorento and Positano. We could have gone to Hercaluneum or Capri but instead decided to do a self-guided walking tour of Napes. We saw some fabulous things and had a good day, but I must say there are some good reasons why 90% of cruisers visit things outside of Naples.

 

In Naples you exit the ship right in the city (near Piazza Municipio), in an actual mall with nice stores. I really like that much better than industrial ports. HOWEVER, Naples is a mad-house. It's gotten a tad better over the last few years, they are trying to make the area better for tourists, but they're not there yet. There are a few police officers helping tourists cross the first big street out of the port, but then you're on your own. Naples drivers seem to get a rise out of scaring pedestrians with their cars. They rev up the engine and lunge forward just as it's your turn to cross. And if you wait for cars to actually stop for you at a cross-walk, you will never go anywhere. Don't walk around Naples with young children or if you have limited mobility, but it's doable for healthy adults who don't mind hoofing it in the heat.

 

You can see that Naples used to be a grand city, but they have given up. I could not find a single wall or door without graffiti on it, and I don't mean artful graffiti. I saw a woman throw a big handful of papers on the ground when there was a garbage can a few feet away. There are dead large cockroaches on sidewalks. Old men urinate against bushes and walls. We met some wonderful shop-keepers who reminded us to be very careful with our belongings and were super nice, but also one who refused to give us directions because it's not his job (we speak Italian quite well, language was not the issue).

 

But still it's worth seeing once. Here are some of the highlights.

 

Castel Nuovo. We did a very quick walk in and out, but there were tour guides explaining the significance of the place so I suppose there's a lot more to it than we saw.

 

 

Galeria. This place is quite grand, there are four arms to it, very fancy architecture for a shopping mall. Shop keepers were not particularly helpful or nice there, I guess they've seen too many tourists.

 

 

Duomo. Not the nicest duomo in Italy by far, plus they let weeds grow out of their ancient stones, they don't clean the graffiti, they show no pride in this particular monument and it's a shame.

 

 

Right outside of the Galeria is the church called Parrocchia di Santa Brigida. This church is a gem of creepy cheesy art which I really enjoy and seek out everywhere. There was a woman in the church who was going around kneeling and kissing in various ritualistic places around icons and statues. So while it's creepy to me it was really important to her which I respect.

 

 

 

More on Naples later.

[LoraJ]

The Tender docks in an area called Jetée Brise-Lamé 06400 Cannes, France, you can look it up on Google Maps. This is what it looks like:

 

 

From there you walk 50ft towards the shore (follow the crowd!) and will run into a table with large city maps and a nice lady who can show you where to walk to.

 

Cannes is a lovely town, but there's not much to it, you can totally just walk around on your own. Two main areas worth visiting:

 

.

 

 

 

Thank you so much for all of the info, this is exactly what I was looking for.

 

You have amazing photos.

[Jolimont]

More on Napoli:

 

One wonderful find in Naples was the Chiesa di Sant'Anna dei Lombardi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sant%27Anna_dei_Lombardi with its gorgeous nativity and refectory by Vasari, absolutely stunning right in the middle of Naples! Very friendly custodian there and not a lot of tourists.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Second wonderful find was our pizza lunch! As you may know, Naples is said to be the birth place of pizza, so we did a little research and decided on lunch at the marvelous Il Pizzaiolo Del Presidente and what a find it was!

 

The place doesn't look like much (their website, in Italian only, looks better than their store front http://www.ilpizzaiolodelpresidente.it/index.php?option=com_content&view=featured&Itemid=101) but once inside the wonderful smells and pizza will win you over. There is a large sit-down dining area downstairs. Bathrooms clean but tricky to get to, not ideal for people with limited mobility.

 

 

The food smelled so good we didn't take the time to take a picture, but here's one I took on our way out:

 

As you can see, the place is cheap, I think 2 good size pizzas with two drinks each were 25€!!!

 

 

And if you're wondering what president this pizza is named after, it's this one!

 

 

 

.

[Jolimont]

Something very important about Naples that I forgot to mention: in Naples you dock right up to a proper cruise terminal (just like in Barcelona). That means that security scanning is done by port employees. They do not care what you bring back to the ship in terms of wine bottles and such. So this would be a very good place to bring back a little alcohol that is not likely to be stored away until the end of the cruise. We brought back two bottles of wine and two bottles of limoncello that I fully intended to turn in at the door and get back at the end of the cruise, but since nobody asked me I kept them in my cabin. See, no need for all those smuggling schemes, just know where to buy the good stuff off the ship to bring it back!

[jumper145]

Awesome post! I am doing this cruise June 2013 and this is a great view of what to expect. Thanks!

[Jolimont]

Awesome post! I am doing this cruise June 2013 and this is a great view of what to expect. Thanks!

 

Thank you and welcome to Cruise Critic Jumper!

[krs82]

Great tip about where to buy liquor. So you mentioned you would recommend Naples and Barcelona. Would you recommend any of the other ports?

[Jolimont]

At our Livorno stop we hadn't arranged anything because we knew we could rent a car from Hertz at the ship and we had already been to Florence and Luca, which is where all the excursions will take you.

 

Right as you exit the ship you will see the Hertz umbrella and table and there will be smiling Italian faces (who speak good Engish) helping you with your booking. We had used this service before so I suspected they would be there again and not only was I correct, but there was also an Avis umbrella this time! You can either reserve a car ahead of time (up to 9 passengers) or just get off the ship early and see what they have. Look up Sifracar in Livorno, they are the Hertz rep there. I asked how many cars they keep at the port and he said 50 usually, and he said about 50% of the people reserve in advance, the others just show up and rent a car on the spur of the moment.

 

Since I woke up early that day, I threw on some clothes and by 7:15 I was reserving my car. You'll need the usual driver's license and credit card. I rented the cheapest car, a small Peugeot, for 90€ for the day, unlimited mileage and all insurance included. They also had GPS units for 10€, but I had my own. Gas is really expensive in Italy, but still between tolls and gas we probably spent 30€, so a great day in Italy for 120€ for 2 people. Not bad I say!

 

Once the car was reserved we had a nice breakfast on the ship and got ready and drove off around 9:30. We decided to go to the wonderful city of Siena. I had been there 20 years earlier and remembered it as a beautiful place, and if anything it has gotten better!

 

It took us 2 hours to drive to Siena (on a nice 2-lane highway with speed restricted at 90km/h most of the way and lots of speed traps so the Italians were actually driving speed limit for the most part, shocking!!!) The GPS gave us clear directions, no issues getting there.

 

You REALLY must visit Siena, it is so amazing! If you happen to be there during the Palio it's even better, but any time, Siena is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. And what's even better is that it's not over-run with tourists like Florence, there are lots of tourists, but mostly Italian tourists, so you know this is the gem not everybody knows about.

 

The photos don't do it justice because I didn't have a good wide-angle with me. Here's the Duomo and you can only see one part of it, there's also a baptistry, a crypt, it's a huge complex.

 

 

 

 

The ship did not offer any excursions to Siena. I think that's a shame. Here's the Piazza del Campo:

 

 

 

And if you'd like to get some good wine and olive oil I recommend this wonderful place right off the Piazza del Campo, we didn't know the man and he was super nice and helpful:

 

 

Our drive back to the ship through the Tuscan countryside later.

[conandrob240]

Sienna is beautiful isn't it? I loved it.

 

Can I ask you your opinion of Lucca vs Florence. Husband and I have been to Florence and loved it. Never been to Pisa or Lucca. This time we are traveling with our 13 yr nephew- 1st time to Europe. Debating whether to go to Florence/Pisa or would he be just as happy seeing Pisa/Lucca? I think he just wants to soak in culture- I think he'd enjoy almost anything we planned. TIA

[Jolimont]

Great tip about where to buy liquor. So you mentioned you would recommend Naples and Barcelona. Would you recommend any of the other ports?

Depends on what you want to do. If your goal is to take wine home any port is fine. When NCL security scans your bags as you return to the ship they will ask you to check in any booze you have until the last night of the cruise. In Naples and Barcelona you can take your stuff to your cabin because it's not NCL security scanning your stuff, but port employees.

[Jolimont]

Sienna is beautiful isn't it? I loved it.

 

Can I ask you your opinion of Lucca vs Florence. Husband and I have been to Florence and loved it. Never been to Pisa or Lucca. This time we are traveling with our 13 yr nephew- 1st time to Europe. Debating whether to go to Florence/Pisa or would he be just as happy seeing Pisa/Lucca? I think he just wants to soak in culture- I think he'd enjoy almost anything we planned. TIA

 

We had our daughter and her best friend last year with us, both 13 at the time. We went to Florence and visited the Accademia because it's not a huge museum (2hrs without hurrying) and it has some wonderful art, including the original statue of David. You can reserve tickets in advance to avoid the line.

 

Kids really dig the leaning tower of Pisa, go for sure! You can climb it but only if you reserve tickets in advance, but even if there's not time to climb it, it's really good just to see the area and take lots of photos.

 

I wasn't as impressed with Lucca the one time we went, but it was a holiday and everything was closed, it was really dead that day, so that's the one I'd drop personally.

 

13 is a great age to take a child, your nephew is a lucky kid!

[conandrob240]

Thank you! He is so excited. We will definitely do Florence then and see David at the Accademia. I thought I might be missing something thrilling in Lucca :) .

[naturefly]

Thanks for the great info on rental car in Livorno. Right now we plan to just take the bus/train to Pisa but we might rethink and rent a car to see Pisa and Volterra. Do you know if they have minivan or car for 6 passengers for last min booking? or we need to reserve in advance for this size?

 

Also do you remember if they have similar car rental setup at Marseille?

[Jolimont]

Thanks for the great info on rental car in Livorno. Right now we plan to just take the bus/train to Pisa but we might rethink and rent a car to see Pisa and Volterra. Do you know if they have minivan or car for 6 passengers for last min booking? or we need to reserve in advance for this size?

 

Also do you remember if they have similar car rental setup at Marseille?

 

I can't answer your question about the 6 person van, you should email them, their English is great.

 

There is not such setup in Marseilles. Will write it up next, but no car rental that I saw anywhere near the ship.

[poma]

We are on this cruise on 9/23/12. We are doing three days in Barcelona first. We are celebrating our 30th anniversary and my daughters college graduation from nursing school! We have booked two inside cabins! I didn't think the cost to upgrade to a balcony was worth it, and I don't think we will be in our cabin that much.

I am really enjoying your review.

 

Thanks,

Lorrie from CT

[dliteu]

I Love your reveiw