Norwegian Epic Review
Fun Cruise for First Time Visiting Western Mediterranean
Rating by category
Additional details
This was my first time back on a cruise in over 10 years. This was my first time visiting the Western Mediterranean. The cruise was a nice way to get a snapshot of each of the ports. The ports of call were outstanding, although the the experience on the ship was mixed. About a week or two prior to sailing, the times at port were modified. I traveled with my family in a group of 9 (with one 3-yr old who went with us on each tour); we had 4 people in 2 rooms each and a single studio.
Dining: We stayed with the standard dining package. We ate at Taste and The Manhattan Room each night for dinner. We had different wait staff each night. Service was highly dependent on the staff; some just went through the motions and didn't even offer a smile whereas others checked in several times to see how the dining experience was going. We were not shy in ordering multiple starters and desserts; some wait staff were very accommodating and glad to provide the options and a couple made it very well known to us that they considered it an added chore. An added bonus to The Manhattan Room is that there was entertainment (either music or dancing) on most nights. We typically ate breakfast at the Garden Cafe each day we had a tour, but had breakfast at O'Sheehan's one of the days. The buffet breakfast was average and the fruit options were nice. There is ample seating if you sit near the glass doors leading to the pool or at the far back near La Cucina. O'Sheehan's has a very limited menu and the food was alright.
Entertainment: I saw three shows: The Beatles, Legends (Rod Steward, Sting, Gloria Estephan), and Burn the Floor. The shows were fairly entertaining. The rest of our group also saw the Soul Sensation show and said it was fantastic. Make sure to sign up for the shows early.
Cabin Review
Family Balcony
We thought this room would be large enough considering we only planned to be in the room to sleep. There were 4 adults in this room and it was much too small. There was a queen sized bed in the middle with a pull down bed from the ceiling and a convertible pull out bed/couch. Although the curved design of the room was a nice change in design, it made moving through the room awkward, especially since there is little space for a walkway to start. When the pull-down bed was down, it was very awkward getting anything from the closets, although the closet doors do open with the bed down. There is plenty of storage space and the medicine cabinet was convenient, however, I recommend bringing smaller sized luggage. We had three large and one carry-on suitcases. Two of the large suitcases went under the larger bed and the other two fit into the closet. The balcony was a nice place to escape and is covered, although if you stick your head past the railing, you can see your neighbors (or they can see you). The curtain was convenient for the bathroom and shower and the frosted glass didn't bother us much. The toilet was loud on the flush, especially if someone is already sleeping, but there's little you can do about that.
Port Reviews
Barcelona
We had lunch at City Center and bought the 2-day hop on/hop off city tour bus ticket. It's a great way to get the lay of the land. I recommend looking at the two different routes (orange and green) prior to actually riding. We rode the line continuously the first day, but could have fit more site-seeing in if we planned ahead on what we definitely wanted to see. We didn't get a chance to see inside La Sagrada Familia. It's about 15 euros to get in or 40 euros for the tour. Park Guell also has tickets available for access to the monument, but it's based on timed entry and not when you actually buy the tickets. You are able to walk along the outer edge of the park for free, but all of Gaudi's work is in the ticketed areas.
Cannes
You will need to book a tender (no cost) to get to shore. Note that tenders do not run all day. We walked about 25 minutes to the train station where we rode to Monaco. We then took the city bus (2 euro) to the stop for the Monaco Tour (little red train, 9 euro) next to the Oceanography museum. The tour was a great way to see the highlights of Monaco. We then grabbed a quick bite up the street from the bus stop (the croissants were amazing). Then headed back to Cannes. We originally planned to take the Cannes little train tour and walk old town, but did not have enough time to do that and make it onto the tender back to the boat. Note that old town is at the top of a hill. Make sure to leave yourself about 20-30 minutes to get onto a tender. Overall, a nice day trip, but travel time back and forth takes longer than you may expect.