NCL Epic (It really is!!)

In June last year, I decided I needed to go and try out the NCL Epic for myself.  Everyone I had spoken to had raved about it and having two young children that I thought could make full use of all of the fantastic facilities on-board, we decided to go for it.

We booked a Balcony Cabin for the four of us as the weather in the Med at that time of year is perfect for a bit of sunbathing and we wanted to take full advantage of getting away from the unpredictable Great British weather.

The cabin was very spacious and plenty big enough for the four of us – even with a travel cot placed in our cabin for our youngest.  The Balcony was also a lot larger than I expected and had a table and chairs for us to be able to sit out on and take in the sights as we were leaving ports each day while the children had a nap.  Perfect!

The ports we visited were Barcelona, Livorno (for Florence and Pisa), Civitavecchia (For Rome), Cannes and Naples.  If you do one excursion during the course of this cruise, it has to be the one in Rome.  We did a coach tour and it took us to all of the main places of interest and  then gave us some free time at The Vatican too.  Well worth the £50 per person (less for children) that we paid.  We had plenty of photo opportunities and some brilliant memories.

The ship itself is out of this world!  There is so much to do on-board that a week really wasn’t long enough.  Plenty of swimming pools with a separate one for the children with slides and water features that kept them occupied for hours.  One of the things I really liked about the children’s pool was that you could sunbathe right next to it and your children were never out of sight.

Whilst we’re on the subject of children’s facilities, I need to mention the character breakfast.  This was one of the highlights of the holiday for our children.  They got to meet Dora The Explorer and Spongebob Squarepants ‘in real life’ whilst enjoying a delicious breakfast in the Spiegel Tent on-board.  I’d definitely recommend booking this before you go if you have young children.

There are bars, restaurants and lounges aplenty all with their own theme.  The steak restaurant, Cagneys, is a must (small cover charge) and the martini bar (Shakers) is perfect for a before or after dinner cocktail.  I can highly recommend the Coffee Martini.

After dinner drinks all round.

The staff on-board the ship really can’t do enough for you.  Every morning after breakfast we returned to an impeccably clean cabin and each evening after dinner we returned to a different animal made from towels perched on the end of our bed – much to the children’s amusement.  In fact, we HAD to return to the cabin straight after dinner each evening purely so that the children could see which animal was awaiting their return that day.

One side of the pool area.

One thing that I was expecting on-board the Epic was for it to feel slightly crowded at times being a ship with such a high capacity of passengers.  I was extremely surprised to find that we never once felt that we were sharing a ship with 4000 other people.  We never had any problems getting a table in a restaurant, a seat in the theatre or a spot in a bar or lounge.  There were even sun loungers left available every day around the pool.

For those passengers travelling without children, there are also adult only areas as well as a Spa and the Ice Bar.  The Ice Bar is one of only 14 true ‘Ice Bars’ in the world and is set at 17 degrees or lower.  Faux fur coats, hats and gloves are supplied before you enter the bar where the stools, tables and the bar itself are all made of ice.  Has to be seen to be believed.

To sum up, this ship really is ‘Epic’ and we had a fantastic holiday.  We enjoyed it so much that we’re looking to try out the Caribbean itinerary on the same ship in the near future.  Food that was out of this world, the most amazing facilities, fantastic itineraries, the most helpful of crew and towel animals every day.  What more could you ask for?

A rabbit (I think)