meltingmoments

This is a link for the Viva Vino package from our Getaway trip last Summer.

I'm not sure how much has changed but hopefully it will give you some idea! :)

I still consider us newcomers to cruising!

First cruised the Sky, as a taster, in 2011 and got hooked!

2012 was first time on Epic, 2013 was my favourite so far.....Jade to the Greek Islands, 2014 was the Getaway and 2015 will be our 2nd time on the Epic.

We are considering the Breakaway for 2016, but as we are restricted to School holidays at the moment, that one could be our final (for now!) with NCL as the routes no longer appeal.

Thanks to the OP for a positive review. So glad you had a great trip and enjoyed the Epic. :)

Hi we are also sailing on the Epic on a back to back this summer from Barcelona.

The only entertainment that is bookable is Burn the Floor and Legends

We are also sailing the Epic this Summer from Barcelona and the only entertainment options that I can see on My NCL are Cirque Dreams and Legends........no Burn the Floor appears on my options! We are less than 90 days out now, so not sure if I'm missing something?

Here you go :)

 

https://www.ncl.com/terms/corks-and-caps-package

 

https://www.ncl.com/onboard-packages/beverage-packages

 

https://www.ncl.com/sites/default/files/WineList_Fleetwide_02262015.pdf

Aww thank you very much. I checked those out, but the package we usually buy is just wine, no beer. It's called Viva Vino, and you can buy 4 bottle packages, 6 bottles etc. Maybe that one isn't available to pre-order online?

Yes, and you can purchase it online before you cruise.

Hi there,

Could you please point me in the right direction for purchasing the wine package online? We have had it on all our cruises so far and find it good value for money. However, we have never purchased it online, only on Embarkation day.

I'm a bit of a planner and anything I can sort....and pay for......before we board....is a bonus for me! :) TIA

So many from the crossing were staying in Sitges after the cruise. Unfortunately I wasn't one of them. Looked gorgeous from the air and I certainly hope to plan a future visit.

We were recommended Sitges by a friend as we didn't want to come straight home after our first Epic trip and we didn't fancy a week in Barcelona.

That was in August 2012....we've been back 6 times since....with 2 more trips planned! It's safe to say we love it! I hope you get to give it a try! :)

I'm one of those giving the thumbs-up to NCL for the welcome the crew give to passengers when returning to the ship!

We actually felt sorry for passengers of other ships docked with us who DIDN'T get the same warm welcome! :D

We sailed Epic in the Med a couple of years ago and I don't really recall if music was played or not........I'll let you know in August! :)

WE did, however, sail the Getaway last Summer........music at all ports.......and the Jade, Greek Islands in 2013.......Greek music at all ports....loved it! :)

Had to come back to say, I particularly loved your aerial photo of Sitges!

One of our main reasons for cruising from Barcelona is it's proximity to Sitges. We will spend 10 days there after our Epic cruise. Have you visited Sitges eroller?

Thank you so much for your positive review! We were beginning to feel a little unsure about our up-coming (second ) trip on the Epic, what with all the negative reviews about her. Your review .......and amazing pictures.......has me all excited once more and remembering just WHY we booked her again! Thank-you! :)

 

i am not at all worried about the ship, how much fun we will have, and certainly not going to be complaining. the only thing im worrying about right now is how i can pack all the stuff i want to take with only a 15kg luggage allowance, are you going with ryanair by any chance? ;) and how i will contain my excitement over the next few days :d

 

i think the biggest shame about all this stuff with changes is not the changes themselves, but the cloud of negativity that some people will be carrying with them on their holiday. At the end of the day, you can book a holiday in disneyland or a hotel and they can put prices up and change policies and you will probably never be none the wiser. It's not that ncl is bad, it's just they (like other companies) are under the spotlight on cc, and the majority of customers travelling will be completely unaware of all the anger/annoyance on here.

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Thanks meltingmoments You're very welcome! :) - I got excited as well since we were not able to take advantage of any of the UDP/UPB promos they ran because we booked through CAS.

 

It's horrible that NCL can't get their website right!! I never know what to believe on their site.

I know!! I just tried to book an excursion and it wouldn't let me because the excursion I was trying to book conflicted with one I'd ALREADY booked!! News to me......haven't booked ANY! :eek:

I logged in to MyNcl this morning to review our trip summary for our upcoming cruise on the Pearl. I went to the Explore and Plan, clicked on our first day and it is showing Indigo (MDR), Moderno and Teppanyaki as being complimentary!

 

So when I click on Moderno and go to the "Dining Details for Moderno Churrascaria" page, again it shows:

Per Person Pricing

$ 0.00

Accommodates

94

Reservations

Highly Recommended

Location

Deck 8

 

However, when I go to book the reservation it indicates a total price of $47.20 for the both of us.

 

So which is it - is it now complimentary or there is just an error on the site? Interestingly enough Summer Palace (MDR) and the other specialty restaurants do not show at all!

I am seeing the exact same thing for ALL speciality restaurants on our August Epic sailing.......it's definitely a web-site glitch and it's been like that for a few days! I got VERY excited at first, and then came down to earth with a bump when others mentioned it on another thread! :)

I would be interested in knowing this as well. Currently, when I go to *Explore and Plan* in My NCL, and check out excursions, it says *Items added to the cart will be updated to include all applicable taxes and fees*.......but I can't see anywhere that tells me WHAT those taxes and fees are!

Now I'm a little technically challenged, so it could be obvious to others! :o

We received that e-mail today....in fact we received TWO, which informed us of the changes.

The e-mail does state that all guests on these sailings from May 3rd to September 13th are affected, so I took that to mean ALL dates within that period.

We sail on the 9th August.....we have friends on the 20th May sailing....they too have had the e-mail.

Both ours and our friends Vacation Summaries give the new timings.

We're sad to have so little time in Palma, but hey......we'll be on a cruise....all is good! :)

All in all I thought the ship was very pretty and I personally didn’t see any signs of wear and tear but I also wasn’t looking for flaws. After the first day, I was able to perfectly imitate the voice of the elevator lady. It was a British voice that announced each floor and would say door opening or door closing. I announced that I could do that job and where did I apply.

So nice to read some positives about the Epic amongst lots of negative feedback recently! :( Thank you for posting, I was beginning to worry that we would be sailing a ship that was VERY ready for a re-fit!

The bit about you imitating the voice of the elevator lady made me smile.:)

I remember our last trip on the Epic and I would deliberately say "doors opening" BEFORE the automated voice to confuse people! ( I'm British! ;) )

A few people remarked that I should have the job! :D

I've always had a wash cloth in my cabin. They've even used wash cloths for towel animals ... seriously there are wash cloths!

 

Epic Stuido Cabin

I thought I was going crazy! ;)

We have always had wash cloths in our cabins.......and I'm sure if there WEREN'T any, the cabin steward could easily get you some if you ask!

Congratulations on your upcoming wedding, happy honeymoon on the lovely Sky! Enjoy. :)

Looking at South America itinerary, the shore excursions did not go up. It must be certain destinations? It seems like a lot of people are talking about Alaska predominantly with a Caribbean one thrown in for good measure. What destinations is everyone seeing these increases on besides those two? :cool:

Our excursions are European, on the Epic, all 3 we were GOING to book gone up by $10 each.

Yep, all the excursions we WERE planning on our Epic trip have all gone up by $10. Way to go, Mr Del Rio!! :mad:

We have only ever used RS on the Epic for breakfast and that was because it was a very port-intensive cruise and we were getting off the ship fairly early each day. It was ideal for what it was, but we sure as heck wont be paying $8 for the *convenience*. Shame that, because we are doing the Epic trip again and I was looking forward to coffee and a Danish on the balcony! Oh well, just means we'll have to get up a bit earlier! :eek:

Hi there,

We sailed the Epic in 2012 and are about to repeat the experience this Summer.......to do all the things we missed doing first time around! :)

There's a link to my review, which contains some photos, in my signature, if you'd like to take a look.

Enjoy the Epic! :)

Here's a link to my photo's of our Epic trip. You'll see some photo's of arrival at the various ports and that might give you an idea as to whether or not you watch sailaway, or arrival. Hope they help! :)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/80194400@N03/sets

We are booked on the Epic for a Med Cruise in late June. We have never done a Med cruise before and as I am trying to book some dining times, I am realizing that port departures are later than we are used to on Caribbean cruises and around the time I'd likely book dinner.

 

We do tend to either go up on deck or sit on our balcony as the ship departs but I'm wondering if these ports are more industrial or are they picturesque and we should plan to view the shoreline as we depart?

 

Ports are

Naples

Civitavecchia

Livorno

Cannes

Palermo

 

Thanks in advance for any insight!

Hi there, we have sailed the Epic Western Med once already and have another trip planned for this August. :)

Everyone finds different things appealing, but IMO Naples was an attractive port, Civitavecchia a little less so and Livorno was downright ugly!

Cannes is beautiful and I'm not sure if you meant Palma, rather than Palermo, because Palma is beautiful and OUR Epic trip doesn't stop at Palermo, that I know of! :)

So if we decide not to put our suit cases outside the night before we can just get off when we want to ? would it be easy to get off with our luggage being on deck 12 and needing to use the lifts ? Do we need to let NCL know we are doing this ? can we wait to see what colour luggage tag they give us before deciding on this ?

Hi there,

I am a little obsessive about my luggage ( don't judge, lol ) and whenever possible, we do easy walk-off.

We did this last time we were on the Epic and will do it again this summer....it's really easy! :)

We were on deck 12 last time and had a little wait for the elevators, but not too long. We didn't rush to get off as we were catching a train at our leisure, so no time constraints.

You don't need to let NCL know if you are doing easy walk off, but if you choose to let NCL take your luggage, you can go to the excursions desk and collect the colour-coded luggage tag that you want, for the time that you want to disembark.

Hope this helps. Enjoy the Epic! :)

Also, is there enough to do at the port without booking excursions every day.:confused:

 

Barcelona, Marjoca, Florence, Naples, Cannes.

We sailed the Epic in 2012 and are about to sail her again this Summer.

The only port of call that is different this time around is that Marseille has been changed to Palma (Majorca)

The reason we are doing this cruise again is because we didn't get to see or do all the things we wanted first time round.....both ON and OFF the ship!

The only port we didn't fancy just getting off at and wandering around was Livorno....the port for Florence....it's very industrialised and there didn't appear to be much to see or do.......but someone with more experience may step in with some ideas.

All the other ports are, IMO, easy to wander around without the need for an excursion. Cannes and Palma in particular are lovely ports and easy to walk around. Enjoy your cruise! :)