I went on this cruise with relatives who were celebrating a big anniversary and I was in a solo studio. This was my first time on the Epic and I had a great cruise but my experience was likely very different from others who sailed on this ship recently. Reasons for this may be because this cruise had fewer people on it than others recently and it seemed as though there was a lot of new staff. I ...
This was a transatantic from rome to new york. i did this cruise last year on ncl epic and didn't much like it, but i've been on the gem and other gem class ships and you were never in doublt you were on a ship, no matter where you were. it looked like a cruise ship, smelt like a cruise ship everyone knew. the giant floating shopping centers don't appeal to me. i don't want to have to board ...
I chose this cruise because of the value for money, the ports and I had experience with NCL previously. This was my second time cruising. I was a bit hesitant to book the Dawn since she was built in 2002, and last refreshed 2016? I believe she may have a minor refresh in 2021 too. I was cruising with my parents.
The ports called on were: Rijeka, Split, Sarande, Katakolo/Olympia, Santorini, ...
We personally cruise for historical and cultural interests, and to see places that we've never been before--this itinerary met those criteria admirably. This was our 5th cruise with NCL, but first on Dawn, a smaller, somewhat older ship. She is well suited for this kid of trip, for cruisers who aren't looking for a lot of fancy recreation or entertainment--just comfortable accommodation and good ...
Solo traveler...I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Partially blocked oceanview cabin was a delight...larger than cabins on newer ships. Stewards were awesome as were all staff. I was on Deck 8 midship...perfect location. Spent an overnight in Lisbon before embarkation...loved it. Lisbon is a beautiful hilly city that requires some stamina...but worth the effort.
Embarkation was a breeze. Food was ...
We chose this cruise largely due to the great itinerary (Italy, Greece and Malta) and the price (November is low season and prices were good, but more on that later). We embarked on November 2 and disembarked November 12. The ship is very, very large, and was much more crowded than we expected, given that fewer ships sail the Mediterranean in November than, say, summertime. We did a combination of ...
Before I begin my review of this cruise, I want to say that we are Sapphire with NCL. That means that we have spent more than a few days cruising with NCL and have seen many changes over the past few years. We cruised 46-days with NCL in 2023 alone.
Where to begin?
We booked 2 cruises with NCL for November. The Gem from Istanbul to Athens then a Transatlantic on the Breakaway out of Rome ...
My wife and I decided to finally take that European dream vacation we always wanted, and NCL had several cruises that were appealing. We decided to try the new-ish ship, the NCL Prima, knowing we'd have a great time... and it was that. We've got a lot of great memories now of a wonderful cruise. However, that doesn't mean that NCL doesn't have some work to do to improve on the Prima (previously ...
We got a great deal for this cruise through our NCL cruise consultant and hence decided to book it straight away.
We flew to Rome via British Airways on the morning of the cruise. Flight was on time and we were transferred to Port of Civitavecchia promptly. Unfortunately when we got there, there were long queues. Since we had used NCL transfer package, our luggage was being transferred in ...
Ok, first the good. The food is pretty reasonable. We eat at speciality restaurants , the buffet and the three included restaurants. Manhattan room restaurant was a bitt too big and noisy for us but the others were very nice. The restaurant staff were all very friendly and helpful and the food good. The speciality restaurants were great and $25 extra for Lobster seemed fair. There were garlic ...