Epic 8/27-9/3 review

Just off Epic this past Sunday. This was our first Med. cruise, and we had a great time! It was our 7th cruise on NCL, and 34th cruise over-all. I traveled with my dh, and had connecting balcony cabins for my 2 adult children, who decided to join us in our adventures. My cabin had taken the ubp and free grats as our perk for booking, and my 2 dd's cabin took the 250 internet minutes and free grats as theirs. I chose this cruise because seeing Pompeii has always been on my bucket list. I will break this review up into sections, to make it easier to scan/read. I am a researcher, and studied everything I could, and read all Epic reviews for the 8 months before we left.

Pre-Cruise: We flew non-stop on Delta into Barcelona. We had private pre-arranged transfers from the airport to our hotel, hotel to port, and port back to the airport. With 4 large luggages, we just figured it would be easier to get one minivan in advance than try to get cabs. Our drivers were always early, and we rode in comfort to all our destinations. Our overnight flight got us into BCN Saturday morning, where our ride took us to the Colon Hotel Barcelona, located in the Gothic section. We decided to get a Jr. Suite for the 4 of us, as it was cheaper than 2 rooms. Our suite (room 411) was a beautiful corner room, nice balconies, with 2 separate bedrooms overlooking the Gothic cathedral and square. You couldn't really sit on the balconies, but we stood our there people watching. We had dropped off our luggage, as our room was not ready, and walked one block to the hop-on, hop-off bus. For 90 Euro, we took a nice tour around Barcelona, getting off at a few stops to look around. After that, we walked to Las Ramblas, which was literally 5 minutes away, and strolled around. The memorials they have set up is heart-breaking to see, and a vivid reminder of the horrors in our world. We grabbed dinner at an outdoor cafe, and collapsed in bed, as we had been up for over 24 hours straight.

Embarkation: Fastest ever. Left hotel at 11:00, on ship by 11:30. Cabins were ready. Had door between our cabins unlocked (tried to get the balcony dividers opened, but steward said not allowed. Was worth a try!!) Our safe had some problems - kept "freezing" and had to have someone come fix it 3x in one hour. On the 3rd attempt, the supervisor said they would replace the safe the next morning - which they did. I am happy to say that was the only issue we had on the ship!!

Cabins/Crew: We had been on Epic for a Caribbean cruise, so were familiar with the setup. No problems. Our 2 cabins - 13098 and 13102 were well kept by our steward, a/c worked great, and cabins were "quiet." We decided to not get Posh tickets, as our itinerary was so port extensive. We never had problems finding lounges on deck. Every crew/staff member we encountered seemed happy, was polite and ready to help, even if we didn't ask for help!!

Food: We are not foodies. This was the first NCL cruise where we did not have a dining plan. Again, because we were so port-intensive, we figured we would want to try the food of the country we were visiting. We ate breakfast in the buffet each morning, and then ate lunch either off the ship, or in the dining room if we were still on the ship. Dinner was at the Taste dining room, buffet, O'Sheehans, and we had Chinese one night. All food was edible, which is all that mattered to us!

Entertainment: We saw the Beatles show the first night - great songs. We had booked "Priscilla," as I had missed it on Broadway when it was playing in NY. We enjoyed the show very much. The music was right from my high school/college days, so we knew almost every song. They made numerous announcements before the show telling everyone the show might be innapropriate for kids, and even adults who were not "open-minded." There were a number of people who left after watching for a few minutes. Their loss.

We also did Escape the Big top (boy did we stink at it - had never done an escape room before!) which we booked as soon as we boarded. Kudos to the team that "escaped" in 42 minutes.

Otherwise, we spent some time in the Atrium each evening watching whatever was going on. Also stopped in at Howl at the Moon, but the piano players weren't my favorites, so only stayed a bit. Also played in the casino. Slots seemed a bit tight. Casino smokey, as usual.

Ports: The reason we booked this cruise!!

Naples: booked RomeinLimo, and had Alex, who was really great as a driver. Saw Amalfi Coast, Positano, Sorrento, and of course, Pompeii. We had RIL book a private tour guide at Pompeii. Our guide - Lucio- was incredible. Had been working as a guide for 43 years at Pompeii, so we got a lot of inside info other guides didn't know! We left Epic at 8 am, and got back around 5:30. Long, but satisfying day!

Rome: booked Ultimate Rome tour through NCL, as I was worried about the trip from port to Rome and back. I had called NCL to book this, as I wanted to know how many people would be on this excursion with us. I did not want a large busload. I was promised there would be a total of 10 on a minibus. When we got to port, we were taken to a large tour bus, where they had combined 2 tours, with over 40 people. Hmmmm. When we split the tours up, we had 18 in our group. Still got to see all the sites - Vatican, etc. However, this tour was mis-represented, and I will send a letter to NCL in the next few days telling them to get their reps up to speed on this tour. (people at Excursion Desk just hemmed and hawed at me when I went to question them after we arrived back at the ship.) Again, this tour went from around 7 am to 6 pm - long, tiring day!

Liverno: Booked a private tour through Marco Polo tours. Had Marco himself, who really went above and beyong. Saw Pisa and Florence. DD was on a mission to find a certain leather shop in Florence, and Marco actually googled it, then walked us there so we would not get lost! DD got her leather jacket, and we had lunch at a great restaurant in Florence. (ZaZa) Saw the David at the Academia, and again got back to the ship around 5:30.

Cannes: Took NCL excursion Little Train/Nice. Had around 1 hour to walk Nice before getting on the little train, which took us all around the city. BTW - the little train is a tram! It was nice to sit and be transported around, though.

We left Canne late, as the winds had kicked up, and 3 tenders could not safely get to the ship for their hook-up. We sat at the buffet and watched them make attempt after attempt- they would approach the ship, then veer off. They were really bouncing around, and I have no idea if there were passengers on them.

Palma Majorca: We just cabbed it to Palma Nova beach, and spent a few hours there. Very nice and relaxing- much needed after a tiring week! Spent $13.50 Euro for lounges and just hung out.

Debarkation/airport: We left the ship around 8, and were checked in at the airport, through security and customs by 9:30 for a 12 pm flight. We had heard horror stories of it taking 3 hours to get to the gate, but we luckily saw none of that. Our plane took off on time, and landed on time at JFK a little early.

VAT tax: Even though I researched this up and down, I still messed up. We really did not purchase much on our trip, and got the necessary paperwork and forms when we did. We asked the Delta counter person who checked us in where the VAT kiosk was, and she directed us there. We thought we had gotten everything stamped that we should have, but once at the kiosk were told we were missing a stamp, and the only was to get back the tax was to go out, back through security and customs, and back on line at the VAT kiosk. Nope - not happening. We lost around $60. Lesson learned.

Conclusion: We had a great cruise! While on board, we purchased 5 more cruisenext certificates to go with the 3 we already had. The "new" promo is that you are allowed to put 2 certificates on each cabin, as long as you book at least 6 months out, which is what we always do. (we had put 2 on each cabin for this cruise as an "old" promo they had for booking European cruises.) We will probably look into doing the Venice/Greece cruise next, or the Baltics cruise next. I really have nothing bad to say about our adventures, and look forward to our next cruise on NCL. Happy cruising to all!

Excellent. Thanks for taking the time.

We are on the Epic from 9/17.

Blues

Excellent. Thanks for taking the time.

We are on the Epic from 9/17.

Blues

You are so welcome. Hope you have as good a time as we did!

Were you charged a vat tax per drink at the end on the UBP.

Do you have copies of the Dailies?

Blues

Were you charged a vat tax per drink at the end on the UBP.

No. No tax was charged for drinks on our UBP.

Do you have copies of the Dailies?

Blues

Sorry, I do not.

Hi, Could you tell me more about going to the beach at Palma? We're there taxis available at cruise terminal? Can you remember how much? And what beach did you ask for? Where there places to have a drink/lunch? Sorry so many questions...Thank you for any replies.

Thanks for the feedback.

Hi, Could you tell me more about going to the beach at Palma? We're there taxis available at cruise terminal? Can you remember how much? And what beach did you ask for? Where there places to have a drink/lunch? Sorry so many questions...Thank you for any replies.

We really had no plans for Palma Majorca, as none of the excursions caught our eye. We left the ship at 2 pm, walked to the outside area where there were plenty of taxis waiting. We paid 22 Euro for trip to Palma Nova beach - it was around 15 minutes away - with driver going around 90 mph!! The beach is very pretty. Plenty of places to eat right across street from beach, with a mini mart where we bought soda/water, as it was quite warm while we were there. (2 euro a bottle) The ride back was just as crazy fast, and we paid 20 euro for it. I am glad we went to Palma Nova, as the water was really nice, and there were plenty of lounge chairs to rent. (13.50 euro for 2 with an umbrella)

Thank you for the review. We are sailing the same itinerary next summer and I am likewise a planner, so every little piece of info helps!

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Thank you for your review.

Great review and very helpful. We leave soon for the same trip.

Wondering about the VAT refund? How does that work and what does one do?

May do the beach in Palma. Thanks for that tip.

So glad your BCN departure was smooth. Hope ours is too.

Could you provide a link for your private transfer? Was the rate resonable? Did they speak English?

Again, thanks for taking time to post. This is valuable info.

One more thing....did you purchase Euros in US or wait for arrival for Barcelona ATM.

Judy

Great review and very helpful. We leave soon for the same trip.

Wondering about the VAT refund? How does that work and what does one do?

May do the beach in Palma. Thanks for that tip.

So glad your BCN departure was smooth. Hope ours is too.

Could you provide a link for your private transfer? Was the rate resonable? Did they speak English?

Again, thanks for taking time to post. This is valuable info.

One more thing....did you purchase Euros in US or wait for arrival for Barcelona ATM.

Judy

Our private transfers set up by our TA, who booked our flights and transfers. I booked the cruise and private tours ourselves. The voucher I have for the transfers is from TravelBound. Their U.S. phone number is1-800-808-9541. The driver that picked us up from the airport spoke NO English, and we speak very little Spanish. He used his cell phone to translate spanish to english for us - pretty cool. Our other 2 drivers spoke very good English. They were dressed professionally, and all drove brand new 10 passenger bus/vans, which we had to ourselves for just the 4 of us. The cost was $129, and will be less for only 2 people. If you are traveling with just 2 people, I would definitely take a taxi, as I think the fare was around 39 Euro per cab ride from the airport to our hotel/port. I was not going to split up our family in a country unknown to us!!

The VAT tax is still bothering dh, as we thought we had followed all the directions. When you buy something on the ship, or on land, there is a VAT tax, which is pretty hefty. The ship will give you the necessary paperwork, as will vendors on land. Keep all receipts. When going through customs show them the paperwork - they will give you another form and stamp it. Once through security/customs go to the VAT "booth" - can't miss it - and they will refund the VAT tax in euro from what we saw.

We pre-purchased some Euros in U.S., even though I told dh we would get a better rate waiting for atm or bank in Barcelona. However, we NEVER use atm's in U.S., so he didn't want to start abroad, and didn't want to look for a bank on Saturday or Sunday. We used our credit card for all purchases on trip. Our cc has no foreign transaction fees, so it was great! Just make sure you call cc company beforehand and put a travel alert on card, or they may stop it if they see unusual charges from abroad. DH also used a waist money belt, and I used a "travel" pocketbook with RIFD protection and a hook zipper. We did see 2 people (one in Spain, another in Italy) who were upset as they had been pick-pocketed! Very unsettling!

Thank you so much for the information regarding Palma Nova beach...I think we will do this when we sail in October (if the weather is still good?:o) I dont suppose you noticed if they had larger taxis? Ones that would carry 6 passengers? Again thank you for any information.

Thanks for your concise review. I called NCL yesterday as I am on the 10-22 cruise out of

Barcelona & they said there was no tendering in Cannes..is that the only port you tendered?

thanks

Thanks for your concise review. I called NCL yesterday as I am on the 10-22 cruise out of

Barcelona & they said there was no tendering in Cannes..is that the only port you tendered?

thanks

Cannes was definitely a tender port for us, and yes, it was the only one we tendered at. There really was no dockage space for a ship of Epic's size.....just yachts in a marina there. If you want, call NCL again and ask - bet you'll be told it is a tender port. You probably got a rep who didn't know what they were talking about!!

https://www.whatsinport.com/Cannes.htm

Thank you so much for the information regarding Palma Nova beach...I think we will do this when we sail in October (if the weather is still good?:o) I dont suppose you noticed if they had larger taxis? Ones that would carry 6 passengers? Again thank you for any information.

They definitely had minivans and vans that held 6-8 people, 'cause we saw groups/families get into them while we waited.

Thank you for the review. We are sailing the same itinerary next summer and I am likewise a planner, so every little piece of info helps!

 

 

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Palma Mallorca/Majorca has many sights worth seeing! Great Cathedral, Moorish castle, art galleries.

Take the city bus tour at least.

A beach is a beach is a beach... is a beach,

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Palma Mallorca/Majorca has many sights worth seeing! Great Cathedral, Moorish castle, art galleries.

Take the city bus tour at least.

A beach is a beach is a beach... is a beach,

True - but we were all "cathedraled" out by the time we got to Palma, and had seen plenty of art galleries in the Italian ports. We were pretty tired by Palma, so a beach day worked for us!

Thanks for the wonderful review. Brings back many memories. We have sailed the Med on the Epic twice (total of 7 Epic cruises).

On our first cruise out of Barcelona, we had private transfers arranged like you. On our next two Barcelona cruises, we used taxis.

Thanks for the review.

Pe4all

Thanks for all your great info. You answered all my questions and then some. I really want euros in my hand when I get to Barcelona. However, Wells Fargo would not sell to me as I have no checking with them. Not sure what to do. Guess I'll have to hit the ATM upon arrival.

Happy Fall

Judy

Glad you had a great time on your Med cruise.

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We are on Epic from October 15. Our stop in Palma has been rescheduled. We are now stopping in Marseille. Some excuse about Palma beng busy! Doesn't look that way on the Port schedule. Marseille will save fuel costs I suppose!

Thanks for the review.

You are so very welcome!