Epic Western Med Review (Rome Embarkation)

[vivalawvegas]

I'm new to CC but found the boards to be invaluable in planning, so I thought I'd include a short review of our recent (6/26) cruise on the Epic. A bit of background - my husband and I are in our mid-30's and were traveling with our 6 year old daughter. It was our 3rd cruise, first on NCL (previous ones were RCI), and first with our daughter.

 

EMBARKATION

 

Our trip actually started several days prior to the cruise. We flew into Venice, spent 2 nights there, then on to Florence for another 2 nights. We took the train from Florence to Pisa for a quick photo op and then back on the train to Civitivecchia. We found the port a bit difficult to navigate, as no one seemed to know which shuttle bus went to which ship and there was a bit of wandering to find the proper spot. Alas, we found the Epic bus and were eventually on our way. Check-in was easy and only took about 30 mins.

 

ROOM

 

We got on board and found our room immediately. We were in 11077, a mini-suite. The room was spacious enough, balcony was great and there were 3 chairs waiting out there for us. Our shower was HUGE. Lots of storage space and everything was impeccably clean. We dropped our stuff off and headed poolside for a bite to eat. The selection was decent and we all found something we enjoyed. Headed back to the room and unpacked (bags were ready). Our cabin steward, Manuel, introduced himself and then we headed to muster (which was about 25 mins too long - I didn't need a recap of all of the ship amenities!!).

 

FOOD

 

DH was beat so he headed back to the room for a nap and DD and I headed to the Manhattan Room for dinner. Now I should say that I'm not a picky eater at all. I have eaten in 5 star restaurants, family chain restaurants, fast food, ethnic dives, you name it. And my standards for cruise fair are pretty reasonable (IMO). That being said, I was pretty disappointed with the MDR food (both Manhattan and Taste). We ate at Manhattan once, Taste twice - both for dinner only. The food wasn't inedible or anything but there was nothing about it that made me want to come back for more. I felt like I gave the MDR's a fair shot (3 visits) and each experience was the same. Service was hit and miss. Also, I'm not sure whether it was coincidence or because we were traveling with a kid but we were seated next to the food staging area every single time. It wasn't worth making an issue over, just an observation.

 

As for other dining venues, I was very impressed with the buffet. I live in the land of buffets (Las Vegas) so I'm typically not a buffet fan but we ate at the Garden Cafe each morning for breakfast, several lunches, and two dinners. I was impressed each and every time with the quality, variety, and taste of the food. There was only one morning (Marseille) where it was impossible to find a seat and we ended up sharing a table with a lovely UK couple. I think the problem with Marseille was that the ship didn't dock until 10am but Taste closed at 9am so if you wanted to eat between 9-10am, there was only one dining venue available.

 

We did the Cirque dinner and felt it was worth the premium. The food was OK (better than the MDR) and our DD loved the show. We did premium seats and sat upstairs and it was great. Tables were VERY crowded, though. We did Teppanyaki another night and that was definitely worth it - great show and the best food on the ship. We didn't visit Cagney's but heard so many good things, we would definitely add it to the list for the future.

 

We did one breakfast and one lunch in O'Sheehan's. Breakfast was OK but lunch was great - burger and a beer, what could be better?

 

ENTERTAINMENT

 

Entertainment was good as well. We saw the Maestranza Ballet twice because my daughter loved it so much. I thought the Headliners venue was a bit weird and difficult to see unless you were near the front. On a sidenote, we saw the show for the second time on the Barcelona night and my DD was decked out in her flamenco dress she'd picked up in Palma. As we were leaving the show, the cruise director Jill saw us and ended up asking the performers to come back out for a photo with DD. All 4 came out, talked to her, and took a photo. It was very sweet and made DD's night.

 

We saw Blue Man Group as well and DD and I ended up leaving about 3/4 of the way through it. I had seen the show before several years ago and had forgotten howdamnloud it is! BMG just isn't my thing and the show is LONG.

 

We didn't make it to any of the other shows (Graffiti Classics, Los Locos Ole, Howl at the Moon, etc.) Too much to do and too little time!

 

ACTIVITIES

 

This is such a port-intensive cruise that I didn't feel like we had a ton of time to enjoy all of the activities on the ship. However, we managed to go bowling at O'Sheehan's which was a lot of fun. We also did a few of the family activities (family game night, balloon twisting) and some of the dance stiff (70's line dance). DD loved napkin folding class of all things! I did a wine tasting event as well, which was well worth the $15.

 

KIDS CLUB

 

This was our first cruise with a kid so I have nothing to compare the kids' club to but I was pleased with the venue and staff. DD didn't spend a ton of time there (again, port intensive itinerary) but it was nice to have a place to send her for a few hours at a time. Check-in/out was ridiculously slow, though. Typically they only had 1 person working the check-in/out counter and when you have a mad rush of people all picking up at the same time, it took forever.

 

PORTS

 

As I said, we embarked in Civitivecchia and were staying in Rome post-cruise, so we did not use any excursions for that port. We also stayed on the ship in Livorno as we had just done Pisa/Florence on our own - DD did the kids' club, I went to the spa, DH rode the water slides, etc. It was nice to have the ship "empty" for the day.

 

In Marseilles, we did a 1/2 day NCL excursion to Aix en Provence. It was worth the $, I though. A nice little walking tour and enough free time for shopping and for DD to ride the carousel.

 

I'll be honest - I didn't even get off the ship in Palma. I was BEAT and had my fill of "family" time by that point. DH and DD headed into port and went to the beach and I went to the spa then napped by the pool. It was glorious. :)

 

DH and I had been to Barcelona before so we just got off the ship and walked up Las Ramblas. Took DD to Placa de Catalonia and she fed/chased the birds. We had chocolate and churros in Placa Real and headed back to the ship.

 

In Naples we did an NCL excursion to Pompeii and Sorrento. This was also worth the $$, IMO. We had a great guide and it was a nice combo of tour/relaxation. DD got a bit car sick on the drive to Sorrento and when we stopped at the lookout point for photos, our guide bought her a lemon ice. It was very sweet. Lunch at the farm was good (plus, there was wine!).

 

CASINO

 

DH gambled a few nights (he's a baccarat player) and won enough to cover our on-board charges so I was happy about that. We walked through the casino several times and never noticed cigarette smoke (actually, I didn't notice smoke anywhere on the ship). It was a bit awkward walking through the casino to get from one end of the ship to the other but, living in Las Vegas, we are used to that!

 

DISEMBARKATION

 

This was a breeze. Luggage tickets were delivered morning before, we put our bags out that night, and walked off the ship at 9am the next morning. DH had arranged for a car/driver to pick us up at the port and give us a Rome tour and then take us to our hotel. He booked through Rome Cabs and they were great. 400 Euro for 4 hours and well worth every penny.

 

GENERAL THOUGHTS

 

The ship itself wasn't as impressive to me as I thought. I thought was very easy to get around, we never got lost, etc. I missed the open feeling I got on the RCI ships, though. No promenade deck, etc. The Epic seemed just so closed off.

 

I like the "freestyle" concept a lot. It's definitely something that will draw me back to NCL again.

 

The "wave" design of the room was fine to me. I actually liked having the toilet and shower separate. Privacy wasn't an issue for us but we aren't a terribly modest family to begin with.

 

I think you get a bit of a different experience when you embark in a port other than Barcelona. It seems as though they treat Barcelona as "day 1" regardless and when you embark in a different port, you feel a bit like the forgotten step-child. Again, a minor issue but something I noticed.

 

We would definitely cruise on NCL again, but I'm not sure I would be drawn to the Epic specifically.

[vivalawvegas]

Oh, I forgot to mention that we spent time at the pool nearly every day and we never had trouble finding a spot. On the at sea day, things were more crowded but I still managed to find a spot close to the pool (so I could watch DD without having to be in the water with her). Granted, we were at the pool earlier than most (one perk of traveling with a kid - the early wake-up call!) but it never seemed ridiculously crowded and we didn't see any chair hogs.

[TSUmom]

Thank you for the review. We are booked on an 11 day out of Rome on the Jade but I love reading about the ports and other peoples experiences. We were on the Epic this past April and had a wonderful cruise. Of course all of our cruises are wonderful because it is vacation and no work;)