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***LIVE*** From the Epic Transactlantic

SuiteCruiser

By SuiteCruiser,
in Norwegian Cruise Line

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SuiteCruiser

SuiteCruiser

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Rather than hijack suite cruisers thread anyone on twitter will be able to see my live feed @nclsglcruiser usually post some pics and vids ;)

 

The more the merrier, Craig :) I'm sure folks here would love two "Live from" threads :) I bet you'd spell Transatlantic properly in your title too :)

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SuiteCruiser

SuiteCruiser

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Day-1 still:

 

Eventually it was my time to board enroute to Barcelona. Now, remember that sweet treat that I had with my business class ticket, well, it's very different in Europe. I wasn't surprised as I learned about it before, but most of the people on my flight in business were very surprised.

 

Lufthansa, the German airline, has regular coach seats in business class, but they don't sell the middle seat, so you have a bit more room to spread out., but no more leg room, no cushy seat. On Swiss Air last year, we had regular coach seats with a table in between as our business class seats. Looked more like a waiting room than a plane :) Of course, for the their long-haul flights they do it up with lie-flat seats and everything, but the domestic european ones are not worth the money. They still offer a nice meal and free bevvies, though. For lunch we had a bit of a hodge podge that they call their favourite dishes. A small octopus salad (which my husband and son would have fought over, sadly it went uneaten), a tandoori chicken stick, for lack of a better word, surrounded by chick pea puree, and a caprese salad. Two different desserts as well. I hadn't eaten since the breakfast that sat as a lump in my stomach, so I ate most of what was on offer.

 

The flight was uneventful = good, and I finally arrived in beautiful Barcelona. :)

 

My plan all along was to check in and sleep for a few hours, as I don' t function very well on little or no sleep, and then I had dinner plans that I had really been looking forward to. Check in was a breeze, they gave me a wonderful room, that's actually the name of it, and it is pretty spectacular. :) King bed, and desk behind (where I am typing) both looking straight out to sea. My room looks out over the port, which is exactly what I wanted as I will have the blinds open and hope to spy the Epic coming in to dock.

 

Since I was so much later than I'd planned, I wondered about the sleep, but it turns out that I was only able to sleep for about an hour, which refreshed me enough to get going, and actually feel human.

 

Last year my two girlfriends and I did the Epic Med cruise out of Barcelona and when we arrived, we stayed at the W. Underneath the hotel, along the boardwalk, over looking the Med, are several open-air restaurants and we found an Italian place where the food was fantastic, the drinks were flowing and we had the best server ever, a young man nmed Gabriel. At the end of our meal, he brought us Limoncellos on the house. We ordered one round in English, the next in French, then one in German, just to keep him on his toes, and it was really fun. Throughout the year, we would talk about our trip and Gabriel's (as we called it) was one of the highlights.

 

I planned to go to Gabriel's for dinner and then FaceTime my friends through the hotel wifi. As I approach the restaurant I'm relieved that it's still there, it has the same menu, and I feel completely at home and safe. I ordered my pizza (with a crust so thin it barely exists) and a glass of their house wine. I tried FaceTime, but was having some connection issues, tried my brother who had never used the program before, no connection. So, I just relaxed, looked out over the crashing surf and sipped my wine. Suddenly my phone started ringing and there was my brother, so I showed him the restaurant, the surf, the palm trees, my dinner, I'm sure I looked like a crazy lady, but it was so awesome to use technology to share those details with someone so far away, and at no charge :) YAY iPhone!

 

The manager came by to ask how my meal was and I asked if Gabriel still worked there, and he did, and he was there and came over to say hello :) I got a picture to send back to the girls, chatted with the manager and Gabriel, recounting our story and what a great time we'd had. My phone rang again, this time one of my girlfriends on FaceTime. I'm showing her around and telling her I just sent a picture of Gabriel and suddenly he appears. I let them chat and then I see why he's at the table. He brought a bottle of wine over to refill my glass. This is all going on while I'm on the phone with my friend and I feel like I'm surrounded by friends, and not on some solo trip in a foreign country. Later on, the manager sends me over a Limoncello. Finally I call for the bill, (as I have a blog to write!), and the bill is for 18 Euro. The pizza is 12 Euro and I'm charged for one glass of wine. I'm just so taken aback by everyone's kindness. :) For those who visit the W in Barcelona, the real name of the restaurant is Mamarosa, but it will always be Gabriel's to us.

 

I'm hoping to get to sleep early as I want to head over to the ship around 10:00AM. I really want to be one of the first onboard as I desperately want to buy a Posh Pass, and though I fear they're all already gone due to the folks onboard from Rome, I want to give it a go. I tried with no luck to line one up with the pre-concierge and through the social media person at NCL. I've never really asked for anything, but thought I might get some sympathy having had 7 cruises with them over the past year, several in suites and being platinum, but no dice. I just think having a spot like that to get away to and stare at the ocean and not fight for a lounge chair, would be a little slice of heaven, especially since I'm in a Studio. Fingers crossed that there's one left first thing tomorrow.

 

Goodnight my friends, my next entry is likely going to be written onboard the Epic!

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SuiteCruiser

SuiteCruiser

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For you, I hope the sailing seems like a very-long-duration cruise vacation with lots of enjoyment throughout. :)

 

For me, I hope your cruise goes by really really quickly, as I'm on that first sailing when you get back to the US. :D

 

Big BON VOYAGE wishes to you all!! :)

 

.

 

:) Thanks, I think!! Maybe you can continue on and do another awesome review. I don't know how many times I read it, but it was more than 3. I know one time was about two weeks ago, when I couldn't get enough Epic pre-cruise.

 

Thank you so so much to everyone for their kind comments. I am probably giving too much detail, but I'm also emailing the sections home to people, and keeping a copy for myself. Hopefully you'll just skip over the boring bits.

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kerrytens

kerrytens

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Rather than hijack suite cruisers thread anyone on twitter will be able to see my live feed @nclsglcruiser usually post some pics and vids ;)

 

The more the merrier, Craig :) I'm sure folks here would love two "Live from" threads :)

Yes, what SuiteCruiser said! I'd love to read along with you too Single Cruiser (just not a twitter girl here;) )

 

To both of you, I hope you have a great cruise.

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lsmommy

lsmommy

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I love my husband and kids, but I too like to get away and travel solo, it is just such a different experience.

 

Sounds like you will have a great trip, glad you made it to Barcelona.

 

Just recently I have started to think I would like to sail on the Epic, so looking forward to your report.

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rhapsodybluezz

rhapsodybluezz

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I will definitely try Gabriel's next time I'm in Barcelona, sounds like a wonderful place. I loved my trip there last month but never made it to the waterfront. Looking forward to the rest of your review. I would love to do a TA when I retire in a couple of years.:)

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SuiteCruiser

SuiteCruiser

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I didn't manage to see the ship pull in, I looked about 4:00 AM, and it was suddenly there :) What a beautiful sight!

 

I left the hotel at 10:00, grabbed a cab and sat back and watched as we past the port. I'd been speaking in broken English, as one tends to do when speaking to people who don't speak our language (why do we do that) about the cruise the Epic, etc and the cab driver thought all along it was the airport that we were going to. I pointed again at the ship and said "that is where I go now!" Finally he clued in and we drove until we could leave the highway. By the time we got to the terminal, it was 10:30 and the meter read 42.00. He charged me 20 Euro, and I tipped him 5 for his trouble as I accepted I some of the responsibility.

 

Inside the terminal there are about 15 kiosks for general check in, 15 kiosks for Bronze and Silver, One for Gold and Platinum, One for CAS, and One for Special Assistance. The CAS line had 4 groups in it, and platinum was winding around, and everyone was pissed off. We couldn't board yet, so it's wait in line or wait after the line, but lots of grumpy folks. *It's vacation time, lighten up! Finally they did take one of the Bronze/Silver ones and give it to Platinum (as they should have) but already some people are boarding with a chip on their shoulder. One woman said "this is going in my evaluation!"*

 

I'm group #4, and group 1 was just called, hopefully it will go quickly as I'm excited and I want to check about the Posh Pass too :).*

 

..........

 

Standing in line at the information desk, wondering if I'm early enough, if they're even offering them. Anxiety. Talk about first world problems :)

 

Finally it's my turn, and....success!! yay! I must have been the first as they still don't know the price, but I will take the chance :)

 

I'm writing this from Taste, where I just finished my corn chowder soup, I've got my bottle of Chateau Ste Michelle Riesling that I will have them cork eventually for a glass at dinner tonight.*

 

I'm trying hard not to think ahead too much, and just enjoy each moment.

 

I have a sail away party at Spice H2O with my cruise critic and Facebook group friends so I'm hoping the rain holds off. If not, plan B is to go to O'Sheehan's.

 

I am excited to see my little studio, but I'm going to just breathe, relax and enjoy my lunch.

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SuiteCruiser

SuiteCruiser

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After lunch I head to my studio, I open the door, and I start to cry. Not the reaction I expected, but I walked into the most perfect little space and there were balloons and streamers and Bon voyage signs everywhere.*

 

Further inspection shows me there is a bottle of Shampagne (as I call it!), a bottle of Riesling, the Baileys I ordered myself, a plate of cookies, a box of chocolates and a gifted on board credit slip. I find the Bon voyage slip, the wine and the inboard credit all came from my brother and sister-in-law. Wow! They had said they were sending my birthday gift to the ship, but this is a pretty huge gift!

 

I'm exhausted and emotional, I really only had about 6 hours of sleep in two days, so I thought I'd have a snooze before muster. *I set my handy dandy wheel to do not disturb, and set my alarm and crashed.*

 

Twenty minutes in, I hear rat-a-tat-tat on my door, and I'm thinking what the hell, it says do not disturb and I'm asleep and cranky. I ignore it and then the phone rings. They're apologizing but they have something to deliver. I get up, open the door and I'm greeted by the biggest cake I've ever seen. It's beautiful with "Bon Voyage" written on it. I'm laughing now, then I realize there's nowhere to put it! We finally decide on it sitting across the sink. Then comes another woman with a plate of chocolate covered strawberries and another bottle of Shampagne on ice. It's crazy, hilarious and too much of a good thing. I go back to sleep and wake to the half our pre-game show for the muster.

 

After muster I went back to the cabin, then I brought the cake, which is about a foot across,( literally!) to the Studio Lounge, where it is met with cheers and appreciation. *Then I'm off to the CC sail away planned at Spice H2O for a few minutes to put faces to screen names, then rush back to the Studio Lounge *for our first happy hour. At the end of his spiel the ship's coordinator announced that I had cake for everyone, and then I became cake server for a while, but it was a great way to meet everyone, and the cake was fantastic and no longer in my room, so I could use my sink :)

 

At happy hour, I met several really nice people, most of whom like to eat early, so went off in the first group. I stayed behind and visited with Ian, who is from Toronto, and he eats late too and he wanted to wander around the ship for awhile, so I suggested he could come through the casino and grab me later if he wanted to have dinner together. *

 

I headed to the casino for a couple of hours, when Ian showed up I cashed out and found I was down $5, though I'd had 3 free margaritas, and so much fun, so I call that a win!

 

On our way to the restaurant, Ian tells me he's invited some other friends, and I think that's awesome. *I get to eat a great meal with 6 men :) 6 interesting, funny, kind and welcoming men. I felt like one of the guys, and hope they felt that way too.

 

After dinner, off to the casino again, and didn't check my watch again until 1:00AM at which time I was nearing my limit in daily donations, so I headed to bed.

 

Day 2

 

I set my alarm for 10:30 because I needed to go to the meet and greet. I would have slept through it, no question, because I had to haul myself out of bed to go. *The bed in the studio is a regular queen bed, and it's like sleeping on a little piece of heaven. I wanted to stay there forever, but I knew all of the work that went into organizing the M&G, and still had some people I wanted to meet, so I really wanted to go, my body just wasn't buying the story quite yet. I got up, found out why....I had a nasty sinus headache. I'd been battling a cold for the last several days and it seemed to go away, then come back. *It was really dry in the room, so that didn't help. I took some Advil, headed to the M&G, chatted with lots of people, and headed back to the cabin after the captain spoke.*

 

Before I got back into bed, the captain came on to explain today's cruise. *We will be passing by Gibraltar at 7PM, and we'll come very close to Africa. Last night at dinner, most of the guys had been on the April crossing with the same captain, and they said it was awesome how he would come on the PA explaining as we are nearing, what we are seeing and a bit of history too, which I think is fantastic :) Most ships pass in the middle of the night, but this Captain makes sure we can all see it, which is great.

 

I did sleep, and woke up feeling much better, threw on my bathing suit, grabbed my beach bag and headed to Posh :)

 

It's probably mid 80s today in the sunshine. As we head towards Gibraltar, we have other ships around us, so it feels more like cruising down a river, but whatever it is, it is perfect!

 

I finally just ate my breakfast, or lunch at 3:15 PM, just had a burger delivered to my lounge chair, I'm washing it down with a frosty piña colada and all is right with the world.

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10s nut

10s nut

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SuiteC

 

I am really enjoying your blog. What makes your viewpoint so unique is that you genuinely seem to enjoy all sorts of people. And it is obvious that they enjoy you in return:)

 

Look forward to your next edition!

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SuiteCruiser

SuiteCruiser

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Day 2 continued

 

After Posh, I headed back to the cabin and then to the casino. Play was even, up a little bit, then we were approaching Gibraltar, so I headed back to the cabin to grab my camera, then up to the front deck of the ship, took some photos of the famous rock, and then found one of those comfy red circular chairs to watch the approach of the Atlantic.*

 

My friend Ian (who looks exactly like Ricky Gervais by the way) *walked by, so we sat together and took pictures and it was nice to have someone to share that with. It's one of the few times I felt lonely, but then along came Ian. I really need to say what a great guy he is, he includes me in everything, and I think we'll be friends for a long time.*

 

Ian headed off to a get together, kindly invited me along, but I thought I'd go back to the Ultimate Texas Hold'em table instead. About an hour later, Ian arrived and whisked me off to dinner with 11 men :) All super nice, and I enjoyed dinner immensely. Craig (SingleCruiser) was with us, and he's awesome. So much fun! *For those foodies, tonight was Caesar salad and Thai shrimp and chicken curry and both were fantastic :)

 

The guys were heading to Bliss, so I told them I would join them later, and headed back to the tables. *The tables weren't so kind to me, but a lovely older British gentlemen came over to tell me that I had a lovely face and that he wanted me to know that. I waved to his wife who was at Let it Ride, and wandered over there to join them, laughing at her sweet husband who kept trying to hold my hand, but she was used to this ;) they'd been married 47 years. They introduced me to their friends Alan and Scott, and I convinced the guys to go to Bliss, and I would join them. About 45 minutes later, I enter Bliss and see another casino friend first who runs over yelling "Sally!" with hugs, then I see my guys, and Alan is partying with them, *and hugs from everyone and before I know it I'm hauled up on the dance floor. Several drinks and hours later, Ian and I finally left at 3:30. *Because we left together I made Ian walk up the stairs *because I'm on the no elevator Epic workout, which is tough when there are 18 floors!

 

Thankfully, this is one of six 25 hour days, so I was able to switch my watch back to 2:30 and go to sleep.*

 

Day 3

 

I slept in, well I slept normally, I just started really late! I had my first experience trying to shave my legs in a studio shower, at 6'2. It was not pretty. Eventually I realized I need to get out of the shower to shave them, thankfully that worked. I'm glad I have no cabin mate, as it was ugly!

 

Lunch was calling, so I headed to O'Sheehan's hearing "Oh there's Sally" it's the British couple from last night who had just finished lunch with Alan. I was surprised that Brian remembered me, but he did, remembered where i was from, what my husband did for a living, and about my kids. Very impressed since he was so "into his cups"last night :) Scott wasn't with them, he was still in bed and they told me not only does Scott never party, he goes to bed early. I left Scott behind at Bliss at 3:30, so I'm really glad he had a good time, but I hope I wasn't a bad influence! *Of course I never party and stay up late either, but it was just way too much fun.

 

Lunch was chicken pot pie, which was really great. I had never had it on my last cruise, I highly recommend it though.

 

Back to the tables where I turned $100 into $400 by getting a four of a kind in UTH. I was only playing $5, but he cards were kind. *

 

As usual, I always meet really great people at the tables. I've been adopted by an older Swiss woman named Heidi, (yes, it's really her name) and she hugs me and claps every time she sees me. So sweet. *She doesn't speak any English, and I speak no German, but we have fun playing cards with each other.

 

Tonight I may do dinner on my own as Ian and some of the guys are off to see Cirque. I saw it last year,so I know they'll love it.

 

The ship's moving a fair bit now, the captain comes on the PA to say its not bad for the Atlantic, but the winds are up and it's cloudy, so no Posh for me today.

 

I'm having such a great time, I've met so many great people, and I highly recommend this to anyone who is considering traveling solo. It doesn't feel like there are 4000 people on board. I keep seeing the same people, and I hear my name whenever I go anywhere, so am surrounded by friends and I am having an absolute blast!

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