slsmith374

Livorno - did the Cinque Terre excursion through NCL. I loved it.

Cannes - You can easily explore on your own. Better yet, take the train to Nice for 7E per person.

Mallorca - Only 5 hours here, we just relaxed and shopped at the mall that's very close to port

Barcelona - easy to do on your own. We taxi'd to Sagrada Familia and then walked to Casa Batllo and to get tapas before catching a taxi on the way back

Naples - did the Mt. Vesuvius and Pompeii tour through NCL. Loved it. Would not recommend if you're out of shape.

Do you remember seeing what day the bag of laundry special was? Our cruise is the middle of our vacation so it would be great if we could get some clothes cleaned earlier in our cruise.

 

Also, how busy was it around the pools on the sea day? Did you notice long lines for the waterslides (my 2 kids are curious about that)?

I don't remember which day the laundry special was on, but hopefully someone else might know.

I'm also not sure about the slides, but on the sea day we didn't go out until 10 or 10:30 and we got spots right away. We went to the top deck so it was mostly adults. I didn't get a good look at the chairs closer to the pools areas but in general I was surprised that it wasn't as crowded as I had expected.

als1428 :( I am so sorry you had a bad experience! We did not have the UDP so can't compare. The one thing that we couldn't book because of the Barcelona passengers was the Christian Miro magician performance so that was a bummer. I hope your next cruise experience is a better one! I'm looking forward to having something to compare the Epic to.

Thanks for the review.

I see howl at the moon is from 10-2 am??

Is this a show is it 4 hours?

 

Also can you tell me more about the train etiquette in Cinque Terre

Howl at the Moon I think had three shows. They definitely had at least two. There was one that was 8-12 or 8:30 to 12:30 and the other one from 10-2. We didn't stay the whole time because we had to wake up early the next day but the 8-12 show was still rocking when we left around 11.

As far as the train, sometimes with the Cinque Terre excursion, you take the ferry. However, if water is choppy like it was for us, you take the train a total of three times between the cities as the buses do not have access to the towns (no cars there). This is common sense, but when you are trying to board ~100 people into a train, people tend to freak out and not let passengers off the train first. It's important to remember that the train will not leave without you. Your guide will not let that happen. Pay attention to your tour guide over the walkie talkie. If you have to take a different train car than the guide, listen to what stop you're getting off at.

This might sound bad, but sometimes the best thing to do when you are trying to board a crowded train (IMHO), is to gently keep moving forward (pushing might be too harsh of a word) so the people in front of you make space. Another good point, if you are one of the lucky people to board before everyone else, move into the train as much as possible so others can get in. Do not just stand in the doorway.

Like I said, we had to do this 3x with probably over 100 people each time. And no one was left behind. Just know that it might be frustrating. Deep breaths. End rant :D Hope that helps a little?

If I make reservations, I don'd do it until day-of. That way, I can check out the daily beforehand and make sure I'm not going to miss any must-sees.

Yes they definitely had it on one of the dailies in the bliss lounge but it must have been on one of the ones I'm missing. Now I'm wishing I would have checked it out!

We cruised from Rome and left the ship at 8am in Barcelona. I didn't notice any issues with disembarking with the passengers getting off in barca.

We just did a cruise out of civitavecchia port. We docked at 7, did self-disembarkation. Left our room @ 7:30 and was out by 7:45. The longest part is elevator availability.

We were at FCO at 8:45am for our 11:55am flight. So plenty of time but we weren't even through security until after 9:45am. You should be fine as long as there's not any weird traffic hangups. You could even try to get an earlier pickup time (7:15?). We used Rome Shuttle Service private car and they were great.

I just did the NCL Epic W. Med and in my opinion Nice is far superior to Cannes. It's about a 30 min train ride. 7 euros a ticket one way. I had been to Nice before, but not Cannes so I played it by ear once we got off the ship. It took me all of five minutes to decide to go to Nice for the day. However, if you want to go to the beach, Cannes is probably a better option than Nice as Nice's beaches are rocky.

We only had five hours in Mallorca and none of the excursions stood out to me so we wound up relaxing at a restaurant with wifi and then went shopping at an awesome mall that's a quick walk from the ship. (Keeping in mind I'm not a beach person)

Have a great time!

No Mallorca or Naples, but hope these help!

Doesnt seem like above came through clear enough on my phone - will try again tonight. Let me know if you can see them clearly though - might be user error on my end :)

They drop you off at the terminal, but it's right in front of the ship. Maybe a five minute walk between the terminal and ship.

We just got off our cruise a few days ago and did both the wine tasting and martini tasting. I thought they were both excellent, especially for the value, and especially if you're not already doing the UBP. $15 per person for each event. At the wine event, you get six pours paired with an assortment of cheese. At the martini event, you get 6 mini martinis, all rather strong.

Our wine tasting was in Cagney's on the Epic, but they had another wine tasting a different day in Taste. The wine steward said that the Cagney's location is better since it's quieter.

Thanks for the info. We have them scheduled for private car upon arrival but for shuttle from Rome to port and port to airport hotel. I am hoping all goes ok with transfers. Upon arrival how long before you could board the ship? Was that part pretty easy? How long before you got your bags at your room?

We boarded the ship right away after checking in at the port. There was not a line to check in either which was nice. I think the bags were in our room around 3 or 4pm.

I would note that if you are into the cruise photos they take, make sure that they take your room number down correctly when you take your embarkation photo. I would have liked to see ours but it never ended up in our photo folder.

Thank you for your review. I'm sailing this same itinerary in August and would love to get a full complete set of dailies. Would it be okay if you post the dailies, please?

 

:)

I think I have most of them. Be on the lookout tomorrow! :)

Thanks for the positive review, I too was becoming a little nervous as we are about to do this cruise soon and it is our first cruise ever. We are scheduled with Bobs Shuttle service. How did that go for you and what time did you arrive at port? Was there a lot of stopping at other hotels for passengers?

We got lucky because while we scheduled the shuttle, we were the only ones on it so didn't end up stopping at any other hotels on the way to the port. Our driver arrived at 10:20 and we were told to be ready for pickup by 10:30 so he was ultra punctual. I would plan on roughly 2 hours to get to port. I think we got there right around 12:15. Maybe someone else will chime in that's shared the shuttle - it seems like a lot of people have used them on this board.

You will have a blast! Enjoy!

Like some others, I was getting worried about my trip after reading so many negative comments on the board. I was on the 5/20 sailing out of Rome and have nothing but good things to say about the Epic!

Room: We had an inside cabin for two people. They made the best use of the space. The bed and pillows were extremely comfortable and I loved that the room was always dark. Plenty of storage space and a reading light if I wanted to stay up and DH didn't.

Dining: We did not buy the UDP. Most meals we ate were at the buffet and Shanghai. 2 out of 3 meals at Shanghai were great, the last one not so much. I did not care for O'Sheehan's - although the wings were decent, the spinach artichoke dip was tasteless. We ate at Taste once just because we did not find the menu that appealing. Special thanks to the posters that called out the crepes at the buffet and the chocolate volcano at Taste! We also waited about 30 min for snacks from Spice H2O. They were very good, but the thirty minute wait was ridiculous for how little we ordered. Lastly, we had one meal at Teppenyaki and that was the best hibachi experience I've ever had. The food was great (except dessert) and our chef could not have been more entertaining.

As far as the taking food away from the buffet, I saw a few people take some plates without being stopped. I eat so much at the buffet that the last thing I want to do is take more with me, so I didn't try it myself.

Drinking: We also did not get the UBP. DH and I probably drank 1-2 cocktails per day. Our favorite drinking events were the Wine Tasting and the Martini Tasting. At $15 pp for the tasting events, they are a steal! The staff that hosted were all very knowledgeable. The 6 wine tastings also come with a selection of cheese and are nice pours. For the martinis, you get six mini martinis - all very strong, but delicious. Highly recommend both of these events.

Entertainment: Burn the Floor was incredible. Ballroom dancing with a twist. The performers received a standing ovation at the end of it. Graffiti Classics, a string quartet, was okay to good in my opinion. Legends in Concert were Sting, Gloria Estefan, and Rod Stewart. They were good, just not my favorite singers. The Beatles tribute band had a packed house and did a great job. My favorite though had to be the Howl at the Moon. I wish I could have seen them more than one night.

Tours: We did the Cinque Terre and the Mt. Vesuvius/Pompeii tours with the cruise. Would highly recommend them both. The Cinque Terre requires quite a bit of bus and travel time. And if you're not familiar with european train transport, you may be uncomfortable. Please brush up on train etiquette if you go on this tour!

Misc: The fitness center was great. Brand new and had more equipment than my local gym. It's a pain to get to if you're not on that end of the ship, but I needed all the walking I could get so it wasn't too bad. The casino area is not as smoky as some people say IMO. I had also read comments about how the ship is in desperate need of the docking this Fall. I thought it looked great! All I noticed was some minor carpet fraying.

I also had my birthday during our cruise. I'm not sure how the ship found out as I didn't call it out anywhere unless they pulled it from my passport. When we got to my room I had a birthday card and birthday cupcake along with a coupon to take to wherever we dined that night. They gave me a happy birthday cake at the restaurant, sang happy birthday, and I think they comped my sodas. I was really impressed with these little touches.

Service: All staff were friendly and accommodating. We only had one issue. A lot of people from our Mt. Vesuvius tour brought back volcanic rock. Ours was confiscated when we boarded back at port. Neither US Customs nor the ship say anything about rock from what we could tell - all that was mentioned was no bringing back soil, flowers, etc. Does anyone have any more info on this?

Transportation: Getting to and from port was a breeze. We used both Bob's Limos Shuttle Service as well as Rome Shuttle Service. Would recommend them both.

Embarkation/Disembarkation: Embarking took about 10 minutes out of Civitavecchia. Disembarking maybe took 15. The only wait is the elevator. We did self-embarkation since our flight left at 11:55am. We left our room at 7:30 and we were off the ship by 7:45. Very easy process.

Honestly, the only thing I didn't like were the people who don't know how to queue at the buffet and those that can't let people off the elevator before they try to get on. Neither are faults of Norwegian!

I can't thank you enough to all the posters on this board! Being relatively new to cruising, this site has been a godsend. Thank you!! I am already looking forward to our next cruise!!

Do you typically find these deals directly through the cruise website? Does anyone want to give-away their secret deal sites? :)

I usually use travelzoo and costco, but would love to hear what else is out there!

Thanks all! Might have to check out that Grandeur cruise! :)

Hi All,

I've only cruised with RCCL once and I was too young to be involved with any planning/pricing out. I received a mailer that advertises 50% off of the second guest plus $200 off the cruise. I see that it's on the website as well. Not being familiar with cruising and promos, can anyone advise on below?

1. Is this a good deal?

2. If I buy to take advantage of the deal, but end up cancelling, does that money just sit with RCCL until I rebook or would I be refunded?

Thank you! :)

Thanks, both! I didn't know about Bob's or Stefano's so ended up booking through Rome Shuttle Service. They have great reviews, just not as many as Bob's.

tdedj1 - if you get a chance, please share how it went! Safe travels!

Thanks for the info, pixiedust!

I'm glad you mentioned that about the cars. I went ahead and booked one as our cruise is just a week before yours. I booked it for 8am so *fingers crossed*!