Epic Questions

[frawls]

My wife and I will be sailing on the Epic out of Barcelona on a Sunday, Sept 7 and have a couple of questions I hope some people can help with.

 

1. Would it make sense to check onto the Epic and check our bags and then explore the city or leave our bags with hotel for the morning and get to the Epic mid afternoon? We are supposed to get priority embarkation so I am not sure how the lines will be at the different times and we want to see as much of Barcelona as we can. We are arriving Saturday morning, so we will have all day Saturday as well and we were thinking of doing a 2 day HOHO bus pass but worried we will not have enough time on Sunday.

 

2. We are staying in an aft penthouse room which gives us access to the Haven - is the restaurant for Haven guests any better than main dining room? or will we still want to book specialty restaurants? We were on the Gem last year and really enjoyed Le Bistro and Cagney's.

 

3. I have read a number of posts about the wine store at the pier - any recommendations on good Spanish red wines?? We typically enjoy darker fruits, earthy, light to med body Pinot Noir or Cote du Rhone.

 

Thank you all for your help.

[CoffeeGoddess]

I was on this cruise in July so I can tell you it is really easy to get from the port back to the city if that is any consideration. I was there at 11:30am and the lines were short but I don't know about later.

 

The Haven restaurant is definitely better than the MDR. I was in the Haven in December and a studio this last cruise so I can confirm that. However, the MDR may have more variety. I really only ate in there once this past cruise and I was not impressed.

 

The wine shop is small but they seemed to have a decent variety for the size. I can't make a recommendation though.

Edited July 31, 2014 by CoffeeGoddess

[Single Cruiser]

Embarkation and check-in is busy from about 11:00-13:00 . After 13:00 there are very few queues. So the question is do you want to queue or not?

 

Provided you have tags you can drop your cases and then check-in later but as you're a Haven suite guest you'd probably be whisked away through the quick crew entrance if you wanted.

 

The wine shop is a bit hit and miss. On some closed loop European itineraries it's been shut, also NCL reserve right to search and charge corkage on entering the ship. Again this is random, some just walk through, others have been stopped.

 

From personal experience they tend to check the early hours, entry early is usually into the Casino level whereas due to tides etc if you arrive about 2PM you often enter via the promenade deck.

 

Oh and I'm on 7th Sept which will be my 6th time on Epic (with 7th and 8th booked).

Edited July 31, 2014 by Single Cruiser

[bluesea777]

my wife and i will be sailing on the epic out of barcelona on a sunday, sept 7 and have a couple of questions i hope some people can help with.

 

1. Would it make sense to check onto the epic and check our bags and then explore the city - no -or leave our bags with hotel for the morning and get to the epic mid afternoon? yes, do this. We did that twice.we are supposed to get priority embarkation so i am not sure how the lines will be at the different times and we want to see as much of barcelona as we can. We are arriving saturday morning, so we will have all day saturday as well and we were thinking of doing a 2 day hoho bus pass but worried we will not have enough time on sunday. remember most store esp grocery are shut on sundays ...

 

2. We are staying in an aft penthouse room which gives us access to the haven - is the restaurant for haven guests any better than main dining room? Or will we still want to book specialty restaurants? We were on the gem last year and really enjoyed le bistro and cagney's. never had suite on epic, but you will have concierge who will book you into the specialty restaurants

 

3. I have read a number of posts about the wine store at the pier - any recommendations on good spanish red wines?? We typically enjoy darker fruits, earthy, light to med body pinot noir or cote du rhone. i can't help you here, but the wine stores at the pier seem good. Also there is a store that sells bottled water - ideal if the grocery stores are shut on sunday

 

thank you all for your help.

 

enjoy!!!

Edited July 31, 2014 by bluesea777

[CruiseIreland]

Just my opinion, but the wine shop at the port has a poor selection and is overpriced. As you have almost 2 days, you will find a supermarket in the city. I would recommend a Rioja such as Marques de Caceres. Wheel it on in your carry on and you may or may not be charged corkage. Ken

[frawls]

Thank You everyone

[kalesco]

I was on the Epic in May and we did the Hoho bus after our one night stay and before going to the port. I would suggest doing two of the three loops on Saturday and the third loop on Sunday - you'll have plenty of time for this.

Can't recommend a specific wine, but the Rioja we chose from the shop after the check in was fine. The rosé was a disaster. Both were not worth remembering the exact names though. We weren't checked when going on the ship. YMMV.