EPIC review - New Years Sailing - 2bdrm Haven Villa

[david_sobe]

Thanks for the photos and trip down memory lane :)

[TSUmom]

Thank you for the pictures!!!

[austinhoops]

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?

 

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?

 

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.)

 

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. :)

[ckk_li]

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.

 

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!!!

 

 

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[ckk_li]

Thanks for the photos!!!

 

 

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[Song and a Dance]

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!

[Song and a Dance]

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. :)

Thank you and you're welcome. I know I scour these boards for any info that I can find before a cruise so I just wanted to leave a little info for others.

 

 

Please excuse the teenager messiness!

 

[austinhoops]

Thanks again!

 

I think we'll probably be putting the 3rd boy in the living room (maybe the earliest riser in the LR would be the best strategy). Your pics and advice are very helpful. Thanks for the pre-concierge phone number and all of your other suggestions and advice!

[2boyzmom]

Thank you for your review - we will be sailing in 16001 in 2015. It is such a long wait but I love reading reviews....Pictures would be awesome!!

 

We will be in 16001 in a few weeks and will give you a full review :)

[gelo7]

Excellent insights on the Epic Haven.

[jdvmd]

Great review! Thanks for sharing!

[Trinnah]

I am so glad that I found this review.

 

My husband and I were debating about which one to get 17001 vs 16001. He said that with the 16001, we might hear the people upstairs, so it's better to go with 17001. I told him the deck chairs might move with 17001.

 

I guess we were both right, but I'm sure we can overlook that when we're already there. Thank you so much for your review. We're booked in May, so I'm already getting excited just looking at everybody's pictures on this board! :)