Western med in the Epic May 27-June3

[Mommyof3boys]

Our journey started with a direct flight from Toronto to Barcelona. Unfortunately due to our work schedules we were unable to spend anytime in Barcelona. After a turbulent flight we safely landed at approximately 10:35am. Our luggage didnt take too long as we had priority. We had our transfers lined up with the airline and they were waiting once we got outside the terminal. After a few minutes we boarded our van and headed to the port. Once we arrived we were through security and the lined up for registration. The lines were fairly long as we arrived around 11:30.

 

Once we registered we were able to go right onto the ship. I could not believe how large the ship was.

 

DH and I decided to have some lunch so we headed over to Taste. It was empty probably because everyone was being told to go to the buffet. We both ordered the philly cheesesteak. It could be because we were starving but that cheesesteak was absolutely delicious. The dessert selection wasn't great and they were very tasty either.

 

We decided to check out the ship and then bought we would check where our room was. We were pleasantly surprised to see that it was ready and it wasnt even 1pm yet. Shortly after we noticed our luggage was right outside our doors. We decided to unpack. This ship is a well oiled machine we could not believe I how efficient they were.

 

Our muster drill was at 4:30pm. Once that was done we headed up to the pool deck for the sail away party. There were quite a few lounge chairs so DH and I grabbed some. The DJ on the ship was great playing current tunes and some old hits. After the sail away we went to get ready since we had reservations for the cirque show.

 

I must say I am not a fan of cirque but DH loves the shows so we booked the premium seats. We sat on the balcony and it was great Although because it am short I had to lean forward at times to see what was going on. I really enjoyed the show and the meal was very tasty. The beef tenderloin has perfectly cooked and seasoned well. I was quited impressed that they were able to serve everyone and that the food came out at a perfect temperature. The dessert trio was also very good. I highly recommend this show.

 

After the show we called it a night as we had not had much sleep the night prior.

 

Stay tuned.....

[meltingmoments]

I shall certainly be staying tuned!!! :)

 

 

I am avidly reading all the Western Med reports that come in as we shall sail the Epic in August.........did I say I was excited? :D

[Mommyof3boys]

Day 2-sea day

 

We decided that today would be our sleep in day so we got up at 10:30. We geared down and got an expresso at the Atrium cafe. It was very good and the price was very reasonable. I then made reservations for the ice bar. We're getting hungry so we headed up to the Garden cafe. There are plenty of tables there. There are ate a few stations but most are the same just for different sides if the restaurant. The food selection was ok.

 

After lunch we decided to check out the ship deck by deck. This is a beautiful ship and it s well layed out. My only gripe is that you have to walk through the casino which smells of smoke but it is not smokey.

 

Soon it was 3pm and he headed over to Shakers for the martini tasting. The price was $15 pp for 4 martinis, not a bad deal. We got a classic, hypnotize me, French kiss, and chocolate martini. I did not finish the classic martini as it was too strong but the rest were very good. I highly recommend this. We met some great people there.

 

We were getting a bit hungry so we headed over to O'Sheehans for a snack. We shared some wings and mozzarella sticks but of which were very yummy.

 

It was then time for our reservation to the ice bar. The entrance fee included 2 drinks. The menu is pretty limited but there are a few non-alcoholic options. I don't remember which drink I chose (probably due to the martini tasting ;) ) but one was non alcoholic.

 

We headed back to our room to change. Speaking of room, we stayed in a mini suite, room number 11079. The room was great. The bed which was beside th balcony was very comfortable. The bathroom situation which was odd worked fine for us but might be an issue for friends. The toilet was very loud and thankfully there were no flushes during the night or I might have been scared half to death. Our room Stewart Rodrigo was great. Was always asking if we needed anything and helped us with the only 2 requests we had which were emptying the fridge and getting us an iron.

 

The blue man group show was very good although I wish ee had gone dwn a bit earlier to get a better seat. After the show we had plans of having dinner at the Manhattan room but it seems everyone did. There was a 45 min wait. We decided to go to Taste instead but they were lined up as well, so we headed to La Cucina.

 

We were seated right away at a table with a view. DH ordered the calamari for his appetizer and I ordered the carpaccio of beef tenderloin. Both were very good. For our entrees, DH ordered the steak and I ordered the pork. Again, good. For dessert we both ordered the tiramisu which was very good.

 

We decided to check out howl at the moon. Those entertainers are very talented.

 

We called it a night as we had an early wake up ahead of us

[vivavegas]

Loving your review! Looking forward to reading more!:)

[Mommyof3boys]

Day 3- Naples

 

We started our day by having breakfast at the Garden Cafe. We headed down early and the place was already fairly busy. We managed to get a window at the bow of the boat. The food selection was very good. The baked goods especially the chocolate croissants were delicious. They also have an omelet station which has a great selection of fillings.

 

After breakfast we met in the Epic theatre for our tour. We booked the Flavors of Pompeii and Sorrento tour. Once given our bus number we headed out and met our tour guide Romano.

 

I was surprised to see how dirty Naples was. Once we arrived at Pompeii which was about 45min away we went into the Cameo factory where thery briefly explained how they were made. You then could look around the shop and purchase one if you wanted. They also had bathroom facilities there. I could not believe how gross they were, the toilets didn't even flush.

 

Once outside we were given a bottle of water which was great since it was getting warm. We then headed inside. I'm personally not a big fan of pompeii and did not care to go but DH wanted to. Although it was interesting to see it definately started to all look the same after awhile.

 

After Pompeii we headed to Sorrento. The drive there as very scenic. We made one stop which allowed us to take some pictures. Once in Sorrento we were to go in to a factory again where music box's were made. DH and I decided to skip that and just went on our way as we were given about 1hr and a half to explore on our own.

 

Sorrento was beautiful. Some great shops were around. We decided to stop at a "featured" restaurant to have some italian pizza. We didn't want to eat much as we would be having lunch with our tour in a couple hours. We ordered a pizza and were told "thats individual size" to which I responded "Yes, we know but we aren't very hungry and just want to try the pizza". The waiter proceeded to roll his eyes and asked "thats ALL your going to order" I was taken aback and told him to give me a salad too. The pizza was very good. When the bill was presented he told my husband "Small bill but make sure you leave a big tip" I could not believe the attitude of these servers and it definately left a bad taste in my mouth.

 

After we met up with our group we went to the farm house. There we were shown how they make mozzarella cheese and then served lunch.

 

The lunch consisted of an antipasto plate, pasta and a slice of cake. They also had red wine and water to drink. They also made lemoncello there and we were given samples. Needless to say, we had a great time. We met some fantastic people on thise tour and some that have been come friends.

 

We arrived at the ship shortly after 5pm. We met a couple of our new friends from the tour for dinner at the Manhattan room. The food selection was very good there as was the service. I highly recommend the bread pudding in caramel sauce ;)

 

After dinner we headed to the atrium where we volunteered our new friends to join the So You Think You Can Dance show. This was a great show, and although our friend didn't win a cute little asian man from Canada did. Shortly afterwards we went to Howl at the Moon. Did I mention how talented these entertainers are yet?

 

After a day on the go we called it a night!

 

More to come....

[Cruzinbabe06]

I'm getting so excited!:D

 

All you guys are coming back and giving your reviews.

 

We thank you.

 

More! More!

[PathfinderEss]

Thanks for your review, can't wait for the rest.

[meltingmoments]

Great review!! Making me ever more excited for our Epic trip!!:D

[Mommyof3boys]

Thanks everyone. I will add photos once I learn to do that! LOL

[Mommyof3boys]

Day 4- Rome

 

We once again an early wake up call so we decided to order room service for breakfast. The menu is limited but my beloved chocolate croissants were on the menu so all was good with the world ;). The food right on time. After enjoying breakfast on our balcony we headed down to meet for our tour in the Epic theatre once again.

 

We booked the Rome and Colliseum tour.

 

We headed to Rome to meet our tour guide. Our first stop was a the Trevi fountain. Its truly beautiful and we tossed our one coin over our left shoulder with our right hand :)

 

We walked around to a couple different monuments and headed to lunch. The lunch was in a restaurant in a basement. We were served pasta, veal with roasted potatoes and salad and dessert was a flaky dough with raspberry jam and some custard. We also had a very small cup of coffee.

 

Afterwards we headed over to the Colliseum. This tour included the tour inside. The great about being in an organized tour was skipping the huge line up. After the Colliseum we headed to see the forums.

 

Back on the bus, we headed to vatican city. Once there we headed on to St. Peters Basilica. Again skipped the huge line up. Once inside I was amazed on how much there was to see. It's very crowded so keeping close to the tour guide definitely became a challenge. We were then given some shopping time before we had to head back.

 

Once back on the ship we headed to Taste for dinner. The menu is offer a good selection and service was very good.

 

After such a long day, walking in the sun we called it a night.

[Mommyof3boys]

Day 5- Livorno- Pisa and Florence

 

After having breakfast in our room we headed to the Epic theatre to meet for our excursion. We had booked Pisa and Florence on your own.

 

Once on the bus we met our guide Luca wo was very informative with information while on the bus. We drove to Pisa and once there were given approx. 1hr to explore on our own. We took tons of pictures and checked out the shops for souveniers. After meeting up with our guide we were back on the bus and headed to Florence.

 

We were dropped and the guide walked us to our meeting location which was a leather store. The meeting location was also right beside Santa Croce church. We were given a map.

 

I had someone recommend a location for gelato back home so we decided to look for it. First thing I noticed is that there soo many street names and the change from one direction to the other. Needless to say we had a hard time finding it so we decided to head for lunch. Our plan was to have pizza and since we are Jersey Shore fans ( I know...stupid show but its our guilty pleasure) we decided to go to the pizza shop that they worked at.

 

Once inside we talked to hostess who was the american wife of the owner. We ordered our lunch and enjoyed an italian beer. The pizza was delicious. Having eaten pizza twice on our trip, pizza is forever ruined for us because nothing back home even remotely compares. After lunch we headed out to check out other sites, including the a gelato shop recommended by the pizzeria owner. It was a couple bridges down from the ponte vecchio which allowed for great views. We then walled back through the ponte vecchio.

 

Florence was definately smaller than I expected and we were able to see everything we wanted to in the amount of time slotted to us. My only regret is not going to the location which allows you to see all of Florence.

 

Florence was almost 2hrs away which allowed enough time for a nice nap. We arrived at the ship around 6pm.

 

We had dinner in the Garden Cafe and this is when I discovered the crepe station. Made fresh to order with your choice of toppings... heavenly.

 

Afterwards, we met our new friends to watch the Newlywed Show. This show was soo entertaining...hilarious even! After the show they had kareoke. Unfortunately, everyone going up was choosing the oddest songs such as Celine Dion. Now don't get me wrong I love Celine Dion but at 10pm I don't want to hear Celine Dion and lets face it..Celine has some big shoes to fill. We left the show soon after.

 

We grabbed some munchies at O'Sheehans and just chit chatted with our new friends before heading to bed.

[Mommyof3boys]

Day 6- Cannes, France

 

We had booked our tender time on the tv a couple days prior so we headed down for breakfast at Taste. It was not very crowded which was nice.

 

After breakfast we went to the Manhattan room to meet for tendering. The process went very smoothly. Once at port DH and I headed to Europcar to pick up our rental.

 

This day was our anniversary so we headed over to Eze. The drive was very scenic and no crazy drivers like in Italy. The only downside was that this was overcast so the view wasn't the greatest. Once at Eze, we walked up to Chateau Eza for our lunch reservation. The restaurant is beautiful and service impeccable. I highly recommend this restaurant. The only downside was that lunch ran much longer than anticipated..roughly 2hrs. After walking around Eze we headed back to Cannes and back to the ship.

 

Once we arrived in our room we found an anniversary cake and chocolate covered strawberries that my sister had sent. We got ready for dinner and heade down to Le Bistro.

 

The restaurant is very good. The servers were very attentive. They knew it was our anniversary so they brought over a cake and the servers sang. We were too full to eat it after our desserts so we took the cake to our room.

 

Today was the White Hot Party so after changing into our "white duds" we headed out to Spice H20. It was a beautiful night out. There were tons of people out and the DJ was great.

 

We ended our night by enjoying our cake with our friends. The cake was vanilla and I am not a huge fan but it was very tasty.

[vivavegas]

Loving your review! Thanks so much for sharing!:)

[Mommyof3boys]

Day 7- Marsielle

 

DH and I decided to stay on the ship today as there as not much that interested us here.

 

We headed down for breakfast and then went out to the pool area it was around 10am so there were plenty of chairs. We tried the slides starting with the toilet bowl one. It was very good although it slows down quite a bit at the bottom of the bowl. We then tried the green one... I did not like this one.. it was very tight and most enclosed so I felt claustrophobic. We than went into the pool. The pools are very small but since it was still relativily early they were not crowded. We lounged for a while longer and then headed to grab a small lunch.

 

After lunch it was getting very crowded in the pools especially with kids so we decided to head to Spice H20. The loungers were all gone but no one was in the pool.

 

The one thing that shocked me about this cruise was the amount of kids on it. I thought because of the time of year and the ports that there would not be many. Our kids stayed home and I could not have imagined them there. The ship itself is very kid friendly but this is such a port extensive itinerary with locations that most kids would not care the least bit about. Also, I saw parents dragging their young kids on tours that clearly stated the activity level as being high and uneven grounds. These areas are not stroller friendly. In my opinion, there are much better locations to take your kids.

 

After lounging awhile longer we decided we had enough of the sun and headed to our room to start packing. :(

 

The sun exhausted us so we headed down to the atrium cafe for an expresso. The margarita tasting started at 4pm so we met our friends there. The cover charge was $15 and that included 4 margaritas. I could not tell you the flavors. We had a great time.

 

We had dinner at Moderno. What I had was very good but unfortunately due to all the drinking we didnt eat much.

 

The margaritas hit us hard so we headed to our rooms and took a nap. After waking up at 10:30pm we went down to drink some water..lol and say our goodbye's to our friends.

[Mommyof3boys]

Day 8- Disembarkation

 

We chose to do the Easy Walk off.

 

After packing our last minute stuff we headed down for breakfast. The garden cafe was not overly busy which surprised me. After breakfast we headed back to our room to grab our bags. By the time we were off the ship it was around 8:30am. The whole process was very easy.

 

We waited for our bus to pick us up and take us to the airport. We were held up by about 20min because of some people.

 

Once at the airport we got through security fairly easily. The only downside to the Barcelona airport is it seems they don't assign gates until approx 20 prior to boarding time. Regardless, our flight was on time and it was a smooth ride from there.

 

We loved our vacation and wouldn't have changed anything about it.

 

I will try to upload some pictures. If anyone has questions, ask away!

 

Thanks for reading.

[scottishwee35]

Thank you for your time to write the trip report.

 

About Pisa and Florence on your own... did you think it was worthing?

 

As we had been in Med in 2007 and we are going back next year and I want see Florence and we had been in Pisa.

 

I wonder if it is worthing or not?

 

Scottishwee35

[Mommyof3boys]

Thank you for your time to write the trip report.

 

About Pisa and Florence on your own... did you think it was worthing?

 

As we had been in Med in 2007 and we are going back next year and I want see Florence and we had been in Pisa.

 

I wonder if it is worthing or not?

 

Scottishwee35

 

 

If you've been to Pisa I wouldn't bother going again. I do believe that there is a Florence on your own. I personally enjoyed being able to venture off on our own and not having to worry about not making it back to the boat on time.