Just got off the Epic after departing Barcelona on 16 March (and returning 28 March). I have cruised with Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and Holland America, but never on Norwegian. I booked this cruise because of the destinations (Palma Mallorca, Cagliari, Cartagena, Palermo, Naples, Rome, Pisa/Livorno and Barcelona), the incredible price, and the fact that I could get holidays at this time of year.
I was a little worried by the fact that the ship is huge and carries 4000+ passengers, as I thought that the quality of the food and service would suffer, and I was concerned given the mixed reviews that I read leading up to the cruise. However, both of those fears were quickly put to rest after a few hours on the ship.
The service in all areas (bars, restaurants, casino, pool area etc) was exceptional. The staff were friendly, smiley, and were quick to help as required. I was pleasantly surprised at how good the food was (as the extra weight that I put on is evidence of that). We ate at the Buffet restaurant, Irish pub, Noodle bar, Manhattan Room, Cagney's, Moderno and Le Bistro. All of the restaurants were fantastic!
The cabin (we had a balcony on 9th floor) was just fine. A little smaller than some other ships we have been on, but for the two of us it was ok as we did not spend too much time in the cabin as there was too much to do on the ship! The bed was super comfy and the shower, toilet and sink problem that people talked about was really not that big of a deal!
It was good that it was a balcony as we enjoyed watching the sunsets, but it was bad that it was a balcony because a lot of people smoked on their balconies, that "blew" onto ours (we are non-smokers).
A must see. A tad expensive to climb the tower but we really enjoyed it!
We walked the city on a self-guided tour. Not a big place, so it worked well. Good for a couple of hours to see some interesting sights.
We just walked the city here as well. It is an easy city to walk and there are a few interesting and historic sights to see.
We booked the Free Walking tour and it was quite good. The guide was knowledgeable and we saw the major sights in a few hours.
This tour was excellent. Guided tour of Pompeii was interesting and we saw all of the major sites quickly. Afterwards we had a winery tour and typical Italian pasta lunch which was incredible. Absolutely loved this experience.
We had been to Rome already, so we just decided to explore Civitavecchia. A few hours of walking around was sufficient - then back on the ship for afternoon cocktails!
Did Pisa on our own and climbed the tower. A great and easy city to walk around. We left the ship at 930 am and got back around 2 pm. A very fun day!
A bike tour is the perfect way of seeing this beautiful city. The bikes were waiting for us just outside the port and we spent the next four hours on a guided tour of various churches etc. Highly recommended!