Epic Review - sailing June 30, from Barcelona

[sbsmutoni]

I wanted to share some things about our trip on the Epic, sailing the Med out of Barcelona on June 30. My review may not be as detailed as some, but I will give you an overview, and will welcome any questions if you have them.

I sailed with my boyfriend. We are ages 47 & 43. This was my 15th cruise, the fourth European one, and the third on NCL (one of my other European ones was on the Jade three years ago). This was my BF’s FIRST ever cruise, AND his first time to Europe, so I had an amazing time just watching him discover everything!!

We spent ten days pre-cruise in Venice, Rome and Barcelona, and boarded the Epic in Barcelona. I won’t cover all those places, but I have been to each of those cities several times and love them all, so if anyone has questions about them, please feel free to inquire.

Also, I will say in advance that, because we had spent so much time on land before the cruise, we determined ahead of time that, as we progressed through ports on the cruise, we would likely stay very close to the ship each day, which is what we did.

On the day of boarding, we made our way to the port from our hotel on La Rambla at around 12:30. The traffic was still very light at that point, and the crowd at the port was not huge. Since we were in a suite, we had priority boarding. Once we cleared security, we were met by an NCL agent who walked us to the priority boarding area. From there, we were just like anyone else, waiting in a line, although our line was short. The process in the port, checking documents and issuing cards was very organized, and in our experience, the agents and NCL staff were very friendly.

Once we had our cards made and they were handed to us, we were assigned to an escort, who took us on to the ship and up to the Haven Concierge Lounge. Once there, and once there were about a dozen people, Adrian, the concierge introduced himself, gave us a brief overview of his duties and of the Haven amenities, locations and times, and welcomed us to visit him any time we needed anything.

For the record, we never really used the concierge after that, except to make one dinner reservation and on the last morning, to be escorted off the ship.

By the time that review was completed, we were told that our cabin was ready, and we made our way down there. We were booked in a Spa Haven Suite, which was on deck 14.

Before I go on, I want to comment on the Suite experience and the experience as it relates to being in a Spa Suite. By now, everyone is probably aware of the suite perks. We took advantage of some but not others. We did contact NCL in advance of our cruise to make a couple of requests. One was to have our refrigerator emptied of the mini-bar items, and the other was to have chaise lounges placed on our balcony. Both requests had been fulfilled when we arrived. We also pre-requested liquor service (two bottles and mixers) and a bucket of beers in advance. Both of these requests were fulfilled, but I believe non-suite guests can make this request as well.

Our cabin was great! I had read, heard and seen photos of the cabins. I had heard all the pros and cons of the bathrooms, too. In my opinion, the placement of the toilet stall was no big deal, and I actually loved the layout of the cabin in general. The open space behind the bed, with the sink and make up area open, was very convenient. Having the tub beside the bed was a little strange, but it made us giggle a little. But I didn’t hesitate to use it more than once.

The amenities (soaps, bath salts and lotions) were nice (I didn’t use the shampoo). The towels and sheets are all of high quality, and the bedding is very nice (aside from the mushy pillows, but we asked for firmer ones the first night, and got them). There is more than ample storage in the cabin, so as two neat freaks, we were very pleased with the fact that there was a place for everything, so the cabin was never cluttered! We also loved the spacious balcony and used it day and night!

Aside from the cabin, the suite perks include a concierge and a butler. Our butler came and introduced himself right after we arrived in the cabin. His name was Joha. The only things we really used him for was to keep our Lavazza coffee pods stocked (a FABULOUS perk, by the way), a movie one night and to find us some tiramisu on the night it was served in the MDR (he got it, and it was AWESOME!). Joha offered his services regularly, but we didn’t find much need from him.

The person who made our trip the most was our cabin steward, Chris. Chris was our right hand, and was amazing!!! He went out of his way to take care of us.

So, after we got to our cabin, we went to the Epic dining room for lunch. I will go ahead and tell you that that if you’re a suite passenger, the Epic dining room is the way to go. We only had lunch there on that first day (due to being in port) but we had dinner there every night but one, and most of our breakfasts there. Initially, we thought we might have dinner in the MDR some nights, since the menu never changed in the Epic Lounge. So on the second night, we went to the Manhattan Room. When we arrived, there was a huge line just to get on the list. So we went back to the Epic lounge. What we discovered that night was that, although the Epic Lounge menu is fixed, they also offer specials each night. So you always have options other than those on the menu, so we never ate dinner anywhere else except Modernos one night.

The lunch menu had a lot of options. We had sandwiches the day we went and it was very good. For the dinners we ate there, we never had a bad meal. But our favorite things were: the gazpacho, which was fabulous (I ate it every night, and they started bringing it to me without asking – the chef even came out and gave me the recipe), the grilled shrimp, the filet was always good, my BF loved the lemon sorbet, and all the specials we had were very good.

Most days for breakfast, we ate in the Epic Lounge. All standard fare, but all very good (though my BF became addicted to the French toast). We did eat at the buffet a couple of times for breakfast and lunch.

Modernos was also a good experience. There is way more meat than we could eat, but to me, the salad bar was worth the $20 fee.

Back to boarding day……after lunch, we got back to our cabin, where our luggage was already waiting. We unpacked, got the cabin organized, made a cocktail, and went out to discover the ship.

The ship is beautiful, and very clean. Although it is quite large, it’s easy to get around, and easy to get to know. We were on the aft end of the 14th level. The Haven access (pool, private fitness center, dining room, etc.) are at the opposite end of the ship. However, since we had a Spa Suite, we didn’t use the Haven much.

That evening, we got a cocktail on the very busy pool deck and went to our cabin for sail away, then dinner later.

The day at sea was very nice and relaxing. Because we had spa access, that was our quiet spot. We took full advantage of the spa and the nice quiet balcony aft of the ship. We probably spent 3 hours there during the day at sea, but we went back for some period of time nearly every day.

We also visited the ice bar that day. That was very novel, and everyone should do it. Since we had already started drinking cocktails before we ever went in there, the sweet, strong ones in the ice bar really got us going. Take lots of photos in there, and have fun with it.

At each port, we got of the ship each day and went into the port towns, but never ventured beyond those towns.

Naples is a little gritty, but it is an interesting place to stroll around, and very assessable from the ship, since you just walk off and into town.

Civitavecchia is a very charming little town. We had been searching for a specific crucifix for my BF during the whole trip, and finally found it in a little family owned jewelry shop there. We ended up spending 2 hours in the store getting to know the family who owned the place.

Livorno was fun for us as well. We shuttled into town, then just started walking. We found a fantastic town market, and had a nice lunch and gelato before heading back to the ship.

In Marseille, the shuttle ride is longer, and takes you to the old port. We wanted to do the HOHO bus or the petit train to see the city, but the lines for both were VERY long all day. Therefore, we just walked around the old port area. It was a very HOT day that day, so we didn’t last long, but we were both thrilled to be able to go to the Galeries Lafayette (if you’ve never been to Paris, this is THE department store of France). Since my BF and I both love shopping, that and a nice French lunch satisfied our day in port.

In Palma, the shuttle drops you into the middle of town. Of all the places we went on the cruise, we loved Palma the most. We loved it enough that we decided we may want to go there for a stay in the future. We walked and walked and walked ….. there is a lot to see, many shops, lots of vendors, and plenty of photo ops. And the food……well, we love food in Spain, so needless to say, we had a great lunch there.

So, as far as ports were concerned, the itinerary was great. In past lives, I have done many excursions, and I kind of wish my BF would have seen some of the places I have seen on excursions. But this cruise was all about him, and I let him set the pace and make the choices. In the end, we were both happy with our choices in the ports.

So, back to the Epic….what we liked, experienced, saw and didn’t see on the ship…..

As I mentioned, being in a suite, we had access to the Haven. However, we were very happy with the spa for quiet time. Since we were on the ship during a lot of hours when the crowds were off, we also hung by the main pool here and there (yes, we had to try the slides, and during port days, there were no lines!). I also liked H2O for pool time…..our cruise had a LOT of children, so hiding out in an adult only area was GREAT! The only problem with H2O is that there is no where to get into the shade unless you go to the bar.

We did go to the Haven twice, for less than an hour each time. A lot of people on CC have complained about kids misbehaving there. There were kids there when we were there, but they were relatively well behaved. I guess we were not really there long enough to have an opinion as to what was the norm though.

For food, I’ve already mentioned the Epic dining and Moderno. Though we only ate at the buffet a few times, it always seems pretty organized, plentiful and not bad in terms of food. We ate at O’Sheehan’s one day. The food was okay. I had six of the smallest chicken wings I have ever seen (but they tasted good), and the BF had a hot dog, which you can’t really mess up. The beer there however, is very cold!!

We didn’t go to any shows….just not our thing, but we heard good things about them. I did stop one night outside the Howl at the Moon and watched for a little while. We walked in to Bliss a couple of times, but never stayed for long. We went to the casino a couple of nights. It’s not as smoky as I’d imagined, based on some of the CC feedback. We also spent several nights in and around Shakers. We are cigar smokers, so we sat in the cigar lounge a good deal, and Shakers is right outside. The bartender there does a bang-up dirty martini, by the way!!

We did not try the rock climbing or the outside sports deck, but the fitness center was HUGE and amazing!! Also, we did massages in the spa, which were pricy, but because we did them during sea days, we got a little discount. We used the internet service, which was pretty reliable. It costs $55 for 100 mins or $100 for 250. For us, it was worth it to buy the larger package. We also bought photos, which were a little overpriced, but they took some good shots, so we really wanted them.

While we were told there were almost 5000 passengers on board that week, it never felt over-crowded. Of course, there were times that areas like the pool deck were full, but it was managed well in my opinion. The service was outstanding. From our guest services to the bar staff to the port agents, everyone goes out of their way to be pleasant and make guests feel special. But I cannot say enough about the service from our cabin steward and the staff in the Epic dining room…..FANTASTIC!! I feel strongly about tipping appropriately, but I also think it’s a personal thing. I did tip the concierge a little, and gave Joha, the butler a tip. Although I understood both the cabin steward and dining staff were included in the service fee, I gave each of them extra for all they did for us.

All in all, we liked the Epic. However, I think the “mega-ship” is more inclined to people who like lots of shows and activities and/or who have children. For me, I think the smaller ships are more my speed (I really liked the Jade for that reason). That said, I would probably not sail the Epic again, unless the fare was very compelling, but it’s not because I didn’t like her, it’s just because I think the smaller ships are more “right” for me.

I will eventually get around to adding some photos to my review. Meanwhile, if anyone wants to ask questions, please feel free (I know my review shows my ADD tendencies….I ramble)!!

[vacationguy2011]

Thank you for the very nice review. We sail on the EPIC on 04AUG.

 

I enjoy the cigar lounge as well. Can you comment on the cigar selection?

 

Thanks in advance.

[Lisa-UK]

Nice review. Good to hear the Epic is in great shape, we are sailing on her again in octoner - can't wait.

 

thanks:)

[Riggy84]

Thank you for the detailed review!

Did you happen to bring any dailie's home with you? I'd love to see them if so!

[sbsmutoni]

Unfortunately I did not bring home any dailies. However, I searched for and reviewed some on this site before our cruise, and they were pretty standard for our cruise.

 

Also, the cigar selection was just okay. We took on a box of Cuban Punches.....easy to find all over Barcelona, and well worth a quick trip to a tobac in the city (we restocked in Palma...the Spaniards love a good Cuban cigar, so they're easy to come by all over Spain!)

[PathfinderEss]

Nice review, looking forward to your photo's.:)

[Riggy84]

Unfortunately I did not bring home any dailies. However, I searched for and reviewed some on this site before our cruise, and they were pretty standard for our cruise.

 

Thanks for getting back to me!

So would you say the dailies were practically the same compared to the other dailies i've seen from May?

I just want to book my entertainment and dining but also don't want to miss anything!!