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Live from the Epic

KeithJenner

By KeithJenner,
in Norwegian Cruise Line

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Dramamamahil

Dramamamahil

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Hi Mallory & Jason...we're in the H4--2 bedroom suite--Deck 16--in order to be near the pool and the Epic Club, etc.

 

I noticed not too many threads focus on the Epic Haven in detail. Lots of the menus online for the Epic are also outdated. I'm hoping to be as detailed as I can--if nothing prevents me from doing so.

 

I hope I can start from when we first sign in--perhaps pictures of where to go for Haven guests, what it will look like, etc. I may have to start another thread as to not hijack Keith's thread.

 

Is it 16011 by any chance??

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mal&jason

mal&jason

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Our current cabin is the 2 bedroom family villa #17000. I am having a hard time deciding whether or not to move to the owner's suite #16002. I imagine we'll stay where we are but it will be interesting to hear the live Epic reports!

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KeithJenner "Live from...." Rare

KeithJenner

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I'm at Heathrow waiting for the flight to Barcelona. Had a great night yesterday with some old friends and am now ready for the holiday to start.

 

I will try to answer all the questions already asked when we get onboard, but will almost certainly miss some, so feel free to remind me if I haven't answered after a day or two.

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fatherlu

fatherlu

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Is it 16011 by any chance??

 

Mine is 16017. Chose it on purpose so I can glance at the entrance of the Haven pool from my suite if necessary.

 

Our current cabin is the 2 bedroom family villa #17000. I am having a hard time deciding whether or not to move to the owner's suite #16002. I imagine we'll stay where we are but it will be interesting to hear the live Epic reports!

 

Since our family is 5 and we like to stay together due to children, our only option is the H4 suite--otherwise, it would be nice to have something a little larger.

Edited by fatherlu
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fatherlu

fatherlu

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I'm at Heathrow waiting for the flight to Barcelona. Had a great night yesterday with some old friends and am now ready for the holiday to start.

 

I will try to answer all the questions already asked when we get onboard, but will almost certainly miss some, so feel free to remind me if I haven't answered after a day or two.

 

Any noticeable delays in passport control or other lines given terrorism issues in the last month? (Hope not) We'll be in London also before connecting to Barcelona. Hopefully we can visit Westminster Abbey, etc. if there are no major delays.

Edited by fatherlu
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KeithJenner "Live from...." Rare

KeithJenner

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Absolutely fine at Heathrow, although it was quite quiet. Security didn't seem and different to normal.

 

Really smooth flight and now we're on our hotel. We use the Alexandra Doubletree when in Barcelona. Lovely hotel, especially the larger rooms that we need as there are three of us (rooms in Europe are a problem for families).

 

These particular rooms have an outside terrace on the 7th floor. Our son loves the outside bath. :)

 

 

Going to the Casa Batllo later. It's just round the corner and, whilst we've seen the outside many times we've never been inside.

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KeithJenner "Live from...." Rare

KeithJenner

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For those people who want to board early for Posh passes etc, we arrived at about 10.50 and it was fairly busy. As we used the gold/platinum queue we were checked in by 11am. We were in boarding group 2. I doubt we would have been group 2 if we'd had to queue in the main line.

 

By about 11.15 there were long queues, although gold/platinum, cas and haven were OK.

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KeithJenner "Live from...." Rare

KeithJenner

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Just waiting for Muster to start. We had a little annoyance as Cirque has been cancelled today and our reservation was moved to the late show tomorrow, which was no use to us.

 

Anyway, we've swapped with La Cucina later in the week, so it's Italian tonight. May work out well as we will be eating during sail away, rather than being in Cirque.

 

As so often, my criticism is lack of info rather than the change itself. We only found out when I looked at my reservations on the TV. If I hadn't have done so then we would have just turned up at Cirque to find it isn't on. It would have been too late to swap by then.

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suron

suron

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Just waiting for Muster to start. We had a little annoyance as Cirque has been cancelled today and our reservation was moved to the late show tomorrow, which was no use to us.

 

Anyway, we've swapped with La Cucina later in the week, so it's Italian tonight. May work out well as we will be eating during sail away, rather than being in Cirque.

 

As so often, my criticism is lack of info rather than the change itself. We only found out when I looked at my reservations on the TV. If I hadn't have done so then we would have just turned up at Cirque to find it isn't on. It would have been too late to swap by then.

 

 

We had the same happen to us on the Christmas 2015 cruise. We had carefully planned and pre-booked our dining room reservations and all the shows we wanted to see and these were also planned around what the twin grandsons wanted to do through the Children's clubs. Luckily we managed to get some great help from the lady at the booking office desk who kindly sorted everything out for us. Having gone to the trouble of planning well ahead it was one hassle we could have done without - seems NCL are still playing silly devils with show times and dates and as you say you need to be really aware from the start what is going on.

 

For those wanting to escape to some peace and quiet I can highly recommend trying to obtain a weekly pass for the Posh Club up on deck 18 (adults only here though). The $59 I paid out on my first Epic cruise back in June 2015 was money well spent but these passes sell out very quickly. The Posh Club area has some really comfy loungers, there is a bar serving drinks and food, the waiter up there was so efficient and if you wanted to cool off in the pool it was just a quick ride down in the lift to the pool deck

 

 

I am sure you will enjoy your cruise. Look forward to reading your daily inputs.

 

Regards

 

Suzanne

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KeithJenner "Live from...." Rare

KeithJenner

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La Cucina was very good.

 

It is a restaurant that we have had very mixed experiences with. I have always quite enjoyed it, but I have never been with anyone else who has enjoyed their meals. To be honest, the only reason that we went was because you can no longer use your platinum voucher in Moderno.

 

Since the new menus have been introduced, my favourite dish at La Cucina, the Osso Bucco, has greatly improved and was once again excellent. I also enjoyed the Carpaccio, and my wife's Calamari was really good.

 

Overall, for the first time, I would very much recommend La Cucina as a good choice for a meal. The venue itself has always been great and has nicely refurbished. It's position at the front of the ship makes for a great venue during sail away.

 

Afterwards, our son went in the kids club for a while whilst we spent some time in o'Sheehans. I was quite concerned about reports that the staff have seemed too busy to interact with customers and, so far, this has not been our experience at all. Both in Maltings earlier in the day and also at o'Sheehans, the staff have been great and have taken time to talk to us. I haven't noticed an difference to previous cruises.

 

It hasn't all been smooth though. I have already mentioned the problem with our booking at Cirque, and we also had some trouble when we headed up to the sports court in the evening to check whether the bungee trampoline is still there. To get there you have to walk through Spice H2O (although it is up the stairs and round the edge so not a problem even though, for example, under 18's aren't allowed in Spice). However, today a group were holding a private function in Spice and their representative (not a NCL employee) was policing the entrance. We explained that we were just trying to get to the sport court, but all they were interested in was making sure we didn't gate crash their party. In my opinion, NCL staff have the right to say where we can go, but other guests don't. These groups had better not spend all week throwing their weight around, or I will really fall out with them.

 

Anyway, it's been a good day. We've had loads of goes in the plunge. I am always amazed how few people use the slides on embarkation day. For quite a while we were the only people using them. I'm enjoying my bottle of wine sitting on the balcony right now, and we are looking forward to a lazy day tomorrow. There is no CC meet and greet, but we may do the behind the scenes tour if our son wants to go to the kids club in the morning. I'm not sure when I will next check in here.

 

There is bingo, by the way. No idea how it works though.

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cookmg40

cookmg40

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Hi Keith,

So excited to follow you. I am on the same cruise in late August. Can you find out what time the thermal spa closes in the evening?

Thank you.

Marilyn

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

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ollienbertsmum Great Review Rare

ollienbertsmum

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La Cucina was very good.

 

It is a restaurant that we have had very mixed experiences with. I have always quite enjoyed it, but I have never been with anyone else who has enjoyed their meals. To be honest, the only reason that we went was because you can no longer use your platinum voucher in Moderno.

 

It hasn't all been smooth though. I have already mentioned the problem with our booking at Cirque, and we also had some trouble when we headed up to the sports court in the evening to check whether the bungee trampoline is still there. To get there you have to walk through Spice H2O (although it is up the stairs and round the edge so not a problem even though, for example, under 18's aren't allowed in Spice). However, today a group were holding a private function in Spice and their representative (not a NCL employee) was policing the entrance. We explained that we were just trying to get to the sport court, but all they were interested in was making sure we didn't gate crash their party. In my opinion, NCL staff have the right to say where we can go, but other guests don't. These groups had better not spend all week throwing their weight around, or I will really fall out with them.

 

Anyway, it's been a good day. We've had loads of goes in the plunge. I am always amazed how few people use the slides on embarkation day. For quite a while we were the only people using them. I'm enjoying my bottle of wine sitting on the balcony right now, and we are looking forward to a lazy day tomorrow. There is no CC meet and greet, but we may do the behind the scenes tour if our son wants to go to the kids club in the morning. I'm not sure when I will next check in here.

 

.

 

Enjoy your bottle of wine on your balcony Keith.

 

I hope that the weather is kind to you tomorrow. The cruise between Sardinia and Corsica at lunch time is lovely to see.

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