First Cruise - Solo on The Epic around the Western Med - My Review

Great Review Caz!

You've just reminded me that I need to get mine started! ;p

Hoping you will continue your eaves-dropping on your next solo adventure - you never know who you'll end up meeting! :D

 

'Your Solo Airplane Buddy' Sparkles x

hehe sometimes eavesdropping pays off ... ;):*

Looking forward to reading your review too.

Thank you! I'd like to be able to make a short video like that, so thanks for the tips!

You're welcome :)

great review! Nice seeing you were able to meet some cool people and enjoy yourself. I may embark on a solo trip next year, we shall see.

good review we were on her in May brought a lot of memories back.

Hi all!

CazV ~ really enjoyed your review & video. I travel solo too & have been on the Epic 4 times, Getaway twice & will go on Escape in Oct. Too bad your solo host wasn't the best. Mine on the Getaway Baltic cruise in May went above & beyond! The poor guy outdid himself always planning things for us, getting us Champagne, arranged a movie, had us doing trivia , t shirt painting etc. Jose was the best ever!!

I was happy to see the Canada Day cake as a Canadian who lived in Toronto for 40 years, now in the County for 30 years.

Thanks so much & hope to read another review of yours in the near future!

~ Jo ~ :)

I had a fantastic first cruising experience and I’m investigating options for next year. From all of my research I had developed certain expectations and have to say that the vast majority of my expectations were either met or exceeded. There were one or two things that didn’t quite meet my expectations and disappointed me slightly, some of these haven’t even been mentioned in this review as they were so trivial. You will have picked up that I was a little disappointed in our solo host, however I am well aware that you can’t please everyone and there were other solos on board who thought he was great. None of my slight negatives were detrimental to my overall enjoyment at the end of the day, and I would happily choose to cruise with NCL again (although unlikely to book their excursions again).

The Epic is a great ship catering to many different tastes, requirements and expectations. I visited some lovely places, ate delicious food, drank lots of yummy cocktails, saw fab shows, partied until the wee small hours, met some great people and made friends I not only hope to keep in touch with, but hope one day I will see some of them again…possibly on another cruise!

 

Here’s a short video of my highlights…

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Thank you for posting your review! I can't wait to take this same trip in October :)

Enjoyed your review! We will be on have the same itinerary on the Epic next April and your review gave us some ideas of what to expect. I definitely will not be booking NCL's excursions. They cost way too much and tour with too many people! Thanks again for a great review.

great review! Nice seeing you were able to meet some cool people and enjoy yourself. I may embark on a solo trip next year, we shall see.

I highly recommend it :cool:

Hi all!

 

CazV ~ really enjoyed your review & video. I travel solo too & have been on the Epic 4 times, Getaway twice & will go on Escape in Oct. Too bad your solo host wasn't the best. Mine on the Getaway Baltic cruise in May went above & beyond! The poor guy outdid himself always planning things for us, getting us Champagne, arranged a movie, had us doing trivia , t shirt painting etc. Jose was the best ever!!

I was happy to see the Canada Day cake as a Canadian who lived in Toronto for 40 years, now in the County for 30 years.

 

Thanks so much & hope to read another review of yours in the near future!

 

~ Jo ~ :)

I have a trip to Toronto planned for September. I think I will either be on the Escape or the Getaway next summer. :)

Thank you for posting your review! I can't wait to take this same trip in October :)

Hope you have a great time! :D

Enjoyed your review! We will be on have the same itinerary on the Epic next April and your review gave us some ideas of what to expect. I definitely will not be booking NCL's excursions. They cost way too much and tour with too many people! Thanks again for a great review.

I booked NCL excursions because this was my first cruise and I was travelling solo... probably won't book them in future. I'm still waiting for my refund for the missed excursion!

I hope you have a great time next year! The Epic is a fab ship and I really enjoyed the places I visited. :)

I too was on the Epic with 8 family members. We embarked in Rome, and were eagerly waiting for our private tour of Florence and Pisa which we booked through Viator. I actually got a text message from the tour company asking if it was true that we weren't going to dock in Livorno before they announced it. We were devastated! Other than Rome, this was our most looked forward to stop. My husband and I have been to Florence and Pisa before, and we were looking forward to showing our family how wonderful it is. It had never occurred to us that this was even in the realm of possibility! I don't know if I would ever take another cruise because of this. (It was our first.) By the way, the tour company said it was not refundable, due to the short notice, and the fact that other cruise ships did enter port that day, but Viator did end up refunding the money.

I too was on the Epic with 8 family members. We embarked in Rome, and were eagerly waiting for our private tour of Florence and Pisa which we booked through Viator. I actually got a text message from the tour company asking if it was true that we weren't going to dock in Livorno before they announced it. We were devastated! Other than Rome, this was our most looked forward to stop. My husband and I have been to Florence and Pisa before, and we were looking forward to showing our family how wonderful it is. It had never occurred to us that this was even in the realm of possibility! I don't know if I would ever take another cruise because of this. (It was our first.) By the way, the tour company said it was not refundable, due to the short notice, and the fact that other cruise ships did enter port that day, but Viator did end up refunding the money.

I too was on the Epic with 8 family members. We embarked in Rome, and were eagerly waiting for our private tour of Florence and Pisa which we booked through Viator. I actually got a text message from the tour company asking if it was true that we weren't going to dock in Livorno before they announced it. We were devastated! Other than Rome, this was our most looked forward to stop. My husband and I have been to Florence and Pisa before, and we were looking forward to showing our family how wonderful it is. It had never occurred to us that this was even in the realm of possibility! I don't know if I would ever take another cruise because of this. (It was our first.) By the way, the tour company said it was not refundable, due to the short notice, and the fact that other cruise ships did enter port that day, but Viator did end up refunding the money.

Glad you got your refund. It certainly hasn't put me off cruising. I've booked another for next year. I hope you enjoyed the rest of your cruise nonetheless.

Thank you so much for the review! I never thought about solo cruising but after reading your review, I am definitely going to book one!

Thank you so much for the review! I never thought about solo cruising but after reading your review, I am definitely going to book one!

Go for it!

I just booked my next one for next year! :)

Thank you for the feedback!! I will be sailing this itinerary on the Epic in September with my Mother :) Curious to know the pick up and drop off point in the city for the 'Rome on your own' bus NCL offers. Did any of your friends happen to take this option? I have called NCL about 5 times about it, and I receive a different answer everytime. LOL

Great review! I've been solo a few times with NCL and ive always said the solo meet ups are too early, ideally I'd want to meet about 7 so I can stay out and enjoy the sun and not have to rush to get ready.

Can I ask how much the taxi to the airport was, I'm on the epic in Sept and my flight is mid afternoon. I want to stay on the ship as long as I can so the 0630 disembark doesn't sound appealing.

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Thank you for the feedback!! I will be sailing this itinerary on the Epic in September with my Mother :) Curious to know the pick up and drop off point in the city for the 'Rome on your own' bus NCL offers. Did any of your friends happen to take this option? I have called NCL about 5 times about it, and I receive a different answer everytime. LOL

I don't remember anyone talking about having taken that one. You could try asking in the Ports of Call forum for Italy Ports.

I hope you have a great time on your cruise. :)

Great review! I've been solo a few times with NCL and ive always said the solo meet ups are too early, ideally I'd want to meet about 7 so I can stay out and enjoy the sun and not have to rush to get ready.

 

Can I ask how much the taxi to the airport was, I'm on the epic in Sept and my flight is mid afternoon. I want to stay on the ship as long as I can so the 0630 disembark doesn't sound appealing.

 

 

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Try to find a few others who want to eat later. I went to the meetups in my day clothes, arranged to meet whoever was dining later (we usually agreed to meet at 8pm) and then went to get ready afterwards. This still meant me being indoors earlier than I'd like, but it was a compromise that worked out not too badly. And as you read in my review, there were a couple of nights, I just did my own thing.

The taxi fare is a set price of 39 euros... it was worth it imo

Have a great time in September :)

Try to find a few others who want to eat later. I went to the meetups in my day clothes, arranged to meet whoever was dining later (we usually agreed to meet at 8pm) and then went to get ready afterwards. This still meant me being indoors earlier than I'd like, but it was a compromise that worked out not too badly. And as you read in my review, there were a couple of nights, I just did my own thing.

 

The taxi fare is a set price of 39 euros... it was worth it imo

 

Have a great time in September :)

Thanks, I'll try that and see if anyone wants to eat later! So excited after reading your review.

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Thanks for all the useful info! :) I'm not sure how I feel about a Transatlantic cruise as I do feel the big advantage of cruising for me is the possibilities to visit lots of different places... however it's definitely interesting to note that there tends to be lots of solos on board and the extra partying sounds like fun!

Great review. What is a Canada cake?

Great review. What is a Canada cake?

It was a gateaux decorated specially for Canada Day.