Cruising Solo -- NCL Epic, Europe, Day 2

This is a continuation of DreamFinder Travel agent Kim Merrill’s trek into cruising solo, in Europe.  Follow along here on the DreamFinder blog, and check out more pictures on her Facebook page.

Cruising Solo—NCL EPIC—Day 2

When I went to bed last night I had every intention of sleeping in today.  I managed to stay up until 11:30PM, thinking that it would buy me at least 6 hours of sleep.  Well, at 2:30am, I was wide awake and could NOT fall back asleep.  I ended up watching a movie (Sully) and then tried once again to nod off.  Unfortunately, this time my stomach made itself known and I opted to head out to get some breakfast.

An omelet and sausage later I went to the outdoor running track and did 40 boring minutes on a one-ship-sided loop.  This is probably the MOST boring running track I have ever been on.  As I did not bring the daily guide with me I didn’t realize the fitness center had opened at 6am, otherwise I would have gone there instead.  (note—check your daily guide, it has great information in it, and you will benefit from knowing what is going on and when.)

I did head over to the fitness center after I ran, and was shocked to find the BIGGEST fitness center I have ever seen at sea.  There were way too many people in there for me to take a picture at this point, so if I can I will do so tomorrow. I was too late to join the “Fab Abs” class so I did some elliptical and weights before heading for a shower.  (so if you are so inclined, you can always get in your workout on the ship)

If you have never cruised, or haven’t done it to the point of extensive research and planning, you may not realize that there are groups and/or communities on the web, dedicated to specific ships and sailings.  Whether it be a Facebook group or other community board out there, somewhere there exists a group of cruisers who are gathering to chat about their upcoming vacation.  It’s fun to find these groups and get to “know” some of your fellow cruisers in advance of sailing.  Today there was a meet and greet for a group that had formed for this sailing of the Epic.  NCL is great in that respect, as they welcome these groups….they go to the extent of encouraging them and bring in their officers to greet the group. I met headed to the meet up, met some of my fellow cruisers, but then left to go grab a bite to eat and then….zzzzz…I NAPPED. 

It’s quite the experience cruising solo.  As today is a sea day, the ship is packed to the gills.  Remember I mentioned yesterday that there were 2 different embarkation points?  I found out today that 3800 people embarked yesterday with 1800 remaining from the previous Rome embarkation.  Wow.  So you can imagine that the sun decks were a bit full.  I don’t mind waiting for a port day to get some sun, so I decided to wander to areas that I hadn’t yet seen but ultimately ended up heading over to the Solo Lounge for some coffee (and later a glass of wine).

Tonight is NCL’s version of a “formal” night. They call it: “Norwegian’s Night Out”. For me, that meant changing into a sundress prior to dinner.  I had not planned my Dinner tonight, so I walked up to the podium at one of the Main Dining Rooms right after 6pm and was shown directly to a table. I was done with dinner in 45 minutes and headed to the theater for “Burn the Floor”, which I had reservations for but was thinking about missing as I had seen this on the Norwegian Getaway over the holidays. I’m glad I didn’t miss it….it was different from the one that I had seen before and it was worth seeing. 

I’m ending my day as I did yesterday, in the adult area with a glass of wine.  They play movies on the big screen here and “Rogue One” is tonight’s film (as a Disney fanatic this does make me laugh).  I’m hoping for a full night of sleep tonight.

Takeaways from today:  Cruising solo is an entirely different entity. More than once it dawned on me that I was beholden to no one and could do, well, absolutely nothing if I so chose.  Something that isn’t really an option when you are cruising with others and have to account for everyone’s wishes.  I have read nearly an entire book today, and hope to finish it before I go to bed.  Tomorrow we dock in Naples.  I have been here before, so I feel no particular need to get up and get off the ship quickly.  Part of my goal with this trip is to see as much as I can, as inexpensively as I can.  Stay tuned for the next installment to find out what I learn tomorrow!

Fino a domani....

A new experience, Cruising Solo - Day One

Follow along with this series of blog posts by DreamFinder Travel's Kim Merrill, who is embarking on her first "solo" cruise, over in Europe.

Backstory and Embarkation Day

Prior to this summer’s family vacation, I had the opportunity to add on a solo adventure while my daughter attends a camp in Barcelona.  I had planned on just hanging around Barcelona itself, but after doing a bit of research, I found that a solo cabin on the Norwegian Epic was actually going to cost LESS THAN a hotel room, and all of my food and drinks would be included!  Needless to say, I booked the cruise and here we are.

On to Day 1, Embarkation.  After dropping my daughter off I grabbed a taxi and arrived at the port about 2pm.  I’ve never arrived that late before for a cruise, the subsequent benefit being of doing so is a lack of lines!  I handed off my luggage, immediately went thru security and walked right up to the check in desk at the Latitudes returning cruiser line. I got my key card, and walked right on to the ship.  I boarded on deck 7, and right after scanning my key card, there is a small table, with a “NO BEVERAGES ARE ALLOWED BEYOND THIS POINT” sign. 

They are serious about beverages, there is shop in the port building selling alcohol, and a reminder that there will be a corkage fee for all wines and that liquor will be held until the end of the cruise.  While some cruise lines allow some beverages to be brought onboard, NCL’s policy is extremely strict and enforced at each port.

Staterooms were ready by the time I embarked, so I went to check out my studio cabin.  NCL is one of the few cruise lines that are beginning to cater to solo travelers.  The “Studio” is an interior 100 square foot cabin with a porthole window overlooking the hall for those (me included) who might feel a bit uncomfortable with an inside location.  The hallway shown here to the left contains all studio cabins. 

                      

 I headed to the Studio Lounge, which is a solo-cruisers only area.  In the lounge are TV’s, seating areas, a bar, and a coffee machine!  (The coffee machine makes me extremely happy, as the stuff they serve on deck isn’t very good.  This gets me a stronger brew and better cup of coffee!)

 

The unusual thing (to me) about this particular sailing is that it has 2 embarkation points, Barcelona and Rome.  So at the shipboard drill only those who embarked today had to participate.  Once completed, I headed back to the stateroom and unpacked my luggage. 

The good and the bad of solo cabins:  Good: inexpensive and functional.  Bad: A bit short on drawer space.  However I do think the outlet situation was decent.  To the right of the shower there are 2 shelves with outlets: One is a European “shaver” and the other is a US plug.

After getting settled, I headed to Spice H2O (which is adults only) on Deck 15 to get a drink and watch sail-away while beginning to blog. It was a bit crowded at first but it thinned out as dinner hour began. 

I had made a dinner reservation for 2 (because one isn’t an option online).  I headed to dinner armed with my phone (a book loaded on it for some reading), and interestingly I was seated next to a woman also traveling solo.  Not only did she have excellent taste in books (Hemmingway), but food as well.  We ordered the same dishes!  As she had no reservations for dinner, I invited her to share my next dinner “for two” as we had a lovely conversation.  We both noted that it was a bit frustrating to get asked multiple times “is anyone joining you”, but I also get that assuming otherwise on the staff’s part would be unwise.  It was an enlightening look on how singles may feel when traveling alone….

Tomorrow is a sea day.  I’m still jet-lagged and will sleep as long as I can.  My goals for tomorrow are few:  I have an online book, books from the library here onboard, and sunscreen to spare.  Stay tuned for day 2!

There is no way for me to include all the pictures I’m taking in a blog.  For more content, please visit my Facebook page for more updates and pictures.

2017 "Eat to the Beat" concert series line up announced

Our favorite time of year at the Walt Disney World parks is coming up soon, the Epcot Food & Wine Festival, and with that comes the fun "Eat to the Beat" concert series.  Each year festival goers can enjoy the music of some great bands at the America Gardens Theater stage in Epcot's World Showcase.  This year there will be eleven bands that are new to the festival, along with many returning favorites. 

Concerts take place each day at 5:30 p.m., 6:45 p.m. and 8:00 p.m., and many fill up quickly.  To avoid the regular stand-by line, Eat to the Beat dining packages are available at 15 popular Epcot restaurants, which will allow for confirmed seating at a same-day Eat to the Beat concert as your dining reservation.  Packages are available for breakfast, lunch and dinner reservations.  The Eat to the Beat dining package reservations will open in July, and don't forget--one of the benefits of booking with DreamFinder travel is that your personal DreamFinder DreamMaker travel planner will take care of making these bookings for you when they open.

Here is the current scheduled line-up for 2017 (subject to change)

• Aug. 31-Sept. 1         Delta Rae      “Bottom of the River”
• Sept. 2-3                  The Hooters NEW!      “And We Danced”
• Sept. 4-5                  Baha Men NEW!      “Who Let the Dogs Out”
• Sept. 6-7                  Fuel      “Shimmer”
• Sept. 8-10                STARSHIP starring Mickey Thomas      “We Built This City”
• Sept. 11-12              Lauren Alaina NEW!       “Road Less Traveled”
• Sept. 13-15              Plain White T’s        “Hey There Delilah”
• Sept. 16-17              Sister Hazel        “All For You”   
• Sept. 18-20              Air Supply         “All Out of Love”
• Sept. 21-22              David Cook        “Light On”
• Sept. 23-24              Everclear          “Santa Monica”                   
• Sept. 25-27              Sugar Ray        “Every Morning”
• Sept. 28-29              38 Special        “Hold On Loosely”
• Sept. 30-Oct. 1         Mark Wills NEW!       “19 Somethin’”
• Oct. 2-3                   American Authors NEW!      “Best Day of My Life”
• Oct. 4-5                   Christopher Cross        “Sailing”  
• Oct. 6-8                   Devon Allman NEW!        “Ragged and Dirty”
• Oct. 9-11                 Dennis DeYoung: The Music of STYX         “Come Sail Away”
• Oct. 12-13               Taylor Dayne        “Tell It to My Heart”
• Oct. 14-15               Jeffrey Osborne          “On the Wings of Love”
• Oct. 16-17               Postmodern Jukebox NEW!          Various Hits                 
• Oct. 18-20               10,000 Maniacs NEW!             “Because the Night”
• Oct. 21-22               Toad The Wet Sprocket            “Walk on the Ocean”
• Oct. 23-24               Kenny G NEW!          “Songbird”
• Oct. 25-26               Billy Ocean             “Get Outta My Dreams”
• Oct. 27-29               Tiffany              “I Think We’re Alone Now”
• Oct. 30-Nov. 1         Hanson           “MMMBop”
• Nov. 2-3                  Blue October NEW!          “Into the Ocean”
• Nov. 4-5                  Living Colour           “Cult of Personality” 
• Nov. 6-8                  Boyz II Men           "End of the Road"
• Nov. 9-11                Big Bad Voodoo Daddy          “Go Daddy-O”
• Nov. 12-13              Squeeze NEW!              “Black Coffee in Bed”

(Songs listed are for artist recognition only and may not be included in the concert play list.)

 We had the pleasure last year of seeing several of the bands and really enjoyed seeing Hanson on Halloween night, all dressed in their Marvel finest!

Do keep in mind that if you do not book one of the Eat to the Beat dining packages, you will need to wait in the stand-by line area.  For some of the most popular acts the line can get VERY long, and often can be cut-off very early.  We have seen lines start for the following show as soon as one show starts, so be prepared to be there early for your favorite bands.  One more thing to keep in mind--if you don't manage to get a seat at the show, you can hear the bands in the area of the America Gardens Theater, and can enjoy the music even if you are not able to sit to see the band (but please remember not to block the walkway!)

Have you booked your hotel stay for the Food & Wine Festival yet?  If not, what are you waiting for?!  On-site lodging availability is limited for this popular time of year, so contact your DreamFinder Travel agent today to book your stay.
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