Review of our first cruise - Mediterranean cruise aboard the Epic

Hi everyone! My boyfriend and I just got off the Oct 1 sailing aboard the Epic on its western Mediterranean itinerary and I have to say, we had a fantastic time! Having read so many reviews and threads here in preparation for our trip, I thought I'd add something to hopefully help future travellers.

Full disclosure, this was our first cruise ever for both of us so we have no other experience to compare it too. We are a young couple in our mid 20s from Canada who were just looking for a "best bang for our buck" type of vacation. I'm in graduate school so money is basically non-existent and therefore we were very budget conscious when planning this much needed vacation.

I'll give all the details in separate posts going day by day but I'll also include a TLDR summary here for people who don't feel like reading a bunch.

TLDR:

A lovely vacation! The ship, which is massive, never felt over crowded and we never had to search for a lounger on the pool deck. Service was reasonably timed and always courteous. The stateroom was well laid out with tons of storage and a fantastic view! We were on deck 12 midship. The bed wasn't as comfortable as I thought it would be given all the reviews I read saying it was but we still slept well. Our steward, Freddy, was attentive and made us lots of towel animals, which the kid in me loved! Entertainment on the ship was quite good though I have nothing to compare it too. Highly recommend Burn the Floor and Priscilla. The Detroit Soul Brothers were also lots of fun if you like soul music. The entire ship was kept quite clean with staff always busy making sure everything was in good shape. Food was mostly delicious in all the complementary restaurants and service was reasonably timed, not slow nor rushed. All in all, we look forward to cruising again perhaps on a Caribbean itinerary next. I'm not sure if we'll choose NCL again or if we'll explore other options. Time will tell I suppose.

Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for a full synopsis :D

Glad you enjoyed the Epic in the Med. We took that cruise in 2015, enjoyed it as well, and found it was an easy way to get a taste of the Mediterranean.

Day 0: Arriving in Barcelona

We decided to fly into Barcelona a day early from Toronto in order to spend a few hours exploring the city as well as getting ourselves in the right time zone. Our flight from Toronto was sadly delayed over 3 hours so we didn't arrive in Barcelona until 3pm when we were supposed to get there shortly after 12pm. Since this was a budget trip, I booked an inexpensive bus transfer that would take us and our luggage from the airport to our hotel. However, due to the flight delay, the desk to check in for the bus transfer told us it would be about a 2 hour wait for a bus. That would have put us over 5 hours behind schedule and we really wouldn't have had much exploring time. So we opted to eat the C$35 we payed for the bus and pay for a taxi to our hotel, which costed C$55.

We stayed at the Barcelona Hotel Colonial, which is situated at the edge of the gothic quarter. It was a great location proximal to most of the things we wanted to see with easy access to the metro. The hotel was clean and modernly decorated. We checked in and freshened up from our long flight before hitting the streets of Barcelona to go exploring. We basically just wandered because around every corner was another little street lined with shops and interesting architecture. We found a nice little panini shop to grab a quick bite in the Placa St Jaume and this was where we saw a protest group march into the square singing a song in Spanish. Neither of us speak Spanish so to us the song meant nothing but a catchy tune, however it was obviously a protest since the group were carrying signs and police were every where. We had no idea what was going on so we decided to move along and continue our wandering toward Las Ramblas. Since our phones were on airplane mode for the duration of our vacation, we had to wait until we were back at the hotel with wifi to figure out that the protest was a result of the political unrest happening in Spain due to Catalonia wanting to separate from Spain and be its own nation.

Anyways, we continued to Las Ramblas and walked through the la Boqueria market where we sampled cured meats and freshly squeezed juices.. yum! Next we walked up Las Ramblas to the Placa Catalunya and then took the metro to La Sagrada Familia. We did not go inside the Gaudi Masterpiece but we did walk all around it in awe. It's a must see! We then took the metro to the Arc de Triomf and walked through the park to the parc de la Ciutadella, where we saw a beautiful fountain:

Later that night we went out for dinner at a Tapas restaurant near the hotel. I still don't fully know what tapas is, but it's delicious! We would've stayed out later and gone out for drinks but having been awake for about 30 hours, it was time for bed. Tomorrow, on board the Epic!

Glad you enjoyed your cruise! Will be following along your details.

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You are off to a great start.

Keith

We just did this cruise 8/27-9/3. Had a great time also! Looking forward to reading the rest of your review.

So far so good.

Looking forward to reading more!

me too as I leave next Wednesday!!!!

Glad you had a great time. I was on this cruise also, travelling Solo. Had a great time meeting the other Solo passengers and agree the service on the ship was very good and all the staff so friendly. We were also blessed with great weather weren't we :-)

Glad you had a great time. I was on this cruise also, travelling Solo. Had a great time meeting the other Solo passengers and agree the service on the ship was very good and all the staff so friendly. We were also blessed with great weather weren't we :-)

Yes! The weather was absolutely perfect for urban exploring or even just relaxing by the pool. I think this might be my new favourite time of year to travel in that area.

me too as I leave next Wednesday!!!!

That's so exciting!! I'm sure you'll have an amazing time :D

Following along since I leave for this cruise in two weeks!

Day 1: Embarkation in Barcelona

Sunday morning (Oct 1) we woke up early enough to fit in a tad more exploring before needing to check out of the hotel and head to the port. We enjoyed breakfast and cappuccinos at a quaint cafe around the corner before wandering the gothic quarter and seeing the beautiful Barcelona Cathedral. This city has such an interesting blend of architecture around every corner!

Once we had checked out of our hotel, we took a taxi to the port and arrived around noon. We began the embarkation process immediately, which was smooth and fast as many previous reviewers had mentioned. We dropped off our bags and proceeded into the terminal, through security, and into a check in line that was no more than a 5 min wait. Check in was quick and simple.. they issued our ship cards, snapped our mug shot, and put a credit card on file for on board purchases. We then only had to wait about another 5 min before being called to board the ship! The staff lined the gangway welcoming all the oncoming passengers and, of course, offering to spray your hands with hand sanitizer while saying the party line "washy washy happy happy"!

And now the ship! Oh my goodness, what a marvel! As I mentioned, neither me nor my boyfriend had been on a cruise before so we'd never been up close and personal with a cruise ship before. It's so much bigger up close! :p We were both pretty hungry so we decided lunch would be the first thing to do. We ate at Taste and the first impression of the food was spectacular. A 3 course meal for lunch? I could get used to that. Our server was very kind and courteous; and I enjoyed every bite of my lamb dish.

Around 1:30pm an announcement was made stating that all cabins were ready for new guests so we heading up stairs to deck 12. We had originally booked an inside cabin but we decided to try for a Norwegian upgrade when it was offered. We bid just above the minimum and were granted a mid-ship balcony room (12209). I'm so glad we got it because the balcony was probably my favourite part of the room! The view was fantastic and it was quite spacious even with 2 chairs and a tiny table.

The room featured more storage than we knew what to do with including 3 big drawers for folded clothes, 2 closets, a full length mirror, lots of bathroom storage and extra cabinets for other odds and ends. There were 4 outlets, 2 european and 2 american. We brought with us a single euro to american converter so we were able to make us of 3 out of 4 outlets. We only had our phones and camera batteries to charge so it was plenty. I wish that they had outlets close to the bedside but it wasn't a big deal. Having my phone plugged in overnight meant I had to get up in the morning to turn off my alarm, which really isn't the worst thing in the world.. beats banging on the snooze button every 9 mins haha.

The beds were comfortable but honestly, after reading so many reviews about the beds being so comfy I have to say I was a little disappointed. They were fine and we slept well but I guess I played it up in my head too much, oops. As for their length, yes my feet hung off the edge occasionally (I'm 5' 8") but it really didn't bother me. Honestly, I could have moved my head further up on the bed and then would have had no issue. I did love how wide the bed was! It was imo equivalent to a King size bed width-wise.

The bathroom set up has been a hot topic on these forums and I really think that it depends on your level of comfort with the person you're traveling with. The toilet, shower, and vanity areas are all separate and are right at the front door. Within your room, you can hear EVERYTHING. My goodness, that toilet flushes loud!! We did make a rule of "no flushing during the night", which I think should almost go without saying. So you really should be comfortable with the person you're sharing a room with. My bf and I live together at home so we're already very comfortable with each other and I think most couples would not have an issue with this lay out. However, if your traveling with a friend or another relative then I understand how it could get a little awkward at times. Interestingly, we couldn't hear anything from our neighbouring cabins (not even the obnoxious toilet flushing).

One thing that bothered me slightly was the dim cabin lighting, which was very noticeable at night. This has been mentioned time and time again and it's really not suitable for doing ones makeup. I'm no makeup artist, just some eyeshadow, mascara, and basic foundation and off I go, but even that was sort of difficult to get right.

Ok that's the cabin (sorry not sorry for all the minute details). Not long after we got to our cabin, our steward, Freddy, came by to introduce himself and drop off a few pieces of our luggage. He was very nice and went and got the rest of our bags immediately after. I definitely wasn't expecting to have all of our bags reach us that quickly! We then unpacked with ease and went out to explore the rest of the ship.

That afternoon/evening we saw the vocal impressionist, Spencer Robson, who was overall pretty entertaining. He had a great voice and was pretty funny to boot! I definitely felt my age as I wasn't familiar with a lot of the songs, but I still enjoyed the performance. We had a snack at O'Sheehans and ate way too many chicken wings, they were really good! Unfortunately this kind of spoiled our appetite for dinner but we went and ate at Manhattan room anyways. The prime rib was delicious even though I wasn't very hungry and we had no room for dessert that night. Learned our lesson to pace ourselves haha. We then took it easy for the rest of the night and enjoyed a much needed first sleep aboard a moving ship.

Great review so far, I am looking forward to seeing more as I am on the October 22 sailing.

Following. Loved your detailed review. We will be doing the same cruise next June, so this review is much appreciated :D

We're doing the transatlantic on the Epic in April, so I am anxiously awaiting the rest of your review. Thanks for a first-timer's viewpoint.

Our hotel was right across from the Barcelona Cathedral. (Hotel Colon Barcelona) Beautiful area!!

Now that you have experienced a balcony on the ship, you may never go back!! A balcony snob in the making - LOL!

Our hotel was right across from the Barcelona Cathedral. (Hotel Colon Barcelona) Beautiful area!!

Now that you have experienced a balcony on the ship, you may never go back!! A balcony snob in the making - LOL!

Haha yes quite possibly! I told my boyfriend we may have been spoiled by this cruise, now we have high expectations for any future cruises :p

*One thing I forgot to mention that we did on day 1: We had already booked the Burn the Floor and Priscilla shows prior to the cruise, but one of the first things we did once on board was go to guest services and book our tender for Cannes. That way, we were able to be on the first tender to shore. Additionally, we went to Headliners where they had a box office set up and they handed you a sheet with all the "reservable" entertainment at possible time slots. We used this to plan when we wanted to see all the available shows and then booked them ourselves using one of the many interactive screens set up around the ship. This way, we had reservations for everything and got it done before we either forgot or it was all booked up.

Day 2: At Sea

On our one and only day at sea, we ended up waking up decently early and enjoyed a leisurely breakfast at taste. I liked the bowl of fresh fruit and the eggs benedict were really good too! One thing I found lacking on the cruise was a decent cup of coffee that didn't cost extra. Sadly, it didn't seem to exist. Cappuccinos on shore were delicious though! Otherwise, breakfast was great and we began walking past the atrium where we noticed that early bird trivia was about to begin. We really like going out to trivia when at home so we decided to give it a try. It wasn't particularly difficult trivia but we still only scored 10/20 (50% is still a passing grade though right?). Ah well, we had fun. We then returned to our stateroom for a short rest before going to do the Escape the Big Top event, which we had booked the previous day. It was really fun! I highly recommend this to anyone on the cruise. It only takes an hour and you're put into small groups to collectively try and solve a series of puzzles that all come together to form one "magic spell" that allows you to escape. Our team was able to solve it but it was fairly challenging.

Afterwards, we went to change into our swimsuits to go enjoy the pool deck for the afternoon. We happened to be passing by the island of Sardinia at the time so we lingered to enjoy the view as we cruised by. One thing I loved about the stateroom tv was the channel showing you where you were at any given time. I also liked being able to check the stateroom account in real time in order to monitor how much we were spending. The day was sunny and warm but not very hot; the pool deck was breezy, which made it almost cold for lounging in a swimsuit. I think due to the wind, not a lot of people wanted to lounge on the pool deck so there was a TON of loungers available. We had the pick of the lot so to speak. The wind also made me glad I had packed clothes pins for the sole purpose of pinning down our towels to the loungers and prevented them or my cover up from blowing away. We spent a decent amount of time in a hot tub where we ran into the family we had been teamed with to do the Escape event with just a few hours earlier. It was nice to chat with people from opposite ends of the world and learn their stories. We also did all 3 water slides... multiples times over. They're so fun! The purple one is a milder body slide than the other one and great for younger kids. The green slide is the other body slide and is longer and you go faster. The inner tube slide is one of those "toilet bowl" slides, which I find so fun! Yes, I'm basically a little kid. Since we were there in October, there weren't a lot of kids on the cruise and the line for the slides was non-existent. We could go on over and over again if we wanted.. and we did.

We had a quick lunch at the buffet, which is huge! The stations repeat on either side of the buffet to help break up the crowd during peak times. The food was decent and I particularly liked how there were always staff members at each entrance asking guests to use the hand sanitizer before entering the buffet restaurant. Gotta keep up hygiene!

After an afternoon of hot tubs and water slides, we went back to the room to shower and get ready for the evening. A few notes about the shower...it's fantastic! The space is big enough for 1 or 2 average sized people and the shower head is like a steady rainfall, better than what I have at home. The water temperature was easy to adjust and I never ran out of hot water. They provide shower gel and a conditioning shampoo (like a 2 in 1 thing). I only used the shower gel and brought my own shampoo and conditioner in travel sized bottles. My bf was content to use the shampoo provided. It was a tad awkward shaving my legs as I'm used to having the shower/bathtub combo and that's hardly something to cry about. Additionally, while we didn't use it, the shower also featured a retractable clothes line that one could (for example) hang wrinkled clothes on after a shower in order to steam out the wrinkles. For our clothes, we used Downy wrinkle releasing spray, which worked quite well on its own to get wrinkles out after a long time packed away in a suitcase.

During the evening, we saw Burn the Floor, which was AMAZING! I can't praise it enough. I grew up doing dance and so I love a good dance show. My bf went in not thinking he'd like it much but was pleasantly surprise at how much he enjoyed it. It featured not only great ballroom dancing, but was live singing and guitar. I highly recommend this show to everyone. Some have said that the costumes and some of the dancing is too risqué.. I wouldn't necessarily disagree with that but I would argue that certain styles of ballroom dancing are based around heat and passion and so I didn't feel that part of the dancing was in poor taste. I actually enjoyed it. As for the costumes, they can be somewhat revealing for both the men and the women, but I didn't mind. I loved the intricate detail and style of all the costumes and how elaborate they were. Only on stage could those costumes look so good!

Dinner was at Taste tonight. I had the deep fried brie wedges (yum!) and the Argentinian Skirt Steak Salad (meh). The entrée wasn't my favourite. The steak was tough and there wasn't enough salad to it. My bf had the sushi (also yum!) and the Szechuan chicken entrée (amazing!). We each tried each other's food in order to sample as much as possible. I really liked that the MDR menus changed every night. We never felt like it was the same old thing and never felt we were missing out by not spending the extra money on the specialty restaurants.

We went to Bliss for the "night owls late night party" around 11pm and it was dead.. like empty. So we got a drink and went to enjoy it on our balcony under the moonlight. This is good spot to talk about the fact that we did NOT have the UBP as most people did. Therefore, we had to purchase all our alcoholic beverages (which were $$$$). Cocktails were delicious and, unless on the pool deck, were freshly made for the most part. So in Bliss, I ordered the drink of the day while my bf ordered a beer. However, instead of charging us the drink of the day price (USD$8.95), the bartender charged us the full price (USD$11.95 I think). I noticed this when I went to sign for the purchase and promptly corrected the bartender. He apologized and went to void the charge and issue the correct amount. I signed for that and we went on our way. Mistakes happen and it's how they are handled that define quality of service in my opinion. In this instance, the initial wrong charge was not voided from the account (we checked on our stateroom tv) so the next day we went to guest services to get it dealt with. That did the trick and the extra charge was deleted promptly without hassle.

A few notes on why we did not get the UBP. Since we are from Canada and our dollar is sh*t right now, it was around C$150 cheaper per person to get the "Canada at Par" deal offered by Norwegian as opposed to choosing the free at sea deal. Had we chosen the free at sea deal we would have gotten the UBP and SDP. However, we still would have had to pay and extra C$150 per person in gratuities for this "free" options. So since we had no interest in the specialty dining and didn't feel like we were going to drink $300 worth of booze each over the week, we opted to save the money. This itinerary was so port intensive that I hardly wanted the 1 or 2 drink per night I did have! The last thing I wanted was to be hungover while trying to walk all over the place on shore.

Thanks for reading everyone, the rest will be coming along soon! If you have any questions I haven't addressed please feel free to ask and I'll do my best to answer with my limited experience :p

Enjoying your detailed review. Looking forward to hearing about all of the ports and the rest of your cruise.

Following. We are doing this cruise in May and looking forward to hearing more.

Thanks for the review.

Enjoying your review very much! Keep it coming!

My two nieces leave Saturday for this cruise. Glad to hear there are some younger people on board ( they are 23 and 25). They also did not choose the UBP because they have booked day long excursions for each port. Can’t wait to hear about the rest of your trip

My two nieces leave Saturday for this cruise. Glad to hear there are some younger people on board ( they are 23 and 25). They also did not choose the UBP because they have booked day long excursions for each port. Can’t wait to hear about the rest of your trip

That's so exciting, I'm sure they will have a great time! We are 24 and 27 and honestly because of the port intensive itinerary, we really didn't miss having the UBP. It might have been nice on the at sea day but I didn't think much about it. We bought 1 drink per day and sprung for a bottle of wine at dinner one night. It really was enough and having the drink of the day pricing helped somewhat.