Our Amazing European Adventure! Navigator of the Seas & Norwegian Epic Review w/pics

[ShellDil]

On the way back to the ship we stopped briefly at Montjuic.

 

There was a nice overlook here where we could see the port and our ship

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and also a great overview of Barcelona itself.

 

 

 

 

 

We didn’t actually have any time in Barcelona – that will be another trip!

 

However, we could see that it being a Sunday, many things appeared to be closed. So maybe it wouldn’t have mattered.

 

 

 

On the way back to the ship we passed the Columbus statue from the back!

 

We got back to the ship right at 5:00. Another great day!

[HighlandGirlEB]

Great to see pics of that crazy church :) I think its about 8/9 years since we went to Barcelona and its amazing how far its come on since we were there. Was not windows in half the places your pics show there are now . Makes me wanna go back and visit again :)

Shame you didnt get chance to climb about up top thats just as "weird" as the inside lol... maybe next time x

My son discovered the day we went there he had a fear of heights ... Its a one way trip up in the lift and the ONLY way back down is to climb all over the roof and round and round tiny walk ways and over hangs and spiral staircases with hollow centers etc.. We held up quite a few queues of fellow tourists who had to wait for him to "crawl" along lol

The park looked SUPER busy when you were there!! I dont remember it being like that but maybe it was, or maybe its just got more popular :)

[ShellDil]

Great to see pics of that crazy church :) I think its about 8/9 years since we went to Barcelona and its amazing how far its come on since we were there. Was not windows in half the places your pics show there are now . Makes me wanna go back and visit again :)

Shame you didnt get chance to climb about up top thats just as "weird" as the inside lol... maybe next time x

My son discovered the day we went there he had a fear of heights ... Its a one way trip up in the lift and the ONLY way back down is to climb all over the roof and round and round tiny walk ways and over hangs and spiral staircases with hollow centers etc.. We held up quite a few queues of fellow tourists who had to wait for him to "crawl" along lol

The park looked SUPER busy when you were there!! I dont remember it being like that but maybe it was, or maybe its just got more popular :)

 

Hey there! It's amazing how far this church has come along, and at the same time how far it has to go! I'd love to go back when it's done! If we ever get back, I would love to get up the towers and check them out!

 

The park was super crowded! Maybe more so because it was a Sunday and other areas of Barcelona were closed? Stores and such? I'm not sure.

[ShellDil]

Tonight we had dinner reservations at Cagney’s – the steakhouse. They weren’t until later, so we did have time to relax. Keith didn’t eat anything at lunch so he went up to the buffet and got a bit to eat and I took Megan up to the spa to schedule the kid’s manicure for tomorrow – our one and only Sea Day!

 

We hung out on the balcony for a bit watching the sea gulls!

 

 

and then went to dinner.

 

Cagney’s…well – of all the specialty restaurants on the Epic, I felt this one was the biggest disappointment. Possibly because it was the most expensive. It wasn’t that anything was bad, but nothing was outstanding. I had the lobster salad and it tasted like mayonnaise and Megan had the baked potato soup and it was very watery. The kids and I got filet’s and they weren’t overcooked, but the meat was very dry. Keith got fish – I don’t remember what he got – but his was good. But I will say, the food was better than either of the two main dining rooms. And it was much less than we would pay at the same quality steak house at home. So it’s hard to judge. We just left feeling underwhelmed.

 

During dinner we noticed a bit of movement on the ship…odd…it’s been such a smooth trip!

 

So, after dinner it seemed to go as our normal routine. Alex to the teen club, although Megan went to her age group club tonight, and Keith to the room. Well tonight I was tired of sitting around. I was going out!

 

I went to Howl at the Moon. I’m not much of a solo type of person, but darn if I was going to sit in that tiny cabin watching the same 3 shows on tv again one more night waiting for my teen to get home at 1:00 am! I was going out and having some fun!

 

So, Howl at the Moon – I thought it was fantastic! For those who haven’t seen it, there are two pianos and a drum set and anywhere from 2 to 3 singers rotating between the pianos and the drums. There’s two men and a woman. They take requests from the audience and have a great sense of humor as they do an amazing job singing pretty much anything that is thrown at them! There is great audience participation. It’s not the type of show where you have to get there at the beginning and stay until the end – you can come and go at any time. I think it started around 9:00 or 10:00 and they’re on until maybe 1:00. I stayed until about 12:30. The ship was rocking the entire time – rocking a lot!

 

When I got back to the cabin, Megan had gotten back a little earlier and check her out!

 

They played some game and she was covered in red dots! Finally she had fun in the kids club!

 

Alex was just getting back too – I had to put the things around our sink in the cabinets due to the rocking they were rolling back and forth.

 

 

I went to bed, but was up most of the night. At one point Megan woke up and said “mom, is the ship sinking – we’re moving way too much!” – surprisingly I just told her no – go back to bed. No meltdown!

[Sweetest Sin]

Really enjoying your review! I'm putting a European cruise on the list :)

[compulady]

Thanks for the virtual tour! Nice write ups and photos too! What a lovely family you have! I'll keep many of your ideas in mind as I prepare for my Mediterranean cruise in a few weeks. It was nice to see you made such an effort to get to Venice. It is one of my favorite places and I have spent over 3 weeks there on 2 trips so far and more to come.

[ShellDil]

Monday, June 24th – Sea Day

 

The ship rocked and rolled all night long! Now I’m not what I’d call a seasoned cruiser, but I have never felt motion like that before! It was huge movement! None of us ever felt sea sick – but it was hard to even walk! I got up pretty early which was easy since I really didn’t sleep well anyway. Everyone else – you guessed it – still sleeping! Don’t they know they can sleep when they get home?

 

Speaking of home – it’s starting to set in that we go home on Saturday. This really is sad to me. I know we’ve traveled longer than most people ever get the opportunity to. I know that my kids are anxious to get home to their friends and routines – even though they admit that they’re really enjoying each and every day! But I am loving every single moment and could do this for ever. Now – how does one fund traveling full time? Sigh… My parents, they have told me how much they have appreciated all of the planning that I’ve put into it and they have kicked butt! Even with my dad's bad knee they have been walking like crazy and held up really well!

 

Anyway – today is a Sea Day – a bit of time to relax a bit and gear up for the last few days we have on our trip.

 

I went out on the balcony and it was pretty obvious that today would not be a day to sit out at the pool! It was windy and overcast.

 

I decided to go up to the spa and see if I could get Keith a spa pass for just the day. I think I may have mentioned that he isn’t particularly crazy about cruises to begin with. If he can’t spend his one day at Sea lying in the sun relaxing, he would be pretty miserable. He feels pretty trapped on a ship.

 

I was thrilled to get him the Spa Pass! It was only $39 for the entire day. I thought this was a great deal and if you could see the Spa on the Epic you would too. Do I have one single picture of it? NO! I don't know what happened to me on this day - but I have very few pictures. Anyway, if it’s not the largest spa at sea, it’s one of the largest. There are thermal chairs, hot pools, cold pools, sauna’s, steam rooms. This is exactly what Keith loves.

 

So, I went back to the room and woke him up and the two of us went to breakfast at the Garden Café Buffet. I’ve decided I just really don’t care for buffets much. Just so many people and too much noise and too much of the same food. But we did get a window seat – outside was far too windy still. We sat and watched the huge waves crashing outside.

 

 

After breakfast we went up to the spa so Keith could have a quick tour before he went back later. He was pretty impressed. I knew I made a good decision in getting him the day pass! We went back to the room to get the kids up. It was about 10:00 am and Keith went back to the spa. He liked it so much that I didn’t see him again until I dropped Megan off at the spa at 2:15 for her manicure! He was still there!

 

The pools weren’t even open on this windy day. The kids and I spent the day just sort of wandering around.

 

 

 

 

We spent some time in the library. They played a few games – chess, checkers etc.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ShellDil]

I’m glad Megan had her Manicure scheduled – that gave her something to do! Alex went to the teen club for part of the day. Finally late afternoon the rocking started to subside and the sun came out a bit. I went out on deck and red for a bit. Keith finally came out of the spa around 3:00 and we went to Shaker’s Martini Bar for the Martini Tasting!

 

 

 

This was a lot of fun! Maybe a bit too much fun! It was $15 I think, maybe $20/person for four martini’s. We learned the history or the martini and how each was made. We started with the original martini, which I’m NOT a fan of, but for the sake of the class, I suffered through it. Then we had a Cosmopolitan. That was quite good! Then a Chocolate Martini - which was fantastic. It was different from other Chocolate Martini’s I’ve had in the past. There seemed to be more ingredients in this one. And then their Signature Martini – which at this point I couldn’t begin to tell you what was in it!

 

 

 

 

I won a travel mug for answering some question correctly – again – can’t tell you what that was. Four martini’s and I am a bit fuzzy on the end of the “class”! I do know that about half way into it Megan and my mom came to show me her manicure and Megan told me that I’d already had quite enough “Martini’s Mom!”

 

 

After our class, Keith and I sat at the bar and had just one more drink each. I believe that was not the smartest decision…but live and learn. We made our way back to the ship which seemed to be a bit more wobbly again! ;) And I took a little nap, after the kids made a bit of fun of their mom – the downside of sharing a cabin with your teen and preteen – after a martini tasting!

[mrsfecura]

Keith finally came out of the spa around 3:00 and we went to Shaker’s Martini Bar for the Martini Tasting!

 

 

 

This was a lot of fun! Maybe a bit too much fun! It was $15 I think, maybe $20/person for four martini’s. We learned the history or the martini and how each was made. We started with the original martini, which I’m NOT a fan of, but for the sake of the class, I suffered through it. Then we had a Cosmopolitan. That was quite good! Then a Chocolate Martini - which was fantastic. It was different from other Chocolate Martini’s I’ve had in the past. There seemed to be more ingredients in this one. And then their Signature Martini – which at this point I couldn’t begin to tell you what was in it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

THIS sounds awesome!! I would totally love it.

[ShellDil]

At some point the sun did come out and I managed to get some sort of decent sunset pictures!

 

 

Tonight we have reservations for the Cirque Dreams Dinner! This is the only show we prebooked prior to boarding the Epic. We booked the Premium Seating.

 

We all enjoyed the show quite a lot. We found it to be entertaining and well done. All of the shows so far on the Epic have really been very good.

 

We also all enjoyed our food. No complaints from any of us during any part of the meal!

 

The only complaint that I have is what they would consider to be Premium Seating - we paid extra for this – yet we were in the “2nd” ring of seats behind other people so that we could not really see anything at floor level of the show. There were other diners and tables fully in front of us, as well as servers in front of us.

 

I don’t know if it’s because we had a party of six and there aren’t as many tables in Premium for six that don’t have what I would consider to be an obstructed view? Or if that is standard. We got there early – but that is where we were seated. When I asked about this, we were told the standard seating is in the very back “ring” of seats. I found this to be pretty unsatisfactory. If I’m paying extra for premium, my whole table should have seating to see more than just the performers heads – without craning our necks to see around the diners sitting right in front of us. Otherwise, only the front ring of tables should be considered Premium.

 

So – Keith left the dinner right after the Main Course – and back to the Spa he went. He wanted to get the most of his day pass. While he still thinks he wouldn’t have gotten the full use of a week long pass with the intensive port days, he really got a full use of the day pass!

 

After dinner – you guessed – same old routine! Except tonight – I started organizing our things to pack. With this guy supervising the whole time!

 

 

 

 

Tomorrow is our last day on the Epic. It’s also perhaps the day I had been most looking forward to on the Epic's itinerary! We dock in Naples – we’re going to Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast! Although now that we've been to all of the other ports - how could they possibly be beat?? :D

 

[goncruzn]

I have been reading your review and I have to say it is absolutely wonderful. I love your pictures. As if I wasn't excited already, you have made me more excited for my upcoming Med cruise in October. Sadly, unlike yours, it will only be a week. :(

 

Can't wait for the remainder!

[ShellDil]

Shelli, I read on the Spain boards in the last couple of days that Sagrada has stopped selling the Friends passes outside of Europe. Guess the caught in to how many folks were doing this.

 

I had planned to do the same thing next year but it looks like I will miss out. Count yourself lucky that you were able to take advantage if a great offer before the pulled it.

 

I'm loving your review & am getting lots of great ideas for our trip.

 

Interesting! When we got our Friends passes it was very clear that we were in the US - so I wonder why they would stop allowing US people from purchasing them? Actually I would think they would make more money from US people than from European or people who live in Barcelona who may become Friends and then return several times during the year, but who only paid that one time. Where as we joined, paid and used our membership once.

 

I had a few different correspondences with the membership staff there about the spelling of our names on the cards and they never indicated that there was an issue about someone from other than Europe becoming a member would be a problem. They told us they were looking forward to our visit!

 

Thanks for following along! I'm glad you're finding some useful info! :D

[ShellDil]

THIS sounds awesome!! I would totally love it.

 

It was really a lot of fun - although I "paid" for it for a few hours later! ;)

 

On the Epic Sea Day they offered a Wine Tasting, Margarita Tasting, Martini Tasting and a Beer Tasting. All staggered throughout the day. I suppose if would be possible to do them all if you could really drink that much! No way I could! :eek: I thought the Martini Tasting was well worth the money - not only were the drinks good, but we did really learn something! I'd not only do that again, but I'd be up for trying some of the other tastings should I get back on the Epic again at some point!

[ShellDil]

I have been reading your review and I have to say it is absolutely wonderful. I love your pictures. As if I wasn't excited already, you have made me more excited for my upcoming Med cruise in October. Sadly, unlike yours, it will only be a week. :(

 

Can't wait for the remainder!

 

Thank you!

 

A week in the Med is STILL a WEEK in the MED! It will be fantastic!!!

 

You'll have a fantastic time! :D

[rocklinmom]

ShellDil, I absolutely love your review! My family will be on the NCL Spirit next June and your info on Italy, Greece, and Turkey is so helpful. My kids will be ages 16, 14, and almost 11 by then, similar to yours on this trip, so I love your kid tips! And I can already picture my cranky teenage son looking just like yours did. Totally understand why though. It's all part of the experience, honey (as Clark Griswold would say).:)

I especially love your tips about the stray dogs in Greece and stray cats in Turkey - my girls will be trying to adopt them all. And I'm glad to see where the kid friendly food options will be.

Kudos to you on planning such a memorable trip for your family! And thank you for sharing it with appreciative CC Moms like myself.

[Scarlet and grey]

Great review! Thank you for sharing. Our trip is in October, your information has been very helpful!!

[hansolosmom]

Wow great review. We did 3 weeks between Italy & our cruise. We flew into Venice, then did 2 days in Florence & then a few in Rome before our cruise. I was really surprised at your Rome pix since we stayed very close to the turtle fountain in the Jewish ghetto area. Loved the restaurants there!

 

We also live in the Philly area, so I love seeing the pix of your dad with his Phil's hat :)

Edited August 1, 2013 by hansolosmom

[swim13]

Com'è bello il mondo! - What a beautiful world!

 

Thanks for these great pictures of Europe, hope I can go on one of these itineraries in the near future!

[msdebbe]

Awesome posts, love your pictures! Thanks for sharing

[CathyCruises]

Hi--I'm a long time Celebrity cruiser also enjoying reading your review--sounds like you had quite a trip. I do have to say though that it is giving me horrible anxiety thinking of the cost of all these private excursions!! That had to be a LOT of $$$$! I totally understand that it's different with kids (and in some ways the choice of ships reflects this) but wow!

 

DH and I have been everywhere you've mentioned so far except Palma de Mallorca--loved them all and interestingly share your views about Florence--EVERYONE loves it--except us. . .isn't that weird?

 

We are almost your parents' age--60 and 63--and we almost never do an excursion unless it's someplace we just can't get to on our own--like Ephesus. We either use public transport or rent a car, or . . .walk. . .which it sounds like you did plenty of! We don't get the commentary but we do try to study up ahead of time so we have some clue what we're looking at, or we listen to Rick Steves' podcasts. I'm sure we miss some things but we have found Cruise Critic to be an invaluable resource and I frequently get asked if I am a travel agent by fellow cruisers too! And like you I always give credit to my friends here!

 

We were fortunate enough to be 'lent' a house just outside of San Gimignano for a month; I'm happy you got to see it. If you ever get back there, Siena is also fantastic and one of our favorite places.

 

Keep up the great work!

[travelplus]

I'm loving your review so far. My Father and I took the Navigator this past April from New Orleans-Rome. It was so much fun. Did you run into David the Headwaiter, Umesh and the other wonderful staff onboard? I loved meeting Captain Klaus.

 

My Father and I will be taking the Splendour Of The Seas from Sao Paulo(Santos)-Barcelona in April.

 

I love cruising especially the trans atlantics with sea days mixed with ports(:

[ShellDil]

Hi--I'm a long time Celebrity cruiser also enjoying reading your review--sounds like you had quite a trip. I do have to say though that it is giving me horrible anxiety thinking of the cost of all these private excursions!! That had to be a LOT of $$$$! I totally understand that it's different with kids (and in some ways the choice of ships reflects this) but wow!

 

DH and I have been everywhere you've mentioned so far except Palma de Mallorca--loved them all and interestingly share your views about Florence--EVERYONE loves it--except us. . .isn't that weird?

 

We are almost your parents' age--60 and 63--and we almost never do an excursion unless it's someplace we just can't get to on our own--like Ephesus. We either use public transport or rent a car, or . . .walk. . .which it sounds like you did plenty of! We don't get the commentary but we do try to study up ahead of time so we have some clue what we're looking at, or we listen to Rick Steves' podcasts. I'm sure we miss some things but we have found Cruise Critic to be an invaluable resource and I frequently get asked if I am a travel agent by fellow cruisers too! And like you I always give credit to my friends here!

 

We were fortunate enough to be 'lent' a house just outside of San Gimignano for a month; I'm happy you got to see it. If you ever get back there, Siena is also fantastic and one of our favorite places.

 

Keep up the great work!

 

Keith and I went on the Celebrity Eclipse for our first cruise. I LOVED it! I think if just the two of us were cruising again alone Celebrity would be my line of choice. I'm just not sure if it would be a line I would bring my kids on, although I do hear comments that kids do enjoy the ships and their teen/kids clubs. And as they're getting a bit older, if the ports are right, I could see the fit. Being on the Epic, where we thought the ship would make the difference, and it really didn't - maybe I can see my kids enjoying Celebrity even now.

 

As far as the excursions...yes, they did add up. However we knew going in that it was going to be this way. That's why we called it the "trip of a lifetime!" With our group of six, sometimes we spend hours trying to figure out where to go for dinner so if we didn't have our days planned out with set tours, I knew we'd get to a port, or find ourselves in in these amazing cities wandering aimlessly and end up wasting a day. The other reason for the tours is that my mom is not overly comfortable in places she hasn't been before without a specific plan. Especially when we had to get back to the ship by a certain time. Most of our private tours were far less than the ship tours though and they were very personalized, which was great. Especially with the kids - and actually for all of us! For example our tour in Athens was 600 Euro, but we split it by 12 people, so it was 50 Euro/person and we had a private guide for the entire day, not just at the Acropolis!

 

My parents haven't seen all of the pictures yet - we're going through them a few days at a time, as slide shows, watching tv -and last night we did the ones through our day in Chianti - Funny we all mentioned how we'd love to go back there, especially to San Gimignano! And I would love to get to Siena! So many places to see!

[ShellDil]

I'm loving your review so far. My Father and I took the Navigator this past April from New Orleans-Rome. It was so much fun. Did you run into David the Headwaiter, Umesh and the other wonderful staff onboard? I loved meeting Captain Klaus.

 

My Father and I will be taking the Splendour Of The Seas from Sao Paulo(Santos)-Barcelona in April.

 

I love cruising especially the trans atlantics with sea days mixed with ports(:

 

Thank you! We loved the Navigator. The staff on that ship had to have been some of the most amazing staff we have ever come across! All of them! This was our first Royal Caribbean cruise and we could not have been more impressed. I am sure it will not be our last! :D

 

I've not done a trans atlantic, I'm not sure how I'd enjoy so many sea days - I'm definitely one who cruises for the ports...but I'd be willing to give it a try! ;)

[ShellDil]

Com'è bello il mondo! - What a beautiful world!

 

Thanks for these great pictures of Europe, hope I can go on one of these itineraries in the near future!

 

Thank you Mike! It's funny - I'm reading your Allure review and it's making me want to go on you're itinerary - you're reading mine and wishing to go on my itinerary! Guess we just like to travel!

 

I hope you get to go to Europe..I'd love to read your review and see your photos!

[RevSmith]

great ship, I miss her, thank you for sharing