Blocks

We went up the left hand elevator outside the Garden Cafe onto the sun deck above but I am sure H2O would also be good.

Some pretty photos from Deck 7 are here:

http://www.depping-design.de/test/thumbnails.php?album=339

Enjoy them

Andreas

Great photos

No problem we did 11:05 in August and had hours to spare.

We did exactly this in August. We took the NCL shuttle to Livorno train station, you buy tickets in the port building and it is charged to your room. The bus journey to the station took 10-15 mins and you have to go past the station and double back. At Livorno train station we bought return tickets to Pisa and the trains were quite regular.

Once we reached Pisa (approximately 15 mins) we bought bus tickets x 2 for each person from the newsagent in the station and went across the road and waited for the bus outside the hotel. The bus was packed and just about everyone got off at the tower.

Getting back was straight-forward although we missed the first train because we couldn't get onto the platform due to a closed stairway and the number of people getting off another train on the adjacent platform.

The NCL bus was waiting in the car park at the back of Livorno train station, we got on and the driver immediately left and took us back to the ship.

Nice review and great photos

Thanks for that. It sounds like there were no formalities to go through if you were off , collected your bags and were away in 25 mins. If only the Epic was arriving at 5am this time, those of us with early flights would be much happier.

Correct, they just scanned your ship cards as you left the ship, no passport control, down the escalators into the baggage hall, collect bags, show the transfer booking to the agent and onto the bus. We spent longer sat on the bus waiting for others to board than actually getting off the ship.

We were on Epic in August when it was due to dock at 5am. We had a flight at 11:05 and we booked NCL airport transfers. We were given 6am as disembark time and we put our luggage out the night before. We left the ship at 6:10, our luggage was waiting to be collected, we boarded the transfer bus which left around 6:35 and were at the airport before 7:00, so you can get to the airport within 1 hour of leaving the ship.

We aren't aft, but for some reason I could have sworn (or maybe I just made it up??) that those last aft port and starboard balconies on 11 and 12 (11310 and 11910) appeared to have a larger balcony but part of it was blocked off -making the extra space useless.

 

Now I'm seeing that is not the case. When I booked I went with a bump/angle balcony instead because of this. I know one of those 4 last balconies on 11/12 were open when I booked.

Good spot, I am also in a bump balcony on 14.

We ate at a couple of tapas places not too far from Hotel Jazz, both of which I would recommend:

La Flauta

Vigo

Wow--that is fast. Good to know, as we are planning to pull our luggage off to save time. Our flight is 10:45 so glad we can go that fast.

Thanks

Our flight was at 11:05, we booked NCL transport when leaving Epic on a Sunday and we were instructed to disembark at 06:00. We left the ship at about 06:10, our ship cards were scanned leaving the ship, there was no passport control, we went down the escalators, picked up our cases from the luggage carousel and walked onto the bus. The bus left around 06:35 and we were at the airport at 07:00, far too early.

In hindsight we could have left the ship at 07:00 and having seen an Epic Barcelona disembarkation document we should have been off at 07:00 for flights between 11:00 and 13:00.

Try Aldos Limos, we used them to go to Sorrento, Positano and Amalfi from Naples. Lunch was not included but they were good value and we had a great day.

Can anyone who has been this summer clarify how long it takes to walk to the station from the port entrance. We are happy to walk and have done in the past, but we

don't want to waste time if the shuttle would be much quicker.

 

Also are the shuttles very frequent?

In August we walked from the port entrance/bus drop off to the train station and it took about 15-20 mins. However on the way back we were tired and it was very hot so we bought tickets at the train station shop for the bus back to the port entrance. The bus was already there, I assume they time them to meet the trains from Rome although our train was over 10 mins late.

Came off the Epic on 16th August sailing from Barcelona with the UBP and didn't pay anything extra for drinks.

The Vatican Museums were far, far larger than I had imagined and were utterly fascinating! But if I'm perfectly honest, I really didn't take a lot in! It was unbearably hot, with hardly any air con and the crowds were just unbelievable!

I agree far too many people in the museum and too hot to enjoy it. We just wanted to get out after seeing the Sistene Chapel but it seemed to take ages just to get out.

Did you really think it was in need of dry dock? I'm not a very experienced cruiser, I can't say we noticed any glaring signs of wear and tear, but maybe that was the extra bottle of wine? ;)

I was on the Epic sailing from Barcelona on 9th August and I didn't think it was in need of a dry dock either but it was only my 2nd cruise.

Enjoying your review, brings back memories from our cruise. Judging by your Sorrento pics I am guessing you were on the same cruise.

Button is top right of touch screen on the phone

When in Naples I recommend to do a tour of the Amalfi coast. It is a hard choice between Amalfi, Pompeii and Capri for a tour but Amalfi was the highlight of our cruise despite the weather not being great from Naples to Sorrento. We used Aldo Limos who were excellent.

Thanks. Was it open for lunch on boarding day. We get on in Barcelona.

We ate lunch there 2 weeks ago upon boarding because Taste wasn't open until later. We ate twice for lunch at O'Sheehan's and both time we were happy with the food.

I was on Epic last week with a flight out of Barcelona at 11:00 to Amsterdam. I booked NCL airport transfers as I read mixed messages about taxi availability. We received a letter that said me that I had to disembark at 06:00 which I tried to get changed by Client Services as I felt it was too early but they insisted saying that I would not get to the airport until 8:30 (which turned out to be very wrong).

Reality was the ship docked in Barcelona at 4:12, we left the ship at approximately 6:10 having seen some other leave before us, picked up luggage very easily, straight onto a bus which then eventually departed at 6:30 and we were at the airport checking in at 7:00. There were 2 other NCL airport transfer buses waiting.

There were taxis available and a long line of taxis waiting between the 2 docks for the Epic and Allure.

So in summary I would be ok with a 9:00 flight, you would just need to be up early and be one of the first off the ship. It is only 15-20 mins to the airport from the port.

Thanks philhar for the excellent reviews

It did last October on the Jade. We ordered 8 bottles of wine from a list, but I can't remember how much it cost.

I sent an email to the Public Relations address last Sunday complaining about the many changes introduced recently and received an email response asking for a phone number to call me. I responded and received a call within an hour and was listened to but effectively told that the changes are now effective and that was that.

I have 2 cruises booked with NCL, one of which is fully paid, if I had known that all these changes were happening then I would not have booked the second cruise.

Thanks Andreas, great photos, I booked Escape this week for October 2016.

I have cancelled and lost my deposit. My PCC did up the offer to $300 OBC but I was fed up by that point so just cancelled.

Tried to get on ncl.com but keep getting redirected to ncl.co.uk

I may go and see what RCCL have for the similar itinerary.

Why not rebook thru ncl.com so if it drops more, you benefit.

I agree, only issue would be the £/$ currency fluctuations and at the moment the rate is relatively low compared with recent years.