BamaVol

I would assume your interpretation is right, but I've no experience so I can't tell you for sure! Maybe a more experienced cruiser will 'row in' here (- no pun intended!) and let us know. They have lots of tender boats so it would make sense for them to send as many boats as are needed to get everyone who is on the pier at 5pm.:)

We took the tender back at around 4 but I was sitting on the balcony when the last of them returned to the ship and it was past 5, maybe as late as 5:30.

I wouldn't tempt fate but there might be a water taxi service available if you miss the last one. It takes a few minutes to secure the lifeboats after the last one returns. Maybe if you knocked on the door politely they would let you in. :D

 

So thats about it for Day 6. At this stage the little 'holiday nearly over' clouds were starting to gather and we were starting to think about packing for leaving :eek:

You have a way with words. I shed a tear for you (and me as well) as I read this.

Thanks so far. I'm enjoying the review. We were passengers a few weeks before you and I wish I had been able to read your review before boarding. We discovered too many things on our own, or not. Your advice to RTFM is spot on.

Make sure you fill out all the paperwork correctly. Our laundry day was Wednesday and I filled the bag. By my calculation, I paid $19.95 for about $80 worth of washing at inflated ship prices. I got back to the cabin at 6:00 and the bag was on the bed with a note from the steward asking me to complete and sign the order form - I had just put the information on the outside of the bag. I called him and he picked it up promptly. It was back in my hands the following night. They honored the 19.95 price even though it was my fault that it was not in by noon as requested. That earned the steward an extra $10.

I haven't booked anything yet on MSC but plan to try them next Spring, probably the Davina out of Miami. I don't have cruise line status but they matched my IHG Spire status to Gold.

April, this is my favorite post. I work in a theme park, even casually dressed italians and french are very elegant compared to Americans. And they have great shoes...

And it's not just the women. I'm not much into fashion but I am in awe of the shoes and clothing I see in the shop windows in Rome.

We will be going on the Epic in the second half of January, and I've been doing some research on the ship as well as on NCL in general as this is only our second NCL cruise. Our first NCL was on the Dawn, and I think the Epic is going to be a bit different from that experience.

 

Regarding the meals and shows, I know I can book those 90 days out, so I'm not too concerned about those right now.

 

1. What about the Headliners comedy? I read something about getting tickets for that as well--can you book those 90 days out as well, or do you need to book those on the ship?

 

2. I really hope to be able to see the Epic Beatles in the Cavern Club. Any tips to make sure this happens? Is this something to plan to do early in the cruise and how best can I plan to do this without it interfering with dinner or show plans?

 

3. Is the Ice bar free, or how much does that cost to get in. And if there is a cost, is it worth it? I'm kind of curious to see it, but we're not cold weather people--we have an outside ice bar during our city's winter festival that I would never even think of going to because of the cold, and I'm not really that big of a drinker anyway (I might have a drink or two and no more during a cruise).

 

4. I want to make sure we can do the Cirque show as well. Again, is it best to try to do this early on the week, or does it not really matter?

 

I'm more used to Carnival where you don't need to do so much pre-planning for a cruise...you don't have to really decide what you're going to do when until the actual moment.

To add to what's already been said:

Only visit the ice bar if you drink vodka. It is sponsored by a particular brand of vodka. Not my thing so I skipped it.

We saw Cirque on the first night and it was not full. That may have been due to demographics. Since I only went once, I cannot say for certain. We sat in premium seating on the floor. We did not have to participate, probably less than a 10% chance of being chosen, but a lady at our table held a spinning plate for what seemed like a long time.

I had about $200 with me on the Epic a couple weeks ago. I came back with about $160. I got euros from an ATM in port as needed. The $40 was used primarily to tip bartenders and something extra for the cabin steward. Are dollars the local currency in your ports? If not, don't bother.

 

I agree with King of Cruising though, our bed was too short as well. I'm about the same size and my feet were off the end. This was in a mini-suite with the curved bedhead. I'm sure it would have been long enough if I could have slept in the middle, but my wife wouldn't have liked that!

I'm 5'9 and my feet hung over the bed in our balcony room as well. Mrs BV is 5'4 and had no problem so I guess the sweet spot is somewhere in the middle. Of course if the bed were any longer, we couldn't have gotten past it to the balcony.

Thank for the info . :) Yes we have the UBP although to be whinny I disagree with it being called "ultimate" . ;)

Speaking of which , does NCL sell a coffee punch card like Princess ?

I'm glad that things can be done on touchscreens . Can we also do this on our tablets and smart phones using the free app ?

 

oes NCL sell a coffee punch card like Princess ?

 

Anyone else got info ?

No coffee punchcard. You're gonna pay for them as you drink 'em.

iConcierge is quite the handy tool. Yes you can use it make reservations.

Well,,,, on the Epic, the room is kinda part of the toilet. :)

I don't recommend it but if you're a guy, you can always use the balcony.

You make a reservation for the tender if you want to use it before 11. We had no problem at 10 and it wasn't full.

The drink deal, if you mean UBP, gets you any drink $15 or under at no charge. It would be a shame to waste that on just soda. No cans available as far as I know.

I never asked for an unopened beer. You can get a tall draft in several places and take that back, as I did. The pool bar serves draft in plastic mugs that might be 20 oz. O'Sheehans has a tall glass as well.

We overslept and didn't board until 2 but I saw them queued up at 9 as we disembarked. I wouldn't show up before 10 though.

If your hotel is nearby, a cab won't cost you much and would be downright convenient.

These large groups might explain why the roll call for the Epic 8/21 from Barcelona is dead. No action whatsoever. Odd to me since on all our other cruises there was so much interaction and information sharing. This makes sense now!! Not liking this at all!!

I think they've exhausted the Chinese contingent by now so it won't be as noticeable. But it could still be 1/2 the ship. I have no problem sharing the cruise with a large group. They won't necessarily get in your way. It was more of a culture clash thing.

I was impressed that our server began by asking if there were any food allergies or sensitivities at the table. I was given a white napkin in front of me which kept dairy products off my plate. I didn't get broccoli which had a little Parmesan on it and was a little sorry to get a fruit plate for dessert, but it beats getting sick. So, there can be some variation in the fixed menu if requested.

Do I need a guest ticket contract for every person or just the one becuase it shows all 4 names under the reservation

One with the names of all 4 passengers will be sufficient. I had one doc with my name and my wife's name.

Thanks!

 

Sorry that I am unfamiliar with all this but...

 

Isn't there also a Cirque Show of some kind?

Where are all of these shows presented?

Do you arrange tickets in advance?

The Cirque show has its own venue. It is a dinner show with 2 levels of tickets. I bought mine in advance on NCL.com. It was well worth the price of admission and one of the better dinners we ate on the ship as well.

It is presented multiple nights, 2 shows a night I believe.

Enjoying your live review, Keith. I'm boarding in 11 days time on 12th June. I'm also "interested" in the situation regarding large Asian numbers on the ship. I read a review yesterday from someone that did a cruise on Epic earlier in May and he said that there were 3,000 Chinese on board and that it was to continue like that for a month or something. That is pretty much 3 out of 4 passengers. I was wondering if this is an on-going situation. Have you heard anything about it, or has the situation drastically changed?

I was on the 5/15 sailing from BCN and I would estimate that 1/2 the passengers were Chinese. That would be more like 2,000. If I did my research correctly, this was an incentive trip awarded to cosmetic salespeople and yes, we experienced quite a bit of rudeness. It took the form of crowding, line-cutting, people reaching around you to fill their water bottles, rushing the elevators (in one instance, a crowd of them rushed around 2 people in wheelchairs waiting for an elevator and pushed the down button, leaving them waiting for the next one), crowding the aisles and other shenanigans. On top of that, Cantonese is the only language I'm familiar with that must be shouted so the noise level was extremely high. Most of it was harmless, if annoying. I did witness a fellow passenger get her drink spilled all over her dress as one of them ran through the casino and bumped her arm. At the time, she was complaining to me about some of them taking photographs of her teenage daughter in her bathing suit at the pool despite being asked not to. It all just needlessly raised tensions on what should have been a relaxing trip.

There were places where you could avoid them. Since English was not generally spoken, they avoided the shows. They were not in or at the bars either for the most part. They dominated the MDR's and buffet but reportedly avoided the specialty restaurants. I was a little surprised they hadn't taken over the casino. I found that by going down the stairs from the buffet (one of the specialty restaurants) at breakfast, it was a quiet retreat.

We didn't let it ruin our vacation but it was distracting, to say the least. I hope others are experiencing less of it than we did. I have no idea how many more of the group there are but there was a long line of them waiting to embark as we were disembarking so the next sailing may have been as bad as ours.

I noticed that you mentioned a balcony seating for the cirque dreams show dinner. On the Breakaway there was only one level and it was a very small room. Does the Epic have this show in a theater? How is dinner served? On the Breakaway they never had any audience participation. When I have seen Cirque du Soleil shows there was some participation but only with the close up expensive seats. Any added fees for this show? I have a four night specialty dinning package.

We did not have the dining package and paid full price for the stage level seats, around $47/each IIRC. There was a couple seated next to us with the dining package and they paid an upcharge but didn't say how much. If I had to guess, I'd day it was $20-25 more per person. Worth it for us, it was one of the best things we saw or did on the ship.

A server brings your dinner, course by course, but they do not interrupt the show so you can wait a bit for a drink refill unless you time it well.

I am lactose intolerant and did not take all the precautions you did. Of course, it's hardly a life threatening condition and I've learned to live with it over the years without a lot of help.

At Cirque, the server asked before the meal if anyone at the table had food allergies. I told him I had to avoid dairy and he placed a white napkin on the table in front of me. Accommodations were made at each course to keep the dairy off my plate and I was quite pleased with the result.

I fared less well in the MDR. When I asked a server what choices were dairy free, she went to the kitchen and came back to tell me my only choice was the salmon and she'd substitute the vegetable.

Other meals were even more problematic. In O'Sheehan's, I selected the only burger choice that didn't list cheese. And of course, it came with cheese on it.

But I survived and gained weight during the week. And isn't that what cruising is all about? :D

Agree that Howl at the Moon is a must. The Cirque Dreams show and dinner is worthwhile but advise you book premium seating and make for the balcony from where the view is great. Priscilla was also good (maybe not suitable for young children though!). Would recommend that you book all shows and any speciality dining options prior to departure to ensure you get exactly what you want.

We had floor level premium seating for Cirque and felt like we were right in the middle of the action. In fact, I worried a little about any misstep by a performer resulting in them landing on top of me! The bigger risk of being ringside is the possibility of being asked to perform. A lady at out table was given a spinning plate on a stick and I swear the clown didn't come back for it for several minutes. Several others nearby were asked to act in a silent film that involved way too many directions for me to memorize. But it was one of several highlights of our cruise. And one of the better meals I had onboard as well.

Keith, last week there was a comedy string quartet in Headliners for a few shows. IIRC, the name was Grafitti Classics, although I may have that backwards. We thought they were quite good and laughed throughout the show. Are they still there?

Hi Nolsie

I too am on the Epic on June 26th out of Barcelona. Come say hello on the roll call. Three of us there have a Florence/Pisa tour arranged and we have 5 spots left. if we fill the vehicle at 8 passengers it will be 80 euro only. Please check it out as you are more than welcome to join the excursion.

http://www.italytoursharing.com.....Livorno Port.....tour #LIV001#....Byrne group.

This sounds like the tour that we joined. It was planned by another in our roll call so I can't be 100% certain. But if you get a confirmation back from Joe Bananas (yes, you read that right), request Oliver as your guide if possible. The man was amazing. Knows his history. Knows his geography. Knows his sociology. Very flexible and friendly and speaks English better than I.

The technology exists - they open. I would try tipping the steward.

We had OBC to burn so took the ship's Highlights of Marseille and Avignon tour. I would have skipped the highlights portion (basically the basilica on the hill) and used those 2 hours in Avignon. We had 2 hours there, which was about enough time to eat a nice lunch and get lost.

We rode the little train, a 55 minute circuit of Cannes for 10 euros each. You see the whole town in that time. Then we ate lunch. If I were doing it over, I would have tried an excursion into Provence. I'm pretty sure others in our roll call were organizing such.

Who is your CD?

The 5/15 departure from BCN, it was Pedro.

When we disembarked from the Epic (May 1) there were plenty of taxis. We had no wait.

We had a relatively short line at 8:30 on 5/22, maybe 50 people ahead of us, and were in a taxi in well under 10 minutes. However, 1/2 the ship was a group tour that would have had their own buses. The line was well organized and they kept hustling cruisers to the waiting cabs.