NCL EPIC take 2!! July 2nd-9th 2017 NCL EPIC review

Day 6: Livorno

Day six was potentially our laziest day yet! I know.. I know....another ship day you say? I swear there is a port review of Cannes coming tomorrow....

I'll spare you the details of our morning as this was spent the same as all other mornings onboard.. poolside with a steady stream of bahama mamas, mango meltdowns and strawberry daquiris (with malibu might I add!). In the afternoon we participated in a general knowledge trivia taking place in the atrium...needless to say we did not fare well!

Dinner was in the Manhattan room (our second last meal there as we had booked Cagney's for the following evening). I will add that on some evenings there was a queue for tables in the Manhattan room, with a wait time of up to 40 minutes. At busy times you are supplied with a buzzer which vibrates once your table is ready, allowing you to go for a drink/play in the casino while waiting. On our sailing I found that the later times were busier with queues starting at around 8:45/ 9pm.

Having tasted the caesar salad (appetiser) the previous night, I had decided to ask if I could get a large portion as my main. Gary went for the country fried chicken with corn on the cob, biscuit and gravy. Being a big fan of corn on the cob, I had requested one on the side of my salad- however, was surprised when our waiter produced a plate of four extra! Our meal was delicious and I'd highly recommend the caesar salad!

After dinner we headed to the Epic Theatre as we had booked tickets for Priscilla Queen of the Desert. I had pre-reserved this prior to the sailing however, there were some empty seats. This show is.....OUTSTANDING!. Having visited the west end in London multiple times to see the likes of 'Wicked', 'Mama Mia' and 'The Lion King' amongst others, I can confidently say that this show is on par in standard. The singing and dancing was wonderful and the plot hilarious. The set was also fabulously done. I would have seen it again the following night had it been on!

Waiting for Priscilla to start...no more pictures as obviously cameras weren't allowed!

We ended the night in the casino, heading to bed slightly earlier than usual as we were determined to make it off the ship the following day!

Our monkey waiting for us on return to our cabin!

Loving your review. Any tips on Barcelona airport would be gratefully received as I will be passing through there for my October cruise on Epic

Loving your review. Any tips on Barcelona airport would be gratefully received as I will be passing through there for my October cruise on Epic

I have plenty of tips for Barcelona airport! We had more than one disaster there! Ill be finishing up this review with our airport trip! However, for those travelling in the coming days...2 main tips:

1. AVOID AVOID AVOID a cafe called breadway in terminal 1- I was served raw chicken in a pre-packed sandwich in this ''restaurant''...it took calling the manager to get a refund despite the fact I could have been very very sick!! I would hate to imagine anyone having their holiday ruined by a case of food poisoning!

2. Be aware that once you have done security you need a huge amount of time to get through to the gates as they do passport control prior to flying ( first time I have ever seen this in Europe). We nearly missed our flight as there was a queue of more than 500 people to get through! Our flight ended up delayed by an hour and a half as we were still boarding an hour post flight time. In the end 11 people missed the flight and had their bags removed from the plane as they could not make it through the queue!

You are both absolutely adorable! I love your positive attitude which does contribute to enjoying your vacation. We are on the same sailing October 15th, and loving your review. Looking forward to more!

Day 7: Cannes

We awake to the sounds of our alarms ringing at 7:45 am (I had tried convincing Gary to set them for 8 but to no avail!). We were docked in Cannes and had planned to get off the ship but……..just kidding!

For the second time in the 7 days we were most definitely getting off the ship!

We had booked our tender earlier in the week and had been assigned letter G, with tender groups set to be called alphabetically from approximately 8 am (The Ship cannot dock in the port and therefore guests are transported in via small tender boats). After a quick buffet breakfast, we were on our way back to the cabin to grab our bags when we heard the intercom asking for letters l, M and N to proceed to the epic theatre for Tender boarding. WHAT? It wasn’t even 9 am at this stage!

We took our chances and headed to the theatre expecting to be put into a standby queue, however, we were ushered straight through towards the tender boarding area. We informed the crew members that we had in fact,missed our allocated slot, however, they said that this did not matter and in fact, were not checking to see had people even booked a tender! Without further adieu we boarded the tender which held approximately 150 people (that’s a guess!).Luckily we were one of the last few on as it was hot in there! The journey to the port of Cannes took around 10 minutes and was quite bumpy (Don’t attempt to read your phone as I did- I was left feeling pretty nauseous!).

The port is located right on the promenade and a very short walk from both the old town, and the main shopping area. We had visited the old town last year and had therefore decided to visit the main shopping district.On our way we walked through some old cobbled streets where we browsed in small souvenir shops selling handmade soaps and sweets. I purchased some nougat, a bar of citron soap and two jars of pesto. Afterwards we headed to the high street where we browsed in Zara, Mango and a few of the other larger chainstores. Gary picked up a nice shirt (he was due to start a new job the day after we got home!). We had a look around an open air market selling both fresh fruit and veg as well as clothes, bags and shoes. We had planned to go to the beach however at this stage we were getting hungry! The previous year we had difficulty finding a place for lunch as all of the restaurants along the promenade were extremely expensive and catered more towards dinner vs a quick lunch. We decided to head back onboard,but not before getting a quick look at the Cannes Film Festival Palace.The journey back to the ship was plain sailing (not literally unfortunately- I was very green after looking at photos for the 10 minute trip!).

Gary getting in touch with his feminine side!

A slightly more flattering one taken after we got off the tender!

Beach in Cannes

The Epic

That evening we had booked a table in Cagney’s Steakhouse for 8 pm. We’re both big fans of steak and had been excited to try this restaurant! I ordered the petit filet mignon (5 ounce) and Gary got the standard filet mignon (8 ounce). I ordered a baked potato as a side while he opted for the Mac n’cheese (he was delighted as it’s not often you come across mac n’ cheese at home!). We decided against starters as we had eaten a mid-afternoon snack which had been slightly larger than anticipated (The waiter had done his best to convince me to have a soup to start, even insisting that it was ‘’on him’’!).

The steaks were delicious-very tender with creamy peppercorn sauce. Despite finishing all our mains,we decided that we had enough room for dessert. Gary ordered the chocolate brownie,while I went for ice-cream. Being the helpful person that I am I assisted with the brownie (which was to die for!). On receiving the bill, the waiter informed us that he had just charged for the main courses- no explanation why! Needless to say were incredibly impressed by the service!!

The brownie (only my photography could make such a yummy dessert look unappealing!)

Later that night we headed up to deck 15 to check out the glow party in Spice H2o. This was very different to all other parties held up on deck throughout the week! It was PACKED with people!! Almost everyone was dressed in white, with many people carrying glowsticks or wearing UV paint. The cruise Director Scott was on the stage cheering everyone along and the atmosphere was great! (If possible ill attach a small clip!). We got a few drinks and took it all in- a nice way to spend our 2nd last night aboard!

Entrance to the Glow Party in Spice H2o

The glow party in Spice h2o

Loving your review.

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You are both absolutely adorable! I love your positive attitude which does contribute to enjoying your vacation. We are on the same sailing October 15th, and loving your review. Looking forward to more!

Thank you Nanagirl! I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time!

Loving your review.

 

 

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Thanks for the feedback Tiggertastic-glad you're enjoying it!

Day 8: Palma

Our final full day on board the Epic had arrived. We were due to arrive in Palma at 13:00 pm and had treated ourselves to a lie-in,meaning we missed the early morning casino opening (I had spent a few too many hours in the casino after leaving the glow party the previous night and my bank balance was not the better of it!).

Our alarms were set for 10 am as we had intended on purchasing tickets for the ''win a cruise raffle'' which takes place on each sailing. The raffle was taking place in Headliners comedy club during the 11 am bingo session. On arrival to headliners we learned that it would not be possible to buy raffle tickets (you had to partake in ''deal or no deal'' or ''bingo'' throughout the week in order to get tickets free with your purchased cards). As I was determined to enter that raffle, we forked out the 50 dollars for the cheapest bingo package (which is still outrageously expensive given the prize jackpots!).

I could barely contain my excitement throughout the first bingo game while waiting for the raffle…I could already see myself sipping Bahama mamas in St. John or swimming with turtles in the Bahamas. Unfortunately, my dreams were cut short by the realisation that we, in fact, had not won!

Nonetheless, we spent the next hour playing bingo which was a bit of fun if nothing else! The bingo session on the last day is called the''5000 dollar jackpot bingo'', however, I'm not entirely convinced anyone ever claims this jackpot! The catch is that the 5000 dollars is given to any person who can claim bingo (ie. get all 20 numbers on their card called) within...47 numbers! As the cards are printed, and the game played on an interactive screen,I'd imagine the hosts know exactly what numbers are going to come up and whether or not they correspond with any of the bingo cards sold! After the first 47 numbers are called, the jackpot closes and the consolation prize of 200 dollars is up for grabs (we had won this the previous year!). Overall, I’d say that bingo onboard is a fun way to pass an hour, but I certainly wouldn’t be going in the hope of winning big bucks!

Our afternoon was spent as most of our previous ones had been….in Spice h2o! We soaked up the final bit of sun and guzzled on a final few frozen cocktails. We agreed that neither one of us wanted to tear ourselves away from the pool and decided that we would skip Palma (we had been there 2 years previously).

Photo taken from Spice h2o

That evening we packed our suitcases as much as we could to ensure we could enjoy our night and avoid having to return to the cabin early.We had contemplated going to the ‘Cirque Dreams’ dinner show, however, the menu hadn’t overly appealed to us and we had decided that we would return to the much loved Manhattan Room!

Prior to eating we went to see the International Crew Talent show in the atrium. I’d advise anyone who wants to see this show to arrive early as all latecomers were left standing! The performances were great with fabulous singing, dancing and piano playing from multiple members of staff! At the end of the show the cruise director Scott welcomed to the stage various crew members who worked behind the scenes to make our holiday as amazing as it was (I found myself almost welling up, though I’m not entirely sure why!).

Dinner was later than usual this evening -it was approximately 21:15 pm by the time we were seated. I ordered the spaghetti Bolognese and Gary got the Prime Rib. We both got Caesar salad to start and I ordered coconut sherbet for dessert (much to our disappointment we were too stuffed to order our beloved lava cake!). Afterwards we spent some time in the casino where I won back some of my previous losses! On return to the cabin, we finished our packing and settled to sleep knowing we would have an early start the following day.

Thanks Lisa! We had originally planned to go in September but work commitments meant a last minute change!

 

I did get the ghd back thankfully- we were given a piece of paper with our room number on it which we brought to the guest services desk on the last night to retrieve it.

 

Regarding the new all inclusive...I was very skeptical pre-cruise. I had visions of long queues, no table service and very watered down drinks..in reality none of this was true! We never waited more than 2minutes at night time for drinks at any bar. There was table service at most bars and most importantly the drinks weren't weak at all! Most cocktails were included in the UBP- there were a few which weren't but these were the exception!

 

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Thank you so much for the reply -much appreciated! Have to say you are very similar to us and so loved the review :cool:

Fantastic review..we're doing the same cruise in a month

1st cruise ever so your review has been a helpful insight although I don't think we'll be relaxing as much as you as we want to see as much as possible onshore

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Thanks for the review. Enjoying.....

We are on the Epic from 17 September.

Do you have copies of the 'Dailies'?

Blues

Thanks for the review. Enjoying.....

We are on the Epic from 17 September.

Do you have copies of the 'Dailies'?

Blues

Hi Bluesmania- we do have copies of the Dailes (the page outlining the onboard events anyway!). I'll post them later tonight!:)

Hi Bluesmania- we do have copies of the Dailes (the page outlining the onboard events anyway!). I'll post them later tonight!:)

Thank you

Blues

Thank you so much for the reply -much appreciated! Have to say you are very similar to us and so loved the review :cool:

Thanks so much Lisa! Have a brilliant time this September! You never know we may bump into you guys next year if we all happen to decide to go for year number 3 onboard :')

Fantastic review..we're doing the same cruise in a month

1st cruise ever so your review has been a helpful insight although I don't think we'll be relaxing as much as you as we want to see as much as possible onshore

 

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You'll have an amazing trip- If your anything like me you'll have no interest in doing a land-based holiday afterwards!:cool:

I have plenty of tips for Barcelona airport! We had more than one disaster there! Ill be finishing up this review with our airport trip! However, for those travelling in the coming days...2 main tips:

 

1. AVOID AVOID AVOID a cafe called breadway in terminal 1- I was served raw chicken in a pre-packed sandwich in this ''restaurant''...it took calling the manager to get a refund despite the fact I could have been very very sick!! I would hate to imagine anyone having their holiday ruined by a case of food poisoning!

 

2. Be aware that once you have done security you need a huge amount of time to get through to the gates as they do passport control prior to flying ( first time I have ever seen this in Europe). We nearly missed our flight as there was a queue of more than 500 people to get through! Our flight ended up delayed by an hour and a half as we were still boarding an hour post flight time. In the end 11 people missed the flight and had their bags removed from the plane as they could not make it through the queue!

That happened to us in May it was a nightmare and i thought it may have been a one off but it seems not it was awful

Day 9:Disembarkation and the nightmare before flying!

We awoke at 7:00 am on the morning of disembarkation. Our flight home was booked for 12:40 pm and Gary was on high alert from the get-go (he was starting his new job the following morning and would have swam home rather than miss his first day!). We had decided to aim to disembark at around 8:00 am giving us a whopping 2 hours 40 minutes to get a taxi and make the 20 minute journey to the airport.

After a buffet breakfast (tinged with sadness) we gathered our luggage, thanked our room steward and headed down the corridor to disembark the ship. We had decided to take our own bags off- this suited us best as we could leave whenever suited us and would not have to wait at the luggage carousel in the port. Additionally, being on deck 11 we only had 4 floors to walk and could therefore take the stairs and avoid waiting on an elevator(finding space in one is no easy task on disembarkation day!).

Disembarkation took no time at all- there were no queues and we walked straight off! Crew members lined the exit, all waving goodbye and wishing departing guests well (again wonderful customer service from NCL and the crew!).A taxi rank is located in the port and we waited a maximum of 2 minutes before piling our bags into the boot of a cab (I don’t know whether we were just lucky as I recall seeing a much longer queue last year!). The journey to the airport took 20 minutes and cost a flat fare of 39 euros.

On arrival to the airport, we realised that we had a full 4 hours to wait before boarding (eeek)! After checking with the information desk,we were told that the airline (Vueling) would check us in and take our bags and we could head off to the duty free and grab something to eat- EXCELLENT! We joined the queue and waited the 15 minutes or so, before leaving our bags and heading off (I was very impressed as generally airlines in Dublin will not check you in until 2 hours prior to your flight time!).

After checking in, we passed through security with no delays.With 4 hours to go until our flight, we headed downstairs to the duty free where we spent an hour or so playing ‘’blackjack’’ on a bench (Gary entertained this only because he felt guilty that we were quite so early!). Afterwards, we checked out the shops (some of the best I’ve come across in an airport!). I got 3 new dresses in ‘Massimo Dutti’ along with a coat from ‘Zara’. Gary picked up 2 shirts and a new pair of trousers! While it had been plain sailing (excuse the pun) until now, things were set to get rocky…

By the time we had cleared out the duty free it was 11 O’clock and we were starting to get peckish. With our tummies rumbling, we settled on the first café we saw- a place named ‘’Breadway’’. I grabbed a table while Gary got in line and paid 17.50 euros for 2 sandwiches, a coke and a bottle of water (expensive I know but airports always are!).

About 3 quarters of the way through my ‘’grilled’’ chicken sandwich, I happened to glance downwards only to discover that my chicken was completely…….RAW (I don’t know how I hadn’t realised!). I was nearly sick and immediately brought it to the attention of the cashier who casually acknowledged that it was indeed raw and told me I could grab another (as if I’d touch, let alone eat anything there after that!). 20 minutes of arguing with the cashier ensued in order to get a refund, with me eventually asking for him to ring the manager. On arrival to the café, the manager was very apologetic and reimbursed the 17.50 euros as well as assuring me that a report would be filed. Despite getting the refund, I am naming and shaming this place as I absolutely HATE to think that somebody could have their holiday ruined due to a bout of food poisoning (luckily I wasn’t sick but I spent a week on edge waiting for it to happen!). In addition, introduction of any food-borne illness on a ship could be very dangerous! My number one tip for Barcelona El-Prat- AVOID THIS PLACE AT ALL COSTS!!

After all that drama, we had only a half hour until our gate closed. The gate number had just appeared on the information board and we began to make our way to area ‘D’, when before our eyes appeared the longest queue I have ever seen. There was easily 500 people crammed into a small area awaiting passport control. We began to panic….nobody had alerted us (or anyone else evidently!) to the fact that passport control would be done prior to boarding our flight (I have never seen this done in Europe before). We, alongside everyone else, were very flustered as our gate was soon due to close. The line was just not moving, with groups of people comparing boarding times in order to decide who would be allowed to skip forward in the queue.

After what seemed like forever, we made it through the line and RAN towards area D. There was one final person crossing the boarding gate and we let out a sigh of relief as we realised that we had made it. After having our passports checked we boarded a bus which was packed to the gills and sweltering!After a 5 minute wait, the bus took off and deposited us at the aircraft. We boarded and took our seats....

In order to cut a long story short…boarding of passengers continued for a further hour, with an additional half hour delay in order to remove passenger suitcases from the aircraft (11 people had checked in but not boarded, likely due to the unexpected queues at passport control). We took off 1 hour 45 minutes behind schedule but thankfully the flight went smoothly and we arrived home safely.

Despite our nightmare airport experience, our holiday was possibly one of the best we’ve ever had! The food, entertainment, and most importantly the staff onboard the EPIC were phenomenaI and could not be faulted! I would (and do!) highly recommend the EPIC to everyone and am already having withdrawls. Could 2018 be year number three onboard the EPIC? Quite likely!

Thanks for following! x

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Sent from my ONE E1003 using Forums mobile app

That happened to us in May it was a nightmare and i thought it may have been a one off but it seems not it was awful

It's the most badly organised airport I've been in! 3 kiosks for 500 ish people and each person taking a few minutes- No wonder the flights with Vueling seem to always be late!

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This was a killer review! Glad you both had such a great time. We're doing this cruise, but not until next July. Thank you also for posting the dailies.

Thank you for the great review! We can't wait to do this cruise in a few weeks. We will be on the go in all ports except Palma, as we have never been to Italy before, and want to cram in as much as possible in the time we have. Thanks for posting the dailies, also.

Thanks for the review and the dailies.

We are sailing on the Epic on 17 September.

Blues

We have flown back to Britain many times from Barcelona through Terminal 1, and it is always the same. We always make sure that we join the queue a minimum of an hour before our flight, but preferably longer. The queue moves slower than it should due to all the people who have to jump the queue to avoid missing their flights.

Occasionally I have seen advice on here from people suggesting that you wait as long as possible to go through as there is so little to do once you go through security. I can only assume that is posted by people who have used Terminal 2, which I believe is older and smaller. It probably counts as the worst advice that I have ever seen posted on cruise critic. Get there early or risk missing your flight. There is actually a reasonable amount after security in Terminal 1.

I have seen more people miss their flights at Barcelona than just about every other airport put together.