Epic Western Med from Rome review 8/26/15 _ 9/2/2015

Will post more details tomorrow as I am wiped from the plane ride. I will say that we had a great time on the Epic, the mini suite I stayed in was in very good shape, and the itinerary was phenomenal.

We stayed three full nights in Rome and 1 night in Civitavecchia before boarding the ship. I am glad that we did this as it gave us time to adjust to the time change and see Rome at a less rushed pace. We stayed at the Hotel Golden in Rome and I am so glad we stayed here both because of the wonderful friendly accommodations and the neighborhood. It is located very close to the Borghese Park which was lovely. We took full advantage of the park and visited the Birghese gallery. I reserved tickets in advance for the gallery which you should do in the popular tourist season. Even though this neighborhood is not right in the center of tourist Rome, it's less crowded which made it more enjoyable for us.

There was a homeless guy around. The Hotel Golden family was welcomgandfriendly. The accommodations were excellent. Bed was comfortable and room kept clean.

We took a Rome Cabs tour called Seven Wonders of Ancient Rome. This was a great tour. We visited many landmarks of Ancient Rome and got a great sense of what Ancient Roman life was like.

This tour really gave us an in depth orientation of Ancient Rome. Wonderful tour company.

We were on the cruise with you. We spent a couple of nights in Rome at the start also. I will be posting a brief review in another thread once welcome up for air :). Looking forward to reading your review.

Looking forward to both reviews. It's been a long time since I was in Rome/Med and we just got booked on the Epic next June for my son's Make-A-Wish trip

Russianmom, hope your family enjoys the cruise. It is a wonderful itinerary and the ship was in good shape. Plus, it is going under renovation soon.

Embarkation at Civiitavecchai went smoothly. We went directly to the pool area. My son took advantage of the mostly empty ships and enjoyed the waterslides. We were happy with our room which was a minisuite fwd on deck 12. Our room steward Rey was fabulous. We dealt with the bathroom situation. We knew before the cruise of the unique configuration.

That night, we had dinner at Cagney's since my husband is a steak lover and it didnt disappoint. Favorite menu items were the sliders and garlic mashed potatoes. Another day, we ate at Modernos. That was our favorite place. They served cheese balls instead of bread. My son loved them as well as the ribs. Lamb Chops were delicious at Modernos. We also enjoyed Taste and Manhattan.

My least favorite place to eat at the boat was the buffet. Sometimes, you were on the pool deck and it couldnt be avoided. Certain items were fine like sandwiches, paninis. Also, the omelette station, pasta station and fresh crepes were highlights at the buffet along with hardpacked ice cream. many other items were sitting under the warmer and werent even warm.

we're booked on the epic departing Oct 25 from Barcelona.. so I am eagerly going to follow this...

we're booked in a family balcony.. and I heard it will be tight (there will be 4 of us) - but with such a port-heavy itinerary, we are hoping to NOT spend much time in the room.

I've read many reviews about your tour company.. did you use them for your port tours, or did they pick you up from your hotel ?

Thanks in advance for posting your review... I appreciate all of the feedback I read on these forums... :)

We stayed three full nights in Rome and 1 night in Civitavecchia before boarding the ship. I am glad that we did this as it gave us time to adjust to the time change and see Rome at a less rushed pace. We stayed at the Hotel Golden in Rome and I am so glad we stayed here both because of the wonderful friendly accommodations and the neighborhood. It is located very close to the Borghese Park which was lovely. We took full advantage of the park and visited the Birghese gallery. I reserved tickets in advance for the gallery which you should do in the popular tourist season. Even though this neighborhood is not right in the center of tourist Rome, it's less crowded which made it more enjoyable for us.

There was a homeless guy around. The Hotel Golden family was welcomgandfriendly. The accommodations were excellent. Bed was comfortable and room kept clean.

We took a Rome Cabs tour called Seven Wonders of Ancient Rome. This was a great tour. We visited many landmarks of Ancient Rome and got a great sense of what Ancient Roman life was like.

 

 

 

This tour really gave us an in depth orientation of Ancient Rome. Wonderful tour company.

My mother is going on this cruise in October (her first cruise). How did you get from Rome to Citavecchia? Was it by train? Stupid question, but if it was by train, did they have escalators/elevators available?

Thank you for taking the time to post a review. We are booked for a med cruise next year and I love the planning and researching phase! So any tips and suggestions are always welcome. We will be spending time in Rome following our cruise......will look up your tour and hotel suggestions.

I look forward to reading your review!

We were on as well we had the aft cabin 12309. Loved the cruise. I was surprised by the amount of kids we did the land tour prior. And arrived a day earlier we stayed at the boscolo exedra the land tour we stayed at the grand palantino hotel great location on via Cavour the tours thru gate 1 were incredible We really enjoyed the Pisa tower climb thru Ncl just got back last night at midnight stayed extra night in Copenhagen

We used Groundlink transportation to go from Rome to Civitavecchia. I was pricey but I was focused on comfort. i am pretty sure Trenitalia has a train from Rome to Civitavecchia though.

I was on this sailing as well and had the time of my life! Met many wonderful crew members and fellow guests, which was fantastic, as I was a solo cruiser. Had a lot of great experiences in port, too. generally shun organized excursions, but since I booked relatively last minute as a solo traveler, I chose the shore excursion credit and booked four shore excursions plus a disembarkation excursion with transfer. None of them disappointed and two of them were absolutely stellar! Can't wait to read more of your experiences, and I hope to post my own soon, too.

I did a combination of NCL Excursions and private tours.

We did David and Pisa Tower Climb. It was a long tiring day but totally worth it.

Florence is so charming and my husband and son really wanted to climb the Leaning Tower of Pisa. There is much to do in Pisa besides the Tower. In Florence, i did some shopping at a store selling leather goods which is a specialty of the area. The tour guide for that excursion was wonderful.

In Cannes, my husband and son played golf. They enjoyed it. I went on a NCL tour to Antibes which is very charming. The tour guide for that tour was just ok.

In Palma, I let my son pick and he chose the aquarium excursion. The aquarium was great and there was a beach across the street too.

In Barcelona, we didnt do a ships tour but took a private tour through Forever Barcelona. It was pricey but the tour guide was fabulous. We went to Camp Nou which is where FC Barcelona plays since my son is a soccer/futbol person. We also saw some other sights too.

Last port, we took an NCL excursion that went to Capri/Sorrento and Pompeii. it was a fantastic but exhausting last tour. For those who like to take public transportation and diy, this post wont be very helpful. However, outside of Canada and the Carribbean, we arent exactly world travelers and felt more comfortable doing it that way.

My mother is going on this cruise in October (her first cruise). How did you get from Rome to Citavecchia? Was it by train? Stupid question, but if it was by train, did they have escalators/elevators available?

We took the train. We had to go down stairs and back up, lugging our luggage. We also found in confusing getting to the port. We walked from the train station and found the port area. Recognized people who were on the train with us. They figured out that we had to wait for a bus. Bus shows up, we load on our luggage and we were driven to another area where we had to grab our luggage and then put it on another bus that took us to the security area. Getting off was much easier, as we had a hire a transfer to the airport.

We took the train. We had to go down stairs and back up, lugging our luggage. We also found in confusing getting to the port. We walked from the train station and found the port area. Recognized people who were on the train with us. They figured out that we had to wait for a bus. Bus shows up, we load on our luggage and we were driven to another area where we had to grab our luggage and then put it on another bus that took us to the security area. Getting off was much easier, as we had a hire a transfer to the airport.

So there's no elevator or escalator at the train station? My mother is in her 60's and likely will not be able to lug her luggage up stairs.

There are shared shuttles that take you from the Rome airport to Civitavecchia...hotel or port. We use ESA shared shuttle last December. They had a sign with our name at the airport. We used them again from ship to the airport. Lovely to deal with.

I am sure there are other shared shuttles. Makes life easy.

We used Groundlink transportation to go from Rome to Civitavecchia. I was pricey but I was focused on comfort. i am pretty sure Trenitalia has a train from Rome to Civitavecchia though.

Yep an express as well 40 minutes one stop. Taxi from Station to Ship.

We left Rome and were at the ship in under an hour, Best way the Italians are not the finest drivers