Epic Overlapping Cruises

[Son of a son of a ...]

Has anyone else noticed that the Epic has several overlapping cruises available in 2016? For example, there is a cruise out of Barcelona overlapping a cruise out of Marseilles - I was able to mock book both of them. I checked an internet TA site and it shows the same overlaps. I called NCL and they are looking into it.

 

There are going to be some pretty disappointed cruisers when they get it straightened out.

[Demonyte]

That is normal for Epic's Mediterranean itineraries, people can embark/disembark in several ports. This has already been done for years, for the past two summers at least the ports have been Barcelona and Civitavecchia.

Edited October 15, 2015 by Demonyte

[gymbomb]

Is it one of the ones where they let people board at more than one port?

 

 

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[FrostieFingerz]

This is not a mistake :)

in some cases, especially in the Mediterranean, cruise lines do this.

I know of Norwegian and MSC Cruises that are doing this.

For Instance, I sail on the Epic for 3 nights from Barcelona and disembark in Citavecchia, where other people board. In the meantime, there are people thats stay on board and do a roundtrip cruise back to Barcelona

 

This can be quite handy as some ports are easier to reach than others, depending where you come from :)

[Son of a son of a ...]

This is not a mistake :)

in some cases, especially in the Mediterranean, cruise lines do this.

I know of Norwegian and MSC Cruises that are doing this.

For Instance, I sail on the Epic for 3 nights from Barcelona and disembark in Citavecchia, where other people board. In the meantime, there are people thats stay on board and do a roundtrip cruise back to Barcelona

 

This can be quite handy as some ports are easier to reach than others, depending where you come from :)

 

I never thought of it that way ... now it makes sense! Thank you very much!

[hawkeyetlse]

The Italian lines (Costa, MSC) have been doing this forever, and it's one reason I avoid them. But for a megaship like the Epic, I suppose it makes sense.

For Instance, I sail on the Epic for 3 nights from Barcelona and disembark in Citavecchia, where other people board. In the meantime, there are people thats stay on board and do a roundtrip cruise back to Barcelona

How did you book this? I wasn't aware that they were letting people book one-way trips on the Epic (boarding and disembarking in different cities). Was this an option offered by NCL, or from a TA?

Edited October 15, 2015 by hawkeyetlse

[FrostieFingerz]

How did you book this? I wasn't aware that they were letting people book one-way trips on the Epic (boarding and disembarking in different cities). Was this an option offered by NCL, or from a TA?

I booked this through NCL's website. Have a look:

http://www.ncl.eu/search.php?order_by=best_match&region_id=25&price_range%5Bmin%5D=0&price_range%5Bmax%5D=0&number_of_adults=2&number_of_children=0&departure_year_month_day=2015-10-25&to_year_month_day=2016-05-31

 

I think Europe is the perfect place for those overlapping trips. I see on their website that they are also doing this on the Norwegian Jade and Norwegian Star for other European journeys.

Maybe this is new for Norwegian and perhaps it has something to do with expanding their whole 'freestyle cruise' thing?

Although I don't expect this to ever happen in the Caribbean, for instance :)

[Demonyte]

I wasn't aware that they were letting people book one-way trips on the Epic (boarding and disembarking in different cities). Was this an option offered by NCL, or from a TA?

 

 

These kind of bookings have been available on Canary Islands itineraries as well - from Malaga to Barcelona.

[Son of a son of a ...]

As a post script: I received a call from NCL. They closed bookings for Barcelona embarkation and opened bookings for Marseillaise embarkation when the Epic is in that port. Exactly what you described.

[ulster-cruiser]

The Italian lines (Costa, MSC) have been doing this forever, and it's one reason I avoid them. But for a megaship like the Epic, I suppose it makes sense.

 

How did you book this? I wasn't aware that they were letting people book one-way trips on the Epic (boarding and disembarking in different cities). Was this an option offered by NCL, or from a TA?

 

Why would embarkation at more than 1 port make you avoid a cruise line? I quite like the idea...especially in the Med. We embarked at Rome this summer and the embarkation/debarkation was a lot less busy as less people were leaving these days.

[hawkeyetlse]

Why would embarkation at more than 1 port make you avoid a cruise line?

Well, it's only one reason (and not the main one), but for me it kind of turns the ship into a giant bus with people getting on and off at every stop. It's no longer one huge group of people doing one cruise together, and this has an effect on the activities and entertainment, and on the way the cruise staff interacts with the passengers.

 

Still, it's not a huge deal, and it will not prevent me from continuing to sail Epic (since it's either that or nothing, as far as NCL goes in Europe over the wintertime). I just hope this doesn't encourage a lot of people from Marseille to start cruising NCL :D

 

I do wonder what happens when they need to do a deep cleaning of the whole ship. On normal cruises they can just delay boarding of the next batch of passengers. On these rolling cruises, there will always be passengers on board.

Edited October 15, 2015 by hawkeyetlse

[Cloudyrain]

In 2013 people could embark the Epic at Barcelona, Civitavecchia and Marseille - it's nothing new, it's just that they altered the itinerary a bit in 2014 to swap Marseille with Cannes, and now they are swapping Palma with Marseille in 2016. The Spirit also had two embarkation points in 2013: Barcelona and Malaga.

 

Multiple embarkation has no impact whatsoever on the cruiser: we always boarded at the 'main' port and were always treated as Day 1. Only a small number of people in comparison boarded at the other embarkation points - literally 100-200.

 

We have cruised with Thomson and they also do multiple embarkation points - again, it makes no difference to the cruiser.

Edited October 16, 2015 by Cloudyrain

[kruzinkimmie]

How do the multiple embarkation ports deal with vacationers who want to buy posh or spa passes? Do you still get that first day start of your cruise experience or not really since there are already people half way through their cruise?

 

Also is it a big deal with if there are multiple embarkation ports?!

 

Thanks!

[theriac]

It makes sense for lines to do this. I'm wondering though if now a muster drill has to be done at the ports, and could find it annoying if a few times during the trip you just see hallways full of luggage. Are there separate lines for disembarkation and just getting off the ship to see the port?

[Bra_BE2014]

Well, it's only one reason (and not the main one), but for me it kind of turns the ship into a giant bus with people getting on and off at every stop. It's no longer one huge group of people doing one cruise together, and this has an effect on the activities and entertainment, and on the way the cruise staff interacts with the passengers.

 

 

 

Still, it's not a huge deal, and it will not prevent me from continuing to sail Epic (since it's either that or nothing, as far as NCL goes in Europe over the wintertime). I just hope this doesn't encourage a lot of people from Marseille to start cruising NCL :D

 

 

 

I do wonder what happens when they need to do a deep cleaning of the whole ship. On normal cruises they can just delay boarding of the next batch of passengers. On these rolling cruises, there will always be passengers on board.

 

 

There is one big advantage: fewer crowds embarking together in one single port means easier faster embarkation everywhere :-)

[hawkeyetlse]

Multiple embarkation has no impact whatsoever on the cruiser: we always boarded at the 'main' port and were always treated as Day 1. Only a small number of people in comparison boarded at the other embarkation points - literally 100-200.

As long as there continues to be a "main port" where most of the passengers get on, then the experience is pretty much the same for those passengers. But those that get on at the "secondary" embarkation ports have the feeling of joining in the middle of a cruise.

 

From a CC perspective, the overlapping roll calls are a pain (especially if someone has the bright idea of attempting to organize a meet & greet :eek:).

 

And I wonder if they even bother with checking for alcohol smuggling anymore, since anyone who is disembarking before you can bring alcohol on and then give it to you at the end of their cruise.

[theriac]

And I wonder if they even bother with checking for alcohol smuggling anymore, since anyone who is disembarking before you can bring alcohol on and then give it to you at the end of their cruise.

 

That's a good point.

 

Let's say you meet someone the day you board in Barcelona and they're disembarking the following day in Marseilles. The new cruisers could have the other people procure some liquor for them and the next morning before they disembark they give the new cruisers the bottles.

 

That could all be arranged in a CC roll call too.

 

Having said all that I would like to note I am not a smuggler and believe it you can't pay for your drinks you shouldn't cruise. Just like if you can't afford to leave a decent tip you should reconsider going out to eat. I was just pointing out you're right it would be easy to get away with sneaking booze on board.

 

I am still curious about the muster drill on these kind of cruises.

[hawkeyetlse]

I am still curious about the muster drill on these kind of cruises.

Each new group of embarking passengers has to have a muster drill, but if it's just a handful of passengers, they don't do it at the actual muster stations, but in one big group in the theater.

 

For the main embarkation port, the muster drill is pretty much like any other ship, so if you have already been on board for a couple of days, and you are not ashore when this happens, I imagine it is very disruptive.