Epic Balcony Choices

[OceanLinerGeek24]

Hi All!

 

This is my first post on CC. I've been a lurker for quite some time, but since we are in the midst of planning a cruise, I figured this would be the perfect time to join!

 

My husband and I have a great opportunity to sail on the Epic for the Western Mediterranean cruise in the fall of 2017. Being a history and ocean liner buff (hence by username) I cringe at the outside aesthetics of the Epic, but the price and ports were just too good to turn down, and I have read numerous good reviews about the ship.

 

We have the choice to choose from a mid-ship balcony cabin (BB) or a large balcony cabin (B6.) While we are leaning towards the B6, I wanted to hear if you guys had any advice or pros/cons concerning both choices. Also, the bathroom configuration has us scratching our heads a bit. How did they work out for you?

 

I appreciate any help or advice in advance. Thanks and looking forward to posting more in the coming weeks!

 

-JD

Edited March 15, 2016 by OceanLinerGeek24

[hawkeyetlse]

Do you have specific cabins in mind? Or at least deck and position?

 

I would avoid being truly mid-ship on the Epic because there are no stairs/elevators there. I would figure out which end of the ship you are likely to spend more of your time (in our case, it's definitely aft for the spa/gym, Spice, Cagney's/Moderno/Manhattan), and pick a cabin near those elevators, so you don't have the boring walk down the boring hallway every time you enter/exit your room.

[Hmdecor]

Hi All!

 

This is my first post on CC. I've been a lurker for quite some time, but since we are in the midst of planning a cruise, I figured this would be the perfect time to join!

 

My husband and I have a great opportunity to sail on the Epic for the Western Mediterranean cruise in the fall of 2017. Being a history and ocean liner buff (hence by username) I cringe at the outside aesthetics of the Epic, but the price and ports were just too good to turn down, and I have read numerous good reviews about the ship.

 

We have the choice to choose from a mid-ship balcony cabin (BB) or a large balcony cabin (B6.) While we are leaning towards the B6, I wanted to hear if you guys had any advice or pros/cons concerning both choices. Also, the bathroom configuration has us scratching our heads a bit. How did they work out for you?

 

I appreciate any help or advice in advance. Thanks and looking forward to posting more in the coming weeks!

 

-JD

Loved our B6 balcony on the Epic very large compared to regular balconies. We were on deck 10 forward/ mid. (the very forward ones on every floor are hull balconies that are enclosed like the cove balconies on Carnival). We have a B6 booked in Nov on deck 11 aft. No problem with the bathroom configuration for us.

Look for reviews from SDMike on the Epic he has a comprehensive room pros and cons review.

[Minoushka]

Agree B 6 are the biggest balconies on the conition you will use it ..

I have breakfadt otdoors,watch the sea,wThs the stars at night ...sit out ...read ...write all on my balcony provided itsnot pouring or freezing

Go with B 6

[insanemagnet]

Also, the bathroom configuration has us scratching our heads a bit. How did they work out for you?

 

Fine, why wouldn't it?

[brookie848]

If you want to be near the elevators, do not book mid-ship -- or at least check out how mid-ship you are going to be.

 

If you want a large balcony, check out the B4s in addition to the B6s. My parents stayed in a B4 and had a huge balcony (I believe it was 14034, its sister cabin on starboard is 14049).

[OceanLinerGeek24]

Thanks for the feedback everyone! There are no specific cabins to speak of yet, we just had the option of either a BB or B6 on decks 9, 10 or 11. Based on most of your feedback, B6 actually sounds like the better option. Any preferred deck? As far as I can tell, the three all seem rather similar.

 

As for the bathroom, it's not really a big deal, I've just never been on a cruise with all the bathroom components (shower, toilet, sink) in separate areas of the cabin instead of contained in one space. I also see they have semi-see through doors, which again isn't a big deal, just a little different to me.

 

Thanks all again.

 

-JD

[dolita22]

Another vote to go for the B6! The balconies are huge! I had family in 12092 and 12096 on a sailing on the Epic a few years ago, and there was plenty of room for two chairs and a lounge chair. Good locations, too. Even though they were close to the forward stairs, they never heard any noise.

 

As for the bathrooms, they weren't a big deal to us either. We don't mind them at all. The shower seems bigger than showers on other ships we've sailed, and we liked that the sink was outside of the shower area. Some friends sailed with us last year on the Epic as their first cruise and sailed again this year on the Escape and found it weird that the sink/shower/toilet would all be together on the Escape. :-)

 

The Epic is a great ship. Enjoy your cruise.

[OceanLinerGeek24]

We were able to put a deposit hold on B6-9106. Seems like a good location right by the forward elevator bank and actually looks to be a cabin with a slightly larger balcony due to the curvature of the side of the ship. So, fingers crossed it's a good choice. I already have so much anticipation even though its more than a year away! Thanks again everyone.

[jewelmick]

Why not an aft? Check out the pics.

[vantec]

We were able to put a deposit hold on B6-9106. Seems like a good location right by the forward elevator bank and actually looks to be a cabin with a slightly larger balcony due to the curvature of the side of the ship. So, fingers crossed it's a good choice. I already have so much anticipation even though its more than a year away! Thanks again everyone.

 

I am not an expert on the Epic, however, we just returned from our January cruise. My suggestion is to do a little more research on that cabin - we were on deck 10 and did have a good view of the ocean, I am wondering if you are on deck 9 if your view might be the top of the tenders? Someone else might know the answer to that question, or maybe it does not matter to you. We spent a lot of time on our balcony and enjoyed looking at the water. I understand your question about the bathroom layout - we were able to make it work, but I did not like it one bit!

[OceanLinerGeek24]

Vantec, thanks for the tip. Believe it or not, I found a video on YouTube of the exact cabin. What are the chances of that?

 

 

Anyway, looks like the lifeboats don't block any of the view and the balcony looks to be a great size. Seems like a go to me!

[Kidtechno]

I have BA 12221 on May 4th. Standard I guess? Could care less if my balcony is 8x9 or 10x9.... If that is something that will make or break your experience, go nuts!

[Jem 12]

Vantec, thanks for the tip. Believe it or not, I found a video on YouTube of the exact cabin. What are the chances of that?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anyway, looks like the lifeboats don't block any of the view and the balcony looks to be a great size. Seems like a go to me!

 

 

Hi We have just returned from our first epic cruise we had a cabin 10253. A large balcony and very handy location, but my advice would be to if you can for not a lot of extra money try to upgrade to a mini suite just for the little bit of extra width in the cabin, we were offered a minisuite for just £5 each it didn't happen due to admin issues but it would have been well worth it to us.

 

Definitely try to be near rear elevators the forward elevators seemed to be much busier due to the garden cafe I think

Try to book any shows that you are interested in online before you.

[NitaBcruising]

Vantec, thanks for the tip. Believe it or not, I found a video on YouTube of the exact cabin. What are the chances of that?

 

 

Anyway, looks like the lifeboats don't block any of the view and the balcony looks to be a great size. Seems like a go to me!

 

Nice cabin! :D Thanks for the link!

[Muushka]

Hi All!

 

This is my first post on CC. I've been a lurker for quite some time, but since we are in the midst of planning a cruise, I figured this would be the perfect time to join!

 

My husband and I have a great opportunity to sail on the Epic for the Western Mediterranean cruise in the fall of 2017. Being a history and ocean liner buff (hence by username) I cringe at the outside aesthetics of the Epic, but the price and ports were just too good to turn down, and I have read numerous good reviews about the ship.

 

We have the choice to choose from a mid-ship balcony cabin (BB) or a large balcony cabin (B6.) While we are leaning towards the B6, I wanted to hear if you guys had any advice or pros/cons concerning both choices. Also, the bathroom configuration has us scratching our heads a bit. How did they work out for you?

 

I appreciate any help or advice in advance. Thanks and looking forward to posting more in the coming weeks!

 

-JD

 

I had to laugh when I read what you wrote. We are in the same boat.:D

[ollienbertsmum]

I had to laugh when I read what you wrote. We are in the same boat.:D

 

I had to cringe when the taxi drove up to the ship for embarkation last week. I had been on the ship before but had forgotten just how ugly the ship is on the outside. Once you are on you forget.

 

We had a mini suite and it felt enormous inside for the two of us. The bathroom configuration is helpful because one can be in the bath/shower and the other in the sink. The curtain adds privacy if needed. The balcony itself was not exactly small. If you are there in the autumn, it is great for visiting the ports but you may not be sitting out in the evening quite so much. I used the balcony on the sea days and around 5 - 7 pm, much later it was blowing a gale.

[Dexysgirl]

Hi

 

We are just back from a 12 night cruise on NCL Epic. We had 12072, a large balcony on deck 12 port side. What an amazing cabin. So near the lifts but very quiet. HUGE balcony with 2 chairs, a small table and a recliner chair. It is the same floor space as the adjoining mini suite but the room is a standard balcony size, making the balcony itself massive.

I have attempted to attach some pics of our family cabin showing the balcony in the background. We travelled with our 2 children and used the extra beds.

 

Hope this helps you make your decision.

[Mr B]

Hi We have just returned from our first epic cruise we had a cabin 10253. A large balcony and very handy location, but my advice would be to if you can for not a lot of extra money try to upgrade to a mini suite just for the little bit of extra width in the cabin, we were offered a minisuite for just £5 each it didn't happen due to admin issues but it would have been well worth it to us.

 

Definitely try to be near rear elevators the forward elevators seemed to be much busier due to the garden cafe I think

Try to book any shows that you are interested in online before you.

 

Hi

Sorry to chip in on an older thread but we've just booked this very cabin.

I wonder if the balcony feels 'closed in' and if it takes a lot of light out of the cabin.

Thanks

[june123]

B6 cabin for us everytime x

[hhalliv]

B6 Balconies on the Epic seem to be a thing of mystery... Especially the forward "PrivaSea" balconies