Sailed Epic RT from Marseille

[meh56]

We just returned from the EPIC Med cruise...We went roundtrip from Marseille and would highly recommend doing this if you have the time. I will be writing a ship review but wanted to post here as I had a hard time finding information about boarding in Marseille.

We flew from NY to Paris and returned Paris to Chicago on Air France in Premium Economy. We felt it was worth the extra for the little additional space you receive. On arrival in CDG we collected luggage (2 carryon bags) and walked to Rail station and boarded train for Marseille. The train is about 4 hour and beautiful scenery along the route. On arrival took a taxi to Radisson Blu at the Vieux Port. Room was wonderful and we took room rate that included breakfast which was a fairly good size buffet. Hotel location is great...Lots of cafes within a block, electric bus stops out front and hop on-hop off bus is within a block. We took taxi to ship (20euros). On return to Marseille we took ship shuttle 8.00us to Vieux Port and then took taxi (stops right were shuttle drops you off) to train station. We spent 3 nights in Marseille and could have stayed 1 more. Took Hop on - Hop off for first day tour. Second day we took Electric Bus to Le Petit Train which does same as hop on bus but when you get to Notre Dame de la Garde , they take you to the top so no climbing, you can also stay there as long as you want as the trains comes and goes frequently. Hotel is a little pricey but worth it...great concierge and front staff that speak English. Nice way to start our trip. We did overnight at the Sheraton Paris CDG and caught flight to us next day. We spent a little more but we are mid 60's and felt we needed to have extra time to get on the right time zone and it was worth it. I will post a ship review soon but if anyone has question I would be happy to answer them. We had a mini on deck 13 on the Epic.

[hammo]

We were also looking at an Epic cruise embarking at Marseille , but NCL do not seem to be offering this next year - September ? Any information about that ?:(:(

[anandaindonesia]

Looking forward to your ship review. Thanks.

[QuattroRomeo]

We were also looking at an Epic cruise embarking at Marseille , but NCL do not seem to be offering this next year - September ? Any information about that ?:(:(

 

We'd like to do that too! Would be great to add Paris and Marseilles to a cruise..

 

Also looking forward to the review meh56!

[Annhawthorne]

Leaving for epic this week. Look forward to comments and tips

[hammo]

In another thread it is mentioned that next year Cannes will replace Marseille as an embarkation port ? Any info on that ?:D

[bugeater2]

No no no. I should have been more clear. Cannes is replacing Marseille as a port but not as an embarkation/debarkation port.

 

You only have Barcelona and Rome to choose from next near.

 

Sorry for the confusion.

 

FYI, If you still wanted to do Paris and then cruise, you can get an overnight sleeper train from Paris to Barcelona on Saturday night and arrive Barcelona around 9:00am.

[Lite_fm48]

We were also looking at an Epic cruise embarking at Marseille , but NCL do not seem to be offering this next year - September ? Any information about that ?:(:(

Epic goes to Cannes, not Marseille in 2014. That might be why you can't find it. :)

 

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[hammo]

Thanks for the info :)

[Annhawthorne]

Rome was a much better choice for getting on as there were no lines,no hassle. if they are only having two embarktures this could change. I was worried about the time to the airport but we got there with 3 hours to spare.I will say will never do a connection in Europe again,as we almost didn't make the plane as they had one person checking passports.Howeverwe might have got our destination changed if we had gone earlier as they closed Philly for a bomb threat for a while.It is an hour from rom hotel to get there but we used Bobs shared shuttle and thedriver was great all three times. From the airport, from the hotel, and at the port .

[djmess]

No no no. I should have been more clear. Cannes is replacing Marseille as a port but not as an embarkation/debarkation port.

 

You only have Barcelona and Rome to choose from next near.

 

Sorry for the confusion.

 

FYI, If you still wanted to do Paris and then cruise, you can get an overnight sleeper train from Paris to Barcelona on Saturday night and arrive Barcelona around 9:00am.

 

You can also do an overnight train from Paris to Rome. I'm doing that this October.

 

On a side note, I live very close to Surf City, I'm in Sneads Ferry! Hi neighbor and fellow cruise critic member

[CasaM]

We do a Med cruise each fall, and I find it much easier to embark out of Barcelona. With Rome, you are an hour away from the port at Civitavecchia, and it is expensive for a transfer/taxi to get there. Yes, you can take a train, and we do that when we port there to go into Rome. But with luggage, it's easier for us to take a taxi.

 

Also, Easyjet has flights from Barcelona to Paris and it's pretty inexpensive, depending on the day. We've used them before and are again using them this fall to go Barcelona to Basel. There are no assigned seats, you just go to the boarding gate, get in line, and board and find a seat.

[CasaM]

I should have also mentioned that Easyjet has a Paris Orly flight to Rome.