Song and a Dance

On our recent New Year Sailing...

Elevators inside - For guests, all of the elevators functioned the same. There is, however, only 1 bank of elevators that even go past the 15th floor. But they are not exclusive to Haven guests and do stop at all floors for all guests. Never did we need to insert our key card to get to the 16th or 17th floor Haven area - we just pressed the button. Yes, a non-Haven guest could take the elevator up to the Haven floors but it doesn't matter because all hallways off the elevators on 16 and 17 have doors and are Haven key card access only. That's where you need your card.

Those elevators CAN be (and were) made direct/express elevators by the concierge staff's key cards while transporting Haven guests up and down for shows, sending guests up and down for embarkation and disembarkation at certain ports and when back in Miami. This was a GREAT service btw. They left us messages telling us what times they'd be manning the elevators on port days and show nights. (So maybe at one time guests did use their cards as another poster experienced. Obviously, the capability is there.)

There is also an elevator outside right next to the Great Outdoors snack food area that goes from the pool deck to Posh and back. This one IS key card access only.

Thank you for such a fabulous review! I can't begin to tell you how helpful your review was because it covers a lot of questions I have about the Epic and Haven.

 

I hope you don't mind if I ask you a few more questions...

 

We will also be sailing in a 17th deck Haven suite next summer, and chose it for the same reason you did. In fact, at the time we booked, it was about equivalent to getting 2 balcony cabins, so it was a pretty easy decision. The main difference vs your situation is that we will be traveling with 3 teenage boys (instead of two). I was wondering about clothing storage in the 2nd bedroom and glad you addressed it....it sounds like it was a pretty tight squeeze for your two sons. If you had a 3rd teenager with you, do you have any suggestions for where his stuff would go? I'm thinking about packing them in packing cubes and putting them in the living room. Any other suggestions? Hhmm...I doubt they'll be sitting at their vanity area right? You could either move that little stool that sits under it out in the living room and use the space on the floor underneath to store his suitcase w/clothes flat on the floor or use that space and/or the top of the vanity to store the packing cubes. OR - there is a small amount of cabinet space in the living room in the bar area. If you look at the pictures, the big middle door w/handle is the mini-fridge. Then there are 2 other small cabinets with shelves on either side. May work to store some of his things. The end tables beside the sofa open up too if I remember correctly, and that's also a little bit of storage. OR - 3rd idea...bring plastic hangers (maybe too bulky to pack & a terrible idea?) and hang almost everything. There aren't enough hangers & what's there are bulky wood hangers that take up too much space. Then you can get away with just 1 or 2 packing cubes that you can stack on the vanity. I've added 2 pictures that I tried to get of the storage in that room - one is tilted crazy but you can at least get an idea of what you're working with from it.

 

Along with that, your picture of the 2nd bedroom with the bunk set up is helpful. In that picture is the lower bed set up as a twin or double? I'm assuming that we will probably want to have our 3rd son sleep on the living room sofa bed, but that's always a tradeoff in case anyone wakes up and wants to spend time in there. Thoughts? We felt the bed was somewhere in between a twin and a double size. I 100% agree about having the living room kept free...but I don't know how big your kids are or how your kids are about sharing the bed when it's snug like that. I think you won't know this til you get there and see it pulled out and made up for yourselves. Only then will they decide if sharing the bed is going to be miserable or if they feel they have enough room and don't care. They won't spend much awake time in the room so the overall size shouldn't be that big of an issue...just the bed.

 

Lastly, I noticed you were traveling with a pretty big group. I had a question about dining reservations in specialty restaurants for a large group. We will be traveling with friends as well (who will also be staying in the Haven). In total, there will be 13 of us. I don't expect we will always eat together, but on the nights we want to, I'm wondering if it makes sense for us to pre-reserve dinner in the specialty restaurants. I've read that Haven guests can usually get in quickly to the specialty restaurants, but I'm wondering if 13 of us wanted to get in, should we plan to pre-book those nights? (I like the idea of Freestyle dining, so I don't want to pre-book too much, to allow for a flexible schedule.) Summer will probably mean a full sailing, so with 13, the concierge may get you in without advanced reservations...but it will probably be at very off times - before 6 or after 8. We only pre-booked the 2 on our list that really mattered in terms of seating - Teppanyaki (you will have to split up a little as each chef section around a grill only seats 10) and Cirque Dreams where we wanted premium seating. Per the website: If you'd like to pre-book specialty dining for larger parties (than 8), please call 800-327-7030. Or you can at least email the pre-cruise concierge with your requests once dining opens up and that way they'll work their magic before you (and everyone else) gets on board. With 13 I'd say you may have to set at least those couple nights in stone and freestyle the rest!

 

Our kids have also enjoyed the kids/teen club on RCI, so I appreciate your insights into the differences in the teen program. Thank you again for this most helpful review! Your feedback was very balanced and thoughtful. :)

Please excuse the teenager messiness!

Thank you for the detail review. I will be staying in 17003 from Jan. 11-18. Hopefully the noise from the deck above will not be toooo loud. My wife still doesn't know that she will be staying in the Haven. Lol!!!

 

oohhhh what an amazing surprise that will be! you won't be able to hide it once you put those luggage tags on tomorrow and walk into the terminal.... ENJOY!

We also got a letter with the luggage tags welcoming us, etc. and telling how to contact them. I waited until about 30 days out and emailed back and forth a couple times. In my case, each response took 3 - 5 days. Once I made the realization that the pre-cruise concierge is simply fielding all the requests and relaying them to each guest's particular onboard team it made sense. In my case - requests were taken care of. Hypoallergenic pillows for the kids was one of the things so I just wanted to be sure we could get them. In their final email response he said "Your concierge Ryan has confirmed that he has received your requests and that all will be taken care of". So the person I was emailing with was clearly waiting to hear a response from the ship. That makes me wonder if perhaps they sometimes don't get a confirmation or response from the ship concierge in a timely manner (or at all for whatever reason) and that's why some people don't get responses or don't have their requests fulfilled. (??) Just my speculation.

I asked our onboard concierge staff about this last week, as I was just curious how it worked and what they preferred for future reference. I was told that anything they can have and do in advance of us stepping onto the ship helps them plan better and thins out the onslaught of requests on the first days of each sailing. May not be true of them all, but this team was personally happy to get pre-cruise requests.

We were happy to see that the White Hot Party in Spice H2O was packed after many other evening activities were practically empty all week.

New Years Eve party on the Pool Deck had a great turnout as well.

Sorry pics are not the greatest quality at this size...I just snapped all of these with my cell phone camera. :)

I forgot to touch on disembarkation...which I'm surprised I missed because it was the best one we've had so far.

There was some sort of hold up with guests being able to get off the ship that morning. We weren't in a big hurry because we had one of the last times to leave. But we did have an NCL transfer to the Ft. Lauderdale Airport so we needed to stay on top of that.

We had received a letter from the concierge the day before explaining how they would provide priority disembarkation and all we had to do was show up to the Epic Lounge. At 8:00 we went to breakfast in the haven restaurant (served from 6 - 9 on that day). They made another announcement that they were suspending all disembarkation for a short time and not to goto the gangway so we took our time eating and then went back to our suite for a while. At 9:15 I went to check with Ryan to see if they had started calling tags again yet since we were now getting concerned about getting on our bus to the airport. (You cannot hear the tag announcements inside your rooms!) He made a quick phone call and said I could get the family together, he would take care of us. He put us all in the elevator (which they set to priority so it's express to the gangway) and said his assistant would be downstairs to meet us when it opened. As promised, his assistant escorted us off the elevator and around the crowd to a different doorway. He asked for all of our key cards, scanned them for us and in all of 5 minutes we were off the ship and down to our luggage and customs. Painless, fast and no worrying about making to the bus!

Very nice review......some helpful ideas for our upcoming Epic cruise

 

Now that Ruth and Hugo are on the Breakaway, could someone please tell me who the new Haven Concierge and Hotel Director is on the Epic?

Concierge is Ryan Rabe and he and his assistant are fantastic.

Hotel Director is Steven Jacobsen according to all of my Haven letters (did not meet him).

We are sailing on the Epic on New Year's Eve next year - thanks for the review! Did they do anything special for New Year's Eve?

There were 4 different parties in different areas of the ship - (different musical tastes and speeds basically). Glasses of champagne were passed by waiters just before midnight and they did the countdown. At the party out on the pool deck they had a 2013 ice sculpture. At midnight they broke the "13". Kids programs have their own late night celebration hours so parents can participate without worrying about the kids. Have a great time planning!

We had fruit last week on Epic.

Thanks for the review. Like David, your review echoed my experience as well. As an FYI, we stayed on 16(16001) and while we didn't have much of an issue with movement (we had calm seas) we did hear quite a bit of footsteps above us. We actually just booked another cruise and chose 17001 instead. The grass is always greener....lol.

Truer words have not been spoken! :p I wondered about hearing the cabin above!...Well now I know I might as well stay on 17!

Wonderful review! We have been in the Haven on the 16th floor, further back, and movement was very little. Didn't do Cirque last time and am considering it when we cruise again in the spring. Age appropriate for 7 year old?

I don't recall anything that would be inappropriate for a 7 year old. There were quite a few young kids there the night we went. Several were picked to participate in one part. They appeared to be engaged and having fun. It is a true Cirque Production show with acrobatics, balancing, juggling, aerial artists, elaborate costumes, music and fun moments with a ring master who does short audience participation pieces. Enjoy!

Posted a review. Let me know if you have any unanswered questions after reading. :)

Also meant to say, I have pictures of 17003. If anyone is interested in seeing them I will attempt to post. :)

Happy to answer any questions if anyone has any as well.

Returned from a relaxing holiday cruise on Epic. Instead of a day by day, here are some bullet points on things we noticed and felt about the ship in general and our 2brm Haven Suite. I am a rambler so I don't have high hopes of keeping it short!

We went with other family members and the ages traveling were - 50's, 40's, 20's, 16, 15 and 11. A span of ages meant everyone was potentially looking for something different out of the cruise. Because of this we try to choose large ships with lots to do, many different venues, etc. Something for everyone. This was our 5th cruise - 1st on NCL. After each cruise we enjoy sitting down as a group and giving each category of important things fun grades so we know how successful each trip was. Here is what we thought about The Epic.

Embarkation - LOVED how smooth and painless embarkation was as a Haven guest. We arrived at 11:45am, left our bags with the porter at the curb and walked into the terminal. Once through security, we headed towards the Haven check-in sign. We were invited into a lounge and given seats on sofas to relax while the agent took our paperwork and checked us in. As soon as they finished, someone came along and wisked our group through the terminal, through the cruise picture and onto the ship. At the elevators we were handed off to the concierge staff who greeted us warmly and took us up to the Haven Lounge. We were offered a tour and once we finished, my sister and I went to register the kids for the kids and teen programs while the rest of the group relaxed in the lounge. When we returned we were told our rooms were ready and to come back for lunch in the Haven Restaurant after dropping our bags. We were happy and eating lunch by 1pm. Our Get My Vacay Started Painlessly Grade = A++

Our Haven 2 Bedroom Family Villa 17003 - This stateroom category was perfect for us. Size and layout worked well for my family of 4. My 2 teenage boys shared the 2nd bedroom - 1 on the bunk and 1 on the bed/sofa below. Loved having a separate sitting area. Master bathroom was fabulous - just be prepared for super cold tile under feet! Shades pull down over the wall of glass if you're shy and don't trust that it's truly one way glass. We left ours open except at night. One morning in port the window washer came right across while I was dressing!! Hope that one way glass worked! :eek: The slight curve of the bed makes it a little short for taller people unless you're dead center but it was comfy and we slept well. We had pre-ordered 2 hypoallergenic pillows for the boys and they were there as promised. As a whole, the suite was well laid out and a comfortable space for us all for the week. Not too big, not too small. We used the Lavazza machine several times daily for tea, espresso & coffee and really enjoyed having it. People have talked at length about the lack of privacy between Epic bathrooms and bedroom areas. I will admit I decided when planning this trip that I would not choose 2 balcony cabins for that reason alone. Here's the rundown on the the 2 bdrm villa bathrooms: Even in the suite, having just a curtain separate the master bathroom from bedroom did seem weird at first when either of us used the toilet room specifically, but we quickly got over it. Because there's a door on the bedroom itself, you can close off the whole bedroom for more privacy from the rest of the suite if you feel the need which makes all the difference. If you're really, really shy about it (we were not) you do have a 2nd bathroom in the other bedroom and we discovered bathrooms right across from the concierge desk area. (I mention that because I remember someone asking if there were public bathrooms within the Haven). The bathroom in the 2nd bdrm does have a door - but it is a swinging frosted glass door (you cannot see in) - like a shower door. There is no latch or lock there but it is a door none the less. My kids brought up not having at least a latch the first day and then I never heard mention of it again so they got over it too. Moving on from bathroom talk, there are 4 thermostats and mood lighting settings for your comfort and enjoyment. Tip: In the master, pull the shades on the bathroom glass and close the curtain between bed and bathroom at bedtime or you'll be woken up by early morning brightness pouring in the bathroom windows. NOTE: Something not shown on deck plans: This suite has a connecting door to the entry hall for the Courtyard Penthouse suite & Deluxe Owners Suite next door so you could add to your real estate if you need to. Our How Well Does Our Cabin Serve Us Grade = A

Storage in suite - for us was plentiful in master but not enough for 2 in the small bdrm. There is more hanging space than necessary in that room (but not enough hangers) and not enough drawer space. I truly believe it's plenty for 1 person, but definitely a note to heavy packers or multiples, we had to squeeze in our 2 teen's things. We stored the kid's large suitcase standing up in the long hanging space, leaving top unzipped and used as "hamper" so all dirty clothes just went right back in. In the master bedroom we had space to store 2 suitcases standing up in the closet and 2 under bed. We loved the amount of storage in the bathroom and vanity area as well. Our Is Our Stuff Gonna Fit Grade = B+ NOTE: My sister only had an 11 year old in her 2nd bedroom and their Grade = A

Solarium Balcony - I've been calling the enclosed balcony a sunporch - because that's what it felt like for us. We sat out there and enjoyed tea and coffee or to read and watch the water or other ships pass by. You can open the windows for sea sounds or fresh air but the wind got a little noisy for me. The windows do not really lock FYI. If anyone has small children just keep an eye - don't trust that they can't open them. Wasn't certain I'd like the solarium balcony before the cruise, but ended up very happy with it. I didn't miss a regular balcony at all because I had Posh an easy one flight up to enjoy anytime. Our Solarium Balcony Grade = A

Haven Amenities - Made all the difference in quality of cruise for us. I stress - for us. Here is why: We've sailed holiday cruises before and even though we're fully expecting it, the sheer number of people can start to make a subtle difference - crowds, slow elevators, slow dining rooms, lines, etc. I went into this cruise thinking we'd really not use the concierge or butler that much once onboard. We've never had them on previous cruises. BUT even though we didn't ask for too much directly, they provided many, many great benefits that helped make our days go smoothly. Concierge service (Ryan & assistants) = AMAZING, pleasant, helpful. Our pre-cruise show and dinner reservations were all taken care of and accurate. They provided direct elevator service & escort into shows for Haven guests. This was a big benefit considering the large number of people onboard. Ryan offered tips & hints every day on various things to help us throughout the week. Additional show, spa & restaurant reservations were taken care of no problem. They provided direct elevator service and escort avoiding lines for disembarkation in the Bahamas and at end of cruise in Miami. They took care of a couple of things we might have otherwise stood in line at customer service for including correcting our colored luggage tags for NCL transfers the final day. Butler service (Jojit) = Fantastic. Our pre-cruise cabin requests were all taken care of and anything we needed during the cruise happened without a blink of an eye. One eve my teenage son ordered a pitcher of lemonade and plate of fries from room service for an evening snack (shocker right? :rolleyes:) but was told neither was something they normally served. He hung up the phone and moved on because we don't demand what's not available. But to our surprise, Jojit appeared shortly with both and a smile and made it clear it was no problem. He quickly learned our habits, noticed the tea pods I liked to use in the machine and stocked up on those and brought me a supply of honey instead of sugar which was nice. Very attentive. We used the small gym in the Haven once and had a spa treatment in one of the Haven spa treatment rooms instead of having to go down to the spa which was convenient. The only thing I noticed was how crowded the Courtyard pool was. We do not swim - so for us - we didn't care where we got our sun. We simply walked up one flight to Posh and always found seating when we wanted it. We loved sitting in Posh. The bar is convenient, you can ask for umbrellas for shade if it's too hot and there are a variety of chairs, loungers and sunbeds. There is also a convenient Haven only key card access elevator down and up to the Great Outdoors food area on the pool deck below. Posh is adult only as opposed to the courtyard pool area which is not, fyi. Every staff member we encountered in the halls and anywhere in the Haven was exceptionally pleasant and called us by name. Also having the Haven Restaurant = Great. More on that in dining. Our Did We Get Enough Haven Bang For Our Buck Grade = A+

Suite 17003 Location - PROS: being on deck 17 made it easy to walk down to deck 15 where a lot of our day & night life action was so we avoided waiting for elevators: (Garden Cafe buffet and Great Outdoors snacks, water slides, access to sports court, teen club, spice H2O and pool deck evening parties). Down one more flight or quick hop in elevator to Kids Club on 14. Also could hop an elevator straight down to shows & entertainment which are also in the front on 6 & 7. CONS: there is a sun deck above. Noisy chair movement a couple times a day - sometimes early, sometimes midday. I had read this in someone's review and it was definitely noticeable. I can't say it ever woke us up or was irritating but it's clearly chairs moving and sometimes pounding feet walking above. FYI - my sister heard it in 17025 as well. Another con (if this bothers you): You are at the farthest point at the front of the ship on a deck that does not go from front to back. So you will need to go down a couple decks to cross the ship from front to back. Lots of walking. If you want to stay in the Haven that's going to be true no matter which suite you choose. We didn't mind the walking, but did learn that we did not love walking thru the smoke in the casino which was indeed heavy at times so we had to pick our "cross thru" deck carefully to get front to aft and vice versa. All in all, once we had our bearings we didn't mind too much. If we sail again, first choice would be a suite on deck 16 to avoid the noisy sun deck above. But if not available, I would book this room again. Our Are We Staying In Timbuktu Grade = B+

Movement - I would never even think to include this in a review normally, but it's so different from our other experiences I have to mention it. WOW...we've sailed on larger (RCI Oasis & Allure) and have not experienced anywhere near the constant feeling of the ship we did on Epic. All ships rock from time to time. But this was 24/7 vibration, mixed with rocking here and there. I don't know about other decks, but being on 17 at the front of the ship we were really rocking and rolling at night when the captain was trying to make up time. 1 night we were woken up by heavy rattling hangers and the bar & coffee glasses rattling. Most notably, the sliding door to the master bedroom rattles from the vibrations when closed each night - louder or softer depending on ship movement. We took it in stride and began to joke about it sounding like distant machine gun fire each night. One night close to the end of the cruise the ship was rolling so badly I actually thought my child might roll off the bunk and went in to check that his rail was up. My sister reported the next morning that my niece HAD rolled off her bunk but landed on the sofa below and all was well. The only time we didn't feel any movement or vibration, etc. was during the shows - and we were told that they deploy the stabilizers for the shows for the safety of the performers. Did anyone get seasick? No. One in our group who normally takes sea sick meds on day 1 & 2 continued to take their meds the entire week and was fine. 2 others were surprised they weren't sick but admitted that feeling constant vibration isn't the same as a sea sick rocking. I recognize that feeling movement is very subjective, so this is more of an fyi of what we experienced. I just found it to be interesting and wonder if the type of propeller/engine system used on the Epic is a factor. (???) If that's the case it is what it is and for us. Deal Breaker? Not really but it made us think. On a scale of "Barely knew we were on a ship" to "You're on a ship and don't you forget it"...we give Epic's movement a C-

Activities - this is actually the only somewhat negative thing we came home talking about...

Built In Ship Fun​: Because we had the Haven & Posh we never used the public pools or Spice H2O during the day so I can't comment on them really except to say they looked nice. We did get 4 chairs on the pool deck one afternoon while the kids were doing the waterslides. ​ ​W​e

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ordered ​soft ​

drinks from a server when he came around and it was normal and uneventful. We enjoyed the water slides several days with very short waits. We're used to scoping out non-peak times on big ships to avoid crowds. Even I, (who does not do water OR slides) did the big Epic Plunge slide - twice! We loved it. I did notice this slide was closed one day due to high winds. The pool/sports deck was pretty windy as a whole while at sea early in the week so we waited for calmer days & port days in general. Each time we walked by rock climbing or rappelling they seemed to be closed. Eventually we forgot about them. I took my niece up to do the spider climb and the trampoline. They too seemed to have very limited hours, only being open 2 hrs here and there, so demand was high. She only made it to one of the two because of the lines. We had a small wait for bowling one night but we snacked and had drinks in O'Sheehan's while waiting so it was fine. $5 per person to bowl, socks required, waiver to sign. A heads up on the waiver because if you have teens who try to attend the Entourage bowling activities they won't be allowed to bowl if you haven't already signed or bowled. This isn't indicated anywhere on the dailies like it is for other things. My oldest said that nearly 3/4 of the kids, including him and his brother, who came to bowl were turned away. Could have been clearer...but no one's day was ruined by it.

Speaking of the kid's programs - I will say that my teens and my 11 year old niece said the kid and teen programs were "way better" on RCI in terms of things to do. The summary of their kid's program review: They all felt the activities missed the mark in terms of age and excitement. The 11 yr old felt like the program was too young. The teens felt the activities were just not of interest to teens period. That said, my teens befriended other kids to hang out with all week independent of the listed activities. They did like the Entourage space itself and played video games and other games there. My niece is outgoing and social too so she made friends as well and they also utilized the Splash Academy space to meet up and hang out but didn't participate in the organized activities. Nice facilities - poor activity planning was the message I got.

Adult activities: New Years Eve which was a great dance party with the D​J and we enjoyed the White Hot Party as well. Besides this, ​the adult activities also missed the mark a little bit. Daily Karaoke, night time dancing with a DJ, etc. were practically empty - even with so many people on the ship. We're not big partiers but do like something fun in the evenings. All of the adults in our group agreed there weren't too many day or evening activities that were great for us once we had seen all the shows. We did do the Margarita Tasting one afternoon at Maltings and that bartender is a​ fantastic personality​. Worth the $$ if you like different types of Margaritas and a little history​. Full size drinks (not tastings) served, which I certainly couldn't finish since I'm not a drinker really, but we enjoyed. Overall, I would say that kids & teens programming needs to be reassessed on this ship. Adults is subjective I suppose. This is the only thing we came away feeling negative about on our cruise. It could be the deal breaker when considering returning. We (the adults) made due by adding spa appointments, watching movies and adding more sun time but bored kids are the kiss of death for parents on vacation​

This is a tough grade to give because the built in "Ship provided" activities (bowling alleys, water slides, etc.) are great. However, not too much else of interest in the "Human provided" category where the activities (karaoke, dancing, teen and tween program activities, etc) were either poorly executed, pitiful ideas (teen extreme planking???) or just not there. Our The Activities & Cruise Director Gets A Raise​ Grade = C

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Shows - Second City Comedy was alright, parts very funny. One of my teens and my sister went to Legends and very were impressed with Steven Tyler but could have done without Katy Perry and Elvis. We all enjoyed Blue Man Group and Cirque a lot! The kids enjoyed sitting up front in the splash zone in their rain ponchos during Blue Man Group and my son and one of the Blue Men had a funny stare down as part of the act when they came into the audience. Have to say I am a musical kind of girl so I personally like the Broadway type shows on other ships. But not everyone in our group agreed. They liked these show just fine. Our Let Us Entertain You Grade = B+

Customer Service/Staff (outside of the Haven) - There is a noticeable gap between the bar set by the Haven staff and the rest of the ship BUT we found everyone we encountered on the ship to be pleasant enough. Nothing amazing, but no issues either. Went to customer service once and the woman actually told me the Haven concierge could take care of things we needed and it wasn't necessary to come down and stand in line. Any Waitstaff we encountered were just fine and Bartenders were very personable in our case. Our Have You Taken Your Happy Pill Today Grade (Outside of the Haven) = B+

Dining - Overall we thought the food was good. Nothing stellar (except for Moderno) but just fine. Teppanyaki was fun and good food. We had an enthusiastic chef who sang, chopped and gave us a nice show. Kids, teens, adults enjoyed. Cirque show was also fun and the food good. Maybe improved over some of the reviews I had read? We had a tiny salad w/tomato & mozzarella slices to start. Beef and shrimp w/whipped potatoes for entree and a 4 item chocolate sampler dessert plate. Not the greatest quality cut of beef but it was fine. Show was entertaining, our kids and my brother in law were picked to participate in different parts. My brother in law was apparently a star because he was recognized and stopped by both a crew member and a passenger later in the week asking "Hey aren't you the guy from the Cirque show?" Ha! This became a running joke the rest of the cruise. Moderno was truly excellent...we ate ourselves into food comas with all the meats coming out. As a last minute dinner reservation one night, the concierge suggested we let him book Shanghai's Chinese and it was a nice choice. We ate a few breakfasts, 1 lunch (embarkation day) and remaining dinners in The Haven and they were very good. We had most lunches in the Garden Cafe buffet simply for the quick in and out and large selection for the kids. We're used to worse buffet crowds on Oasis and Allure so we were very happy to find WAY more seating on this ship. Having the Haven restaurant available to escape the crowds was an amazing benefit in our opinion. Because we had the Haven we never went to either main dining room so didn't experience any wait times for meals. We snacked constantly at O'Sheehan's and the Great Outdoors food area and snacked from room service every evening. We enjoy food and all in all no disappointments. TIP: eat your disembarkation breakfast in The Haven to avoid the madness of the elevators, etc. Our Will They Be Able To Keep Up With My Appetite Grade = A

iConcierge App/Communication - we used the iConcierge app and paid the $7.95 to stay in touch with our other family members traveling and for the kids to check in with us. There were 3 different types of devices between us all, and we determined that it worked best on the ipods. Our android phones and iphones in the group had an issue with being "offline" all the time. But we figure out that we needed to remember to refresh the app to get back "online". All the other features worked consistently for us. Great to locate places on the ship and see the daily activities without carrying the freestyle daily. Used it to make a last minute show reservation one night and you can book dinner reservations on it (we did not). Easy to use. Even tho use was spotty we all felt what did work was worth the $7.95. ​ We also got an internet package and used it on a tablet, a phone and the computers on deck 5. It was better speed than we've had on other ships. Still, it's internet out at sea so...it is what it is. ​

Our ​Technology ​

Grade = B​+​

Conclusion - If we sail Epic again, we would choose a 2bdrm villa for sure. We are easy going but at the same time, we do like to get what we pay for when we've splurged on something so pricey. We'd potentially choose this same room - facing forward was a fun change. Maybe being on deck 16 would eliminate the noise issue so that's a consideration. ​Yes, we noticed a little bit of wear here and there - maybe in the bathroom or on the pillows on the sofa for instance. But nothing stood out or ruined our stay in the room. The Haven restaurant and facilities and concierge staff provide services that give ​extra relief from the crowds when you want or need it. For us, it was worth every extra cent over getting 2 balcony staterooms for our family. We enjoyed the entire ship for the most part. As I mentioned, t​his was our first NCL cruise, having only been on Royal before, and we now know we like a lot of both worlds. Most notably - The suite benefits on NCL are unmatched by Royal. But the kids say the kids programming and activities on Royal are unmatched by NCL. We are looking at other NCL ships for the future - we like what Breakaway and Getaway offer too - but will more closely research what's really offered to the kids and teens programs first. We will see what the future cruise bookings bring! We had a great vacation and hope everyone else enjoyed their holiday cruises as well.

We sail at the end of the month! Excited...counting down! Happy to let you know how we like it and hopefully I'll figure out how to post some pics too.

We're booked in 17003 - one of the forward facing Haven 2 bedroom suites. One of the people traveling uses meds to help alleviate motion sickness usually the first day or so of our cruises and then has no problems with it after that normally. I'm beginning to wonder if maybe we're setting him up for a bad cruise by being on the very front of the ship (in addition to being on the top). I know motion is obviously based more on the water conditions, speed and all that but can anyone who has stayed in those suites on Epic tell me whether you really noticed a big difference simply because of the location? Not that I plan on giving up my Haven fabulosity :eek:...(horrible of me I know) but...we could be more prepared with stronger meds or even try to move to a suite that's not forward facing if one opens up.

Thoughts???

I was very skeptical about letting my boys come and go when we first started cruising. I set strict rules and then took someones advice and forced them to at least goto the teens club the first couple days so they could meet others. It IS more of a hang out, but the kids become fast friends and by day 2 are making plans to hang out together and have a bigger buddy network to safely explore the ship. Use this as an incentive for your teen(s) to attend teen club. My boys now look forward to meeting kids in the teen club for that reason.

I admit I rented ship phones on our 1st cruise (on RCI Oasis of the Seas) that allowed me to use a phone locator feature to see exactly where the kids were at all times - mainly because of the sheer size of that ship. But on cruise #2 we started the sticky note method because we were on a smaller ship and we didn't have phones. I agree 100% with sdmike's post and operate with those same 7 rules and really stress the buddy system regardless of age. I too found that if they're following the "public areas only rule" there are only so many places they could be and I run into my kids more than I'm sure they like. I'll just elaborate on our personal use of communication/check-in & sticky notes for more ideas on how to use them for your family. Those that have done this before with teens might think "duh"...but those who haven't might see something that sparks and idea for them.

1) Each morning at breakfast we go thru the activity guides and discuss everyone's plans for the day. Based on that, we set our next face to face check in time. We also always eat lunch and dinner together for family time, but they also serve as check-ins and we can discuss any further plans that have developed. For example, after hearing their plans at lunch, I might tell them to meet me at the room in 2 hrs or after the basketball tournament they want to go to. If their plans change they need to check in before that with sticky notes so I know where they are instead. Check in time is mandatory. Period. If I have to wait for you, or worse - come looking for you - all freedom is cut off and then the only places you can be are in the teen club or in the room. I don't play around when it comes these rules and they know it. We bought inexpensive watches for them to wear ahead of time so there were no excuses.

2) We use the room as home base and use the sticky note on the mirror system. It lets me know they were there and where they are off to next (in between face to face check-ins.) Often they went to the teen club 1st to see what people were up to and didn't quite know where they were going to go or maybe that basketball tourney was boring and they decided to leave. They can come back and check in with a sticky note reporting that they were heading to rock climbing or that they'd be on the pool deck for example. I also leave notes for them letting them know where they can find me & what time I'd likely be back to the room if they come back and I'm not there. 1 rule - all our stickies must include a time. I was pleasantly surprised how well this worked. They would stop by the room multiple times and if I wasn't there, leave me notes of where they were headed next and they'd put a check mark on my note letting me know they saw it. Sometimes they'd come find me to say hi based on my note. Sometimes they'd wait in the cabin to see me since they could tell when I'd be back based on my note. Last cruise only one of my boys went so he was flying solo and it really clicked with him. He made his buddy system a small group of friends he made on the 1st day and even put at least one full name of a fellow teen he was with on his notes. The boys say they really like the sticky note system because it shows them that I am willing to follow the same rules and let them know where I am at all times too. They also just like knowing they could find me too if they wanted which made them understand why I liked it! Peace of mind for us all. Added bonus - the sticky notes give you a time stamped bread crumb trail to follow should you actually need to track them down for some reason heaven forbid.

That's my long 2 cents. Many people use the note system as people have said here. I learned I needed to tweak it for our level of comfort. And a pad of sticky notes and a sharpie are easy to pack! Maybe you can try out the 1st couple days and see how it goes. I tend to be a tight reigns kind of person in general, but have found that this is a very comfortable method for us if we're on a ship without phones. This December will be our first time on NCL, but I know my kids are well versed on our little system now and can follow it well on any ship we sail on.

I hope you all enjoy your upcoming cruises! :-)

Deck - 10

Cabin # - 10199 & 10201 w/connecting door open

Class – central park balcony, C1

slightly closer to the front (almost midship), portside

10199 - bed near closet, 10201 - Bed near balcony

Quiet Cabin in general. No noise from hall. Could hear kids running/jumping in the room above us tho. When we had the connecting door closed I did not hear my kids or their tv next door. They have sound proofed the balcony doors so that when you close, turn and LOCK the handle it "vacuum seals" the room so to speak. You cannot really hear central park activity unless you have your balcony door UNLOCKED. (note: simply closing the door does not work). I was amazed at how it sealed out the sound. Even so, during the day there was nothing loud enough to disturb us if we had the door open. And we never heard kids or general noise from pool deck 15 except when they had a loud live band playing one day. But it was still never enough to disturb us. I liked sitting on the balcony in the evening and people watching and listening to the calm nightly music entertainment in central park (a guitarist...that type of thing)

Balcony View - looked directly across to Giovanni's in Central Park and at other CP balconies of course. Could view the entire front half of central park. Beautifully lit up at night. Only saw other people on their balcony once. Only saw inside one other cabin day or night - everyone else kept their sheers drawn as did we. Sheers let in light, yet gave enough privacy. Only saw a few towels from time to time drying on chairs on balconies facing me - nothing obnoxious. I enjoyed it. Would book a CP balcony again.

Balcony Size? Normal to slightly larger. In addition, since we had both rooms we had the divider opened between the two balconies and it was very nice.

Was wind a problem? no

Any specific problems with this cabin? no

Any other comments? because we had connecting cabins we experienced the bed in both locations. I def. preferred the bed by the balcony for myself and put my young teens in 10199 to deal with the beds in front of the closet. I will say this: having the bed by the closet is only a "problem" once you separate the beds into 2 twins. Beds together to make a queen gave 14 - 16 inches of space between bed and closet. small but fine. Once the stateroom attendant separated them for us there was literally 6 or so inches between the bed and the closet. We managed to scoot the beds over enough to give about 8 inches.

Deck - 10

Cabin # - 10218

Class – oceanview balcony, D5

Midship, portside

Bed near balcony

Quiet Cabin

Balcony View - good view. if you really look STRAIGHT down over the side you can see the lifeboats tucked way in underneath. they do not obstruct the general view out to the water though. good privacy.

Balcony Size? Normal

Was wind a problem? on a few nights we had rough seas with high winds but in general it was fine. it let in great light and had good sun.

Any specific problems with this cabin? nothing with the cabin specifically. Note that because smoking is allowed on the these balconies you could have a smoking neighbor. We did - which caused us to go back inside twice during the cruise.

Any other comments? this cabin is dead center on the ship - equal distance from both elevator banks. we didn't mind the walk. because this ship is SO big you're always hiking completely to the front or back of the ship for something. being in the middle made that much better than having to hike all the way from one end to the other. good location.