Our Epic European Adventure: A Review

[PaulInPGH]

 

The Leaning Tower.

[PaulInPGH]

When we made it back on the ship, we were greeted with a somewhat ominous sight when we got to our floor. There were several high-powered fans blowing in the hallway leading to our cabin, leading us to believe there’d been some type of flooding. The carpet was indeed a bit damp in the hall, but when we entered our room everything seemed to be fine.

There was a weird smell, almost industrial, when we entered our cabin. What’s more, our suitcases had been removed from under our bed and were placed in our closet. We called guest services to find out what was going on, and they explained that there had been some flooding on our floor (though they didn’t explain the cause), and they actually came in and changed the carpeting in our cabin while we were out. It left us no worse for ware—we were just happy nothing more serious had occurred.

[PaulInPGH]

The dinner menu in the MDR had little appeal that evening, so we chose to grab a bite in O’Sheehan’s instead. I wasn’t lying when I told you how much we enjoy O’Sheehan’s.

Afterword, we went back to Shakers for some more of our favorite new potable, the Citrus Gem. There was a piano player in Shakers that evening, and he was quite good—notwithstanding his very thick accent. My only complaint was his obvious attachment to John Lennon’s Imagine—a woefully average song which we heard him play no less than three times during the cruise.

On our cruise on the Getaway a couple years ago, we loved the dueling pianos show, Howl at the Moon, and we were very excited to experience it again on this cruise. We made our way to Headliners nice and early to insure we’d get a seat. Unfortunately, our effort was wasted, because these two piano players were simply awful. The piano playing was okay, but the singing was so painful I couldn’t stand listening for more than a few songs. Admittedly, I’m harder than most on musical acts—having played musicprofessionally in the past—but my wife agreed that these performers were unbearable.

[PaulInPGH]

Luckily, this ship was full of musicians with actual talent. We walked up to the Whiskey Bar and enjoyed some classical guitar by Luis, who was amazingly talented, but who unfortunately left when the cruise returned to Barcelona a couple days later.

We wanted to catch the Beatles cover band in the Cavern Club, but the place was absolutely packed—I mean standing room only. It was so crazy my wife remarked “it’s not like you’re seeing the actual Beatles!” So, if you want to see this band on your Epic cruise, get there early!

Having developed a bit of a buzz, we were in the mood for some evening nibbles. We headed back to O’Sheehan’s for some wings and nachos.

[PaulInPGH]

Satiated and tired, we then made our way back to our cabin for some much needed rest. When we got back to our cabin, we found yet another surprise. This time, it was a letter from guest services apologizing for the inconvenience of the flooding and subsequent carpet change (though we weren’t actually inconvenienced), and offering us a free dinner at a specialty restaurant, plus a free bottle of wine! This was great, as we already had a reservation at Cagney’s set for the following evening. Happy, and very tired, we hit the sack.

Up next: a day in Cannes.

[Paul S]

Not sure how many scoops and what toppings you had for your 10 euro gelato. However, gelato is not just Italian for ice cream but it's actually a method of making ice cream (though this has become confuse dby the tendancy of commercial manufacturers to call any premium ice cream or one with an Italian sounding name gelato regardless of how it is made). Instead of being based on a custard mix with cream, it uses egg yolks and milk, though southward of Naples they commonly use milk and cornflour (cornstarch). Gelato should be churned at a lower speed than regular custard ice cream, so less air is beaten in, giving a lower volume. The heavy cream or substitute used in other ice creams coat the taste receptors on the tongue so depress the flavour, whereas by reason of the lower fat content the flavour of a true gelato is usually stronger. Especially if it was an artisan gelato made by the proprietor, and since it uses more expensive ingredients and gives a lower end volume good gelato in Italy is a premium product with a price to match.

[PaulInPGH]

Not sure how many scoops and what toppings you had for your 10 euro gelato. However, gelato is not just Italian for ice cream but it's actually a method of making ice cream (though this has become confuse dby the tendancy of commercial manufacturers to call any premium ice cream or one with an Italian sounding name gelato regardless of how it is made). Instead of being based on a custard mix with cream, it uses egg yolks and milk, though southward of Naples they commonly use milk and cornflour (cornstarch). Gelato should be churned at a lower speed than regular custard ice cream, so less air is beaten in, giving a lower volume. The heavy cream or substitute used in other ice creams coat the taste receptors on the tongue so depress the flavour, whereas by reason of the lower fat content the flavour of a true gelato is usually stronger. Especially if it was an artisan gelato made by the proprietor, and since it uses more expensive ingredients and gives a lower end volume good gelato in Italy is a premium product with a price to match.

 

In their defense, the serving size was huge, even though we asked for the smallest size. It was also delicious, just twice the price of other gelato we had in Rome and later in Venice.

[PaulInPGH]

Day 7: A Level 3 Tour of Cannes

Thankfully, our day in Cannes had a slightly later start time, which meant we were able to sleep until about 7:00. We breakfasted at the outdoor part of the Garden Café, and we again enjoyed our “private omelet station.”

At a certain point during our planning of this trip we sort of came down with “planning fatigue.” We put a lot of thought in to what we wanted to do in each city, and a good bit of research on different tour providers, transit, etc. But when it came time to plan our day in Cannes (as well as our day in Palma), we never felt like we knew what we wanted to do. We eventually decided that since we had no firm ideas or goals, we’d just book an excursion offered by NCL. Luckily, while the NCL excursions in Italy were outrageously expensive, the excursions offered in Cannes and Palma were very reasonable.

We ended up booking a walking tour of Cannes, followed by a wine tasting on Ile Saint-Honorat. Our meeting point was the Epic Theater, and we only waited a few minutes before our tour was called and we boarded a tender to shore.

[PaulInPGH]

Even though this was an NCL excursion, the walking tour turned out to be one of the better tours we took on this cruise. The guide was knowledgeable, and the town of Cannes was very enjoyable by foot. We walked all the way to the top of the town (climbing many, many stairs), and we eventually reached the cathedral. We stopped in for a quick look around, and we also had time for a few photos from atop the hill.

After we (carefully) made our way back down, we stopped in a wonderful little food market which had a number of venders selling fresh foods of various sorts. My wife was particularly taken with the fresh produce. We were able to buy a snack of croissant and pan au chocolat, as well as some dried spices to take home. We just recently used one of the spices we brought back and it was delicious.

[PaulInPGH]

 

Cannes.

[PaulInPGH]

 

Fresh produce in the Cannes market.

[PaulInPGH]

The next part of the excursion was a ferry ride out to Ile Saint-Honorat for a wine tasting. This was not as pleasant as it sounds.

The ferry ride was uneventful and took about half an hour. I actually started to fall asleep (all those early mornings were starting to catch up to me). We eventually made it to the island and were led to our wine tasting…which took place standing in the middle of a field.

They gave us some nice accompaniments—some cheese, some ham, some bread—but nowhere to sit. Instead, we stood in the heat (it was a warm afternoon) with no shade, on slightly uneven, rocky ground (after being on our feet for three plus hours on the walking tour that morning), and attempting to hold our wine glass plus all the accompaniments mentioned above. It did not make for a peaceful, I’m drinking wine in the South of France, type of experience. What’s more, the wine (which is made by the monks who live on the island) was…not great, to be polite. Let’s just say, monks are a bit more talented at the brewing of beer.

Following the tasting, our guide offered a tour of the monastery. Unfortunately, we were too tired (and slightly annoyed at the poor wine tasting experience), so we opted to head back toward the meeting point near the ferry. We found a much-needed restroom and some even more-needed seating, and we had a drink and a rest while we waited for the ferry back to Cannes.

[PaulInPGH]

 

Wine tasting.

[Biris]

Enjoying your review. How far is the fresh food market from port?

 

Thanks,

 

Biris

[Son of a son of a ...]

Outstanding review. I thank you for bringing me back to this cruise ... feel like I'm on it again!

[Huntingdon1701]

Thanks for the details about Cannes. I'm there next week and have been wavering between visiting Saint Honorat for the wine-tasting, or walking around Sainte Marguerite. Looks like I'll do the latter.

[PaulInPGH]

Enjoying your review. How far is the fresh food market from port?

 

Thanks,

 

Biris

 

It was very close, probably about a 10 minute walk. Cannes is a pretty small town. I couldn't tell you exactly how to get there though; I felt quite turned around and lost my sense of direction after walking up to the top of the hill and then back down. It would definitely be an easy walk from port though, for sure.

[PaulInPGH]

Outstanding review. I thank you for bringing me back to this cruise ... feel like I'm on it again!

 

Thank you. Indeed, that's why I like writing reviews; it helps me relive the trip and helps fight off the post-vacation blues.

[PaulInPGH]

Thanks for the details about Cannes. I'm there next week and have been wavering between visiting Saint Honorat for the wine-tasting, or walking around Sainte Marguerite. Looks like I'll do the latter.

 

Glad I could be of help. I'm sure you'll have a great time, whichever activity you choose. I'm sure the wine tasting is more enjoyable if you do it without a 3 plus hour walking tour beforehand, and if you like very dry wine (which we do not).

 

Cheers.

[PaulInPGH]

I apologize that updates have drastically slowed. When I started posting, I'd already written the first few days. But now I've caught up, and I post as I write. I plan to buckle down this weekend and hope to have some more posted here in the very near future.

 

Cheers.

[sweetpea222]

Thanks for such a wonderful review. We spent a month in Europe in 2013 and we'll be back next July, with 4 nights in Rome and a week in Paris, plus a week in the South of France on top of our Adriatic cruise on the spirit. You are giving us lots of great tips!

 

Sent from my HUAWEI VNS-AL00 using Forums mobile app

[fastpitchdad]

 

O'Chateau.

 

Did you have to book this ahead of time and were you looking at other options? My wife and I are heading to Paris for Thanksgiving and I am trying to do some planning (her first time there).

 

Also, I saw you took a shuttle from the airport but did you consider the Metro? Just wondering if it is as easy to use as the Picadilly line from LHR (I have only ever chunneled into Paris).

[PaulInPGH]

Thanks for such a wonderful review. We spent a month in Europe in 2013 and we'll be back next July, with 4 nights in Rome and a week in Paris, plus a week in the South of France on top of our Adriatic cruise on the spirit. You are giving us lots of great tips!

 

Sent from my HUAWEI VNS-AL00 using Forums mobile app

 

That sounds like an amazing trip! I can't wait to start planning our next Europe trip.

[PaulInPGH]

Did you have to book this ahead of time and were you looking at other options? My wife and I are heading to Paris for Thanksgiving and I am trying to do some planning (her first time there).

 

Also, I saw you took a shuttle from the airport but did you consider the Metro? Just wondering if it is as easy to use as the Picadilly line from LHR (I have only ever chunneled into Paris).

 

We did book that ahead of time, and it is quite popular so that's probably necessary. We never considered other options, largely because they got such rave reviews online. I'm sure there are other choices, though we were very pleased with this experience.

 

The Paris Metro doesn't run directly to the airport. You can take the RER train from the airport, but there are fewer RER stations than Metro stations, so depending on where you're staying it may or may not work.

[PaulInPGH]

We needed a bit of a pick-me-up when we got back to the ship, so we stopped at the Atrium Café for an afternoon coffee. Because we were both having trouble remembering the details of the excursion we’d signed up for in Palma, we walked over to the shore excursions desk and had a look at the excursion pamphlets. We were momentarily intrigued by a tour of something called the Caves of Hams, but we were less interested when we realized there was no actual ham involved.

We did find the description of the excursion we booked, which was to be a driving tour of Palma, followed by some free time in Valldemossa. We also noticed that the pamphlet had this excursion designated as a “Level 1” activity level. I don’t ever recall seeing this on the NCL website, though I may have just not paid attention. In any case, we looked up the tour we’d just completed in Cannes and discovered it was designated as a “Level 3,” which explained why we were so freaking tired. So, we were quite excited about our Level 1 activity for the following day!