Freestyle Cruising with Norwegian Cruise Line
I embarked on 8 days, 7-nights sailing adventure through the Mediterranean with one of the Norwegian Cruise Lines' most talked about ships, the Norwegian Epic. Our itinerary included sailing to and from Barcelona with a new port to disembark every day of the cruise itinerary. One of the greatest perks of this trip is being able to see the true pearls of Western Europe without having to pack and unpack repeatedly. Within the space of 8 days, I ate a delicious Sfogliatelle on the shores of Positano, saw the imperial Colosseum, saw the sunset in Cinque Terre while sipping on Limoncino, took in the wonderful crystal clear water of Nice, tanned in Palma Nova and managed to fit in 14 hours of exhilarating sites, thanks to the hop on hop off bus in Barcelona. Phew.. Now I can breathe again. I challenge anyone to tell me they saw more than this in 8 days without having to pack more than once. With most cruise itineraries you have only one pre-assigned embarking and disembarking port but in the case of Norwegian Epic on this routing, you have a choice to embark and disembark also from the port in Rome.
The stringent health and safety protocols in place were adhered to as we reached the Cruise Terminal. In addition to showing a PCR test pre-boarding the ship, all passengers who have passed 270 days from their last 2 EU approved vaccine doses need to also show proof of a booster dose of their vaccination. This rule is also valid for children above 12 years of age. We breathed a sigh of relief as we had our documents in check and were glad that we had not missed out on any pre-check-in forms that had to be filled as we checked in.
The ship was recently refurbished in 2020 and I brimmed with the anticipation of experiencing Freestyle Cruising for the next 7 nights as I made myself comfortable in the Balcony Stateroom Cabin overlooking the marina in Barcelona where the ship was docked and set to sail that evening.
What is Freestyle cruising? With over 20 different F&B restaurants to choose from you can choose where to dine, who to dine with and what to eat. The experience also includes sensational and jaw-dropping entertainment shows every night, a water park for small children and also for young kids at heart, the Epic Casino for the gamesters, the Splash Academy, a Sports Complex, and the Entourage Teen’s Club and the Mandara Spa. You are free to slide into vacation mode just the way you want it, with no timetable to follow but your own. With that in mind, I would recommend booking the most popular shows, speciality dining as well as shore excursions ahead of time as these get booked out fast. You are able to pre-book the latter two as early as at the time of booking your cruise. We made a pretty intense schedule for both land and sea and were glad that we stuck with it. Besides indulging ourselves with the delectable dining on board, my highlight on the ship was the dazzling show, Burn the Floor. The energy of the performers left me awestruck. This was my first cruise vacation experience and I fell in love with cruising. Imagine being in a floating hotel with a change of scenery every day!
There are moments that stay with you forever from every trip that you take and for me, it was on the first morning of our sailing when I watched the sunrise without any distractions from the journey ahead. The only people on deck 15 at the crack of dawn were me, another Japanese family and the housekeeping staff who were washing up every inch of the deck which was very reassuring to see.
What’s next on my wish list for a Cruise Vacation? The youngest fleet of the Norwegian Cruise Line is on its way. Norwegian Prima and Norwegian Viva are first in class ships coming up ready to set sail in the Summer of 2022 and in the Summer of 2023 respectively with exciting itineraries. With the infinity pool that spreads all the way around the top deck on these ships, this will be a happy place of choice for many sundowners.