Just back from the 6/28 Epic Med cruise

[suzan99]

We just got back Sunday from the Epic Med cruise and had a wonderful time. I will do a more detailed report later in the week with pictures. We had balcony cabin 10247. It was a little tight with 3 of us but fine. If I did it over I would probably opt for a mini-suite (it was my husband and I and 12 year old daughter.). I would also get a room with the bed near the balcony. We had the bed in the front and it was tight getting around. I liked the bathroom setup, it's much more efficient to have everything separated. I can understand it would be difficult if you are with someone other than family.

 

We stayed at Cathedral de Bas apartments for 3 nights before the cruise and LOVED Barcelona of all the places visited. I highly recommend this apartment in the Gothic Quarter. Very close the Barcelona Cathedral, has a small plunge pool on the roof.

 

We have cruised on RCL Oasis and Independence of the Seas before. I think the balcony rooms were slightly bigger on Oasis (or maybe just had less storage so they seemed bigger). Overall Oasis is a prettier ship but the food on the Epic was much better and had a much larger selection in the main dining rooms and the restaurants. Oasis had a better buffet. We chose the Epic over the Allure because it was about $1000 cheaper for the cruise and we were very happy with our choice.

 

The food was great - we LOVED all the restaurants we ate at (Le Bistro, Cagney's, La Cuicina, Moderno and the Japanese Steak). We had the restaurant and beverage plan). Only ate at the main dining room Taste once and it was very good too. Our favorite restaurants were Cagney's and Moderno than Le Bistro. If I had to pay extra I would not do La Cuicina because you can get a few of the same items at Taste.

 

My 12 year old daughter loved the kids club (we were a little worried because we were afraid there wouldn't be many 12 year olds). She made friends from the UK, Australia, Spain, South Africa and the US. Starting at 13 they have a teen club but do not divide it into age groups, so for this reason we may cruise with Royal Caribbean next because they divide by 12-14 and 15-17. I don't know if I would want my 13 year old hanging out with 16-17 year olds.

 

The only entertainment we saw was Burn the Floor and the Beatles group which were both good. We had no interest in seeing Legends (we like more alternative music). We liked the family atmosphere and size of the pub with games and pool tables which was better the small pub on the RCL ships. We were also tired and usually went to bed at 11-12.

 

If anyone has any questions let me know. We loved the ship and had a great time.

[smartpeach]

Hi,

 

Thank you for for review. Can't wait to read your more detailed report later. We'll be in the same cruise next month so I have some questions if you don't mind:

 

1. What day and how much was your mid-week laundry special?

2. Were the specialty restaurants super crowded? Was it difficult to make specialty restaurant reservations onboard?

3. Were the bars super crowded? Did it take long time to get a drink with the UBP?

 

Would also greatly appreciate it if you can post the full Dailies , please.

 

Thank you!

 

:)

Edited July 8, 2015 by smartpeach

[suzan99]

I think the laundry special was on Wed or Thursday evening and it was $19.95 for a bag but it said it would be returned Saturday evening. Since we were flying home on Sunday morning it wasn't worth it to us.

 

The pool bar could get crowded. We mostly went to O'Sheenan's which was never crowded. Didn't try any of the other bars. But they didn't look overly crowded.

 

We made all our reservations for the specialty restaurants online before the cruise so I can't really say if there was availability. They did have a desk outside of the buffet that showed availability for each restaurant. The shows did book up ahead of time. We wanted to see the magician but we waited too long and the Friday and Saturday shows were booked.

[Nola26]

Glad your family had a good cruise. Your daughter sounds like a good kid and frankly the 16-17yos aren't likely to hang with her and vice versa.

 

We'll be on the Getaway, but same cabin configuration, balcony with bed close to door. We'll be a family of 3, 13yo nephew with us, so your comments really helped, thanks. My mother will likely use the balcony quite a bit, so we'll stretch the size of the cabin that way. An inside would just be too small for a 7 nights cruise. Also a fresh air is helpful when traveling with an athletic teen boy.... lol.

 

My nephew will use the teen club and he's a pretty good kid, though at 13 they all become a bit deranged. He's only in 8th grade and will tend toward his age group. Where that will change for him will be on the basketball court where he'll play with whomever, including me. If you like I can try to share how the teen club experience worked for us. My plan is to have some clear rules that should help with some gray areas. He actually responds well to guidelines (after trying to negotiate the edges) :rolleyes:.

 

We sail late August, back Labor Day weekend.

[ppstateofmind]

Hi,

 

We'll be in the same cruise next month :)

 

When are you going on the Epic?

[smartpeach]

When are you going on the Epic?

 

We're boarding from Rome, August 19 to 26. :)

[tedly1960]

Hi,

 

Thank you for for review. Can't wait to read your more detailed report later. We'll be in the same cruise next month so I have some questions if you don't mind:

 

1. What day and how much was your mid-week laundry special?

2. Were the specialty restaurants super crowded? Was it difficult to make specialty restaurant reservations onboard?

3. Were the bars super crowded? Did it take long time to get a drink with the UBP?

 

Would also greatly appreciate it if you can post the full Dailies , please.

 

Thank you!

 

The main pool bar did get crowded on the sea day. Not too long to get a drink, just a little patience needed. Any interior bars, you could get a drink in a very timely fashion whether you have UBP or not. (We also had UBP and never had a problem). If you are particular about the time that you want to eat, then I would make reservations ahead of time for any specialty restaurants.

[ppstateofmind]

We're boarding from Rome, August 19 to 26. :)

 

I will be on that same one, but embarking in Barcelona :)

[laxfanmom1]

What did you do in Mallorca? Was the abbreviated port stop okay (was there enough time to explore)? And I'm worried that there won't be enough taxi's since almost everyone is doing this port on their own. Just wondering what your experience was? Thanks!

[suzan99]

In Mallorca we got off the ship at 2:30. It's a long walk through the port terminal. We got a taxi to Palma Nova beach, it was 23 euros there and 20 back. Don't be put off by the huge line for the taxis - it went fairly quickly (there were a LOT of taxis there). If they had someone to direct people into the taxis like at the Barcelona port, then it would go even faster.

 

If you have kids Palma Nova is great. We rented 2 chairs and an umbrella for 13.50 and there is a water playground that is 10 euros for an hour that my daughter loved. There were a lot of families from the ship going to Palma Nova. We took the taxi back at about 5:20. It was a 15 minute drive. I wish we had more time in Mallorca, I would have loved to have also gone to Palma. There was a transfer to Palma for $15 return.

[lials1981]

Hi Suzan, we are doing this cruise in August. What time could you board in Barce? Also is there a late disembarkation option or are you kicked off early?!

 

Did you have loungers on the balcony or just chairs?

 

Thank you!

[michelle028]

In Mallorca we got off the ship at 2:30. It's a long walk through the port terminal. We got a taxi to Palma Nova beach, it was 23 euros there and 20 back. Don't be put off by the huge line for the taxis - it went fairly quickly (there were a LOT of taxis there). If they had someone to direct people into the taxis like at the Barcelona port, then it would go even faster.

 

If you have kids Palma Nova is great. We rented 2 chairs and an umbrella for 13.50 and there is a water playground that is 10 euros for an hour that my daughter loved. There were a lot of families from the ship going to Palma Nova. We took the taxi back at about 5:20. It was a 15 minute drive. I wish we had more time in Mallorca, I would have loved to have also gone to Palma. There was a transfer to Palma for $15 return.

 

 

Thx! Did you find Palma Nova beach to have calm water?

Is there a deep drop? did you feel safe leaving your items on the beach?

 

What facilities are there? ie. washrooms.

[suzan99]

The water in Mallorca had some waves. More than the beach in Sorrento or Cannes but not big waves like the outer banks/or Maryland beaches (in the US). Not a huge drop off but there is some seaweed near the shore.

 

My husband was near our stuff most of the time but when we were all in the water I put my wallet and phone in a ziplock bag and buried it in the sand. I'm not sure if there are washrooms, we were only there 2 1/2 hours so didn't really need.

 

We got to the cruise port in Barcelona at about 12:45 and got to our cabin at 1:30. They wanted everyone out of the rooms at 8:30 on the last day. We got our luggage tags for 9 am, since we went in a huge rush as we had a Noon flight. The airport was very busy though and had lots of great shopping (it was almost like a mall).

[suzan99]

Our vacation started with a visit to relatives in Scotland, then we flew Ryan Air from Prestwick into Barcelona. We arrived 3 days early and really enjoyed Barcelona, it was our favorite city of the trip.

 

We stayed at the Cathedral de Bas apartments in the Gothic quarter in a 1 bedroom apartment with a kitchen, washing machine and balcony. The best location, around the corner from the Barcelona Cathedral. Lots of boutiques, clothing stores, Tapas bars, gelato shops. There was also a small plunge pool on the roof. We booked through expedia.

 

We went on the hop on hop off bus, then Sagrada Familia. The next day we went to Parc Gruell, the Art Museum of Catalonia. On Sunday morning I went to the Picasso museum and the Barcelona History museum. There was so much more to see but we only had 2 1/2 days. My daughter wanted to go to Tibagdo but by the time we finished dinner they were almost closed. We could have stayed a week! Placa Reial square is beautiful and has lots of restaurants.

 

I wanted to post pictures - does anyone know how to do this? I clicked on manage attachments to upload my pictures but it keeps saying upload failed.

[Trynity]

Really looking forward to a review, especially on your activities in the ports (we are on the Epic on October)

 

To post photos, I believe you have to have them hosted (places like Photobucket).

[bp traveler]

Thanks for your review!

 

We leave on Wed. for a pre cruise trip and then board next Sunday for a back to back!

 

How do you book the Magician? I can only see Legends and Burn the floor?

 

My son is 13 and I want him to at least go and try camp and see what he thinks of it!

 

Any other tips? How far was the walk to the train station in Citiv.?

 

thanks

[suzan99]

You can book the Magician when you get on the ship but try to do it one of the first days. I wasn't sure of our schedule so I tried to book it on Thursday and the last 2 shows were sold out.

 

In Rome we did the "Rome on your Own Tour" so I'm not sure how far it is to the train station but it is walkable. We found it very hard to find a taxi to take you to the train station anywhere in Italy. They all wanted you to do full day tours. In Naples we walked to the Porta Nolana station and it was about a 20 minute walk.

[bp traveler]

Thanks Suzan for the quick reply!

 

I am really getting excited for our trip!

 

Did you go to Herculaeum or Pompeii? Is that the train station that takes you to both of those? Was it hard to find?

 

Did you teen enjoy the cruise as well?

[suzan99]

We decided to go to Herculaneum instead of Pompeii and were very happy with our decision. There were only 10-20 people there, it is better preserved and has more shade. There were no people in my pictures! It is a 20 minute ride on the train. Make sure you get on at Porta Nolana - if you get on at the main station one stop later you will be standing the entire trip. We wanted to have time to go to Sorrento also so that's why we picked Herculaneum which is smaller.

 

The train doesn't have ac so it gets very hot. It's hot everywhere in Italy. Even restaurants with ac are still very hot. It's 20 minutes to Herculaneum and about another 20 to Pompeii. The train gets crowded and there are pickpockets on but also lots of tourists. Just be aware of your surroundings.

 

Then we rode to Sorrento, had lunch and walked down to the waterfront and went to the beach for a few hours. We took the 4:25 hydrofoil back to Naples (a much nicer way to go then riding the train back).

 

My daughter was 12 so she couldn't go to the Teen Club/Lounge but went to the kids club with 10-12 year olds and loved it.

 

I'm going to post a trip report for each day but am having difficult sizing my photos.