EPIC mini break??

[DevonianCruiser]

Has anyone done (or booked to do) a 3 day Epic from Barcelona and how was it?

 

Done a few mini cruises from Southampton before and they are quite straight forward as its a couple of hours for us and then straight on.

 

We've also done many 3 day breaks to european cities which adds a couple of hours waiting at an airport and a couple of hours flight.

 

Looking at flying to Barcelona and having a night there, followed by a 3 night cruise to Rome and flight back from there. Seems reasonably straight forward, just wonder if anyone had any experience and feedback (would normally consider a week minimum but we have two weeks in Orlando a couple of months after and this takes in the weekend and a bank holiday so not much time off work needed).

 

Many thanks :)

[Gemsy10]

Hi there,

I did the 3 night weekend cruise out of Barcelona last May with a friend. Loved it!

It was all very straight forward, we arrived at Barcelona airport at about 11am (8.20 flight from stansted), jumped onto our pre-booked private transfer and were on the ship by about 12.30 :) I find that staying in Barcelona at the end of the cruise is easier, as the shuttle from the ship drops you at the bottom of Las Ramblas then you can wander up and find your hotel. I am doing a week on the epic in July & have decided on doing things this way round going by my experience last time :)

One thing I did notice was that there lots of younger people on our weekend cruise, of all different nationalities which I enjoyed. It really was a mixture of all different ages as well which was nice.

Overall definitely worth doing if you only have time for a short cruise - but we didn't want to get off after 3 days! That's why I have booked a week this year ;)

If you want to know anything else just shout

Gemma

[DevonianCruiser]

Hi Gemma

 

Thanks for the info. Out of interest how far is the airport from the port and how far is the port from Las Ramblas?

 

There are two cruises were looking at and the easiest one would start and return in Barcelona, though we like the idea of Rome.

 

What time did the ship depart on the day? Flying the same day wasn't a concern then? We'd be flying from Bristol probably so if there was a problem with the flight there's not alternatives.

[Gemsy10]

Hi ya,

The airport is about 25-30 minutes to the port by taxi & I used sun transfers last time, will probably use them again this year as they were very good & cost about £30 I think, one way. Might seem alot compared the airport shuttle which is 6 euros but its just the convenience of being taken straight from the airport right up to the ship if u are flying the same day the ship leaves. If I was flying the night before I would probably use the airport shuttle.

The port isn't far from the bottom of las ramblas but I would definitely recommend the port shuttle if u have luggage, I think this cost 3 euros each. And takes 5-10 minutes depending on how many other ships are in port.

The ship left at 6pm from what I remember but you have to be on at least 2 hours before. As its a short cruise it's nice to get on early & make the most of it :) I didn't worry about the flight being delayed etc, but others would. It definitely wasn't a problem for us. I can't really comment on Rome as I have never been to the port there but always find barcelona very easy to get around.

Gemma

[DevonianCruiser]

Hi Gemma

 

That's really good info, thanks very much. Seems very straight forward. To be safe we may fly a day early and have a night in Las Ramblas as my partner has never been to Barcelona and I think it's a great city :-)

[Gemsy10]

No worries, just let me know if u want to know anything else ;) hope u have a great trip!

[lynnquenby]

We're booked on the 3 nighter 30th April, flying in day before just because I'm paranoid about flight delays on the day and missing the ship sail! We've never had a bad cruise on Epic - this will be our 5th!! ...so whatever you decide sure you'll have a great time!