Overlapping European Itineraries on Epic?

[Mel&Ken]

Hello fellow cruisers!

 

We're booked on a 7 day Med cruise in/out of Rome next May 3-10th. I was really starting to worry that no one was on the roll call but me. My past experiences have been much different and I seriously was thinking maybe I had made a mistake with my dates or even the year! :eek:

 

Finally someone popped on and pointed out the they too are on the Epic but they join in Barcelona instead. :confused:

 

I have never heard of this before. How does this work??? So in Barcelona and again in Rome half the passengers disembark and embark?? How does this work for muster drills? More importantly - what does this do to the process of leaving the ship? When we're in Barcelona for a day trip will we be fighting to get off the ship with everyone hauling their luggage off? When we disembark in Rome does this take any longer?

 

If anyone has experienced this type of overlap before I would be curious to hear about it!

 

Melissa

[KeithJenner]

I've done this cruise a few times, always from Barcelona.

 

Barcelona is the main embarkation port, and most people will board there.

 

Your muster drill will be held in somewhere like the theatre. In Barcelona there is a full muster drill, so that if you are onboard you will find that the whole ship closes down for the duration. Keep that in mind if you are likely to be onboard at the time.

 

Getting off in Barcelona won't be a problem. The ship docks very early and there are no queues of people with luggage. When returning you will have a sticker or something which, with your keycard, will allow you to walk straight on.

 

The biggest differences for you will be the muster and the fact that the days number from Barcelona. For example I think there is an introduction show in the theatre on the first night (which is in Barcelona) and the main sail away party is also there). That may or may not be a problem depending on how fussed you are about those things.

 

Making reservations can also be affected. Bookings for the early part of your cruise open up earlier for the Barcelona people than for you, but you have a start on them for that latter half. This affects both online bookings and those you may make after boarding.

 

Lots of people do this, and it doesn't seem to be too much of a problem these days (there was lots of grumbling a few years ago, but that seems to have largely stopped).

[Regguy]

Interesting questions. We did Epic a few years ago from Barcelona. I remember when I booked it, you could also book it from Rome and one other place, but cabin selection was far more limited for non-Barcelona departures. During our cruise it had no impact. I think I remember seeing luggage tags one night for departing guests and maybe navigating suitcases took an extra couple of minutes in Rome to disembark, but it was no big deal. We only did one lifeboat drill. I seem to remember that there were several people with luggage trying to get to the train station in Rome, but we were able to move more quickly because we had no bags.

 

My guess is Barcelona is the more common embarkation point since it is a weekend to weekend round trip and Rome is mid-week, so you may have a bit more to navigate in Barcelona.

Edited July 25, 2016 by Regguy

[KeithJenner]

Yes, people on Barcelona embarkation will barely notice the difference, but for those people boarding in Rome or Marseilles there is more impact.

[GLYNAGP]

We have done this Three times on Norwegian Spirit. The main embarkation point was Barcelona and we boarded in Malaga on Day8 of the cruise did full circle on finished on day 8 again in Malaga 10days later (if that makes sense) it was really very nice, only about 300 boarded in Malaga, emergency drill was done in the theatre and we didn't have to do it again in Barcelona. We had stickers for use in Barcelona so just bypassed all the queues (lines) and disembarkation in Malaga was a breeze had breakfast and just wandered off around 0900 and went home.

 

It's a shame we don't have that opportunity any more we now have to fly upto Barcelona to join.

[rocklinmom]

Ah, now I understand why the Baltics cruise I have also been watching has embarkation available in both Copenhagen and Warnemunde. So I'm guessing most passengers board in Copenhagen and then the next day in Warnemunde more passengers get on. Then we would finish our cruise one day before them. So there would be more than one lifeboat drill, sailaway party, welcome aboard show, etc.? Interesting.

[dexddd]

NCL has been doing trips with multiple embarkation ports in the Med since at least 2006. Then they stopped a couple years IIRC then brought them back which gives people options.

[icechip]

Did this last October. We boarded in Rome. Easy time getting on the ship because everyone was on their tours. Had our drill in the loung the same day. When we went to Barcelona did our tour there while most people were rushing around do disembarkation. Loved it. We also booked a tour with some people who got on in Barcelona. It was their first day on the cruise and our last.

[GLYNAGP]

Ah, now I understand why the Baltics cruise I have also been watching has embarkation available in both Copenhagen and Warnemunde. So I'm guessing most passengers board in Copenhagen and then the next day in Warnemunde more passengers get on. Then we would finish our cruise one day before them. So there would be more than one lifeboat drill, sailaway party, welcome aboard show, etc.? Interesting.

Sadly there was only one Welcome Aboard Show when we boarded in Malaga, we had to wait until the bulk of the passenger boarded in Barcelona 2day later for that

[Mel&Ken]

Thanks for all the quick replies. Going on our 10th cruise and still learn something new every time! ;)

[ollienbertsmum]

We have done this Three times on Norwegian Spirit. The main embarkation point was Barcelona and we boarded in Malaga on Day8 of the cruise did full circle on finished on day 8 again in Malaga 10days later (if that makes sense) it was really very nice, only about 300 boarded in Malaga, emergency drill was done in the theatre and we didn't have to do it again in Barcelona. We had stickers for use in Barcelona so just bypassed all the queues (lines) and disembarkation in Malaga was a breeze had breakfast and just wandered off around 0900 and went home.

 

It's a shame we don't have that opportunity any more we now have to fly upto Barcelona to join.

 

Wouldn't it be great to board in Malaga. DH does not like to fly so we have to get to Malaga by car and then get a train. When The Adventure of the Seas left from Malaga it was really convenient, but I think they found that the casino and spa were empty on these cruises so AOS has moved on.

[vondofife]

We boarded the Epic in Rome for a 7 night European cruise. We arrived at the cruise port at 11am. There were only about 20 people there waiting to embark. We were allowed straight into the ship and our cabin was ready. We were told that only 300 people had boarded our cruise in Rome that day.

 

Anyway, when we boarded, the ship was really quiet. Most people who embarked in Barcelona were away on an excursion. This meant my son could ride on the slides, with no queuing, and we could sit around the pool deck with a choice of lounger!!

 

The people who embark in Rome attend a separate muster drill. You will be given details when you embark.

 

The day you port in Barcelona, the majority of passengers are disembarking. Again, if you are not going on an excursion, the ship will be quiet all morning. The new passengers attend muster but you are not required to attend. If anyone questions you, just show them your sea pass card and they'll be happy.

 

Hope this helps

 

 

 

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[BreeYark]

Someone mentioned in the past that about 75% of the Epic passengers embark in Barcelona, leaving about 25% for Civitavecchia (Rome).

 

This means that the big muster drill (when they close all the bars) and the big sailaway party will be happening in Barcelona, not in Civitavecchia. You will still have a smaller version of the mandatory muster drill in Civitavecchia.

[KeithJenner]

Someone mentioned in the past that about 75% of the Epic passengers embark in Barcelona, leaving about 25% for Civitavecchia (Rome).

 

This means that the big muster drill (when they close all the bars) and the big sailaway party will be happening in Barcelona, not in Civitavecchia. You will still have a smaller version of the mandatory muster drill in Civitavecchia.

 

 

 

My guess, based on observation onboard is that it is more like 90% in Barcelona. The number of people boarding in Rome does appear to have increased over time though.

 

Yes, the main muster drill is in Barcelona. Those who board there are unlikely to even be aware of the Rome muster, whereas in Barcelona everyone onboard will know about it due to the announcements and the fact you can't get a drink, or food.

[don1976]

There's usually one one sail away party, and that occurs after leaving Barcelona.

 

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[kathybelcher2433]

We embarked in Barcelona. If guests embarked later in the cruise in Rome, we never found out as the ship missed that port due to high winds. I wonder what happens in that case as I believe the next port after that was Majorca.

[hawkeyetlse]

We embarked in Barcelona. If guests embarked later in the cruise in Rome, we never found out as the ship missed that port due to high winds.

I guess this was last February? The Epic only had one embarkation/disembarkation port at that time (Barcelona), thank goodness, so no one absolutely needed to get on or off the ship at Civitavecchia. Otherwise, depending on the forecast, I guess they would have just waited around for the port to open again.

[KeithJenner]

We embarked in Barcelona. If guests embarked later in the cruise in Rome, we never found out as the ship missed that port due to high winds. I wonder what happens in that case as I believe the next port after that was Majorca.

 

 

 

As said, there wasn't a Rome embarkation on that cruise.

 

The Rome embarkation is on the standard Western Med itinerary, where the next port is Livorno. I suppose that, as a worse case scenario they could transport people there by land to join the ship the next day.

 

It's pretty rare though. In the last 5 years or so, that is the only case I know of where an NCL ship has missed Rome and they visit there a lot.

[Son of a son of a ...]

Some folks like to embark from Rome so the sea day is in the middle of the cruise. With a port intensive cruise, you might like a break mid-week.

[mickeysgal]

Yes, people on Barcelona embarkation will barely notice the difference, but for those people boarding in Rome or Marseilles there is more impact.

 

We were one of those that boarded in Rome since we wanted more days in Rome pre-cruise and were headed to Venice post cruise. We wanted to do our own thing in Barcelona and didn't book a tour since we've been there before. Very hard to navigate the crowds and we spent a lot of wasted time standing in the same taxi line with literally hundreds of others that had just disembarked.

 

So...make sure you book something in Barcelona...a private guide or a ship tour to get you out of there should you chose to get on/off in Rome.

Edited July 27, 2016 by mickeysgal

[Quilting_Cruiser]

Some folks like to embark from Rome so the sea day is in the middle of the cruise. With a port intensive cruise, you might like a break mid-week.

 

I'm guessing it has more to do with wanting to spend more than one day in Rome. I'm boarding in Rome next year and that makes the sea day on day five, so that wasn't a factor at all. I plan to spend several days in Rome pre-cruise. :D

[SullytheBFG]

We are doing this cruise in September. Our decision was based on flight prices and transfer time/costs to the port.

 

So we will get on and off in Barcelona.....

[GLYNAGP]

We are doing this cruise in September. Our decision was based on flight prices and transfer time/costs to the port.

 

So we will get on and off in Barcelona.....

If you are boarding in Rome then when you get to Barcelona you will be given a transit pass and a sticker to wear so you can come and go as you please in Barcelona and not have to stand in line with the people who are boarding there. It works really well, we've done it twice now. There's a shuttle bus and for a few euros it will drop you off near the Columbus Monument from where you can get the HoHo bus our just wander up La Rambla.

[Mel&Ken]

We have been to all these ports before and booked Wed-Wed so we could bring our daughter and spend 4 days in Rome before and 4 days in Paris after. The sea day is our second last day so unfortunately not positioned perfectly in the middle for that token day of rest.

 

It sounds like boarding the ship in Rome will be rather quick. After a busy 4 days exploring Rome, a quiet day on the ship will be just what we need.

 

Thanks again for all the information.

[enyaw]

LOVE LOVE this post. We're on the Epic in October and I was wondering the same thing. We're boarding in Rome -- so the easy embarkation day seems WONDERFUL. Especially if the weather is nice and we get a pool day before the BUSY itinerary we have ahead :)