sunbird21

OK,I am not having any luck with the pictures...there has to be an easier way. Anyone???

Karoo-Im probably going to get bashed for this,but no. They sent me a message telling me about a make up drill,but I skipped it and they never said anything. Im not advocating for skipping,if its your first(or second) cruise,by all means,go...I'm all for safety,really...it just happened that I missed it and by the time I got the message I had missed that one,too. If I really wanted to,I suppose I couldve gone to one on the day we were in BArcelona,but it was more than halfway through the cruise,so I decided to take my chances.

Thank you everyone else for the comments so far! Yes,traveling from Rome to Civitavecchia was a bit of a pain,just allow youself a good 2-3 hours for everything(getting to Termini,finding the train,the ride,and walk to the ships port shuttle,then the shuttle ride to the ship itself).

OK, trying to add some pics here....If they go through,they are from the flight to Europe and Frankfurt,Germany

Aww Baseballmom, its so sad that your cruise is over too. it seems like we were both just opening our respective roll call threads with 9 months to go,and now look at us!!

Although,I have to get you credit,you got your review up before me,so good job!

I am posting my review,but just to put my two cents in...it sounds like you guys got the same crappy weather we had the week before:(

I semi-agree about the food,I wasnt overly impressed with Taste/Manhattan,only did 3 nights in there.I did LOVE O'Sheehans though(ate there twice for dinner). For my specialty restaurants,I went to Le Bistro and Moderno,and both were fabulous.

I enjoyed the entertainment,but I went as a solo,so I had probably a different approach:) Im sorry that you missed Howl at the Moon though,it was hysterical,and sounds like what you were looking for as far as an interactive piano bar!

Cabins...I had a studio,so cant compare,but I did see a friends balcony,and cant imagine putting 4 adults in there.

Anyway,glad you enjoyed your trip for the most part! I had to laugh at your story about running through Newark..been there,done that,and had to push several rude people aside to do so!

Oh yeah,and Rome in Limo was awesome as well!!

Stacey

Thanks!!

They really dont list the days numerically-just the location of where we are stopping that day. However,the day i got on,I had another flier listing an overview of the weeks activities,and that started with Rome as Day 1. Then,on the day we were in Barcelona,I got another weekl overview,listing Barcelona as Day 1. Go figure:)

I got up a little earlier today,as I wanted to fit in a few more sights before I headed to Civitavecchia. I got a taxi from Porta Pia to Termini,found the left luggage(which is way in the back by Track 24 and downstairs) and dropped my bags off. Then,I headed for the bus and got off near the Pantheon,explored it,and walked from there to the Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps. I stopped at another café by the Spanish Steps to have pizza before I left Rome. While it was very good,the waiter seemed a bit insulted when I asked for the check. I know this is common in Europe,though-they take their time with meals,which is nice when you can,but hey-sometimes people do have to eat and go!

I made my way back to Termini(theres a metro right by the Steps)and collected my luggage. I had purchased my train ticket to Civitavecchia the day before as I was traveling through Termini by going to one of the many Trenitalia Biggliteria machines,and only paid 5 euros for the trip. After looking at the screen,I saw that the train left from Track 25,which I didn’t see anything after 24,but was told that it was “behind 24.” It turned out that it was a LONG way down the platform behind Track 24-it took about 10 minutes to walk it.

Right outside the train,a guy waring a Trenitalia shirt asked if I was going to Civitavecchia,and when I said yes,he took my ticket,stamped it on a machine outside the train doors,and grabbed my bags,along with another guy,and loaded them into a seat on four for me. As soon as I sat down,they held out their hands and asked for 10 euros each. I laughed,and said I didn’t have any cash on me(not true,but I quickly figured that they weren’t actually train employees,and even so,they only loaded the bags onto the car-I had to drag them all the rest of the way!)They lowered the price to 5 euros each,and I continued to stare them down. Finally they gave up(after probably cussing me out in Italian) and left me alone.

Then,the train took off and I was on my way to the Epic! It turned out I had gotten the slow train,which took about 90 minutes,but it was only 2:30 when I arrived,so I had plenty of time. As I got out into the station,I noticed many others with baggage looking beweildered and asking each other,”where do we go?” I knew from reading that it was a long walk out of the station area to the ships shuttle buses,so I exited the station and walked in the direction of the ships. Other people started following,and conversing,and it turnd out most were going on the Epic as well.

About 15 minutes later,we all came to a large shuttle bus with the NCL logo.loaded the bags on,and were on our way!Once we arrived at the terminal,porters were outside to collect our bags,and I made my way into the terminal,passed through security,and got in the check in line. People were coming around having us fill out small forms asking if we had any cold or flu symptoms. I think if you answered yes,you got a free checkup before you were allowed to board the ship.

Luckily,it was only about a 20 minute wait in line,and then it was time to board! I walked outside to take my first picture and discovered that it was RAINING!! Oh NO!!! I was still certain that it had to be a fluke-after all,it was sunny and warm back in Rome.

I boarded the ship on Deck 4,got onto the elevators quickly and made my way to Deck 11 and my studio cabin,11500,which was at the front of the ship.The hallway was much like the pictures I had seen,with blue and pink mood lighting,and once I found my cabin,I was greeted with the same mood lighting,alternating from shades of blue,purple,pink,red,peach and white.The cabin looked like I had expected,small but certainly well organized and cute!I started exploring the cabin and all of the cubbies,and as I was putting my carryon bag away,there was a knock at the door-my luggage had already arrived!

It was about 3:30,and I decided to discipline myself and put everything away right away before going to explore the ship.I had two bags plus my carryon,so it took about an hour. In the meantime,announcements were made for the lifeboat drill. I decided to keep unpacking until they did their rounds to call people(on Carnival,they come knocking on everyones dorr to drag them to the drill).Before I knew it,was was after five,and apparently I missed the drill. I guess NCL does it a little differently! Oops!

After unpacking,and reading all of the dailies and weekly schedules, I decided to go explore the ship before the solo gathering at 630.As I entered the Studio Lounge first to check it out,I saw a couple of guys at the bar,so I greeted them,and sat down to have a beverage as we chatted about our respective first days(they were also American,and were traveling with a married couple who were staying in the Haven. We ended up chatting for so long,it was 15 minutes until the solo gathering. I left quickly to deliver some flyers to the cabins of the fellow Cruise Critic members who were going to be on the Livorno excursion with me.

As I was handing them out(theres a slot above each cabin number where you can leave fliers,notes,etc) someone called my name from behind.I turned around and it turned out to be a fellow CC roll call member E and her husband R!(I’m only using initials to respect privacy of others who may not intend to be characters in my blog LOL,though the people who were on it can probably identify most). We introduced ourselves,chatted,and confirmed plans for the Meet and Greet I had organized later that night.

Once I handed out all of the fliers,it was time for the solo gathering,so even though I STILL had not fully explored the ship,I didn’t want to miss out the initial solo meeting.As I walked back to the lounge,I found about 10 people in there including C and A,the two guys I had met earlier. The lounge is set up very interesting-if you walk in from the entrance by the front of the ship,you have a bar on the left and a booth and table on the right. Walking towards the other door,theres another section of chairs and tables on the right beyond the staircase,and more tables with booth like seats on the left,behind a couple of white boards where the solo organizer has the days agenda written on it. On the counter by the bar is the infamous espresso machine,a mini fridge with snacks,and a juice dispenser.There are also a couple of large flat screen TV’s on this side of the lounge. By the opposite door there is a vending machine selling bottled soda,water,energy drinks,etc.

Anyway,I sat down at the booth by the bar,and immediately met K,another solo traveler who was also on the CC roll call,so we got to chatting.A few other women were nearby and introduced themselves,and soon the solo organizer,Vianey came and sat down. She was a bit quiet at first,but introduced herself a few minutes later and kind of let us talk.About 10 minutes later she asked if everyone wanted to go to dinner together,and she suggested going to the Manhattan Room since no one was in shorts(I guess Taste is the more casual complimentary dining room). About 10 of us agreed,so we walked to the elevators and headed to Deck 5.

Upon entering the Manhattan room,I found it similar in style to the main dining rooms on Carnival,except the two story window looking aft,and the live band playing.Festive! Vianey sat with us for the first 20 minutes,showed us how the menu works(left side is the daily specials,right side never changes,and menu is the same in both Taste and Manhattan).and chatted a bit.That night I went for the NY strip steak,spring rolls,and chocolate raspberry cake-all were pretty good. We all ended up talking for so long I almost lost track of time,until I saw that it was 830,and the Meet and Greet was at 9!!! I excused myself,told B and K I’d see them upstairs,and scrambled back to my cabin to collect my Mardi Gras beads,and headed to Deck 15 in search of Spice H2O.

When I had picked Spice as the location for our (informal) Meet and Greet,I figured it would be a fun atmosphere to get to know everyone and get into vacation mode,poolside with music and the stars and sea around us. Unfortunately, I did NOT count on the wind and rain,which the ship hadn’t seemed to escape since our departure from Civitavecchia.It was downright chilly outside! I found a spot outside the entrance to Spice that was covered and had some oversize cushioned chairs,and was near two elevator entrances. I figured this would be a central place to meet whoever dared show up,and we could (semi) avoid the elements. I began to think it was a lost cause-no one was going to come out in this!

Luckily,K and B came out shortly after I did,followed by E and R. A few minutes later,V and her husband M,K and her son J,C and his mom P, and J and her husband(I cant remember his name!!!) came. Before I knew it,all but one couple arrived,beads in tow. Everyone seemed to be in the vacation spirit in spite of the weather,and we all compared travel stories,excursion plans,and impressions of the ship(all positive so far!). As I said,it was a pretty casual Meet and Greet,but we enjoyed getting to know one another,and we were there for about an hour or so.I stayed until the end,about 1030,and headed back to my cabin,as I had to be up SUPER early for our Florence excursion the next morning! I did manage to do a quick walk through of Deck 15 before I jumped on an elevator back to my deck.

As I settled in my studio cabin for the first night,I found the bed to be quite comfortable,and even though I was at the front of the ship,I did not notice much movement. I fell asleep easily,after setting my wake up call for way too early the next morning!

Day 2

My first full day in Rome started early,as I headed to the Colosseum. I had downloaded the e-book version of Rick Steves Mediterranean Cruise ports onto my Kindle,and followed his advice to get my three pack ticket(12 euros) at the Palatine Hille(third sight in the Roman Forum,Colosseum,Palantine Hill complex).Whereas the line to the Colosseum stretched around the complex(luring many tour guides to call out their services to those waiting),the wait at the Palatine Hill was only 15 minutes. I toured this part first,then hit the Colosseum,and then the Forum,using my guidebook,which directed me around quite well!

All in all,it took about 4 hours to see all three(and I had another gelato on the walk). It’s definitely an area where I’d watch out for pickpockets,though-crowded at parts,and there are a lot of tour guides,street vendors,and street performers all looking to earn some money.

After leaving the Ancient Roman complex,I took the Metro one stop,an walked over to the St Peters in Chains church,a small church that supposedly has the chains that held St Peter when he was arrested about 2000 years ago.I’m Catholic,though not strict,so I figured I should try to visit some of the churches since I was in RomeJ It was actually a beautiful,smaller church,and has an amazing Michaelangelo sculpture of Moses in it as well.

My next stop was the National Museum of Rome,which has a lot of ancient sculptures of Roman politicians and nobility. Rick Steves book gives a good guided tour and interesting detail about Roman history,and it fit well with the visit to Ancient Rome.

Finally,I headed back to my hotel for a little break,then back out to Campo de Fiori,where I had planned to do this self guided walk from the book(its supposedly best at night). Campo de Fiori is a bit hard to find,as its not immediately at any Metro or bus stops,but once I did,I was delighted by the square full of trattorias,lights,music,and street performers. I found a restaurant,sat on the patio,and enjoyed another EXCELLENT Italian meal-the noodles of the lasagna were so soft,they were like butter! Unfortunately,by the time I was done,I was so tired,I decided to forgo the walk and head back to the hotel for the night.

By the way,if ANYone knows how to post pics on here,please let me know!!

Hi all! So I’ve been researching my Mediterranean cruise on the Epic since last September,and have read many blogs that Ive enjoyed(and taken some tips from).I wanted to return the favor,esp. since I went on one of the first Med cruises this season,and hopefully will be able to provide some tips to those planning on this cruise in the coming months!

Some background about me: I’m single,in my thirties(though my title says "Solo Senorita," I am NOT Latina,not that it matters,but I AM a single female and i like alliteration:),and love to travel. It’s a hobby that Im only able to do once or twice a year(for international,usually every 18 months or so),and I’ve traveled solo for quite a few trips. One of the reasons that I originally looked at cruises on NCL Epic is because of the studio cabins that are priced for solo travelers.When I saw that the price of the cruise was comparable in either the Caribbean or the Mediterranean,I chose to go to the Med since I hadn’t seen many of the places that this cruise visited. I actually booked it so early that I started the roll call for my cruise,and researched/organized a few excursions with others on here.

The first part of this review is pre-cruise,mainly regarding my travel to and first days in Rome,so skip ahead if you are mainly looking for the cruise review!

The Epic has embarkation points in Barcelona(the main startong place) Rome, and Marseilles. I chose to get on in Rome as I had not been to Italy yet,and couldn’t see how I would squeeze in everything in one excursion day.

My travels started EARLY on a Sunday morning,with a Megabus trip from Hartford-Manhattan. It was a good deal at $20 for the trip,and let me off by Penn Station,where I caught the LIRR to JFK.That was my third mistake(first being packing too much,although what female doesn’t?-and second wearing wedges). Ive taken the subway to JFK before,and assumed the LIRR cars were similar-NOT SO! The aisles were VERY narrow and luggage unfriendly.I know I made some people a little snippy as I was trying to get into my seat,butI did the best that I could:) The good thing about the LIRR though was the speed-we were at the airport in 15 minutes.I connected to the Airtrain,got off at Terminal 1,and checked in easily.

After killing some time at the airport,I boarded my Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt(had a lengthy layover) and settled into my aisle seat. Just as I was putting everything away,the guy next to me asked if I would switch with his wife,who was also in a middle seat in the row ahead of us.I felt a little bad,but I declined politely,stating that I preferred the aisle seat(and had selected it months prior). Apparently,the passenger seated next to his wife felt the same way,so they were stuck sitting an extra few inches away from each other for the 6 hour flight.

The guy was NOT happy,and he promptly sat in his seat with his legs V-d out so that he was in my legroom.I reluctantly kept my mouth shut(others on Tripadvisor say I should have said something,but it was a 6 hour flight that was completely full,and didn’t want it to be worse than it could be),until he threw his blanket over himself,spilling a large amount into my seat. I picked up the piece that was dangling over me and lightly placed it back into his space. He was quiet until I got up to go to the restroom,when he stood up in the aisle. As I made my way back to my seat,he refused to allow me in,saying that he wanted to stand.I stood next to him until he finally let me sit down.

Other than that unpleasantness,the flight was fine-we had seatback entertainment,free alcohol,and the dinner was decent.The staff was very polite and even came around offering warm washcloths after dinner.

Since we had left at 4pm,it was light most of the way,and the FA’s didn’t turn out the main cabin lights until we were 4 hrs into the flight. I didn’t get a lot of sleep before we landed in Frankfurt at 5am.

I had researched day trips into the city during layovers,and had a pretty good idea of what I wanted to do,but since it was so early when we landed,the airport was pretty much shut down.I knew nothing in the tourist area would be open yet either,so I found a row of benches and closed my eyes for about 45 minutes. I then found out that FRA has shower facilities,and gladly paid the 8 Euros for a little shower room to freshen up(and hopefully wake myself up).

Then,I made my way through the airport,found the train station and bought my ticket on the S-bahn,and took the train into Hauptwache,the tourist shopping area of Frankfurt. Unfortunately,it was very rainy outside,and chilly.I wandered around for a couple of hours,then headed back to the airport,where I found a “relax lounge” area-I think it was on the A concourse,but it had several ergonomically reclined chairs and plugs/USB ports to plug electronics in. I stayed here for a couple of hours,then it was time to board the flight to Rome!

This time,I was extremely lucky-I had a row to myself! The flight was about two hours,and I was able to rest some but also read and observed the scenery outside. I was amazed as we were approaching FCO-the sea was sparkling turquoise,similar to the Caribbean,and Italy was much greener than I had imagined! The sun was shinign so brightly,I envisioned many warm days on the ship.(Sadly,that wasn’t to be-stay tuned!)

After landing,I found the baggae claim easily and then found the Terravision bus stop near the entrance. I was 8 euros RT for a bus to Termini station-seemed like a good deal. However,upon our arrival into Rome,the bus didn’t stop near the entrance,so it was a bit of a challenge to find the taxi line(I was too jet lagged and overloaded with bags at that point to try to navigate the Metro to my hotel).Once I did,I got a cab whose driver knew little English(this was to be the case in most of Italy)so I used a lot of pantomiming and repeating the address of the hotel. About 10 minutes later,the driver indicated that we had passed it,so we had to circle around,since it was a one way street.Once I arrived,it was 15 euros for the ride-grrr!!(I later found out it should have been about 9).

Anyway-the hotel itself was nice-I chose the Hotel Versailles,which was near the Borghese Gardens,at $67/night. It was a few blocks from a Metro stop,but the main bus stop for the hotel was at the Porta Pia square,which was only about 50 feet away. The staff at the hotel was very helpful at checking me in,giving me advice on local restaurants,and the typical tourist advice. The room was actually a bit larger,by European standarsd,than I had expected,and had a balcony and mini frige,and free Wifi!

It was nearly 8pm at this point,and I was way too tired to venture out into the main tourist area of Rome. Instead I walked around my hotel,found a local trattoria,and had my first authentic Italian meal,which was excellent! I also tried some gelato on the way back,and have to say,its NOTHING like the gelato they try to sell at the local US grocery stores!

Once I was back at the hotel,I pretty much crashed for the night!

Sorry baseballmom!!! It was one of the choices,but pricing worked out better for the week of the 15th...suprisingly,Rome actualy came up $50 cheaper than Barcelona on the 19th...go figure. But I am a blogger so i'll difinitely be writing reviews on/shortly after cruise,so hopefully it will help you out!

Janet,I said hello on your board:) Thats an awesome deal with the FF miles!

Sorry it didnt work out this year-but Ill wave to you getting off the ship as Im getting on. It would be funny if you had my cabin LOL.

Now just have to find a decent flight....so far ,only Finnair, Air berlin, and Turkish Air have deals for around $700 RT JFK-FCO...not familiar with ANY of these,and of course on TripAdvisor,every airline in economy has the worst seats/entertainment/food/service/baggage transfer/flight delays/etc.

Hopefully,one of the big guys drops their prices as time goes on....

well, i took the plunge,and just booked the May 15 sailing from Rome!!!! SOOO excited!!! Now I just have to see if there's a roll call for it yet!

It's really too bad they changed the Cannes stop from this year's itinerary to Palma next year, since I've heard much better things about Cannes/Nice than Marseille.

 

!

I agree...i would rather have the extra stop in France,but I'm thinking it might be a port where I just wander for an hour or two and have an extra "sea" day on the ship instead:)

Thanks for the advice for Rome...I think thats the way I'm leaning...I think I would rather have a port day in Barcelona. I'm perfectly fine traveling solo-hence,the solo cruise-but i liked the idea of meeting up with other travelers in the studio lounge and/or via CC,to hang out with now and then,and to get groups for some of these excursions! But,I guess I'll wait until I pick a date for sure and stalk the roll call forum:)

Wow! Thanks for all of the replies!

Since I'm looking at going in either May/June,airfares are a bit higher-I've been coming up with about $700 to either Rome or Barcelona,but they go through Germany or Finland(on Air Berlin or Finnair,respectively) from JFK. I could go from Boston via Toronto for about $100 more on Air Canada or Lufthansa...not sure what the best option here is.

It does seem like more ppl are for leaving from Barcelona-someone upthread mentioned that as a solo traveler,that more groups are "formed" by the time the ship hits Rome-have any previous solo travelers had this experience?

I would at least like to see the Colliseum,Vatican,and Spanish steps area-I would probably come back for a longer land based trip to Italy at some point in my life.Do the day tours(though exhausting) give enough tome to feel like you got at least a taste of this? Is spending the extra day worth being slightly off in the itinerary by not boarding in BArcelona(i.e.,not really getting to know other travelers b/c of different itineraries)? I'd kind of like to see Barcelona,but I dont think i'd ever make an extra trip just to Spain,so dont know if spending the extra day or two here is worth it....

Also,I know its a port intensive cruise,is the Palma de Mallorca stop one that can be missed/shortened to have more time on the ship without missing anything major? I know a lot of ppl do this in Marseille,but I'm a francophile,so for me,MArseille would be a must see.

I've read a LOT of trip reports from this cruise,so thank you to everyone for writing! Attila,your review was great as well!

Thanks again for all the info....also any recommendations on timing of cruise(looking anywhere from early May to 2nd week of June) would be appreciated!

Hi all,

I apologize if this has been brought up elsewhere,I tried various searches and couldnt find a thread addressing it.

I have been contemplating a solo cruise on NCL Epic for a while now,and am leaning more towards a Mediterranean cruise than Caribbean,as i have been to the latter several times. I have read tons of positive reviews on the Epic,esp. for solo cruisers,and I have always wnted to try a Med cruise:)

My question is whether or not to board in Civitavecchia(sp?) or Barcelona? I have researched airfares and they are similar from JFK to both cities,and the price of the cruise is the same. I plan to stay one day either before/after cruise in the departure city,possible both,and am slightly more interested in spending the extra time in Rome than Barcelona,unless I can be convinced otherwise LOL.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this? Also,I'm slightly neurotic about flight delays,does it make sense to fly in the day before if the ship leaves the port at 7pm?

Any tips would be appreciated!