NewCruiser51912

DH and I just got back from spending 2 days in Barcelona after our cruise in June. We absolutely loved it there! However, we didn't do much in the way of formal tours. Before the cruise, we had spent 10 days in Ireland and with the port intensive cruise we were kind of toured out. We spent our 2 days exploring on our own and we absolutely fell in love with the city.

A couple things I would highly recommend:

Go to the open air market off of La Rambla. It's a bit crowded but it's essentially a football field full of stalls selling every kind of food you can imagine. Fresh fruits, vegetables, meats, cheeses, seafood, fresh squeezed juices, spices, candies, etc. There's a couple restaurants scattered in there as well. It was such an experience and we loved sampling all the fresh cuisine. We went there on a Monday morning.

Go to the beach! The same day we went to the open air market, we bought some fruits, cones of meats and cheeses, and crackers and brought them with us to have a picnic on the beach. We bought a blanket from one of the street vendors for 10 euro to lay on. It was probably one of the most relaxing days of our trip. Fair warning: in Barcelona a lot of people tend to sunbathe topless. But we found that the closer you were to port, the less likely this was. Topless sunbathers didn't bother us so we went a ways down the beach closer to where most of the locals would be. We swam in the ocean, ate our picnic and relaxed in the sun. It was magical.

I cannot recommend Arròs i Peix enough! Hubby and I had 2 days in Barcelona after our cruise in June. I'll admit, it's a bit on the pricier side but the food was fantastic and the experience was great!

When you walk in, you're not seated right away. Instead you are brought to a counter with all the fresh catches of the day and choose what, exactly, you would like while sipping on a glass of cava. Hubby and I chose 3 crayfish and 3 shrimp as an appetizer and then a seafood paella with lobster for dinner. They put the fish we chose into a bin and brought them back to the kitchen where they were cooked for us. The food was absolutely delicious!

If you're looking for good food on the go that's a bit cheaper (maybe for lunch on your birthday), La Fabrica was delicious! It's what passes for "fast food" in Barcelona. They have pre-made empanadas with all kinds of fillings. Hubby and I each bought 2 and ate them while walking around the city.

Even just going to the open air market and eating there is a wonderful experience. I'm not sure on hours in the evening there or what days you'll be in Barcelona, so that may not be helpful. But in my experience, eating on La Rambla has good food, but the prices are a bit higher and you'll find much less crowded places with much more interesting food if you explore away from there a bit.

Have fun! We absolutely adored Barcelona!

Great to hear a positive review. I was getting a little concerned but also have done heaps of research. Would love to hear about you embarkation in Barcelona? Was it busy? How long was the process. Doing the TA in the haven, was wondering how busy it was for you.

Thanks

The embarkation in Barcelona really wasn't that bad. It maybe took an hour and a half or so in total. There's lots of space and they really try to keep things moving. But we had all of our paperwork ready to go and printed out so that helped.

I'm trying to remember what time we arrived and I want to say it was around 11:00 or noon because we took a shuttle from our hotel.

Hope this helps!

thanks for this post! Going in August for 1st time and was worried about some reviews but research is key! Any tips for stuff to pack that's a bit different? Stuff for the room? Thanks.

I'm a notorious over packer so my best advice would be to not over pack! ;p

There were a couple things I did find helpful, however. We bought a pack of magnetic hooks to hang swimsuits, raincoats, etc. in the room and leave the other hooks already in the room for towels. Here's a link to the ones I bought.

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01L75YPRA/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I also brought an extra card (similar to a hotel room key) for our lights. You need to have a room key in a slot to make the electricity in your room work, but I know I'd forget my room key in the slot all the time. So I grabbed one of those rewards cards that you get from just about everywhere and left that in the slot the whole trip.

Other than that, just bring your patience and a sense of humor. :)

Thanks for the post! Did you find that you had sufficient time to enjoy the ship, even with a port-heavy itinerary?

I wish we could have had a little more time on the ship. We didn't have time to do hardly any onboard activities. We had the one sea day and that was nice but the poolside was a bit crowded. To make up for it, we didn't go ashore in Cannes but enjoyed the ship instead. That was one of my favorite days. There was hardly anyone there and we went down the water slides a bunch of times, read our books in the loungers while having drinks, and then I got a manicure in the spa. We also made sure to attend the White Hote/Glow party and had a blast! I would suggest maybe taking one day during the cruise to not go ashore and just relax and have fun. Then again, if you're the active vacationer type, then the loaded itinerary might be perfect!

Thanks for posting this! We just got off the NCL Jade and were considering the Epic for a cruise, but had heard the same thing regarding crowding. Did you happen to have teenagers with you? I am wondering what their opinions were about the number of people. I assume they would like the additional activities on the Epic that are not available on the Jade.

 

Thanks.

We didn't have teenagers. DH and I were by ourselves. But I saw a lot of teenagers onboard and none of them ever looked bored!

DH and I recently finished our Western Med cruise on the Epic. Thoughts below...

I have no idea what people are complaining about with the Epic! I'll grant that this was my first cruise, but honestly, I had a fantastic time!

I did a crazy amount of research before we embarked and kept my eye out for all the things that everyone seems to complain about. I was fully expecting to feel crowded with so many people on board but I never did. The elevators were rarely a problem and I didn't miss having one in the middle of the ship. Every staff member I encountered was extremely nice and helpful! I felt very well taken care of.

The food was fantastic! DH and I had 5 meals at specialty restaurants so we mostly ate there, but even the buffet wasn't bad at all. I think a lot of people probably find it hard to understand just how difficult it is to cook for so many people in such a short span of time and that's where too high of expectations come from with the buffet. We ate at Le Bistro, Moderno, Cagney's, and Teppenyaki. We ate at Taste for the MDR but never ate at the Manhattan Room as the menu was the same as Taste.

The drinks were delicious! I'll admit that sometimes I had to wait awhile at the bar, but I was a bartender in college and I know how difficult it can be to keep up even when you're running your butt off. The bartenders were always as fast as they could be and never cut corners to put out a great drink. If the bar looked full, I simply walked the very short distance to the next nearest one where the bartenders weren't so swamped.

I never planned to write a full review but I just wanted to let anyone who is sailing the Epic soon and might be a little nervous (like I was) at the bad reviews, to not worry. As long as you're not expecting to be treated like you're sailing on your own private yacht, you'll be more than satisfied.

If anyone has any questions about the Epic or this sailing I can do my best to answer. Unfortunately, DH threw away the dailies before I had a chance to get pictures so I can't supply those. Happy sailing!

I just had another prank idea! It hails from my bartending days and can be done very simply to a friend. Though it would probably be best done outside as there is just a little bit of a mess...

You convince your friend to do a "Tidal Wave Shot". Don't tell your friend what's in it. A Tidal Wave shot is 2 shot glasses, one with a blue liquor and one with water. Tell your friend to take the blue shot first and then immediately follow with the clear one. But either while their taking the blue or as they're setting it down, throw the water in their face and yell "Tidal Wave!". It's only 1 ounce of water so it's not very messy and relatively harmless. This is usually good for a "shock and awe" followed by a good laugh.

Yes and yes.

 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/photos/ships/norwegian-epic-481/shakers-martini-and-champagne-bar-211943/

 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=188

Woohoo! Hubby and I were looking at spending a decent amount of time at that bar already. I'm a sucker for a good martini. We're actually going on this cruise because some friends of ours (who happen to be gay) gave a money voucher towards it as a congratulations gift. They love NCL and highly recommended it.

Oh! I got another idea for a prank/joke. If I can get a bartender to play along, that is. I've always wanted to throw a drink in someone's face (who hasn't?) Maybe I could throw a fake martini (water) at my hubby and get a big production going.

So what I'm getting from this whole thing is that if I want to make some awesome new friends, I need to go to the champagne bar! Does the Epic have one of those?

At the risk of getting myself involved in this "interesting debate" thread, I've got an idea or two. Fair warning, the cruise I'm leaving for in a couple weeks is my first ever so I'm not sure how these office-style pranks would translate.

Some coworkers and I have a couple ridiculous objects (think a silly looking stuffed monkey, or a small badly-done creepy painting/picture, or a weird looking small statue/sculpture) that we've all had a good laugh at. Now these objects will randomly go missing only to be found in odd places later. Inside a desk drawer, under a chair, hanging from under a table, etc. When the object is found, it's the next person's responsibility to hide it in someone else's office until it's found again. We can go weeks or months without knowing where one of the objects is. Now obviously, this can be a little trickier with only a cabin to hide things in, but when you open something and are met with such a ridiculous object it's always good for a laugh.

I've also had a coworker use a label maker to label everything on my desk. Most notably was my keys. He didn't know what everything on my key ring was so he just made things up. So my house key is labeled "gym", a key chain I got from my husband is labeled "thing", etc. I still have the labels on my keys because I still chuckle at it. Maybe this could be done with post-its or something similar? Someone might open their drawer or closet to find everything labeled with a funny name.

Perhaps if you have a husband, boyfriend, or son who's a heavy sleeper, you could paint their toenails in their sleep. I've done that one to my DH before. He had beautiful dainty purple toes for a week :)

I LOVE the stuffed lobster prank! I might have to steal some of these ideas and use them on my husband!

DH and I are doing this same cruise leaving from Barcelona on June 3rd. We're both first time cruisers so we're not really full of nuggets of wisdom. However, we are in the same boat (pardon the pun) as you with wanting to see as much as we can but not jam pack so much stuff in that we'll need a vacation from our vacation! Here's our plan for the trip...

Naples: A guided tour of Pompeii and Herculaneum

Rome: We hired a private car to take us to Rome where we'll tour on our own and then get a private car back to the ship. All the tours seemed to include the Vatican and we're much more interested in the ancient Roman side of Rome than the Vatican.

Florence: We're getting a shuttle into the city and again we'll tour on our own before getting a shuttle back.

Cannes: There isn't really anything we're interested in seeing here so we plan to just hit one of the many beaches that are literally steps away from the port.

Palma: We may stay on the ship this day or we may go and visit the cathedral that's within walking distance or take a taxi to see a couple sites.

Hope this helps!

Any reason why you're not considering taking the train?

I hadn't looked into the train yet. Truthfully, I have no experience with public transit (I live in a very small town in a very rural area) so it never occurred to me. Looking into it, I'm seeing that the train is frequently delayed and neither station is anywhere near where we want to be. I'll keep it as an option, though!

A quick look down the board would provide several recommendations, like the one we use, the wonderful Rome in Limo. Big thread just down the board.

 

Have you joined your Roll Call for others on your cruise?

Thank you, I'll check that out. Yes, I've asked if anyone in my roll call is interested but it seems like most of them will be doing tours in Rome.

Does anyone have recommendations for an affordable car/shuttle service? DH and I are doing Rome on our own and can't find a shuttle that leaves before 9:00 am. We're sailing on the NCL Epic and arriving in port at 6:00 am.

We've looked into just hiring a car and driver for a round trip and possibly sharing it with someone from our roll call. This way we can leave as early as we like and have more time in Rome. However, I have no experience with this. Which services would you recommend and how easy are they to use? Is it just a dropoff/pick up thing or something else?

Sorry, I feel I should clarify... This isn't our final disembarkation. This is just for a port of call and I'm trying to get my excursions in order. Thanks!

I'm trying to plan a shuttle from the Civitavecchia Port to Rome and back and I'm wondering, typically, how soon after the ship arrives can we get off? If the ship is scheduled to arrive at 6:00 am (assuming we arrive on time) can I plan to disembark by 7:00? Earlier?

FYI: I'm sailing on the NCL Epic out of Barcelona on June 3rd. We're arriving to Rome June 6th.

I'm trying to plan a shuttle from the Civitavecchia Port to Rome and I'm wondering how soon after the ship arrives can we get off? If the ship is scheduled to arrive at 6:00 am (assuming we arrive on time) can I plan to disembark by 7:00? Earlier? I've never cruised before so I'm unsure how this works. :p

FYI: I'm sailing on the NCL Epic out of Barcelona on June 3rd. We're arriving to Rome June 6th.

On two separate trips to Barcelona we've done the food tour with Barcelona Taste and highly recommend them. One tour was in the Eixample(sp?) area and the other was in the Gothic. Both times we had great guides and tasted some wonderful food & drinks. The guides are more than happy to recommend restaurants for the remainder of your stay. The morning after the tour, you will be sent a list of all the places that you visited on the tour, as well as some additional recommendations.

 

We do food tours in many of the cities that we visit and have found that it's a great way to learn our way around and to get a feel for the place. We do use TripAdvisor frequently, but often the places ranked highly on that site are very touristy.....the food tours tend to take you to little hole-in-the-wall places that are frequented more by locals than by tourists.

Taking a food tour never even occurred to me! That sounds awesome! Unfortunately, the couple that I looked up were all booked up for the days we'll be there. :( But we'll definitely be putting that on our list for next time!

My husband and I will be sailing out of Barcelona on the Epic June 3rd. This trip is to celebrate a number of things (his birthday, our wedding anniversary, etc.) but mostly, It's a chance to relax and celebrate after he has completed a very intense grad school program. He will be taking his board certification tests before we leave and may even get the results while we're on vacation!

Assuming he gets his results (and it's good news!;p) while we're on vacation, I'd like to buy the "Congratulations" Party Package. Is this something I can set up while I'm already on the ship or do I need to pre-order it before we sail? Does the crew need any kind of advance notice? Keep your fingers crossed! :D

I'm not exactly clear what you are referring to as the "catacomb tour" -- do you mean the area under the Colosseum? (It's not catacombs nor is it a dungeon; it is the staging area for the events in the Colosseum...)

 

The best place to purchase tickets in advance for the Colosseum (and its various tours) is through Coopculture: https://www.coopculture.it/en/the-colosseum.cfm

 

Their scheme is somewhat confusing. At a certain date in each quarter they start selling a certain allotment of tickets for that quarter's visits. But it seems like they hold some back and each week (on Monday) they add a few for the upcoming week (or month, depending). You can read this on the page I provided a link for above, but again the wording is confusing.

 

Suffice to say that the underground visit is very popular and usually sells out quickly, especially in the summer months. You will have to be quite diligent to get them through this site. Other tour agencies offer tours of this area as well and you can see if they have availability but of course you will pay more.

 

If you just want a tour of the Colosseum itself, there are usually guides near the entrance trying to get a small group together; the usual cost for a group of 10 or so is about 10 euro per person. If you want a private guide for just your group, expect to pay considerably more.

Yes, sorry, I meant the underground. My husband mistakenly referred to it as the catacombs and I guess I just repeated him! :) Thank you for your advice. I agree that the website is very confusing. We've been checking pretty diligently and our date still isn't open to purchase tickets. Honestly, I've always been very interested in ancient Greece and Rome so I'd be willing to pay what I have to to get the best tour possible. Does anyone know of a private company that I could contact if the need arises?

We've already purchased our tour to Rome. We weren't interested in any of the specific tours that were offered because we weren't interested in the Vatican and they all seemed to include that. Instead we booked a Hop-On-Hop-Off Bus and plan to just use it to get near the sites we want to see and walk for the most part.

DH and I are going on our first cruise and first time in Europe for me this June. One of our ports of call is Rome (Civitavecchia) and we've booked a shuttle from the port to St Peter's Basilica. The only real thing on our to-do list is get a tour of the Colosseum, preferably guided and more in-depth. I've looked on the Colosseum's website and it looks like you can't book tickets for the catacomb tour until a month in advance. Is that right? Does anyone have experience with the Colosseum? Will we still have to wait in line to get in even if we've bought tickets for a specific time for a guided tour? The website wasn't very clear, so I'm hoping someone on here can help me out. Thanks!

Thank you everyone! I couldn't find anything on the hotel website so I sent an email and got a reply the other day. They are more than willing to take my luggage early, so problem solved!

We'll be disembarking from the Norwegian Epic in Barcelona on June 10. My husband and I are staying in Barcelona for 2 days before flying home so we got a hotel in the Gothic Quarter. It looks like we will be disembarking around 9 am at the latest and our hotel doesn't have check-in until 2 pm. Does anyone know if it's common practice (or even allowable) to drop you luggage off at the hotel early? Or is there someplace to leave it at the port? I really don't want to be stuck dragging 4 pieces of luggage around for 5 hours if I can help it. I've sent a message to the hotel to ask, but I'd like to have a backup plan, just in case.