Epic Med Adventure in the Haven! 10/7/12 cruise, with pics!

[Cubechick]

This isn't the most timely of reviews with the Epic heading to Miami on Sunday, but hopefully it'll be useful for both future Med and Epic cruisers alike! So without further ado...

 

I’ve always wanted to do a Med cruise, but didn’t think it would happen. The costs of the cruise coupled with sky-high airfare were prohibitive. Starting last year however, the cruise prices started going down a bit so I started paying attention. By booking on the shoulder season, airfare was nearly half of what it would have been during the summer. Suddenly this cruise was in reach. I would have preferred a nice 12-day cruise but vacation time didn’t allow. The Epic 7-day fit the bill perfectly.

 

I’d say my enthusiasm, as the trip approached, was a solid 9 (a one-point deduction ‘cause I knew we’d be beat when we returned). The trip went up to about a 20 on the “Yay” scale, when two days before the cruise the upsell fairy called our name! I almost couldn’t believe my ears. In 10 years and 21 cruises with NCL, this is only the second time we’ve received the magic phone call. I could barely string a coherent sentence together as I responded to the fairy’s offer. Poof, (and some extra $$) and we moved from a balcony to the last available suite on our sailing, a Deluxe Owner’s Suite. I shot DH a quick text giving him the good news. He thought I was kidding. I assured him I wasn’t; I believe joking about upsells to a DOS may be punishable by death. ☺ We were barely able to concentrate on final packing that night (we would fly to Barcelona the following evening), as all we were doing was Google searches on cabin 17004!

 

Aer Lingus would whisk us across the pond on the red-eye. We left Boston at 6:25 Friday night and arrived in Barcelona at 10:10 Saturday morning. I’d arranged for a private half-day tour with Barcelona Day Tours. The driver picked us up at the airport, showed us the highlights of Barcelona and dropped us at our hotel four hours later. It was a perfect way to see some of the city while in a fog of travel exhaustion!

 

 

I used points to book us a room at the Renaissance Barcelona. This turned out to be an excellent choice. The hotel has recently been refurbished with nice rooms and a great location. Just a couple of blocks northeast of Placa de Catalunya, it would have been a great base if we had a few days to explore. As it was, the hotel more than met our needs for one night.

 

You can imagine we were very anxious to board the ship the next morning. I believe we held out getting a cab (20 Euro to the pier) until nearly 10:30 am. With no line for security we were checked in and lead to the VIP lounge by 11:15. The lounge is very small given the large number of suites on the Epic. We managed to get two of the remaining seats and proceeded to wait for Adrian Bica, the concierge, to escort us to the ship. I had read that once you’re through security there is a liquor store where you can purchase wine and spirits for your cruise (true). However I also noticed a desk set up before the gangway for bag inspection and corkage payments. The desk was unmanned when we walked by, but it makes me guess that NCL is wising up to the number of folks bringing alcohol on board. I’ll be curious to read future reports from Barcelona.

 

Adrian escorted us all to the Epic Lounge where he told us we could leave our bags while he gave us a tour of the Haven (he said staterooms would be ready around 12:30). DH and I had sailed in the Haven on the Epic’s Maiden crossing, so we were just going to stay put. Adrian realized this and called to see of our cabin was ready. It was, and our butler, Joha, arrived quickly to give us an escort. All I can say is wow, what a spectacular room!

 

 

The size is impressive enough, but the VIEW. Stunning forward views through the magnificent bathroom.

 

 

Gorgeous forward and side views through the panoramic windows of the bedroom.

 

 

A very large side balcony completed your viewing pleasure. Some of the other forward facing DOS have solariums instead of balconies and the DOS that are in the aft of the Haven face the pool area offering little privacy. We felt doubly blessed that we’d lucked out with one of the best rooms on the ship.

 

After we’d finished exploring our home away from home for the week, we ventured to the Epic Club for the first of many lunches (the breakfast and lunch menus at the Epic Club are identical to what Cagney’s offers its suite guests on other ships). After a very enjoyable meal, we wandered around the ship, taking pictures of Barcelona and just enjoying the beautiful day. As we walked by the pool bar I found myself looking at a familiar face. Armando of Sexy Alligator fame! Armando the bartender, if you don’t know, gives some of the best martini clinics we’ve ever attended and has a penchant for creating his own martinis, the Sexy Alligator being one of them. Unfortunately, Armando wasn’t handling martini clinics this cruise. I hope NCL puts him back in that role soon!

 

 

The muster drill was held at 4:00 (for us this was in Bliss). Muster drills seem to go on forever, but a drill held in four languages seems to go on for an eternity! Following the drill, a sail away party was held at Posh (the invitation was in our suite along with an invitation to the Captain’s cocktail party the following night). They offered fruit punch, sparkling wine, mimosas and appetizers along with a great view. Sponge Bob and Patrick were on hand on the pool deck to get the sail away party started for the kids (big and small).

 

 

After a pleasant dinner in the Epic Club, DH heard the call of the casino and spent some quality time with the craps table. The table was hot and that made for a happy DH. DH was even happier because the Epic had two (American) football games broadcast for your entertainment. Our game (Patriots vs Broncos) didn’t start until 10:30 though (darn time difference!). We made it until about half time before throwing in the towel and going to bed. (The Patriots would win making it a great first day on the Epic!)

[OnTheGoMom921]

Thank you for posting...sounds like a great start! We will begin to research for our 2014 med cruise, and this is just perfect!! Did you find it beneficial to leave from Barcelona as opposed to Rome? We are trying to decide which would be an easier flight as far as price/availability. Any experience here?

 

And how lucky that the upsell fairy bestowed to you such an incredible suite!!! One can only wish...maybe if i close my eyes...and hold out my wallet ;)

 

Can't wait to hear the rest!!!

~Michele:D

[Cubechick]

Thank you for posting...sounds like a great start! We will begin to research for our 2014 med cruise, and this is just perfect!! Did you find it beneficial to leave from Barcelona as opposed to Rome? We are trying to decide which would be an easier flight as far as price/availability. Any experience here?

 

And how lucky that the upsell fairy bestowed to you such an incredible suite!!! One can only wish...maybe if i close my eyes...and hold out my wallet ;)

 

Can't wait to hear the rest!!!

~Michele:D

 

Barcelona was definitely the easier of the two ports to leave from. The airport is only 20-25 minutes from the pier. Rome is 90 minutes from the pier.

 

We were on a tour with someone who joined the ship in Rome and he took a car service to the ship (very expensive). I guess he'd thought about taking the train, but changed his mind because of all the luggage they brought. Other people told him that he made the right call because the trains were jammed with people touring from the ships in port that day.

 

Glad that my review will be helpful to you!

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the review!

[biker@sea]

Good for you !!! :)

Looking forward to more.

Thanks' for your time & effort.

[NJLVW]

Oh how I love reading your reviews. We'll be on the Epic in January. Can hardly wait. Do you know if Adrian will still be there the end of January? I have read so much about him I hope to meet him...:D. Sounds like you had another wonderful cruise aboard the beautiful Epic. Looking forward to reading more and seeing more of your pictures. Thank you so much for sharing..

[dexddd]

The store was there in 2008 and the NCL desk was there just past the store and was manned at that time. We were there around 10:30 at the time.

[Cubechick]

Oh how I love reading your reviews. We'll be on the Epic in January. Can hardly wait. Do you know if Adrian will still be there the end of January? I have read so much about him I hope to meet him...:D. Sounds like you had another wonderful cruise aboard the beautiful Epic. Looking forward to reading more and seeing more of your pictures. Thank you so much for sharing..

 

Thank you for the compliment!:)

 

I believe when we asked Adrian if he would be on the Breakaway he told us he was on the Epic until May (and that Ruth would be the Breakaway's concierge).

[NJLVW]

Thank you for the compliment!:)

 

I believe when we asked Adrian if he would be on the Breakaway he told us he was on the Epic until May (and that Ruth would be the Breakaway's concierge).

 

Thank you..

[Cubechick]

Day two…sea day

 

After a blissful night’s sleep we awakened to our only sea day of the cruise. We enjoyed a delicious cappuccino out on the balcony (it was a gorgeous day) before venturing to the Epic Club for breakfast.

 

 

Our meet and greet was scheduled for Cagney’s at 11:00 am. I found this roll call to be vastly different than the roll calls on previous cruises. Because the tours on Mediterranean cruises are so expensive, a lot of people try to cut costs by forming groups for private tours. So the roll call was predominately a tool to meet up with like-minded people and book tours together. So at the M&G DH and I noticed that most of the conversations going on around us were people confirming where to meet for their upcoming tours.

 

DH and I went with NCL tours at all ports. Yes, they are expensive, but we like the peace of mind that a ship sponsored tour gives. The ship won’t leave without you if the tour runs late (teaser: this could have been an issue in Rome)! Also, by booking with NCL we paid in USD rather than Euros, and by paying in advance on-line we didn’t have to pay Spanish VAT (which you do have to pay if you book the trip on the ship).

 

Anyway, back to the M&G. There were fewer officers at the M&G than I’ve seen in the past. No Captain, no Food and Beverage, and I was thinking no Hotel Director (his assistant, Sonja was there), but he showed up about ten minutes after the rest of the officers who attended. Although the attendance by officers was not high, they did give out cards with everyone’s name, position, and phone number, always emphasizing that you could call anyone if you had any concerns.

 

I do have to comment that we would see the HD, Kaj Turunen, very little during the course of the cruise. However his Assistant HD, Sonja Sommeregger was everywhere! We saw her all over the ship, overseeing everything, and generally being available to guests.

 

As this was the only sea day, everything was scheduled for today. If you wanted to take the Behind the Scenes tour, you had to let guest services know the night you boarded, because it was today. All of the clinics (martini, beer, margarita, wine, etc) were today. The Wine and Cheese cocktail party was today, as was the Captain’s cocktail party. Phew! So many events so little time!

 

Actually we didn’t participate in much. With an early start in the morning (we had to meet for our tour at 8:00 am in the Epic Theater) we decided to take things easy. So we had another lunch in the Epic Club and generally just relaxed and explored the ship.

 

We checked out the Haven’s Fitness Center. This wasn’t open on our first cruise aboard the Epic (they were still completing it) and was a much larger space than I envisioned, with more equipment.

 

 

There are even two rooms where you can have spa treatments. Very nice!

 

 

Another change to the Haven was the Courtyard area. During the Epic’s first transatlantic, that space had turned into a giant wind-tunnel, causing doors to crash open and closed like birds flapping their wings and shredding the leaves from the fake palms placed outside for decoration. Today the plants are safely inside; the doors now slide open and closed. Baffles and netting have been added to break-up the wind. Today they have umbrellas available for shade. The umbrellas could never have survived out there before!

 

 

The Captain announced that around 2:00 we would be sailing between Corsica and Sardinia, so we made sure to be outside for that. I had read that the sundeck all the way forward on deck 18 had been opened to everyone (it was just for Haven guests originally) and it was. They do have access to the Haven roped off so you can get to the sundeck from the Haven, but you can’t get back into the Haven from there. The view from there was good, but the view was even better from the deck above Posh.

 

 

Corsica

 

At 6:00 we went to the Captain’s cocktail party and ended up reminiscing about the Majesty with two of the bartenders there. Boy were ships different back then! So much more intimate and cozy!

 

I was really looking forward to dinner tonight as we were dining at Moderno. We’d really enjoyed eating here the first time we sailed the Epic and hadn’t been on another ship with Moderno since. Our meal was very good, but maybe not quite as good as that first time. A couple of the cuts of meat were a little on the dry side, but most were very good and flavorful.

 

DH wanted to see what the craps table could do for him and I went to Fat Cats to check out Charlie Love, who is playing there while Slam Allen is on vacation. The craps table was not DH’s friend, so he joined me before Charlie finished his first song. The band wasn’t bad (the keyboard player, Crystal, is a real talent) and we enjoyed the 45 minutes or so that we spent there (and I still LOVE that the Epic has a blues club!). But we both agree that Charlie is no Slam Allen. We can’t wait to hear Slam perform on the Breakaway!

 

Tomorrow, Naples, which for us meant a hike to the top of Mount Vesuvius and a visit to Pompeii!

[time2cruise1]

Keep it coming. I have been waiting for this review. See you both in 10 days or so.

[Cubechick]

keep it coming. I have been waiting for this review. See you both in 10 days or so.

 

:d:d:d

[Cubechick]

Day Three, Napoli!

 

We rise to this glorious view of the sun rising behind Mount Vesuvius. Wow.

 

 

There was time for a pre-breakfast cappuccino and then we venture to the buffet for breakfast. The buffet on the Epic is massive and very well stocked. Our goal was to eat quickly though, so we grabbed whatever first caught our attention and then carried our plates back to our stateroom.

 

We were in the Epic Theater at the appointed time (the meeting time and place are clearly marked on your excursion ticket) and quickly made our way to our bus for our tour, Mount Vesuvius and Pompeii.

 

Our first stop was a coral factory where they show you how cameos are made…and encourage you to make a purchase or three. I hate these stops, but at least it was a chance to use the bathroom if you needed to. As the bathrooms on Vesuvius are porta-potties…with locals selling toilet paper outside, you were strongly encouraged to use the facilities here!

 

We arrive at an under-cast Vesuvio (as it is called in Italian). Our guide quickly had us skipping the line to purchase tickets, but she would not be climbing with us. There were guides at the top who would give us the history of Vesuvio. The walk/hike up the mountain was a bit steep with loose gravel on the path (they offer you walking sticks on the way up). Tip! When you're going to hike a volcano, a) make sure you're in the physical condition to do so and b) that you're wearing the appropriate footwear. We saw people lacking these basics and they weren't happy campers. It took us about 15 minutes to walk to the top, although it took some in our group twice that amount of time.

 

 

Once at the top, we were divided into groups by language and assigned a guide. Our guide was quite knowledgeable, but I have to admit I wasn’t paying a huge amount of attention to what she said. The clouds parted, giving us a nice view of the port of Naples.

 

 

Vesuvio is dormant, currently just emitting a little steam. Looking over the densely populated city of Naples, you can understand why Vesuvio is considered to be one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world. If and when it decides to erupt again, there are a few million people living in its shadow.

 

Seeing and being on Vesuvio are the perfect segue to visiting Pompeii, the city the volcano destroyed on August 24, 79AD.

 

Before entering Pompeii, we stopped for 20 minutes or so giving you a chance to use the bathroom and grab a bite to eat (the tour provided you with a ticket good for a drink or ice cream). I had to have a slice of Pizza Margherita, as that was the original pizza invented in Naples. Even from a food truck, it was darn tasty!

 

Now we make our way to Pompeii. Fortunately the clouds have backed off and the sun is now out. What can I say but, “Wow”? I think we both agreed that our first surprise was how large Pompeii is. Our guide told us it would take you a week to see everything, and I believe it. Second, was that despite how many specials I watched I was still amazed at how well preserved the city is. I guess that’s what being buried beneath 20 feet of ash will do for you.

 

 

Original marble flooring, roads with wagon tracks, art painted and carved on walls, shops clearly indicating even today what they were selling all bring Pompeii to life nearly 2,000 years after its death.

 

 

More sobering are the plaster casts of the victims. An archeologist realized voids in the ash layer where they found bones were spaces left by the bodies. He devised a method of injecting those spaces with plaster recreating the shape of the victims. It was really an awe-inspiring visit.

 

 

If we make our way back to this area, I want to spend more time at Pompeii. The couple of hours that we spent there just gave you enough time to see some of the highlights, but not all by any stretch of the imagination!

 

It was a wonderful, but long day. Tomorrow is Rome and will be an even longer day. Tonight we would be dinner at the buffet and a movie in our room. I was happy to find that in addition to the pay-per-view movies that have become standard on NCL, the Epic also had one free movie channel.

[SuiteCruiser]

Day Three, Napoli!

 

We rise to this glorious view of the sun rising behind Mount Vesuvius. Wow.

 

 

There was time for a pre-breakfast cappuccino and then we venture to the buffet for breakfast. The buffet on the Epic is massive and very well stocked. Our goal was to eat quickly though, so we grabbed whatever first caught our attention and then carried our plates back to our stateroom.

 

We were in the Epic Theater at the appointed time (the meeting time and place are clearly marked on your excursion ticket) and quickly made our way to our bus for our tour, Mount Vesuvius and Pompeii.

 

Our first stop was a coral factory where they show you how cameos are made…and encourage you to make a purchase or three. I hate these stops, but at least it was a chance to use the bathroom if you needed to. As the bathrooms on Vesuvius are porta-potties…with locals selling toilet paper outside, you were strongly encouraged to use the facilities here!

 

We arrive at an under-cast Vesuvio (as it is called in Italian). Our guide quickly had us skipping the line to purchase tickets, but she would not be climbing with us. There were guides at the top who would give us the history of Vesuvio. The walk/hike up the mountain was a bit steep with loose gravel on the path (they offer you walking sticks on the way up). Tip! When you're going to hike a volcano, a) make sure you're in the physical condition to do so and b) that you're wearing the appropriate footwear. We saw people lacking these basics and they weren't happy campers. It took us about 15 minutes to walk to the top, although it took some in our group twice that amount of time.

 

 

Once at the top, we were divided into groups by language and assigned a guide. Our guide was quite knowledgeable, but I have to admit I wasn’t paying a huge amount of attention to what she said. The clouds parted, giving us a nice view of the port of Naples.

 

 

Vesuvio is dormant, currently just emitting a little steam. Looking over the densely populated city of Naples, you can understand why Vesuvio is considered to be one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world. If and when it decides to erupt again, there are a few million people living in its shadow.

 

Seeing and being on Vesuvio are the perfect segue to visiting Pompeii, the city the volcano destroyed on August 24, 79AD.

 

Before entering Pompeii, we stopped for 20 minutes or so giving you a chance to use the bathroom and grab a bite to eat (the tour provided you with a ticket good for a drink or ice cream). I had to have a slice of Pizza Margherita, as that was the original pizza invented in Naples. Even from a food truck, it was darn tasty!

 

Now we make our way to Pompeii. Fortunately the clouds have backed off and the sun is now out. What can I say but, “Wow”? I think we both agreed that our first surprise was how large Pompeii is. Our guide told us it would take you a week to see everything, and I believe it. Second, was that despite how many specials I watched I was still amazed at how well preserved the city is. I guess that’s what being buried beneath 20 feet of ash will do for you.

 

 

Original marble flooring, roads with wagon tracks, art painted and carved on walls, shops clearly indicating even today what they were selling all bring Pompeii to life nearly 2,000 years after its death.

 

 

More sobering are the plaster casts of the victims. An archeologist realized voids in the ash layer where they found bones were spaces left by the bodies. He devised a method of injecting those spaces with plaster recreating the shape of the victims. It was really an awe-inspiring visit.

 

 

If we make our way back to this area, I want to spend more time at Pompeii. The couple of hours that we spent there just gave you enough time to see some of the highlights, but not all by any stretch of the imagination!

 

It was a wonderful, but long day. Tomorrow is Rome and will be an even longer day. Tonight we would be dinner at the buffet and a movie in our room. I was happy to find that in addition to the pay-per-view movies that have become standard on NCL, the Epic also had one free movie channel.

 

Loving your review! We did the Epic Med last year and I agree, Pompeii is amazing AND far surpasses any expectations.

[Cubechick]

Loving your review! We did the Epic Med last year and I agree, Pompeii is amazing AND far surpasses any expectations.

 

Shouldn't you be sleeping? ;)

[SuiteCruiser]

Shouldn't you be sleeping? ;)

 

:) woke up about an hour ago, I'm hoping to see that massive, hulky slice of heaven come into view. I think I have a couple of hours, so will take your advice and go back to sleep.

[ClaireAndMike]

Oh my god. I MUST do this cruise! All of your pictures are beautiful but that first one of Barcelona (I think?) took my breath away. Really. Wow.

[Cubechick]

Oh my god. I MUST do this cruise! All of your pictures are beautiful but that first one of Barcelona (I think?) took my breath away. Really. Wow.

 

Ah, thank you! That's so nice. :)

[meltingmoments]

Super review and great pictures! Bringing back lovely memories of our August Epic Med cruise! Thanks for posting......looking forward to hearing more! :)

[david_sobe]

Amazing!

Beautiful pictures!!!

[SeaHunt]

Loving your review and pictures! Thank you for feeding my Epic addiction LOL

[Journey11]

Thank you for taking the time to prepare this fantastic review and to share these absolutely gorgeous pictures. I would love to take this cruise someday.

 

Congratulations on a great upsell. I am curious about something since you mentioned that your husband played in the casino. Was your original booking for this cruise made thru CAS?

[Cubechick]

Thank you for taking the time to prepare this fantastic review and to share these absolutely gorgeous pictures. I would love to take this cruise someday.

 

Congratulations on a great upsell. I am curious about something since you mentioned that your husband played in the casino. Was your original booking for this cruise made thru CAS?

 

Thank you all for the very kind words!

 

Journey11, nope didn't book through CAS. DH doesn't gamble that much. :)

[Cubechick]

Day Four…Roma!

 

Rome. Being 90 minutes from the port of Civitavecchia where we docked makes for a long day no matter how you slice it. We did try to make it a slightly shorter day by choosing the Rome Classical City Tour, which was an 8-½ hour tour versus 10 hours for the tour that took you inside the Colosseum (our tour would just stand outside). Friends recommended that we not bother with the Vatican Museum as you couldn't possibly cover it in the limited time the tour would offer, so we stuck with a tour that focused on the ruins.

 

Another 8:00 meeting time at the Epic Theater meant another quickie breakfast at the buffet. When we were at the theater, the shore ex consultant mentioned that in Rome the port authorities encouraged you to bring your actual passport, not just a copy, although she said she didn’t like to push for that. Well, we only had our passport copies with us, so that was going to have to suffice.

 

Our tour was called almost exactly at 8:00 and we were off. Our tour guide on the bus was Riccardo (although he introduced himself as Richard). He was very entertaining and enthusiastic. About 60 minutes into the ride, we stopped at a rest area so people could use the bathroom. I endured the first of many very long bathroom lines this day (20 minutes would pass before I reached my destination). Of course the men’s line went ridiculously fast. By the time I neared the front of the line, an employee was ushering women into the men’s room to speed things up. A theme I would see repeated throughout the day. I endured the monster line because I’d read that bathrooms were few and far between in Rome. Perhaps Riccardo should have mentioned this factoid to us. As soon as we got off the bus in Rome I heard a girl ask for a bathroom saying that she hadn’t wanted to stand in that long line at the rest stop! Well, she’d now have about a 2-hour wait until we got close to another bathroom. Tip! When they give you the chance to use the bathroom on these tours, take it!

 

We then headed into Rome to pick up our “Rome Tour Guide”. This was interesting to me that Riccardo seemed to be there mostly to keep the group together and the tour running on time. Otherwise, he wasn’t actually our tour guide. Given the number of tour busses descending on Rome, I agree that two guides were very useful; as were the radios and headsets we were given. Our Rome Tour Guide (RTG) walked very fast so without the headsets we would never have heard her and without Riccardo bringing up the rear, keeping an eye on everyone, I’m sure members of our group could have been lost forever.

 

The RTG (I didn’t catch her name) was very knowledgeable. However she was a bit difficult to understand…think a female Elmer Fudd with an Italian accent. “Welcome to the Wuins of Woma.” She also tried to cram 2,000 years of Roman history into every stop. Very interesting information but simply impossible to absorb.

 

I was nervous that we were never going to get off of the bus. I felt like we were driving by all of these points of interest (all of which were being described) but were never going to stop. Finally we did stop near the Colosseum and set off at a march toward the Constantine Arch. This was really great.

 

 

We stopped at the arch for ten minutes or so, then maneuvered to a position closer to the Colosseum where we got an unobstructed view. After 20 minutes or so we moved on toward the Forum. All-in-all, we were on our feet for 2-2 1/2 hours. Some of this was on cobblestones and some of the walking involved steep roads. So good footwear and a little endurance were handy. I could see that Riccardo was getting anxious as the RTG talked longer and longer every time she stopped. He finally gave her a “wind it up” gesture that had her at least talk as she walked.

 

 

 

We headed to where the bus waited and went to lunch. I have to say the provided lunch far exceeded my expectations. The first course was a very tasty lasagna (which would have been a meal by itself), followed by thinly sliced veal, spinach and roasted potatoes. Dessert was a really good tiramisu (I generally don’t like tiramisu, but I guess if I found one I liked, it should be in Italy!!!) with phenomenal espresso. Wine (both red and white) and bottled water were at the table for your consumption. Delicious!

 

After lunch (and another long bathroom line) it was down the street to wait for the bus. There was a newsstand on the corner where we were waiting and I was able to sweep in and pick up my fridge magnet (I buy them at each stop…friends joke that my refrigerator may topple over at any moment!). It was a short ride over the river Tiber to Vatican City. OMG was this place crowded! The line to get into St. Peter’s Basilica stretched across St. Peter’s Square.

 

 

Thank goodness being on a tour meant we were cutting the line. However the crush of people meant this was our least favorite stop. Once inside the basilica, it was just wall-to-wall people in a very hot building (it was unseasonably warm the day we were in Rome). The press of people in front of Michelangelo’s Pieta was crazy.

 

 

The press of people in the basilica was crazy. I’m afraid that my brain barely computed the magnificence of what I was seeing because I just wanted out of there! Thank goodness we took many pictures that I can look at and go, "Oh, that was impressive!"

 

 

In case you got separated from the group, at the beginning of the tour Riccardo had told people to be at the obelisk at St. Peter’s square by 3:30. So our next stop was the obelisk in case anyone was waiting there (we were about 15 minutes late). After that was a 20-minute stop at a very small gift shop. There was a moment of panic when Riccardo realized we were missing two elderly tourists from the UK. He dashed back to the obelisk and within minutes was reporting that they were found. Phew!

 

Now we had a very long wait for the bus. The police don’t let the busses linger in one spot, so they need to circle. However the mammoth press of people meant that there were more busses than ever. What was (we were told) normally a five-minute wait for the bus turned into more than a half hour. The tour guides didn’t seem to know what was happening. On one hand we were told that the number of cruise ships in port that day didn’t seem bad. On the other we were told what we were seeing was far busier than normal, and it had to be because of the ships.

 

Finally the bus appeared and we scrambled on board. It was just 5:00 when we boarded. Keep in mind that the port is 90 minutes away and all aboard is 6:30. If we hadn’t been on a ship-sponsored excursion, I would have been panicked at this point, concerned that we might miss the ship. The traffic was horrendous. We inched forward bit by bit, finally reached a place to drop of the RTG, and then crawled some more. Eventually we broke free of the traffic jam (a policeman had a car pulled over and was blocking a lane) and made it to the highway. Our driver channeled his inner Mario Andretti and we flew down the highway back to the port. We arrived at 6:25…minutes to spare! As Riccardo pointed out, our driver passed all of the other busses on the highway.

 

We were greeted at the pier by a line of room stewards dancing and singing a welcome home song. How fun!

 

Back at our stateroom, we found a big platter of sandwiches left by Joha. Bless him! It was lovely not to have to go out for dinner after our long day (somehow our 8 ½ hour tour had turned into a 10 hour tour).

 

After this experience we both agreed that if we ever went to Rome again on a tour we would bring our passports and all of our Euros with us. What if we had missed the bus back? Or something else happened? One girl on our ship broke her arm when she fell at St. Peter’s and spent the day in the hospital…I’m not sure how she got back to the ship. Riccardo had said it would be a 250 Euro cab ride to the ship. Fortunately everything worked out, but I’d feel better having my passport on me on this specific stop.

 

Once we sailed away and filled our bellies with sandwiches, we grabbed a couple of beers and hit the hot tub. Bliss!

[willysgrandma]

I joined this same cruise in Rome and NCL will not be doing the multi port embarkation again. I spoke to Guest Services and they said it was too difficult to manage. I had noticed it wasn't shown for 2013 and they confirmed it on the ship.

 

I knew one day in Rome would not be enough which is why I specifically jumped on a Rome embarkation. Flights were cheaper for me to Rome than Barcelona. (And always see if Aer Lingus flies where you need to go - we paid only $754 per person for our air to Rome from JFK). We arrived 3 days early and were able to see everything we wanted to.

 

It was a one hour ride from Rome to Civitavecchia. We took a private car but could have shared a shuttle for as little as 30 euro per person.

 

Cube Chick I second your thoughts on taking your passport off the ship. We did private excursions and knew if we were late getting back and missed the ship we weren't getting to the next port without them, so we always take our passports and a credit card.

 

Love your pics and didn't we have fantastic weather? No rain except the sea day!

Thank you for posting...sounds like a great start! We will begin to research for our 2014 med cruise, and this is just perfect!! Did you find it beneficial to leave from Barcelona as opposed to Rome? We are trying to decide which would be an easier flight as far as price/availability. Any experience here?

 

And how lucky that the upsell fairy bestowed to you such an incredible suite!!! One can only wish...maybe if i close my eyes...and hold out my wallet ;)

 

Can't wait to hear the rest!!!

~Michele:D