Have you cruised NCL Epic--Barcelona to Rome?

[Sunkist40]

Anyone sailed NCL Epic (7-day round trip) from Barcelona, Spain to Rome? If so, did you book your own air and hotel? Please share your overall experience. Would you travel via cruise again?

[jjikids]

We booked our own air but had a hotel package with NCL. The hotels they recommended were the ones our TA recommended and prices were good. We used Rome in Limo for shore excursions. Loved the trip but days are long. Lot of touring.

[NJ8]

We were on the Epic in 2013 and sailed from Rome. We had a great time. Cruising gives you the opportunity to travel to a number of different ports and still have time to relax. Some of the tours are long. We choose a mix of full and half day excursions which worked out well. We booked our own air and hotel in Rome. in BCN we booked our hotel through NCL.

[Sunkist40]

Thanks so much! I would to like travel to Italy but I wasn't sure whether cruising is a good idea or not. How much was the total package--air, hotel and cruise.

[b_cruise]

I have found it cheaper to book your own air hotel etc...as far as total price...there are so many variables...where are you flying from? What time of year?Do u want an inside or balcony cabin? Do u want a two star or four star hotel pre snd post and how many day? Do u want to book private or ship tours?

 

Here is a sample of my trip coming in July on NCL spirit. I'm flying from Toronto to Barcelona.

Flight 1200 each

Cruise, ocean view, booked through online agent that bought a block of rooms cheaper..including taxes 2200 each (300 obc, UBP, prepaid tips)

3 night precruise, 3 star, 175 night

1 night post venice, 175, 3 star

Four tours...http://www.italytoursharing.com. ( joe banana limos) Approx. 100 euro each per tour

 

That should give u a good idea... Cheap hey, hahaha....

 

Honestly, cruising through the med is priceless!! I highly recommend it!

[NEW 2 CRUISIN]

We did it twice on the EPIC and would do it again without question! So much to see and do! LOVED IT!!

[timmo44]

Yes we have done the 7 day Barcelona cruise twice and will probably do it again as there is so much to see. It typically takes in:

 

Naples - for Pompeii (do this one at all costs - amazing), Sorrento, Vesuvius climb or Capri trips.

 

Civitavecchia - for Rome which is about an hour coach ride away.

1st time we went we had about 5 hours in Rome and walked all round Rome and the sights and ancient monuments (tip: buy your Colliseum tickets 200 yards away at the Forum - no queues and the Forum tickets are joint and get you into both places. There's typically a 90 minute queue to buy tickets at the Colliseum.)

2nd time we stopped at the main Rome monuments again and then walked down to the Vatican - never seen so many sculptures in my entire life.

 

Livorno - Pisa and Florence. You can do both if you like. Tip: if you go on the early excursion to Pisa, head straight for the Leaning Tower ticket office before the other 20 coach loads get there. We did and got straight in and up the tower. Well worth it.

Florence is shops and art and cafes - very civilised and chilled.

 

Cannes - here you get a tender from the ship to shore as the ship anchors out to sea a bit. We got a coach to Monaco and Eze. Both beautiful places to walk round. I highly recommend Eze, one of the most enchanting places I've been to. And the best Kronebourg I ever had, sitting on someone's doorstep which doubles as seating for a little outside bar.

 

Palma - usually just have a wander about as there's not a great deal here. Nice marina and cafes if the weather is nice. Lots choose to stay on board the ship here.

 

We especially like the Barcelona cruises as there's only one sea day and we really like waking up somehwere new every day. Having breakfast in Taste with a new vista out of the window each morning is very very pleasant.

 

We live in London so generally fly from City Airport - very easy and cheap. I've never booked a flight through NCL as I like to book the exact times and prices that I want and it's easier to keep them separate. But we always fly to Barcelona the day before rather than risk flight delays etc. We often tag a couple of extra days on the end too as Barcelona is another lovely town to walk around.

Edited April 16, 2015 by timmo44

[arb3]

I boarded the Epic in Rome as part of my honeymoon in Oct 2013. That worked out really well. I am guessing 90% board in Barcelona, so embarkation/disembarkation was very easy. No lines at all and everything was ready when we got on the ship since the cruise technically started a few days earlier in Barcelona. I stayed in Rome for 2 nights prior to the cruise and then spent 3 nights in Venice after the cruise. Had a great time on the cruise.

 

The itinerary was great, but very exhausting. I ended up booking 3 NCL excursions, which I normally don't do, but didn't want to miss any trains since the ports tend to be a ways out. I did the Pisa and Florence on your own, the train/bus tour of Majorca, and then a trip to Pompeii, Sorrento, and Capri. It was a great trip. We ended up staying on the boat in Marseille because we were exhausted and wanted to sleep in.

[karoo]

It's a great itinerary. I love that it is port intensive. It is great to be able to spend the day on land, seeing and doing great things and then return to the ship for dinner and the nightly entertainment. Every port is great. I love Palma too. Sea days are my least favourite days. I find the afternoon drags with not enough to do. It is definitely cheaper to book air and hotels separately. Unsure where you are from, but the value of the US dollar has soared against our currency and the euro over the last 12 months. NCL being a US company everything is in US dollars, so the more things I book through NCL the more expensive it is.

 

(Besides I'm a wine drinker and a bottle of wine is cheaper on land in Europe than a glass is on board. Not to mention the free WiFi in most restaurants. LOL)

[CoffeeGoddess]

I did it last year and booked my hotel and flights separately. I have a link to the review of my trip in my signature if you'd like to see more.

 

It is very port intensive and very long days especially when you want to go to Rome or Florence and the ports are a long distance from the actual cities. I did use a ship excursion just for the transportation to Florence but I did it myself at all the other ports.

 

Go and have a great time!

[tel2]

I did it two years ago, and 3 years before that, and am doing it again in April next year, but we always go roundtrip Rome to Rome, rather than from Barcelona. Personal preference, but in our view there is so much more in Rome that we find interesting. Barcelona is lovely, but it is so much closer to the port, and so much easier to see many points of interest in one day. Rome, not so much, with the 1 1/2 hour travel time from Port to City, and then the long lines and crowds at every major site, even when you buy tickets in advance. Sailing from Rome also breaks up the exhausting port days better than embarking in Barcelona.

 

So, in April we again are spending 4 nights in Rome pre-cruise, then taking cruise from Rome. For us, airfare has always been cheaper booking direct than thru NCL -- right now it is running at about 1300 a person and NCL wanted 1700.....

 

Also, we generally rent apartments through Homeaway or VRBO rather than stay in hotels. We find we can stay in Pantheon or Campo de Fiori area, which we find most central and desireable, far far cheaper for very nice accomodations. We just look for apartments that provide the things that we think are essential, i.e., wireless, air conditioning, and we usually want an elevator if it is higher than 3rd floor. So, in late April we have 4 nights in a one bedroom apartment that sleeps 4, w/ elevator, air, full kitchen, washing machine and a lovely balcony right on Campo de Fiori for 700 euros, all in, including taxes, cleaning fee etc. Even early season, you cannot find nice hotels in that central of a location for anything close to that price. The first time I did an apartment I was very nervous, but we only look at those that have many reviews that are favorable, and so far, we havent had a problem of any kind.

 

On excursions, some ports are much easier to do on your own than others. If you only want to go to Pompei from Naples, for example, it is very very easy and inexpensive to take a train or a bus and explore the site. If you want to see more of the Amalfi Coast, such as Sorrento or Positano, Id recommend a tour. Barcelona you can easily do on your own. Cannes and Palma we usually just walk around, but you probably want an excursion if you want to go to monte carlo or eze. Florence we usually just use ship excursion for at least transportation to Florence, and then we just do our own thing once we get there.

 

Terry