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My EPIC Solo Adventure – 27 Jul 2014 to 3 Aug 2014 – Barcelona Round Trip

Sparkles87

By Sparkles87,
in Norwegian Cruise Line

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Sparkles87

Sparkles87

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OK so... bits n bobs.... part 1

 

The ship itself!

 

In a nutshell the ship is EPIC! :D So much to do, so much to see and there is entertainment coming out of everywhere.

 

It is immaculately clean and contrary to some reviews I read, I saw no evidence of wear and tear, no threadbare carpets, and no outdated decor. Yes the sun loungers look well used but none were broken or dirty in any way shape or form.

 

The pool area is great. I know you get a lot of people feeding negativity on the pools – there too small, too crowded, unhygienic blah blah blah... I saw no problems with the pool area, yes it is small but unless you are intending on spending all day every day at the pool then it’s fine. Lots of little sprays dotted about for a quick cool down and the slides are fantastic! There are lots of sun loungers everywhere – yes I know it can be difficult to get one but to be fair it’s like that in every holiday resort. My motto: You snooze you lose, at the end of the day if you can’t be bothered getting up and getting yourself one - then tough luck! And also don’t be eyeballing people who spend all day on their loungers either – it’s kinda what they are there for and you can’t say you wouldn’t do the same if you had got up early and nabbed one! I may sound harsh but I come from the school of tough love! ;)

 

The bars and lounges are plentiful with lots of choices and the restaurants are fantastic. I never once had a bad meal or a bad drink (with the exception of accidentally getting a mint leaf in my mouth from a mojito – yuck!). :p

 

The entertainment is fantastic! Lots to see and do. Though I do regret not going to see Blue Man Group or Legends in Concert but I was having too much fun elsewhere to care really.

 

The shops are ok. Don’t get me wrong they had lots of things to buy but it would have been nice if they changed it up a little through the week. That being said I did wander through there a lot and did buy some little things.

 

The crew are lovely – always smiling, always helpful and I never saw any signs of complacency. I know there have been a few reviews concerning rude, unhelpful crew members that look like they hate their jobs. Well I can say with absolute certainty that those statements are complete rubbish! I never had any issues with anyone.

 

I thought very hard about it and realised that I cannot fault the ship or the crew at all. Everything was perfect! :D

 

P.s. Thank you Tall Guy 51 - I am glad you are enjoying my review :)

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Sparkles87

Sparkles87

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Sorry for taking so long to get my next section up. Between work and....ahem....booking my next cruise :D - I have been a tad busy!

 

I will start this section of my review with a disclaimer - I know the kinds of arguments UBP talk can start!

 

"I am not nor have I even been an alcoholic. I am Scottish and I like to have an alcoholic drink or 2 of an evening - especially on holiday. I can handle my drink and I know when to stop. I am not one of those creepy drunken people who make fools of themselves and cause bother to others or harass others. I am the happy tipsy girl on the dance floor having a good time. End of disclaimer :p

 

OK so I did quite a lot of research on the UBP before I decided it was right for me. I have to admit there are some good ready reckoner's on here for you to work it out but I did my own method. I'm sure by now most people have been on cruisegambees website and honestly all of the prices in his pictures are pretty accurate so I used that to determine what I would be likely to drink to see what kind of cost I was looking at. I remembered to add in the 15% service charge and the 10% Spanish VAT too to get an accurate pricing for each drink. I reckoned that I would spend about $50 - $70 a day on soft drinks and alcohol.

 

This meant that I would be pretty much better off on the UBP as I would save myself money. Plus when you pre-pay you get a $5 discount and you don't have to pay the Spanish VAT :)

 

At the time when I booked you could only do it over the phone - I am glad this has changed and you can now do it on-line.

 

Whilst on board I did track my daily beverage spend and I broke even on the cost mainly due to the fact that a) I was ashore sometimes and b) the day I wasn't feeling so good; though on other days I more than made up for that. So I am glad I pre-paid this and it didn't have to go on my credit card at the end of my cruise!

 

Please feel free to ask away if you have any questions related to UBP and I will do my best to answer them :)

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Sparkles87

Sparkles87

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Thanks for your thoughts on UBP

 

What was your favourite bar on epic for cocktails?!

 

I will admit each every bar I went to was good. And I never found the drinks particularly weak as many others have mentioned on the boards.

 

O'sheehans had a good selection - different to most of the other bars.... I'd recommend the Cherry Collins :D

 

Waves bar was good though I didn't get many alcoholic drinks there due to the daytime heat factor - their Mojitos are good and their Rebellious Fish. If you want a good laugh ask for a Passionate Kiss ;) it's a deliciously cold smoothie-style cocktail which gets a great reaction when ordered! A laugh, a smile a funny comment - all in good fun!

 

The cocktails were always good in Bliss - I was partial to a Margarita on the rocks with salt but all of the cocktails were pretty good.

 

The cocktails in Headliners were good too - I cant remember the name of my favourite but it was strong and very delicious!

 

My other favourites were Mai Tai's and Sea Breeze's - nice and refreshing on a hot day! ;)

 

Hope this helps!

Edited by Sparkles87
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  • 4 months later...
Sparkles87

Sparkles87

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Did The Epic pick up passengers in Rome? How did that affect the group? Where they able to fit in and make connections with the solos that were already together for several days?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

Hi travelinggal1959,

 

Yes the Epic did pick up people at Rome, I find that more Americans embark from Rome as it's a more appealing place to have a few days before you cruise (I guess its top on the hit list of places to visit :) )

 

When I embarked in Barcelona, there was already and established solo group who embarked in Rome and they were all very welcoming (as I understand it we were a much livelier bunch from the previous Barcelona bunch). Gabi, the solo host, was fantastic at getting people together and talking.

 

When the Rome solo's left and new solos embarked in Rome we all did our best to welcome them. There were more guys than gals so the guys all hung around together and left us ladies to it. And again, Gabi made sure all intro's were made and everyone was talking and happy.

 

You should have any issues fitting into the gang - all of the solos I encountered were all lovely and friendly.

 

Hope that helps :)

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TargaryenOne

TargaryenOne

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I just realised that I never did get around to posting pictures.

 

Here is a link to my Epic picture file:

Sparkles 87 Epic Holiday

 

Enjoy! There are some of the ship and some of the ports. No people I'm afraid - don't want to infringe on anyone's privacy.

 

Nice pictures! Some of your pics shows almost nobody on the decks or pools. When was that? When on ports or early in the morning?

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Sparkles87

Sparkles87

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Nice pictures! Some of your pics shows almost nobody on the decks or pools. When was that? When on ports or early in the morning?

 

The pictures near the beginning were from day 1 when I first got on the ship in Barcelona - I was in boarding group 2. The busiest day was the day at sea though at 9 am there was still areas with sunbeds available (I did go up on deck around 8 and saw a few near the pool which had been stickered by pool staff - naughty early bird chair hogs I assume). The rest of the week wasn't so bad some days they they were practically empty though If I recall they were major port days like Rome - I guess if you don't have plans to go ashore then you will have your pick of sunbeds :)

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Sparkles87

Sparkles87

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This may be a silly question... I am going on the same cruise in July. I am not a solo cruiser but the people I am going with are considerably older than me. Do they allow other single cruisers to join?

 

 

The door to the solo lounge is always open for those who are not staying in solo cabins to come and join in (normally around 6:30pm). I doubt anyone would mind you joining the group, the solo cruisers can be a pretty friendly bunch.

 

However, the age ranges can vary significantly. When I cruised last July there were lots of different age ranges from 20s & 30s to 60s & 70s. There is no guarantee that the age range of the solo group will be closer to you age than your cruising companions.

 

Hope that helps

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ttiplock1973

ttiplock1973

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Thank you for your response. Silly question #2. I am normally a Royal Caribbean cruiser, and they have an adult game -that I love!!- called Quest. Do you know if they play this game on the Epic? I YouTube it and they had one onyly 1. posting. have ever played this game on the epic.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Sparkles87

Sparkles87

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Thank you for your response. Silly question #2. I am normally a Royal Caribbean cruiser, and they have an adult game -that I love!!- called Quest. Do you know if they play this game on the Epic? I YouTube it and they had one only 1. posting. have ever played this game on the epic.

 

If you check out post no.20 on page 1 - I mentioned the adult quest game that was played in the evening leaving Palma for Barcelona.

It was played in Bliss Lounge (the nightclub). I can't remember too much about it now - though I do remember it being lots of fun. There was lots of screaming and shouting and laughing involved, we had guys removing clothing, girls removing bras, rude sunburn lines (mines included - major cleavage burn! ;)), and as I recall each team had to dress a guy in women's clothing!

 

On the first night there was also a very funny girls v boys treasure hunt game which involved a lot of hilarity.

 

Hope that helps.

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  • 3 weeks later...
Wiggster

Wiggster

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Hi, thank you for the fantastic review, I like your writing style, not to OTT but still informative, just a quick question regarding the UBP, can you get any of the paid for hot beverages on it, i.e coffee etc.

 

The Menu regarding the hot beverages are not very clear although I think it says limited selection. Many thanks Ian

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Sparkles87

Sparkles87

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Hi Wiggster,

 

Thank you, Im glad you enjoyed my review.

 

Unfortunately you can't get any speciality beverages on UBP. You can get tea and coffee at the buffet but any of the speciality ones like cappacinos etc you would have to pay for seperately. Though on Epic I believe you can only get these at the Atrium Cafe - I could be wrong though as the mdrs may also serve some.

 

I hope that helps :-)

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Sparkles87

Sparkles87

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Sparkles, thank you for a BRILLIANT review. Sounds like you had a blast. I really want to try the studios out but I think my hubby would protest. They looks so cool.

 

Thanks much, Mary

 

Thank you silver_cloud, I'm glad you enjoyed my review. I really did have a blast! I'm on Epic again in July and looking forward to it.

Fingers crossed you can talk you hubby into letting you have a little solo escape - if not then you may just have to bring him with you in a balcony ;)

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