Brief Epic Review with Freestyle Daily and Photo links

[loupana]

Just thought I would write a quick review and provide Freestyle Daily Planners and some links to photos.

 

Just back from a 7 day Epic Cruise of the Mediterranean. Great cruise, excellent service. We had an Aft Balcony cabin, loved the balcony, found the room to be small but we managed just fine. There was a lot of vibration in the cabin at that location, didn’t really bother us but was noticeable.

 

Found all dining options to be just ok,  We only did mostly specialty dining for dinner (Teppanyaki, Moderno, Cagney’s, Le Bistro, La Cucina, Cirque Dreams, Shanghai’s. The biggest disappointment was Moderno. Le Bistro was the exception, I found it was the best.

 

Entertainment, Howl at the Moon, same as always, enjoy it the first night after that just a lot of repetition. Epic Beatles were great but so many people in such a small venue. Didn’t care to much for Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Burn the floor was ok. Two other guest entertainers were not for me, Paul Suha a Violinist and Tre Amici a Classical Trio. They were very good at what they do it just wasn’t for me. Not many people took in the late show, not sure about the early show crowd or what it was like when they were in Headliners.

 

Tender Process in Cannes France had the be the worst tender experience I've ever had. As everyone suggests book your tender early if you need to get off early. We did not book any NCL Excursions, Booked a Florence Tour with Italy Tours. I found the local guide excellent but we had 3 hours of free time which I found to be a bit much. 

 

Links to Photos:

All Cruise Photos

Just Cabin Photos

Just Food Photos

 

Freestyle Daily Planners

Day-1 Jun 16, 2019.pdf

Day-2 Jun 17, 2019.pdf

Day-3 Jun 18, 2019.pdf

Day-4 Jun 19, 2019.pdf

Day-5 Jun 20, 2019.pdf

Day-6 Jun 21, 2019.pdf

Day-7 Jun 22, 2019.pdf

Epic Disembark Jun 21, 2019.pdf

[mapleleaves]

Great photos !  Thanks so much for posting them and the dailys. 

You mentioned Italy Tours for Florence, but what did you do at the other ports and Barcelona ?

[Huntingdon1701]

Thank you very much for the dailies!

[loupana]

13 minutes ago, mapleleaves said:

Great photos !  Thanks so much for posting them and the dailys. 

You mentioned Italy Tours for Florence, but what did you do at the other ports and Barcelona ?

 

We did an 8 day land tour before the cruise, 2 days in Barcelona, 1 day in Valencia, 1 day in Granada, 2 days in Seville then 2 days in Madrid. We then took the high speed train to Barcelona for the cruise.

In Barcelona we toured Sagrada Familia, Gothic Quarter hit all the typical tourist attractions and Gaudi architecture buildings.

We've been to Rome a few time before so we just took the free shuttle to Civitavecchia town center and did our own walking tour and had a great lunch.

Also been to Sorento and Pompeii so in Naples we waked around town and had pizza lunch.

In Cannes France, we did our own walking tour and had lunch at an our door cafe. Walking tour maps available at pier.

In Palma we took the ships shuttle service ($15 per person) to the large Cathedral and walked around town.

All photos available in my Europe Photo Galleries

[Ella2]

WOW, amazing pictures, thank you for sharing!  And for the Dailies as well!  Will be on the Epic at the end of July so I appreciate all the updated information.  😊

[FLAHAM]

You might consider the MDRs next time.  I have found some of their selections to be quite good.

[suejok]

Thank you for this. On Epic Med cruise in August

[RocksSeaBands]

Great pictures! Thanks for sharing! We will be onboard in a few weeks and all the details were very helpful.

[ejnsb]

Especially grateful for the disembark info.  We have a 9:30 train to Paris.  Looks like we will be fine. 

[Cecruise]

Thank you for all the wonderful info.  We take this cruise next May, your info helped with our decision making process!

[LisaSp]

Fabulous photos-thanks for sharing! Boarding Epic in Rome in September!

[PistolPete13]

Great photos and information!  Thank you.

[CruisinMaterial]

I was on Rome to Rome and got off before you arrived in Cannes, France for your experience but the prior week's Cannes stop which I got to experience... tendering was a diabolical mess. Everyone got off the ship early and then tried to return in the afternoon at the same time. It took over 2 hours to get everyone back on the ship and we left late. Hopefully your sailing had more on time and arrivals than my sailing did (which overlapped yours by Barcelona and Naples which both were on time departures).

 

Hopefully your Glow Party was at Spice H2O, during the first leg of our sailing nothing was held up at Spice H2O. It was a really off cruise, especially after having sailed the Epic before.

[loupana]

1 hour ago, CruisinMaterial said:

I was on Rome to Rome and got off before you arrived in Cannes, France for your experience but the prior week's Cannes stop which I got to experience... tendering was a diabolical mess. Everyone got off the ship early and then tried to return in the afternoon at the same time. It took over 2 hours to get everyone back on the ship and we left late. Hopefully your sailing had more on time and arrivals than my sailing did (which overlapped yours by Barcelona and Naples which both were on time departures).

 

Hopefully your Glow Party was at Spice H2O, during the first leg of our sailing nothing was held up at Spice H2O. It was a really off cruise, especially after having sailed the Epic before.

 

Getting off the ship to Cannes was an absolute mess, getting back to the ship was not too bad. Our Glow Party was in Spice H2O. My wife was called up to dance for a free shot, she had fun and got a kick out of it.

[phoenix1975]

Thanks for the photos and information. It's great to have some idea of what I'm going on in a few weeks' time. Despite what I've read on some other websites/here, the food looks great 🙂 Can't wait!

[Lucky Dude 2101]

Great photos and information. Thank you!  We will be sailing on the Epic 7/14. Can’t wait!!

[karrie3399]

This was an absolute blast to read and to look through your pictures.  Thanks so much for taking the time to take them and post them.  The food looks so yummy and the ship looks amazing.  We booked a tour in Cannes and they warned us about getting off early or they would not wait for us and it would be non refundable.  Now I see that there is really a problem in this area.   Can you request an early tender?  If you have a mini suite or if you are a past cruiser does that give you any priority?

[loupana]

2 hours ago, karrie3399 said:

Can you request an early tender?  If you have a mini suite or if you are a past cruiser does that give you any priority?

 

As soon as you board you should be able to book the tender from the stateroom tv or the active screens in public area's. Don't think you can get priority if you are in a mini suite, maybe if you were in a Haven suite.

[karrie3399]

On 6/26/2019 at 7:54 PM, CruisinMaterial said:

I was on Rome to Rome and got off before you arrived in Cannes, France for your experience but the prior week's Cannes stop which I got to experience... tendering was a diabolical mess. Everyone got off the ship early and then tried to return in the afternoon at the same time. It took over 2 hours to get everyone back on the ship and we left late. Hopefully your sailing had more on time and arrivals than my sailing did (which overlapped yours by Barcelona and Naples which both were on time departures).

 

Hopefully your Glow Party was at Spice H2O, during the first leg of our sailing nothing was held up at Spice H2O. It was a really off cruise, especially after having sailed the Epic before.

 

Why wasn't your Glow party at Spice H2O?  Where was it held?

[CruisinMaterial]

It was held in Bliss Lounge like every other nightclub event on the ship during our Rome to Rome sailing. I was surprised with TWO DJs they never had Spice H2O open. I love dancing under the stars and while the ship was going faster due to late departure times, there are wind barricades preventing that space from getting too windswept. Not sure what the deal was..

[ksmcali]

Thank you for the review, photos, and dailies.  Your photos are fantastic and so comprehensive!  Thank you for taking the time to share!  We’re headed out in early august and this greatly helps me with planning.

 

[ksmcali]

As I was looking through your photos I noticed the construction pics.  Can you tell me what specific area this was in?  One photo looked like work was being done on the rock wall.  I hadn’t hear of any ongoing construction on the ship, but clearly work is being done.

[loupana]

4 hours ago, ksmcali said:

As I was looking through your photos I noticed the construction pics.  Can you tell me what specific area this was in?  One photo looked like work was being done on the rock wall.  I hadn’t hear of any ongoing construction on the ship, but clearly work is being done.

 

The work was around the funnel, near the rock climbing wall. Judging by the parts I seen being brought onboard by a crane it looks like updates to the ships exhaust, hopefully for better emissions.

[fsls40]

Bump 

Edited July 3, 2019 by fsls40
question was already asked