NCL Epic Live Trip Cruise Report Aug/Sep 2014

[ghockley1981]

So then, I thought I'm going to try the impossible and complete a live trip review as we go along. I have loved reading so many peoples reviews during our planning of this trip so I hope this gives a little back. If you have any specific questions which aren't already answered in CruiseCritic ( which I know most are !! ) I can try and find them out for you while I'm here so don't worry about asking away.

 

A little background, we are a party of four in two separate cabins. It's mine and My wifes' first cruise and we are in our 30s and we came with her parents who have just turned 60, they have cruised 3 times but not with NCL.

 

So then we join the NCL Epic in Barcelona for day 1, we arrive at port at 11.30 and with our luggage tags already attached we immediately hand them over at the collection point and queue up to check in.

 

 

The process here went very quickly even though it seemed very busy. The staff were well rehearsed and we checked in, had our pictures taken, our cards produced and the credit card scanned quickly. Within 45 minutes we were on the ship, with a smile and a lovely welcome.

 

Being our first entrance onto a ship being ushered through an empty casino to the lifts maybe wasn't the best. But still with excitement we made our way to the rooms.

 

Indeed although it was so early we were told we could go and settle in and drop off anything we wished and if the cabin was not ready it would be as soon as they could. This was a good touch and no hanging around let us enjoy ourselves in a relaxing time suited to us.

 

When we got to our cabins which were mid ship balconies level 10 they were already made up and they were much roomier than the photos give credit for. The much criticised bathroom layout worked for us fine. The shower is nice and big for my 6ft 2 frame, the toilet a bit more of a squeeze with the door closed however. But the curtain was perfectly adequate for us to separate the cabin from the bathroom. The sink was fine, safe worked a dream and the storage space around was very useful. We immediately pulled the bed out a few inches to get us that extra room. This tip I got from here and it certainly is good to know.

 

 

My top tip of the day, the size of the UK Adapters for the plug sockets mean you cannot fit 2 next to each other in the two room sockets. One gets blocked by the other. So you can only use one which is rather annoying. Bring a 2 or even 3 way plug adapter to get round this.

 

 

Being a bit hungry we went to investigate our surroundings and went to the top deck to get some sun and check out the bars. We noticed though that the Garden Cafe was not to busy at this point so we thought let's get in there now. We had beaten the rush!!! My wife and father in law are vegetarians and found the veggie burger which had to be cooked fresh, and combined this with a salad bowl and fries which they were happy with. The selection here was vast and I had BBQ chicken, pork balls, sausages, beef stirfry, breaded chicken, and some new roasted potatoes. Lovely.

 

We then walked around the ship to work out where everything is until it got near our life boat drill meeting. This was quickly but importantly got out the way and we then headed to the adult only area at the front of the ship. We grabbed a couple of the lovely comfortable deck sun beds and ordered a bucket of beers and some drinks for the ladies. We then enjoyed the occasion of setting off out of Barcelona port on our Mediterrean Cruise. After this we had some crepes outside by the pool and decided we would be having more of these lol.

 

We then saw the Graffiti Classics in headliners, this act was quite talented and got the crowd singing along, it was a nice and easy show to sit back and enjoy.

 

After all our excitement for one day we thought we'd get some more grub and went back to the Garden Cafe which once again did not disappoint.

 

We ended our evening at the Spice h2o where we watched The Monument Men at the open cinema.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone

Norwegian Epic Med Cruise Sep 2014

[benona]

Thanks for the review...following keenly!!!

:)

[dizneydawn]

Have an amazing trip! I will be following along!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[phabric]

I will,looking forward to your reviews.

[misand]

Enjoy, we sail on her in 81 day!

[Steph27]

Excellent review so far. I don't understand about pulling the bed out. Is that because you are tall and you moved it forward? Sounds like a wonderful sail away. Where did you get the crepes? Looking forward to the food descriptions and the vegetarian options. Do you have plans to dine in the specialty restaurants?

[Radio]

I love to read "LIVE" reports. . . . Keep it up !

 

 

Radio

;);)

 

 

.

[ghockley1981]

So then we woke up on our first day which is at Sea travelling from Barcelona to Naples. It was quite choppy and there was a lot of people complaining of sea sickness but due to the weather it couldn't be helped. It soon got better though. We went up to the Garden Cafe for breakfast and helped ourselves to the massive buffet. We then walked down the steps to the Italian restaurant to get a seat.

 

They serve a smaller buffet down here to which I didn't realise. No baked beans though so we will continue to fill up upstairs and come down with full plates lol I found the scrambled egg made for you while you wait a lot better than the ones sitting in a pan for you to serve yourself.

 

An emergency was then announced over the tannoy. A passenger had fallen ill and we were changing course to meet a helicopter. Felt sorry for this person, their holiday cut so short. The pick up was done successfully an hour later with the Haven sunbathing area cleared for the operation. Very scary I'm sure for the passenger and all involved.

 

 

After some sunbathing by the pool and people watching we filled up on some lunch buffet before gong down to the beer tastings in the Maltings bar. This was run by the staff here and was quite interesting actually. Although doing a tasting of Fosters seemed to be a bit silly. We had 5 drinks in total for €15 which seemed good for the measures we got.

 

 

We then played Bingo, not a great deal to say here really it's just that really. $39 for 3 books, $49 for 6 books and then there was a luxury packages with a T-Shirt and some wooden bingo slots and instant win tickets. This cost a lot and so we didn't bother with this.

 

After a few cocktails we then headed to the Blue Man Group show. I enjoyed this show and thought some bits were quite clever. But there were some points when I felt the scene went on to long, and the entertainment value was lost. Overall im glad I saw it but I wouldn't need to see it again.

 

We then went straight into the The Supreme Dreamgirls, you can book this but we luckily got in as reserves. This Motown group I thought were very good and I would watch them again. Their show is in the comedy club and it was full. Lots of life in this show, and the singing was very good.

 

After this we spent some time in the casino, all the tables were for high rollers really. There was a minimum bet of $6 on a blackjack table and a $10 roulette table (with 5 chips placed of $2 each) the rest were all $25 and above that I could see.

 

We then called it a night as we had a early start for Naples the next day. Which we were doing our own tour on so a bit of travelling on the trains for us!!!!!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone

Norwegian Epic Med Cruise Sep 2014

[lelder1]

We are booked on level 10 for November - which rooms are you in?

[ghockley1981]

We are booked on level 10 for November - which rooms are you in?

 

 

We are in level 10 the rooms just by the rear lift on the port side.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone

Norwegian Epic Med Cruise Sep 2014

[ghockley1981]

Excellent review so far. I don't understand about pulling the bed out. Is that because you are tall and you moved it forward?

 

 

Thank you, we pull the mattress out from under the headboard a few inches as I am quite tall as you lose that space otherwise. Also you can kept clipping your legs on the end of the metal bed frame so this ensures the mattress stops this painful experience. 😀

 

 

Sent from my iPhone

Norwegian Epic Med Cruise Sep 2014

[ghockley1981]

Sounds like a wonderful sail away. Where did you get the crepes? Looking forward to the food descriptions and the vegetarian options. Do you have plans to dine in the specialty restaurants?

 

 

It was a wonderful sail away for our first time, we had a great view and avoided any crowds. We got the crepes at the outside Garden Cafe, the fillings I remember are strawberries in strawberry syrup, Nutella and lemon curd although they had others. They are very nice and cooked as you wait. Yummy

 

 

Sent from my iPhone

Norwegian Epic Med Cruise Sep 2014

[ghockley1981]

We are still looking at the speciality restaurants but the vegetarian options are more limited. Will do a n update on this nearer the end of our cruise.

 

As for the buffet which they seem to love, it has been a great variety changing every day. I shall take some pics at some point for you

 

 

Sent from my iPhone

Norwegian Epic Med Cruise Sep 2014

[Zhane's mum]

We are on your cruise. Currently enjoying free wifi and a coffee at a cafe in civitavecchia. It's good of you to take time out of your cruise to write this review

[debnjoe1438]

Enjoying the review so far, thanks. :D

[Gettingwarmer]

Enjoying review, lots of info.

[ghockley1981]

We are on your cruise. Currently enjoying free wifi and a coffee at a cafe in civitavecchia. It's good of you to take time out of your cruise to write this review

 

 

Hi there! It's be good so far hasn't it. We went into Rome via the train so I have some good pointers to write up about when I get to that. Seemed a lot easier than I thought it would be!

 

I just like to update as I go along so it doesn't seem such a big effort, no problem when I'm listening to the guitarist at the Maltings bar though. Nice and relaxing lol

 

Although at the moment I'm currently on the train heading back to port with the countryside rushing by.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone

Norwegian Epic Med Cruise Sep 2014

[kfowinst]

Thank you!! I'm really enjoying your live review, it's been lovely following you on your travels.

 

I'm due to board the Epic in a month, same itinerary, so closely following.

 

I've a couple of questions I hope you don't mind answering (but I'm sure you will cover these things in your detailed write ups anyway!)

 

1) Were there many taxis parked in Livorno port? (I'm hoping to get one to Florence and back with family, instead of train. Will be interested to hear how you found travelling to Florence or Pisa)

 

2) Which bar (in your opinion) makes the best cocktails?!

 

3) Which day would you recommend booking one specialty dinner for? Bearing in mind the port-heavy itinerary.

 

4) How was the travel from ship to train station in Civitivecchia? (I heard they are re-furbing the port, I'm sure you'll cover this in your review)

 

Happy rest of your cruise :)

 

Hope the weather stays calm.

Edited September 3, 2014 by kfowinst

[Froufie]

Very excited to see this review as I will be on the Epic in about 7 weeks! And glad to hear the cabin is not as small as it looks (I have been studying all those youtube videos and am a bit surprised at how tight it seems?).

 

Wondering if you noticed location of duty free shop in barcelona terminal bldg upon boarding? I know there are 'security scanners' as you come into the port building - but wondering if there were any other security scanners prior to boarding the ship (on deck 6 I believe?). ...thanks:)

[ghockley1981]

So then day two begins at Naples with our usual breakfast In the garden cafe, although as it is nice we decided to eat outside.

 

We disembark quite late into the morning and head to the taxi queue. Today we are doing our own organised tour of Pompeii.

 

There are lots of taxis outside offering deals to take you here, €60 seemed the common value for this. But after all my research here I decided against that. We got our taxi from the queue at the back of the port with a covering. This seemed more organised than the one right where you got of the boat but whether the cost is different I doubt it. We were charged €15 to take us to the Circumvesuviana Porta Nolana.

 

Now this is where the train starts from to go to Sorrento and stops at Herculaneum and Pompeii. Most people decide to pick this up from the main terminal of Napoli Garibaldi. This however is a little further away from the port and the platform was packed when we got there on the train. No chance to get a seat as they were already all gone. Now yes they did not speak English at Porta Nolana as this is their local station but we coped easily enough by sign language (to indicate there and back) and saying the key words Pompeii Scavvi.

 

Once we had gone down the stairs to our right and got through the turnstiles we found the train very easily marked Circumvesuviana on the front. We just got on and waited for it to leave. It couldn't be easier and cost €6.

 

 

Once we arrived at Pompeii Scavvi at our set time we met our fellow cruise critic friends and then our tour guide who was organised through toursofpompeii . This all went like clockwork and the tour was wonderful, Rosina our guide showed us a lot of passion and humour and gave us a good tour of the key areas of Pompeii. It was just what we needed and I'm so glad we did this.

 

She got our tickets for us so we didn't have to queue and did not ask for any money until the end of the tour. €30 - €40 per person for 6 of us including the ticket.

 

The queue was quite large so if you are doing this yourself then I would buy them online. (If you can)

 

 

She left us at the main area and directed us how to get out, then let us explore on our own until we wanted to leave. Getting back to the train was easy, and after working out how to get to the other side of the tracks for the right platform back to Naples. (There are stairs between two shops) we were happily on our way back to the port with plenty of time to spare.

 

We got out at the main train station on the way back as we felt it would be easier to get a taxi from here to port. Our friends walked while with our party being slightly older and tired from all the walking decided a taxi was the best choice. This was at the front of the station and the taxi leader asked us where we wanted to go. When we said to the port he asked us which ship and made sure we went to the right one. A good service and it cost us €19 as we were that bit further away.

 

On the way to the ship we passed a few shops and bought some water here to take on board. Much cheaper and we only had to carry it 100m or so.

 

We then took some pictures of the ship before boarding and deciding what to do in the evening apart from our booked Legends show.

 

 

In the end we went back to our trusty Garden Cafe buffet to eat. It is very nice here and there is always so much choice. I promise I will take some pictures of this, in case your wondering what all the fuss is about. I see no need to spend the Extra on the speciality restaurants when the included ones are so nice. We just go to the buffet as it suits the vegetarians who can pick an choose exactly what they want. Brilliant.

 

After some cocktails upstairs and listening to the guitarist in the Maltings bar downstairs with some more we decided to have one more drink at the salsa party in Spice. This was quite busy at the back of the ship but looked a good laugh.

 

 

Next stop Rome and how to get there by train!!!!

 

Our next day was Rome and a busy one so we called it a night.

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone

Norwegian Epic Med Cruise Sep 2014

[ghockley1981]

Very excited to see this review as I will be on the Epic in about 7 weeks! And glad to hear the cabin is not as small as it looks (I have been studying all those youtube videos and am a bit surprised at how tight it seems?).

 

Wondering if you noticed location of duty free shop in barcelona terminal bldg upon boarding? I know there are 'security scanners' as you come into the port building - but wondering if there were any other security scanners prior to boarding the ship (on deck 6 I believe?). ...thanks:)

 

Yes the rooms are quite good, I'm 6"2 and the bed is fine for me and I would say the shower is spacious!!

 

As for the scanners in Barcelo.na. Your cases are taken outside and then you head into check in and go through security before you get to the check in desks. After this I'm not sure if you could get duty free but there were some shops there. If they sold alcohol I'm unsure I'm afraid.. There was no checks until you got onboard

[danglish]

Thanks for taking the time to do this.

 

We're cruising on Epic for the first time in about 6 weeks - your thread is adding to the excitment!

[Froufie]

Yes the rooms are quite good, I'm 6"2 and the bed is fine for me and I would say the shower is spacious!!

 

As for the scanners in Barcelo.na. Your cases are taken outside and then you head into check in and go through security before you get to the check in desks. After this I'm not sure if you could get duty free but there were some shops there. If they sold alcohol I'm unsure I'm afraid.. There was no checks until you got onboard

 

Thanks for the info - can you please elaborate on :There was no checks until you got onboard...does that mean there were further checks once onboard the ship? Or just the 'original' scanners as mentioned (for carryons) at bottom of esclator/entrance to port building?

 

If further checks once onboard - was this another scanner? or ???:confused:

[ghockley1981]

If further checks once onboard - was this another scanner? or ???:confused:

 

 

There was a scanner when you got onboard.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone

Norwegian Epic Med Cruise Sep 2014

[1lovehols]

Thanks for the insight I'm doing this cruise next week. A question which might be a biggie. Is there a perfume store on board & if so how do the prices compare to uk or USA. I've a gift to get & debating waiting to see if on board of get it at airport/barcelona or Italy.