Just back from Epic W Mediterranean June 19-26

[gatorchinsky]

We just got back from the Western Mediterranean on the Epic embarking/disembarking from Rome.  We had a fabulous time!  The ports, ship and crew were wonderful.  We enjoyed all our meals in the Specialty restaurants, MDR and O’Sheehans.  The entertainment we saw was also very good.  It was a very busy week but so well worth it!

 

I’ve gotten a lot of help from CC members so If you have any specific questions, I’ll try and answer them for you. 

 

 

[phoenix1975]

Glad you have had a good time 🙂 I'm doing this cruise in a few weeks' time so have a couple of questions about embarking/disembarking.

 

1. What time did you get on and how quick was it to get through the cruise terminal from arrival?

2. Do you know what time Self-Help people could get off from when you arrived back in Civitavecchia - i.e. those that can carry off their own luggage?

[gatorchinsky]

10 minutes ago, phoenix1975 said:

Glad you have had a good time 🙂 I'm doing this cruise in a few weeks' time so have a couple of questions about embarking/disembarking.

 

1. What time did you get on and how quick was it to get through the cruise terminal from arrival?

2. Do you know what time Self-Help people could get off from when you arrived back in Civitavecchia - i.e. those that can carry off their own luggage?

 

1.  We got to the port around 1:00 pm.  There was no wait so we were on in less than 15 minutes.  Our room was also ready so dropped carry on bags in room.

 

2.  We carried our bags off around 8:00 am but people started leaving at 7:00 am.  The one main gripe was that you exit the ship at the same place that cruisers touring Rome exit from.  It got a little congested when we left but no real delay.

 

Hope you enjoy your cruise as much as we did!

 

 

[JOHNHOWARTH2]

1 hour ago, gatorchinsky said:

 

  We carried our bags off around 8:00 am but people started leaving at 7:00 am.  

 

 

 

The last time I arrived at Civitavecchia on the Epic, the ship docked at exact;y 6.00am and I was straight off at that time , and walked it to the railway station. I hope to be doing the same on July 31st to catch the 7.02 am train to Trastvere and then on to Rome airport if the Epic docks at Pier 12BIS N (as phoenix1975 has had confirmed by the port authorities) 

[mapleleaves]

Glad to hear you had a great time !

What you did at each port and did you DIY or use a vendor ?

[gatorchinsky]

59 minutes ago, mapleleaves said:

Glad to hear you had a great time !

What you did at each port and did you DIY or use a vendor ?

We stayed 3 nights pre cruise in Rome and on 2 days did tours with The Roman Guy.  They were great and I recommend them.

 

We used Italy Tours for Florence/Pisa and Naples (Pompeii, Sorrento and Positano).  They were also very good.

 

Barcelona and Palma we just did the HOHO which worked out nicely for us.

 

Cannes we took the train to Monaco/Monte Carlo and had a wonderful day wandering around and enjoying those two places.

[Jldevlin]

Okay really stupid question lol ...One of my favorite meals is the Ceaser salad with salmon and the chicken fajitas in O shehans ....had it often on Getaway and Jade ...jumped on the Jewel for 19 night Japan to Seattle and they had neither !!! ...really hoping you noticed if it is on the menu for the Epic ...

[gatorchinsky]

10 minutes ago, Jldevlin said:

Okay really stupid question lol ...One of my favorite meals is the Ceaser salad with salmon and the chicken fajitas in O shehans ....had it often on Getaway and Jade ...jumped on the Jewel for 19 night Japan to Seattle and they had neither !!! ...really hoping you noticed if it is on the menu for the Epic ...

 

O’Sheehans did have the fajitas and the caesar salad plain, chicken or salmon.

[Jldevlin]

4 minutes ago, gatorchinsky said:

 

O’Sheehans did have the fajitas and the caesar salad plain, chicken or salmon.

Oh thanks !!!   

[Danmar48]

Did you get an early tender in Cannes and if so was it difficult to request one seeing you had gotten on in Rome and just 2 days before port. 

Thanks for all the answers to the questions. They are so helpful

[gatorchinsky]

16 minutes ago, Danmar48 said:

Did you get an early tender in Cannes and if so was it difficult to request one seeing you had gotten on in Rome and just 2 days before port. 

Thanks for all the answers to the questions. They are so helpful

 

We got Tender 2 departing at 7:30 am.  As soon as we boarded we looked on our TV and made the reservation.  I was concerned before we left but it worked out well.

[gatorchinsky]

I know before we left I was trying to find out if the Rome people got the fill the bag laundry special.  We received the flyer Friday evening saying that our room steward would pick it up by noon on Saturday and it would be returned Sunday evening.  It was and we were pleased.

[LisaSp]

Glad to hear you had a great cruise! We are getting on and off Epic in Rome in September. So excited! What was your favorite specialty restaurant? Just curious...we have booked Cagney's, Teppanyaki, and La Cucina.

[gatorchinsky]

37 minutes ago, LisaSp said:

Glad to hear you had a great cruise! We are getting on and off Epic in Rome in September. So excited! What was your favorite specialty restaurant? Just curious...we have booked Cagney's, Teppanyaki, and La Cucina.

 

We ate at Cagney’s, Teppanyaki and Le Bistro.  All 3 were very good with Le Bistro being the best for us.  Their beef tenderloin is so tender and always cooked to perfection!  

[noobcruiser]

9 hours ago, gatorchinsky said:

 

Barcelona and Palma we just did the HOHO which worked out nicely for us.

 

We are going in September and plan on doing the HOHO  buses in the same cities. Could you provide any information on getting to the buses (walkable, distance, etc..)?  Did you pre-purchase bus tickets or purchase there?

 

Any insights would be helpful.  Thanks!

 

[gatorchinsky]

7 hours ago, noobcruiser said:

 

We are going in September and plan on doing the HOHO  buses in the same cities. Could you provide any information on getting to the buses (walkable, distance, etc..)?  Did you pre-purchase bus tickets or purchase there?

 

Any insights would be helpful.  Thanks!

 

We pre-purchased our tickets but you can easily pay for them there.  You can pay with cash or cc.

 

There is a bus stop right outside the port in Palma which was easy to get to and easy to find.

 

The walk to get to the bus stop in Barcelona was a little longer.  We were a little confused about what to do so we just walked but it was probably 20 minutes or longer.  Since Barcelona is the main debarkation port the line for a taxi was very long.  We thought we saw a sign for an NCL shuttle bus but we never found it.  We also didn’t know if if the shuttle was free or had a charge.  After we found the bus stop all was good.

[bmtpromotions]

Glad to hear you had a great time !

[saraandemma]

Hi,

My family will be on this itinerary in August. My husband and I are concerned about what times the buffet opens in the morning due to very early excursion times. Are the buffet hours different on this Mediterranean  cruise as compared to the many US based cruises we have taken?

 I am hoping you remember or have a copy of the freestyle daily. Thank you!

Edited July 1, 2019 by saraandemma
Needed question mark

[LisaSp]

1 hour ago, saraandemma said:

Hi,

My family will be on this itinerary in August. My husband and I are concerned about what times the buffet opens in the morning due to very early excursion times. Are the buffet hours different on this Mediterranean  cruise as compared to the many US based cruises we have taken?

 I am hoping you remember or have a copy of the freestyle daily. Thank you!

We are taking this cruise in September, so I was looking at recent freestyles posted in another recent thread. It looks like on port days, the buffet has an "early riser breakfast" 5:30-6:00 am, and then regular breakfast buffet 6:00-10:00 am, so that should work fine even with the early excursions.

[gatorchinsky]

6 hours ago, saraandemma said:

Hi,

My family will be on this itinerary in August. My husband and I are concerned about what times the buffet opens in the morning due to very early excursion times. Are the buffet hours different on this Mediterranean  cruise as compared to the many US based cruises we have taken?

 I am hoping you remember or have a copy of the freestyle daily. Thank you!

 

4 hours ago, LisaSp said:

We are taking this cruise in September, so I was looking at recent freestyles posted in another recent thread. It looks like on port days, the buffet has an "early riser breakfast" 5:30-6:00 am, and then regular breakfast buffet 6:00-10:00 am, so that should work fine even with the early excursions.

 

LisaSp is correct.  The buffet does open early except on the sea day and Palma day.

[old nutter]

Cannes has got a little road train that runs round the town. It starts and ends at the land end of the dock and cost 12 Euros a couple of weeks ago.  Not the most comfortable ride in the world but gets round the town and it has muli-ligual headphones as well. Quite a good little trip round to see the main sights. Certainly adequate if you aren't heading out on a longer trip out of town.

[MNcruisingcouple]

On ‎6‎/‎28‎/‎2019 at 9:51 AM, gatorchinsky said:

We stayed 3 nights pre cruise in Rome and on 2 days did tours with The Roman Guy.  They were great and I recommend them.

 

We used Italy Tours for Florence/Pisa and Naples (Pompeii, Sorrento and Positano).  They were also very good.

 

Barcelona and Palma we just did the HOHO which worked out nicely for us.

 

Cannes we took the train to Monaco/Monte Carlo and had a wonderful day wandering around and enjoying those two places.

 

We have booked the Florence and the Pompeii, Sorrento, Positano tours with ItalyTours for our sailing in August as well.

I'd love to hear your experience using them and how the tours went for you.

Thanks

[gatorchinsky]

3 hours ago, MNcruisingcouple said:

 

We have booked the Florence and the Pompeii, Sorrento, Positano tours with ItalyTours for our sailing in August as well.

I'd love to hear your experience using them and how the tours went for you.

Thanks

 

We really enjoyed both tours with Italy Tours.  They were prompt and early waiting at the piers the day of our tours.  It can be a little crazy trying to find your name with all the other tour companies but you will find your name.

 

For our Florence/Pisa tour, our driver dropped us off in Pisa and we had about an hour on our own to do what we please.  She then drove us to Florence and spoke about certain things we saw on the way.  We then met up with our guide in Florence.  She was very nice and very knowledgeable.  We had a great day.

 

For our Pompeii, Sorrento and Positano day we met our guide outside the port.  We had more of a problem finding him as you get mauled by all the taxi drivers who want to take you on a tour.  Once everyone was there we went to Pompeii.  We had a different guide for the Pompeii tour.  She was very friendly and knowledgeable.  Pompeii is very very hot and crowded so be sure to have water, sunscreen, hat, umbrella or anything else to keep you cool.  The tour lasted 2 hours so you only see a tiny portion but it was still interesting and worth it.  Sorrento and Positano scenery is just beautiful so we really enjoyed our short time there.  The one gripe I had with this tour was that we were a group of 15 instead of 8.  Since most people aren’t 5 feet tall and 100 pounds the bus/van was just not big enough.  Since we all felt like we were on top of each other it was a little claustrophobic and got hot.  We still had a great time.

 

You will enjoy the tours!