Med Cruise On The NCL Epic..Tips And Info Please....
Discussion
Went on this back in May.
I would recommend considering hiring a limo with driver for the day in the Pisa/Florence, Rome and Naples stops, we did this (2 adults + 2 children), we used romeinlimo, worked out cheaper than the 'official excursions' and they organised timed tickets in adavance for things that had queues, and gave us total flexibility, ie we could direct where the trip went, stop when we wanted a break, and the drivers always found us great places for lunch. We paid 450Euro for each day with the limo, we agreed a discount as we used the same company three times.
At the Naples stop I would recommend Herculaneum rather than Pompeii as it is smaller, better preserved and much quieter!
Rome is always very busy, so pick the must do sights and do them first, then see what you have time left for. We skipped the Vatican/St Peters (although we went in the square) as now with the security checks and queues it can take 2hrs + to get in.
The Epic is great, second time we have been on it, a real party ship, sort of a centreparcs village on the sea. The on-board shops don't sell much. The Blue Man show and the Circus Dinner are recommended and with Teenagers the Meat Restaurant will be a must (probably the best restaurant we went to, and with two cruises on the Epic we have visited most of them!). The ship is very clean and the staff are great.
If you want to use ship restaurants, and excursions I would recommend booking them in advance. My kids are 12 and 10 and they had a great time, the near 24hr buffet is great for kids as they can eat when they want to, whilst the adults can go to a decent restaurant!
There are good aquariums in Palma and Barcelona, though we only went to the latter, on our trip home. Taxi from Boat to Aquarium, then from Aquarium to the airport.
Don't be afraid of organising things for yourself, have a look on tripadvisor for recommendations. The official excursions are expensive, eg Return coach to Palma is 25 Euros per head, whilst a taxi from the dock to the town is about 27 Euros each way! Take plenty of cash (Euros) if you organise stuff yourself (Romeinlimo didn't take credit cards)
Be aware though that the costs can creep up, I reckon our holiday including flights, additional night in Barcelona, trips, meals off the boat and drinks and other ancillaries on the boat cost over £7K for the weeks cruise!! But we had a great time!!!!
I would recommend considering hiring a limo with driver for the day in the Pisa/Florence, Rome and Naples stops, we did this (2 adults + 2 children), we used romeinlimo, worked out cheaper than the 'official excursions' and they organised timed tickets in adavance for things that had queues, and gave us total flexibility, ie we could direct where the trip went, stop when we wanted a break, and the drivers always found us great places for lunch. We paid 450Euro for each day with the limo, we agreed a discount as we used the same company three times.
At the Naples stop I would recommend Herculaneum rather than Pompeii as it is smaller, better preserved and much quieter!
Rome is always very busy, so pick the must do sights and do them first, then see what you have time left for. We skipped the Vatican/St Peters (although we went in the square) as now with the security checks and queues it can take 2hrs + to get in.
The Epic is great, second time we have been on it, a real party ship, sort of a centreparcs village on the sea. The on-board shops don't sell much. The Blue Man show and the Circus Dinner are recommended and with Teenagers the Meat Restaurant will be a must (probably the best restaurant we went to, and with two cruises on the Epic we have visited most of them!). The ship is very clean and the staff are great.
If you want to use ship restaurants, and excursions I would recommend booking them in advance. My kids are 12 and 10 and they had a great time, the near 24hr buffet is great for kids as they can eat when they want to, whilst the adults can go to a decent restaurant!
There are good aquariums in Palma and Barcelona, though we only went to the latter, on our trip home. Taxi from Boat to Aquarium, then from Aquarium to the airport.
Don't be afraid of organising things for yourself, have a look on tripadvisor for recommendations. The official excursions are expensive, eg Return coach to Palma is 25 Euros per head, whilst a taxi from the dock to the town is about 27 Euros each way! Take plenty of cash (Euros) if you organise stuff yourself (Romeinlimo didn't take credit cards)
Be aware though that the costs can creep up, I reckon our holiday including flights, additional night in Barcelona, trips, meals off the boat and drinks and other ancillaries on the boat cost over £7K for the weeks cruise!! But we had a great time!!!!
Edited by DavidY on Wednesday 28th September 18:53
Kuwahara UK said:
Western Mediterranean......
Pisa,Florance,Livorno,Civitavecchia,Rome,Naples,Palma and Barcelona....
On board tips would be a help aswell...
Livorno and Civitavecchia are the ports for Florence and Rome respectively and are basically like arriving at Bristol Docks - nothing you'd want to see at the port itself. I preferred Florence to Rome. Both are a coach trip from the port so worth taking the organised travel, but not necessarily the organised tour. Pisa,Florance,Livorno,Civitavecchia,Rome,Naples,Palma and Barcelona....
On board tips would be a help aswell...
Barcelona is great, the Sagrada Familia is a must see but there's more than enough to occupy a day. I guess as in any big city, get away from the tourist spots for better and cheaper food.
We haven't been on NCL but on Royal Caribbean the a la carte restaurants are well worth the slight premium for a couple of nights.
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