Epic Western Med from Barcelona 29/9/2013

[CruiseIreland]

Note: the shuttle prices are all $ despite my typo below...can't scroll down with the ipad!

 

We booked Epic from Barcelona over a year ago and received two price drop upgrades so we ended up in a mini suite, deck 10, forward on Starboard side. I selected the cabin with much assistance from Cruise Critic posters and made sure we had the 'bed near balcony door' set up. The room was very elegant and apart from the toilet set up, was perfectly fine. This set up was ok for us but might be a problem for some. My wife did comment, however, that the lighting was too poor for make up purposes. Great storage but the hairdryer cut out after a few seconds on high. We had a bath tub which was surprisingly spacious but a high step in and out. Our stateroom attendant was Guillermo and he was very efficient and pleasant. He cleared out the mini bar first night and provided towel wildlife some nights. We were just behind a bank of elevators and that was very convenient.

 

We brought on some wine and paid corkage at the gangway. As we were carrying hand luggage, we were directed into a scanning area and the bags scanned and bottles counted. We were directed to the adjoining table to pay corkage. *Incidentally, although the wine shop at the terminal is very convenient, the quality is lower and price is much higher than that available in Barcelona itself. Also, corkage is €15 per bottle plus 10% tax. We also bought the Viva Vino package to which was added tax and gratuity of 25% total. The wines on the Enthusiast package were surprisingly good.

 

Food was excellent, in our opinion. We ate in Manhattan 3 times, Taste twice and the Garden Cafe twice. We felt no need to eat in the specialty restaurants although I was willing to do so. Embarkation night was lobster night. My wife is a seafood lover and I prefer steak so we ordered the surf & turf and swapped over the steak/lobster. Even though the steaks looked small, they were very filling and well cooked. I ordered the New York strip steak on two other nights and was never disappointed. Food was hot enough, except one Warm Peach Tartlet which was cold. Other good entrees were salmon, lamb shank and seafood ciobbini(kind of seafood stew). We preferred Manhattan as it was a more elegant dining room, with pleasant music and the service was crisper there. Service in Taste could be leisurely at times. Garden Café had a great variety of food and there was always something to suit. Here, though, you run the gauntlet of ignorant elbowers and queue jumpers.

 

We expected the casino to belch cigarette smoke across the deck and into Taste but, to be fair, it was barely noticeable and we are both ex smokers. Perhaps in the early hours it would be worse but both MDRs closed up from 10pm.

 

Entertainment is where the EPIC really excels; Blue Man Group was super, very funny and entertaining, Legends in Concert was very good, especially Tina Turner, Beatles tribute was very good, and Howl at the Moon was outstanding, such talent although the format and patter seemed to repeat each night, partly because most requests for songs tend to repeat. Los Locos Ole was a very funny Spanish guitar comedy trio, promising to play Flamenco but actually playing almost everything but. Very funny, a little bawdy too. We didn’t try Cirque Dreams but there was always a queue to get into the Spiegel Tent.

 

EPIC is very large and takes concentration to make your way around. There are touch screens around that tell you what’s on at the moment but it is still easy to get lost/confused. The staff will be happy to help re-direct you.

 

The staff was very pleasant on the whole. The ‘washy washy’ staff were very cheery and it is a definite must do, as the amount of coughing, sneezing and hawking that was going on was scary.

 

We did our own thing at each port as we find cruise line excursions extortionate.

 

Overall a great cruise on a fine ship. The ship is very large and a bit awkward. The outside space does not flow as well as other ships, RCCL Adventure and Splendour for example. However, we found much more railing space forward on deck 18 than we expected. The secret sundeck on 18 is a secret no longer.

 

We enjoyed Freestyle dining as we could eat when we wanted and not have to share with others. Otherwise, we enjoyed NCL as much as, if not more than, Royal Carribbean. I will happily sail on NCL and Epic again depending on itinerary and price.

 

Rome

Free shuttle from ship to gates of port. There are loads of tour guides, taxi operators hawking trips to Rome here. *Walk to the right and buy BIRG ticket(covers train, metro and buses in Rome). This costs €12 plus €1 commission. Railway station is over to the right along the prom, about 300m. The track for Roma/Termini was stated as 2 but many failed to see the ‘T’ at the end and we gathered on Binario(platform) 2. When someone realised, we scrambled down and up the steps again and raced to binario *2T. Lucky to get a seat and a 1 hour 20 minutes to Rome Termini. In Termini, it is a long walk to the metro, follow the signs, but then the city is easily travelled.

 

Florence

They will not let you walk out of Livorno port. It is huge and it would be dangerous. NCL charge €12pp for the shuttle to town centre and train station. We had a private bus organised with some ‘cruise critics’ and we travelled to Florence in comfort. Great day there, beautiful city. Transfer time, 1 hour 20mins to and 1 hour back. I only rate the port a 3* as you have to pay to get out of it. Florence was lovely, small and easily travelled around, less traffic and less crowded than Rome.

 

 

Marseille

The port is very large and stretches along the coast a long way. The authorities provide a free shuttle from Fridays through Mondays. This shuttle drops you at the gate near the Cathedral (la Major not Notre Dame de la Garde). From there it is a nice, short walk along the shore to the Museu Mediterranean, which links into Fort St. Jean via a metal walkway. You don’t have to pay to enter the museum public areas and use the walkway. It is a short stroll from there into the Vieux Port. A short way along the waterfront you will come to the Petit Train. This train will take you along the seafront and up to the highest point in the city, Notre Dame de la Garde. Spectacular views and a beautiful church. The train will call back here regularly. Note: you must get off the train especially if there are a lot of people waiting. You must go to the back of the queue to get back on. To walk back to the shuttle point from the tourist train stop, head up the steps opposite and steer straight for the cathedral. It’s worth calling in there. The shuttle stop is outside a hangar J1. On other days, you can walk out of Marseille port by following the green line to the gate, not nearly as far as the shuttle drop off point. From outside the gate you can get a bus into Vieux Port 9number 82,82S – according to the map, bus 49 or 35 will take you back in the direction of the port gate).

 

Palma, Mallorca

This is a delightful port. You can walk out the gates and avail of any number of transport options. NCL charge $12pp for a shuttle up to the cathedral but the local buses stop outside the port terminal, line 1 up to Palma centre. From there you can * access the whole area quite cheaply. We opted for a lazy walk off and across the road to Porto Pi shopping centre.

 

Overall, we had a great cruise on Epic and would happily sail on her again, Ken.

 

*

[jdvmd]

Note: the shuttle prices are all $ despite my typo below...can't scroll down with the ipad!

 

We booked Epic from Barcelona over a year ago and received two price drop upgrades so we ended up in a mini suite, deck 10, forward on Starboard side. I selected the cabin with much assistance from Cruise Critic posters and made sure we had the 'bed near balcony door' set up. The room was very elegant and apart from the toilet set up, was perfectly fine. This set up was ok for us but might be a problem for some. My wife did comment, however, that the lighting was too poor for make up purposes. Great storage but the hairdryer cut out after a few seconds on high. We had a bath tub which was surprisingly spacious but a high step in and out. Our stateroom attendant was Guillermo and he was very efficient and pleasant. He cleared out the mini bar first night and provided towel wildlife some nights. We were just behind a bank of elevators and that was very convenient.

 

We brought on some wine and paid corkage at the gangway. As we were carrying hand luggage, we were directed into a scanning area and the bags scanned and bottles counted. We were directed to the adjoining table to pay corkage. *Incidentally, although the wine shop at the terminal is very convenient, the quality is lower and price is much higher than that available in Barcelona itself. Also, corkage is €15 per bottle plus 10% tax. We also bought the Viva Vino package to which was added tax and gratuity of 25% total. The wines on the Enthusiast package were surprisingly good.

 

Food was excellent, in our opinion. We ate in Manhattan 3 times, Taste twice and the Garden Cafe twice. We felt no need to eat in the specialty restaurants although I was willing to do so. Embarkation night was lobster night. My wife is a seafood lover and I prefer steak so we ordered the surf & turf and swapped over the steak/lobster. Even though the steaks looked small, they were very filling and well cooked. I ordered the New York strip steak on two other nights and was never disappointed. Food was hot enough, except one Warm Peach Tartlet which was cold. Other good entrees were salmon, lamb shank and seafood ciobbini(kind of seafood stew). We preferred Manhattan as it was a more elegant dining room, with pleasant music and the service was crisper there. Service in Taste could be leisurely at times. Garden Café had a great variety of food and there was always something to suit. Here, though, you run the gauntlet of ignorant elbowers and queue jumpers.

 

We expected the casino to belch cigarette smoke across the deck and into Taste but, to be fair, it was barely noticeable and we are both ex smokers. Perhaps in the early hours it would be worse but both MDRs closed up from 10pm.

 

Entertainment is where the EPIC really excels; Blue Man Group was super, very funny and entertaining, Legends in Concert was very good, especially Tina Turner, Beatles tribute was very good, and Howl at the Moon was outstanding, such talent although the format and patter seemed to repeat each night, partly because most requests for songs tend to repeat. Los Locos Ole was a very funny Spanish guitar comedy trio, promising to play Flamenco but actually playing almost everything but. Very funny, a little bawdy too. We didn’t try Cirque Dreams but there was always a queue to get into the Spiegel Tent.

 

EPIC is very large and takes concentration to make your way around. There are touch screens around that tell you what’s on at the moment but it is still easy to get lost/confused. The staff will be happy to help re-direct you.

 

The staff was very pleasant on the whole. The ‘washy washy’ staff were very cheery and it is a definite must do, as the amount of coughing, sneezing and hawking that was going on was scary.

 

We did our own thing at each port as we find cruise line excursions extortionate.

 

Overall a great cruise on a fine ship. The ship is very large and a bit awkward. The outside space does not flow as well as other ships, RCCL Adventure and Splendour for example. However, we found much more railing space forward on deck 18 than we expected. The secret sundeck on 18 is a secret no longer.

 

We enjoyed Freestyle dining as we could eat when we wanted and not have to share with others. Otherwise, we enjoyed NCL as much as, if not more than, Royal Carribbean. I will happily sail on NCL and Epic again depending on itinerary and price.

 

Rome

Free shuttle from ship to gates of port. There are loads of tour guides, taxi operators hawking trips to Rome here. *Walk to the right and buy BIRG ticket(covers train, metro and buses in Rome). This costs €12 plus €1 commission. Railway station is over to the right along the prom, about 300m. The track for Roma/Termini was stated as 2 but many failed to see the ‘T’ at the end and we gathered on Binario(platform) 2. When someone realised, we scrambled down and up the steps again and raced to binario *2T. Lucky to get a seat and a 1 hour 20 minutes to Rome Termini. In Termini, it is a long walk to the metro, follow the signs, but then the city is easily travelled.

 

Florence

They will not let you walk out of Livorno port. It is huge and it would be dangerous. NCL charge €12pp for the shuttle to town centre and train station. We had a private bus organised with some ‘cruise critics’ and we travelled to Florence in comfort. Great day there, beautiful city. Transfer time, 1 hour 20mins to and 1 hour back. I only rate the port a 3* as you have to pay to get out of it. Florence was lovely, small and easily travelled around, less traffic and less crowded than Rome.

 

 

Marseille

The port is very large and stretches along the coast a long way. The authorities provide a free shuttle from Fridays through Mondays. This shuttle drops you at the gate near the Cathedral (la Major not Notre Dame de la Garde). From there it is a nice, short walk along the shore to the Museu Mediterranean, which links into Fort St. Jean via a metal walkway. You don’t have to pay to enter the museum public areas and use the walkway. It is a short stroll from there into the Vieux Port. A short way along the waterfront you will come to the Petit Train. This train will take you along the seafront and up to the highest point in the city, Notre Dame de la Garde. Spectacular views and a beautiful church. The train will call back here regularly. Note: you must get off the train especially if there are a lot of people waiting. You must go to the back of the queue to get back on. To walk back to the shuttle point from the tourist train stop, head up the steps opposite and steer straight for the cathedral. It’s worth calling in there. The shuttle stop is outside a hangar J1. On other days, you can walk out of Marseille port by following the green line to the gate, not nearly as far as the shuttle drop off point. From outside the gate you can get a bus into Vieux Port 9number 82,82S – according to the map, bus 49 or 35 will take you back in the direction of the port gate).

 

Palma, Mallorca

This is a delightful port. You can walk out the gates and avail of any number of transport options. NCL charge $12pp for a shuttle up to the cathedral but the local buses stop outside the port terminal, line 1 up to Palma centre. From there you can * access the whole area quite cheaply. We opted for a lazy walk off and across the road to Porto Pi shopping centre.

 

Overall, we had a great cruise on Epic and would happily sail on her again, Ken.

 

*

Thanks for your comments. Have to ask you to double check your corkage fee. Should have been $15 USD. All prices are in US dollars as payments are processed in Miami.

[anandaindonesia]

Thank you for sharing your experience.

 

Glad to hear you've had a great cruise. Keep cruising!

[mj]

Thanks for your comments.

[CruiseIreland]

Thanks for your comments. Have to ask you to double check your corkage fee. Should have been $15 USD. All prices are in US dollars as payments are processed in Miami.

Quite right. I mixed up my € with my $ and could not scroll down to edit. Apols for the error. Ken

[jdvmd]

Quite right. I mixed up my € with my $ and could not scroll down to edit. Apols for the error. Ken

No problem! Just wanted to make sure you weren't charged more than you should have been! Thanks for the report!

[meltingmoments]

Oh I'm glad you came back and told us about your trip! Good to hear you enjoyed the Epic and thanks for sharing! :)