Epic Western Med Review 5/26 -6/2

[BaseballMomof4]

There are some stunning views of the city from up there though.

 

 

Even better - Parc Guell is free!!

 

Edited June 7, 2013 by BaseballMomof4

[BaseballMomof4]

We then went to Parc de la Ciutadella. A really pretty area and we were treated with street performers.

[BaseballMomof4]

A little more walking around to see the Columbus monument and a bit more of the waterfront and then we hit La Rambla. As this was Saturday and my son’s wanted to watch a soccer game in a bar/restaurant in Barcelona, we located a suitable restaurant on La Rambla and I met my friend who arrived that day. We arranged to meet the boys at the restaurant after the game and she and I headed out to walk La Rambla and have dinner. We found a nice sidewalk restaurant and had tapas and paella and a “glass” of Sangria. When I say that the glass was the size of a fishbowl I am NOT exaggerating. I was also not complaining – hahahaha! When you walk La Rambla go early enough in the day that the Boqueria is fully open. It is madness but the most beautiful array of vendors you will ever see! I had visited it with my sons earlier (warning the candy is ridiculously expensive!) and went back with my friend only to find that most of the vendors had already closed.

[BaseballMomof4]

After La Rambla and picking the boys up we walked over to Passeig de Gracia to see Casa Batllo and Casa Mila all lit up. Again, beautiful.

 

[BaseballMomof4]

The next morning we got up and went to a lovely café a block from our apartment for a coffee and pastry prior to getting our cab to board our ship.

Cabs are plentiful and easy to flag down in Barcelona but most are compact cars so be sure to arrange ahead if you need a larger vehicle to accommodate your party and your luggage. We had asked the personnel at the apartment to arrange for a van and it arrived without a hitch exactly on time. The cabbies that take you to the port will add a surcharge for passengers over 2 and ours even added in his own tip – be mindful of the meter. We did not encounter this practice in town, but every time we used a cab to take us either to port or to the airport we did see our price jump from the original metered amount.

So, those are our 3 days in Barcelona pre-cruise. I will post more tomorrow about our impressions of the ship and then move on to the other ports!

If anyone has questions, please ask because I know I have skipped over a ton of stuff.

[mj]

Great review.

[chirowedoc]

Oh, so you probably got a pool chair! :p

 

Color me green with envy! :cool:

 

We were on the main pool deck several times for the water slides and never had a problem finding a chair. I guess it was just good timing on our part? We went around 3 on the 1st sea day and also on our first day out. But yes, there were no problems getting a chair in the Haven..:D

[jimbri]

Thank you for your review. Great photos.

[wnycruisefam66]

Great review! We'll be cruising the Med next year and we can't wait.

[BaseballMomof4]

Thanks for all the encouragement everyone! I am hoping to get a lot more done this weekend.

 

wnycruisefam - where in Western NY? We are originally from Rochester.

[BaseballMomof4]

Really enjoying your review. Between the various flight stressors and your long walk in Barcelona upon arrival, it's amazing you did so much in Montserrat! Looking forward to the rest of the story!

 

We arrived Barcelona around noon their time on Thursday and after no sleep and all that walking - we slept like the dead that night!

 

We didn't realize there would be such a marked difference in sunrise/sunset over there either. The sun rose by 6 am and didn't set until 9:30 pm - that really helps get you up and motivated.

 

We did Montserrat on Friday morning.

[nathand95]

Great review so far! I'm 18 and will be on the Epic later in July with my best friend and parents, so it's nice reading a recent review! I'm definitely going to have to make a list of your tips for the future! Can't wait to read about the ship portion!

[robinbird62]

Love the review - was going to do one myself but hey you are doing a fab job!!!!

 

Hope you have all recovered from the

travel home.....:)

Have left you a message on the Roll Call board - e-mail dawnlrobins@hotmail.com

[anandaindonesia]

Wonderful review. Waiting for the rest.

Thanks for sharing.

[BaseballMomof4]

So once we got to the port on Sunday, it was pretty uneventful boarding the ship. We got on quickly and found our cabin easily. The luggage came bit by bit and we began settling in.

 

This is where my review might not be quite so popular :eek:

 

As you can see in my signature, prior to this cruise we had only sailed Carnival and had done so 4 times and only had Carnival to compare to. We were really disappointed in the size of our family balcony cabin and as the week wore on it only became more claustrophobic.

 

The cabins are much smaller and narrower than the ones on Carnival but they do have lots of storage space. Our cabin had the beds nearer the door and when the bed was dropped from the ceiling and the sofa bed pulled out it was impossible to navigate to the balcony and also impossible to open the closet doors.

 

Oddly enough, the thing I had been most concerned about - the opaque bathroom - was never an issue. Navigating the cabin however was a huge issue. We were definitely unimpressed by the cabin.

[BaseballMomof4]

We spent the afternoon getting organized and unpacked in our cabin and exploring the ship and then went to dinner in Taste with a family we met on cruise critic and had planned excursions with and with my friend from Canada who was staying in the studios.

 

That first dinner was nice and we enjoyed our meals and the company. As the week wore on though, we realized that the menu doesn't vary much and by the end of the week we were so bored with it we weren't even interested in eating in the main dining room.

 

Another disappointment in comparison to Carnival. Unless you want to pay extra for meals, we found the dining rooms to be mediocre at best. We did sample 2 of the "pay extra" restaurants and I will go into more detail about them later. The buffet did a nice job but finding a seat there was often a problem - maybe it was just a matter of timing - but we wound up carrying plates back to our cabin on several occasions rather than walk around in circles looking for a table.

 

We were unimpressed by the lack of variety in food choices that are inclusive on this ship but were fortunately off the ship quite a bit and ate lunch in port every time. We are used to having several choices - burgers, chinese, fish and chips, mongolian wok, new york deli, burrito bar - and found NCL to be lacking. While there is O'Sheehans and we did eat there one night - we did not like their food at all.

[BaseballMomof4]

Our first full day on the ship was a sea day. Again we must have had poor timing because even alone, I could not find a pool chair. I spent the day exploring the ship some more and my boys went to the sports deck. One of my sons spent the week trying to locate the batting cages and by the end of the cruise determined they must be a myth...even the staff seemed unaware of their location as they kept sending him from one deck to another :p They played a little basketball and a little soccer.

 

That night we had reservations for Teppanyaki. We arrived a few minutes early and waited until it was our time to enter. It was nice and the food was good, but I guess for $100 extra for the 4 of us I was expecting a bit more. I had the seafood. The lobster was good but the calamari was tough. The boys all had steak, two of them with shrimp and one with chicken and they all enjoyed their meals. Again, it was good but I guess I was expecting great. The fresh fruit dessert was good but the tea cake was not a hit with us. All in all it was fine.

[BaseballMomof4]

You are probably starting to note that I haven't talked much about entertainment. Well, there's a reason for that. Again we came aboard with some preconceived notions that didn't pan out. We never got to see the Blue Man Group because frankly the whole reservation making thing never worked out for us, and we aren't really Cirque folks. I don't think there was a comedy show in the comedy club that week although there were events.

 

So on the first night (Sunday) we went to the Bliss Lounge (where most events were held for this cruise due to cold windy weather) and when we got there it was karaoke. We had a few cocktails, sang badly, and went back to the cabin early to prepare for an early port the next day.

 

Strike three was the entertainment. Using the same venue for several events in the evenings takes away from the experience in my opinion. This event from 8-9, the next event from 9-10:30, the next one from 10:30-12 went on every night. Kind of felt like a sheep being herded.

 

Our second (sea day) we went to the Ice Bar with several of our cruise critic group that we had spent time with earlier in the day at our meet and greet. Props to several of the crew that came to the meet and greet but I think perhaps their extended speeches were unnecessary :p

[gbntmom]

Great review so far. I can't wait to keep reading as my daughter & I are taking this trip next year! Looking forward to more!

 

Janet

[BaseballMomof4]

Here are some pics from our Ice Bar experience. It was fun and a great photo op, but not sure it's worth $20 pp (especially with 4!) Beware - it will fog up your photo lense and it doesn't just go away - it left a film on my lense I had trouble getting off.

 

 

 

 

[robinbird62]

Can't wait for next instalment

[mj]

a

We spent the afternoon getting organized and unpacked in our cabin and exploring the ship and then went to dinner in Taste with a family we met on cruise critic and had planned excursions with and with my friend from Canada who was staying in the studios.

 

That first dinner was nice and we enjoyed our meals and the company. As the week wore on though, we realized that the menu doesn't vary much and by the end of the week we were so bored with it we weren't even interested in eating in the main dining room.

 

Another disappointment in comparison to Carnival. Unless you want to pay extra for meals, we found the dining rooms to be mediocre at best. We did sample 2 of the "pay extra" restaurants and I will go into more detail about them later. The buffet did a nice job but finding a seat there was often a problem - maybe it was just a matter of timing - but we wound up carrying plates back to our cabin on several occasions rather than walk around in circles looking for a table.

 

We were unimpressed by the lack of variety in food choices that are inclusive on this ship but were fortunately off the ship quite a bit and ate lunch in port every time. We are used to having several choices - burgers, chinese, fish and chips, mongolian wok, new york deli, burrito bar - and found NCL to be lacking. While there is O'Sheehans and we did eat there one night - we did not like their food at all.

 

That was one of my concerns for my Epic cruise was the lack of variety on the main dining room menu compared to other lines that I have been on. Planning to eat 3-4 nights in the main dining room and the rest in the pay restaurants. Looking forward to hearing your comments about the speciality restaurants.

Edited June 8, 2013 by mj

[BaseballMomof4]

Our first port on Tuesday would be Naples. I have a tendency to wake up early on cruises and go sit on the balcony to see our ports as we come in. Naples did not disappoint and there were beautiful views.

 

 

[BaseballMomof4]

We all got up and got ready and were off the ship before 8 to meet our Rome in Limo driver - Giovanni. Disembarking in port was very simple although getting an elevator on this ship was an act of God! Most times if an elevator actually did stop when you called for it, the doors would open and it would be stuffed full of people staring at you shaking their heads no! :p

 

I, like everyone else who has every used them, highly recommend Rome in Limo. Giovanni was right there waiting for us when we got off the ship and he helped us make the most of our day. We left port a little after 8 and returned shortly before 5 as we were asked to be back on board ship by 5:30.

 

Giovanni gave us about 1/2 hour in Naples in case we wanted to walk around Naples before boarding, but to be honest we did not. Naples is as most describe it - dirty and lots of construction.

 

The building at the port is stunning though!

 

So we got into our comfortable van and Giovanni began driving us to Positano, Sorrento and Pompeii. He kept the ride entertaining and we climbed higher and higher along the Amalfi Coast and we stopped several times for photo ops of this stunningly beautiful area.

 

 

 

 

[BaseballMomof4]

First stop - Positano! All I can say is wow! This is a gorgeous town cut into the side of the mountain with fantastic shops and little restaurants with views that are incomparable! My only regret is that we did not have more time there. I would have loved to explore every nook and cranny.